Galatians 5:1 Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. And yet that was the very thing that the Galatians were in danger of doing. Many of them were tempted to listen to the false teachers with their promises of a higher level of Christian life but what they were offering would only curtail the freedoms that they had entered into. It would lead them to be back under the law which does not bring freedom.
It is a little like someone who has been addicted to gambling or to alcohol and who has managed to turn from their addiction. Usually such a person cannot simply live the way they have done in the past. They need to care in all sorts of areas – the people they spend time with, the places they used to go to, the way they deal with problems, etc. In a similar way, the converted person needs to make sure that they do not put themselves in a position where they are likely to become slaves to sin once again.
Or think of someone who has been deep in debt but has managed to pay off what was owed or has accepted bankruptcy and has started all over again. What if that person is tempted to take on a fresh load of debt? They are in danger of ending themselves up in the same situation as before. Believers are like those who have had their huge debt of sin paid. They must be careful not to end up in the same sort of situation all over again by doing what the false teachers were suggesting and thinking that circumcision was the gateway to progress in the Christian life.
Never forget that the believer is essentially free. He has been given a get out of jail free card by the Lord. He must not be tempted to surrender that card by thinking that a religious ritual of one sort or another can take him forward as a Christian. We are sons of God not slaves.
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