1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
(NRSV)
Some of the images here in this piece from Paul’s letter to the Galatians are quite poignant, but perhaps none as much as the idea of freedom as slavery to one another. The idea of freedom is so often filled with self-serving concepts. We think of freedom in terms of ‘freedom from’—free from slavery, free from school, free from sin, free from having to listen to our parents, freedom from… Such a view of freedom becomes self-indulgent. It sets my own personal, individual happiness up as the source and measure of my freedom. I am free so long as I can do whatever I want… whatever makes me happy. But Paul is saying that true freedom—the kind of freedom that Christ has brought—is not freedom from, but freedom for. It is a freedom for love. Paul says that the entire law is summed up in love.
Dr. Oord defines loves this way: “To love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic/empathetic response to God and others, to promote overall well-being.” I think that is a pretty good definition. I’ll leave it to you to unpack (If you want to read more let me recommend the book, Relational Holiness, that he coauthored with Michael Lodahl). Suffice it to say that love defined in this way is not self-seeking or self-indulgent, nor is it wimpy. Dr. Oord talks about this love as a kenotic love—a self-giving love. The idea comes from the hymn in Philippians 2. Charles Wesley includes this idea in one of his hymns saying that God “emptied himself of all but love.” Love is God’s way; it is also the way in which God calls us to follow. It must become our way as well.
Jesus calls us to follow in the way of love. The hope of the future is that we (the church) learn to live out this love the way Jesus wants us to.
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