Galatians – Chapter 5

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 – Hallelujah Christ has set us free! This is the blessing and promise of Easter, that we have been set free from the bondage of slavery to sin and the enemy and ushered into new life and freedom. All because of Jesus! See though the plea of the apostle here in this chapter: don’t find yourself under the yoke of slavery once again. Paul was speaking to the Galatian church about not finding themselves once again under the burdensome, graceless law of Moses. To not find themselves believing they had to keep the full law, or even certain parts of the law to be good with God. The truth of the Gospel is that Jesus’ sacrifice alone is holy enough to completely save us, so there is no need to submit ourselves to the bondage of keeping the law anymore to be saved. Yet as believers we can still find ourselves much like the Galatian church did, believing that we must add onto our salvation by some level of good works. We must go to church a certain amount of times, we must give this much money, we must _____. Yet none of those things save us, and as Paul even went on to say, if we begin to believe such things add to our salvation, then we’ve completely trashed the sacrifice of Christ in our lives and are saying Jesus is not needed. The truth of Easter is that Jesus came, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. His sacrifice and resurrection alone is what offers salvation to those who turn to Him, no extra works on our end is needed. Find joy in knowing the Jesus alone is enough to save you. Praise the Lord we have a Savior like Jesus who has conquered the grave and made a way for forgiveness and life! Happy Resurrection Sunday! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3416

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 – This freedom we have is from the rules and enslavement of the law. What Paul is speaking against is the very thing that many people begin to think when they hear you are free from the rules which is “now I can do whatever I want!” Paul desires us to see ourselves as free, but not to use that freedom to do things that hurt others and hurts our walk with God. We have a new reason now for living right. Not to keep up some rule book, but because we love God and others. So today, ask yourself why are you choosing to live the way you are? Is it because you feel like you have to in order to keep good with God? Or is it because you love God and want to live a life that’s pleasing to Him and encourages growth with Him and others? Learn from today’s passage you’re free from the love of following the rules to be good with God. You’re already and always will be good with God if you’ve accepted His forgiveness. Now live a life that demonstrates you love God and are grateful for His love. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 535

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Galatians 5:9 – We who live the day of bread you can buy pre-sliced and bagged at the grocery store may not feel this verse as deeply as those who heard it back in Paul’s day. They understood the work of leaven in bread making and how effective it was. Leaven is the ingredient that when added to a bread mixture causes the bread to rise when cooked. Even just a little leaven worked into the mixture will cause the entire loaf to rise. You can’t just add leaven to one part of the mixture and expect to see just that part effected. For Paul, the leaven he was speaking of to the church was accepting certain Jewish practices as still law in their story for salvation. Paul is directing them that their adding to the requirement to salvation was like adding leaven to a bread mixture. It’s going to affect everything, and in their case, ruin everything. By adding obedience to the law to their means of salvation they were making Christ’s sacrifice invalid and worthless, and their salvation a fraud. It is only by the forgiveness of Jesus and our faith in Him that we can be saved. What then has been your leaven? What have you added in your walk with the Lord that you do because you feel it is making you more righteous before the Lord? Examples could be church attendance, giving to the church, or serving the community. All holy and right things to do, yet when the heart behind why we do them is “earning” our righteousness with God, they have suddenly moved from holy to leaven. Let’s make sure we settle that its by faith alone our salvation is guaranteed and our actions of faithfulness are done out of gratitude for the salvation we have been given, not to somehow add our own efforts in to earning it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2394