With each passing year in which our country celebrates it’s independence.. it’s freedom… a
cry intensifies for the current generation of citizens to not take their freedom for granted.
It’s noted that those who have come to enjoy freedom… can fall back to enslavement and
tyranny because they don’t recognize it’s subtleties… or that those who enjoy freedom all too
easily forget that freedom comes with responsibility.
> It shouldn’t surprise us that the reality of spiritual freedom cries out in a similar way.
The Apostle Paul had come to know true spiritual freedom… and didn’t want to see it lost by
any. Among the New Testament writings in which he addresses this is the letter to the Galatians.
Galatians 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-23
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. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves
be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets
himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be
justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith
we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love.
13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful
nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the
sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful
nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious….22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Begins with a call to freedom…
Paul begins by explaining our calling: we are called to freedom. Christ came to set humans free.
Our most fundamental condition is that of shame… for the flaws and failures that we carry… and
Christ came and ‘bore our shame’ upon the cross… so that we could be free from carrying the
deep sense of being broken. We can be free from the guilt and consequences of sin because
Christ bore those consequences… the death and separation…. when he hung on that cross. And
through the power of the Spirit whom Christ sends, we can become free from the ultimate power
of sin in our daily life.
But Paul now sees a dual tension…one that I believe runs through us all… the tension
between a spirit of legalism and a spirit of license.
When issues of sin arise, there is a common feeling of tension between "legalism" and "license".
At times a part of us feels a fearful sense of being legalistic and at other times of compromising
our convictions.
It’s like a spiritual schizophrenia… double bind that can make us crazy.
Often within we swing between the two powers of thought that each of these represent … a
process of reaction… and re-reaction.
Let me offer a little definition to these two dynamics….
Legalism – In it’s broader use, ‘legalism’ refers to the tendency to try to control sin
through an overly prescribed approach to moral behavior or an inappropriate sense
of controlling such behaviors in others.
License – In it’s spiritual use, license refers to the tendency to control permission
for pursuing the fulfillment of inappropriate or destructive desires for perceived
pleasure… often based upon a construed sense of pleasure (that ignores ultimate
good) and freedom (that ignores responsibility.)
Both the spirit of legalism and the spirit of license are rooted in a false sense of control…. a
control rooted in fear.
A part of us wants to do the right thing… but it can become more out of fear of our failures…
and a concern for outward appearance… And then another part wants to be free to do what one
wants… afraid of what one might miss in terms of pleasure and happiness.
> Both of these tendencies reveal how confused our view of sin and salvation are… why
‘religion’ may not always sound so good…. may seem to complicate life.
The Apostle Paul knew both of these all too well…he was the elite of Jewish religious
lawmakers and law keepers…knew the emptiness of legalism… unable to change lives. But he
also sees the utter destruction of Roman paganism and now that of the Greek world…and knows
how deceptive and destructive that which glorifies sin can be.
How can we walk in true freedom?
1. True freedom must overcome the FALSE CONTROL and underlying
FEAR that enslaves us.
There is a very deceptive dynamic at work in both the spirit of legalism and the spirit of
license. We may begin with a good and reasonable goal… but as noted we wander into deception
regarding control and the underlying fears.
Ask question: Are you free to do anything you want (if within your means)?
The ultimate answer is YES…. and as I’ve often said…’it should scare the hell out of us.’
Legalism – We can’t control sin with merely outward rules… and we can’t control people’s
ultimate choice.… not even God chooses to control anyone.
License – We can’t control the consequences of sin.
• Comedian W.C. Fields when found in his dressing room reading the Bible… looked up and
said, “Just looking for loopholes.”
• Jude 1:4 (NIV)
”… men …who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality …”
• > Tend to want freedom to do whatever you want… rather than face the responsibility
that you already have that freedom.
True freedom is not chaos or anarchy… but is the dynamic reflected in a creature free to be and
function in their true nature and intent. We don’t say a lion in captivity is set free when it is
placed just anywhere… but when it is set free in the environment it was meant to live and be in.
Elisabeth Elliot –
Freedom and discipline have come to be regarded as mutually exclusive, when in fact
freedom is not at all the opposite, but the final reward, of discipline. It is to be bought with a
high price, not merely claimed. ... The [professional] skater and [race] horse are free to
perform as they do only because they have been subjected to countless hours of grueling
work, rigidly prescribed, and faithfully carried out. Men are free to soar into space because
they have willingly confined themselves in a tiny capsule designed and produced by
highly trained scientists and craftsmen, have meticulously followed instructions and
submitted themselves to rules which others defined.
Elisabeth Elliot in All That Was Ever Ours. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 16.
1 Peter 2:16 (NIV)
”Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of
God.”
So what is the controlling factor…. if not the spirit of legalism… or license?
> The answer is LOVE….freedom comes when love replaces fear…. Divine love
rooted in truth.
Vs. 6 – ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’
Faith in God’s grace… His love… which leads to loving others.
1 John 4:13-18 (NIV)
”We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his
Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be
the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of
God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the
love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and
God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will
have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like
him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear
has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Is there really no place for fear and punishment? Doesn’t the Bible say that the beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord? Yes… and I believe if we see the whole… in context… the
point is that wisdom begins with putting God above all else… and when you do… you will
discover that He loves you with a love that is like no other… and being given and guided by that
love will bring freedom.
Doesn’t God bring forth commands…rules… to follow… even at times with punishment?
Yes… and such laws serve a valuable purpose in our formation. They offer a good backdrop for
morality. As young lives we have not developed our inner guidance system….so rules such as
‘Don’t steal’ and ‘Don’t kill’ offer a reference point for human goodness… and a restraint that
can protect us from our fallen nature. So it shouldn’t surprise us that both children and the
children of Israel, as those God first related to, needed laws to call them out into the standards
that would reflect God’s intents. But in both cases… the simple reality is this… laws and rules
never make a person truly good. They may help me to act good… at least in fear of rejection or
consequences… but not to be good. It’s in this sense that we can understand the ultimate truth..
that ‘the one who fears is not made perfect in love.’
So the second truth we must learn is that…
2. True freedom is defined and driven by LOVE.
Love is ultimately the driving force behind all that is good….and the ultimate maturing force in
all human development.
Author George Gilder studied the life of men and makes an interesting observation. He notes the
mass of single men who struggle with direction… and often just pass through “the same sloughs,
incurred the same boozy dreams, marijuana highs, cocaine crashes, sex diseases, job vapors,
legal scrapes, wanderings. They follow the entire syndrome and then break out of it. Normally
they do not escape through psychiatrists’ offices, sex-education courses, VISTA or Peace Corps
programs, reformatories, or guidance-counseling uplift. What happens, most of the time - the
only effective thing that happens, the only process that reaches the sources of motivation
and character - is falling in love. Love is effective because it works at a deeper, more
instinctual level than the other modes of education and change. Love does not teach or
persuade. It possesses and transforms. Love infuses reason and experience with the power
to change a man caught in a morbid present into a man passionately engaged with the
future.” -From Men and Marriage, by George Gilder, published by Pelican
Paul understood that the choice is one of control… choosing to be controlled by love.
• As such he constantly refers to himself as a “slave of Christ…”… capturing the ultimate
truth we have to come to terms with… that you will be controlled by something… and
freedom comes with the choice to be enslaved to the love of God in Christ.
• 2 Corinthians 5:14 (CEV) - ”We are ruled by Christ’s love for us.” (other translations
say ‘compelled’)
• This is why Jesus spoke of his way of life as a ‘yoke’ that was easy for all who were weary
and heavy laden with rules… he was bringing the true way to live… but it was still a
yoke… a guiding system that one must choose.
It’s that which calls out the true self… more than just behavior.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (CEV)
”
You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to
you, and not anything you have done on your own. 9 It isn’t something you have earned, so there
is nothing you can brag about. 10 God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has
always wanted us to live. That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are.”
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus… claiming he had obeyed all the commandments…
all the rules… and wanted to be sure he got it all right… would get an “A+” it would lead to
Jesus telling the story of Good Samaritan… legalism had limited love. For Jesus knew that while
rules can serve a good heart… rules can make us very evil.
Not only is love to be the ultimate driving force… but it’s the ultimate defining
force of what is good and right.
VV. 13 – 14 – “…do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another
in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This truth is expounded in his letter to Rome..
Romans 13:8-10 (CEV)
”Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands. 9 In the
Law there are many commands, such as, "Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal.
Do not want what belongs to others." But all of these are summed up in the command that says,
"Love others as much as you love yourself." 10 No one who loves others will harm them. So love
is all that the Law demands.”
> The plumb line for all behavior is love… Plumb lines are that which shows how lined
up a wall or any similar posted formation is to being truly straight up and down… it’s a simple
weighted string held at the top and allowed to drop down and create a true gravitational vertical
line.
We could think of Paul’s description as that of saying that surrendering to the control of God’s
love is what is to be held at the top… and love for others this should naturally lead to is at
the bottom.
> That line reflects a life that is free to be all that God made us for.
We need to change the pendulum swing between license and legalism to the plumb
line of love
Critical to lay out the underlying work / motive… because I believe if we just try to approach
with issues of ‘how much can I do?’ or how perfect can I behave?’ … we have already launched
off on the wrong premise.
“The error at the root of all false ideas of perfection is this: it is rating our behavior "before" God
higher than our relation "to" God--putting conduct before faith, deeds before trust, work before
worship.” -Steve Morrison
How is such a love discovered and developed?
Paul concludes this section…
16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
22
… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
3. True freedom is a PROCESS of the Holy Spirit’s INNER FORMATION of
our souls and character.
Illustration: Drinking beer
Illustration – If we see certain behaviors in life that can be destructive … like fire… rather than
being given to a spirit of legalism which says “I have no desire for fire and neither should anyone
else.”… or the spirit of license which says “How close to the fire can I get?”… the spirit of love
will lead us to ask “How can I help others… and myself… to be smart and safe in relationship to
fire?”
Guiding principles for our behavior then are not conformity to law or rules…
nor personal pleasure, but rather those which reflect surrender to the love of God
leading to love of others….
• Is this glorifying to God? (1 Cor. 10:31)
• Does this serve to hurt or help others in any particular way? (1 Cor. 10:23, 1 Cor. 8:1-13)
• How would this convey or confuse my witness of God to others? (1 Cor. 10:33, Col. 4:5, 1
Thess. 5:22)
• Is this controlling my life or constricting my spiritual growth? (Hebrews 12:1, 1 Cor. 6:12)
CLOSING
Next week… We’ll consider the significant implications for how we view goodness…how we
grow in our relationship with God… and how we relate as part of a community of people who
are in process.
I want to close with encouraging us to be really honest with your own tendencies…
• Does a part of you tend to want to stop sin through an overly prescribed approach to rules or
by trying to control others?
• Does a part of you tend to want freedom to do whatever you want… rather than face the
responsibility that you already have that freedom?
Let’s lay these down before the altar of divine love… and ask the love of Christ to become the
definition and driving force in all we do.
