“For Freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 RSV as all quotes).
As we think about some of the terms Paul uses here we’re impressed by his commanding and authoritative words. He offers us godly concepts such as: freedom, standing fast, and not slipping into slavery.
He repeated the same strong message to the ecclesia at Corinth: “…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” (I Cor. 15:58). “Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong” (16:13).
To the Ephesians he wrote:”Stand …gird your loins with truth…put on the breastplate of righteousness…” (Eph. 6:14).
And those at Philippi he urged: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ…stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).
Commands seem to bind, not free, us
From the Bible we are set upon by mighty, awesome ethical standards, which often seem too lofty and glorious to possibly fit into our meager, inept everyday life. So absolute are these ideals that we are overwhelmed by the very height of their calling.
We might ask ourselves: Is this what it means to be in Christ, to walk in the way, to be held by the Truth, and to submit to the gospel? What an overwhelming catalogue of rules and requirements. Is this the freedom Jesus spoke about in John 8:36? “…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Paul sensitive to our weakness
Shortly after saying: “For freedom Christ has set us free…” (Gal. 5:1), Paul echoes in verse 13: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.”
Paul’s greatest strength was his insight into the moral frailty of mankind; he knew human nature. He understood how easy it was to become entangled once again in the yoke of uncertainty and doubt. We find this illustrated in his selfless, noble concern for the lambs of his Master who were committed to his care: “Apart from other things,” he said, “there id the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches” (II Cor. 11:28)
Take my yoke upon you
There is another yoke which bonds the believer to his Lord in a rare, exquisite relationship. Jesus, out of the depths of divine love for his redeemed illustrated this: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).
0, what joy it is to reach only a little beyond our grasp, and so gain this singular divine comfort. If it is far beyond our reach, perhaps it is because, in off-guarded moments, we have put back on the other “yoke,” which again hinders us from obtaining this gracious gift of rest.
We look with envy at the men and women in the scriptures who found the secret of peace under stress, joy in the midst of woe, and calm in the center of the storm. They reached out to the only place they knew where they could find faithful help: their Lord.
Call upon the Lord — pray
Let’s join some of these people of God as they were tried, yet prevailed. From the very beginning when God thought to create, certain divine principles were established: God’s desire was to first glorify Himself, and then to form an association with those who accepted and came to know Him. Among His many gifts to the believers were several by which they could communicate with Him. One was the institution of prayer wherein men and women were permitted to petition and entreat their creator. The other was the promise by God that He would be with the faithful.
These two bountiful gestures are echoed in almost every relationship God had with men and women down throughout the centuries. Very early in time, it is written in Genesis 4:26, men began to call upon the Name of the Lord.
As we carefully follow the unfolding stories of the Bible, the tedium of time is quickened for us because of the grace of God: He hearkens with empathy to all sincere, urgent petitions and pleadings from those who choose to belong to Him. His answer is sure, and the end certain. Joel writes of this in 2:32: “And it shall come to pass that all who call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered…”
David, the sweet Psalmist, quotes the Lord: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).
God’s promise to Jeremiah in the guardhouse was a true word of surety: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to be established; the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known” (Jer. 33:2,3).
In the New Testament, we have deeply sensitive illustrations of the desire of the Almighty to have all believers call upon the Name both of the Father and His Son. “Come to me,” said Jesus, “all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). “Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like…” [the one who built his house on the rock!] (Lk. 6:47).
And what of the future?
Paul, writing to the ecclesia in Rome, said: “Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
In the great clarion-call of Jesus Christ at his Revelation when he returns, we shall see him as he is, and will hear him say of us: “He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels…I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God…and my own new name…I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on His throne…I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father, and I will give him the morning star” (Rev. 3:5,12,21;2:26-28).
I will be with you
This great truth of God referred to Jesus Christ His Son, and is expressed in the prophecy of Isaiah, 7:14: “Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).”
Paul, in Romans 9:24-26, focuses on the glorious fact of Gentile inclusion in the salvation plan of God: “…even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles. As indeed he said in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘my beloved’…they will be called the sons of the living God.”
“I am with you” is a prevailing divine principle flowing from God to all believers. From Genesis to the Revelation this is His covenant vow. Jesus, demonstrating his oneness with his Father says: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20); and as he left his disciples to go to his Father he promised: “…I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Paul confidently exclaimed, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
God with us
Joseph, as a parallel type of Christ, was favored because “the LORD was with him.” We see here a fascinating play on words, for Christ was called Immanuel, God with us.
The most gracious commitment our Lord could make to us was that He would be with us. To understand what God meant by this depends utterly upon our sincere, prayerful reading of His word and believing it. Without a doubt God loves us, and as a result has entered into a binding covenant with us. As a token of the great love for each of us, accompanied by our own response, He pledged to Israel, and to all believers: “Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isa. 41:10).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One