The Yoke of Slavery

*Edited July 11, 2015*

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).

We are free!  We have been delivered from the curse that the Law pronounces on the sinner who has been unsuccessfully striving to achieve his own righteousness.  We now embrace Christ, His righteousness imputed to us, and the salvation granted through Him by grace and are justified and righteous by His merit alone (Romans 5:15-21; see also Philippians 3:9).  St. Paul exhorts us to stand firm in this grace because of the undeserved blessing of being free from the Law and the flesh.  A better translation for "subject again" is "to be burdened/oppressed by" because of its connection with a yoke.  A yoke refers to the wooden crosspiece that was used to control domesticated animals, fastening it over the neck of two animals and attached to a plow or cart that they are to pull.  Here's what it looks like:

The Jews thought of "the yoke of the Law" as a blessed thing — the essence of true religion and salvation.  Paul, however, argued that for those who pursued it as a way of salvation, the Law was a yoke of slavery because all the Law does is reveal our sin and thus condemn us, hence the imagery here; the Law cannot save us, but the Gospel does.

The use of the Law is to make our sins known, and immediately following must come the Gospel, which is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Christ.  When Christ died on the cross, our sins died with Him.  When He rose from the dead, our sins were left in the dark, empty tomb.  This is why Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).  Look at the image above again.  What those two oxen are carrying looks heavy, right?  Without Christ, the Law casts the weight of our heavy sin upon us, and we lack the ability to cast our sins off us.  Jesus, however, takes the yoke of our sin off, and He invites us to carry His light and easy yoke of peace and meekness.  In Christ, the shackles are off and we are free in Him.  Read these revealing words by St. Paul:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ were also baptised into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin...  For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus...  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:3-7, 10-11, 14; bold prints added).

Read that over again if you must; read it as many times as you need to in order to fully grasp this amazing concept.  We are no longer slaves to sin, therefore do not allow it to throw a yoke upon you and carry the condemnation it has in the Law.  We are under grace, not Law.  Paul continues, "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:16-18; bold prints added).  We are no longer slaves of sin but slaves of righteousness!  Now, do not think of "slave" in the modern, worldly sense.  Like Paul says in verse nineteen, he was speaking "in human terms because of [our] natural limitations."  He used similar language so that we would understand.  In the original Greek, the words "slave" and "servant" are the same word (δούλος).  So this "slavery" is not chattel slavery as we often think, but rather one of loving service.

We are servants of righteousness — the righteousness of Christ that we receive through faith (Romans 3:22).  The yoke of Christ is His righteousness.  Take this yoke upon yourself and learn from Him because He is meek and humble and He will give you rest.  The yoke of sin is hard and heavy, but the yoke of Christ's righteousness and grace is easy and light.  Whenever you are struggling with the burden of the sin that enslaves you, remember these words by St. Paul in the Spirit and especially the words of Christ.

The Christian Church Needs to Unite

*Edited July 10, 2015*

John 17:20-23, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent me and loved them even as You loved Me."

These beautiful words that Jesus prayed on the night He was betrayed were not only for His disciples, but also for us ("those who also believe in Me through their word").  What did He pray for?  For us to be united so that the world may believe in Him.  What's the benefit of believing in Him?  Freedom from our original bondage to sin and the promise of salvation.  Sadly, however, we're not united.  There is a plethora of divisions among us, so many different denominations — Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic, Roman Catholic, and heretical sects like Mormons, Calvinists, and the Westboro Baptist Church.  These divisions amongst us have created a spirit of enmity among some (not all) churches, which was no doubt Satan's influence.  Because of our minor theological differences (and major ones for the heretical sects), not only have we divided ourselves, but some also take pride in their denomination as if that is their identity as a Christian.  Rather, our identity is in Christ alone.  St. Paul spoke against such nonsense.  He wrote to the Corinthians:

"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement.  For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.  What I mean is that each one of you says, 'I follow Paul,' or 'I follow Apollos,' or 'I follow Cephas,' or 'I follow Christ.'  Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Or were you baptised in the name of Paul?  ...For Christ did not send me to baptise you but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17).

Today, we are no different than these Corinthian Christians.  The current condition of the Church is this:  we take pride in saying, "I follow the [place your denomination here] church," or "I follow John Calvin," or "I follow Martin Luther," and so on.  (Let me make it clear that John Calvin is heretical and Martin Luther is not.)  Paul asks the rhetorical question, "Is Christ divided?"  The way this question is asked in the Greek is asked with the expectation of a negative answer:  No.  It's a rhetorical question.  Paul writes a little later in First Corinthians, "What then is Apollos?  And what is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth" (3:5-7).  Because Jesus gives them the opportunity and the ability, our leaders (pastors and other leaders) plan and water the Word, but God is the one who causes it to grow in our minds and hearts, for Jesus Christ is the Word (John 1:14), of whom we are all under.

Jesus Christ was crucified for us, and we are baptised in Him.  Therefore, despite our differences of opinion, we are all under the grace, mercy, and judgement of Christ.  Just like all of us "ordinary Christians," our leaders are only sent to preach the Gospel.  When pastors baptise us, they baptise us in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), not in their own names.  When we put the words of our leaders above that of Christ, or attempt to be imitators of them rather than Christ (Ephesians 5:1), then our focus is no longer on Him, but on our leaders, and the power of the cross thus becomes void because we have followed a path of heresy or false doctrine.    Paul points out to the Corinthians that they were neither baptised in him, or Apollos, or any of the other teachers; but rather, they were all baptised into Christ.  Likewise, it doesn't matter if you were baptised in a Baptist church, or a Lutheran church, or whatever church it is.  Again, you were not baptised in the pastor's name or whomever it is that started the church (e.g. John the Baptiser, John Calvin, Martin Luther); you were baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  For example, as a Lutheran, Lutherans are not baptised under the name of Martin Luther, but rather we are baptised into Christ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  I was baptised at a non-denominatioal church years before my Lutheran confirmation; I was not baptised under the pastor's name, but the Holy Trinity.  We are all under Christ.

The core dilemma is that we are divided instead of united, and now I'm going to discuss what problem it has caused.  Going back to Jesus' prayer, He prayed that we be united so that the world may believe in Him, according to His commission:  "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20a).  The purpose of Christendom is discipleship, and it's easier to do that when we're untied.  We assume that having logical arguments and debates with atheists is legitimate and plausible and will eventually win them over, but Jesus said that the world will be convinced by our unity.  How will they know by our unity?  Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:  just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).  In the secular world, loving one another as we love ourselves sounds like the Golden Rule in life, which stems from the Law of Moses that states we must love our neighbours as we love ourselves.  It's not really a new commandment if that's what Jesus is saying.  What makes this commandment new is that we love one another as He has loved us.  That's what He says.  Even when we hated Him, He loved us and saved us through His death.  Now, Jesus commands us who have been saved by Him to love one another as He has loved us.  This type of love for one another is how people will know of our unity, but that unity will never happen so long as different denominations exist, which to me seems like will be the case until Christ returns.  I think we've all heard from unbelievers that a big reason why they don't believe in God is because of the divisions of the Church — all the different denominations.  Looking at it from their perspective, I can't really blame them.  After all, why would anyone want to be part of a people so divided?  This is a problem.

This is why I am calling for the need to change our division.  There are a number of individual churches that are united within their congregation, which is great; but we are called to be united on a global scale!  And we're not.  So I urge you, put aside your denominational differences and just love others as Christ has loved us because set against eternity, what does your denomination matter?