Freedom in Christ, Galatians 5: 1-17
Christian Liberty 1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,[ a ]and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. This verse summarizes chapter 4, where the theme is bondage and freedom. It also serves to introduce chapter 5. Paul declared that Christ was the great Liberator who set believers free from bondage. The apostle then appealed to the Galatians to stand firm (cf. 1 Cor. 16:13; Phil. 1:27; 4:1; 1 Thes. 3:8; 2 Thes. 2:15) in that liberty, for having been delivered from slavery to heathenism, they were in danger of becoming entangled in slavery to the Mosaic Law. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. It is not that the apostle condemned circumcision in itself, for he had Timothy circumcised (in Galatia) so that the young man would have a wider ministry (Acts 16:1–3). But Paul was strongly opposed to the Judaistic theology which insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvati...