Liberty!

Liberty!

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 KJV 

Context and Charge:

Paul speaks to a specific audience: people referred to as brethren. You are either one or you are not. There is really no middle ground or a fence; you are either all in or all out. It is this claim to neutrality that made Jesus say He was going to spew the church in Laodicea out of his mouth, because they just could not make up their minds who they were or what they were to consider important. If I haven't yet settled my identity, this has to be priority. I do not get access to all the Jesus provides, if I have not first surrendered my life to Him. This is the proper foundation for all that follows in the verse under review. I cannot change the order, as salvation is the key to accessing all that Jesus is. Am I saved? Are you?

There is also a specific message: it is a message of liberty. It is not liberty to live as one pleases, but to please the One who secured that liberty for me. God calls His own children to liberty from the power of sin, sickness and death. You do not get partial fulfilment of contract; if indeed I am a believer, I am entitled to the full package available in the new life in Christ. It is a call by God, so it is not something I can buy with money, or fight for by strength or labour, or simply appropriate to myself by connection or influence. The God who calls us to himself is able to sustain whatever it is he ordains, so I must make sure that the call I heed is the one God makes. It is dangerous if I hold on to that which is not God's. 

Conviction and Conclusion:

There are also specific instructions for the new life I have been called into. There are attitudes and behaviours that align with the new life I have been called into. There are also restrictions that apply to that new life. It is not a free-for-all, where anything goes, but it is a demand for a particular lifestyle. Think of it this way: if you applied for citizenship of another country, you had to commit to following the rules of that country. No country will admit foreigners who are murderers as new citizens. In the same way, being part of the brethren places a demand on me to live in a particular way and to stop anything that does not align with that way.

This liberty frees me to serve without stress or inhibition. It frees me to serve other people out of a heart of love. Indeed, love is the greatest motivation for service. I am able to place other people's interests over and above mine. Love is also an attribute used to describe who God is, so you get the clear picture that I have been called to be like God and to make him known to the world. The world must know this God, and the loudest way is by the full expression of his nature in and through me. Am I free to live like God, or am I freely pursuing my own agenda? The end is important; I cannot afford to miss the mark. God's time of favour is here.