Galatians 2:4
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
The false brethren came in secretly and unnoticed as spies, watching for opportunities to undermine the liberty believers have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring them into bondage. What they pressed on Gentile believers was acceptance of circumcision and the ceremonial law, and that pressure threatened the freedom believers had in Christ. Their insistence was bound up with zeal for Jewish ceremonial customs and resistance to losing special status as the gospel reached the Gentiles, and some viewed Paul with jealousy as weakening the claims of the ceremonial law.
They acted on their own responsibility, opposed the gospel teaching entrusted to experienced leaders and those appointed to teach Christ's doctrine, murmured and found fault with the decision of the council of the apostles and elders, spread criticism, promoted rival plans, and tried to undermine the leaders' work. Such opposition has troubled the church from its beginning and will continue to the end. The Jerusalem council decided that Gentiles were not bound by the ceremonial law, and its decision affirmed Paul's teaching and his divine commission as an apostle.
Paul stood alone against the prejudices of his fellow workers, made no concessions to the false brethren, looked constantly to God and took his orders from Him alone, and firmly resisted every attempt to bind unnecessary burdens on Gentile Christians. Though the burden was heavy, his unyielding course brought freedom to the churches. The bondage meant teaching and practicing painful rites and cherishing human traditions and maxims as truth, while the liberty meant freedom from those rites as a matter of duty. The liberty in Christ Jesus is freedom found in obedience to God, not freedom from obedience. To be free in Christ is to be bound to obedience by His requirements and to remain in the love of God through complete surrender of soul, body, and spirit, ceasing from sin so that the will is in harmony with Christ's will and the soul is brought into fellowship with God instead of letting unruly nature and passion gain the mastery. It means enlisting under Christ's authority, consulting His will in all things, obeying His will implicitly in every particular, making His law the rule, His life the pattern, and His glory the chief end.
To exalt a false sabbath and an institution of the papacy over God's servants is to bind them about and bring them into bondage against the liberty with which they were made free in Christ Jesus. The liberty in Christ opposes efforts to control believers and bring them under bondage through oppressive authority among workers; forcing others to submit to human plans is contrary to Christ's example and to Bible principles, and gains obtained through such practices are not acceptable to God. The same principle holds today that living human agencies who have a vital connection with God are not to be reproved and handicapped by the prejudices of their fellow men, and the events that concern Christ's kingdom on this earth for human salvation are not to be under the control of any human power. The warning applies to people sent into churches and conferences to work stealthily as spies and spread deception.