Galatians 5:1–15 (NKJV)
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (13)
Freedom is never absolute. The only freedom that is worthwhile is freedom from the things that harm us. No mature and sane person seeks freedom from the things that do us good. Those are things we keep, maintain, preserve, and conserve. Thus, with respect to the bad things in life we are “liberal”—but only in the sense that we want to be “liberated” from them (not liberated and free to indulge in them); and with respect to the good things in life we are “conservative”—but only in the sense that we want to “conserve” them for our benefit (not be imprisoned or enslaved by them).
Not everyone understands or lives in this kind of Christian maturity, so we constantly hear contrary voices—not just from the world but also from other people who call themselves Christians. To our dogged dedication to “obeying the truth” (7), they insist instead on “tolerance and love.” Dr. Martin Luther, in his own great Galatians commentary on verse 9 (“A little yeast leavens the whole lump”) offers this corrective: “A curse on a love that is observed at the expense of the doctrine of faith, to which everything must yield—love, an apostle, an angel from heaven, etc.!” (AE 27:35-39). God’s love, as described in the Bible, is very different from what the world calls love. The world’s version of love is simply tolerance and indulgence, while God’s kind of love is lifting us out of ourselves to be in proper relationships with others and living in loving service to them and God.
Let all others go their way; we will stick with Christ and His Word!
We Pray: “Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word; Curb those who fain by craft or sword Would wrest the Kingdom from Thy Son And set at naught all He hath done.” (TLH 261:1)
