Galatians: Freedom

Introduction

General: What do you think of when you hear the word “freedom”?

Freedom FROM restrictions or limitations that keep me from doing what I want.

Freedom TO do things I want, like voting.

Personal: I am free to play music on the piano… So, what is freedom?

Biblical: Galatians 5:1 (NET)

Subject: What is the freedom we have in Christ? What does it mean to be free in Jesus?

Body

Jesus sets us free FROM self-righteousness. In Christ, we have freedom FROM the need to prove we’re good enough.

Exposition (Galatians 5:1, 4)

Trying to prove you’re good enough by following all the rules is “a yoke of slavery.” How good is good enough?

After a while, you stop asking, “Am I good enough for God,” and you start asking, “Am I better than the person next to me”… Like the joke: How fast do you need to be to outrun a bear?

This is why religious people are often very self-righteous. But when we really get honest with ourselves, we have to admit: We’re not better than the people sitting next to us. We just sin differently than they do.

Illustration: I grew up on a roller coaster of self-righteous arrogance and utter despair…

Application

That’s not how God intends us to live. You don’t have to prove you’re good enough, that you’re someone worth loving. You are loved by God, and you are lovely because he loves you.

Jesus sets us free from self-righteousness. So, stop trying so hard to follow the rules and start following Jesus.

Jesus sets us free FROM self-indulgence. In Christ, we have freedom FROM the evil desires of the flesh.

Exposition (Galatians 5:13, 19-21)

When we live for ourselves and do what is right in our own eyes, this is what our lives produce because we are infected with a disease called sin.

What does this kind of life bring about? Addiction, depression, loneliness, broken friendships, divorce, estranged children, disease, mental health issues, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, abandonment, abuse, hopelessness, anger, and ultimately, death.

Sin brings death.

The death of a marriage: adultery.

The death of a friendship: slander and outbursts of anger.

The death of happiness: envy and jealousy.

The death of freedom: addiction.

The death of a community: dissensions, factions, and selfish rivalries.

The death of a society: depravity.

Application: Sin brings death, and that’s now how God intended us to be. You don’t have to be dominated by the desires of your flesh. Jesus sets us free from self-indulgence.

Jesus sets us free TO be whole. In Christ, we have the freedom TO be healed/complete/full/holy… to become what God intended us to be.

Exposition

God did not intend us to be controlled by anger… filled with hatred… look down our noses at others because we think we’re holier than thou… have our happiness stolen by envy… afraid of commitment… addicted… abused or abusive…

God created us to be healed and whole in Jesus. See Galatians 5:22-23.

Love

Love is giving yourself for the highest good of another… That’s what Jesus did on the cross.

As long as I believe the lie that “you’re nobody ‘til somebody loves you,” I cannot experience love the way God intended.

Peace

Peace is resting in the confidence we have in Jesus.

As long as I believe that I have to control the outcomes of my life, I’ll never have peace.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness is being someone others can trust, and that requires commitment.

We live in a world that is enslaved to the fear of commitment because we’re afraid that if we commit, we might miss out on something better. But Jesus is the “something better.”

Application: Freedom is the power in Christ to be and do what is good and right. The Holy Spirit gives us the power of God to become what God intended us to be, whole in Christ, and do what God intended us to do, love one another. It is for this freedom that Christ has set us free.

Conclusion

Do you want to be free? Turn from sin, self-indulgence, and self-righteousness, and come to Jesus. He will set you free.