Galatians 5:1-15
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Galatians 5:1-15
Galatians 5:1-15
Welcome church! So glad you guys joined us this morning. If you are brand new this morning or visiting, we want to thank you for checking out our church. We have a nursing mother’s room right over here to my left. Rest rooms are back through the double doors behind you, men that room is a no go for you, but if you have a child you need to attend to, the service is broadcast in our cafe behind you and you are welcome to rejoin the service when you are able. If you’re not new, welcome to you as well and we are grateful to have you as part of our family here in Old Town.
Now, as is our practice here, we are continuing our study of the book of Galatians this morning if you’d turn there with me please, to the 5th chapter. It is a short little book in your Bible right after 1 & 2 Corinthians. I’m going to just read through our text this morning and give the big picture or drone view of what the Apostle Paul is saying and then we’ll break it down a little deeper to see how it applies to us today. Gal 5:1-15
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Let’s pray...
Chapter 5 in Galatians is a huge transition point in this Book, Paul begins in the 1st verse with...
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
What a patriotic sounding beginning to our chapter this morning…Stand fast therefore in the liberty!!! Now we get you Paul! As Americans, we are all about liberty. Tomorrow we celebrate the 4th of July, our declaration of independence as a nation. Liberty in America is all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of my personal happiness. Freedom to do what I want, how I want, and when I want! I actually saw an awesome post yesterday by the Marlborough Police Department, located in the Live Free or Die State of New Hampshire.
Approaching the holiday weekend it was their response to multiple inquiries on how one might obtain a legal permit to launch, ignite, I’m not sure what the right word is blast off fireworks…I’ll summarize it,... Marlborough does not have a fireworks ordinance so permits are not required.
If you insist, you can issue yourself a permit using the template pictured below.
Please keep safety a priority, as freedom is best celebrated with ten fingers. I’m not sure if you can read that, but the caption says, “-Not to worry, I have a permit.” And if you read the permit it says, “I can do what I want. Ron”
I love everything about that! But, what Paul is talking about here in our chapter is something entirely different. Remember, he begins Gal 5:1
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Stand fast therefore…and when we see therefore we know that whatever he is saying next is because of everything he wrote before. If you recall, in the first four chapters Paul was confronting all the churches in the region of Galatia, that had heard the Gospel, the good news, that we could be set free from the bondage of sin, we could be forgiven of the penalty of our sin, and we could be saved, by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
They heard that, they received that, but then a group called the Judaizers came in and began teaching that faith in Jesus was not enough. If a non-Jew wanted to become a Christian, they would first have to become Jewish. That meant following the Jewish laws, the 613 of them contained in the first 5 books of your Bibles, the Jewish customs and feast, and if not all of them, at least the men had to become circumcised. They taught that the idea of salvation through faith, was not enough. If you really wanted to have good standing with God, you had to work for it, or at least pay Him back a little, it was a combination of faith and works...
And Paul flipped out, and gave us a theological dissertation of the Biblical doctrine that the Bible proclaims from cover to cover in this book, that salvation is through faith alone. So when we get to chapter 5 we have the “so what?” Therefore, because we have been set free, stand fast in the liberty, not just in liberty, but what he is talking about here is something very specific...
Stand fast in THE liberty by which Christ has made us free. Free from having to try to earn salvation, freedom from continued failure in our sins, liberty from our guilt and shame, and the liberty that only comes through Jesus that we can become a new creation, freed from the bondage that comes from the continued grip of sin. Paul says stand fast in that. AND don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Paul is dumbfounded how anyone that has been set free, would ever want to go back into bondage…although, as a Jew he should know all about being blind to bondage....I want to look at a different passage for just a minute and we’ll come back to this. John chapter 8, total change of scene here. Jesus goes to the Temple early in the morning and starts teaching the people…and more and more are gathering. The Scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day try to trap Jesus by bringing him a woman caught in adultery, Jesus masterfully handles that…Jesus then tells them who He is and talks of His departure, which fires them up all the more, but then he turns to the Jews that did believe in Him, John 8 beginning in the 31st verse...
John 8:31-35
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Now Jesus lets that go and deals with the bigger issue at hand…John 8:34-35
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
God wants us to be sons, not slaves. Now I brought you here, because of their blindness to their bondage. Just because you don’t see something, or even refuse to believe something, does not mean it isn’t true. If I were to renounce my faith or my belief in gravity, does it mean it isn’t true?!? Water....
OK, so these believing Jews when they are told that the truth can set them free, respond, John 8:33
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Now help me out here gang, I know lots of you are younger than me, but anyone ever see the 10 commandments movie with Charleston Heston? Remember Yul Brynner as Ramses, the cruel Pharaoh of Egypt? For the record the film was released in 1956 and I was no where close to being born yet either. But my point is that there was bondage…If you have been reading through the Bible with us Chronologically, you don’t have to be a Biblical historian to know that the descendants of Abraham were in Bondage to practically everyone at one point in time or another! The Babylonians √, Persians √, the Greeks √, at the time the guy said that to Jesus they were in bondage to the Romans, certainly they had been to the Egyptians....and there were several other times when at least portions of the land were. But yet he says to Jesus, we have never been in bondage to anyone...
They were blind to it, the Judaizers were the ones in bondage and they were going to the freemen and saying come back under the law, show God you’ve earned your salvation by becoming circumcised…Paul addresses that in verse 2...
2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
Paul is not saying if you live in America and your parents circumcised you as a baby, Jesus can’t help you. It’s too late. What he is saying is that if you come to God with any kind of works, in an effort to gain favor, or earn salvation you are out of luck. IF you turn to the law, which circumcision was part of the law for Jewish males, you have left Jesus! He says if you try to add anything to salvation then Christ will profit you nothing. It’s not Jesus plus anything, it’s Jesus or nothing, nothing else can save you.
So what does it mean to believe in Jesus? That question is so important gang, because if you take a poll at your barbecue tomorrow, and ask the people there if they believe in Jesus, after looking at you like you’re some kind of freak, 9 out of 10 will probably say yes. And that’s a good start, but what does it mean to believe in Jesus? Look here is why that question is so important, these are the words of Jesus....Matthew 7:21-23
Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
I am guessing if you were to ask those that to whom Jesus says, I never knew you…if they believed in Jesus,… it would be 10 out of 10. But a factual knowledge is different that a faithful relationship. The devil believes in Jesus, that He came and died for your sins. Let me give you another example of two guys that believed in Jesus…change of scene again. Jesus is led to the cross, His hands are nailed, His feet are nailed, and He is lifted up above the crowd. The Bible tells us that there were two others crucified with Him that day, both criminals deserving of their sentence... Luke 23:39-43
Luke 23:39–40 (NKJV)
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
Luke 23:41–43 (NKJV)
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Two men, nearly side by side with Jesus, believed that Jesus came, had no doubt that He went to the cross, one died that day and went to Hell and the other is with Him in Heaven. Believing in Jesus means believing that He is who He says He is, that He alone has the power to forgive your sins. Believing in Jesus is placing your whole hope of Heaven on what He did, not what you do, or don’t do. These churches in Galatia were beginning to believe that what Jesus did, wasn’t quite enough. AND Paul didn’t want them to be one of those that to who Jesus would someday say I n,ever knew you. So he says in verse 3...
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Remember it says in the law, that you must keep all of it forever, doing just a pretty good job, ends up with really bad consequences. So Paul says if you put yourself under the law you are separating yourselves from salvation through Christ. You’re separating yourself from salvation all together, if you remember Paul told us back in chapter 2, that it was impossible for us to be saved through the law. He said... Gal 2:16
Galatians 2:16 (NKJV)
16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
SO what Paul wants us to understand is you don’t just have to be the best person in the room, I won’t argue with you about you being better than me or more moral than me, you’d win that argument, but Paul says unless you’re as good as Jesus, it’s no good.
We’re starting a new book on Wednesday night, the book of Isaiah, there we read Isa 64:6
Isaiah 64:6 (NKJV)
6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;...
So even our very best, its unclean like a filthy rag...In verse 5 Gal 5:5-6
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Paul is saying as far as salvation is concerned it doesn’t matter it doesn’t add anything…if you want to get circumcised, get circumcised, if you don’t want to don’t but don’t think you’re any better because you have and don’t lay that trip on anyone else. What else could we add to the doesn’t avail anything list? Everything else that you or your church might say is necessary for salvation. Do you think the criminal that believed on the cross ever got baptised, ever shared in communion? Probably not. We do those thing out of obedience, but not for salvation, Jesus did that work, and all that I’ve ever done, or will do, had already been judged when He went to the cross, because I’ve placed my faith and trust in Him. Verse 7 Gal 5:7
7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Paul it making it like a sports analogy here. When you guys heard about salvation by grace through faith in Jesus you were all about it. You took off running, who came in your lane and cut you off? Who hindered you? Gal 5:8-11
8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
One of the things Paul was being accused of was that he was agreeing with the Judaizers when he taught in other places, and Paul says no, if that’s the case, why do I keep getting the snot kicked out of me everywhere I go? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. Do you guys know what the offense of the cross is? Why the cross is so offensive to the legalist, not just the legalist, to all of humanity. Because,... Jesus died on the cross, because without that, there was no other way to be reconciled with a Holy God. The offense of the cross is that you aren’t good enough to make it into Heaven on your own, and that’s offensive. I’ve had people get up and walk out when I’ve said that more than once. Some have come back, and sadly others have never returned. Listen, without placing my faith and trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross, no amount of good I could do could keep me out of Hell. That’s pretty offensive, if you don’t think you need Jesus and you’re doing to be fine on your own.
12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
I’ll just quickly say that it entertains me all of the explanations of this you find in commentaries, softening it, or making excuses for Paul. He is saying what it sounds like he says. Man, I wish that the guys that are trying to put you back in bondage under the law and have you get circumcised, I wish they’d leave you alone and take care of themselves and not stop at cutting the foreskin, but take it all, cut themselves off.
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Now Paul is addressing a couple of things in this single verse. The first is the thought that some might think of liberty in Christ the same as we think of liberty as an American, life, liberty, and the pursuit of my own happiness, and since my sin has been paid for by Jesus, I’m going to use my freedom to party hardy. And Paul is saying it shouldn’t be used for that but to serve one another instead. The idea of living in reckless abandon and thinking that we’re OK with God is inconsistent with what the Bible tells us. A couple of weeks ago we read the verse 2 Cor 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Along with the things that have become new are our desires, we’re not who we once were. In 1 John 2:3-4
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
So Paul says, guys the freedom that you have no longer being under the law, is no longer being a slave to sin, to love and serve others. Reckless sinful conduct is not liberty. Not being able to say no to your own flesh is complete bondage. So Paul reminds us that Gal 5:13
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
You know some of the greatest pain experienced in our communities today is at the hands of their own families. Do you know why? The love is conditional. Circumstantial. How does this relationship benefit me and what am I getting out of it? There is no serving one another, unless you’ve done something for me.
We have been called to something different, and through love we are to serve one another. Some of you guys got to experience this kind of liberty to love and serve another this week. I won’t say who, because I don’t want them to lose their reward in Heaven, but some of our guys got the opportunity to help a woman who had been recently widowed move some of her belongings and her husbands things out of a house that she was selling. They didn’t know her, never met her, got nothing in return. And I guarantee you that every single one of them was even more blessed by it, than she was. Don’t get me wrong, she was so appreciative, blown away by it really because people don’t just do that, but Jesus does!
These are men that have experienced the unconditional love of their Creator, and they were able to share that type of love with someone that did nothing to earn it, and the blessing of using our liberty like that is almost overwhelming, because that is what we were created to do. SO, use your liberty you have in Christ to show Jesus to the world around you.
Our section ends with Gal 5:14-15
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Those two verses perfectly describe the difference between those walking in grace vs. being a legalist. Someone consumed with You have to, You ought to, You should, You must, is like a venomous animal that is never satisfied.
In the first half of this chapter Paul says you guys are free, Stand fast and walk in the liberty of Christ which has set us free and next week he tells us how to do that, how to walk it out in our own lives.
Spoiler alert, you can’t do it if you haven’t been set free. So this morning, I want to give you an opportunity to do that. Nothing weird, no emotional music, mood lighting or stage smoke, I won’t even ask you to come up front and tell the church about all your sins. What I am going to ask you to do is tell God, right where you sit. I am not trying to get you to join a church, or follow our special program, I’m inviting you to enter into a relationship with a Person, Jesus Christ. I’m going to close us out in prayer, and as I do, I’m going to pray, just a sample prayer. You can say it to God as you pray, or use your own words, but you need to know it is the only way to be saved and have the assurance that you’re forgiven of your sins and will spend eternity in Heaven. Let’s pray...
Father in heaven we do thank you for this service, we thank you for your Word, the Bible, and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, so that we can be free and have liberty. God you are Holy and righteous and we’re not. There may be some here this morning, or watching on line, that have not yet experienced forgiveness and the freedom that comes with that. If that’s you, please pray with me…God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that my sin separates me from you and if left unforgiven will separate me from you for eternity. I believe that you sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the full penalty for my sins and that on the third day He rose from the grave. I believe that He is my Savior and now the Lord or boss of my life. I am placing my faith in what He did alone to put me in a right relationship with You. Thank you for loving me, thank you for forgiving me and saving me. Help me now to sense your presence in my life and to grow closer to You each day. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
Now quickly, if you prayed that prayer with me this morning. Tell somebody. You can tell me, I’d love to know, but if I’m too scary tell one of your friends, someone you know here. We just want to give you a New Believer’s Bible and we want to know so we can be praying for you. We’re not going to put you on a mailing list or ask you for money. I also want to invite you to join us on the 23rd of the month where you can make a public profession of faith through baptism.
Grace and Peace church, enjoy the holiday tomorrow.