The Move to Freedom
Notes
Transcript
I want to open the message one more time with a familiar question that we have heard before: How many are glad that our God is in the transformation business? Specifically: God has brought believers out of the old and into the new through the work of His Son, Jesus?
Christ was sent to the earth to usher in a new era… to bring about a new reality that could only come by way of the cross. What Jesus did at Calvary changed the reality of this world FOREVER!
Believe it… or not… the blood of Christ crushed sin’s grip and power once and for all for those who call on His name. Redemption has come! Deliverance has come! Forgiveness can be found! Our fellowship with God can be restored! And all of this became a possibility because of Jesus!
As we move on in our study of Galatians… we find Paul, once again, presenting an argumentative teaching to the Galatians regarding God’s promises… and the slavery of this world.
Remember, the Galatians were falling for what Paul identified as a false gospel “which is really no gospel at all.” Confusion was setting in as a group of people were trying to pervert the gospel message of Jesus - Paul’s words, not mine.
The people were being led astray. The Galatians were losing sight of who they were in Christ. Thus, Paul wrote to them to set the record straight. Paul desired for the confusion to go away and for the truth of God to prevail.
Church, there are a lot of people today who are trying this same kind of thing - some of these people reside in positions of influence and their position on Scripture is causing a lot of confusion.
In these last days, it is essential that believers can distinguish between God’s truth and the lies of the enemy. It’s called discernment… and with the help of the Holy Spirit and with the Word of God in our hearts, believers can discern the truth and remain faithful to the ways of the Lord!
The enemy desires to wrap people up in bondage… but Christ desires to set people free!
So what can happen if a person is led astray? What can happen when the power of God’s grace is forgotten and the old ways try to creep back in?
Well, that is what Paul illustrates for us in the teaching we are going to look at. He uses a term we do not like to hear today… that term is slave. No one likes to think of themselves as subject to anything in this world like a slave is subject to their master. But Paul drops an illustration… an allegory of truth… that presents the reality of the Galatians situation sharply and without apology.
The point Paul is trying to make and what we need to understand today is this: In Christ, a person is no longer under the weight of the old… but has been ushered into the new.
Old and new what? Covenants. Promises. Agreements between God and His people. And the element that made such a transition possible is that amazing word we know as GRACE.
A covenant, in the biblical sense, implies much more than a contract or a simple agreement. A contract always has an end date, while a covenant is a permanent arrangement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person’s total being.
What we are going to see in our study today is a clear distinction between two covenants: the covenants of the law and covenants of Promise. Paul focuses his argument on the antithesis of slavery and freedom… on law and promise.
Paul used the slavery term to characterize the past life of the believer, whether it was lived under the law or lived by ways or principles of the world. Why does he do this? TO MAKE THE THOUGHT OF RETURNING TO THE PAST LIFE HIGHLY UNATTRACTIVE!
I’m not tempted or attracted to the idea of becoming a slave… However… the thought of being set free is HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE to me! I like freedom! I’m pretty sure most of us enjoy freedom!
And this is the drawing point Paul is trying to make… and it serves as our main point today. Galatians 5:1
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.
Look at this closely… Freedom is the word Paul is working to emphasize - freedom that comes through knowing Christ.
This is the proposition Paul desires for the people to accept. This is the truth that I hope we will come to understand. Through the grace of God and the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Christ wants to SET YOU FREE!
This morning, we look at the argument that leads up to the declaration found in Galatians 5. It is given to make the old… unattractive... and the new… ushered in by the grace of God… highly sought after.
A Tale of Two Covenants
A Tale of Two Covenants
We go back to the story of Abraham… back to the day on which God made a covenant with this man. Paul uses the actual historical events to illustrate the differences between the old and new covenants. Let’s look at Galatians 4:21-23
Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
We know the story. God made a promise to Abraham that Abraham would be the father of nations… that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. But Abraham and his wife were older… unable to have children.
Sarah gives Abraham her maidservant to have a child with. Watch this: They knew what God had promised but stepped out of His will to try to make the promise happen.
As a result, Ishmael is born - born outside the original promise of God.
A few years later, God comes to Abraham again and the promise is again spoken. Sarah indeed conceives and Isaac is born - a result of the promises of God.
Ishmael was a result of the old ways of doing things… I would compare this to life as they had always known it. The promise did not make sense per their understanding so they walked in that old direction and… walked outside the promise of God.
A son was produced true enough… but Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, would not be the one that God would establish his covenant with (See Genesis 17:19-22). Look at Paul’s words again in verses 22 and 23. One son came from a slave woman and the other by a free woman. The son by the slave was born ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. The son by the free was born ACCORDING TO A PROMISE.
At the time, Abraham asked God to fulfill the promise through Ishmael for he could not see how it would come to pass any other way. But God had other plans. Keep this thought it mind. Abraham had a problem seeing beyond his current circumstance and he struggled to embrace the full promise of God.
In his argument, Paul likens the old covenant, the covenant of Mount Sinai, with Hagar… and he compares the new covenant, the fulfilled promise of Christ, with Sarah.
The covenant at Mount Sinai included the law, given by God to steer the people of God away from sin. In it’s day, this system included the need for sacrifices to be made in order for the sins of the people to be atoned for. And because there existed no animal that was completely free from blemish, sacrifices had to be routinely offered by the high priest.
The new covenant came into reality when the old covenant was fulfilled… not abolished but fulfilled. The requirements had been met… the ultimate sacrifice had ben made. Jesus was without sin… He was blameless and His blood was the ONLY resource that could truly cover ALL SIN. Say that with me today… Jesus’ Blood Covers ALL Sin!
Now… watch this. Look at what Paul goes on to say in Galatians 4:24-26; 28
These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Now why would Paul liken the old covenant with something so terrible as slavery? Was it not God that established that covenant with His people in the first place? Yes He did… and He also fulfilled that covenant with the blood of His one and only Son! He did that so that we would no longer be bound by the old or under the weight of the old law!
Paul argued in his other writings that the covenant established at Mount Sinai, the law, is a “ministry of death” and “condemnation” 2 Corinthians 3:7-9
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
First… why was Paul so hard on this topic? Paul considered this covenant one that cannot be obeyed - not because God’s expectations were too high - but because of man’s weakness and sin. Romans 8:3
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
The law was what? POWERLESS to bring redemption because of the weakness of the flesh! But look at the last line again… God did it all through the sending of His Son as our sin offering! Talk about a glorious ministry that brings righteousness!
GOD HAS PROVIDED THE WAY AND HIS NAME IS JESUS!
And once the His work at Calvary was complete, the old covenant was fulfilled and the new covenant of grace had arrived! Jesus’ blood was enough! The promise of our redemption has arrived!
So consider this: similar to what Abraham did with Hagar… when we add conditions to salvation or choose to seek redemption through the law that was fulfilled, we walk away from the promise that God gave us through Christ and take matters into our own hands.
What was produced was a child born not of the Spirit’s plan, but of man’s understanding and we can read of the trouble that came about because of it. However, God’s promise remained - even though Abraham goofed up.
What exists now is the promise answered. What exists now is a law fulfilled. What exists now is the ability to come out from under the weight of the ministry of death and condemnation. We can know the ministry that brings righteousness first hand!
What Paul is urging the Galatians to do and where I believe the Spirit of God is trying to lead us today is to choose to walk in the covenants of promise! Remember our main point today: In Christ, a person is no longer under the weight of the old… but has been ushered into the new.
It’s not by law… it’s not by ritual… it’s not by traditions… it’s not by circumcision… it’s not by works that we are saved! RUN AWAY from any idea or teaching that would try to pull you into such a belief! Ephesians 2:8-13 reads
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
It’s all because of Jesus that we are saved! It’s all because of Jesus that we have been moved from the old and into the new! It’s all because of Jesus that we now experience the covenants of the promise - an era of grace, hope, peace, redemption, deliverance, forgiveness and… FREEDOM!
Man’s way is a way of works… Abraham thought he knew how to make the promise of God a reality - and he resorted to the ways of the flesh to try to get the job done. But God’s way is not fleshly… His way is supernatural… beyond our level of works and understanding.
The promise God has delivered to us is something we could have NEVER done for ourselves. The idea of works or earned favor compared to the redemption offered to us by grace… truly is like comparing slavery to freedom!
God fulfilled the law - something we could not do on our own - through the work that Christ did on the cross. THE WORK HAS BEEN COMPLETED. If a person who knows Jesus chooses to walk back to the old, they are choosing to dismiss the redeeming power of Jesus’ blood and walk back into the yoke of slavery to the Law. IT IS FOR FREEDOM… IT IS FOR FREEDOM the Christ set us free!
We no longer have to live as slaves but can now lives as those redeemed!
Closing
Closing
God’s redemptive plan is a progressive plan… and it has been since the day it was set in motion. It began in the Garden… when sin first entered the world, and was foreshadowed by the coverings God made for Adam and Eve.
It progressed through the old covenant and the Law. Sacrifices were made… blood was shed to make atonement for the sins of the people… but God wasn’t finished.
It continued through Christ… the blood that covers all sin was shed and can now be applied to the lives of all who call on His name! We can know His forgiveness and grace! We can be set free!
And do not forget… there is more to come. They that reject redemption by grace will experience redemption through wrath. The wages - the earned result - of sin is death. But God offers us the gift of eternal life through Christ. JESUS IS COMING SOON! And those who reject His grace will experience that certain death.
Jesus gave to set us free from that certainty… but a person must choose Him.
It’s not nor will it ever be about what we can do. No human motion will ever be greater than God’s sacrifice of His Son. YOUR WORKS ARE NOT STRONGER OR MORE POWERFUL THAN THE BLOOD.
Jesus gave all to set you free… to remove from you the weight of your sin and wrong doings.
And in that freedom, walk out from under the conditions of the Law. God STILL desires for His people to be moved away from sin… if you are truly alive in Christ, you will want nothing to do with that which will bring you death. IF YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE, YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO BE A SLAVE AGAIN!
Let me illustrate it this way… Imagine owing 50 trillion dollars to a credit card… a debt that would be impossible to pay off. You throw everything you have at that debt but with the interest being charged, you make no progress. Now imagine someone stepping in and paying that debt off in FULL. You get a statement and it shows a ZERO BALANCE. Pretty cool, right?
Now… imagine this… instead of walking in the new financial freedom you have been given, you continue to make payments even though the debt is clear. You continue to throw all that you can at the lender even though the price has been paid. Sounds ridiculous, right? That is exactly what the Galatians were doing and it is what we do when we add unbiblical conditions to salvation.
JESUS PAID IT ALL SO WE COULD BE FREE! Freedom comes through knowing Jesus. Freedom comes by giving all to Christ. He did the work so you don’t have to.
Who desires to be set free today? Who desires to walk away from the old and to live in the new - the new covenant of promise? Jesus paid the price… He gave His life, and He offers you salvation and deliverance.
And maybe its deliverance that you need… deliverance from the empty religious motions or traditions. The old set the foundation for the new… but the new has come. Jesus wants to set your heart free… Jesus desires to move you to freedom!
PRAYER - Salvation
PRAYER - Deliverance from earned favor to grace-given freedom. WALK IN HIS PROMISES!