“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” Galatians 5:5 (NAS)
Paul told the Galatians, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (5:1). We may conclude then, that Christ did not intend for us to return to the bondage that held us before He set us free. Yet, the Galatian believers were deceived into accepting circumcision as an additional instrument of freedom. But Paul warned them, “if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you” (v.3). Whether Jew or Gentile believers, they were “seeking to be justified by law” and by this action had “fallen from grace” (v.4).
On the 4th of July (tomorrow), Americans will celebrate our 233rd year of liberation from the bondage of British rule. It was for freedom that the early Americans gave their lives to set us free. If we were to reject the American experience and subject our nation to the British monarchy, then we would in fact be fallen from the liberty wherein we were set free. The Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the sacrifices of those patriots would be of no benefit to us.
Of course, the Apostle Paul is warning against spiritual bondage, and encourages the Galatians to live by faith in Christ rather than living by a set of rules. He explains that living by faith comes by the power of the Spirit and is exercised in patience. Impatience drives people to follow rules, but there is no hope in rules; there is no righteousness in rules.
There is righteousness only through the one who is righteous, Jesus Christ. For God “made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NAS). So, “we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” It is this eternal hope for which Christ has set us free.
Dear Father, thank you for the hope and righteousness we have in Christ. Empower us to persevere in hope. In the name of Jesus I pray. AMEN
Be encouraged today by the freedom of hope,