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For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Because Jesus died for you He has done the work of salvation for you. You are not bound to any man, you are FREE! Sadly, too many of us are so self-centered we focus more on the fact that no one has the right to tell us what to do we miss the fact that there’s a difference between what we have to do and what we should do. If my freedom causes harm to others, I should not take advantage of that freedom. “I have the right to do that!” is not the call of the Christian. Giving up what you have a right to, for the sake of the weakness of another, is exactly what Jesus did by going to the cross. It is our chance to live the gospel. Don’t worry about your rights, worry about building up others.

the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Sometimes the son feels like a slave. “Why are you always telling me what to do!?” Well, it’s not because I own you, it’s because I love you. One day, all this will be yours and I need to ensure you grow up correctly. Do not act like a petulant child when the Lord corrects you. Don’t act like you’re “someone” when a brother or sister in Christ attempts to lovingly correct you, they may be speaking God’s word into your life. We are not under the “elementary principles of this world” (that is to say, the Mosaic Law, the basic governing precepts) because we have the Spirit of God in us. We DO follow God, but not because we are obligated under the law like a slave, we are obligated by who we are, the heir. We are not free to simply act however we see fit, we are being moulded and shaped to receive the inheritance of the entire world. Follow the Lord, not because you have to, but because He lets you!

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

We do not want to live by the letter of the law. Though that is truly “Justice” none of us can even hope to come close to living-up to that standard. This is the fundamental misunderstanding of the Pharisees who opposed Jesus. They, better than most, should have understood the weight of the law… it is impossible for us. We are saved by faith in Jesus’ fulfillment of the law. You are seen as blameless as Christ if you have made Him your savior. We are not defined by our past, we are not defined by our shortcomings, we are not even defined by who we are… we are defined by Jesus and His work on the cross. You are given a promise!

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

So much of Paul’s ministry is calling out those in the church to live out the gospel. Please don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can hide in your own bubble by rarely attending church services and you can then choose to live however you please. Equally dangerous is thinking how fellow church members live their lives is none of your business, may it never be! We are obliged to confront sin within our church. This is not a blog post, it is a direct confrontation for the gospel. This is not ego driven, it is for the good news of Jesus Christ to not be held back. How much Paul loved Peter to confront him! Peter was THE Apostle (with a capital “A”), and Paul was the one who needed to prove himself, yet the gospel was worth more than Paul’s reputation, and Peter WAS the pillar of the church and received Paul’s rebuke with humility and grace. What an example of how we do not seek or expect even the greatest church leaders to be perfect. We must always be learning, growing, and leading.

It has become a tradition for me to post about “uncle Mel” on D-Day. So here it is. Thank you to all the men and women who sacrifice so much for our freedoms.

On this day, 72 years ago, Ernest Melvin Morrison (“Mel” to his family, “Ernie” to his mom) jumped out of a plane and parachuted into France, it was D-Day.

I am proud to know my family was a part of this momentous fight.

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