Biblical Freedom- Galatians 2:1-6

In our previous post we examined Paul’s explanation of the freedom we have in Christ. We saw how we have been set free from our search for meanìng and purpose, how we have found them in Christ and are now free from the expectations of others, free to be what we are created to be and do what we are created to do. Paul himself provides an example of this in telling us about his own experiences in Galatians 2. We will look at verses 1-6 in order to see how this freedom played out in Paul’s life and how that may help us experience the same thing in our own lives. The church in Galatia was infiltrated by a group known as Judaizers, who were trying to tell believers they had to be circumcised to be saved. He begins in verse 1 with a reference to a trip he had made earlier to Jerusalem to see the Apostles in reference to this issue of circumcision and the role of the Jewish law for Christians. He went “in response to a revelation”, for apparently God had told him to go to Jerusalem and “set before them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles”. What we want to take paricular note of is Paul’s state of mind as he does so. He tells us he does so “privately” and “for fear that I was running my race in vain”. He had been told by our Lord that he was to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and now these false teachers have him doubting his message and his calling, his purpose (apostle to the Gentiles) and identity (called to be an apostle). He recieves his answer in verse 3, in which the Apostles tell him that Titus (a Gentile) did not have to be circumcised, thus verifying his message and calling, purpose and identity. Notice the change in tone in verse 4, with Paul now boldly proclaiming these Judaizers as false brothers who had caused him to doubt his identity, calling and purpose (this is primarily what the devil uses false brothers for). Paul had rediscovered the meaning and purpose for his life, he had found freedom, no longer going around “in private” or in fear. This discovery freed him to be what he was created to be and do what he was created to do. He was no longer enslaved by the opinions and expectations of others, he had rediscovered his true worth and identity in Christ, free from letting others define him and give him his sense of worth, no longer doubting due to false teachers, but convinced of his mission and purpose. He is now secure in what he is doing and, as a result, he does not “give in to them for a moment” (verse 5). The opinions of others now make no difference (although apart from his trip to Jerusalem they may very well have made a difference), he is at peace and at rest with who he is and what he is called to do, no longer judged by the opinions of people (verse 6) and not letting them hinder his message or his mission any longer. What we see here in Paul is true biblical freedom. Paul has been set free from the bondage of worrying about the opinions of others and free for being what he was created to be and doing what he was created to do. This happened because he rediscovered (through the Apostles) his worth and identity, resting in the fact that he knew the meaning and purpose of his life, no longer influenced by the opinions and expectations of others and no longer letting them hinder his mission or his message. May we all make the same discovery in our own lives, and live them out with the same sense of meaning, purpose, and peace, living in true biblical freedom.