FREE AT LAST!
Galatians 5:1-12
S: Freedom
Th: Grace-Full Living
Pr: WE ARE FREE.
?: What? What are you doing with your freedom?
KW: Responses
TS: We will find in Galatians 5:1-12 four responses that demonstrate what we can with our freedom.
The ____ response to our freedom can be…
I. REJECTION (2-4)
II. EXPECTATION (5)
III. COMPASSION (6)
IV. CORRUPTION (7-12)
RMBC 8/6/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
What do you have trouble resisting?
Is there anything that holds you in its sway?
It has power over you?
It holds you under its control?
I had this trouble the other night when I came home from camp.
I was so tired and I was falling asleep, and then Dondra told me, “Grace made you something in the kitchen.”
Now there’s only one thing that is really made for me.
It is chocolate chip cookies.
But I fell asleep anyway, but about three hours later, I was wide awake.
And they were calling me, “Come…come and eat us!”
It was terribly hard to resist.
TRANSITION:
Though this is tongue-in-cheek (so to speak), those that have real addictions become powerless to break them.
When we think of addictions, we typically think of drugs and alcohol.
And those who have dealt with the problem first-hand, or with a close relative or friend, can testify of the great difficulty of breaking away.
But though we think of drugs and alcohol first, the story of addiction can be true of things that in and of themselves seem harmless enough, or are good when within the proper realm.
Ordinary matters…like eating, watching TV, sleep, shopping, ministry, work, sports…can become addictions.
We can eat too much.
We can sleep too much.
We can work too much
We can play sports too much…etc.
And as a result, we can live in bondage.
But this is not what God has intended for us.
1. God has not designed us to live in bondage.
God has not designed you to live in oppression.
You are not designed to live a lifestyle that keeps you from enjoying life.
For…
2. God’s will for you is that you enjoy freedom.
This is God’s will for you…uncompromising, unrelenting, unconquerable freedom.
It is a freedom that allows you to enjoy life to its absolute fullest.
Since May of this year, we have been studying the letter Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia.
And here is the basic context for the writing…
3. CONTEXT: The Galatians had been “fooled” by the Judaizers.
Now…Paul is attempting to correct the teaching of the Judaizers who had misled the Galatians.
The Judaizers had been teaching a kind of perfectionism that called for a strict adherence to the Mosaic ceremonial law, including circumcision and dietary restrictions.
It was their contention that one needs to go beyond the beginnings of faith and be perfected in righteousness by keeping the law.
But Paul sees it very differently.
They were being led away from freedom into bondage.
The Judaizers were taking then backwards into aspects of the law that Jesus had completed.
Paul’s simple message to them was, “You Galatians are free!”
And the same message is true for us today.
4. WE ARE FREE.
Note the first verse of our text today:
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.
We are told to stand firm.
This command indicates diligence and commitment.
For unless we diligently guard our liberty, we will be drawn back into bondage.
We are not to let this happen, for the freedom that we have desired has come.
We are truly free at last!
So, in our study this morning…
5. We will find in Galatians 5:2-12 four responses that demonstrate what we can do with our freedom.
These responses divide into two categories.
The first and the last are negative in nature.
The middle two are positive.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first response to our freedom can be REJECTION (2-4).
(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.
1. We can not bribe God for our blessings.
We should not misunderstand what Paul is saying here, for the point of the verses is not that circumcision is wrong.
What is wrong is any act that we do to bribe God for blessings.
If we think we have found some formula for making God happy, we are wrong.
We can not bribe God into blessing us.
But this was the very thing that the Judaizers were teaching.
They were teaching that if the Galatians would just follow the law, they would be well on their way to perfecting their faith and receiving God’s fullest blessings.
But Paul’s response is that they are not to be tricked into thinking that circumcision or any other outward act of obedience can be offered to God as a benefit to Him which He must then reward with some payment.
ILL Notebook: Legalism (peanut butter)
In The Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll tells of a missionary family who literally was forced off the mission field over peanut butter. They were sent to a location where peanut butter was not available, so they asked friends back in the States to occasionally send them some. The problem was that the other missionaries considered it a mark of spirituality not to have peanut butter. The newer missionary family considered this a matter of differing opinions, so they continued to receive and enjoy their peanut butter. But the pressure from the other missionaries to conform became so intense, the newer family finally gave up and left the mission field.
Though the missionary families’ in this particular place may not have intended it, they communicated a message that said that sacrificing peanut butter will make you a better Christian and a receiver of God’s blessings.
This was the same kind of thinking the Judaizers had pressed upon the Galatians.
But what we all need to remember is that…
2. Neither can we repay Christ for what He has done.
It is easy to think of God’s free gift as a loan to be repaid or as advance wages to be earned.
But this does not honor God.
For we only exalt the cross, grace and Christ when we admit we have no assets to invest and that Christ’s investment at Calvary was totally sufficient.
It is through the cross only that we have righteousness and life.
There is nothing we can do...period.
If the Galatians, however, commit to circumcision, it would be an acknowledgment that one is placing himself under Law, and thereby, turning from grace, and setting aside the work of Christ.
This, according to Paul, is an awful consequence.
For…
3. Anytime we obligate ourselves to law, we ruin grace.
Once they submit to the rite of circumcision…
…they confess that they think Christ is insufficient,
…the Spirit is not a good guide for living,
…that Moses needs to be obeyed for acceptance with God, and,
…that one needs, in effect, to become a Jew to be a child of God.
But the truth is, when Christ died for our sins to repair the injury we had done to God’s honor, our debt was totally covered!
Any effort to increase the deposit made for us by Christ at Calvary is an insult to its infinite value.
So when we try to improve on it, we, in effect, reject it.
We are always to depend on grace, not law.
We are always to depend on God alone, and not our efforts.
This reminds me of the children of Israel as they left in Egypt.
Every time there was a dilemma, a sea to cross, no food to eat, or a land of so called giants to conquer, there solution was always the same, “Let’s go back!”
But God called on them to trust Him alone to save them, not on their ability or inability.
And the lesson is the same for us.
We are not to go back to the rules to improve our status with God.
We are to trust God, and trust Him alone.
II. The second response to our freedom can be EXPECTATION (5).
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
1. When we trust God, God works.
Please note this…faith has the power to win all things from God because it honors God’s grace.
Admittedly, we live in the constant dilemma between faith and works.
Listen to the contrast as John Piper has put it:
Works wants the thrill of feeling itself overcome an obstacle. Faith wants the thrill of feeling God overcome an obstacle. Works longs for the joy of being glorified as capable and strong and smart. Faith longs for the joy of seeing God glorified for His strength and His wisdom. In its religious form, works accepts the challenge of morality, conquers its obstacles through great exertion and offers the victory to God for His gratitude and applause and recompense. Faith also accepts the challenge of morality, but only as an occasion to become the instrument of God’s power, and when the victory is achieved, faith rejoices that all the glory and thanks belong to God.
And so this we must proclaim today, that anything good comes as a result of faith, not as a result of observing law.
For…
2. God brings perfect righteousness in His time, not ours.
We do not bring this about, God does.
We wait on His timing.
We eagerly wait on His timing, for it is perfect, from beginning to end.
III. The third response to our freedom can be COMPASSION (6).
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
1. The only thing that counts is love.
The text tells us that faith expresses itself through love.
Love is the mark of true faith.
For faith produces true love.
Faith is of such a nature that it produces love like a good tree produces good fruit.
But how do we observe such love?
2. We truly love others when we stop using them to supply our deficiencies and rejoice in the opportunity to supply theirs.
ILL Notebook: Compassion (peanut butter)
A mom was watching her four-year-old as he stood on the kitchen chair he had dragged close to the wall. He stared intensely at the painting there: one of an old man praying over a small loaf of bread. What was so uncommon was that the boy stood there for such a long time, so the mom finally asked, “What are you doing, Honey?” “Looking.” He said the word as if it were heavy. Moving closer, she noticed tears forming under his long dark lashes. “What are you thinking?” He didn’t hesitate with his answer, “He doesn’t have any peanut butter.”
This is love at work.
It is looking to meet the needs and deficiencies of others.
Love does not seek its own.
It is not self-centered or filled with self-pity.
It does not talk about other people’s faults.
Love does not fear speaking with the stranger.
It does not reject God’s call to give your life for others.
It does not waste money and become preoccupied with one’s self.
Love does not focus on things, but instead focuses on people.
Faith expresses itself through love.
IV. The fourth response to our freedom can be CORRUPTION (7-12).
(7) You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? (8) That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. (9) "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." (10) I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. (11) Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. (12) As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
1. The path away from grace does not come from God.
Paul uses a sports analogy here, calling a penalty for “unsportsmanlike activity.”
The Judaizers were cutting in on the Galatians’ progress.
They were in the way.
So Paul states that this persuasion to forsake the path of faith for the road of works is not a divine persuasion.
And he has to be wondering.
Once they had tasted freedom, how can anything else satisfy?
They can’t possibly follow this way, and Paul asserts his confidence that this wake-up call will be sufficient.
They must get rid of this corrupting influence.
2. We are to get rid of the legalist mentality.
This was the lesson that we learned this week, and is reinforced again here in verse 9.
Get rid of the corrupting influence.
For, simply, it doesn’t make sense!
ILL Notebook: Legalism (M-16 rifles)
In January 1991, Stephen Shoemaker was being deployed to Operation Desert Storm. Before boarding the C-141 transport at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, he had to go through tight security. After a meticulous x-ray examination of his carry-on bag, he removed all metal objects from his uniform and was finally able to pass through the detector without setting off the alarm. "Just out of curiosity," Shoemaker asked the airman operating the checkpoint, "Why did you make me go through all that?" "We want to be sure you aren’t carrying any weapons on board,” he said to Shoemaker as he handed back his M-16 rifle.
The legalistic mentality will show itself, sooner or later.
And the Galatians will see the nonsense of it eventually.
But Paul wants to make sure they get rid of it now.
And whether Paul means that a few leaders in the church with a legalistic mentality will soon corrupt the whole church, or he means that legalistic self-reliance in one little area of your life (like circumcision) will destroy your whole life, the result is the same.
It had to go.
For…
3. The only offense that should remain is the cross.
What Paul is saying in verse 11 is that the Judaizers were probably contending that Paul did demand circumcision, and if he had stayed a little longer, he would have given them the whole counsel of God, including circumcision.
Paul, though, says that he preaches the cross, not circumcision, and that is why he is so often persecuted.
The cross is the stumbling block.
The cross makes people either ecstatically happy because their sins are forgiven or vehemently angry because every ground for boasting is removed.
When we come to the final verse of this text, someone has called them “Paul’s cutting remarks.”
These are harsh and shocking words.
For Paul says that these teachers would do a lot less harm if they castrated themselves than if they circumcised the Galatians.
Harsh…yes.
Shocking…yes.
And all that simply goes to show how harmful, shocking and serious the issue is.
APPLICATION:
So how do we conclude our study this morning?
First, we must remember that…
1. We are to resist self-reliance and be free.
You see, the key to freedom is that God comes down to help us do what He requires and that we live by faith in that work of grace.
When we believe we can do anything on our own, or that God needs our help, we are going the way of the Judaizer and the legalist.
When, strangely, we give up our independence, it is then we live free.
2. We can live free because we live in the power of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is absolutely sufficient!
And it is through faith, that the Spirit pushes us into the current where God’s power flows most freely.
For faith not only takes away the barriers to love; it also provides a positive impulse to move us to love.
It is by the Spirit we are freely propelled to greet strangers when we feel shy.
It is by the Spirit that we freely go to an enemy and plead for reconciliation when we feel indignant.
It is by the Spirit that we freely give, even a tenth of our income when we’ve never tried it before.
It is by the Spirit we freely speak to our colleagues about Christ, invite new neighbors to a Bible study, and cross cultures with the gospel.
None of these costly acts just happen.
They are propelled from the heart by a new appetite.
It is an appetite for the thrill of experiencing God’s power in our life.
Faith loves to rely on God and see Him work miracles in us.
Sometimes I hear Christians complaining.
I know that you find that hard to believe.
I often hear the words, “It is a shame that more aren’t committed to this…” and they fill in the subject matter.
But even that complaint betrays a works-based attitude instead of doing what you desire to do humbly.
Just keep on doing it, without complaining.
Do it because you want to, not because you have to and experience again the refreshment of God’s Spirit.
For believers, everything that we know that ought to be done, can be done freely—in joy.
3. I am free…
In today’s society, being free means doing what I want and finding oneself.
It means independence, autonomy and personal sovereignty.
It means the absence of limitations and self-sufficiency.
But listen to this contrast from Scott McKnight:
For the apostle, freedom involves slavery to God and His will, while for moderns freedom means doing whatever one wants. For Paul, freedom begins only in a relationship with God through Christ and in the Spirit, while for moderns freedom means being alone. For Paul, individual, social and psychological freedom is the glorious outworking for what God can do in a person through Christ and the Spirit, while for moderns those forms of freedom are the determining goal of life. For Paul freedom was interdependence, while for moderns its independence.
So let us redefine the moderns biblically:
3.1 I am free…to be what God has created me to be.
Until I know Christ, I have no freedom to follow God’s design for my life.
I am hopelessly caught in a web of sin that leads only to death.
I am only free when I give up my self-effort and allow God to save me.
Now I live freely, away from the bondage of sin.
ILL Notebook: Service (high class)
On Billy Jackson’s daughter’s wedding day, the phone rang as he and his wife were about to leave for the church. The caller, an agent for a national auto club, was requesting his services as a locksmith because a member had locked himself out of his car. The job was only a few blocks away from the church, so he grabbed his tools and headed for the limousine. They reached the stranded driver and he emerged from the limo wearing a tuxedo. He opened the car door in seconds and then handed the motorist an invoice to sign. “See,” the motorist said to his wife, “I told you our auto club only uses high-class service people.”
And that is what we are to be—high class service people.
3.2 I am free…to love and serve others generously.
We are free to serve in love.
We are free to serve generously.
Finally…
3.3 I am free…to build authentic relationships with God and others.
Now I can live before God with a clear conscience.
I can trust Him with my whole life.
For our identity does not come from discovering ourselves, but from knowing God and learning to relate others as children of God.
As God’s child, I do not seek isolation, but community.
One final thought…
When we come to God through Christ and in the Spirit, we are free at last
Thank God Almighty!
We are free at last.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Wait on the Lord…for by faith, and in His time, God is making us what He wants us to be; not by our efforts, but according to His work on the cross;
Love one another…for faith expresses itself in love; a love for a world held in bondage and a love for the community of believers;
Be free…for freedom is given by the power of the Holy Spirit within us who directs us into life that is abundant and full of joy.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
