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For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1, ESV

Guilt and shame are tools that the enemy utilizes to push us back and bind us in sin. This is what Christ came to free us from in this world. Sadly, we are all addicts, and our addiction is sin. We love to think of ourselves as free, and in so thinking, we believe ourselves free to do the things we want to do. We like to make ourselves feel righteous as we justify our sinful ways by pointing out the sins of others and seeking loopholes to justify our own sins. Christ came to free us from all this, and Paul is reminding people of this gift. He is warning of becoming caught up in pharisaical ideas and finding comfort and justification in the Law. Yet, the Gospel sets us free, and the Law is fully binding. If we cannot live up to the whole of the Law (which we can’t) and are unable to fulfill it (which we aren’t), then we will be held liable for it all. Paul is reminding us of our freedom that we have received in Christ and Christ alone. It is in this, we may find our peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.