Do You Have “Freedom in Christ”?

 Submit as people who are free, but not letting your freedom serve as an excuse for evil; rather, submit as God’s slaves. Be respectful to all—keep loving the brotherhood, fearing God and honoring the emperor.

1 Peter 2:16–17 (CJB)

I have had discussions with people where they argue that in Christianity there is no Messiah. Christians have “Christ” they say. With all of the resources at our fingertips in 2026, ignorance still abounds. “Christ” as in “Jesus Christ” is a title meaning “anointed one” just as Messiah means “anointed one”. “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word “Mashiach” and “Christ” comes from the Greek word “Christos”. Similarly, “Jesus” is a form of the Greek name “Iesous”. In Hebrew the Messiah’s name is Yeshua. In English it should be “Joshua”, but the Greek name “Iesous” morphed into “Jesus” which seemed to stick.

The Complete Jewish Bible, is a translation I started using, not because I think I am Jewish, but because it uses Hebrew words rather than Greek words. I haven’t found a translation of the Bible that does not have controversies surrounding it, and this one is no different. These Bibles are all man’s best attempts to translate the scriptures from the original languages. In some cases with their own dogma forced onto the text. The ones I use are the KJV, ESV, CJB, LEB, NET, and TS2009. The RSV has good versions of the Apocrypha, including the missing verses in Esdras.

In chapter two of Galatians, Paul was writing about how some of the Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua were still insisting the Gentiles had to convert to Judaism and be circumcised. I am including the LEB and CJB versions of these passages to show the difference in the translations.

Galatians 2:3–4 (LEB): ³ But not even Titus who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ Now this was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might enslave us,⁵ to whom not even for an hour did we yield in subjection, in order that the truth of the gospel might remain continually with you.

Galatians 2:3–5 (CJB): ³ But they didn’t force my Gentile companion Titus to undergo b’rit-milah. ⁴ Indeed, the question came up only because some men who pretended to be brothers had been sneaked in—they came in surreptitiously to spy out the freedom we have in the Messiah Yeshua, so that they might enslave us. ⁵ Not even for a minute did we give in to them, so that the truth of the Good News might be preserved for you.

There are many deceptions regarding how Christians should live having “freedom in Christ Jesus”. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul was contrasting following the traditions of men, such as Jews not being able to eat with Gentiles, and the freedom Messiah Yeshua brings to be released from manmade tradition. There were also people who misused the Torah, saying it was the path to salvation rather than salvation coming from faith in Yeshua. There are many examples where someone is saved and must learn how to live according to the Torah once they are brought into the family. Believe it or not, the Torah taught by Yeshua is what gives us “freedom in Christ”.

Galatians 2:14–16 (CJB): ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not walking a straight path, keeping in line with the truth of the Good News, I said to Kefa, right in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Goy and not like a Jew, why are you forcing the Goyim to live like Jews? ¹⁵ We are Jews by birth, not so-called ‘Goyishe sinners’; ¹⁶ even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous by God on the ground of his legalistic observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our legalistic observance of Torah commands. For on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous.

The Apostle Paul always upholds the Torah so long as it is properly applied to one’s life.

Galatians 2:17–19 (CJB): ¹⁷ But if, in seeking to be declared righteous by God through our union with the Messiah, we ourselves are indeed found to be sinners, then is the Messiah an aider and abettor of sin? Heaven forbid! ¹⁸ Indeed, if I build up again the legalistic bondage which I destroyed, I really do make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹ For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God.

We have many people today trying to rob us of “freedom in Christ.” Those who practice Judaism today will tell us we should not try to keep the Ten Commandments (called the 613 commandments). According to them, they are only for Jews. This is especially true of the Sabbaths. They will say they are only for the Jews and that non-Jews should keep the Noahide laws. I had a prominent rabbi from New York tell me this in an email exchange, so I have firsthand experience with this. Followers of the Messiah know this is not true, and all one has to do is read Isaiah to see that Paul’s words “I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretations, so that I might live in direct relationship with God” apply here.

Isaiah 56:6–8 (LEB): ⁶ And the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, so as not to profane it, and those who keep hold of my covenant, ⁷ I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” ⁸ declares the Lord Yahweh, who gathers the scattered ones of Israel (still I will gather to him, to his gathered ones).

“Freedom in Christ” allows us to benefit from the Sabbaths. Judaism and Christianity both try to rob us of the Sabbaths. There is a person I follow on X that every Saturday says, “tomorrow we get to go to church,” meaning it is a great privilege. On Fridays, I say, “tomorrow we get to rest on the Sabbath.” Imagine being given a day a week by God to rest physically, mentally, and spiritually, and then a bunch of religious people tell us we can’t do it. The Sabbaths are truly “freedom in Messiah Yeshua.”

One of the ways “freedom in Christ is possible” is hinted at in the last verse of the above quoted scripture. “Declares the Lord Yahweh, who gathers the scattered ones of Israel (still I will gather to him, to his gathered ones)”. The only way the people of the nations are able to follow the covenant given to the house of Israel and the house of Judah is by the sin of the two houses and the scattering of them into the nations. Messiah Yeshua, acting as high priest, was able to redeem the house of Israel, and through the scattered ones, the whole world can now be brought into the covenant. Christianity and Judaism either are being deceptive or they are blind to this, robbing us of the promises through the traditions of men. I used the CJB version here because it makes the point clearer. Please use whichever version you prefer because they all say the same thing using different words.

Ephesians 2:11–22 (CJB)

¹¹ Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth—called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised—¹² at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God.

¹³ But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood. ¹⁴ For he himself is our shalom—he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us ¹⁵ by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, ¹⁶ and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity.

¹⁷ Also, when he came, he announced as Good News shalom to you far off and shalom to those nearby, ¹⁸ news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹ So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. ²⁰ You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. ²¹ In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. ²² Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!

This is “freedom in Christ”. We are brought near to God and are now part of the family of God through Messiah Yeshua. We get to be in covenant with God now. Being in covenant also means we agree to the terms. This is also “freedom in Christ”. Now that we are in the family of God, being grafted into the house of Israel through the seeding of the nations, we need to learn the house rules. These rules are very different from the “Church” that requires us to keep their traditions and pet commands by denomination. It is also different from Judaism, which locks out the sojourner, forcing the Talmudic Noahide laws on anyone who has not converted to Talmudic Judaism.

Romans 3:27–31 (CJB): ²⁷ So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. ²⁸ Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands. ²⁹ Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; ³⁰ because, as you will admit, God is one. Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. ³¹ Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.

“Freedom in Christ” means we do not need to tolerate religion that browbeats us into a cult-like order of rules that have nothing to do with the Torah. We are also not excluded from the blessings of the Torah and bound to a set of manmade, so-called Noahide laws. We get to be in covenant with the Creator of the universe through Messiah Yeshua and experience the blessings. This is the Good News, by the way. It is found in Deuteronomy in a prophecy by Moses concerning the “latter days.” The Israelites were not scattered until the house of Israel was conquered in 722 BCE and then Judah in 70 CE.

Deuteronomy 4:27–30 (LEB): ²⁷ And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you. ²⁸ And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell. ²⁹ But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.

To the dual covenant believing people, Moses also predicted the coming Messiah that Peter identified as Yeshua in Acts chapter 3. Everyone must listen to him or be cut off.

Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (LEB): ¹⁵ “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen, and to him you shall listen. ¹⁶ This is according to all that you asked from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘I do not want again to hear the voice of Yahweh my God, and I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!’ ¹⁷ And Yahweh said to me, ‘They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them from among their countrymen like you, and I will place my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him. ¹⁹ And then the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.

“Freedom in Christ” may put you at odds with your favorite religious leaders once you realize it means we no longer have to celebrate the pagan festivals of other gods that have been syncretized into Christianity. Now that we are part of the family of God and have citizenship, we can enjoy the Biblical feasts like Pascha and Shavuot. Sabbaths will no longer be strange because we are no longer bound to the Roman law from the Council of Laodicea forbidding Christians to observe the Sabbath saying we “must now go to church on Sunday instead of Judaizing and resting on Saturday”, otherwise being made anathema to the church.

Matthew 23:1–7 (CJB): ¹ Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim: ² “The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. ³ So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act! ⁴ They tie heavy loads onto people’s shoulders but won’t lift a finger to help carry them. ⁵ Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t’fillin broad and their tzitziyot long, ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi.’

“Freedom in Christ” means we do not have to accept burdens heaped on us by the religious leaders. An example of this in Christianity was being guilted into being in the church building every time the doors opened for every event. If one did not attend everything, then they were somehow a lesser Christian, or not even a Christian. The list of these man-made rules was a heavy burden and cult-like. Some of these places have reduced to once a month or once a week services, and they are dying. They are dying because they are not listening to the Messiah.

God is moving His people away from the anti-Torah religions and grouping like-minded believers together who are truly operating in the freedom of the Messiah. There is no hierarchy, pope, rabbi, or leadership other than Messiah Yeshua. It is a grassroots movement that I am happy to be involved in.

Below is a growing fellowship finder from 119 Ministries. Find like-minded believers near you.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash