Pearl CH

Session 1- Freedom from sin.

WELCOME

I am glad each and everyone of you is here.

Who am I?

From Cleveland, Ohio

Here 7 years ago as a student - now back bringing students as the assistant director of youth M

I am extremely humbled to have this opportunity.

I know I don’t know all of you, but if I know anything about those who are engaged in long term M work, I know that you guys rely on the holy spirit and have sacrificed a ton for the sake of the Gospel.

I just want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for all you do, all you sacrifice on the day to day. It is truly and inspiration to me and my team.

Just save me a spot at dinner in your mansion in heaven please :)

What I have prepared for today is something that was originally used for a completely different context than this one today.

I work usually with 180ish middle school and high school students and was recently blessed with the opportunity to teach at our weekend winter retreat.

This sermon was written mainly with 8th grade boys in mind and I have adjusted that for today.

Now, although it is written for that audience, the Lord put this on my heart to share with you all because I think it will be an encouragement to you as parents and disciplers because of the transformative power of Christ.

PRAY

Set Up

We will be talking today about freedoms that we experience in Christ. Truths that effect the way that we live in radical ways for the better.

3 Night & Day Freedoms

Freedom from sin.

Freedom from rule following and rule breaking.

Freedom to enjoy the life that God has for us.

Galatians Info

We are going to go on a journey through Galatians specifically camping out in chapter 5. So go ahead and open there.

Galatians is most likely the first letter written by a guy named Paul, addressing the earliest issues of the early church

Paul was one of the first followers of Jesus. He travelled all around the Med Sea telling people about Jesus and starting little churches in the first century.

Galatia is a location and a people, it’s a place where Paul started a church.

The first verse of Galatians 5, our main text for the weekend says this.

Freedom from sin

Galatians 5:1 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

“For Freedom Christ has set us Free”

This phrase is one that may seem simple, but is packed FULL of truth and questions about it.

What did Jesus set us free from?

I think we can all agree, the world is a pretty messed up place.

There is war and violence, there is cheating and bullying, there is lying and stealing, there is abuse and trauma, there is anxiety and depression, there is death.

As you guys live on the island of 10,000 mosques and have conversations on conversation with cousins, it is so incredibly clear. This world is broken.

But it’s way more personal than that.

Each of us experience this.

Our homes are messed up.

Our minds are messed up.

Not just the world, but YOUR world is broken.

All of this brokenness, all of this hurt, all of this death was not what God wanted. This was not God’s original design. It all can be summed up in a word in the church world that we call sin.

I don’t know about you guys, but I do this all the time

I am guilty of Sin.

We all are guilty of sin.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

But we are not just guilty of sin, we are prisoners of sin.

Galatians 3:22 ESV

But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

No matter what we try to do to escape sin, it always finds us again.

We try to be nicer to our friends and family, we try not to lie, we try to not be selfish, we may even try to love God more.

But on our own, we remain a prisoner to sin.

Why do I need to be set free?

The consequences for our sin, what we deserve for rejecting or ignoring God, is death.

Not just death as we think about it though. Eternal death, forever apart from God in Hell.

We deserve to be sent away from God. We deserve nothing but death.

We need to be set free because without Jesus, we are slaves to sin and we deserve nothing.

But God, invites us to experience freedom through the death and resurrection of his son Son, Jesus. He wants us to experience and enjoy freedom through Christ.

I know each of us know the weight of this. Each of us here have sacrificed a lot to invite people into this freedom. We study the scripture. We learn new EV methods. We practice language. We do all of this to show people how Christ can invite each of us into the freedom that can only be found in Him.

How did Christ set us free?

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Lived the live

Died the death

and Jesus rose again, giving us new life, both now and for eternity.

Jesus set us free from the power and the penalty of sin.

Jesus defeated death. He conquered the grave. So that no more would people have to go to hell but could instead be united to Christ and an eternity connected to him.

And because of that we are given new life. A life of freedom.

Galatians 5:1 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We are free! Praise God! But, what does Paul mean by stay free?

How then should we live?

Slave to the Law

The OT gives lots and lots of instruction on how to live.

10 Commandments

613 OT commands

This was written to the Judiazers, these people who are combining the Jewish faith and Christianity.

They want to fit Jesus into the box of their tradition, ignoring much of what Jesus taught.

Law = Rules for God’s people

At Mount Sinai God makes a covenant with Israel, like an agreement, and all of the laws that Moses gives to Israel are the terms of that agreement. They're like a constitution.

So this law serves a purpose for the people of Isreal

Some of the laws they're about rituals and customs that set Israel apart from the nations.

Other laws are about social justice or morality, and by following these Israel would show the other nations what God is like.

But over and over and over again, the Israelite people fail to obey the rules. Over and over again they do exactly opposite of what God has asked them.

They get the command, don't worship other gods, don't make idols. And then right after that there's a story of Israel breaking those very laws, they worshiped the golden calf.

And so Moses gives some more laws, and then you get more stories of rebellion.Some more laws, rebellion again. Some more laws, more rebellion, and we see this over and over and over again throughout the OT.

No matter how many laws they're just gonna continue to rebel. They are just going to continue to break the rules.

But these Judiazers, the people that know these commands and laws, want to keep trying to keep them. Why did they want to keep it? Is that even a bad thing even thought they cant keep them?

Putting their faith in the law

Lets take a look at what Paul instructs these people to do.

Go ahead and open those bibles back up to Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5:2–4 ESV

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. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

3 Dangers of law following

Dangers of law following

Christ will be no advantage to you.

Galatians 5:2 ESV

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

Galatians 5:3 ESV

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

If you follow one law, you have to follow them all.

This is Paul saying, “If you want to try, go ahead I guess, but you have to obey all 613 OT commands perfectly, which we know you cant do”

Follow all of them then, if that is what you really want to do. All of history shows that you will not be able to. And as a result.

Galatians 5:4 NLT

For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

You will be cut off from Christ.

This is the wake up call.

IF YOU DO THIS, then you are not a part of God’s family.

You have been cut off, you have fallen away from grace.

The reality is, they cant do it. They are trying to keep their old traditions AND follow Jesus. They are trying to fit what THEY think is best, into what God says.

But this is not just a Galatia problem. This is a you and me problem. We may not need to follow 619 different laws, some of which make no sense to us in our current day and age. But, Jesus gave us a new standard, a new law.

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So we, today, can sum up the law that we are to follow as this, We are to love God and love others.

Jesus says that we are to do that. We are to be rule keepers, but we also know, just like the Isrealites, we fail to obey this commandment, over and over and over again.

We CAN NOT rely on obeying that commandment, following the rules, to save us. Because it is impossible for us

If we continue to try and earn our way to heaven by obeying the law, we will be in slavery to sin. If we rely on being good enough to earn us favor in God’s eyes, we are still in slavery to sin. We have not yet experienced that night + day freedom that we all want.

What does save?

But what should they be believing? How can these people be set free from the law? How can they experience freedom?

Galatians 5:5–6 ESV

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.

Those who live “Through the spirit, by faith” will receive the hope of righteousness.

Jesus + nothing = Salvation

That is it. Don’t need to follow the 613 OT commands perfectly, Don’t need to be set apart physically from the rest of the world, Don’t need to make ourselves right.

We do not need to do anything but put our faith in Jesus.

We just have to say yes to Jesus and we will experience night and day freedom from the law. We will break free from slavery to the law.

What does this look like today?

This is the message that our muslim friends need! The people on Lombok need to be set free. They need this freedom more than anyone. They work, day in and day out. Pray towards Mecca 5 times a day until they die. Fast for a month for their whole lives. They need to enter in to this freedom.

The mission statement of Jesus in Luke always is an incredible encouragement to me.

Luke 19:10 ESV

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Notice it doesn’t say those who already love me. Notice it doesn’t say the person that has their life together. Notice it doesn’t say the person who is good enough. Notice it doesn’t say the easy one. Notice it doesn’t say the leader in the village.

Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. Not those who have it all together.

This is all great news. Jesus came to save the lost and enslaved. He came to bring freedom.

Believing in False Truth

This chapter continues but takes a bit of a turn towards christian living. What happens after you experience this freedom and how are you to live in that freedom?

Galatians was written roughly 10 years after Jesus was on earth. Even ~10 years after Jesus died, heresy was everywhere, wrong teaching has already infiltrated the christian communities that had been formed.

The people of Galatia have quickly forgot the teachings of Jesus. The Galatian church was familiar with salvation through Jesus alone, but nearly 10 years after he died, rose and ascended, they were starting to lose track of the truth.

Paul says that here continuing on in Galatians 5

Galatians 5:7 ESV

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

YOU WERE DOING SO GOOD! You were following the commands of Jesus and living a life of freedom. Then what happened? What stopped you from following the truth?

Let’s keep reading

Galatians 5:8–10 ESV

This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

How did they fall back into slavery to the law? False Teachings.

They have started to fall back into the teachings of this world, into their old traditions. They lost track of what really sets them free.

Without intentionality in seeking out and sticking to truth, they instead turned back to their old tradition and old way of living. Something that can so easily happen to each and everyone of us.

Danger of allowing false teaching

Paul gives us an illustration that is just perfect to explain false teaching.

False teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough.

This is what Paul is comparing false to. Because just a little bit of yeast makes a whole batch of dough rise. In the same way, a little big of false teaching spreads through and can grow grow grow until it is a huge problem

This is why it is so important to Paul.

He recognizes that a little bit of false teaching can turn into a much greater problem.

He wants people to instead look for truth.

This is why our discipleship of our kids and baby believers is so important. The world wants to dilute the gospel message. The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy years and years of hard work with false doctrine.

Where do you find truth?

In this world, there is “truth” everywhere. Our preferences, our desires, find our way into our understanding of God

The world tells us

Speak your truth

or we say the phrase that My truth is this… my truth is that…

How can everyone’s truth be different? If that’s the case then none of it is really true.

We are so quick to add things into our faith to make it easier, to make it more palatable and understandable.

We want to enjoy the freedom Christ is offering us in our way, with our truth involved.

Slave to the Flesh

Paul recognizes this tendency in the Galatians and in each of us.

He knows how quickly they can depart from the truth because of a little bit of a lie that they believe.

Paul proactively predicts their next move in verse 13 of chapter 5.

Galatians 5:13 NLT

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Paul, understanding humanity says, guys, yes, please live in freedom from slavery from the law, understanding that it does not lead to salvation, but don’t go too far the other way.

Just because you do not HAVE to obey the law anymore, doesn’t mean that its not good for you or best for you.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Jesus came not to get rid of the law, but to give us freedom. He came to accomplish the law by living the perfect life we could never live, one of 100% rule following. And because of Jesus’s perfectness, he was able to free us from sin. We do not have to do everything right, we do not have to be slaves to sin. BUT, Jesus also says this.

John 14:15–16 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

If you love Jesus, if you are in his family, if you are thankful for what he has done for us on the cross through his sacrifice, then you will keep his commandments.

But keeping these commands is incredibly difficult.

The war inside

Paul tells us that there is actually a war inside of us. There are two things constantly at war.

The Sinful nature vs. the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:16–17 NLT

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Two things at war:

Sinful nature

The sinful nature is the part of you that feels an emptiness

uses the resources in its own power to try to fill it.

Things that are not what God wants for you, things that we THINK are going to satisfy, but that end up just making the problem worse in the long run.

The Spirit

is God who lives in us and helps us to believe, feel, and act in accordance with God’s truth BECAUSE he knows what it best for us. The Spirit can actually FIX the problem, the longing, the emptiness.

He is the one who causes us to feel badly when we do something wrong.

He reminds of who we really are in God’s eyes - of our value, and worth, our sonship and daughtership!

Verse 17 says, “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.” The main thing to learn from this verse is that Christians, those apart of God’s family experience a struggle within.

And you may already be thinking to yourself when I was describing the sinful nature, “Well, I have a lot of that still left in me,” I mess up, I fill that emptiness with bad things all the time.

That does not necessarily mean you aren’t a Christian. That doesn’t mean you aren’t free.

A Christian is not a person who experiences no bad desires. A Christian is a person who is at war with those desires by the power of the Spirit.

Sinful Nature and it’s results

So, let’s see what happens when one side or the other wins this battle. Paul tells us that there is a massive difference in what comes OUT of our lives depending on whether the Sinful nature or the Spirit wins that battle.

Let’s look at verses 19-21…

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When we seek to fill that emptiness with our own resources, ideas, plans, these are the things that come out. Attempting to feel valued, loved, wanted, meaningful, purposeful with our own ideas and plans produces these results.

When you don’t feel loved and decide that seeking your value in someone else, what cane come out?

Sexual immorality and impurity.

When you feel anxiety or stress and choose to fix the problem yourself,

The result is still emptiness - impurity and lustful pleasures.

When you attempt to feel purpose by trying to have the being good enough, or sharing more, or being a better christian, the result is still emptiness, jealousy, division, dissension, and selfish ambition

We KNOW THIS!! It’s so clear to see. I don’t need to go on with endless examples. I’m confident that there are tons of difficult things in your mind right now that you’ve experienced as a result of trying to fill the void with your own strength.

The Devil loves when we do this and just throws gasoline on the fire - trying to get us to believe lies.

That this will make me feel better, this will fill my emptiness, this will make be feel valued, loved, wanted, meaningful, purpose.

But the sinful nature is not the only player in this fight. The sinful nature and the spirit are at war.

And - if you’ve trusted Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of your life, you don’t have to lose the fight because God provides a winning plan.

We must make the choice, there is a war. Which one are you going to follow.

Is the life in the spirit, is the freedom that Christ purchased for us what you desire.

We all have this emptiness in us, we can fill it with things that lead to slavery or we can fill it for things that bring freedom.

This life of freedom is something we can all have.

Forever is here, today can be the day that you choose to fill that emptiness with freedom, whether for the first time, or again.

We walk in the spirit by preaching truths to ourselves, believing that God’s promises are big enough to produce love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness and self control in us. All we have to do it stay connected to God through his spirit. And he will do the rest.

PRAY