Memorial Day 23

memorial day tie in

Good morning everyone and happy memorial day weekend. I hope that everyone is looking forward to kicking off the summer and enjoying a Monday off tomorrow. Memorial Day is in our culture today as nothing more than a long weekend, swimming, and burgers for most people honestly. But I want to remember why we celebrate memorial day. It is a day to remember and honor the sacrifices that many brave men and women have made to protect our freedom in this nation. To honor that theme today I would like to talk about the freedom that was bought for us through Christ. Turn with me to Galatians chapter five.

Audience

To understand this text we need to know who Paul was talking to at the time. Paul was writing to the church of Galatia which was struggling with a group called the Judiazers coming in and preaching a different sort of Gospel. They were preaching that to accept Christ one must live as a Jew. They must obey all of the laws and customs of the Jewish religion in order to recieve salvation.

Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

we have all been slaves to something in our lives whether it be addictions or major vices or maybe it was simple before you were old enough to know of those things. maybe it was something good that you corrupted.

Christ set us free from that slavery yet many people submit to slavery again after they have gained freedom. The early Christians here were submitting to the slavery of the mosaic law. We submit to the slavery of church tradition and obligation

I don’t remember before I was saved like many of you most likely do not.

Galatians 5:2-3 “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.”

If you are trying to achieve justification through works then you will not achieve it because you would be obligated to keep the whole law. Meaning you would need to be perfect. But there are many people who are saved and still live their lives by justification.

Galatians 5:4 “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

Paul is not saying that we can loose our salvation

I am no greek scholar but sometimes I think it can be important to look into the words used in important passages like this.

katērgēthēte- render ineffectual

we do not loose our salvation we simply stop growing. We are no longer working with the power of the spirit that God has given us. We have cut ourselves off from the freedom that Christ died to give us.

Galatians 5:5-6 “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

Paul gives us a reminder here that it is not our actions here on earth that can justify us. No, no one on earth can be righteous. It is only through faith in Christ that we have the hope of becoming righteous in Heaven.

So then we can stop caring about what we do and stop caring about religion?

No, Paul addresses that concern as well.

Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

While our actions do not save us they are still important. We should still be coming to church being generous and all that but we do it out of love not obligation.