Scripture Reading:
Galatians 2:15-21 NIV “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Introduction
I started the year off with a sermon series that I called “Celebrating the Life that Christ Makes Possible”. The sermons so far have been, Christ the Only Hope, The Secret of Facing Need, and last week Christian Rewards. This is the last sermon in the series, and I have titled it “Free at Last”.
Text:
Galatians 5:1 NIV 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 could say that the theme of Paul’s letter to the Galatians was the the Magna Carta of spiritual emancipation, the Declaration of Independence from salvation by works, or the Manifesto of Gospel Liberty. If we were to reduce the 149 verses of this letter to three words, they would be “Free at last!”
Freedom is assumed to be the birthright of all people, yet people are anything but free. They are more likely to be in bondage of some kind. For some the bondage is psychological, for others economic, and for others political. But Paul, with his profound insight into people’s most basic needs, made clear that only in Christ Jesus are people truly free.
Paul was determined that every obstacle should be removed between people and God. Nothing—not legalism, not moralism, not ritualism—will be allowed to prevent people from experiencing the freedom that comes only from Christ. If you are a believer and an child of God you are free at last!
Let’s consider some things related to freedom that Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Galatia.
I. We are free to be saved by faith
Galatians 2:16 NIV know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
In this verse Paul was saying, “We are free at last from all bondage to the law and to works.” You’ll notice the word justified. It’s the first time that justified or justify occurs in the letter, but it is one of the most significant terms in Paul’s theology. Justify means “to pronounce righteous.” That righteousness, by which God accepts a person, doesn’t come from the fulfillment of any promise by us or obey the law as written in the Old Testament, but by faith.
Romans 4:5 NIV However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
A. Faith liberates us from bondage to the law.
You might ask if the law cannot save, then what is its purpose?
Well the law tells us what sin is, but most important, the law drives us to the grace of God. It shows us our own weakness and makes us see that we can do nothing but throw ourselves on the mercy and love of God.
Galatians 3:23-25 NIV Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
The law system was God’s method of preparing the world for Jesus’ coming.
B. It is faith that appropriates or ignites the saving grace of Christ.
Here is how the Message bible renders Galatians 2:19-21.
Galatians 2:19-21 MSG What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Paul was certain that, through faith, Jesus Christ had done for him what he never could have done for himself, we can say the same thing. Only when we give up our struggle can the saving grace of Christ be ours.
II. We are Free to grow in grace
Galatians 5:1 NIV 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 don’t have to be bound to works and ceremonies to serve God anymore. We serve him as people free to grow in grace.
Unfortunately, some people today have reverted to the error of the Galatians, that Paul was writing to correct. Many teach and live by the belief that we are initially “saved by grace” but that we remain saved and thus grow by works. In other words, Christ makes the “down payment,” but we must make the “monthly installments” or suffer a divine foreclosure and repossession of our salvation.
As I have taught and will always teach, nothing could be further from the truth.
Here’s the way the Contemporary English Version of the Bible says it
Philippians 1:6 CEV God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.
Like I said last week Salvation is a gift; rewards are what's earned.
We are free to grow in grace and earn rewards as we allow the Holy Spirit, who comes to live in us at salvation, to work in our lives.
A. We grow because of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.
Often, we leave areas of our lives off-limits to the Holy Spirit, thereby choking our growth in grace. Here’s what Paul wrote to the Galatians.
Galatians 3:3-6 NIV Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Our rate of growth in grace is in direct proportion to the degree to which we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us.
Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because as Zechariah 4:6 NIV says …‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
B. We are free to grow because the old us has died and we are new creations
II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Galatians 2:20 NIV I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Yielding our lives to Christ is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is something we must do each day.
I Corinthians 15:31 NKJV I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
When Christ is in control of our lives, we will naturally want to read our Bible, pray, witness to others, and fellowship with other Christians, and we will grow in grace.
III. We are Free to live as members of God’s family
Galatians 3:26-29 NIV So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
A. We are equal.
What does this mean to the church today? It means that none of us has vested rights—no one is above or better than others. It means that the opinion of each person is of great value but of no more value than any other person’s opinion. It means that as members of the family of God, we are more concerned about our responsibilities to other members than our own individual rights.
It means that because we are members of God’s family, we are as it says in Romans 12:10 NIV we are to Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
It means that as we reach out to others, as we witness to them and lead them to Christ, we do so regardless of their past, their culture, or their social status. It means that when they become members of God’s family, we accept them as our equals.
B. As members of of God’s family, we are heirs
Galatians 4:6-7 NIV Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Every member of a family is an heir to the father’s wealth. We are not servants, laboriously striving to keep the law. We are sons and daughters of God, born into his family by grace through faith and thus full heirs to all of his riches.
C. As members of God’s family we care for and encourage one another
Paul said that when our fellow Christians slip, we are responsible for helping them get back on their feet again.
Galatians 6:1-3 NIV Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
D. As members of God’s family we bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
E. And finally as members of God’s family we are productive
Salvation by grace does not mean freedom from service but rather it means we have the freedom to serve.
Galatians 6:9-10 NIV Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
The more we realize that we are members of God’s family not through any merit of our own but solely through the grace and love of God, the harder we will work and the more productive we will become. We will work not to remain a member of God’s family but because of the thrill of being a member of his family.
Conclusion
An old African American spiritual, which we may hear a lot next month, Black History month, captures the spirit of Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia.
Way down yonder in the graveyard walk,
Me and my Jesus goin’ to meet and talk.
On my knees when the light passed by,
Thought my soul would rise and fly.
One of these mornin’s bright and fair,
Gonna meet King Jesus in the air.
Free at last, free at last,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!
Let’s pray,
Father, we thank you that we are now under no condemnation because we belong to Christ Jesus. We rejoice that the power of the Holy Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the sacrifice for us so that the requirement of the law would be fully satisfied. Holy Spirit, please convict us when we begin to fall back into old patterns, behaviors and mind-sets. Please remind us that we are new people in Christ Jesus; our old lives are gone, and our new lives have begun. Thank you for you grace that gives us freedom. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Sermon Audio
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