Thoughts on Galatians 5:1

In his book Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, John Piper lists “to abolish circumcision and ALL rituals as the basis of salvation” as one of them (Piper). In the context of this verse Paul is especially talking about circumcision when he refers to the “yoke of slavery.” But Jesus did not die on the cross just so we wouldn’t have to get our manhood cut on. He died to free us from ALL rituals that were seen as contributing to the salvation of a person. This verse specifically answers the question “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” The answer is in the first two words of this verse: “for freedom.” Jesus came to set the Galatians free of the legalism of the Judaizers who were insisting on their circumcision. He came to die to free us from the legalism of self-righteous Christians who insist that salvation is to be gained by the suit we wear to church, the size of the check we put in the offering, or the decibel level of our prayers. They say salvation is to be lost by the percentage of alcohol in our drinks, the number of piercings in our bodies, or the “unchristian” music or movies we enjoy. For those of us who live our lives in the freedom that Christ affords we face pressure from “traditional Christians” whose traditions are not even grounded Biblically. We are pressured to wear our “Sunday best”, to not listen to “that” music or watch “those” movies, or do anything that would make said traditionalists uncomfortable. The Galatians were also being pressured to live according to the traditions of the Judaizers. What does Paul tell them? “Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Paul is telling them that they were once slaves to human tradition but Jesus died to set them free from human tradition as a means of salvation. He says now that you are free don’t go run back to the shackle and chains of tradition. Instead, live in the freedom that Jesus gives.

I should say here that I am not making a sweeping statement that all tradition is bad. It is due to tradition that through the years the church has fought many attacks and heresies and lived on to be a force in peoples lives today. We owe much of what we have today to the traditions passed on by the early church fathers and through generations. What I do demand of traditions is that they be rooted in the Bible. They must be grounded in God’s word. If you subscribe to a tradition related to the church show me where that tradition is rooted in Scripture. If you cannot then it is merely your opinion. Period.

I am also not saying that because we are not bound by the chains of tradition we should make an effort to rebel against “traditional Christianity”. As Paul tells the Corinthians “’All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up.” Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. Our actions should be from the heart and done in love. We have the freedom to be who God created us to be; and the freedom not to be who tradition says we should be. Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, says the best advice he has ever received as a church planter came from John Piper and it is this: “Be a sanctified version of yourself.”