“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

The great historian Sir William Ramsay once wrote that Paul’s epistle to the Galatians was the greatest letter ever written. Reading it in light of Paul’s intentions—which were well known in Ramsay’s time—one catches a glimpse of Paul’s towering genius. These words are a human and divine treasure, too big for any particular religious tradition. And they are the foundation of one of the most important ideals: freedom.
For a long time I had difficulty with Galatians, because of Paul’s statements on law that are included there. On the surface they seem to directly contradict Jesus’ statement that, “till heaven and earth, pass not one jot or tittle shall in any way pass from the law.” But it seems clear now that he meant something much more profound than this.
As Christianity spread during the first century (especially through the work of Paul), more and more Gentiles became disciples of Jesus. The question arose whether or not it was best or even necessary for these Gentiles to practice the Jewish religion, as Jesus and his first followers had. Paul’s answer in Galatians was simple: Christ and His Way were too big to be contained in the Jewish tradition.
To see this one must remember what we have discussed earlier, namely that Paul was most concerned in establishing a good community, and that his thought was directed to that end. In Galatians Paul takes up the question of what is the source of goodness for humanity. He first reminds us that Abraham, and not Moses, received the promise of universal blessing for mankind. Within this covenant that God made with Abraham, the law was given to prepare the way for Jesus to enter the world. According to Paul, the Jewish traditions and way of life (denomination, if you like) were given to prepare the way for the promise of Abraham to be fulfilled, namely that he would have a descendant who would bring the blessing to all mankind. This descendant was Jesus. Because Jesus is the fulfillment of this earlier and most universal covenant, there is not sufficient room in the Jewish tradition, based on the Torah, Tabernacle and Temple.
It is no accident that Paul takes up this issue as he does with the Galatians. Political freedom was in an ambiguous state in this province, and thus everything that Paul said in this letter would have been read with freedom in the highest sense in mind.
In chapter five Paul points out that the immoral practices that the Law corrects (sexual immorality, drunkenness, idolatry etc.) have to be corrected just to enter into the life that Christ brings, the kingdom of God. So on that front the Jewish traditions are irrelevant to those who are entering the kingdom through Jesus. Furthermore, the way of life that entered into the world through Christ, freedom in the Holy Spirit, could not be contained by mere ritual. It was much more expansive than that, and its expression is in the fruit of the Spirit, a transformed personality in which love, joy, peace, and so forth are the primary manifestations. Paul then notes: against such things there is no law. What Paul means is that any reasonable and universal requirement that was embodied in the Jewish tradition is more than satisfied by the life of the Spirit. So, Paul sets aside the Law (in the full sense) to establish the freedom of the Spirit, which incidentally, fulfills the moral law.
So I think to close we must look at the status of the Law in the world now that Christ has been received into the heavens. Clearly it is a great source of strength and health for the Jewish people today. And the written Old Testament, in its teaching about God and the soul, are essential to restoring the soul. But there is a way of life available in Christ that is much deeper than the law can reach. And those who attain to this Divine life are under grace and not under law, even though (especially because?..) they have attained moral perfection.
What remains to be discussed is the place of moral law in life, and the various rituals associated with each branch of Christianity.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul

Let us dwell on justification, as Paul saw it and presented it. There is much confusion today, reinforced by the pulpit and the seminaries, about the meaning of this crucial word. Many will say that being “justified by faith” means that because someone believes something essential about Jesus, God considers them innocent before Him, and will not punish them (“The vilest offender who truly believes—that moment from Jesus a pardon receives”). There is an important amount of truth to this, but strictly speaking that is more like a by-product of justification.
Justification is an act of God in the central part of the soul through which God reestablishes a close relationship to us by imparting some of His life to us and thus making us acceptable to him. It is the first instance in which our name is written in the Book of Life: that is, when our own person is included in the infinite Life of God that floods the universe.
In the passages quoted at the beginning of this essay, several things are to be noted. Paul says, first, that he and the early Christians had been justified by faith. We must understand what this faith is and how it works to effect justification in a human soul. Faith is a spiritual substance containing energy, thought, intention, and feeling. When it comes to an individual, it comes through God impressing it upon the individual’s mind, so that they see something about God and, feel like his life is desirable. The energy in it, stemming from the Holy Spirit, is sufficient to break through the fallen structure of the human mind without God. And finally, the intention that is in it leads toward the choice of obedience to God.
Now, all of this is in faith apart from anything we may do or make of it. Often it is in fact present in the individual’s mind for a season before the individual claims it as his or her own. But, when the individual ceases resisting and engages his or her will with this substance, that faith becomes his or her own and remains in the heart of that person. The person then naturally has an inclination to obedience, however slight, and the ability to know other spiritual things through the new found energy in the will. Thus it is a work of God in the heart of the human being, although it is received through a human choice, and in fact begins to influence the further choices of that individual.
Secondly, Paul says that we are justified freely by his grace. “By his grace” indicates that this justification comes out of the greatness and generosity of God, and not upon the basis of our merits. It is a free gift which we can receive simply on the basis of God’s goodness.
Finally, Paul adds that the grace was given through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. I think he is referring to the “whole package” that comes to a person when they hear about whom Christ is and what he said; and, usually, when they are faced with an actual human being who stands in Christ’s life.
I must briefly depart from this to clear something up. I think there is room, in Paul’s eyes, for some justification occurring simply through the knowledge of God that is found in nature, in some of God’s words in the Old Testament, and even extra-biblical oracles of God, such as those given to the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese in their history. These things are rare to be sure, but today we must mention them to dispel the idea that those who have not heard of the historical Jesus are automatically left out. (Of course, I believe that God in some way initiates to some extent with every human being who ever lives, but that is another story.)
To resume the line of thought, “through the redemption that came through Jesus Christ,” refers to all experience, thought, and feeling given to people who are actually acquainted to Jesus. This includes the knowledge of His life, death, and resurrection; His teachings; and His representatives on the earth. The “grace” that enters those who trust Christ is so substantial that the individual believer is now in a position, with God’s help and His people’s help, to begin to rise to the stature of Christ and recover the glory of God in his or her own personality.

“There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” –William Cowper

If one maintains, as I do, that Christianity holds the highest place in the quest for human happiness, more is required than simply a demonstration of the ultimate truths upon which it is based. As we each decide our course in life, we must be sure that a certain path is best for us before we take it. I have and will spend some time with the worldview claims of both Eastern religion and materialism, but for now we must contrast the teachings of on the soul that come from the Eastern tradition with those of the Christian tradition.
Redemption is a matter of making life work the best that it can. Because of this, all of the major religious and philosophical traditions have had a lot to say about the soul—the nonphysical center of the life of each human being. The Buddhist and Hindu view of things is, roughly, that through focusing the mind and body in particular ways one can come to a special knowledge of ultimate things, and a special vitality of soul. I for one would not dispute with this and I think that it is much better to follow the Eastern way (especially Buddhism, perhaps) than to do nothing at all for one’s own soul. I think that the Eastern tradition has many good things to teach us—some of which have been forgotten out of the Western tradition, others which are distinctive to the East. The genuine insights of the East are not incompatible with Christianity, except in so far as they are pursued instead of following Christ.
But, traditional Christian teaching maintains that the health of the soul consists in something higher. It is being united to a supernatural love coming directly from God. When a soul is fully redeemed, this energy flows throughout the body and the various dimensions of self, bringing a unity, identity, joy and power—exactly the environment that human beings were created to thrive in. This love, namely, that which we see in Christ on the cross, is eternal, because it is the eternal action of God Himself. If a human being leaves this life united to that love, he or she will enjoy a deep, infinitely satisfying existence forever and ever.
As love increases in someone who is following Christ, there are various stages through which the soul advances, and many transformations that occur along the way. The first two stages, knowledge of and faith in fundamental truths, and the establishment of virtue in the soul and body, are essential. These rescue the soul from the destructive forces of evil and reconnect it with the light and life of God. This marks the starting place of spiritual life in God’s kingdom. But there are further stages, and these could best be summarized by the word prayer, or even, mysticism. And it is Christian mysticism/spirituality which provides the substance of experience which goes far deeper than the Eastern practices.
What is most needed at the beginning, from a practical point of view, is knowledge of the truths of Christianity and the fundamental aspects of virtue. But those who progress through these soon come to the life that is much deeper. Those who have sensitive souls will no doubt catch the spiritual qualities of knowledge and virtue as he or she enters them in the first few years of following Christ. But one should not be ignorant of the deeper possibilities that come later on. This is especially essential today, where popular culture portrays the Christian life as merely human, and the Eastern way as the mode of life that reaches into the world of spiritual identity and power.

Having dealt with the question of goodness— which was thought to be related to happiness— it makes sense to treat of the greatest assistance to goodness and thus happiness. This is Christianity. Our current world—both religious and secular—has by and large forsaken the teachings of Christ, and so we will need to treat things a little differently than we would have at almost any time in the last 2000 years.
If one can recognize that our public forms of religious devotion are not the same kind Christianity as advocated by Christ and His apostles, one may be in a position to consider the teachings of Christ, Paul, and John in a new way. The main avenue to see this is to consider what kind of people the early Christians were, versus the kind of people we are today. Though an unpleasant thought at times, this allows us to see that we are not basing our lives today upon the reality that the people in the great streams of Christian devotion have always done.
Christianity can be considered in the abstract apart from any particular tradition because it is universal. It is simply information about the reality of God, the human soul and body, human community, and human history. It provides simple means by which anyone can interact profitably with these things. As such, it could exist as a way of life for an entire nation, or for the whole earth, without recourse to a specifically religious institution. And in fact, the only way it could operate on that scale would be for it to exist apart from a particular institution. Thus a political but non-religious Christianity is the only hope for the earth as a whole. Presumably, this will be how the earth is organized upon Christ’s return.
Everyone is aware of the historical devastations that Christian institutions have wrought upon the earth. Morbid streams of monasticism, the Crusades, the Protestant religious wars, and many practices and teachings of the present spring quickly to mind. This is enough in itself to motivate the claim that we do not need more religious institutions. Something more fundamental must change. We must not seek to establish a new version of Christianity, nor a new institution of devotion. Instead, as individuals and as groups, we must base our lives upon the teachings of the New Testament.
This simple principle is actually quite powerful. In fact, things such as baptism, communion, prayer, Christian ethics, Christian behavior, and Christian theology (and psychology) hold much more power when they are practiced apart from an institution. To institutionalize them is to limit them, and to drain them of their power. They are simply means for human beings to deal with ultimate reality to bring the greatest goodness and thus happiness to the earth. We will try to deal with these by turns so as to get a grasp on Christianity in itself, apart from the Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox movements.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.”

The Hebrews answered these questions of goodness and human happiness better than anyone else. Moses, the Psalmists, the Prophets, Jesus, and the apostles (especially Paul) brought wisdom to bear on this topic that has never been surpassed; and it has been equaled by very few Christians since.
Like the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese, the Hebrews held that being connected to a larger context and properly interrelated within was the key to goodness, and thus happiness. The possibility of actually getting a community of people who lived in this way was the great Hebrew contribution. The problem that the other civilizations had was that at best they only possessed the resources of the human and angelic mind, and a natural knowledge of God. The willingness that people have to do evil, even when they know it was wrong (i.e., sin), constantly defeated their efforts at a good society.
The Hebrews demonstrated that God’s initiation— beyond human contemplation, or even angelic intervention— was necessary and sufficient to create a good person and community. They realized this because, in their case, God had done precisely that: He had rescued Israel from Egypt, spoken the Law at Sinai, inspired the Psalmists, and spoken through the prophets. Above all, He had entered human history as Jesus, trained the apostles, and sent their example and message out into the world. The speaking of God to human beings and the demonstration of true human/ divine goodness in the teachings, life, (and especially) death and resurrection of Christ, is sufficient to make the world good.
On an individual or corporate level, then, it is through listening to God—hearing Him, and obeying His voice— that the inner transformation can take place to bring about happiness
Why hasn’t this happened yet, then on a global scale? To this point in history, there have not been sufficient numbers of people who actually trust God, and are willing to listen to Him. Humanity has, although with several shining exceptions, mostly ignored God’s interventions into history and chosen to go their own way. This is especially true today—the chaos and darkness that we see in the Modern world is largely a result of people ignoring the speaking of God. But God will not be defeated in His plan to create a massive, good, and happy community, and he has at least one more thing up His sleeve.
To be sure, it is likely that He will bring about at least one more movement like Early Christianity, Monasticism, or Protestantism. But in the end it is the visible re-entry of God into human history, in the Person of Jesus Christ and His followers which will be required to finally overcome evil with good on the global level. A description of His return, and the nature of His government of the earth, may help us obtain a vision of what is to be done in our time.