Liberty in the Lord

Galatians 5:13-14

Liberty in the Lord

As this week marks our nation’s freedom, it is only fitting that we be reminded of the words that were penned into the Declaration of Independence.

Words, that many of you perhaps memorized while in school. They go like this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In those words, we hold the freedom that we enjoy in the United States. Now the forefathers of this nation wanted this to be a free nation. But the Almighty Lord wants us to be a free people. And while many died to give us the freedom we enjoy in our land today.

It was by the death of Jesus Christ that we have true freedom in life. That no man, or angel, not even Satan can take away from us.

And with freedom from sin, we have liberty to show that freedom with our lives. Now it is important that we don’t abuse the liberty that Christ has given us. That is why tonight we come to Galatians 5 and we are given a reminder of this.

(Read Scripture)

Paul’s writing to the Galatian church serves as a reminder to us here tonight, that the liberty that God gives to us is not something that we should abuse.

But the more time passes, the more we see our society abusing that freedom. And it seems like many would rather call us to suppression and imprisonment but that is not what God does here.

In fact, God doesn’t call us to a life of confinement, but instead to a life of liberty and freedom.

But the liberty that the Lord gives to us, is not a life that should abuse such a gift. Now take note of what the scripture says here to the liberty we have in the Lord.

The Calling of Liberty

· Take note of what verse 13 says “For brethren, we have been called unto liberty…”

· Now when a person is born in the United States, they are born into freedom (to a degree). And we might say, they are a free US Citizen.

· But that freedom, that liberty that we enjoy in this country, doesn’t really make us free.

· Because everyone that is born, no matter where we are born in the world, are really slaves to sin.

· We are born into this world with debt. In Forbes magazine, they recently reported that the average US cost of giving birth is $18,865.

· Just think about it, you come into this world financially in the hole. Now that is a lot of money. But, friend everyone of us was born into this world with a much larger spiritual debt.

· A debt, that no matter if we worked a lifetime, we could never pay. Because it is too great.

· There has only been one, who had the ability to pay our debt, and that is Jesus Christ.

· Now just imagine you are going through life and say you owe $500,000 dollars. A lot of money, and here is this individual that comes up to your home, and says, I want to pay off your debt. I want to give to you financial freedom, to give you liberty to do enjoy life and not be oppressed by the debt. What would we say to that? We would say, where can I find this man.

· Well friend, that is exactly what Jesus Christ does. He sees us, and he sees that enormous sin debt that we have, and he is saying come to me, that I might give you liberty. To free you from that debt.

· Friend God is calling us to today to liberty, to freedom, and with that freedom to be able to really live life free from sin and to know the Lord for who He is.

· You know back in the day, I remember seeing the commercials from Publishing Clearing House. They were looking to give a lucky winner a million dollar prize. But you couldn’t get it unless your name was called.

· Well friend, I want you to know that God has called your name, and he is letting you know that you have liberty and freedom, all you have to do is claim it by coming to Jesus.

· Remember, you have been called by Christ unto liberty. A life of freedom.

The Commandment to Love

· Now we see the calling of liberty, but notice what else we see in verse 13.

· Now the Lord gives you liberty, but what does he want you to do with that liberty? Well it is quite evident. He wants us to love.

· You see Christ did not go to the cross and die for your sins, so you can go on being exactly like you were.

· He didn’t die for you to be a person that continues to sin, to hate others, and live in the flesh. He saved you so you would learn to love.

· Now the world wants to give its meaning for love, but the world’s definition for love is distorted and twisted by Satan.

· True love is not goggily eyes and giggling at one another. It is not looking on the surface of a person and admiring their beauty. No, true love is when we serve one another.

· Think about it, love is committing ourselves to a person and serving them. Let me ask you, do you serve your spouse? Do you serve your children? Do you serve your parents? Do you serve God?

· Why do we serve? Because when the Lord saved us, he put in our hearts that desire. When you see a person who has the true love of the Lord in their life, you see a person that serves.

· And really, when we serve others, we are really serving God. We are demonstrating that love that we have for him by serving others.

· Now love is an important term in the eyes of the Lord. He says here in this verse that the law is fulfilled in one word. And friend that one word is LOVE.

· I read an article A middle-aged gentleman walked into the make-up section of a department store. The salespeople approached him assuming he was buying goods for his significant other.

To their surprise, he begged them to teach him how to put on make-up. They were a bit taken aback, but seeing as the store was not particularly bustling at that hour, indulged him. He took detailed notes throughout the rather thorough lesson, and finally at the end they simply couldn't hold it in any longer, and asked what had inspired him to learn this art.

He replied, 'My dear wife recently lost her sight in a terrible accident, and so she can't put on her own make-up anymore. We've been married over two decades, and she knows I think she's the most beautiful woman in the world no matter what, but when we go out nowadays she doesn't have the confidence she used to have. I came here because I want to be able to put her make-up on for her so she can feel as beautiful on the outside as I know she is on the inside.'

· Do you realize that through the law we find love. When Jesus came to fulfill the law, he came to demonstrate his love to us.

· Where we were blind, he cleansed us and set us free. Friends, the law was something that we could not fulfill, but Christ fulfilled it for us.

· Now, when Christ poured his love out on us, what does he want us to do with it in return? He wants us to love others.

· Just as Christ came as a servant, we are not to serve just like he did. That is the command.

· Now when a Christian doesn’t want to serve, they are going against the nature of God. You are hindering the Spirit.

· Friends, understand, that the Lord wants you to demonstrate his love by serving others.

The Completion of the Law

· Now quickly, we see the calling of liberty, and the command to love, but friends with this freedom and service we find the completion of the law. Look at verse 14.

· When Paul was talking to the Galatian church, the members in that church weren’t really free. And it was because they had chained themselves with their own opinions and preferences.

· They were looking at one another with judgmental thoughts and actions. They had stopped serving in the church, and they had stopped serving one another.

· Now understand, the church is suppose to be a growing body. But when people stop loving one another, what we find is that the church becomes enslaved to its flesh.

· As professing believers, it is important that we stop and consider how we are engaging one another.

· Let’s do a quick test.

o Do you love helping others outside of your immediate family?

o When you see a stranger enter into this church, do you make an effort to meet them and welcome them?

o When there is an activity or event going on, do you volunteer to serve or do you wait until someone asks or begs you?

o When people see you outside of the church, do they see a person who lives out the example of Christ?

o If there was a present need in someone’s life, do you make an effort to help in that need?

· Friend, if you struggle with any of those questions, then pray to the Lord, help me to love others as you have loved us.

· You see, it should be our desire and our love to demonstrate Jesus Christ to others by serving.

· Now, servanthood seems like the opposite of freedom. But in the eyes of God, you are never more free until you are willing to serve.

· And when you serve, you experience the true love of God’s word in your life.

· You see the liberty that Christ gives to us, is not for us to neglect or abuse, instead, it is meant to show and to serve.

· Now you can’t serve with love unless you allow the Lord to come into your heart.

· You can’t be free, until you receive the gift of salvation from Christ Jesus.

· It has always been the desire of the Lord that you be free, that you have liberty in your life, and the only way that can take place, is when you raise the white flag of surrender in your life.