In the contemporary first world, gospels of freedom abound.
There is no shortage of ‘good news’ messages promoting liberation from the status quo of conservative beliefs and behaviours. Many of the popular ideological movements promoting these gospels target traditional stances on gender, religion, politics, economics, diet, family, and more!
Whilst freedom is always promised in principle, we have to question: Is it delivered in practice?
As liberating as these gospels appear, a closer look exposes little more than the exchange of dominating ideologies. More often than not, the liberation from one oppressive ideology ends in the enslavement to another. Indeed, not a few citizens, who have shunned the apparent evils of capitalism in favour of communism, eventually encountered a greater bondage under their new ‘freedom’!
The truth is, it is humanly impossible to be free from the insatiable self-oriented ‘I ‘which relentlessly pursues the illusion of self-manufactured freedom.
But there is one notable exception!
When the apostle Paul offers a gospel of freedom to the ancient Galatians, self- manufactured freedom could not be further from his mind. On the contrary, Paul advocated freedom in its purest sense; freedom that arises by addressing human slavery at its source —the inner ‘I’.
Paul understood that a person will always remain enslaved until they are free from the corrupted inner self and its futile quest for self- imposed liberation. Specifically, in order to be free from the power of the sin nature and the religious legalism that attempts to suppress it, Paul advanced that the natural self, the ‘I’, needs to be completely disempowered.
But how is such disempowerment possible?
Through the practice of religious rituals, obedience to moral laws, rigorous spiritual disciplines, and works of self-denying charitable service? No! Self-imposed moral works will do no good because the self-determined religious self is simply another manifestation of the carnal self seeking ‘I’.
For Paul, disempowerment of the self-oriented ‘I’ that leads to true emancipation, can only come about through an intimate connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The freedom seeker’s wilful self must be crucified with Christ before it can be freed to truly live! As such he writes…
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
For Paul, through faith in God, the natural ‘I’ must be reckoned as crucified— disempowered by union with Christ’s death. Being ‘dead’, it is no longer able to dominate as the force animating the self-willed moral life. Furthermore, by virtue of the same mystical (spiritual) connection with Christ, the benefits of His new creation resurrection apply, thus the new ‘I’ is reckoned as raised up with Christ.
The new life that the crucified/resurrected ‘I’ now manifests, with all its necessary moral decisions and actions, is then guided and empowered by the Christ within (present as the Holy Spirit), to live freely for God, unimpeded by the guilt of sin and the fear of law.
Yet, some Christians, not only in Paul’s day but ours, perceive that Christ’s death only frees the sinner from the penalty of sins—not the sin nature’s power. From this perspective, the beleaguered Christian is obliged to revert to law-keeping or religious activities to actively suppress the lingering power of indwelling sin.
But is this person simply fleeing from the slavery of sin only to embrace the slavery of law? Is their quest for freedom just as illusionary as a capitalist seeking freedom in communism?
What does Paul say?
‘You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?’ Galatians 3:1-3 (NIV)
For Paul, going back to the observance of religious law, in order to suppress the lingering power of sin, is to deny the great work God has wrought in our favor through Christ and the Spirit—past and present. In fact, he advances a long argument justifying that the law cannot bring freedom from sin but rather reinforces slavery to it.
As a consequence, the apostle makes his most radical statement yet…
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
Paul is clear, freedom transcends the process of the gospel—it is the goal of the gospel!
In the original Greek language, Paul uses the definite article in the dative case in the wording of the statement, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’. He does so to individualize and draw special attention to the subject matter of freedom. Though it is hard to literally translate, the best rendering is, ‘It is for freedom ‘itself’ that you have been set free!’ Or, to paraphrase, the purpose of being set free is that you might be free!
The goal of the gospel is freedom. The gospel of Jesus Christ sets the sinner free—free from the penalty of sin, free from the power of sin, free from the judgment of law, free from religious striving, and most importantly free from the controlling desires of self-serving ‘I’!
The truly emancipated believer is now free to be what God intended and free to live how they want! The question is: What does a truly free person want?
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13
As a consequence of receiving God’s grace through Jesus Christ, Paul realises there will be a temptation to redirect this grace-granted freedom ‘self-ward’. Consequently, he challenges his readers to resist such inclinations and give their freedom a true God-honoring expression—practical love!
For Paul, there is only one truly edifying outlet for freedom; only one legitimate way to express it—other-person oriented loving service. In fact, the only place freedom can practically operate is within the realm of selfless love.
Why is this so?
Returning to our opening comments about freedom in principle and practice. Love enables freedom ‘in practice’ to be sustained; because the application of self-less love is an effective antidote for the two things that Paul saw as potentially enslaving the believer—sin and law.
Firstly, self-less love works contrary to the selfish ‘I’. To love selflessly, one must deny themselves. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, devoting one’s life to the genuine interests of the other, constantly suppresses the power of the self-willed ‘I’ to reassert itself.
Secondly, genuine love nullifies the power of the law to reassert its judgement. Why? Because loving others is what the law is really about, ‘For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Gal 5:14 If one is keeping the intention of the law through genuine acts of love, how can the Law continue to condemn them?
True Christianity does not demand obedience or forcefully incite submission, so as to re-subject its adherents to another form of religious slavery. No, it compels voluntary loving devotion by virtue of Christ’s liberating work for us and in us.
Ultimately, the gospel of Jesus Christ brings true freedom. Based on union with Christ’s work it disempowers the very source of all human slavery—the self-oriented ‘I’. Having been liberated through connection to Christ’s death and resurrection, the believer is empowered by the indwelling Christ to live out a life of voluntary self-less love, and in so doing practically ensures that sin and law will not reassert their enslaving power over the emancipated self.
In the end, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true gospel of freedom, because the freedom promised in principle can be sustained in practice!
Spirit & Truth 
true
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