Galatians
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In Jesus Christ we are free and not under bondage any more. Whether it be sin, ordinances, the law of Moses, fear or anything else that binds. We probably can't even imagine what all the death and resurrection of Jesus and our receiving Him compasses but it's exciting to read and learn all about this salvation the angels desire to look into. We can now have a new nature that does not desire the old ways. To really be free is to desire the pure, fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit after one has been truly saved and delivered from the bondage of sin.

If you practice circumcision for religious purposes and not trust in Christ alone for salvation then you are under the law again and have an obligation to keep the whole law. This does not mean that you can't circumcise boy babies for health reasons but if it is for religious reasons so that you may be "more saved" it profits nothing. God's plan of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, announces a new way of salvation because the old way could not perfect those that tried to keep it. They were still found with fault.

They could not possibly walk in love, in faith and in purity because the way of holiness had not yet come. When Jesus came and made that perfect sacrifice, the way of holiness was made for all those that trust in Him for their salvation. All can receive the spirit that makes it possible to walk in holiness. Before Jesus, walking and living holy was impossible for the natural person. Jesus was the first man in the flesh to be able to live upon the earth without sin. He made it possible for us to be made worthy to inherit the kingdom of God. He gave us His Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts to teach us, to lead us, to show us the way of holiness. Oh that we would yield to the Holy Spirit and be taught, be filled, and allow the presence of God into our lives. If we did this we would never, never regret our decision.

If we try to go back under the law or trust in some other way of salvation, we fall from grace. There is no religious substitute for the righteousness that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. None.

We can feed the poor and we should, we can build hospitals, we can do all manner of good deeds to help our fellow men, but that will not save us apart from faith in Jesus Christ. He is the permanent sacrifice for our salvation.

God made Him (Jesus), the only way of salvation. To reject that gift from God is to destroy our own souls. It's like slapping God in the face to reject His Son who paid such a high price for our salvation. Thank you Lord God for making a beautiful way for our salvation that we can be free from bondage. Our past can be wiped out and our future lead by the Holy Spirit which is freely given to those who ask.

Paul was pleading for these believers and warning them that the ones troubling them with false teachings will bear judgment and be cut off.

Paul suffered persecution for preaching of salvation by Jesus Christ.

We have been redeemed from the law and called to liberty. We have been free from sin and free from the curse of the law, but we are not to use this liberty to allow ourselves to think we can sin and still be saved. If we go back into sin from which we have been forgiven of, we bring ourselves again into bondage.

The law is fulfilled in one word to love our neighbor as ourselves. We cannot do this unless we have the Spirit of God abiding within us. Try to love without it, and it will not work. The first time someone makes us mad we would immediate start to hate. The new covenant also brings with it the responsibility to live righteous but it is a righteousness that comes by Jesus Christ and His abiding Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to live in this new righteousness. It is a gift of God and not something we possess in our old natural self.

Here is the key to living a Holy life. Walk in the Spirit. Once we have been filled with the Holy Spirit it is still possible to allow ourselves to be moved away from God. This is what the Galatians were doing. They were being led astray into another religion. If we daily yield to the Holy Spirit and "Watch and Pray" like the Lord warned his disciples in the garden, we will not be led astray into something else other than the gospel.

Walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Here is the answer to why some succumb to sin and some do not.

This makes it plain that the way of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ does not teach us that we can go back into sin and still expect to inherit salvation. We don't have to slide back if we continue in the things of God and allow His Holy Spirit to lead us.

These are the things we should have in our lives instead of sin. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Wow, this is freedom, this is liberty. To truly have the deep down pure love of God is liberty. Hate is a heavy, heavy burden by which we can be free in Jesus Christ. Temperance is self control and not giving into every whim of the flesh.

When we truly walk in the spirit, we will not be racists, we will not desire to receive all the glory and praise of man, we will not envy, we will love. That is true liberty. DC