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Throughout his entire letter to the Galatians, St. Paul argues for the freedom that is ours in Christ. In Christ, we are free from the law. In Christ, we are free from a strict adherence to religious ritual and tradition. In Christ, we are free from things that used to define us. Specifically, St. Paul is arguing that, in Christ, we are free from the Jewish requirement of circumcision.
And yet, as free as we are in Christ, there is one thing Paul argues from which we are not free and that one thing is love of neighbor. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters,” writes Paul. “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, 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’” (3:13-14). Indeed, in Christ, we have been freed from all those things that used to bind us so that we can be fully free to love our neighbors—wholly, fully, freely.
In his short theological tract The Freedom of a Christian, Martin Luther writes, “A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all.” Luther here articulates Paul’s argument from Galatians. In Christ we are perfectly free to fully serve and love our neighbors, becoming servants of them in word and in action.
To what might our Christian freedom be calling us today? To whom might God be calling us to become a servant for the sake of the gospel? Think of that one person who annoys you more than anyone else. Think of that person with whom you disagree politically. Think of that person of whom you are afraid. How might you become their servant? How might you live out the freedom that is yours in Christ by fully and freely loving them?
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