Freedom at risk! - Then and now
Freedom in Christ - Letter to the Galatians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 12 viewsThe proglem identified for then; can be a problem today
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Look out!
Look out!
Look out for that bear! You may know the term and hopefully you don’t know from personal experience. You don’t get between a mother bear and her cub. She will do whatever is necessary to protect the cub. Paul in his letter is like the mother bear and does whatever is necessary to protect his cub, the churches of Galatia that he loved and had been there to see on several occasions.
Look out in this world that is filled with trouble. There is bad news about the Good news. The world has perverted and still wants to pervert the Good News. Paul like a mama bear comes out in defense of the Good News (1Cor15:3-4; Eph2:5, 8) Paul, the proclaimer and the defender of the Gospel in the book of defence uses several methods:
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and add to that more good news
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
First approach personal (Gal1-2)
He demonstrates where he got the gospel, whose authority he operates under and then his personal defence of the gospel.
Second approach, doctrinal(Gal3-4)
He will develop the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith not by the Law or with the law. He will use their own experiences as well as scripture illustrations in this section. He also shows us the real reason for the Law in the first place.
Third approach, practical (Gal5-6)
The practical application section, while there can be some thorns along the way as to why we need the application. He will display what it means to have Christian liberty and what we are to do with it, and not only that but how we have the power to do it!
Paul started the letter not with platitudes like many of the letters but in defence. Defense of his apostleship and authority (Gal1:1-2)
1 Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Paul not an apostle appointed by men, or would have even been approved by man due to his history, but Appointed by God through Jesus Christ. Where as there were many who challenged Paul and his apostleship, he defends it with authority from above vs. the authority of the people which is what he operated under prior to his conversion.
His authority also comes in the fact that he founded the churches of Galatia and his love for them. We fight for, we defend the ones we love!
Tonight Paul gets into freedom right from the get go.
Reason for freedom (Gal1:3-5)
Fighting for freedom (Gal1:6-7)
Your choice, freedom or accursed (Gal1:8-9)
Freedom, who you trying to please (Gal1:10)
Reason for freedom
Reason for freedom
Paul’s message is a the message of Christ, message of freedom by grace through faith. His message is the gospel and it centers on Christ, Christ and Him crucified you see as a theme throughout the letter (Gal2:19-21; Gal3:1, 13; Gal4:5; Gal5:11, 24 and Gal6:12-14).
19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
oh I have to give you at least one more of the ones I just referenced
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
Without the cross of Christ we have no freedom! So of course Paul will defend it as should we. So may we look at the first part of our passage today.
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
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Paul’s message is message of grace (Gal1:3)
Paul’s message is a message of peace (Gal1:3; Rom5:1; Php4:7)
Paul’s message in the midst of evil age (Gal2:19-21; Gal3:1)
Paul’s message is a message about the warnings of bondage (Gal2:4; Gal5:1)
Paul’s message is one of glory to God (Gal1:5)
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Paul’s message is message of grace (Gal1:3)
Paul’s message is a message of peace (Gal1:3; Rom5:1; Php4:7)
Paul’s message is the message of Christ. It is the message of grace and peace. Grace always comes before peace for without the grace of God there is not peace with God.
Paul’s message is a message about the warnings of bondage (Gal2:4; Gal5:1)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul’s message is one of glory to God (Gal1:5)
Without the grace of God you cannot have the peace of God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
χάρις
That is the Greek word for grace “Charis” meaning, kindness, unmerited favor, linked with mercy, beauty, charm, loveliness and delight
There is no greater beauty than that of Jesus Christ laying down His life for us, no greater kindness than He extending His grace to us. May we learn to be people of grace, being someone of beauty, charm, loveliness and delight to others so that they too may want ot be recipients of God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness.
(grace and law picture)
The message of grace and the sufficiency of grace is what the Judaizers were trying to change. They were putting, making, the churches in Galatia be at risk to be burdened under the law when it was grace that was preached by Paul, it is grace that had set them free, it is the work of Christ on the cross that is very apparent throughout the letter. Either grace is sufficient or Christ died for nothing.
May I now move on just a little
Paul’s message is message of grace (Gal1:3)
Paul’s message is a message of peace (Gal1:3; Rom5:1; Php4:7)
Paul’s message in the midst of evil age (Gal2:19-21; Gal3:1)
Paul’s message is one of glory to God (Gal1:5)
In the midst of a world where everyone wants to tell you what to do, God’s word on the sufficient of Christ needs to prevail today just as it needed to prevail then. There was a problem then, a serious problem, and it is a serious problem today.
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
so either grace is what set you free or not, and if not then you put yourself under an unbearable yoke.
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Our authority today, our message today, is the message of the cross and the freedom that is available there.
A place of shame is a place of freedom
A place of humiliation is a place of freedom
A place of being cursed becomes a place of freedom for us. Paul had a motive for the method, the message and the letter to them, so God would, could be glorified.
5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul’s message was to combat, the false teachers bringing a false gospel were doing things for their own glory and not for and to the glory of God (Gal6:12-14; Gal5:4)
12 Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.
14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Like the cults, the heretics and the like today re trying to steal converts to a form of bondage that offers no freedom. It is taking the freedom people have in the Lord by grace through faith and taking that away from them, severing them.
4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Fighting for Freedom!
Fighting for Freedom!
Have you ever had to fight for something you believe in? Has anything you believe in caused you anxiety, or how about suffering, have you ever suffered for something you believe in or the freedom you have?
Paul, like a mother bear, sees the problem and jumps right in. He is going to protect, and even correct the cub. He loves the churches there and wastes no time in pleasantries but in defence and in protection of them.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
in verse 6 in some versions it says removed, trading, turning from, leaving, quickly changing from.
We are called by grace; don’t trade it for legalism
They had liberty and were walking in it and they are trading it for legalism. They were trading, meaning it was happening right now, it was present tense, meaning they had not sold old to the legalism, nor sold out for Jesus, but they were being enticed to a form of bondage in the guise of another gospel which is a different gospel, but not really the gospel at all.
We are called by truth; don’t be disturbed by the distorted gospel
To the Galatians it was disturbing (v.7) and some are wanting to distort the gospel (v.7). Disturbing to them, think about how Paul felt, he is the one who taught them the gospel, the gospel they believed, the gospel they were walking in. Paul was their father of faith, the mother bear looking out for the cubs. No wonder when he hears about this he has some anxiety.
Kenneth Boles says:
“They were not just changing religions, or changing churches they were abandoning the grace of God and the God of grace.”
We are called to freedom; got get caught up in perverted gospel
Perverting the gospel, pretty strong word. Meaning to change something from what it is to a different state or form. - - taking something that is perfect and changing it to something else, only thins is that, well its destructive and divisive.
Cults today want to say you need the bible and . . . you can fill in the blank on that, According to the word we have everything we need to take us to glory. No other special revelation is needed, nor should be excepted. Anything but the gospel of grace through faith, or justification by faith is not the gospel at all. And all that leads up to what Paul says about those who do that.
Your choice, Freedom or Accursed
Your choice, Freedom or Accursed
Freedom is found in the message not the messenger, in the message of the cross. It is more than agreeing to a set of doctrines it is about believing, submitting, obeying and trusting Jesus. (Rom11:6)
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Look at the passage again, who does Paul say are to be accursed?
Look at the accursed (vv.8-9) the person does not matter, the content does matter (perversion, contrary)
Choose what the truth says
Hate evil (Ps97:10; Rom12:9)
10 Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
and a New Testament verse for that too
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Don’t be deceived (2Cor11:1-4)
1 I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
Test your work, test someones ministry (Mt24:11; Mt24:23-24; Isa8:20; 1Tim4:1-2)
11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
We need to know, remember there were false prophets and are false prophets and are some to come, and they will be effective so we need to be ready for them.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
and look what Isaiah had to say
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
and then Paul’s warning given to Timothy
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
1Tim4:1-
3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
People who are being led away, to fall away from grace to a system of works that could not save in the first place.. These people are to be accursed they are deceitful spirits and have the doctrine of demons and are hypocrites!
According to recent article i read it says the word accursed is the Greek word Anathemea and that means “dedicated to destruction.”
These people that are to be accursed had a false message with a false motive and they were dedicated to destruction, to destroy the gospel of grace and the message of the cross. They wanted to tear Paul down, challenge his authority and his message, thinking Paul was a man-pleaser and as a man-pleaser he could not be trusted. Paul then addresses that issue.
Freedom: Who are you trying to please?
Freedom: Who are you trying to please?
No qualms about it, Paul lays it out, who were they trying to please, and the question remains today, who are we trying to please?
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
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Paul was not man pleaser with message from man (Gal1:1, 1:12)
Paul was not concerned about man’s thoughts, but God’s (2Cor5:9)
Paul was ready to defend the message, the gospel, may we be ready too (1Pt3:15)
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Paul was not man pleaser with message from man (Gal1:1, 1:12)
G
Paul was ready to defend the message, the gospel, may we be ready too (1Pt3:15)
1 Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Paul’s ministry did not come from men or the agency of men, but from God through Jesus Christ!
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul’s message was not from men but from Jesus Christ, may our message be the same message of the gospel and the cross of Christ. Paul was not concerned about what man thought, but about what God thought.
Paul was not man pleaser with message from man (Gal1:1, 1:12)
Paul was not concerned about man’s thoughts, but God’s (2Cor5:9)
9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
May that be our thought too, to live, to speak to please God rather than man.
In the message today Paul has shown us his authority, the anxiety he is feeling and the adversaries. We face the same tings today and we need to be ready to be a defender of the gospel too as we wait for the return of the Lord.
Paul was not man pleaser with message from man (Gal1:1, 1:12)
Paul was not concerned about man’s thoughts, but God’s (2Cor5:9)
Paul was ready to defend the message, the gospel, may we be ready too (1Pt3:15)
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
I started today with saying the Paul’s approach, and our approach should be personal. There is nothing more personal than the gospel message.
(The Gospel picture here) Encouragement, (encouragement slide) prayer (exit)
Invitation slide-1