Running in Grace; Galatians 5:1-15

Introduction

Paul has been defending himself and the gospel

last week, Roger, we are children of the slave woman and children of the free woman

looking back to Genesis and the time of Abraham

You get the sense when reading through this part of the letter that Paul is frustrated

like a parent that has told one of their kids how to do something, or given advice and they do something different and begin to complain about the results

Galatians 5:1–15 (CSB)

1 For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.

3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to do the entire law.

4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.

5 For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

7 You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth?

8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough.

10 I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.

11 Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

12 I wish those who are disturbing you might also let themselves be mutilated!

13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

PRAY!

Reliance on works makes life about competition that leads to boasting. Grace frees us to love as we are loved.

Freedom Obtained

Galatians 5:1–6 (CSB)

1 For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all.

3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to do the entire law.

4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.

5 For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

We like the feeling of accomplishment

something that we can point to and say I did that

heather and I putting up the rails on the porch

it gives a sense of pride

not even with other people

it is not a I am better than you pride

just something that you can point to and say, I did that

people naturally lean into the law

when we say law, we are talking about the OT law

reminder the 3 types of OT law

Civil law - how they governed as a country

ceremonial law - how they approached God

all of the festivals that must be celebrated and honored in a certain way

this is where circumcision would fall

moral law - the 10 commandments

we still are called to obey these, not in the way they did

they would create more laws that they must follow so that they would ensure that they did not break these laws

Jesus redefined these

not just the letter of the law

but your heart is where you break them

meaning we are called to more strictly adhere to the moral law then what they thought

they believed by doing the ceremonial, they were in obedience to the moral

Isaiah 29:13 (CSB)

13 The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.

So what does the law accomplish… nothing

the law does reveal our sin

the moral law, ten commandments, reveals where my heart is at

what I truly worship

how flippant I am with God and his name

how much I try to elevate myself, and put my neighbor down

but when this is revealed, the answer to it is not more law

I have already demonstrated that I cannot keep it

yet for so many of us it is what we run to, feels good

Paul mentions a few things that we must understand in vv1-6

getting circumcised, showing sign of the covenant with Abraham is of no benefit

if you rely on one aspect of the law, you must follow the entire law

when you attempt to justify yourself by the law, you are alienated from Jesus

Alienated - put a stop (end) to, invalidate

you cannot have a little Jesus and a little law

it accomplishes nothing

Jesus is not impressed with how much of the law that you were able to keep

you are not getting a bigger mansion, or a mansion in a better location because you were able to keep more of the law than others

We live by faith through the Spirit

by faith

we believe that Jesus died in our place taking all our sin on himself

we believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and his righteousness has been granted to those who believe

we believe that he rose from the grave, and by faith we believe that we will be resurrected with him

through the spirit

when we heard the gospel and believed the Holy Spirit was given to us

Ephesians 1:13 (CSB)

13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.

sealed - put a mark on, mark for possession

we know from chapter 4, that the Holy Spirit leads our heart in relationship with the Father

Galatians 4:6 (CSB)

6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

gives us an eagerness of the day when our righteousness is realized

hope - expected, in this case expected righteousness

we eagerly await that day, excited for that day

the spirit confirms our faith in christ by empowering us to live out our faith in love

it is God’s power

what matters is not how much of the law you kept, you are a law breaker

but if the Spirit is in you demonstrating your faith by working in love

Freedom Hindered

This sounds so easy… why is it so hard

for the Galatians some were coming in and perverting the gospel

Galatians 5:7–12 (CSB)

7 You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth?

8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough.

10 I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.

11 Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

12 I wish those who are disturbing you might also let themselves be mutilated!

Hinder - create difficulties for (someone or something), resulting in delay or obstruction

this is the better word for the passage and we see it in almost all other translations

what has hindered you, what is in your way

that is a very good question for our walk

look at the voices you are listening to, are they speaking the truth

not the truth you want to hear, not something that sounds good

that is the type of people that Paul is talking about in this passage

there are a lot of voices out there that are easy to listen to, entertaining to listen to, but when we really look at what they are saying or singing, the truth simply is not there

we must know our Bible

not just that it is in there somewhere,

Satan knows the word of God, he quotes it to Jesus

you have to know who God is, what he has said and the truth, so that when we hear false claims we can recognize them

It is not God who throws these hinderances out there

when we know the truth we can recognize these for what they are

hinderances attempting to move us away from the truth, Jesus

How valuable is your soul

yes, these were men who came in and were teaching that they had to obey the law as well as have Jesus

but as we read in another of Paul’s letters, we are not battling against flesh and blood

it is Satan and his evil followers that are after the souls of all man kind

do you understand that your soul is so valuable that Satan would battle for it and Jesus would die for it!

with a soul that valuable, we should not be so flippant about what it is we believe

we have to be sure to know the truth and live by the truth of God

Those that teach the lie will be responsible

James warns that the teachers will be held to a higher standard

why? because as somebody who speaks about God we are either leading people closer to him, or leading them away from him and his truth.

Paul writes that these that are leading the Galatians away from the truth, hindering their spiritual journey, will be held to account

Paul is so disgusted by this he throws out a couple of thoughts

they must have lied and said that this is what Paul teaches

because he states that if he, Paul, teaches these things why would he be persecuted

he shows his utter disgust in v12, that he wishes they would just castrate themselves

kind of like saying, you believe in this so much, show how much you believe, cut it all off

Freedom Understood

Illustration of the slaves being set free, only to go with their slave master because they did not know what to do in their freedom

Galatians 5:13–15 (CSB)

13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

We are comfortable in our enslavement

it is a known thing, it is harder to trust in somebody or something else

I am sure that we have all said, “I will just do it myself.”

you may have heard your parents say that when they asked you to do something

you may be the parents

maybe as a boss

regardless of what position you said or heard this said, it means that I do not trust

this is where the Israelites were during the exodus

we are free from slavery!

God brought us to the red sea to die

God brought us out here to die of thirst

God brought us out here to die

we doubt… it is natural but what are we doubting

does he love me

does he really know my sin

if he really knew me, would he really die for me

is his sacrifice really enough to pay my debt

it is!

when we realize that, we begin to live in the freedom we have in Christ

knowing that he loves you and his sacrifice is enough

The freedom we have is not so that we can decide how we want to live

you are not to use your freedom to satisfy the flesh

grace does not free you to violate, ignore God’s law

or even how we want to worship

our freedom is so that we can live for him

the freedom from the law allows us to love God with all that we are and our neighbor as ourselves

pride prevents us from loving God and our neighbor

we are more concerned with ourselves

Exalting Jesus in Galatians Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. Respond to this sentiment: Adding a little to the gospel is not a major problem, as long as we believe in the cross.

2. What does it mean to be set free by Christ?

3. Does eternal security give us freedom to sin without fear of the consequences? Explain. How do many in our culture define freedom? How does Paul define it?

4. What’s the difference between the kind of work that misses God’s grace and the kind that pleases Him?

5. Does the phrase “fallen from grace” (5:4) refer to losing your salvation? If not, then what does it mean?

6. If we are already made righteous in Christ, then to what does the phrase “the hope of righteousness” (5:5) refer?

7. Explain the difference between hope as the Bible defines it and hope as many people use the word today.

8. What was your reaction to Paul’s words in 5:12? Why do you think he said that?

9. Why should our freedom in Christ lead us to a life of love for one another and our neighbors?

10. Have you ever seen people in the church “bite and devour one another?” (5:15). What were the causes? How does this passage speak to this problem?