Freedom Part 4: Galatians 5:13-15

Introduction

Attention:

Good things can be used for bad things.

We would all agree that the Bible is a good thing, yes?

I remember one time, when I was either in high school or at community college, I was goofing off with a friend of mine.

I have a tendency to do random things sometime

And I don’t know why, but for some reason, I grabbed a Bible, and I hit my friend in the head with it.

I remember that I was wanting to just hit him lightly with it, but I do it and I hear a *CATHUNK* “Oww!”

I remember apologizing for that for like a month straight.

Christians have been given something very good; they have been given freedom.

Paul has gone to great lengths to describe this in the book of Galatians; he wants them to experience freedom in Christ in their lives like never before

But the false teachers kept getting in the way of that by saying that they had to do stuff to earn their way to God.

Paul objects to this!

But here, in Galatians 5:13-15, we will see something else that Paul objects to: using our freedom in Christ as an excuse to sin.

Need:

We need to hear this because we all have the temptation to use Christian freedom as the starting point for sin in our lives.

We say “Will God really care if I…?” because, “what’s the big deal if Jesus already died for it anyways?”

So we need to hear this message so that we don’t use our freedom in Christ incorrectly; so that we understand not only what we have been saved “from” but also what we have been saved “to.”

We need to know what freedom actually is the starting point for; we need to know the places that true freedom in Christ takes us

So buckle up and get ready; we’re diving in!

Body

The Big Idea: Freedom isn’t the starting point for sin.

The Question: What is freedom the starting point for?

1. Serving love

2. Fulfilling love

3. Unifying love

Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Explanation:

The first thing that we see here is that freedom is what we have been called to.

Freedom is the reality of Christian living; to be a Christian is to live in freedom.

Jesus died for us so that we could be free from the law, and as a result, free from sin.

Paul has gone to great lengths to explain this to the church of Galatia in response to the false teaching that was going around.

But freedom isn’t to be used as an excuse to sin.

The literal Greek here is “don’t use it an as an opportunity for the flesh.”

The word for “opportunity” was actually originally a military term, referring to a “starting point” or a “base of operations.”

So that’s where the idea of freedom not being the starting point for sin comes from!

But freedom is the starting point for some other things, namely love

And specifically here, it is love expressing itself through serving one another.

The word “serve“ is interesting, because it is the verb form of the noun, “slave.”

But Paul has gone through great lengths explaining that we aren’t slaves to the Law anymore, but that we are free in Christ.

But here, Paul goes from saying “don’t be a slave” to now saying “you are free to be slave.”

Even more specifically, he is saying “You’re free to be slaves of each other.”

This is a paradox! It seems like they can’t both go together, but in reality they do.

The way that one theologian puts it is that the first type of slavery (under the Law) is a “one-sided relationship of submission, suppression… and fear,” while the other slavery is the free and voluntary act of love.

We understand this about love; love is inherently submissive. Jesus best demonstrates that when he takes the form of a slave by washing His disciples feet.

And this love isn’t just any king of submission; it is continual (we know this because the verb “serve” is in the present tense, which shows us that it has continual importance throughout the Christian life.”

The fact that Paul feels the need to say this shows us that the church of Galatia was not expressing their freedom in Christ through “loving service to others.”

And the truth is that, oftentimes we don’t other.

But here, we see that our freedom in Christ is the first domino to fall in our loving service for people.

Illustration:

Check out these dominoes!

I used to LOVE playing dominoes as a kid

And while I would sometimes play an actual organized game with them, oftentimes, I just like to set them up like this and to watch them all come down one at a time

It is interesting, because all that I have to do is push down the first domino, and then all of these others fall down.

When it comes to out lives in Christ, our freedom in Christ is the first domino.

The first thing that happens to believers is that they experience FREEDOM from their sin on account of what Christ has done, and freedom from the law.

But what are these other dominoes? Some would say that, since we are free in Christ, they can be whatever we want them to be. What’s the big deal of committing sin if Jesus died for sin?

But what Paul is saying here is that freedom isn’t the first domino to fall amongst a bunch of subsequent, sinful actions; freedom is the first domino in a set of dominoes full of love and self service to others.

What freedom in Christ begins is something great; voluntary service for the sake of Christ and others.

Application:

Who have you served recently?

This isn’t meant to guilt you; this is just meant to help you think through this

Have you been using your freedom in Christ to serve others? People at school? Here at church? Where are you doing this, and how often are you doing it?

What is it that is keeping you from serving others as much as you should?

Could be selfishness, laziness, etc.

But this is what Christ has called you to!

Commit today to display your Christian freedom by CHOOSING to serve others; doing it not because you have to, but because you want to.

Transition Statement: The love that results from the freedom we have in Christ doesn’t just serve; it also fulfills and summarizes something.

Transition Question: Give a summary of your favorite movies without revealing too many details. See if anyone else at the table can figure out what the movie is!

The Big Idea: Freedom isn’t the starting point for sin.

The Question: What is freedom the starting point for?

1. Serving love

2. Fulfilling love

3. Unifying love

Galatians 5:14 (NLT)

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Explanation:

Here Paul is talking about the law again!

But wait… Normally, when Paul has talked about the law, he has said negative things about living under the law

But here, he is reinforcing what he has already said about the importance of serving one another with love; and here he says that, one of the good things about love is that it sums up the Law.

But if we don’t live under the law, why does what Paul says here even matter?

This point of clarification is important; Paul is not saying that the law is “bad”

In fact, God’s law is very good! It gave Israel a way to have a relationship with Him. The law was a grace from God

What’s bad isn’t the law itself, but rather how the church of Galatia was interacting with it, namely they were using it as a basis for salvation.

But here, Paul makes a distinction betwen “doing” the law and “fulfilling” the law.

A theologian points this out and says “the doing of the Jewish torah is not required for Christians, but the fulfilling is.”

Wait… what?? Let’s see if we can get that down to simpler terms.

The Law being fulfilled through love essentially means this: (1) the law is “summed up” in love (which the NLT translation makes clear)

Loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself is the thesis statement of the entire law.

And now that Christians aren’t “under” the law anymore, they are able to fulfill it in a even more full way; by allowing love to be more of a “want to” or a “get to” than a “have to.”

“Doing” the law is an attempt at finding a basis for salvation, but “fulfilling” the law is the result of what the Holy Spirit is doing inside of us.

Whenever you love, you are fulfilling what the law was all about to begin with, so now its not necessary for you to practice ALL of the specific things that the Israelites did back in the day.

Illustration:

Earlier, it was great hearing you give summaries of different movies, and it was also great to hear peoples guesses for what the movies were.

Alright; I am going to summarize one of my favorite movies now.

A prince is born. His uncle is hungry for power, so he kills his brother, the king, The prince is banished from the kingdom, until he one day returns and defeats his uncle reclaiming his right to the throne.

Yep; that’s the lion king!

Why was that one so easy to guess? Because it gave all of the highlights of the main plot points that happen.

You won’t have to re-watch the movie for the major plot points; I just gave them to you (and don’t try and tell me that Timon and Pumbaa are a major plot point!) .

When you love people, you are giving a summary of what God’s law is all about; you are fulfilling God’s law. And because we are fulfilling what the Law is about anyways, we are not “under” it in a judicial sense anymore, because the ultimate point of it all is being met anyways.. We don’t “do” the law; we “fulfill” it!

Application:

How can you think about the law more in terms of “fulfilling” than in “doing?”

When it comes to loving people, try to make it more of a “want to/get to” than a “have to.”

You don’t show love to check a box off on your list; you show love because you experience love!

How can you make loving people more of a big deal in your life?

If this fulfills all of God’s law, it should be a HUGE deal to love people in our lives!

Maybe you start asking people how they are doing more regularly. That is a very simple and thoughtful way to show love.

Maybe you practice trying to listen more than you talk (this has been part of my journey)

Maybe you stop gossiping! That’s the opposite of love.

Use your freedom from having to “do” the law to freely choose to “fulfill” it through love.

Transition Statement: Love serves, love fulfills, and lastly, love unifies.

Transition Question: What is your favorite homecooked meal?

The Big Idea: Freedom isn’t the starting point for sin.

The Question: What is freedom the starting point for?

1. Serving love

2. Fulfilling love

3. Unifying love

Galatians 5:15 (NLT)

But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Explanation:

Apparently, unity was an issue at the church of Galatia.

What’s most likely being described through the use of a metaphor here is gossip

Gossip was an issue back then, and it is just as much of an issue today.

The picture that’s given here is that gossiping against each other is like wild beasts fighting each other.

The word “bite” was used of snakes and other animals, but the most likely reference is to a “savage, half -wild, scavenger dog.”

Language like this pops up a lot in the OT, especially in the Psalms

The point is this: Two people who are gossiping against each other are like beasts fighting to the death in the Roman amphitheater; it results in both of them being torn down.

According to Paul, to Gossip is to completely spit in the face of the freedom that Christ has given us

The reason for this is that, the reason that we were brought out of bondage was so that we could live in community.

We are free from division and free to unity.

As we love one another through serving each other, we are fulfilling the law of Christ, and such a thing builds the body of Christ up.

Illustration:

My favorite homecooked meal is… I kid you not… gluten free corn dogs.

I have the BEST memories of eating those with my family growing up; the way that made dad made them cooking them in corn meal was so intriguing to me.

You know, in general, there is something about eating food that brings people together.

There’s something about eating a meal with your family that brings you together. There is something about eating a meal in the fellowship hall that brings us together as a church.

This is one of the reasons that Jesus shared a meal with His disciples so shortly before His death; it brought them together.

If you have accepted Christ, you have shared a meal with other believers. We share in the Lord’s supper together; we are unified in Christ Jesus

How can who have experienced such freedom and unity tear each other apart?

We are free from hostility, and free to partake of unity with each other.

Application:

How has gossip negatively impacted your life?

Maybe you have been the victim of gossip, and such a thing was incredibly hurtful

Or maybe you have gossipped about somene else, and you later had to experience the consequences of that, maybe a lost friendship

When are you most tempted to gossip about somebody?

Maybe it is when you feel jealous of somebody

Or it is when someone has gossiped about you, so you gossip back

What are those specific pitfalls that you find yourself falling into?

What can you do to avoid gossip and to embrace unity?

Perhaps what you need to do is to work on your self-esteem so that you don’t struggle with jealousy so much

Remind yourself that God loves you; He made you in His image, and He sent Jesus to die for you and to rise from the grave so that you wouldn’t have to fear death.

Maybe you need to learn how to forgive by focusing on how much Christ has forgiven you.

Regardless of how you need to apply this, choose to use your friend for unity rather than for division.

Conclusion

Visualization

Your freedom has so many good things that it is supposed to be used for.

How sad it is when we use it as a license to sin

If you are in Christ, you are free: the first domino has fell. What are the other dominoes going to look like?

Reiteration

I believe that some of us in here have been using freedom in Christ as an excuse to sin. Tonight, the Lord is calling you to repent from that. How will you respond?

Many of us need to start waking up realizing our ultimate purpose in life; to love God and to love other people; it is all about love. How would your week change this week if you woke up realizing this? Who would you treat differently? Who would you talk to that you normally wouldn’t?

Experience freedom in Christ; allow loving God and other people to be a “get to” rather than a “have to.”

PRAY