You know, as someone who does a fair bit of writing, I know all too well just how easy it can be for someone to take 'the written word' out of context and make it mean something it was never, ever intended to mean. And the Bible is, by no means, immune to this.
For instance, Galatians 5: 1, "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law" gets taken out of context to mean that we are free to follow the desires of the sinful nature - that we no longer have to obey God at all. Which really, if you stop and think about it, does that really make any sense? That God would save us so that we are free to follow and live for Him rather than the old nature, only to tell us that we should not follow what He says but just live for own selfish, carnal desire - not only staying in bondage to sin but jumping headfirst into it? This could just be me but, uh, not so much.
In context, Galatians 5:1 is talking about going through different rituals or obeying certain outward regulations or celebrating in certain ways on certain days in order to earn God's favor. The scripture mentions circumcision specifically here and a bit earlier (4:10) talks about festivals and special times/days. Think of the person who thinks that just by going to church that they have somehow earned something from God - that because they gave up sleeping in every Sunday, they now have a right to be in heaven (not knocking corporate church at all, just motives for going). It also refers to those who try to teach such things as being necessary as false teachers - pretty heavy words considering the future that awaits those who would lead God's children away from Him.
You see, all of these outward things (like circumcision, for example) are just that: outward only. Your heart does not really need to be in them for you to do them nor do they actually do anything to change the heart of a person. These "laws" are what is being referred too, not obeying God commands. I mean really, He did not suddenly change His mind and decide that it was fine and good for you to lie, steal or commit adultery or worse yet, have oodles of other gods other than Him. That would be seriously against His nature and character - something an unchanging God cannot do. One of the problems at the time, was that (many of) the Jews believed because they were circumcised and did many little regulations and rituals that they were safe but those were just outward actions that had nothing to do with the heart - except maybe to allow the presence of envy and pride perhaps.
A little further along in Galatians, we are told to follow the Spirit and not the sinful nature and what some of the end result characteristics of each of these paths are (Gal.5:19-22). Obeying God is not legalism. Let me say that again: obeying God is not legalism. Legalism is a matter of going through the motions in an attempt to earn favor from God, manipulate God or get what we want from Him by doing assorted outward things. We cannot earn from God for He gives freely (grace); God cannot be manipulated and I doubt He enjoys anyone attempting to do it (do you enjoy it?); and we do not follow God to get what we want, we seek to know what it is that He wants (big difference).
So do things like the ten commandments still stand? Yes, they do actually. Jesus said the law was summed up in two commands: love God with everything you have and 'then' love your neighbor - the order is important for without the first, the second is almost worthless. At no time did He ever say we no longer had to obey those commands, quite the opposite actually. If you look at the ten commandments, for example, they all fit into those two that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 22:37-40, so the ten commandments can help us understand how that looks and what that means.
Does this mean that we must always take everything in the Bible in its' original context only? No, for God does frequently speak through His Word directly to someone's situation in the present age and in an area totally unrelated to what the original was. However, taking scripture, as a whole, in context can also be important. After all, if we see something that makes our "sinful nature" happy and excited, chances are we've missed something, for what the Spirit wants and what the old self wants, are polar opposites (Galatians 5:17).
Oh, and as for our opening example from Galatians 5:1:
"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil" ~ 1 Peter 2:16
"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature" ~ Galatians 5:13
"We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" ~ Romans 6:2
I would have to say that it is pretty safe to say that Gal. 5:1 does not mean we are free to pursue every possible sinful desire, at all.
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