Galatians (21)

Introduction: Open your Bibles with me to Galatians chapter five. Lets begin by reading from verse 1-15.

Transition: So far in the letter to the Galatians we have discovered that the true gospel teaches that a person can only be right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who are called by God, awakened by the Holy Spirit to trust in Christ alone for righteousness are given certain rights and privileges because of their new identity in Christ. One of those privileges is freedom from the yoke of slavery. Freedom from the condemnation and death produced by the law. Freedom from the false notions that human effort can achieve the righteousness of God. Freedom from the penalty and power of sin. Today, from verses 13-15 we are going to discover two things about standing firm in Christ. Here is the big point…

Big Point:

In Christ, we have the freedom to forsake the flesh and the liberty to love.

Transition: How doe this truth emerge from these verses of Scripture?

Calling

Notice, a person who is in Christ has been called from a yoke of slavery, and to freedom.

Don’t use that freedom as an excuse for the flesh.

What is the flesh? Were are reminded that Paul used the same word in 3:3.. (read) The Greek word is used throughout the Bible usually in reference to the core of sinful rebellion against God. It is the deep part of even a person who is in Christ to be able to desire something other than God. It is the part of us that we have hope of being fully removed on the day of Christ. The flesh is the core disposition of a person that is enslaved to sin before being set fee by Christ, and it is part of those who are in Christ that needs to be continually, daily crucified with Christ. So that we might say as the apostle did in Gal 2:20.

Christian freedom is not freedom to indulge the flesh, rather it is freedom from the flesh. Our flesh no longer defines a Christian and no longer has dominion over a Christian. See Romans 6:1-14

Back to Gal. 5:13. If we are free from the flesh , what then is our freedom for? Rather, through love… serve one another.

The life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in Christ. That faith will be put to work by the power of the Holy Spirit and fueled through love. The same point was made in 5:6b

Transition: Just in case we are thinking that Galatians is teaching that the law has no place in the life of a Christian, verse 14 offers some good perspective. (read) So what place does the law have in the life of a Christian? (See verse 14)

Completion

Why does he emphasize the “whole” law? Keep in mind the gospel that Paul preached to the Galatians was a gospel received directly through a revelation of Jesus. So we should expect that the same teachings of Jesus should show up in the teachings of the apostle of Jesus.

Two passages. Matthew 5:12 and Luke 10:25-37, Luke 24:27;44.

Jesus fulfilled the whole law and prophets and writings. This means that the promises made by God are completed in Christ. Not only parts of the law, but the whole law. In the same way, when we are in Christ we are able to love God and one another because of our union with Christ. Not by yoking back up with the nuances and details of the Mosaic law, but rather we are free from the condemning yoke of the law and at liberty to love one another. The law no longer stands in condemnation over a Christian, rather we stand firm in Christ and are empowered by the Spirit to love one another.

Read Romans 8:1-11

Transition: In Christ we have the freedom to forsake the flesh and the liberty to love. This is possible because of the calling of God to freedom and Christ’s completion of the law. Which leads us to our final observation in verse 15… (Read)

Caution

This caution reveals the direct contrast between loving one another and devouring one another. Notice the progression of hate reveled here. Biting (which is how a person begins to eat a meal) … devouring (Which is the destruction of our food when we chew it up before swallowing) … and consuming (which is the destruction that occurs when that food is digested in stomach acid.) Paul is saying here, be very careful to use your freedom for the purpose it was given. To love one another. Because, to use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh will inevitably lead to destroying one another.

At this point we should pause and consider the corporate implications of what it means to be in Christ. Our justification is not only a personal or individual justification. No, we are declared righteous by God as we have personally trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of our individual sins. However, we are placed into the body of Christ. In other words were are redeemed into a family. We are not only adopted into a personal relationship with God, but also a corporate relationship with all the adopted of God. Keep in mind this letter to all the “churches of Galatia”.

Church, we must be careful using our freedom to excuse the flesh. When we do this we are in effect again taking upon the yoke of slavery. When we feed the flesh we are again believing a lie about the purpose of the law. In the same way that going back under the law of moses will never produce righteousness, so too yielding to the flesh will never produce righteousness. If we live by the law you will die by the law. If we live according to the flesh we will die according to the flesh. If we are constantly attempting to justify our flesh we will certainly end up doing the very opposite of what our freedom was intended for. To bite , devour, and consume is to act like animals. Like a pride of lions. Much like the warning the apostle Peter gives in... I Peter 5:8

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Transition: To use our freedom in Christ as an excuse for our flesh is to fall into a trap and participate in the same activities of the devil.

Conclusion: How is it possible to forsake the flesh and serve one another in love? How can we stand firm in true freedom? How can we take heed to this warning to not indulge the flesh but rather serve one another in love? This is going to be answered in the rest of chapter five.