An Indian fable says that a mouse was in constant distress because of its fear of the cat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. Immediately it became afraid of the dog. So the magician turned it into a dog. Immediately it began to fear the tiger. So the magician turned it into a tiger. Immediately it began to fear the hunter. Then the magician said, “Be a mouse again, you have only the heart of a mouse and I cannot help you.” If you have Holy Spirit ‘In Him’ truths registered in your heart, if you know who you are in Christ, you can walk free from areas which have hindered you in the past. In this post we are going to look at one of those areas, fear. You can boldly walk free from fear in Jesus Name.

We Can Walk Free from Fear Because of the Truth of Galatians 1:4

Galatians 1:4 (KJV)
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

• What does Galatians 1:4 have to do with fear? Everything.
• Note the phrase ‘He gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world.’
• Is fear part of this present evil world?
• Some historical background will help us here.

Historical Background to Book of Galatians

• Galatia was a region not a church.
• This letter was written to churches, plural, not a specific single church.
• This letter was meant to be passed around and therefore deals with issues relative to a region as opposed to issues within a specific church.
• A church is a family and an individual church can have problems just like an individual family can have problems.
• There can be problems in a city or a section of a city that affects everyone that lives in that area.
• So, this letter is a section letter not an individual letter.
• The area of Galatia had four major cities; Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, Lystra.

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Acts 14:19–21 (KJV)
19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

• Galatia was an area northwest of Israel which had been settled by the Gaul’s in the 3rd century.
• The Galatians were thus descendants of barbaric tribes which were branches of the Celts which later settled Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
• The Galatians were distant cousins of the Irish.

Legalism in The Region of Galatia

• What is legalism?
  • Legalism is something added to grace either to obtain salvation (new birth, getting to heaven) or spirituality or to remain in it.
• This whole region of Galatia had problems with this area.

Acts 15:1 (KJV)
1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

• This took place in Antioch (Acts 14:26).
• These people who were insisting on circumcision for salvation are called, in your Bible, Judaizers (Phil. 3:2-3, Rom. 2:28-29, Gal. 2:3-5, Gal 5:1-3).
• You may think, “Well what does this have to do with me? I have never ran into anyone that told me that I had to be circumcised in order to be saved?”
  • There are modern day Judaizers like Jehovah Witnesses, who say that you have to witness in order to be saved.
  • There are other groups who say that you have to keep the Old Testament law in order to be saved.
  • There are groups who say that you have to pray so many times a day in order to be saved.
  • Still others insist you have to ‘live holy’ in order to be saved.
  • Or you have to be baptized in a particular way in order to be saved.
• There are Christian versions and non-christian versions of legalism.
• But, it’s all the same thing.
• In the early church, circumcision was added to the salvation formula.
• Today, it’s not circumcision. It’s a myriad of other things.
• Legalism is more widespread today than it has ever been.
• There is so many different groups saying so many different things about how to make it to heaven.

Why Do People Still Subscribe to ‘Legalism’?

• The root of legalism is fear.
• People are fearful they might not make heaven or they might not be pleasing to God.
• The book of Galatians is more important to us now than it has ever been.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

• Remember this simple formula.
• It’s God’s answer to legalism.
• Salvation equals grace plus faith plus nothing.
• Salvation is obtained by no self-effort of your own.
• Titus 3:5, and Isaiah 64:6 will also help you in this area.
• The problem that we often have is that after we come to Jesus, we feel that we have to work to keep in God’s good graces.
• And so we rewrite God’s formula.
• Salvation equals grace plus faith plus something.
• We don’t do this on our own.
• We have help to do it.
• We go to church A or denomination B or we listen to TV preacher C and they help us to rewrite the formula.
• We feel that we have to work in order to be pleasing to God.
• And so we:
  • Attend church services faithfully…
  • Pay tithes…
  • Pray…
  • Read our Bibles…
• People do these things to gain His approval and to keep Him from being mad at them rather than doing these things because they love the Lord.
• It was tremendous day in my life when I realized that I was not going to hell, that it was no longer an issue.
• I was in a legalistic environment very early in my Christian experience.
• I was saved and loved the Lord with all my heart.
• Yet, I still feared that I might go to hell if I didn’t get my act together.
• Deliverance day for me was a wonderful day.

What is the Lord’s Opinion of Legalism?

I want to know God’s thought’s. The rest are details.  – Albert Einstein

• What are God’s thoughts on the subject of legalism?
• Paul writes extensively about the idea of works and salvation in the epistles.
• Writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul records the following in two of his letters.

Philippians 3:2–3 (KJV)
² Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. ³ For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

• Paul calls promoters of legalism dogs and evil workers.
• That’s mighty poor company to be in.

Galatians 5:12 (KJV)
¹² I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

• Paul uses exceptionally strong language here as the Greek term ‘cutoff’ refers to emasculation.
• You remember the warning in the book of Revelation concerning adding to it’s prophecies?

Revelation 22:18 (KJV)
¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

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• Adding to the Word is simply not the best course of action.
• So, the danger of adding human legal requirements to God’s salvation plan is evident by these passages above.
• Stay clear of it. Stay with the Book.
• The solution to dealing with such error is to preach the truth.
• The solution for believers who have gotten off into legalistic error is to remind them of the truth.
• This is the reason for Paul’s statement in Galatians 1:4.
• If you think something needs to be added to salvation, remember it was Jesus who gave himself for you.
• If you may think works are essential to living a successful Christian life, remember it was Jesus who sacrificed for you.
• If you get this truth lined up in your heart, fear concerning salvation will fall right out of your life.

Call to Action:

Learning the Bible principles of identification and substitution will enrich your life as you apply those truths. Meditating and studying these truths will help bolster your faith and enable to take on the nemesis of fear head on.

Question: What conclusions did you come to when you realized the great truths of substitution and identification? Please share those with us in the comments section below.

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