“Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery…”

Galatians 2:4

They came in unnoticed.

Not through the front door, but the side.

Not with open hostility, but subtle suspicion.

Not to worship, but to watch—and then weaken.

Paul calls them false brothers—not misguided or immature believers, but infiltrators. Enemies of Christ posing as allies of the church. And their mission was clear: to dismantle the freedom believers had in Christ and drag them back into bondage.

This isn’t just historical drama. It’s a spiritual reality we must be sober to today. False brothers still exist. The enemy still works from within as much as from without. The greatest threat to the church often doesn’t come from loud skeptics outside the sanctuary, but from subtle distortions inside it.

We must be alert.

Because like in Paul’s day, they often enter unnoticed.

And what is their aim?

Not just to argue doctrine.

Not merely to raise questions.

But to spy out our freedom—to take the grace and liberty purchased by Christ’s blood and replace it with chains of human performance and fear-based religion.

Outside of Christ, we are slaves.

Slaves to our flesh, its desires and distortions.

Slaves to the world, with its endless need to measure, compare, and perform.

Slaves to intelligent evil powers—yes, real forces—that whisper lies about who God is and who we are.

Sometimes, we don’t need false brothers to enslave us—we do it ourselves.

We let fear drive us.

We let anxiety define us.

We let works-based fundamentalism convince us that God loves only the clean and rule-abiding.

But in Christ, we are free.

Free from the curse of the law.

Free from the fear of condemnation.

Free from the need to perform or prove our worth.

Free to obey not out of compulsion, but love.

So what do we do with this warning?

We don’t become cynical.

We don’t go on witch hunts for false brothers.

We don’t assume every disagreement is a deception.

Instead—we cling to truth.

Because false brothers are not exposed by our suspicion, but by their friction with the gospel.

The sharper we hold to the truth, the more obvious their distortions become.

Our role isn’t to divide—it’s to unify in Christ.

Not in a vague, superficial way—but in a deep, gospel-rooted unity that’s grounded in truth and grace.

Because only in Christ is there true freedom, and only in Christ is there true unity.

Stand firm. Stay free. Cling to Christ