Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
We should not allow anyone or anything to touch our freedom and bring us into slavery. This same verb “stand fast” is used in the Greek Old Testament when Moses commanded the people of Israel to not be afraid of the approaching Egyptians (Exodus 14:13). No matter what may be approaching, no matter what is coming up from the rear like the Egyptians pursuing the children of Israel after they just left captivity, our freedom is written in blood. Our freedom is paid for, and it’s done.
Our Great God does not want our freedom in Christ to be something we just get a glimpse of. Our freedom is not limited to a fleeting moment in time in our Christian experience. Freedom in Jesus Christ is not tasted for a season, enjoyed, and then looked back on. Our God desires that we are established in freedom. We are free from anything that entangles, that which slows us down and holds us back. Our freedom is paid for, and it is absolutely complete. The power to sustain this continual freedom can only be found in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 1:4 and 5, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins, delivering us out from this present evil world. It is in his shed blood that we are free. “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).
If we allow grace to be taken out of the gospel, we can certainly become troubled. If we neglect to keep our eyes fastened on Jesus, who gave himself for our sins, we lose sight of the grace of the gospel. Galatians 1:6 tells us that the gospel of Christ is a message of grace. Altering our perspective of this groundbreaking theme of the gospel of Jesus Christ causes us to be troubled and stirred by sins. “…But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7). Since our redemption is complete and paid in blood, we can walk in the fulness of Jesus Christ. As those that stand fast, we remain fixed on the grand reality that Jesus truly did pay it all. We were bought with a price, and we belong to God. Because of Jesus Christ, we can walk into and abide in freedom from all that attempts to entangle or bind us.