GALATIANS 5: 13-15
CHRISTIAN FREEDOM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
[Romans 6:15-23]
At the close of an important speech to congress on January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared his vision of the kind of world he wanted to see after the war was over. He envisioned four basic freedoms enjoyed by all people: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. To some degree, these freedoms have been achieved on a wider scale than in 1941, but our world still needs another freedom, a fifth freedom. Man needs to be free from himself and the tyranny of his sinful nature.
The letter has changed emphasis from doctrine to practice. The first 12 verses of chapter 5 have promoted freedom from legalism. Some might say that since the restraints of the law are lifted I can now do what ever my inclinations, passions, and desires lead me to do. This is license. License is an abuse and perversion of Christian liberty. What will keep the Christian from so abusing his freedom?
Christianity resembles a narrow road between two polluted streams. One is called legalism and the other license. The believer must be empowered by the Holy Spirit so that he does not lose his balance and tumble into the chains of legalism on one side or into the defilement of sin on the other. He must walk by the Spirit.
The Christian has not been freed to sin but has been freed by the grace of God not to sin. The Christian is the man who through the indwelling Spirit of Christ is so purged of self that he loves his neighbor as himself, a thing which is not possible except for one walking in the Spirit.
[I. LOVE NOT LICENSE (13-15).]
THE CALL, 13.
THE COMMAND, 14.
THE CAUTION, 15.
[II. WALK BY THE SPIRIT (16-18).]
THE CALL, 13.
Christians were called to be free from sin and self so that we might loving service one another as verse 13 declares. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
With the emphatic you the text distinguishes between freedom to sin and freedom to serve. There is the possibility that because a person is freed from the law they will live in self-indulgence and sensuality. Freedom used as a license to sin is no freedom at all, because it enslaves you to Satan, sin and self, or to your own sinful nature, or flesh.
Our corrupt nature or flesh is who we are apart form Jesus Christ and His Spirit. If we don’t surrender our life to Christ we are prone to serve our flesh or who we are in and of our fallen self apart from God.
In May 1996, 5-foot-7-inch, 118-pound MISS VENEZUELA won the Miss Universe contest. According to the Chicago Tribune, after her victory reporters asked her what she wanted to do first. “I’m going to do something,” she said, “I haven’t been able to do for three weeks –eat, eat, eat and sleep.”
Apparently she kept her word. She quickly gained weight, to the point where pageant officials were complaining. One pageant official explained, “She has various swimsuit contracts, and they’re not happy that she has gone a bit chubby.”
She kept on gaining, though. According to People Weekly, by January 1997 a new personal trainer weighed her in at 155 pounds, and at one point she weighed 160 pounds. But with the help of her trainer within a few months she was back down to an ideal weight of 130 pounds.
Without ongoing self-discipline of the Spirit how quickly we can squander our accomplishments. Spirit controlled life must be a lifestyle, not an occasional event.
[RESPONSIBLE FREEDOM] The New Testament teaches that we do not live under the law of Moses. But this freedom does not imply that we can live irresponsibly. In Christ we have complete immunity from the eternal sentence required by God for breaking His commandments. But this does not give us reason to indulge our sinful nature. To do so disgraces our Lord.
A Michigan state trooper had stopped the same man twice in one day for RECKLESS DRIVING. The offender was weaving in and out of traffic at speeds up to 93 miles per hour. When he was pulled over, he flashed an official seal, signed by the U.S. Secretary of State. He announced that he was the consul general of another nation, and he had no intention of obeying America’s laws. He honked his horn impatiently while the trooper radioed headquarters to verify that a foreign diplomat cannot be detained except for serious crimes. Upon learning this, he said to the man, “Even though you aren’t subject to our laws, you could at least have some regard for the safety of our people.”
If we use liberty as an opportunity to indulge the sinful nature, we will be no different from that reckless foreign diplomat. We will be taking advantage of the One who gave us our privileges.
That is why freedom is dangerous in the hands of those who don’t use it properly. Which is why barbed wire, steel bars, and concrete barriers confine criminals. Or take a fire, for example. Allowed to burn freely in a dry forest, it quickly becomes a blazing inferno. Unchecked freedom becomes destructive.
This misuse of freedom is more than evident in the Christian life. Believers are free from the law’s curse, its penalty, and its guilt-producing power. Fear, anxiety, and guilt are replaced by peace, forgiveness, and liberty. Who could be more free than one who is free in the depths of his soul? But here is where we often fail. We use our liberty to live selfishly, or we claim ownership of what God has merely loaned to us. We slip into patterns of self-indulgent living, especially in affluent societies like America.
Christians though should not become slaves to Satan, sin, or self. We have been freed to do right and to glorify God through loving service to others. Christian freedom does not give us the right to do as we please, but the liberty to do as we ought. So how do we exercise responsible freedom? We should “through love serve one another.” This present tense imperative means it is a command to be carried out throughout our life.
The responsibility or right use of freedom in Christ is to serve each other in love. We are to imitate the love of Him who voluntarily took the form of a servant and served others. Christ came to give us liberty by dying in our place and now He tells us to use our freedom to share His love and grace.
An OLD PREACHER appeared at the door of B. H. Carroll’s retirement home in Waco, Texas. It was storming and he was miserable, muddy, and cold. Dr. Carroll’s manservant invited the old preacher into the parlor, flinching a little at the man’s muddy tracks on the rug.
Dr. Carroll welcomed the visitor warmly and invited him to stay the night and to have a hearty meal. Late that night the servant heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate, Dr. Carroll was in the kitchen, engaged in washing the mud from the shoes of his visitor.
The servant protested. “That’s my job,” he said.
Dr. Carroll painfully rose to his feet. “I am washing the feet of God’s disciple,” he said. “That’s my job.”
Pray that you will take opportunity to serve others, for in this you serve the Master. Freedom doesn’t give us the right to do what we please, but to do what pleases God.
II. THE COMMAND, (14).
The text now introduces God’s higher law in verse 14. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Freedom is not to be without guidance. There is guidance higher than the setting up of restrictive laws. It is the guidance of loving others as yourself. To do that is to be guided by the Spirit.
The fulfilment of the commandments is to love God and others. The intention of the law given through Moses was not to check up on mankind, but rather to teach mankind to love God, the first four commandments, and to love one another, the last six commandments. God knew that people hurt others when they commit adultery, kill, steal, or covet. When people do those things, they do not love. But when people are guided by the Holy Spirit and live a life of love, they fulfill the intentions of the Old Testament law concerning their relations with one another. (See Romans 13:10.) To live a life of loving service is real purpose behind the Law. Persons living under the control of the Holy Spirit will be motivated to serve others in love and will fulfill not only the commandments but their intent as well. A love relationship with God and others fulfills the intent and requirements of the law. Love is the motive for a life of responsible service to God and others.
All the commandments are summed up in that one word love. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34,35).
When one loves his neighbor, it is the satisfaction, the fulfillment of the whole law. Love for others combats self-centeredness. It is to be an active love which is demonstrated to those around us. Love not law is the motivation for the Christian life.
III. THE CAUTION (15).
How do you know if you are loving? Verse 15 tells some areas that will help us realize that we are not loving. But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
A person cannot love another as himself without putting restrictions on his actions; for love does not harm another person. When we are not motivated by God’s love we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon the unity of the believers is broken and Satan begins destroying the fellowship. That is why the temptation is so strong for us to fall back into the old habit of criticizing and backbiting other Christians who are different from us. We have replaced all the laws written in the Old Testament with our own cultural laws or personal understandings that we use to judge others and then talk against them. To bite and devour are activities of savage animals. If Christians do that, then the Bible says we will be destroyed by one another.
If satan can get Christians to begin attacking one another with their sharp tongues, he has achieved a victory, for he has planted the seed of self-destruction in the church. As long as the biting goes on, the destruction is present.
When that is going on inside a church, the participants need to be reminded of who they are, what nature lives inside of them, and by what power they should be living.
When we say something unkind to a fellow Christian, he may become defensive, and often ill-feelings develop. We may look on our disagreement as nothing more than a question about our rights. The Lord sees the total picture, however, and knows we would be better off if we held our tongue and trusted Him for the outcome. If we don’t, one day we will regret that by our biting words we “consumed one another.”
[This is illustrated in an interesting account about snake-eating snakes. According to zookeepers, two reptiles will sometimes grab different ends of the same piece of food. Sooner or later their struggle for that last bite brings them nose to nose. But then comes the surprise. The snake with the widest bite will keep right on going and actually swallow the other!
In the area of people problems, it’s easy to assume that we’re too mature to let things go that far. But words and emotions can get out of hand even among Christians. When this happens, feelings get hurt, friendships are destroyed, the church becomes divided, and the whole body of Christ suffers.
How important it is that we ask the Lord daily to help us to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another”( Eph.4:32) . Only as we rely on Him will the love of Christ our hearts replace the man-eating impulses of a sharp tongue and a bitter soul. It’s better to bite your tongue than to allow it to bite someone else.
We have been talking about TWO KINDS OF FREEDOMS. The false freedom is where a man is free to do what he likes. True freedom is where a man is free to do what he ought.
A man had some valuable FOX HOUNDS. One day they got into a fight. They were chewing one another to pieces. Seeing his investment destroying itself, he sought to separate them. Time after time he took a dog by his leg and threw him as far as ge could. But each dog returned to the fray. Recognizing the futility of his efforts, the man suddenly remembered that he had a fox in a cage. Taking the fox he turned it loose near the dogs. Seeing the fox running away, the dogs lost their difference in their common interest in the fox. They stopped fighting and chased the fox. If we don’t use our freedom to bring the lost to Christ as He intended we will focus on our own self and differences will always arise.
So let’s always use our liberty to build up, not to tear down. Unrestrained fire can destroy, but controlled, it blesses with its warmth and light. Liberty does not give us the freedom to do what we please, but to do what pleases God. So let’s always use our liberty to build up, not to tear down. Freedom doesn’t give us the right to do what we please, but to do what pleases God.
CONCLUSION
Have you talked behind someone’s back? Have you focused on another’ shortcomings instead of their strengths? Remind yourself of Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39). When you begin to feel critical of someone, pray for that person and make a list their positive qualities. If there are problems that need to be addressed, it is better to confront in love than to gossip.
A person cannot love another as himself without putting restrictions on his actions; for love does not harm another person. A good thought to remember is that true freedom is never the right to do what we please, but to be pleased to do what is right in the Lord.
