Week 4-Freedom

Galatians 5:1–6 NIV

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

So, this is an intense passage.

And it bears noting - this is talking about circumcision, but really, it’s the whole law - and the whole idea of justifying ourselves. And Paul is giving a fast summary of everything that came before. So i’ll do the same.

Paul puts it pretty bluntly here. He says two things:

Firstly,

Trying to be justified by our actions alienates us from Jesus

That’s a wild way to put it. In fact, it’s not just, ‘you missed the mark’ - it’s ‘this path takes you away from Jesus Himself’.

Secondly,

Our effort to justify ourselves brings no value to our salvation

It’s not like, we’re MORE saved, or BETTER saved, if we work harder to prove that we’re good.

And pual here, he’s taking a shot at both sides of the debate. He’s talking to the jews - the people who wanted to prove their worth by their obedience to a set of rules.

BUT he’s ALSO taking a shot at the gentiles - the ones who wanted to parade around having to not follow any of the laws. They were holding up their ability to not have to do anything as a higher mark.

He’s saying - whether you do this or don’t do this, you’re not bringing any value to the table.

Your efforts to justify yourself - or your lack of efforts to justify yourself - they don’t bring you any closer to God. In fact, in terms of salvation, they’re both worthless actions.

So…what is worthwhile activity before God?

And before I move onto this. This is Paul’s BIG IDEA. Everything that came before, everything he talks about in regards to our efforts, he says we can’t possibly earn our way here.

But this next point - this is the meat of salvation. This is the thing that we need to take away from Galatians.

Faith Expressing Itself Through Love Is The Key To Pleasing Christ

If you want a life that pleases God - Express your faith through love.

If you want God to look at your life, your actions, your answers, every second, and go, ‘ya, i’m happy with what that person’s doing’. This is priority one.

This comes before everything you do. Before you get dressed to come to church on Sunday, before you sing the first lyric of the first song, before you sit through the next sermon. Before you share the next online service on facebook.

Before we choose to do or think or sing a single thing, God is going to ask the question,

Are you going to express faith in me through love for others?

And here’s the secret - this isn’t really the ‘first’ question Jesus will ask.

It’s one of the ONLY questions Jesus will ask.

I’ve seen a lot of big disagreements and fights between brothers and sisters in Christ over the years. Some of them felt like they were big issues, and some didn’t. They’re centered on worship, and service style, the design of the building, the kind of outreach. When a teenager breaks something in the facility, or a kid has a meltdown in the middle of service.

Whether it feels like it’s a big deal to us, or not. That’s not the point here. The point is - in every situation we face, in every potential for conflict, every chance we have to lift ourselves up or tear someone else down, in every word that comes out of our mouths and every action that comes out of our life, Jesus is going to look at us and say, ‘Is this you showing faith in me through love?’.

And if we can’t say yes - hard stop.

This one’s a kicker. Paul could have said anything. Through right living. Through knowing how to conduct a worship service. Through knowing the right songs. But he said love.

God will take a good, long, hard look at everything we’ve ever done. But the only things that will really, truly count as checkmarks on our score chart - they come from love.

and believe me, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. because this is love on God’s terms.

1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

If we want to ‘work’, if we want to apply ourselves to making sure we’re doing the right things - it’s this. It’s love. It’s sacrifice for others above ourselves. It’s outward focused.

Yknow, it’s funny, the only thing that God really recognizes as valuable in our lives is also the biggest thing that Jesus did for us. He died for us. And God puts value on our love, our sacrifice for others more than anything else we could ever possibly do. because

WHEN we sacrifice, WHEN we love - we look like Jesus

And that’s the point of everything we do. Without that goal- we have nothing. We ARE nothing.

And this is not easy. Jesus was wild. Jesus taught people, that if somebody steals your shirt, give them your cloak. If someone hits you on the right side of your face, TURN THE OTHER SIDE TO THEM.

Paul in 1 corinthians, he’s talking to the church, and at some point the believers are going to war with each other. They’ve even gone as far as going to court. And when you are at that stage - you’re either going for justice or blood. You’ve been wronged, you’ve been cheated, and you’re trying to make sure the world gets put right.

And paul says - why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

This is tough advice. But i can’t just skip it. This is what it means to please God.

And here’s a secret as to how we can do this. How we get from point A (trying to work hard to save ourselves, and prove we’re good) to point B (living sacrificially and selflessly out of love to show the world Jesus):

Whatever it is,

You can sacrifice it because Jesus alone is enough for you

There are missionaries out there who get on a plane, or a boat, and travel to far off lands, and they may never participate in another ‘free’ church service again. Because Jesus alone is enough for them.

There are people who have given up their freedom and faced prison, or given up their lives. Because Jesus alone was enough for them.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When you need anything else in addition to Jesus, you don’t have enough of Jesus. If you need things to go your way, or you need recognition, or to feel superior. I mean, how wild is it to be the kind of person that someone can punch in the face and you can be straight up, ‘meh, whatever.’

If we want to show the world Jesus is enough for us, the easiest way to do that is through sacrifice! Because we can’t say, I love Jesus, and see someone else lacking food or clothing and go ‘ya, but yknow… I also like this new boat that I got.... and gas costs a ton of money up here…Yknow what, I’ll pray for that guy’.

That sounds like such a negative example, that I think i’ll deflect the target off myself here and onto James.

James 2:15–17 NIV

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James is a lot more bold than I would be. I’d be like, ya, maybe you should think more about trying to use your wealth to help others. And james is straight up, if you let that guy go hungry because you want to keep your stuff, your faith is dead.

SO. If you want God to look at your life, and be pleased with your behaviour, here’s a good practical step:

Love and sacrifice for people as much as you possibly can

SIDEBAR - i need to say this. Sacrificing yourself is not the same as ignoring yourself. Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins - and he also took many, many evenings to get away from the crowds, sit back, and pray to his father. We talked about this a couple of months ago - you’ll only be able to love others as much as you’re willing to love yourself. It’s like on airplanes, they tell the parents, if we go down - put your own mask on first. Because you’re no good to your kids if you pass out first.

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This is what pleases God. When we love others, and sacrifice for others.

This is both easy and hard. It’s easy, because believe me, you’re NEVER going to run out of opportunities.

And it’s hard, because it’s sacrifice. It’s giving up ourselves for somebody else.

Find as many opportunities as you can to be able to give something up to be able to love somebody else. Especially if it’s to prove to that person that since you have Jesus alone, you’re good.

Be generous. Share with people, give to people. Give up time, or money, or stuff.

But also - be willing to sacrifice so others receive as well. Even if you feel like you’re in the right. The next time you go to push for your preferences, or your will, or to put the focus on you, Stop, and say, ‘I’m gonna love this person and sacrifice for this person’. let them have the win. Why not rather be cheated or wronged?