Freedom Through the Spirit

Introduction

Teaching kids to ride a bike- “I got this!”- and you know they don’t got this, so you hang on

Sometimes we view our Christian walk in the same way

But even the bike illustration falls short because we are working towards independence. Perhaps a better illustration would be the sport of hand gliding.

Paul has been focusing on the fact that we are justified by faith in Christ, not through the works of the law, or our own effort

he continues this theme, but no longer focuses only on the means of our justification, but also the means of our sanctification. How we grow in our walk with God (Pastor Jeremy talked about this last week) .

Paul begins here in verse 1 with a harsh, but necessary, criticism- “you foolish Galatians”

Ok, we are going to do a quick language study to help us understand what Paul was saying. The word used here comes from this greek word. It is pronounced idiotes - i’ll let you guess how that is translated

It was not Paul’s intent to demean the Galatian Christians, but rather to say, “Listen people! You know better! You’re not thinking clearly.”

Because we are so easily distracted from truth, we must continually remind ourselves that it is by faith alone through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are made right with God, and it is also by faith through the power of the Spirit that we are sanctified.

The Danger of Distraction

when talking to kids- “Look at my eyes”

The Galatians knew the truth of Jesus (v.1)

Paul had, in great detail, described the death of Jesus and what it meant to the Galatian church

“publicly portrayed”- to write for public reading. This gives the idea of a billboard or a public announcement. The Galatians were not there when Jesus was hung on the cross, but in Paul’s description (second hand for him as well) they felt the crushing weight of what had happened there. But they had also experienced the immense freedom of what Christ’s sacrifice had meant for their own lives and their relationship with God. They had experienced the freedom that Jesus offered through the free gift of salvation

Despite this life changing encounter with the Gospel, they were becoming distracted from the truth

Paul says, “Who has bewitched you?” It was as if they were under a spell. they were being drawn away by the well laid arguments of the Jewish teachers who said the Galatians needed to follow the Jewish customs and obey the jewish laws in order to truly become justified in God’s sight.

How could they be drawn away from the truth by anything else after seeing What Christ had done for them?

What can this world offer us that even comes close to what Jesus offers?

Veronica’s salsa

what have we allowed to draw us away from the reality of Jesus?

false teaching, money, career, leisure, convenience, family, friends, guilt… the list goes on

Jesus is the only thing that can truly satisfy- he is the real thing! Don’t be fooled by lesser things that promise much and never deliver

We must remain at the foot of the cross

The further we get from the foot of the cross, the stronger the pull of this world becomes.

The ocean current

What is it that brings us back to the safety of the shore?

This is why we take communion- to remember Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross- to keep that picture before us

But it’s not just communion. This is why we gather together on Sunday, for community groups and bible studies- to know and worship God, to be reminded of what he has done for us

How easily we take it for granted

We find freedom at the foot of the cross!

It is at the cross that we become rooted in our faith and guard ourselves from the distractions of this world, but it is also the moment that we receive the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Paul uses question to break them out of their trance- questions are a great way of leading someone away from false thinking and back to what they know to be true- reminding people of what they know to be true

He’s not just asking them for facts about salvation, but their own experience in meeting Jesus- they know this is true because it happened to them!

New Life Comes Through the Spirit (v.2)

Our salvation, at which point the Spirit of God comes to dwell in us, is through faith alone

these are gifts given to us by God’s grace, not by looking a certain way, being a part of a certain group, or following a specific set of rules

We can easily fall into the trap of trying to make people look like Christians before they even have the Spirit of God living in them

When a person trusts in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in their heart- It is only through that power that they can change and start living the way God has called them to live- all other effort to conform my life or someone else's life to a moral standard is meaningless without the help of the Holy Spirit

therefore, it should be our primary goal to introduce people to Jesus, not to just change their behavior

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met and invited to church that said “I can’t come to church until I get my life straight”

we must help correct this thinking and never perpetuate, as a church, the idea that you have to look, act, talk, or walk a certain way before you come through these doors

We want people to meet Jesus and when they do, the Spirit will begin to work in their hearts and change their lives

It is either faith in Christ or the works of the law, it cannot be both

If I claim to believe that Christ died for my sins, then I must believe that it was wholly sufficient for my salvation.

If my own effort has anything to do with my salvation, if I am justified by the works of the law, then Jesus died in vain

there is no such thing as faith and...

Once the Spirit of God is living in us, he begins to change us from the inside out. He changes our will, our thought, our desires, our hopes, all while giving us the strength to pursue what he has called us to. Our lives are radically and eternally changes at that moment

Continued Growth Comes Through the Spirit

Sanctification is the Spirit’s work

Sanctification is the process through which we are conformed to the likeness of Christ

It begins at salvation and continues throughout our lives until we reach Heaven

Many Christians acknowledge that salvation comes by faith alone, but then, as they begin to live the Christian life, rely completely on their own effort for spiritual growth.

Going back to the bike illustration- It’s almost like saying to God, “Thanks for saving me, but I think I’ve got it from here.”

v.4- You’ve seen the Spirit working in your life. Has all of that been for nothing?

You’ve seen God work in you without this outward conformity to the Jewish system, why would you let yourselves be convinced that you need it now?

Sums it up in v. 5 (NLT)- I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

God is at work in your life, right now.

Car commercial- Boy in Darth Vader costume thinking that he started the car

When we see God at work, it is not a result of our effort or because we’ve checked all the right boxes. It is a result of God’s grace and his Spirit working in us

Conclusion

Stop trying to live the Christian life through your own effort

This does not mean that the Christian life is void of morals and discipline- in fact we will see that the Spirit produces those things in us (Fruit of the Spirit 5:22-23)

“Spiritual sweat”- we pursue these things through the power of the Spirit living in us

We must understand the right order- it is not that right living produces spirituality in us, but rather right living is a result of the Spirit’s work in us

God has given us the gift of the Spirit living in us to guide us, to empower us, and to strengthen us

it is only through His power that we will grow to be more like Christ

So What?

Are you staying grounded to the foot of the cross, or do you find yourself often pulled away, distracted by the things of this world?

We must constantly remind ourselves of what Jesus has done for us.

Are you living the Christian life through your own human effort, or through the power of the Spirit at work in you?

maybe you’re sitting here this morning and you know you haven’t made that initial decision to follow Jesus by recognizing your own sinfulness and the forgiveness that Jesus offers through his death on the cross. You can experience the power of the Spirit working in you, today, right now!

If that is something you’d like to do, please see me after the service or simply indicate that on the Card. I would love to share more with you how you can have a personal relationship with God and how you can know that you will be in Heaven with him some day.

Let us remember that because of the Spirit living in us, we are free from the demands of an effort driven way of living and free to pursue the growth that only God can bring about in our lives!