The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Ten: "It Is for Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free" (Galatians 5:1-12)
Paul exhorts the Galatians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” But this is an unlikely assertion for a well-known religious figure like Paul the Apostle, to make. Most people would expect Paul to shout something like, “try harder, do better, live a godly and good life. This is what God wants from you.” But people who think such things have never read Paul’s letter to the Galatians. They think the essence of religion in general and Christianity in particular is good behavior, not a gospel. But apart from our union with Christ through faith and a justifying righteousness imputed to us, works of law only condemn and make us even guiltier. This is why Paul grounds the Christian life in the freedom won for us by Jesus Christ.
Resources for Episode Ten:
Herman Bavinck on the Perseverance of the Saints
Scott Clark on Perseverance as Good News for Sinners
J. I. Packer on Faith and Love (among 17th century theologians)
John Calvin on Christian Liberty
Michael Horton on Recovering the Art of Christian Prudence
Bibliography for the Series:
F. F. Bruce, Paul: The Apostle of the Heart Set Free
Guy Waters, The Life and Theology of Paul
Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians
Moo, Galatians (Baker Exegetical Commentary)
J. V. Fesko, Galatians, Lectio Continua Series
Music (Shutterstock): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92m, second movement, Allegretto (A minor)