Written ~ 10-14-2023
Galatians 5:13-15 (NLT)
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Galatians 5:13-15 (MSG)
13 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows.
14 For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.
15 If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
What is freedom? One of the definitions I found says, “relieved from or lacking something and especially something unpleasant or burdensome.” So in the context of our verses for today, let’s keep in mind what freedom means to the believer. Our freedom comes from what Jesus did on the cross. He died for our sin. All of it. We are no longer tied down with the weight of its penalty. When Christ rose from the dead, He shattered sin and death. So when we accept Salvation from the Son of God, we are released from the sin we have carried. So what would be the opposite of freedom, the first thing that comes to mind is slavery. Perhaps if we consider the bondage sin can have over our lives, we can see how being a slave to its lure is devastating. One definition of slavery is a “situation or practice in which people are entrapped.” Before Christ, we were entrapped by sin, His sacrifice and our acceptance has made us free.
Let’s take a moment to look at a couple of passages from the Book of Romans…
Romans 6:6,
6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
Romans 6:16-22,
16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
Let’s magnify Romans 6:22…
22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
We are free from sin.
But what does it mean to become slaves of God?
Maybe Matthew 22:37-39 can clarify, the following is from the World English Bible (WEB),
37 Jesus said… ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18)
When we have given our hearts, minds and souls over to the Lord, we want to do all He tells us to do. To serve Him in a way that brings glory and honor to His Holy Name. When you read through the New Testament, at the beginning of most Books, the author describes himself as a slave of God or of Jesus Christ, in some cases they say both. This is not a negative or derogatory use of the word slave. These men, these disciples and apostles of God were delighted to serve the Lord. And we should as well.
So how does all that fit into our verses for today? Verse 5:13 says,
13 “For you have been called to live in freedom…” (NLT)
13 “It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life…” (MSG)
When we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our minds, there shouldn’t be any room left to still be held in bondage with our sinful nature. But we are warned on Galatians 5:13 that if we don’t choose to wholeheartedly serve the Lord that we can allow our sinful nature to take up residence again and begin to eat away at the freedom we have in Christ.
13 But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. (NLT)
13 Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. (MSG)
You may have heard the statement, (I know I have), “Now that I am a Christian, I can do whatever I want because Jesus forgave all of my sin.” That’s a slippery slope my friends… But you can’t serve two masters.
See what it says in Matthew 6:24,
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” (Or your sinful nature)
When we think about obeying the Word of God, sometimes it may seem a little daunting to remember everything! But Jesus said in Matthew 22,
37 “… ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Those are the two commands that Jesus wants us to remember and to always obey. If we can do that, we should fall right in line with what the rest of the Bible says.
That’s why in Galatians 5:14 it says,
14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (NLT)
14 For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. (MSG)
Seems simple enough, right? Well, because of human nature, we may not always feel like being nice. But living for the Lord and using Jesus as our example of how to live our lives, there just isn’t room for selfishness.
The warning comes in verse 5:15,
15 “But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.” (NLT)
15 “If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?” (MSG)
We see that a lot in our world today, don’t we? So much anger. Self-serving attitudes don’t get us anywhere, we only wind up hurting those we should love the most.
My prayer is that we would really think about what it means to love the “Lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” To look at how we treat others and ourselves for that matter! We are called to “Love others as you love yourself.” If you’re having trouble loving yourself, it might make it difficult to treat others with love. Examining our hearts is extremely important. I hope you’ll consider godly counseling if you’re having difficulty loving yourself.
God loves you no matter what baggage you bring to Him. If one of those items is a dislike of yourself, give that to the Lord and have Him show you how very much you are loved by Him.
If that one command, “Love others as you love yourself,” could be adhered to, this world would change rapidly! If not the world, then at least in your own family and within your sphere of influence! Let’s consider all we have learned today as a conscience goal, to Love the Lord and to Love One Another. Live in freedom of sin, guilt and shame. Live for the Lord!
Have you been living your life in the bondage that sin and disobedience produces? Maybe it’s time to lay down all of your burdens and give them over to the Lord. Have Him release you from your chains and loosened the grip Satan has on your life. Give your heart, your soul, your mind over to the Lord.
Pray this prayer and bring Jesus into your life, once and for all…
Dear Jesus, You know my heart, all the things I have done and said. Please forgive me for my unbelief. Please forgive me for all of my sins. I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You came to earth to die on the cross for my sins. I believe You rose from the dead to give me freedom from sin and death. By faith through believing in Who You Are, I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life, cleanse this heart of mine, white as snow. Help me not to doubt any longer and breathe life into me, fill me with Your light. Thank You Jesus! Amen.
If you solemnly prayed this prayer, tell at least one person, so they can share in your joy!! I rejoice with you! All the angels in Heaven rejoice with you! You are free!!!
~AMEN~