“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”-Galatians 5:1
Riding down the road the thought came to me that governments, people, business, and the like, want us to surrender our liberty. More than that, the devil wants us to surrender our liberty. Governments can come in and take our civil liberties from us. However, when we have the spirit of God dwelling on the inside nothing and no one can take the true liberty from us. It can only be willingly given. It is his business to convince us to despise our liberty and surrender it over willingly. To trick us into seeing it as bondage, and not the glorious liberty that it is. This is the devil’s business, but God shows us different.
The yoke of bondage that Paul is referring to here in Galatians is directly connected to the false doctrines of that day which were creeping into the Galatian church. Some were still clinging to the Mosaic law and pressuring others in the Christian church to do the same. Paul would enumerate in other letters that the strength of the law is sin. That the law made sin exceeding sinful, and never brought perfect deliverance or freedom. That nothing outside of the grace of God and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ can bring deliverance from sin, and true freedom from sin.vvThis freedom is available to every believer, by faith, is what the Apostle Paul was contending for, and that once obtained we are kept by the power of God through faith. He says in Romans: Who can separate us from the love of Christ? The devil and all of his demons cannot come in and destroy this “keeping power” that resides in us (through the Holy Ghost). Therefore, if our liberty is surrendered, we must do the surrendering. We must be the ones to give it over to Satan. I remember as a young man (before smart phones) we would go outside and play in the neighborhood. At times we would be miles from the house with no way to contact our mom. This was a liberty that was given to me, I assume because I had an older brother to look after me. There was a bond of faith and trust that tethered this liberty to myself and my parents. In today's world, many children don't play outside anymore. If they do, parents use apps like Life360 or Findmyfriends to track in real time where their kids are at all times. That trust and liberty has been willingly surrendered in the name of surveillance. I can remember a day when you would show up at a friend's house and just knock on the door. No call, certainly no text, just unannounced, knock on the door and they let you in. This is a liberty that has been willingly surrendered at the altar of seclusion. This is how the devil works, he doesn’t come in by force and take your liberty from you. He offers you something that you want, that seems to make your life better, easier, safer. He wins through compromise. He woos with complacency. “A little sleep, a little slumber.” His subtlety and deceitfulness is always working to undermine your convictions and get you to surrender your liberty.
Paul exhorts the Galatians to “stand fast” in liberty. Take a firm stand against Satan devices, by recognizing he is at work. By attending to the voice of God: through reading, study, prayer and worship. As an oak that sinks roots deep into the ground to draw strength from the earth, so the sanctified believer must dig down deep in order to grow tall and strong; never tossed about with every “wind of doctrine” but wholly given to the liberty in Christ; completely and consistently resolved to live in liberty.
