freedom!

"for freedom Christ freed us."

i came across this verse (galatians 5:1) this morning, and i couldn't get past it. the apostle paul is pleading with the galatians to remember what Christ has done for them and not turn back to their old patterns of striving to obtain righteousness by keeping the law. it was as if the church in galatia heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, accepted it, and then turned back to their "religious stuff" to make them more righteous and save them. and paul is basically pointing his finger at their illogical line of thinking and asking, "how can you turn to Christ's grace for salvation and then add to it and nullify it's sufficiency?" it's a slap in the face of God to receive His gift and then say it's not enough!

so i'm thinking about this.

what has Christ freed me from?

trying to do it on my own! i can't make it. in a sense, it's a pride issue to turn to anything else but Christ to make me "spiritual" or "righteous". because what i'm really saying is, i don't want your gift, i'd rather earn it so i'm not indebted to you.

i think rather, Christ wants us to recognize our utter failure and inability to ever earn righteousness. to reach rock bottom. to know that our only hope is in the merciful and gracious gift of Christ to save us. a brokeness that looks to the goodness of God to lead us to repentance. and isn't that the point of the gospel? isn't that where Christ meets us with His loving, open arms?

maybe that's where God met us. but is it still where God meets us?

is it possible that we share our testimony of how God saved us, but on a day to day basis we are really concerning ourselves with striving to earn His grace? trying to maintain a certian status. because we're not comfortable with spending the rest of eternity in a humble state of dependancy on a holy and merciful Creator. think about it. Christ set us free! He gave us His righteousness to free us from the obligation of trying to earn it! we're free!

free to live a life of wreckless abandon to our wonderful, merciful Savior! free to pour ourselves out as a offering of thanksgiving! free to share the freedom that He brings! free to live in a perpetual state of worship in humility!

so i'm thinking about it.

everyday i must meet God in the same place. not that i'm not growing, but that i'm still and will forever be totally in need of His amazing grace. "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 corinthians 3:17).