Galatians 5:13
Notes
Transcript
Freedom.
A loaded word! Will make us all think of different things...
Free country - not authoritarian, freedom of speech, peace not war etc
Freedom from slavery - historic, modern
Freedom from debt
There are lots of ways to think about freedom.
In the Bible, freedom is primarily relational. We are truly free only when we are in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The Gospel - the message of Jesus - is that we can be set free to be made right with God. We were enemies of God, slaves to sin, owing a great debt we couldn’t pay.
But Jesus came into the world to set us free! He paid the price for our sin by dying in our place. If we believe in him then we are reconciled to God.
Freedom!
Our verse for 2026 speaks of freedom.
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.”
Paul is writing to the church in Galatia, who have believed the gospel of freedom in Christ but are in danger of being re-enslaved to rules and laws such as circumcision.
They’ve been told by false teachers that they must submit to those laws in order to be truly Christian. Paul is writing to warn them that this is the deadly lie of legalism.
“You were called to be free from the demands of the law as a means of getting or keeping a right relationship with God.”
But there’s another danger that often arises when we talk about being free as Christians. If legalism is living strictly by the law, licentiousness is living however you please!
Which affects all our other relationships, including with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Both legalism and licentiousness are dangerous, and neither is true gospel freedom.
In our verse for 2026, Paul is honing in on the second of those dangers, and instead shows us what real freedom involves:
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Give up self indulgence. Give in humble service. Give to others in love.
To truly live out Christian freedom we should...
Give up self-indulgence
Give up self-indulgence
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh.
“The Flesh” is a shorthand way of describing the sinful desires that we all have.
A few verses later, Paul lists some “acts of the flesh.”
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
Notice that these are typically relational in nature - they affect other people, the people we live with, interact with, etc. In other words, when we indulge our fleshy, sinful desires, we sin against others.
Now, how can that be gospel freedom?! How can that be what Jesus died for? How can that make any sense when we supposedly believe that Jesus died to pay for our sin, that which has made us enemies of God?
In Christ we are free. But that freedom doesn’t mean we get to live as we please. It doesn’t mean I’m free to choose my desires, my passions, everything and anything that I want for myself.
Because that’s not freedom. That’s slavery. To self, to sin, to Satan.
Paul’s words are as relevant today as they were then.
Our culture prizes looking after number 1. The conversation around well being and self-care is positive to a point. But it can too easily become an excuse to prioritise self to the detriment of others.
And Paul is clearly saying that that’s incompatible with gospel freedom.
We in the church need to hear this loud and clear, because there is a real danger that we bring this self-centred culture into the community of Jesus.
Which in turn can lead to several things:
We can start viewing the church as consumers, thinking primarily about what we personally get out of it. When we feel the church no longer meets our needs, we quickly move on to find a better fit.
We can treat the church like a gym or social club, only showing up when it fits our schedule, or when it suits us or when we feel like it, or when we feel there’s benefit to us.
We stay relationally shallow, not really getting to know others or letting them get to know us. A sign of that happening is only coming to one service, and leaving quickly.
And so on.
These are real dangers for all of us, myself included, whether we realise it or not.
There is so much to encourage us about our church! We are growing. The Lord is working through us, opening up doors of opportunity for the gospel. There are many strong gospel relationships, built up through homegroups, WBS, young adults etc. We have active serving teams across the church.
But we should be alert to the danger that some of this might be coming from a legalistic point of view - that we must do this or else it’s not really Christian, or as a means of proving ourselves or earning favour with God/others.
We should also be alert to the possibility that those joining us might think that they have nothing to give (because they think it’s already been done), or that they blend into the crowd and not really become part of the church family.
As a growing church, we want everyone to be growing in it together, with no one left behind, overlooked, or allowed to slip in and out unseen!
Which is all part of giving up self-indulgence, seeing the church as a commodity, a means of getting what I want or feel I need.
We’re here to worship and serve God, and we’re here for each other as brothers and sisters.
To truly live out Christian freedom we should give up self-indulgence, and...
Give in humble service
Give in humble service
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Sounds weird! Paul says we’re free, so we should become servants?!
How does that work?!
The gospel doesn’t rescue us from slavery so we can live as we please; it frees us so that we serve our true Master, our Creator.
And because he has revealed himself in the gospel - his great love, rich mercy, amazing grace, his justice, kindness, generosity and so on - we have more reason than ever to love God and live to please him in our service to others.
After all, the very means of our salvation, Jesus Christ, is the highest example of humble service. He did not come to be served, but to serve and give us life as a ransom for many.
He commanded us, his followers, to love one another as he has loved us.
He taught us that true greatness is found in humility, service, sacrifice. Just like him!
When we look at Jesus and listen to Jesus, as those saved by Jesus, it ought to move us to serve like Jesus.
Laying down our desires, our plans, our ambitions for the sake of serving others, especially our brothers and sisters in the church.
Now, you might already be thinking “That means I should be on a rota.”
Rotas! They are a blessing and a curse! We might say that they are a great servant but a terrible master.
The worst thing about rotas is how they narrow everything down to a point in time. “If I’m on a rota that means I’ve ticked the serving box.” Or, “I only have to serve when I’m on a rota.”
Paul isn’t calling us to be on rotas!
He’s calling us to serve one another, and that is a far bigger category, and a much bigger deal!
We serve one another when we...
Pray for each other. Easily overlooked, but one of the most essential and loving things we can do for each other. Means knowing one another well enough to know how to pray! Do you regularly pray for others in the church?
Bear with one another. You’re annoying. So am I! We sometimes hurt each other, let each other down, even offend each other. But the gospel calls us to overlook it and forgive it. Are you quick to bear with others, or do you hold onto to hurts?
Build each other up in Christ. Speaking the truth in love to one another, encouraging each other to live for Jesus, doing the work of discipling each other. Not just thinking about my own growth in Christ, but others as well. Are you actively seeking to do spiritual good others in the church?
Care practically for one another. One of the distinguishing features of the early church was how they took care of each other, especially the most vulnerable. Have you thought about how you can care for your brothers and sisters?
Show hospitality to one another. Opening our homes and lives, providing a place of refuge to people who need it, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a safe place to grieve, confess, lament. Are you prepared to give someone that kind of time and attention?
Use our gifts to serve one another. God has made us all with unique talents, abilities, passions, opportunities. He’s gifted us in these ways so that we can serve his body, the church, to build and strength the faith of all the others. Might mean being on a rota! It will mean giving ourselves in service to one another. Is that something that is on your heart to do?
That’s a lot! But we have the Holy Spirit on our side, strengthening and equipping us. We have one another. And we have grace!
I give thank to the Lord, because I know that so many of you are already doing much of this. You are serving your heart out, sometimes at great cost! Please don’t think I’m asking you to do any more that you’re already doing. In fact, I might be asking you to do less!
I know that some of you might find this hard, because you struggle to know what you can realistically do to serve. That might be because of your circumstances, disability, home or work commitments. Sometimes that means you are one who needs to be served by the rest of the church! Sometimes it might mean learning that you can serve without moving or even leaving your home!
Just before Christmas, when I was in the throes of preparing for the different services, getting tired and stressed, I had the most wonderful email from someone in the church, someone who will probably never be on a rota but I know to be one of the most faithful servants. The email was a simple encouragement that I was being thought of and prayed for in that busy and tiring season. I can’t tell you how timely and encouraging that was!
We can all do that with each other, and other things like it.
There might be some here who are fairly new to the church. You see that we’re active, busy, lots happening, lots of people serving. And it might look like we’ve got it all covered.
We haven’t!! There are too many people doing to too many things. So we need you! We need everyone to be using their gifts and contributing to church life in all kinds of different ways.
You might find it hard to put yourself forward. I get it! But please know that the Lord has brought you here to belong to his body, and his body needs what you bring.
This year, we’ll be focussing on strengthening our culture of serving one another as a church. God willing, we will be providing lots of ways for everyone to grow in this.
For some, that will be mean doing a little bit more. For some, it will be mean doing less. Maybe you need to create space for others to serve by stepping back!?
Our goal is for everyone to be doing something, and no one to be doing everything.
Part of live in true Christian freedom is to give up on self-indulgence, give in humble service, and...
Give to others in love
Give to others in love
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Give yourself to others in love. Give of yourself - time, resources, gifts, compassion, patience, forbearance, kindness, mercy, love.
And the next verse...
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Earlier in v6 he said Galatians 5:6b “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
And how do we know what love is?
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.
This is a high calling!
But picture what a church community shaped by the self-giving, sacrificial love of Jesus Christ would look like.
It would look relationally rich - close bonds forged through messy lives being shared, grace and patience being shown, gifts being used and sharpened to build up one another, and a consistent life of praying for each other.
Is that a community you want to belong to? Is that a church that you want?
Good news! It’s the church Jesus died to give us! It’s already ours in so many ways.
This is important stuff. We need God’s help.
That’s why we’re praying this week that God will only strengthen the love we already have for each other as we humbly serve each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
This week of prayer is a opportunity to give up self-indulgence in order to give in the humble service of prayer and give to one another in love.
If you consider yourself to be part of this church family, I urge you to pray with us this week. Privately, and corporately.
And may the Lord be pleased to hear our prayers that we might truly live out our gospel freedom in service to each other to glory of Christ.
