Summary
Called to Freedom
Paul opens Galatians 5:13 with a striking address: "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters." That word brothers and sisters is not incidental. It assumes faith. The Galatians already believe in Jesus; they have been adopted as children and heirs through the Son Galatians 4:4-6. So the question, "If I believe in Jesus, do I still have to follow the law?" begins not with an if at all, but with the settled fact that those in Christ are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of God.
A common misunderstanding follows: that freedom in Christ means freedom to live however one chooses, as though the law has no further place in the believer's life. Paul rejects this directly—"only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence." The Greek word here points beyond mere acts of sin to the flesh: the earthly, sensuous nature of mankind apart from divine influence, the part of us that wants to indulge its own desires and oppose God. Christian freedom is never permission to feed that nature.
To grasp this, it helps to remember what the law actually does. The law is a mirror that exposes our sin—"through the law comes knowledge of sin" Romans 3:20. The law is a curb, restraining the outbreak of sin in believer and unbeliever alike through the fear of punishment 1 Timothy 1:8-10. And for the Christian, the law is a guide, shaping a new obedience: "Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart" Psalm 119:34. The law has not been discarded; it has been put in its proper place.
True freedom is defined by Christ, not by autonomy. In John 8:31-36, Jesus says, "Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin… so if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." Jesus possessed ultimate freedom and used it not for self-indulgence but for self-giving: He humbled Himself, took on flesh, lived perfectly under the law, and allowed Himself to be crucified to free us from sin's eternal weight. He spent His freedom to purchase ours.
This is why Paul finishes the verse, "but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The freed Christian is now free to serve. As the Lutheran theologian Rudolf Bultmann put it, "The only man who can truly serve his nation is he who has been freed to love by receiving the love of God in Christ." Freedom is not the right to be one's own little god; it is release from the eternal law of damnation so that love can flow outward without fear.
So the answer to the question is yes—and the yes is good news. As If I Believe in Jesus, Do I Still Have to Follow the Law? makes plain, the law for the believer is no longer a tyrant but a gift: it reveals our need, restrains our worst, and guides us in the love of Christ toward our neighbor. The cross has lifted the burden of condemnation; what remains is the freedom to love with mercy, to serve with gladness, and to let freedom truly ring.
Video citations
- "If I Believe in Jesus, Do I Still Have to Follow the Law?" 7-4-21 — If you would please open your Bibles to Galatians the 5th chapter, we're going to be studying out of Galatians the 5th chapter. It's Independence Day, July 4th, and this is such a wonderful time to…