On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln presented what came to be known as the Emancipation Proclamation, an official document condemning human slavery. Abraham Lincoln, realizing that slavery is completely against human dignity, officially abolished it from the United States on that day. Tragically, little changed in the daily life of our nation, even though the slaves were officially declared free.
The Civil War was still going on. Many of the plantation owners never informed their slaves. The vast majority of the slaves couldn’t read, so they had no idea what the news was carrying. There was no mass media then to announce those kinds of presidential pronouncements. For the longest time, slavery continued even though it had been officially brought to an end. When did the people finally began to leave their enslaved lives and make their way toward freedom? December 18, 1865—more than three years after he first released his proclamation.
The Galatian churches were in the same boat as these slaves as are many believers in Christ today. The Gospel has been proclaimed for 2000 years but multitudes in the Church are still living in bondage to the law and not walking in the freedom of the grace of God. Why do we live as slaves when Jesus has set us free!
- Dr. Larry Petton