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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gal_5:1
1It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Gal_5:1 "It was for freedom" The first phrase of Gal_5:1 should probably go with Gal_4:21-31 or start a new paragraph (NKJV, TEV, NJB). This may be a play on "freewoman," Gal_4:30-31; "freedom," Gal_5:1, and "free," Gal_5:1. The purpose of the gospel is to free people from the curse of the Mosaic Law so that they might willingly and appropriately respond to God in a way similar to the promise of God to Abraham. Therefore, believers are free not to sin and free to live for God (cf. Gal_2:4 and Romans 6, especially Gal_5:11).
The noun "freedom" is fronted and the verb form of the same root is used ("freed," aorist active indicative) to emphasize the concept!
▣ "that Christ set us free" Christians are truly free in Christ (cf. Joh_8:32; Joh_8:36; 2Co_3:17). As Martin Luther said so well, "A Christian man is the most free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Believers are free from the Fall, free from the tyranny of self, free again to serve God and others!
NASB "therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery"
NKJV "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage"
TEV "Stand, then, as free men, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again"
NRSV, JB"Stand firm therefore, and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery"
Paul issued two admonitions in light of believers' true freedom in Christ:
1. that they persevere (cf. Rom_5:2 and 1Co_16:13; see Special Topic at Gal_3:4)
2. that they stop turning back to different forms of legalism or self-effort
Both of these are present imperatives, however, the second has the negative particle which usually means to stop an act which is already in process.
A good parallel for the "yoke of slavery" can be found in Act_15:10. Jesus also has a yoke but His is easy (cf. Mat_11:29-30). The rabbis used "yoke" as a metaphor for the stipulations of the Law. The "law of Christ" is completely different from the law of Judaism or human merit (cf. Jas_1:25; Jas_2:8; Jas_2:12).