Freedom in Christ

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning, if you will, start turning in your Bibles to Galatians 5.

This morning we are going to be moving ahead quite a bit from where we left off last Sunday.

If you recall, last week we covered Galatians 4:8-20 and the tendency we have as Christians to find ourselves “slaves to sin” again, even after Christ has delivered us.

We get so hung up on the things of the world and attach ourselves to the world that we find ourselves inevitably getting sucked back into the ways of the world.

And the idea from last week was that we have to be aware of ourselves and also aware of how the world subtly is trying to pull us away and apart from God.

We honestly have to actively fight against this and have to really make a conscience choice that we are going to live under the power and control of the Holy Spirit.

And it has to be our choice and a conscience choice.

It cannot be a decision we make at one point and then forget about it.

And I think that is the problem that we run into many times.

We will accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and most of us will also say, “okay Lord, I’m going to live under your power and influence,” and then we forget about it.

We slowly get sucked back into the old life, the old way, the old line of thinking and many times we don’t even notice what happens until we are knee deep into sin and cannot figure out how we got there and how we are going to escape.

And Paul warns us of all of this in Chapter 4 and puts the blame for this type of behavior on those who are responsible for it, the Jewish Legalists, who were manipulating the people, and the people themselves for falling victim to it.

And the thing about the people was, they knew better.

They had been taught better.

But they were falling into the trap anyway, really because they were operating under their own power and not the power of the Holy Spirit.

And, as we have already established, we have to be careful as to not doing the same things.

Not necessarily adopting a Jewish Legalist stance, but rather what I would call a “religion” or even a “denomination” stance.

A stance that our church or our denomination has it all figured out and you have to live by OUR rules in order to make it to heaven.

That is a dangerous place that leaves people alienated and separated from God.

And we cannot be a part of that.

And that is pretty much the gist of the passage where we left off.

And what I didn’t cover and what we will not be covering this morning is Galatians 4:21-31, not because it is not important, but only because Paul is really reiterating the same points he has already made.

He again goes back to the example of Abraham and the Old Testament Prophets to make his point.

And he is also building up to this point about freedom in Christ, which is where we will be picking up at in Galatians 5.

So, if you have found it in your Bibles you can follow along or on the screen.

Starting in Galatians 5:1 Paul writes this . ..

Scripture Focus

Galatians 5:1–6 NIV - Anglicised

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is required to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Stand Firm In Your Freedom (vs 1-6)

So, we see here that Paul is starting out again talking about the freedom we all have (or should have) in Christ.

And he is actually getting very bold with the Galatians here.

And again now, he is not addressing the Jewish Legalists directly but rather the people who are falling victim to them.

He is addressing the Church, the people who are/were born again believers in Jesus Christ.

And he tells them (and us) . . .

Galatians 5:1 NIV - Anglicised

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

In other words, Christ has set us free!

We no longer have to be concerned with death, hell, and the grave.

The whole reason that Jesus died on the cross and rose again was to set us free.

And once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are free.

We are no longer prisoners of death.

We are no longer the slaves of hell and the grave.

Just as Christ rose, we also will rise.

And Paul challenges us all to not forget this but instead to STAND FIRM in what we have been taught and what we know to be true.

And that really is the challenge for the church.

It isn’t so much the gospel itself or accepting the Gospel.

It is being able to stand firm and not waver in our relationship with Christ.

It is being able to stand firm and not fall victim to the noise of the world, the idea of “the world says it’s okay” mentality.

I have news for you, the world is not your judge.

The world is not the one who is going to determine where you spend your eternity.

The world does not care about you or your friends and family.

The world is only concerned with the flesh and the things of the flesh.

And we need to be strong enough to stand firm against the sin and evil that is present in the world.

That is our responsibility.

And if we cannot do that, then what happen we are burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

And that burden is our own fault—we let ourselves fall victim to that burden.

It’s on us.

And it’s a choice that we each have to make every single day.

And we have to make that choice today, in here, right now.

So, making his point, Paul then moves into an example of what they were facing.

He writes this . . .

Galatians 5:2–3 NIV - Anglicised

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is required to obey the whole law.

Now to us in the 21st century, this whole discussion about circumcision may be a little bit confusing.

Our cultural tradition in the U.S. is that most males are circumcised before they leave the hospital.

But, in Paul’s day (and even today in other countries) that is not the case.

Circumcision was a strictly Jewish tradition that was practiced.

When a Jewish baby was born, 8 days after their birth they were circumcised.

It dates back to Moses in the wilderness.

But no other culture at the time practiced circumcision.

And in the Old Testament, there were examples of people who joined with the Jews submitting to circumcision.

And what is going on here is that that Jewish Legalists well telling the Gentile believers that in order for them to really be saved, they had to submit to circumcision.

And we are not talking about 8 day old babies either.

We are talking about boys and men of all ages.

And the legalists were telling them that they had to submit to this painful and frankly dangerous procedure in order to “prove” their worth.

Which in itself is entirely against God and God’s Word.

It has nothing to do with salvation whatsoever.

It was only a way to exert power and control over other people.

And the people were falling victim to that.

And the point Paul is making is that for them to submit to that is to negate all that Christ did for them.

He says that Christ is of no value to you at all.

And they might as well be Jewish because their salvation is based on customs, traditions, and works, and not faith in Jesus Christ.

And he goes on to tell them . . .

Galatians 5:4 NIV - Anglicised

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Flat out he tells them they have fallen away from God.

We call it backslidding.

They are no longer in the will of God and therefore no longer entitled to eternal life.

They are placing their faith in these legalists and not in God.

Which is also why we have been talking about this subject for the last several weeks.

If we are sucked into this line of thinking where we put all our faith in our denomination or our customs, values, and rules, we will also fall away from grace.

Want to know why so many churches are “dead.”

This is why.

They have fallen out of favor with God and the Holy Spirit is no longer welcome in their church.

It’s all about them and not about God.

And that is the end result of what Paul is describing here.

And he continues to explain the importance of true faith . . .

Galatians 5:5–6 NIV - Anglicised

But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Running a Good Race (vs 7-10, 13-15)

The only that that matters is our fulfillment of the Great Commandment.

Our ability to love God with all our being.

And our demonstration of that love by our love for others.

Because, as we have been talking about on Sunday nights, that is the fruit we are know by.

Our capacity and ability to love others, is the sign that the Holy Spirit resides within us.

And that my friends, is also the assurance of our salvation.

The only thing that counts, as Paul puts it, is faith expressing itself through love.

Anything else is not going to cut it.

Look down at verses 13-15 . . .

Galatians 5:13–15 NIV - Anglicised

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

A stern warning to us all.

And going back to verse 7 though, Paul goes on to honesty give them a bit of encouragement.

He states . . .

Galatians 5:7 NIV - Anglicised

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

They were doing so good and making such good progress.

They were on fire for God and it was making a difference in their community.

They were on their way and bringing others with them.

But, who cut in…and kept [them] from obeying the truth?

Who was it that spread the lies and dissension that got them distracted?

Who was it that was trying to exert power and control over them?

Who is it that was robbing them of their freedom?

And we need to hear that as well.

For those with a relationship with Christ, who or what has cut in on you?

What has tripped you up and kept you from obeying Christ?

What has hindered you?

And those who may not have established that relationship yet, what has prevented you from doing that?

What has cut in on you?

Think about that, as Paul continues. He tells us this . . .

Galatians 5:8 NIV - Anglicised

That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

It ain’t from God.

However, . . .

Galatians 5:9 NIV - Anglicised

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

It doesn’t take much to ruin the whole batch.

We could say, “one bad apple ruins the whole bunch.”

And if we are not careful, that the case.

But, as Paul hopes, and I hope, we can stop it.

We can interrupt it before it goes to far.

He continues . . .

Galatians 5:10 NIV - Anglicised

I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

They Will Pay the Price (vs 11-12)

And the penalty will be severe.

In verse 12, he says . . .

Galatians 5:12 NIV - Anglicised

As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

And if you don’t know what that means, look it up.

It’s not pleasant.

But the last point Paul makes in this passage has to do with his message of the Cross.

And it goes back to an earlier accusation that Paul was preaching Jewish tradition.

As well as what we talked about earlier regarding the following of the Law like they were being told to do, nullifying the work of Christ.

In verse 11, he states . . .

Galatians 5:11 NIV - Anglicised

Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished.

Which is just making his point.

Altar/Challenge

But our point this morning goes back to what we are doing.

How are we acting and responding.

First, are we standing firm in the Gospel or are we wavering?

Second, has anybody or anything cut in and kept us from obeying the truth of the Gospel?

Have we been distracted from following Christ?

What is robbing us of our freedom in Christ?

Let’s pray . . .