Christ Has Made Us Free

¹So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to Jewish laws and ceremonies. ² Listen to me, for this is serious: if you are counting on circumcision and keeping the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you. ³ I’ll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish. ⁴ Christ is useless to you if you are counting on clearing your debt to God by keeping those laws; you are lost from God’s grace.
⁵ But we by the help of the Holy Spirit are counting on Christ’s death to clear away our sins and make us right with God. ⁶ And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don’t need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love. Galatians 5:1-6 TLB

Introduction

Growing up, the word “freedom” always intrigued me. Perhaps because the idea of being held back, controlled, or oppressed in any way seemed wrong. I remember struggling with many fears – fear of the dark, fear of scary images, fear of animals, fear of birds, fear of what people thought of me and fear of making mistakes. I was often drawn to people who carried a clear sense of confidence, almost envying them and how comfortable they seemed to be in their own skin. Interestingly, I came to learn that even the most confident people can still be bound by deep insecurities and fears.

Looking good, getting better at skills, gaining knowledge, growing older, performing well in whatever I worked at, and even learning how to interact with people better, all had the glimmerings of what would make me feel more confident and free, but they all fell short. Growing in my relationship with Jesus, I have come to learn that nothing compares with truly knowing I am loved by God, not for what I do, but because I have put my trust in Christ. It is Christ who has made us free from the dominion and consequence of sin. It is Christ who made us free from having to earn the approval of God or others. And it is Christ who has made us free to trust and obey God as His child.

Freedom from the dominion and consequence of sin

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23 NIV

Sin isn’t just the things we do wrong; it is a power that holds us in bondage. Left to ourselves, we are dominated by patterns, appetites, and fears that we cannot break free from on our own. According to Paul in Romans, the consequence of sin is death. This is more than just physical death, but also spiritual separation from the God who made us. We could never repay this debt, no matter how hard we try. Only Christ’s death could clear the full consequence of sin.

Imagine a debt so large you could never pay it off in a lifetime. Then someone appears and pays the entire balance. You are free, not because you managed your finances better, but because someone else settled what you owed. This is what Christ did on the cross for you and me. The dominion sin held over you has been broken. You are no longer defined by your failures, but by what Christ did for you.

Freedom from having to earn the approval of God or others

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. —Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT

Paul was writing to people who had been told that faith in Jesus wasn’t enough to be right with God. Perhaps you have felt that God’s love is contingent on your church attendance, Bible reading, quality of parenting, or productivity in life. But Paul was clear: God’s love is a gift we receive by faith, not a reward we earn. The moment we try to earn it, it is no longer a gift, but a transaction.

Imagine a child who is afraid of losing their parent’s love and decides to work constantly to be good enough. They do this by cleaning the house before mom gets home, studying hard to show a good report card, or always trying to anticipate what might make their parents upset. That is a child living in anxiety, not security. But a child who knows they are loved even when they make a mistake, can rest from striving. God is not waiting for you to finally be good enough. When you believe and receive Christ in your life, you already have God’s full approval.

Freedom to trust and obey God as His child

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ —Romans 8:15 ESV

You are not a servant trying to stay in your master’s good graces. Neither are you an employee clocking in, hoping not to get fired. You have been adopted as a child of God and that changes how you relate to Him, as your Heavenly Father. This is the heart of what Paul meant in Galatians 5:6 when he wrote, “all we need is faith working through love.” Trust and obedience, in this new relationship, is not burdensome, but a natural response of a child who knows they are loved.

Just as a young child holds a parent’s hand crossing the street out of trust, we follow God from a place of security, not fear. Many of us may have grown up with a mental picture of God as a distant authority figure who is keeping score. But the gospel replaces that picture with something far more intimate: a Father who has chosen you, called you by name, and made you His own. And out of that confident security, we are free to say yes to Him.

Conclusion

Freedom, as the world defines it, is often about having no constraints, doing whatever you want, and answering to no one. But the freedom Paul described in Galatians is far deeper and more lasting. It’s freedom from the things that slowly destroy us: the weight of sin, the exhaustion of performance, and the anxiety of never feeling like we’re enough. It’s also freedom toward something better: a loving relationship with our Father God.

You may have come to faith in Jesus while still carrying years of fear, self-doubt, or the quiet belief that God’s love was something you had to prove yourself worthy of. If so, the book of Galatians was written for you. As a church, we will be diving more into this book over the summer. Christ has already done the work of setting us free from a transactional relationship with God. The chains that have kept us bound in fear and insecurity are already broken. The debt for our sin has already been paid. And the approval you have been straining after is already yours, not because of anything you have done, but because of everything Christ has done.

What would your life look like if you actually lived like you were free? Not free to do whatever you please, but free to love God and love people from a place of rest as God’s child. That is the life Christ purchased for you. You don’t have to earn your way into it; you simply get to walk in it.