GALATIANS 2:19

“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live for God.”

What freedom we have when we finally get victory over something that has controlled us! Amen? It wasn’t until I understood the freedom that I have in Christ that I was able to escape the self-imposed shackles of religion. I believed I had to do certain things to gain God’s love. I thought I had to also not do other things.

Paul was very aware of this mindset. His training as a Pharisee had taught him to follow the Law. But now he understands that the Law could never lead him to righteousness. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers says this about this verse, “The road to freedom from the Law lay through the Law.” Paul wanted to make sure Peter and the other Jewish believers in Antioch was reminded of that freedom.

APPLICATION

You can’t say it much simpler than Jesus did in John 8:36. “‘So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’” Jesus is saying this in the midst of a conversation with the religious leaders. They equated freedom with release from enslavement. They did not even realize they were enslaved to their laws and guidelines. They did not understand the freedom Jesus was referring to.

In 2 Corinthians 3:17 we read, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” That is the key to our freedom. We have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling within us as believers. The Spirit reminds us of this freedom day after day. He tells us we do not have to be tied to the Law or man-made guidelines anymore.

I am so thankful for my freedom in Christ. I am thankful I am dead to all those old ideas I had about what it meant to be spiritual. Living dead to them and alive to Christ makes everyday a day worth living. It brings new excitement, not drudgery. Isn’t that how you want to live?

Father, I thank You for my freedom I have in Jesus and for the life I can live through Him.