Podcast Introduction In our reading today we’ll complete the book of Galatians with the reading of chapters 4-6. I’m calling today’s episode “I Choose Freedom.” Comments on Galatians Paul’s biggest concern with the Galatian church was that some believed the teaching of the false teachers who were saying that it was necessary to follow the Mosaic Law. In chapter 5:2-4, Paul answered that teaching very succinctly. “2I, Paul, promise you that Christ won’t do you any good if you get circumcised. 3If you do, you must obey the whole Law. 4And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his gift of undeserved grace.” Paul was saying that by attempting to follow the Law, they would actually be denying the message of the Gospel, and therefore denying Christ. Attempting to please God by following the Law is the exact opposite of placing your faith in Jesus. In following the Law, or “Legalism”, it is impossible to please God, because it is impossible to follow the whole Law. Our only hope of salvation is in Jesus.  Paul said in verse one of chapter five, “Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.” There are those who will wholeheartedly agree with Paul here because they are not Jews. But these same people have adopted their own list of laws. Don’t drink, don’t smoke and don’t go with girls who do. You get the idea. There are denominations within Christianity that have adopted, if not officially, certainly culturally, a whole host of forbidden activities. I know this because I have been involved with a few of them in my 50ish years as a Christian. You couldn’t go to a movie theater. You couldn’t go bowling. You couldn’t drink alcohol. You couldn’t smoke. Women were required to wear dresses to church. Men had to wear a suit and tie. You absolutely could not wear shorts to church.  Which of those “laws” was biblical? Oh sure, you can give me reasons why some of these restrictions might make sense, but you can’t show me any scripture that supports even one. And I could have made the list much longer. With the same findings in reference to being scriptural. And this legalism was just about as effective as the Jewish legalism.  Don’t let legalism separate you from the freedom Jesus gave His life to gain for you. But don’t use that freedom to slap Him in the face, either. In chapter six Paul listed the things that the flesh would have us do, and the things that God’s Spirit grows in us. In other translations, these attributes are called the fruit of the Spirit.  Remember, Beloved. Fruit grows naturally. An apple tree grows apples because that’s what an apple tree does. The tree doesn’t have to strain to grow them. They just grow.  The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is in you, and you will begin to show these fruit in your life. As the Spirit of God matures you, you will just naturally display the fruit of the Spirit. You will become  loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. If you don’t see these attributes growing in you, it’s time to take a close look at your relationship to Him.