Abstract
The article argues that Galatians does not distinguish between soteriological and ethical freedom. Freedom encompasses the believer in Christ’ s entire salvation. However , he not only possesses freedom in Christ, but has to equally live it fully as a vocation. In as much as law has no salvational role in his life, it also has no ethical roll. The believer receives the Spirit by faith in Christ. The Spirit who quickens new life in him, orientating him to Christ, also guides and enables him to do God’ s will according to Christ’ s faithfulness. The latter is illustrated in His giving of Himself in loving service, even unto a cross, and so doing the will of our God and Father. The believer also glorifies God by doing his will in the loving and serving faithfulness of Christ, by the guidance of the Spirit. Thus, the believer’ s ethic of freedom is fully christological-pneumatological and anomistic without being libertinistic at all. Believers should not fear their God-given freedom by reverting to any form of law observance, but rather celebrate it by trustingly and freely walking in step with the Spirit
Highlights
Paul’s letter to the Galatians is bound to come into play in any discussion on Christian freedom
Ethics is the point where the truth of the gospel is put to the test, where theology and soteriology impact on daily living
The flesh–law alliance cannot be severed, least of all in the ethical section. Following his exclamation (Gl 5:1), Paul explains how to stand firm (Gl 5:13-24). One does this in christological freedom by walking according to the Spirit (Gl 5:16) and producing his fruit, not by reintroducing law (Loubser 1994:169)
Summary
Paul’s letter to the Galatians is bound to come into play in any discussion on Christian freedom It is widely held as a most central witness to Christian freedom, undoubtedly so in Pauline theology. Though, while this freedom is usually fully embraced at the soteriological level, it is not always met with the same enthusiasm at the ethical level – exactly the problem about which Paul is concerned in Galatians. Ethics is the point where the truth of the gospel is put to the test, where theology and soteriology impact on daily living At this critical point many Christian scholars and laymen retract into a redefinition of freedom, unfamiliar to Galatians. I contend that, though Paul advocated high Christian morals, he did not equate morality with law observance, nor did he reintroduce a reduced or adapted canonical law
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