Grace in Galatians (Part 130): Christ Set You Free, Now Stay Free
Today, we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.
Key scriptures for this year:
(2 Corinthians 9:8 TPT)
"Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do."
(Galatians 5:4 TPT)
"If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!"
(Romans 6:14 ERV)
"Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God's grace."
(1 Corinthians 15:10 CEV)
"But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's grace at work and not me."
Scripture we will study today:
(Galatians 5:1 TPT)
“Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and desperately hold to it and keep on standing your ground in it—and never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”
(Galatians 5:1 NLT)
“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the Law.”
(Galatians 5:1 NIV)
“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.”
Supporting scriptures:
(John 8:36 NLT)
“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
(2 Corinthians 3:17 NLT)
“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
(Romans 8:15 TPT)
“And you did not receive the ‘spirit of religious duty,’ leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the ‘Spirit of full acceptance,’ enfolding you into the family of God.”
Setting the Stage:
We have now arrived at Galatians chapter 5. This is a pivotal moment in Paul’s letter. For four chapters, Paul has been laying a theological groundwork. He has argued from history, he has argued from Scripture, he has argued from personal experience, and he has argued using the allegory of Sarah and Hagar. He has proven that the Law was a temporary guardian, that we are now sons of God through faith, and that we are children of the free woman (Grace), not the slave woman (Law).
Now, in chapter 5, Paul shifts from explanation to application. He moves from studying doctrine to our present duty as believers. Based on everything he has just proven, he issues a command. He essentially says, “Since you are children of the free woman, ACT LIKE IT!“
Galatians 5:1 is the summary verse of the entire letter. It captures the heart of the gospel of grace. Paul declares that Christ has set us free (completely and wonderfully free), and now our responsibility is to STAND FIRM in that freedom. We must refuse to allow anyone to put the “yoke” or “harness” of the bondage of the Law back on our necks.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Freedom Was the Goal of Your Salvation.
Paul starts by saying, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1 NIV). Think about that. Jesus didn’t just save you to take you to heaven when you die. He saved you so you could be FREE right now! Freedom wasn’t a byproduct of salvation; it was one of the main purposes of it.
How this applies to you:
— God wants you free from the guilt and condemnation of sin.
— God wants you free from the pressure to perform to earn His love.
— God wants you free from the fear of judgment and punishment.
— God wants you free from the opinions and expectations of religious people.
— Salvation is about restoring the liberty Adam had in the Garden before sin entered.
— If your Christian life feels like a burden, you are not living in the freedom Christ paid for!
— You were created to live unencumbered, light, and full of joy, not weighed down by rules.
— Once you are unencumbered by the pressure to perform or to comply with external rules, you are then completely free to live in the Spirit.
— When you are free from the Law, you are finally positioned to be led by the Spirit by focusing on His divine promptings, instead of external rules.
— Jesus set you free so that the Spirit could guide you from the inside out, not so that rules could control you from the outside in.
2. You Must Intentionally Stand Firm in Your Freedom.
Paul commands us to “stand firm” (NIV) or “keep on standing your ground” (TPT). Why does he have to give this command? Because freedom is always under attack! The enemy, the world, and religious systems will constantly try to pull you back into bondage. Freedom is not automatic; it must be defended.
How this applies to you:
— You have to fight to stay in rest! Hebrews 4 tells us to “labor to enter into rest.” You have to work on not working!
— When you mess up, the enemy will immediately try to put the chains of condemnation back on you, and you have to fight against every thought that wants to put you in bondage.
— You must make a conscious decision every day to rely on grace and not your own strength.
— You must stand your ground and say, “No! I am the righteousness of God in Christ!“
— I remember the first time I heard someone teach this. It was Pastor Creflo Dollar, and he said that even when you sin, in the middle of your sin, for this to really get down in your heart, you should say out loud, “I am the righteousness of God by faith.” Because in that moment, your mind and everything else would be telling you that you are not righteous.
— I know it sounds counterintuitive, and some religious people would attempt to say that you’re lying to yourself or that you’re not really righteous. But the only way to fully embrace God’s righteousness is to decouple and disconnect it from your performance. The more I did this, the more this teaching finally got a hold of my heart.
— Now I know that I am righteous, and it is not because of what I do or what I fail to do. I’m only righteous because of what Jesus did!
— When you truly stand firm in grace-based righteousness, the enemy loses his leverage over you; he can no longer use your failures to drag you back into bondage because your standing with God was never based on your performance in the first place!
3. The Law is a Yoke of Slavery.
Paul uses the imagery of a “yoke” (NIV) or “harness” (TPT). In agriculture, a yoke was a heavy wooden frame placed on the necks of oxen to control them and force them to work. It restricted their movement and burdened them. Paul calls the Law a “yoke of slavery.” It turns sons into servants and freedom into labor.
How this applies to you:
— The Law is heavy. In Acts 15, Peter called it a yoke that “neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear.”
— When you try to live by the Law, you carry a weight God never intended you to carry.
— A yoke restricts your vision and your movement. The Law limits what you can see (in the Spirit), and what you even attempt to do, because you never “feel” good enough.
— Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). If your walk with God feels heavy, hard, and restrictive, you are wearing the wrong yoke!
— When you are a servant, you have to do things. When you are a son, you get to do things.
— Refuse to let religious leaders or traditions put a heavy harness on your neck that Jesus already took off!
— Jesus didn’t die to give you a lighter version of the Law; He died to give you an entirely different system called grace!
— The yoke of the Law says, “Do this and you might be accepted.” The yoke of grace says, “You are already accepted; now watch what I do through you!”
4. Going Back to Slavery is a Choice You Must Reject.
Notice Paul says, “Do not LET yourselves be burdened again.” This implies that going back to the Law is a choice. You have a say in the matter! You were born in sin, so you didn’t have a choice about being a sinner. But once you are Born-Again, you have the power to choose whether to live as a free son or a bound servant.
How this applies to you:
— God will allow whatever you allow, and He will permit whatever you permit. After all the teaching you’ve received from the Apostle Paul, after reading the Word of God for yourself, and after hearing what I’ve shared in this series, if you still choose to live under the bondage of the Law, that’s on you, not God. He has made freedom available; it’s up to you to receive it and stand in it!
— You are the gatekeeper of your own heart and mind. You must refuse the yoke.
— When thoughts of “I haven’t done enough” or “God is mad at me” come, you must reject them immediately! If you don’t reject those thoughts, if you allow yourself to spiral into guilt, shame, and condemnation, if you get to the point where you’re battling despair or even depression, understand this: it’s not God’s fault! The whole time you’re sinking, God is right there, arms wide open, waiting for you to accept the freedom He already purchased for you. He’s not causing your bondage; He’s offering you the way out!
— Do not volunteer for slavery when Jesus died for your freedom!
— Galatians 5:1 is a command to resist spiritual regression.
— You have tasted the goodness of grace; why would you go back to the bitterness of the Law?
— Every time you choose to believe God’s love over your performance, you are standing firm.
— IT’S ALREADY DONE! The price has been paid, the chains have been broken, and the door to your prison cell is wide open. The only thing left is for you to walk out and never look back!
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You that Christ has set me free from the curse and bondage of the Law!
I declare that freedom is my birthright and my daily reality.
I refuse to allow the enemy or religious people to put a yoke of slavery back on my neck.
I stand firm in the freedom of the Gospel of Grace.
I reject condemnation, fear, and the pressure to perform.
My righteousness comes from Jesus alone, and in Him, I am secure.
I cast off the heavy burdens of the Law and take on the easy yoke of Jesus.
I will not be entangled again with a mindset of servitude; I am a Son!
I cherish the truth of my freedom, and I desperately hold to it.
I am Living the Grace Life, free to love and serve You, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!
This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!
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