Don't Turn Back | Jody Livingston

In Galatians 5, we encounter a powerful warning against returning to spiritual slavery after experiencing freedom in Christ. Christian freedom isn’t the ability to do whatever we want, but the joyful release from servitude into a satisfaction we couldn’t experience before. The text presses a searching question: Have we subtly returned to trying to earn God’s favor through our own efforts? The imagery of the yoke is striking—why place back on our shoulders the burden Jesus died to remove? Justification comes through faith alone, not religious rituals or rule-keeping. Even one sin is enough to shatter any hope of self-earned righteousness, and as sinners by nature, we cannot cleanse ourselves through good works. What counts is faith expressing itself through love. Are we living in Christ’s freedom, or exhausting ourselves trying to earn what has already been freely given?