Stand Fast Therefore in the Liberty

2018-05-26

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (2) Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. (3) For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. (4) Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. (5) For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. (6) For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Galatians 5:1-6)

Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” How much truer is this statement when applied to spiritual things! People who truly believe that works of the law can save them will die and face the wrath of God. However, considering that Paul commanded the Galatians not to be entangled with the works of the law tells us that we also can be entangled, at least to a certain degree, in some false belief (Galatians 5:1). Our faith must be in Christ alone, as faith in anything other than Christ nullifies what Christ has done for us. We either believe in Christ’s death on our behalf, or we believe in something else; adding Christ to another belief system makes Christ’s work of no effect in our lives at all (Galatians 5:2). Faith and the other religious systems are mutually exclusive.

As circumcision is a part of the law, one must do everything in the law to be saved, which is an impossibility:

Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:5)

Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 18:13)

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:26)

As we can see from the law itself, the entire law is a single unit. You follow all, or you follow none: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). We cannot follow the whole the law, “for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20):

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)

We anticipate the day when we will be 100% experientially righteous, when the Lord returns. This is the “the hope of righteousness by faith” (Galatians 5:5). We are declared righteous by God (Romans 3:24), but the fulfillment does not completely come until then, being delivered from this body of sin.

Galatians 5:6 mirrors Galatians 6:15, saying that faith which produces service to others, from a new, born again creature, is the only thing that makes a difference. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1).