Freedom in New Life

Intro

Illustration- Multimillionaire living like a pauper – timing how long people took showers, reusing paper towels, giving guests detailed instructions on how to get the most out of the toilet paper they used

how often do we do the same thing as Christians? We have freedom through Christ and all the riches and blessings that come from being his children, yet we often live as if we are still under a different law- still riled by our sinful nature

this morning i want us to see the freedom that we have in our new life as followers of Jesus

- Retrace Paul’s story

o Grew up as a devoted student of the law and Jewish traditions

o Persecuted the early church

o Encountered Jesus

o Meeting in Jerusalem

o Now in his story he brings the Galatians to Antioch. We don’t know the timing of this, how long it was after the unity around the gospel was established in Jerusalem

§ But we find an interesting confrontation

§ I thought we were all about unity

· But Paul recognized that the gospel was at stake

- Read Gal. 2:11-14

Freedom from Fear

A. Peter allowed his fear of others to compromise the Gospel

1. Peter regularly ate with both Jews and gentiles, often together, even sharing in the Lord’s supper

a. He ate whatever was put in front of him and with whoever was sitting next to him

b. In Acts 10 Peter had a vision where God told him it was ok to eat certain things that the Jews restricted- continuing to tear down the barrier between Jew and Gentile

(1) His conclusion is found in verse 34and 35 of Acts 10- “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

c. You can imagine the unity that this brought- Peter, the chief apostle, not only approving of the Gentile Christians, but fellowshipping with them

d. But when the group came from Jerusalem, he began to cave in to the pressure

Peer Pressure- clothes we wear, things we do- we would never choose that, but we are afraid of what people will think if we don’t

2. His actions didn’t follow his belief

a. Paul doesn’t accuse him of heresy- his teaching wasn’t wrong

b. He accuses him of hypocrisy- his actions weren’t showing what he knew to be true

c. V. 16 “we know”- Paul acknowledged that Peter knew the truth- they had just established that they were unified on this when he visited Jerusalem

3. He led others astray

a. This caused a church split in Antioch on the basis of race

b. Even Barnabas

B. Fear of what others think can draw us away from what we know to be true

1. It’s hard being different- it’s hard to go against the grain

2. If we find ourselves making choices to appease those around us rather than following what we know to be true, we run the risk of compromising the Gospel as Peter did

3. Throughout the history of the church, conflicts and divisions have occurred because Christians have been more deeply influenced by their national interests or racial identity than their Christian convictions. Whenever we identify ourselves as American Christians, or British Christians, or Chinese Christians, or German Christians, we must be aware that being American, British, Chinese or German may easily become more important to us than being Christian. - G. Walter Hansen

C. The truth of the Gospel frees us from living in fear of what others think

1. Truth brings confidence- the truth is on our side

2. We must make a stand for truth, regardless of the consequences

3. It is easy to get swept up in emotions, especially when there is a crisis, but we must remain steadfast

- Read Gal. 2:15-21

Freedom from The Law

A. The law condemns us

1. It only offers freedom if we can keep it perfectly- but no one can!

2. It simply shows us how rotten we really are

3. V. 17 “But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter, of sin? Absolutely not!”

a. To the Judaizers, eating with the Gentiles was a sin, so if faith in Christ led them to do this, then their conclusion was that Christ promotes sin

b. Paul of course denies this! In reality, eating with the Gentiles was not a sin, but a true expression of the Gospel.

B. Why would we ever return to what we have been freed from!?

1. V. 18 “If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker”

a. Illustration- Awana- Mr. Timmy

2. You see, the law simply shows our inability to meet God’s standard- through pursuing the law, we see how far short we fall and our desperate need of God’s grace

a. V. 19 “For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God”

b. Not physical death

c. Paul uses this to describe no longer being under its control- the Law is no longer what controls him

d. His life is no longer about fulfilling all the various requirements of the law and in doing that he frees himself to live for God

e. We are not free from the law to live how we please, we are free from the law to live for God

- The law condemns, it exposes our sin. We are free from the law, but we are still sinners.

Freedom from Sin

A. Free from sin’s penalty

1. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death

a. Whether we are under the law or not, we are sinners- there is none righteous no not one

b. We are in our very nature sinful beings

2. Justified- legal term

a. “Made right” with God

b. Relationship restored

3. Opposite of condemned or found guilty

a. Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

B. Free from sin’s power

1. We are dead to sin

a. V. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

(1) Union with Christ- this is the key

(a) We died with him and are raised with him Col. 2:12

1. Our breaking of the law demanded death, and Christ paid that penalty for us

2. We have been crucified with him in the sense that his death paid our debt- but also in the sense that, like Paul, I am dead to the law and to sin

3. I have been given new life and the resurrected Christ lives in me and empowers me

(b) This is what baptism represents

(c) We died to our former life, controlled by sin, and are raised to the new life he gives us- we never had this desire before to follow and serve God

(d) He gives us that… and the strength to do it

(e) What better example than Saul/Paul?

b. Romans 6:2 “How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

c. Rom. 6:6-7 “For we know that our old self, was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin.”

2. We are still sinners

a. Our sinful nature does not disappear- this is why, even after we have been justified, we struggle with sin

b. But that is why it is called struggle- we now have the power to fight against it. we are not controlled by it

c. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” Col. 1:13

Conclusion

- It is through faith in Christ alone and not conformity to the law that we are made right with God.

o When we place our faith and trust in Christ, we experience the freedom and new life that he gives

o He empowers us with the strength to walk by faith- we now have the strength and the motivation to live the way he has called us to live

- As a church, we are united not because of our social or racial identity, not because of a certain set of rules that we follow, we are united because of this new life that Jesus gives to us when we place our faith and trust in him.

So What?

- Be bold in your stand for truth

- Live in the reality that you have been freed!

o Don’t find your identity or your justification in what you do

o You justification is through faith in Christ

o You are alive in him!