Today's Verse: Galatians 5:1

Paul wrote to help the new believers keep their true freedom in Christ: freedom from trying to earn their righteousness through law-keeping (Galatians chapters 3 and 4). The law could not justify them before God. Only faith in Jesus offered them freedom to be all Christ had re-created by grace to be (Galatians 2:14-16; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). They were God's children through faith, led by the Spirit to take on the character of Jesus (Galatians 5:16-27). We, too, must realize that since we are God's children, we have been freed from law-keeping and sin because of our faith in Jesus and our participation with him in baptism through faith (Galatians 3:26-29; Romans 6:3-14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7). We must never return to justifying ourselves through works of any law, set of rules, or someone's religious expectation. To do so is to give up our freedom and return to the bondage. Paul begs us to rely on what Jesus did for us, not on works of the law. It is the cross of Christ and the empty tomb that liberate us from sin, death, and slavery to what cannot save us.