Freedom
Galatians 5:1-15
Galatians 5:1 (NLT)
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Don’t Go Back
• Christ has set you free
– You are no longer bound to the law
– You can choose to enslave yourself to the law
• The law does not bring freedom
– Only Christ brings freedom
Galatians 5:2-3 (NLT)
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. [3] I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses.
You Can’t Keep Just One
• Circumcision
– Symbolic of religious devotion
– Part of keeping the law
• Would still require the keeping of the entirety of
the law
• Where does Christ fit in?
– If you are relying on the law to save you, Christ
has no place
Galatians 5:4 (NLT)
For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
Voluntary Separation
• Following the law
– Following the law for salvation removes Jesus from
the equation
• Jesus is the way
– To follow anything else separates us from the
fullness of God’s grace
Galatians 5:5-6 (NLT)
But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. [6] For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
Your Heart Condition
• Expression of faith
– Faith expresses itself in love
• God does not examine the physical
– Circumcised or uncircumcised is not the issue
– Righteousness through faith is the issue
Galatians 5:7-10 (NLT)
You were getting along so well. Who has interfered with you to hold you back from following the truth? [8] It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. [9] But it takes only one wrong person among you to infect all the others—a little yeast spreads quickly through the whole batch of dough! [10] I am trusting the Lord to bring you back to believing as I do about these things. God will judge that person, whoever it is, who has been troubling and confusing you.
One Bad Apple
• Corrupting influence
– Spreads easily
– Spreads quickly
– Appeals to fleshly desires
– Creates confusion
• Choose your influences wisely
– Acts 17:11
Acts 17:11 (NLT)
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth.
Galatians 5:11-12 (NLT)
Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why would the Jews persecute me? The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through the cross of Christ alone. [12] I only wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
Persecution of the Truth
• Paul’s persecution
– Not because of zealous Judaism
– Because of truthful teaching about Christ
Galatians 5:13 (NLT)
For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.
What Freedom Really Means
• Not a license to sin
• Empowerment to serve
– Others
• In the name of Christ
• For His glory
Galatians 5:14-15 (NLT)
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." [15] But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
In Summary
• Love for one another
– Sums up the law
- Is the marching order of the Christian
• Without love
– Our words injure
– Our actions destroy
– Our faith is not displayed
