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This video is being made for the men of set free. Hi guys. I'm sorry. I can't be with you this morning, but I wanted to continue our study of Galatians together. Even though I can't be there in person I wanted to film this video for you so that you'll be able to continue in our study.
Now we are going to be studying today. We're going to be starting chapter 5. So and we're only going to be looking at one verse. So we're going to be looking at Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. So if you want to go ahead and open up your Bibles and in just a minute, we will read Galatians 5 verse 1.
But before we read that I want to give a few introductory statements. This the title of today's message is they can never take our freedom. And if you're familiar with that particular statement that is from a movie.
Which many of you've probably seen the movie Braveheart where in the climactic moment of the film? The the hero played by Mel Gibson cries out They can take our lives, but they can never take our Freedom and of course that line became a staple in pop culture History because people love the line so much.
Freedom is a very important subject. Freedom is something that we sing about. Freedom is something that we rejoice over. Freedom is something that we fight for. And the opposite of freedom is almost always words that we would want to avoid.
We the word slavery is bad. The word bondage is bad the word bound In chained you know those words are bad and the opposite of all of those words is freedom or to be free and Again at the very end of Braveheart the last words that William Wallace Said as he was being killed is he just screamed out freedom.
And of course that that was the moment that ended or brought the film to its end and so freedom of course is a very very important subject and Freedom is the subject of our lesson today, but today. We're going to be looking at the subject of Christian freedom.
Christian liberty to be more specific. Christian liberty is often a very difficult Subject to discuss because it is sometimes used to Make an excuse for sin and to cover up overtly sinful activities and other times.
It's violated by those who lord over others and expect unbiblical Requirements of other people and so there seems to be sort of these two extremes when you deal with the subject of Christian Liberty and I want to share what those are.
I don't have my whiteboard today. So I'm going to use the screen to help you because I know some of you like to take notes. And I do want to say I'm really going to miss taking your questions today. I love to be with you, and I'm really sorry I couldn't be there today.
But the we're going to look at two extremes of Christian liberty before we get to our text because these two extremes are going to Come up later, and I just want to make note of them now. The first extreme is is what we would call legalism and many of you probably heard the word legalism someone who is a legalist.
And and how do we define legalism. Well legalism can be defined in one of two ways? Legalism is either defined as someone who adds unbiblical demands for people to follow. Now this is what we see in the pharisees.
Jesus even said this he said in Matthew 15 9 in Vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men? That's adding unbiblical demands adding man Made commandments to the word of God the the pharisees had created Certain rules like on the sabbath you can only walk a certain number of steps or you could do one thing that was not considered Work, but you couldn't do another thing that was considered work.
So so they had all of these unbiblical demands that they had added to the word of God. And so that's one way that a person could be a legalist we see that in a lot of churches today. Someone would say well You know if you dance then then you can't be a part of this church because our church doesn't dance now.
That's that that might be a little antiquated a little footloose reference there. But you understand what we're talking about someone who who would add a particular rule. That's an unbiblical rule and and that would be one form of legalism now there is.
There's another type of legalism, and that's the type that would say that you are justified by law-keeping and this is. This is the person who would not necessarily add something to the scripture. But would say that you must keep all of the laws of God.
To be justified by God and so basically what this does is this creates a salvation by works or a Justification by law, and if there is anything that Paul has taught us in Galatians. That's not true. Galatians says clearly and probably the the the most important verse.
That we've looked at so far as Galatians 2 16 yet We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So that we also believed in Jesus Christ in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.
Because by the works of the law no one will be justified. That verse is important. It says three times and one verse that we are not justified by the law, and that's an important. That's an important statement for us to consider.
So that's something to think about that's something for us to to consider in our lesson here. And that's what we're going to be dealing with today is Legalism first is is a wrong way of understanding Christian liberty.
Because this basically says there's no freedom in Christ. There is no freedom either. You're stuck under the bondage of unbiblical demands. Or you're stuck under the belief that you are saved by what you do what we call justification by law.
Either one of those is a wrong understanding of Christian freedom, so that's legalism now the other side of this is what we call Libertine ism now libertine ism is the opposite of legalism in that Libertine ism basically is a disregard for authority.
It says that there is nothing that is Demanded or commanded of the Christian. The Christian has no Standard by which he should live essentially. This is the this is the old Roman six argument shall we continue to sin so that grace can abound and Paul says certainly Not.
And so there is a the the other word that sometimes uses licentiousness. A licentious person is a person who has no regard for For the standards of God when it comes to morality when it comes to the way he lives his life.
Licentiousness is also a word that we could use here this person takes a no-rules approach to life and. An example might be One that I saw recently. I'm not sure how many of you have seen it but there was a reality TV star and this reality TV star was well, she was.
She was having Several men try to court her. It was like a bachelorette type show and during the process of filming the show. She was she was engaging in Sexual relations with several of the men on the show and one of the men would claim to be a Christian.
And so when he sat down to have dinner with her he he asked her if she had if she had been engaging in sexual activity with the other men and. And she took great offense to that and and she said I'm a Christian and and I live under grace.
I can send all I want because I am under grace and. And of course that is the absolute wrong way to look at sin it's the wrong way to look at morality that we have no standard by which we should try to conduct our lives and.
And yet, that's the that's the way that she did it. I wish I could pull the video in and show you just how brazen she was because she was very proud of her. Of her sin it reminds me of a man from from a few years ago who I?
Who I knew who would would go on the internet and we he would find women that he could he could have liaisons with you know sexual Interactions with and and yet he spent all his whole day. He would spend watching TBN.
Which there's a problem right there, but that's a that's another story, but he but he would call himself a Christian. But when he would go out to have these interludes with these women he would always say on his way out well I okay.
I'm going to sin so that grace can abound and certainly what what a dangerous thing to have said what a dangerous thing to believe and so that was. So he was an example of a libertine a person who did not believe that there were any standards By which the Christian could should conduct his life took a no-rules approach to the Christian life.
So you have again just to remind you you have legalism. Which basically says that that either you you have to keep the demands to be justified or or they add unbiblical demands? And then you have libertinism, which says there's no authority take a no-rules approach to life so so in one sense you have no freedom under legalism and then under Libertinism it's it's it's an extreme freedom or it's a freedom.
That's the without any type of moral Boundaries and both of these are wrong. Neither one of these described Christian Liberty and neither one of these are really what Paul is exalting when he says in this verse that we should That we should stand firm in our freedom that is in Christ.
So that's what we're gonna do now we're gonna read the verse and what we're gonna see in Galatians 5 is Paul is going to begin the chapter by Encouraging the Galatians in their faith or rather in their freedom and then by the end of the chapter.
Which I look forward to teaching you guys at the whenever we get there at the end of the chapter. He's going to show how their freedom in the spirit is Is certainly not freedom to sin, but it's freedom to live for Christ.
And so so he's gonna show this whole chapter is really an exaltation of Christian freedom. But but also an exposition of Christian freedom. What does it mean when we say that we are free in Christ? So let's let's begin.
We're gonna read the verse. I'll pray very quickly and then I'll give the exposition of it Galatians 5 and verse 1 for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery Father in heaven.
I thank you for the opportunity to preach even though it's through this medium of digital communication. I pray Lord that it would still come with the same power and The the same passion that that Lord we would normally have and I pray that these men would know that they are loved by you.
I pray that they would know also that that I love them Lord and and and that they would they would understand that this this Attempt to teach is is one that is done with a heart that loves you and loves them.
And I pray Lord that you would keep me from error. I pray that you would keep me in the truth and I pray that through all of this you would glorify Yourself and I pray that if there are any of the men that are listening that are still under the yoke of bondage.
That we're going to talk about in this lesson I pray that they would be free today in Christ that they would repent of their attempts to try to justify Themselves by law-keeping and that they would turn to Christ and trust in him alone.
The only one who can give true and genuine freedom and it's in his name we pray Amen. Okay, so Galatians 5 1 now just as we've talked about in the past when we get to these Chapter divisions sometimes chapter divisions can can be somewhat confusing because they weren't in the original text.
And so we can see where they're sort of artificial divisions and unnecessary divisions. And so This passage is right on the heels and I think it's actually the completion of what we learned last week last week we noticed that Paul had given an example from Old Testament history of the What he said the the son of the slave woman and the son of the free woman the son of the slave woman of course was Ishmael whose mother was Hagar who was the bondwoman and then the son of the free woman was Isaac and his mother was Sarah and he she's a free woman.
And so Paul says there's there's basically two two families that you can belong to and remember last week I drew the chart on the board and I said here's here's the way that this is to be understood that that Isaac represents freedom Ishmael represents slavery.
Ishmael is the one who was Abraham's attempt to receive the blessing of God by works by by his own effort and and Ishmael was not the son of the promise. He was the son of the labor as it were and and So he is not the promised seed.
But instead Isaac is the promised seed. He's the one that comes by grace. We know how old Abraham was we know how old Sarah was and we know that there's no way that they could have had a Child if it was not for the grace of God in the same way that no one can be saved Outside of the grace of God.
And so this is an important reality that we understand that that Paul is making this allegory. Between this the the son of the the slave woman Ishmael and the son of the free woman and the Ishmaelites he is saying is ultimately the the ones who say you have to keep the law because they want you in bondage and they want you enslaved to the law and He says the free woman the free Woman is the one who's the child came by promise and and she represents the ones who have come to Christ.
And that's why he says in chapter 4 verse 31 We are not children of the slave woman, but we are children of the free woman. And therefore this would have been a great offense to the Judaizers because the Judaizers of course believed themselves to be of the proper stock and pedigree of Abraham and of course the proper stock and pedigree of Abraham came through the line of Isaac.
And they would have considered themselves to be of the line of Isaac. But Paul is of is giving a very offensive statement by saying no, you're not of Isaac. You are of Ishmael you are you are the ones who are trying to come by works?
Rather than trying to come by grace. And so that's how he ends the chapter in chapter 4 and now in chapter 5 He says for freedom Christ has set us free. For freedom Christ has set us free stand firm therefore and so.
The question becomes what is the freedom that is in view here? What is the freedom that we receive in? Christ. We've already said we don't believe that what he's saying here is that we have a freedom to sin in the sense of moral sinfulness.
And and and we certainly don't think that what he means is we have freedom to disobey the the governing authorities. Such as you know to violate the the commands of those who are who are placed above us in government.
In fact the Bible said he himself says the opposite. He says that we are to obey the governing authorities because there's got their God's ministers. And they and they're they're ministers of God's authority and we see that in Romans 13 and the only time we we really have the the liberty to Disobey the governing authorities is when they're commanding us to disobey God and so so the freedom here is not freedom to sin it's not freedom to Violate the laws of the land as it were.
So what is the freedom? What is it that Christ has set us free? How is it that Christ has set us free? Well, I think to understand this we have to go back in our minds to what Paul has already taught us.
Paul has already taught us in Galatians that Christ has set us free from something the Bible or rather Galatians and the writing of Paul says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. That's Galatians 3 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
That is. That is the freedom that we have prior to coming to Christ we were under the the bondage of the law. I remind you of the the video of the pilgrims progress movie that that you all watched and and I Recently watched in that movie.
There's a point where and I mentioned this last week there's a point where Christian is is he's before Law Mountain and he's and he starts to climb the mountain and every time he climbs a New law will pop up and a new command will pop up in it and it keeps knocking him back.
And there's no way for him to traverse Law Mountain because Law Mountain is is not something that you can ever reach the top of because it is Impossible. And in that way law is a curse. Now some people say well the Old Testament spends a lot of time telling us that the law is good and the law is good.
The law has many wonderful characteristics, but the thing that the law cannot do and I've said this many times the thing that the law cannot do is the law cannot save and So the people who are living under the law are as it were living under a curse.
Because all the law can do is condemn. The law isn't intended to justify the law is intended to Condemn. It shows us where we are wrong and it shows us our desperate need for Someone to save us from it because we are in bondage when we are in and under the law.
And so this text tells us for freedom. Christ has set us free. What has he set us free from. He has set us free from the curse of the law. We see this in Romans 8 2 it says for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
What's the law of sin and death the law of God? Because the law of God shows us our sin and the law of God kills us. Romans 7 tells us that Romans 7 tells us when The law came. I knew what sin was. I knew what coveting was and at that moment I died because I realized I was dead in sin.
So The law is what we are freed from. We are freed from the curse of the law and I want to read a quote by Martin Luther you know that I've been using the I've been looking at Luther's commentary as I've been studying Galatians as in my preparation for teaching and I love Luther's commentary.
He's so insightful and Galatians was such an important book in his understanding of the Reformation and this is what he says. Where is the Liberty? In the conscience. Our conscience is free and quiet because it no longer has to fear the wrath of God.
This is real Liberty. Compared with which every other kind of Liberty is not worth mentioning. Who can adequately express the boon that comes to a person when he has the heart? Assurance that God will nevermore be angry with him, but will forever be merciful to him for Christ's sake.
This is indeed a marvelous Liberty to have the sovereign God for our friend and father who will defend Maintain and save us in this life and in the life to come. Oh Marvelous quote that is think about what he's saying.
Where is the freedom for the Christian. The freedom for the Christian is in his heart? It's in his conscience because even though he knows he's broken the law. He knows Christ has satisfied the laws demands on his behalf Christ.
Christ has come and Christ has given him a clear conscience. Have you ever had a guilty conscience? I know I have. I Know I've had times when my heart was broken because of something that I had done. And I know what's even more dangerous is there's times that my heart wasn't broken when I did wrong because I was proud of My arrogance and my ignorance, you know what to Christ.
And Christ saved me. He not only gave me a clean slate before God. He not only gave me his righteousness that I now wear as a garment. But he gave me a clear conscience and a clear conscience. Is the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ the conscience is free and That's the freedom that it's talking about when it says for freedom.
Christ has set us Free. We have a clear conscience. The law can stand and try to condemn us. The devil can stand and try to bring condemnation upon us. But we have Christ who stands before us and he says he is mine and therefore he is free.
He is free from the laws demands. He is free from the laws condemnation. He is free from the devil's accusations he is free. And if any man be free in Christ, he is free. Indeed if any man Christ sets free he is free.
Indeed therefore Paul says stand firm in This freedom. He's calling them to stand firm Against the Judaizers. The Judaizers were saying no. You can't you can't be a believer in Christ unless you keep the law.
You can't do it. You can't be a believer in Christ unless you keep this law and Paul saying no. No those who would try to bind your conscience you stand firm against them and you stand firm in the freedom of Christ.
Don't allow a man to add a yoke of slavery to you. And that's what he goes on to say do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Now yoke was was a a tool that was it was placed on the oxen and it held them in bondage.
It was this big heavy thing that went over their shoulders. And Paul says do not do not allow the yoke of bondage. Do not allow it To to hold you and don't submit to it. Don't allow these men to put this bondage over you again in Acts 15.
Because people might say well, what is the yoke? The yoke is the law. How do we know that? How do we know the yoke is the law? Well in Acts 15 Peter actually in discussing the Jerusalem with the Jerusalem Council He's talking about the law and he calls it a yoke.
The law is bondage. It's held over the person and if any man be tried to try to be saved by it He's going to be held down by and he's not going to be saved. It's going to crush him. It's going to destroy him.
It's not going to save him. So Paul says do not submit again To the yoke of bondage. I want to again quote Luther in this passage. Paul again Disparages the pernicious notion that the law is able to make men righteous before God a notion deeply rooted in man's reason.
All mankind is so wrapped up in this idea that it's hard to drag it out of people. Paul compares those who seek to be justified by the law to oxen that are hitched to the yoke. Like oxen that toil in the yoke all day and in the evening are turned out to graze along the dusty road and at last Are marked for slaughter when they no longer can draw the burden.
So those who seek to be justified by the law Justified by the law are entangled with the yoke of bondage. And when they have grown old and broken down in the service of the law, they have earned for their perpetual reward God's wrath and everlasting torment.
The law Not only keeps you in bondage But it takes you to hell. If you try to be saved by the law if you try to be saved by your works if you try to be Justified by what you do. Not only will you have a horrible life?
But you will have a horrible afterlife. Because you will go from hell on earth to hell In eternity my friends. Let me remind you again and again and again No one is justified by the works of the law. We are only justified by the works of Jesus Christ.
You will either trust in yourself or You will trust in Christ if you trust in yourself. You will live in bondage and if you trust in Christ, you will be free because Christ will set you free as much as we Exalt the idea of freedom in this world.
There is nothing more precious than the freedom that comes in Jesus Christ. And I want to end with a quote by R .C. Sproul and then I'm gonna pray R .C. Sproul said this. The only freedom that man ever has is when he is a slave to Jesus Christ.
So today you are either a slave to your good works. Or you're a slave to Christ. And if you are a slave to Christ, then you are free indeed. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I pray that even now as we are praying Lord that you would stir the hearts of the listeners and that they might hear and understand the freedom that they have in Jesus Christ and Lord for those who are trying to hold to their works or those who are trying to hold to some other religion that That would try to teach them that their works are meritorious for salvation.
Lord, I pray that you would show them the error that they have in their minds and in their hearts and Lord that you would grant them repentance that leads to life that they might trust in Christ alone for salvation for it is by grace alone and through faith alone in Christ alone that we are saved and Ultimately Lord for your glory alone.
Thank you God for salvation and it's in Jesus name. We pray Amen. Well, man, I miss you all and I look forward to the time when I will see you again. May God richly bless you.