"yoke of freedom"
Satellite
oct 22

Judaizers had been teaching that the gentile believers could not be true Christian unless they submitted to the Jewish ordinance of circumcision, and the Law of Moses [(the twum lwe) the yoke of the commandments]

This becomes a “Christ and… “ philosophy. You need the cross, but you also need circumcision, or the law or whatever. This philosophy is a lie. We need Christ, period. But these Judaizers were teaching people that in order to be a follower of Christ they needed more than Christ.

Paul writes this letter to the Galatians to urge them that they do not need to submit to the law. As I’ve been reading through Galatians I’ve been struck with trying to understand how to understand “the Law.” For first century Galatians the law represents the religious system of the Jews. Here’s where I struggle: I don’t know any Jews that follow the law. So as I strive to understand what it must be like to be persuaded to resort to living under the law, I struggle because the law isn’t anything that’s apart of my life right now. I understand the historical law, but a modern or current law is something I’ve been thinking about.

QUESTION:
Is there a contemporary understanding to “the Law”?
I wonder if pluralism/relativism could be a contemporary law.

I think that this question is important as we look at this portion of the letter that Paul sent to this church. If we don’t understand that law that he is writing about then we risk taking these verses out of context, something we should always be careful of.

We’re going to be looking at Galatians 5, and I would encourage you all to spend some time reading the whole letter so you have some context to this portion. When we come to this part of the letter, Paul is preparing to make his boldest comments about not submitting to the law if you claim to be in Christ. I want to look at verse one tonight. It’s a simple verse with two main thoughts, but its implications are huge. So I’ll break it up into the two thoughts, but first hear the verse as a whole:

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.

Or in another version:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free

This “freedom” or “liberty,” as other versions may say is something contrasting to the law itself. Were it not so, Paul would have no need to write it. The law was not established with freedom in mind. Listen to some verses regarding the law.


Hebrews 10:1-4
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 7:19
(for the law made nothing perfect)…

Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, GOD did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.


Romans 3:21-24
But now a righteousness from GOD, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from GOD comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.


The law is something that binds people to itself. The law is a huge topic that could take years to talk about, and we don’t have that kind of time available here. Listen to what Jesus says:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly no enter the kingdom of heaven.

Does this sound like something that gives freedom? It doesn’t to me. I believe that this is why Paul goes to this extent to say that freedom is why Christ has set us free. It almost sounds silly though, doesn’t it? It’s almost redundant, huh? Freedom is why we are set free. While this is redundant, I believe it’s something that the Galatians needed to hear. The law was not able to make them free. When Jesus became the fulfillment of the law there was freedom. Jesus blood became the atonement that the law needed to offer freedom. The sacrifices for the law were not able to offer redemption from sins; rather they offered appeasement to the law itself. It is by the blood of Jesus that we find freedom.

So, if the Galatians are accepting Jesus blood for salvation, yet turning back to the law, which cannot cleans them, it is as if they don’t truly believe that Jesus blood has set them free. Does this make sense? This is why Paul makes this redundant statement that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”


Stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with a yoke of slavery again.

Judaizers had been teaching that the gentile believers could not be true Christian unless they submitted to the Jewish ordinance of circumcision, and the Law of Moses [(the twum lwe) the yoke of the commandments]


As I began to study through this verse I originally thought that this “yoke” that is used was more like a rabbinical yoke. A child desiring to be taught by a rabbi would find the rabbi that he wants to study under and if the child was found worthy then the rabbi would tell the child to “take my yoke upon you.” This yoke was a word that was used to mean the rabbi’s specific teaching about the law. Check out Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis for a really good understanding of the whole process.

I thought that Paul was talking about a way of teaching, but as I looked into the wording that he used it seems more likely that he is using the word yoke as if he were talking to animals. The words Paul uses throughout this sentence give us some direction.

The word entangled, or burdened, comes from the Greek word Enecho. This word means ”to be held in or by,” to be entangled in something,” to be subject to.” In it’s literal translation the word means,”to have it in for.” Literally, this yoke of slavery was something that has it in for those who are under it. This isn’t the rabbinical teaching. This is something that binds, captures, entangles, and ensnared. This is why Paul must warn people to watch out for it.

In the book of Acts we see a similar warning about the law. Peter is speaking to the council in Jerusalem. There were people here who were teaching that people must be circumcised if they were going to follow Chirst.

Acts 15:10-11
Now then, why do you try to test GOD by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.

This yoke of the law is not a yoke of freedom; it’s a yoke of bondage. But here’s our hope. We are not slaves to the law. We are not subject to the law. Christ has become the atonement for the law, and He offers us a yoke of freedom. Jesus make his yoke visible to us in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus says:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Did you hear it? Jesus is telling those who are burdened and weary, those who are entangled, and those who are subject to and under the authority of the law that he has a yoke that give freedom. This is a yoke that will give you rest and peace and will help carry your burden. This is the yoke that the Galatians needed to be reminded about. This is the yoke that we need to be reminded about..