Galatians 5:1-15 Freedom 4 July 2021

Introduction

Name calling, fear mongering and demonizing the enemy were all on the propaganda menu during the American Revolution.

Once hostilities commenced, another game played a significant role in the war for mind control- A game of numbers.

Simply inflating the size of your enemy’s forces on paper and deflating your own helped to magnify victory or downplay defeat.

And in the case of reporting casualties, reducing your own estimates and increasing your enemies had a similar result.

Examples are widespread.

By the end of September 1776, in London and throughout Europe, many people knew that 3,500 American rebels were killed at the Battle of Long Island with more than 1,000 taken prisoner.

The British press were busy printing official and unofficial accounts that were fresh off the ships from New York.

In his report to Lord George Germain, General William Howe claimed “their loss is computed to be about 3,300 killed, wounded, prisoners, and drowned.”

However, actual figures are closer to 1000 prisoners and about 200 killed or wounded.

https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/05/the-25-deadliest-battles-of-the-revolutionary-war/

Throughout the course of the war, an estimated 6,800 Americans were killed in action, 6,100 wounded, and upwards of 20,000 were taken prisoner.

Historians believe that at least an additional 17,000 deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,000–12,000 who died while prisoners of war.

“For generations, members of the armed forces have selflessly sacrificed their time and health, while families have watched their loved ones leave without knowing if and when they would return home.

Why would so many people make such significant sacrifices?

These brave men and women have sought to secure freedom for the American people, fighting against those who wish to restrict our rights or do us harm.”

Truly, “America would not be known as the “land of the free and the home of the brave” without the men and women of our military who have made immeasurable sacrifices for our country.”

Some of the founding Fathers of our fledgling nation bled and died for what seemed a far away principle.

When Benjamin Franklin was asked, “what have you given us, Dr. Franklin?” He responded, “A republic- if you can keep it.”

Our nation has since moved onward and we are no longer at the conceptual level of freedom and liberty for all.

Rather we are now struggling to deal with the practical issues of what it means to live in a nation based upon freedom.

From the American Revolution to the War on Terror and everything in between the United States has stood firm for freedom.

Naturally, It has not been without its struggles- past and present.

Anytime freedom is sought there are those whose sole desire is to take freedom away.

Colonial America, taking a rebellious stance against Great Britain was an act of faith.

They were out manned and out gunned on land and sea and had little or no resources.

Frankly, they was no plausible reason to believe Colonial America could defeat the British OTHER than faith.

They could have easily fallen prey to fear, panic and frenzy.

But our guiding beacon was freedom.

23 March 1775 Patrick Henry uttered the now famous phrase,

“give me liberty or give me death.” which signaled the coming revolution.

I pray we have not lost sight of our founding principles.

I pray this because our lives in Christ are established in similar principles.

We must step off in faith to follow Jesus at all costs (give me Jesus or give me death!) despite all reasons to not follow him.

Yet there will be detractors trying to throw us into confusion and frenzy-trying to cut in and thwart us from following Jesus.

And finally, Jesus grants us freedom and we are not to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

This is the message Paul conveys to the Galatians in our text this morning from Galatians 5:1-15

We will focus on three F’s:

Faith

Frenzy

Freedom

Paul is emphasizing to the Galatian church that Christ has made us completely free.

The idea being that Christ has liberated us for the purpose of freedom.

Background

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians.

Galatia was a large area in Asia Minor that now occupies modern-day Turkey.

The dating of the letter to the Galatians is a matter of debate among scholars.

It was most likely written after Paul had personally visited Galatia at least once or twice around A.D. 49-50.

Curtis Vaughn posits:

“Galatians is concerned with the question “What makes a person a Christian?” Is it observance of the Mosaic law? Or is it simple faith in Christ?

The answer is found in (Key Verse) Galatians 5:6: “6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

The epistle is concerned then with the heart of the Gospel, indeed, with the very essence of Christianity.

Unquestionably the message of Galatians is as urgently needed today as at any time of the past.

Our generation, as every other generation, needs to be reminded of the sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ for human redemption.

Galatians serves as a clarion call for vital religion rather than formal ritual, for personal submission to a living Savior rather than subscription to a dead creed, for glorying in the cross rather than dependence on self, for a life inspired and controlled by the Spirit rather than one regulated by rules.

The heartbeat of Galatians is faith and the freedom faith provides to express itself through love as followers of Jesus Christ.

Today we celebrate the 4th of July as a nation and recall how our founding fathers fought and died for the freedoms we now enjoy.

To willingly give up our nations freedom for a life of oppression and slavery would be the epitome of disrespect for the sacrifices our forefathers bore.

As Christians, Jesus has set us free and we are NOT to return to a life of slavery.

If sitting here today you do not know this in your heart-may this be your spiritual 4th of July in Jesus!

And so this morning as we study Galatians we will do so with freedom in mind and gratitude in our hearts.

Narrative

THE 3 F’S (Faith, Frenzy & Freedom)

1. FAITH

Verses 1

The Assertion

“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.

The very first verse of Galatians 5 carries forward the idea that ends chapter 4.

Paul had been illustrating his point just before this by comparing Ishmael and Isaac as the son of a slave woman and the son of a covenant promise.

He now goes on with an indicative assertion about freedom- (It is for freedom…)

He then gives an imperative statement: Stand Firm....!

Paul is essentially saying, “Become what you are”…Followers of Jesus Christ

There is a tension here that Paul addresses.

We are freed from the bondage of sin by grace yet we are continually tempted to earn our salvation.

Personal Story: My family went to a reunion last week and my brother wanted to watch a Netflix show called “The Good Place” starring Ted Danson.

The concept was that people’s actions on earth were measured throughout their life and if they earned enough points (1.3 mil.) they get to go to the “good place” if not, they go to the “bad place”

It is a rather humorous show (all food was frozen yogurt, clam chowder, etc.) but the sad reality is how it is described is many peoples theology.

This kind of theology is NOT freedom but slavery.

It requires FAITH in Jesus to “become what you are”

Does it require real steps and real action?- absolutely!

But these real steps and real action are outcomes of our faith in Jesus

They flow naturally in the FAITHFUL life of the believer.

Transition: And so Paul now begins to address a specific point of error that false teachers had been promoting to the Galatians.

A Command

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Paul now takes up the issue of the necessity of circumcision.

False teachers coming into Galatia were promoting that one could not be saved unless they were “circumcised”.

Circumcision was an ancient Jewish ritual and requirement for inclusion as a Jew.

Paul emphatically states, “Mark my words”

Here he is invoking his apostolic authority as he points directly to “his” words.

Not his and Barnabas nor his words and all the other brothers with him.

He wants the Galatians to sit up and pay attention!

Paul’s issue is not with circumcision for he was a circumcised Jew himself.

His issue is with what that act will represent in the life of the Galatians.

It will mean they have abandoned sole FAITH in Jesus for WORKS.

“If you let yourselves be circumcised” indicates the Galatians had not yet given in to apostasy.

The temptation to fall back into a works based salvation was especially compelling.

Christian Galatians rejected the urban deities and forfeited social amenities, club life and festivals etc.

The whole pattern of one’s life, business relationships, social connections and civic loyalties were disrupted.

By accepting circumcision as a required “act” for salvation they would find allegiance with the local synagogue and regain access to vital areas.

But acquiescence would cost them their FAITH in Jesus and would result in a loss of their freedom.

Transition: Paul now provides a warning to the reader in verse 3.

A Warning

3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Key Verse)

Our salvation is not a matter of cooperation between us and God- He does not give us a “boost” and then we take over by being a “good person”.

Paul plainly details two paths to justification:

Complete and total obedience to the law

FAITH in Jesus Christ

The Galatians were facing a fork in the road between legalism and FAITH.

Paul reminds the Galatians that the law cannot be fragmented- it demands total obedience.

And there is no middle ground- to accept the law/legalism as the means of salvation is to reject Christ and his sacrifice and vice versa.

Paul’s warning in verses 3 & 4 are two fold:

Accepting circumcision binds them to keep the whole law

The false teachers had not proposed this aspect of total surrender to a legalistic system

Accepting circumcision (to gain acceptance with God) means leaving Christianity & joining Judaism

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

“The Greek word for “alienated” basically means “to render inoperative,” “to bring to nothing,” “to render null and void.”

This is the choice the Galatians were facing.

Relevance: It is a choice Christians face today.

Just as our nation had to make a choice in pursuit of freedom- we had to choose freedom OR complete obedience to a monarchy.

There was no middle ground.

Brothers & sisters, we must also make a step of FAITH to follow a King but not an earthly, selfish, greedy, self-absorbed human king but the King of kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ.

Transition: The collision between Mary Decker and Zola Bud in the 3,000m at the 1984 LA Games has gone down in history as one of the most controversial races in Olympic history.

Decker was predicted to be the gold medalist.

Decker, Bud and Puica set off at a fast pace and distanced themselves from the pack.

There were several bumps prior to the collision but at 1,700 meters Zola Bud “cut in” on Decker on a curve and the two runners collided causing Decker to fall injuring her hip and demolishing her Olympic deams.

Bud went on to finish 7th.

In the next verses Paul uses the imagery of a race as an illustration.

2. FRENZY

An Appeal

“7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 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. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Paul begins these verses essentially telling the Galatians they started off so well.

Like a runner coming out of the starting blocks and hitting their stride they were running the race of the Christian life so well.

He then rhetorically asks, “Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?”

Greek- Cut in on you- ἐνέκοψεν (enkopsen)

Definition: to knock into or to incise (make cut or cuts)

In running terminology to cut in on another runner is a decisive move in front of them not giving them enough room to maneuver.

PERSONAL STORY: You may not know it to look at me but I have run many long distance races.

My first was up and down Pikes Peak.

When a runner cuts in on another there are only two choices- slow down to avoid colliding or push forward and run them over risking the collision.

A runner cutting off another is trying to force the one to go around them toward the farther side of the track requiring them to veer off course.

This is the imagery Paul’s words evoke- that of a runner efficiently and strongly striding forward and having someone cut in to cause either a fall from grace or veering away from the truth.

“Three important applications can be garnered from this verse:

(1) The Christian life is a marathon, not a hundred-yard dash.

Just because the Galatians started off well does not ensure continued progress.

We must be constantly on our guard against false doctrine and those seeking to cut in to steer us away from truth or cause a collision resulting in FRENZY.

“(2) Paul did not give up on the Galatians even though many of them had shifted their loyalty from him to the usurpers and, to all outward appearances, appeared to be lost to the cause of God and truth.

Paul is confident the Galatians will respond to the truth.

Is there a brother or sister in Christ who appears to have shifted their loyalty in your life?

Paul encourages us to not give up on them just as he did not give up on the Galatians.

“(3) The “truth of the gospel” is not only something to be believed but also something to be obeyed.

Paul was being persecuted for the gospel.

He was no longer preaching circumcision as the requirement for salvation.

Had he been preaching a message of salvation by works he would have found complete acceptance among the false teachers.

“It is obvious that the circumcision-preaching agitators had exerted a powerful influence over Paul’s converts.

They had bewitched them and tripped them up in their race toward the finish line.

What was the secret of their success?

Paul answered this question by using a unique word, peismonē, “the persuasion,” a term found nowhere else in earlier Greek literature.

Evidently the Judaizing missionaries had taken Galatia by storm.

In contrast to Paul, they must have been physically attractive, eloquent in speech, and able to put on a good show, so much so that the new Christian believers in the cities of South Galatia were persuaded to abandon the gospel of grace for their new theology of salvation by arduous achievement and human merit.

This persuasion sent the Galatian believers into a FRENZY.

They did not know what to believe.

RELEVANCE: I see this happening today with those preaching the “prosperity gospel”

The prosperity gospel is the idea that God’s will is we are to be blessed with material things, good health and happiness.

Preachers such as Joel Osteen, Oral Roberts, T.D. Jakes and Creflo Dollar just to name a few are trying to “cut in” and cause Christian believers to either collide against the truth of the gospel or completely fall from grace.

Paul exhorts the Galatians that if we give up salvation by grace alone and buy into the world’s system the offense of the cross is gone.

The world is offended by the cross of Jesus Christ because it tells them, “you cannot earn what is being offered…EVER. “

There is no good work, not a great enough thing to be done of our own merit to earn salvation- and honestly, that pisses most of the world off!

Paul ends the verse with a little sarcasm, stating if these opponents are so obsessed with circumcision rather than just removing a little foreskin he wishes they would just castrate themselves and be done with it!

Transition: Our founding fathers penned words in the Declaration of Independence that ought to be near and dear to every American heart saying:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The 4th of July reminds us of these fundamental truths and Paul reminds the Galatians of the fundamental truth of freedom as a Christian.

3. FREEDOM

“13 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. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Lest the Galatians misinterpret Paul’s words and set out upon a doctrine of indulgence to disastrous ends he provides clarification as it pertains to our freedom.

He appeals to them referring to them as “my brothers”.

This is a “prescriptive” statement (one that applies to Christians of all time) not just a “descriptive” one (specific to that time and place).

We have been called to be free but nonetheless we must not use our freedom in Christ to indulge the cravings of the sinful nature.

The temptation to become enslaved by legalism was apparent but equally dangerous was the temptation to slide into libertinism.

Libertinism was a teaching that held freedom from the law meant release from all moral restraints.

It would be a horrendously immoral action if the United States used her freedom and Naval might to take control of international waters.

Although we have the freedom and strength to do so we must not use our freedom in this way.

Paul uses a contrasting statement saying, “rather, serve one another in love.”

Our key verse 6 “ The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Paul echoes the words of Jesus as he states,

“14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

PERSONAL STORY: Refugee Outreach families asking why we did what we did.

“Why did Paul call the selfless love of neighbor the fulfilling of the whole law?

Not because it is superior to the worship and adoration of God, but rather because it is the proof of it.”

Conclusion

Today is our nations “Independence Day” and we celebrate our freedom.

Paul saw the Galatian church at a perilous point- willing to trade their freedom in Christ for legalism.

Christians today are confronted with the same dilemma except we call it by other names.

We want to earn our own way into God’s favor which ultimately rejects the cross of Jesus.

Perhaps even more so, our nation faces the risk of over indulgence of freedom- an equally dangerous temptation.

Western Christians are not immune to liberinitism.

There are a great number of “Christian” denominations who speak nothing of sin or the consequences but Paul never gave a pass to sinful behaviors.

So, today, as you enjoy the day and reflect on our nations struggle for freedom I pray you will also be drawn to think of your own Christian walk.

Think of your FAITH and exactly where you have placed your FAITH.

Think of where you are being “cut in on” and trying to be thrown into a FRENZY to veer from the truth.

And think of FREEDOM:

Think of what Jesus has done to bless us with freedom and what an amazing gift he has given- not to be exploited but as Paul reminds us expressed through love.

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