Verse 1 of Galations 5 reminds us that Christ has given us liberty and freedom from the yoke of bondage.  He is addressing the bondage that comes by the law.  Paul instructs, "Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  He refers to slavery under the yoke of the law.  We do have a law to which we are accountable.  God did not give the Commandments and the various instructions in the Pentateuch just so Moses would have material to fill his blog.  Problems with the law came when man decided to get involved.

The Pharisees were famous for adding to the law apart from the instruction of God to do so.  Jesus told the crowds, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them . . . Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Matt. 23:1-15, the "seven woes" go to verse 36).  The Pharisees had added so much to the law, that it had indeed become a ridiculous thing, and impossible to keep.  If someone were to spit on the ground on the Sabbath, and it made a dent in the ground, he would be guilty of breaking the law for plowing on the Sabbath; if someone were to pull out a gray hair on the Sabbath, she would be guilty of breaking the law for reaping on the Sabbath.  Chain after chain was put upon the people, and God was not responsible.

The fact is that even though God did give the law, He always knew sinful man could not keep it--God is never taken by surprise.  He always knew that there would be a need for a Savior.  Revelation 13:8 refers to Him as the "Lamb slain from the creation of the world."  The plan was in place long before man broke the law. 

So why even give a law at all?  The law of God was sent to reveal to us how very sinful and needy we are.  It reveals our many areas of shortcoming.  Before the Pharisees ever overburdened the people, there was no way even the most devout person could ever fulfill living by the whole law; no way to be "good" in the eyes of God's law.  Mankind needed a Savior to do it on our behalf.  The unfortunate truth is that even though Jesus came into this sinful world and did live a perfect life on our behalf--taught us, showed us what to do--we still needed a sacrifice to fulfill the old covenant, "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said, 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased.  Then I said, Here am I--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do Your will, O God.' First He said 'sacrifices and offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them' (although the law required them to be made). Then He said, 'Here I am, I have come to do Your will.' He set aside the first to establish the second.  And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all" (Hebrews10:5-10).

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ did what we could never hope to do--freed us from the yoke of the law and brought us into the dispensation of grace. The law of circumcision promoted many prejudices, not just through the Pharisees, but in the whole Jewish community.  Just as the Pharisees made things difficult for the other Jews, the Jews made things difficult for everybody else.  Paul's satire in addressing that prejudice is evident in Galations 5:12: "As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" That's funny! He continues, "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.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  If you keep on devouring one another, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other" (13-15).

Prejudices, name-calling, back-biting, and accusing are all things we could probably get away with under our laws, but Jesus Christ has paid our debt and called us to a higher standard where we are not to be conformed "any longer to the pattern of this world, but [to] be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2).

Heavenly Father, I thank You so much for making a way to deliver me from the curse of the law which I could never keep.  Thank You that although I daily deserve the death penalty, You have taken that penalty for me, and I am free.  Help me always to use that freedom, which is Your gift to me, to walk in love, and to help to spread Your Word and build Your kingdom on this planet. Amen