Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:4–5, ESV)
Last week, in Galatians 2, we saw how the gospel is received, not earned. The next movement of this passage reminds us that the beautiful, acceptable gospel brings divine freedom, not human control. While Paul was in Jerusalem, false brothers were secretly brought in, perhaps even into his meeting with the apostles! (4) Paul describes these men with spy language—they came in secretly and spied out Paul and his team's freedom in Christ (4). Something about the way Paul, Barnabas, and Titus lived annoyed these legalists. They hated the sweet freedom Paul's team had, which is reminiscent of the way the religious leaders treated Jesus' disciples—Why are they allowed to pick grain on the Sabbath? Why don't they ceremonially wash before meals? Why do you all eat with tax collectors and sinners? However, despite the legalists' sly manipulation, Titus would not yield submission for even a moment (5). Not even for a moment. The preservation of the gospel was at stake, so they didn't feel compelled to obey these Judaizers (5). Notice what these religionists saw in Paul and his team: freedom in Christ (4). And notice what Paul knew they wanted to do to his team: bring them into slavery (4). For many of us, the word freedom contains the idea that we can do whatever we want. No one restricts us. We have complete freedom in what we see, hear, or say, but this version of freedom is often paralyzing and destructive.[1] The gospel gives us a better version of freedom. John Ortberg explains it well:
"Think of freedom coming in two flavors, two kinds of freedom. There is freedom from external constraints, somebody telling me what to do. This is freedom from. But there is another kind of freedom that might be called freedom for. There’s the freedom for living the kind of life I was made to live, freedom for becoming that man I most want to be — freedom for."[2]
This is the case Paul will build in Galatians: tha't we should use our freedom to fly up into a life of love and goodness with God.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1, ESV)
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, ESV)
And it is through the gospel that we can come into this beautiful version of divine liberty—freedom to love and serve and lay down our lives for others. But because the gospel brings us into divine freedom, it also sets us free from human control. I don't mean total liberty, as if we never need to submit to any authority. I mean that the gospel sets us free from the need to obey humans who tell us to behave in certain ways because they said so. Titus did not have to obey the religiously zealous pressure to succumb to circumcision, and we don't have to obey legalists in our time. This pressure can come from various directions. One side tells us to dress humbly enough, don't enjoy entertainment too much, engage in enough religious activity, distance ourselves from the world enough, etc. Another side tells us to dress sustainably enough, approve of (not just accept) people enough, enjoy the arts and entertainment enough, engage in enough community service, distance ourselves from religious people enough, etc. But the gospel sets us free from human controls like these and places us in divine freedom and a relationship with God. Rather than tell us to do this or that, it gives us a broader and higher standard of loving God and our neighbor. There are thousands of legalists in our time, both religious and non-religious. Even those who believe this life is all there is and reject the existence of God preach zealously a version of righteous living to society. Rather than embrace the alleged accidental and, therefore, meaningless nature of life, they tell the world to do good and be good merely because they said so.[3] One version of human control or legalism I would like to address affects all the parents. We are swimming in a psychologized culture where it seems almost every failure or sadness is blamed on our childhoods. I don't mean to minimize anyone's past trauma—it can affect us greatly—but all this talk of parents damaging their children can paralyze parents from parenting. But you are the only one for the job! If God wanted someone else to parent your kid, he would have given them different parents. Don't let human controls shackle you from taking responsibility. Kids need parents because kids need to be parented. We have been set free from human control and can now live in divine freedom—a simple allegiance to Christ where he operates as the Lord of our lives, directing our steps. Sometimes, he will exercise his lordship through others—governmental leaders, spiritual leaders, employers, parents, and spouses—but his leadership is ultimately what we are responding to. And this life is free in Christ from odd human constraints that the religiously zealous love to place on us.
[1] Willard, Dallas, and Randy Frazee. 2005. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress. [2] Ortberg, John. 2014. Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [3] Keller, Timothy. 2016. Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical. Viking.