Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

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Local churches can be unique in the way they are organized and function.

And yet local churches typically have a few things in common – a meeting place/weekly worship gathering, a set of doctrinal beliefs, and church bylaws.

Church bylaws are the “standing rules that govern the structure, requirements for leadership and membership, and protect the liability of the church.

We have our own set of bylaws that regulate how we are organized and function as a church.

Some church bylaws are simple, some are super complex, and some are really strange.

Thom Rainer (President & CEO of Lifeway Christian Publishing) has uncovered some of the “weird” church bylaws in his blog.

· Rainer – Church Bylaws

Wow! Hilarious – I’m not sure we’ll be recommending any of those revisions to our bylaws in the near future.

Just like families have their own set of “rules” and “guidelines” that govern the life of their home, as church family we have bylaws and guidelines based on the God’s Word that governs “how” we are organized and “how” we function.

Our ultimate authority as a church is God’s Word—the biblical imperatives and principles are the basis for our bylaws and guidelines that govern organization and structure—and in the Holy Scriptures we discover that God calls us to live as a family.

How does God want us to treat one another in this church family?

That’s what our “ONE ANOTHER summer series is all about.

Today is week three of our summer series that examines the various “one another” passages in the NT that teach us how to live together as God’s family.

We began with God’s call to “Love One Another.”

Last week Pastor Jake preached on the call to “Forgive One Another” – the Holy Spirit did a profound work in our hearts as a church family (People asking for forgiveness and people offering forgiveness).

Today we continue with the call to “Serve One Another.”

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As we walk through this series let me begin with a caution – none of these will be mastered in a week – I trust you haven’t nailed “loving one another” and “forgiving one another” yet.

Don’t put a mental check beside each one each week – got it, done!

The one another’s must be continuously, repeatedly, and simultaneously lived out for the rest of your life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

You’ll never master them all but by God’s power and grace we’ll grow (babysteps) in each one as we live our lives together.

Today we turn our focus to the call to “Serve One Another.”

What’s your initial response to the thought of “Serving One Another?” Seriously?

It’s a safe place for us to share our thoughts & hearts with one another, we’re family, right?! What’s your gut-level reaction to the thought of having to “serve” your fellow believers/members of God’s family?

(Share)

If we’re honest, if left to our own desires, we’d rather be served than serve?

Who doesn’t like going to a nice restaurant, being waited on hand and foot, “can I get you anything?” or “Do you need anything?”

and we expect our waiters and waitresses’ to serve us well!

If we’re honest, we want to pick and choose who we serve!

We want to serve the people we like or serve people who will be grateful.

If we’re honest, we want to serve people on our terms (our way & our convenience).

We are selfish, we live in a “selfie” society, we want to sing the song “me, me, me, me, me, me me” but we don’t want anyone to know we’re singing it.

We want to look out for our own interests instead of looking out for the interests of others.

We all have excuses to justify “why” we don’t serve one another.

We need a heart like Jesus – the heart of a servant – and we need a heart empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the servants that God’s called us to be.

We need to consider God’s call to serve one another in this family.

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Take your Bible and turn to . . .

In we will discover a life-changing truth about “serving one another” that has profound implications for our lives.

I) THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

Galatians is likely the earliest NT letter written in A.D. 49.

The letter from the apostle Paul to the Christians in the region of Galatia (Pisidia Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe) – MAP.

Paul preached the gospel to these areas during his missionary journeys ().

Paul wrote this letter to encourage Gentile converts who were being led astray by Jewish Legalists (Judaizers) who were teaching the Gentile Christians that they had to obey the OT (specifically circumcision) as a part of salvation.

Galatians highlights the truth of the gospel – salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone, and through faith alone.

The false teachers were proclaiming that salvation was through Moses (Law) but Paul rebuked the error and proclaimed salvation in Christ.

Paul’s letter rebukes false teacher’s perversion of the gospel, highlights there is only one gospel (2:1-10), calls out the Christians in Galatia for departing from the truth of the gospel (3:1-14), acknowledges the Law is a gift to reveal our sin and point us to Jesus (3:15-29), and calls each reader to embrace the Christian freedom without giving into legalism or license (4:21-5:15), and calls us to live the Christian life by the power of the Holy Spirit (5-6).

In the spotlight is put on Freedom in Christ—to embrace the Judaizer’s legalistic ways would be equivalent to being in slavery and adding to the finished work of Jesus Christ which is a distortion of the gospel (5:1-12)—so in we are confronted with the ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

Let’s walk through together to consider an important truth about “serving one another” and its implications for our lives.

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A) The Call to live a life of Freedom (5:13)

First, we begin with “The Call to Live a life of Freedom” in .

The Call to Live a Life of Freedom.

Paul reminded his brothers (and sisters) in Christ of their Christian freedom—“You, my brothers, were called to be free.”

The Gentile believers divine call to salvation in Jesus through the preaching of the gospel () was a “call” to a life of freedom.

The very essence of the gospel is a divine invitation into a life of freedom!

Christians enjoy a new life of freedom.

In the context of Galatians, and in the flow of Paul’s argument, the call to freedom is set in contrast to legalism.

The Gentile Christians are not under the legal bondage of obeying the Law.

The Judaizers were teaching that Gentile Christians had to get circumcised in order to be saved but this was clearly not a part of their calling.

In the previous paragraph of this letter Paul rejects the preaching of circumcision—it’s a perversion of the gospel that is preventing them from obeying the truth of the gospel (5:7)—and Paul used strong language to denounce this perversion by suggesting that these “agitators” of the gospel would go beyond mere circumcision to castration (5:12).

Paul reminded the Gentile Christians that they had been “set free” from the demands of the Law—they were no longer under the domination or constraint to fulfill the practices of the OT Law—they no longer lived under the obligation to be physically circumcised as an outward sign of covenant or to be declared righteous before God or a part of His covenant people.

The sign of the New Covenant was spiritual circumcision of their hearts by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Paul wanted the Gentile Christians to know that they were called to be free!

The Gentile Christian’s freedom was threatened by a returning to life under the slavery of legalism being promoted by the Judaizers (5:1).

Paul informed the Gentile converts that they were no longer under the bondage of the OT Law—they had been set free from the slavery of the Law to become slaves to Jesus Christ—but they were in danger of lapsing back into the bondage of the Law if they embraced the need to be physically circumcised in order to be declared righteous before God and truly in covenant relationship with Him by this work of the flesh.

Christians are set free from the Law that was given to the nation of Israel—we don’t have to get circumcised as a covenant sign we are the people of God, we don’t have to follow the dietary laws (pork ribs summer BBQ), we don’t have to follow the laws about ceremonial washing of our clothes, bodies, and dishes, we don’t have to follow the laws about worshipping on the Sabbath or celebrating the feasts.

We are called to a life of freedom in Christ!

B) The Proper use of our Freedom (5:13-15)

Secondly, we are confronted with “The Proper use of our Freedom.”

Paul’s reminder about their “Call to Freedom” is quickly followed by instructions about “The Proper Use of Our Christian Freedom.”

The Christian’s call to freedom rejects legalism as a distortion of the gospel.

One might assume that Christian freedom is just that, freedom to do whatever you want to do.

Freedom can be scary (parents).

Liberty can tempt people to embrace license—"I can do whatever I please because I’m free in Christ.”

Freedom can be horribly perverted and misused in the Christian life!

Freedom keeps us from drifting into legalism but it also denounces license.

Remember, we’ve talked about these two extremes of the Christian life—legalism (obey the OT to be saved or add human rules to be holy) and license (unrestrained, lawlessness, and permission to sin)—and Galatians rejects them both as distortions of the gospel.

The Gentile Christian’s freedom was being threatened by legalism (5:1, 13) but there was the temptation to use their freedom from the law as license to sin.

In we discover “The Proper use of Our Christian Freedom.”

1) Don’t use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature (5:13b)

First, “Don’t use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature.”

“Don’t use your freedom to indulge your flesh.

This powerful exhortation is a rejection of using your Christian freedom as a license to sin.

The phrase “sinful nature” is also translated as “flesh” (sarx) in the NT.

The sinful nature or “flesh” doesn’t refer to our physical body.

“Flesh” here refers to the psychological aspect of our human nature that includes our reasoning, will, and desires, our depraved nature of self-will & sinful desires that reside within us, or our “self-regarding element of human nature which has been corrupted at the source and our appetites and propensities corrupted by sin” (NIGTC).

& 6 highlights the constant battle that rages between our “flesh” (sinful nature) and the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer ().

Paul warned the Gentile Christians about using their liberty/freedom as an opportunity to “indulge” their sinful nature.

The term “indulge” is a term that refers to a “military base of operations” where soldiers are launched for battle.

In this imagery the flesh is depicted as an enemy that is using “freedom” as an advantageous opportunity carry out its activities (sin).

Paul warned the Gentile Christians about using their freedom as a “springboard” or “base of operations” to gratify the lusts of the flesh (sin).

There is always a temptation to “misuse” our freedom to indulge our flesh.

J. Brown: “The mad man who has mistaken his tattered garments for the flowing robes of majesty, and his manacles for golden bracelets studded with jewels, has not erred so widely as the man who has mistaken carnal license for Christian liberty.”

When this happens our freedom is corrupted and perverted, our precious liberty in Christ is turned into a license to sin.

Therefore Paul prohibited using their freedom as an opportunity to fulfill their desires of their sinful nature!

License is “every bit as spiritually paralyzing as a lapse into legalism” (NIGTC).

Legalism is distortion of the gospel and license is a distortion of the gospel.