Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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CHRIST SETS YOU FREE
Galatians 5:1-5
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1)
 
The Scottish minister, P.T. Forsythe, said, "The secret of the Lord is with those who have been broken by his Cross and healed by his Spirit." Paul in Galatians exalts mainly two things: The Cross of Christ is the only way a person can be with God and walk with God. The Holy Spirit is the only way a person can surrender to God. Anything that diminishes the importance of what happened on the Cross of Christ is not of Christ. We are not subject to the law anymore and are subject to the freedom granted through Cross by Christ. We are saved by grace and not by our deeds. We are expected to live the gospel and lead a life worthy to God.
Paul admonishes Galatians that you are one in Christ and should live like brothers and sisters in Christ. In verse 1 Apostle Paul lays claim to the unique authority of a Apostle, which is not dependent at all on other people, but comes from Christ and God the Father. His letter to the Galatians is the true Gospel of freedom, and there is no other thing to substitute the same. Christ died for our sins and freed us from the present evil age. We live in a multicultural society where many are challenging even the existence of God. When we live in such a pluralistic society, there is a tendency to be enslaved to a lot of things, which may alienate us from God and the Holy Spirit. We should not be slaves to this materialistic society and its products like individualism, addiction to technology, immoral acts, homosexual relationships etc. God has freed us from all the evils and we are no longer slaves to any of the evils of this world.
An atheist group in North Texas has launched an advertising campaign on city owned buses, which says 'Millions of Americans are good without God', and the announced that it will be using the bus billboards to spread the gospel of non theism. A Christian group put a counter ad on the buses which says 'Billions of American are good with God.' It is not that we can become good with God, but we should be good for our brothers and sisters in Christ since He has freed us from all evils so that we can deliver good to others. Let us pray that the freedom we have through Jesus Christ may be used to glorify His name.
Prayer:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth..
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Amen.(Gitanjali — Tagore)
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Freedom has a price and Christ paid with his life for ours.

Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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