1It 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.
2Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 10I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
This thought is important to us, not just as Christians, but as Americans. If we strip away the cultural anachronism of circumcision here, there is much that is instructive to 21st century America.
It is a paradoxical human truth that we struggle do deal with freedom, and all too often, we voluntarily surrender it for the comfort of slavery. That is what Paul is talking about here.
Look at America. Before Washington could even finish taking the oath of office, many Americans were ready to make him king, even though they had just sacrificed to throw off the burden of monarchical oppression. Had not FDR died, how many terms would Americans have allowed him to serve? Look at us today. We are quick to run to the government to solve our problems, surrendering our liberty in the process. Rather than exercising our liberty and dealing with the consequences, we are ready to surrender it in search of a "magic fix."
This tendency goes hand in hand with our selfishness. It can be argued that we have arrived at this current mess due in large part to our own self-indulgences. Paul gives strict warning against this. Freedom brings liberty, but not license. We Americans have struggled with this. Over the years, we have treated our freedom much like a teenager left alone in the house for the first time. We have indulged ourselves on debt and debauchery, not denying ourselves anything. We can readily see the results. It has carried us down the road to destruction as a nation. And instead of accepting our responsibility for our selfishness, we have pointed the finger at others and have run to our "daddy," the government, to fix it all. This approach will not sustain our liberty. It will only ensure our continued dependence.
What Paul preaches is true. It is only when we exercise our liberty in the service of others; in the pursuit of mutual edification, that this freedom can be productive. That is the role for the Christian, and that is the role for America.
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