Sermon: For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free Galatians 5:1-15
Truth Taught- Jesus Christ has set us free from bondage to the Law. Our Christ-given freedom is to be used to glorify God and serve His people.
Introduction
It’s important that we continue to be reminded that Paul is telling us what God wanted him to tell us. We must remember that the Law of God still has a purpose for us. It still shows us what God’s will is for the believer. It shows us who God is and what He is like. It is useful for an orderly life that seeks to please God.
Where we go wrong and this is where the Galatians were drifting toward is when we think we can be justified by keeping the Law of God.
Galatians 3:10–14 (ESV)
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
In our text today, we see the Apostle protecting us from two extremes. He has been very forceful in his determined battle against living by the Law in order to seek to be justified by it.
He realizes the pitfalls of the human heart. We can be made so against the Law and so pro freedom in Christ that we can take our freedom too far. He begins our section today by continuing his stance against the Law for justification but then in verse 13 he will balance this by protecting us against going too far with Christian freedom found in Christ. The Christian life is not legalism but it’s not a free for all either. He wants to make sure we understand this.
One extreme, Living by the Law for Justification
Second extreme, Paying no attention to the Law because Christ has set us free from the Law.
Chapter 5 begins what scholars tell us is his practical part of Galatians. This will go through to the end. Doctrine then living is how the Apostle typically arranges his epistles. The Book of Galatians is no exception.
Galatians 5:1–15 (ESV)
5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
1. Christians, Be Free!! (5:1-6)
5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
The Law is the yoke of slavery. He commands the Christians to not add it to their freedom because freedom will be gone. Relying on works does not free us from sin nor does it bring us forgiveness and a new life.
When Jesus was born, that was the fullness of time or we could say the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus has given all who believe salvation and freedom.
Isaiah 61:1–4 (ESV)
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
Now Jesus was beginning His ministry. He was about to set out preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and He was about to embark on His glorious healing ministry which would manifest His messianic credentials. At the very beginning He enters the synagogue as a visiting Rabi and opens to the assigned reading for that Sabbath and reads Isaiah 61…
Luke 4:16–21 (ESV)
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus stood there and as He read from Isaiah, He was saying that all who recognize Him as the One to come, the promised Messiah will be set free. Faith in Christ is the mechanism that binds us to Him with an eternal salvation.
In Jesus Christ we are set free!!
What was He saying? Today begins the era of the Lord’s favor. Freedom for the captive, sight for the blind and liberty for the oppressed. It’s the Messiah!! In Christ, beloved we are free from the slavery of sin, the Law and guilt. Free to love God as Father. Free to love others as brothers and sister in Christ. Free to obey by grace. We have been set free. Sin has no power over us. Even the grave has no hold. One day we will all be raised to a glorious life our faith will be made sight never go back to the bondage of works.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
If you take circumcision, you take the entire Law with it. Paul is not against circumcision itself. He is against being circumcised for theological reasons. Circumcision was the outward sign of the Mosaic Law. So, naturally the Judaizers were pushing the Gentile Christians who had not ever been circumcised to adhere to that outward sign of the Law.
Paul tells them that if they accept circumcision as part of their Christianity then Christ will be of no advantage to you.
If you get circumcised Paul tells them they have placed themselves under the Law as slaves and must keep the entire Law.
Here’s another danger. In the Mosaic Law, the worshipper had the sacrificial system which was at least a covering until Christ came. Once Jesus had been crucified, the sacrificial system had been done away with. So to add these obligations is to say Jesus’ sacrifice is not good enough and it is to enter into that old system without even the Mosaic sacrifice. You see, there is nothing but the sinner seeking perfection in himself. There remains no sacrifice for someone who goes back into that system.
As Paul writes he begins to take up language of circumcision and tells them to be circumcised is to make Christ of no effect, and to place Oneself in a system that was no longer functioning because there are no more sacrifices accepted by God. He says that to have your foreskin cut off is to be severed from Christ.
What a sad situation.
Don’t do it he cries out…
Christians are called to a life of freedom in faith not a life of slavery under the Law.
2. Christians, Remember the Cross is Offensive (5:7-12)
7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
You were running the race so well, he writes, who is trying to trip you up?
We must also take notice here of what he tells the Galatians, 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Just a little sin, a little false teaching, a little mixture of the pure Gospel with the world and the entire church is affected. We must be diligent to never seek to make the cross more palatable to the world. We must never seek to find a common denominator with other religions or sects or cults to try to get along. If a group believes the true Gospel, then we can fellowship with them, if they do not then we must not. Because just a pinch of false teaching can infiltrate and cause trouble within the entire body of believers.
1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
This is the same sort of command that he gave them earlier when He said…Cast out the slave woman and her son. Remove the false teachers from your midst.
11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
Some think Paul was being accused of hypocrisy and of preaching circumcision himself. He responds by simply saying that if he preached the same message the false teachers preached then why is he still being persecuted. The Judaizers were not persecuted.
To mix Christianity with parts of other religions is to seek to appease them and to prevent any persecution. Circumcision, here removes the offence of the cross. The cross is offensive to works based religion. When we say that Christ alone saves and salvation is not by works but by free grace that is very offensive to someone who wants to take the credit for their salvation. The cross is offensive to proud people.
We see here that there will be a punishment for these false teachers.
The Apostle speaking for God here says that he wishes these Judaizers (still using circumcision language) would while circumcising everyone go ahead and emasculate themselves! Just go ahead and castrate yourself in the process.
3. Christians, Remember Your Freedom Comes With Responsibilities (5:13-15)
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
In Christ, we have been set free from the Law of God and its requirements. However, this does not mean that as Christians we can do whatever we want. Paul commands us to do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Freedom taken too far can lead to sin and disunity within the church. True freedom in Christ comes with boundaries. Christian freedom is characterized as loving one another, serving one another, and worshipping Christ together in spirit and truth. That’s freedom.
Here, it seems that Paul may have the Exodus account in mind. When the Israelites were set free from their slavery in Egypt, they were set free for a purpose. The purpose stated in Scripture was so they could worship God.
Exodus 4:22–23 (ESV)
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
We too must remember that we are not our own but have been bought with a price. The purpose is to worship God and serve one another.
Are you serving others here? What ministry do you have? How are you using your freedom in Christ? Are you serving others or are you just concerned about yourself and your family? We are set free to serve and to worship.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
One important point here is that Christians are called to fulfill the law. Old Testament worshipers were called to obey, keep or do the law. Only a believer who has the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to him can fulfill the law.
Galatians 5:2–3 (ESV)
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep (poieo) the whole law.
Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
There are many other examples in the New Testament. Believers fulfill the Law. Here’s the difference. Never could an Old Testament worshipper obey the Law of God perfectly. Even if he tried diligently night and day he could not keep it up to God’s standards. Paul, the Apostle is a prime example of someone who was zealous for the Law.
New Testament believers can fulfill all the Law’s requirements because they were kept for us in Jesus, then applied to us at salvation and so we can fulfill all the Law in Christ.
A wonderful study is to search out all the times when Paul uses fulfill the law in regard to believers.
One New Testament scholar writes, vital to understanding Paul’s perspective on the law is to recognize a principal distinction in his writing between doing and fulfilling the law. Nowhere does Paul say Christians are to do the law, and nowhere does he suggest that any but Christians can fulfill the law. —Douglas Moo
The thick irony here is that those who have placed themselves under the law cannot obey the law that they think can save them if they obey it. Those who are in Christ and are free from the law’s demands actually are the ones who fulfill the law.
Tom Schreiner writes this…Doing the Law is required for justification and is unattainable, while fulfilling the law is the consequence of justification and the result of the Spirit’s work.
Gordon Fee writes, The aim of the Torah, which Torah was helpless to bring off, was to create a loving community in which God’s own character and purposes are fulfilled as God’s people love one another the way He loves them…The Spirit has replaced Torah by fulfilling the aim of the Torah.
Conclusion
Without Christ, you must keep the entire Law of God perfectly and without any sacrifice except yourself.
Rather than obeying the Law, we are called to walk in the Spirit. To love God and His people and to serve one another. As Jesus said this fulfills the Law.
Biblical freedom has boundaries…use your freedom for God’s glory.
Benediction
Resources Used:
