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Good morning, everyone. It's 
good to see you all once again. You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to Galatians chapter 5. Last week, we looked at Galatians 
chapter 4, verses 21 through 31. As Paul finished his section 
on theology, and now he transitions to application. So we'll look 
at some application today. Galatians chapter 5, we're going 
to look at verses 1 through 15 this morning, but I will begin 
reading at Galatians chapter 4, verse 21, to set the context 
for us. Galatians chapter 4, verse 21. Tell me, you who desire to be 
under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that 
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman and the other 
by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman 
was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through 
promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants, 
the one from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondage, which 
is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai 
in Arabia and corresponds to Jerusalem, which now is and is 
in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, 
which is the mother of us all. For it is written, rejoice, O 
barren, you who do not bear. Break forth and shout, you who 
are not in labor. For the desolate has many more 
children than she who has a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, 
are children of promise. But as he who was born according 
to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to 
the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what does the Scripture 
say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman 
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, 
we are not children of the bondwomen, but of the free. Stand fast, 
therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, 
and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, 
I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will 
profit you nothing. And I testify again to every 
man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole 
law. You have become estranged from 
Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen 
from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly 
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus 
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working 
through love. You ran well. Who hindered you 
from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come 
from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole 
lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have 
no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, 
whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach 
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the 
offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble 
you would even cut themselves off. For you, brethren, have 
been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an 
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you 
shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one 
another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. Amen. Let us 
pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we are 
thankful that we can come before you. I know God, for those who 
believed on Christ, have called upon Him as their Savior, we 
know that we have freedom in the Lord Jesus. So God, help 
us, by your Spirit, to stand fast in that freedom. Help us 
to have a right understanding of the truth, that we might live 
in a way according to the truth. Oh God, we know that we need 
your truth. We know that we need your scriptures. We know that 
we need your spirit to help us each and every day. For we still 
battle and struggle and fight against our sins. We know that 
you help us by your spirit. And oh God, we know that we are 
grounded, that our fight is grounded in what Christ has done for us. 
He has won the battle. We're thankful that we can lean 
upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But, O God, even now 
as we come to study Your truth, Your Word, we know that we need 
divine aid. So we pray, O God, that You would 
send forth Your Spirit. We pray that You would be with both the 
preacher and the listener, O God. For those that need to be comforted, 
comfort them. For those that need to be convicted, convict 
them, O God. We know that Your Spirit does this, so we pray 
that Your Spirit would move. And, O God, if there are any 
here today who do not know you, we pray that you would release 
their chains, that you would save them, that you give them 
new hearts, that they would believe on the Lord Jesus and find freedom 
and life and righteousness in Him. For, O God, it's only in 
Christ Jesus, only in Him is there freedom and life and righteousness. 
So, God, we do pray, though, in all things that we do, we 
pray that you would be glorified. We pray these things in the name 
of Christ. Amen. Well, as I said at the outset, 
Paul has come to his application section in the book of Galatians. 
He's defended through several chapters the doctrine of justification 
by faith. Justification by which one is 
righteous, not by their own works, but by faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. For one cannot be righteous before God based on their own 
good works, their own keeping, but they must believe on another, 
must believe on the Lord Jesus, for only in Him is their life 
and freedom and righteousness. But now he comes to the application 
section for these Galatians as he transitions. We saw last week 
he gave that illustration, the bondwoman and the free woman, 
Hagar and Sarah, and now he comes to say to these Galatians, stand 
fast in the freedom that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
You who believed on Christ, you don't have to go back into bondage, 
but you have freedom in the Lord Jesus, so remain, stand fast 
in that freedom which you have. You see, there are several problems 
that we see as we or a lot of problems we see in Galatians, 
but especially as we transition, as we look at this application 
section, we see two problems of infringement, people taking 
their own preferences and making them God's law. But on the other 
side of things, we see licentiousness, people saying, I believed in 
Jesus. I can therefore live any way I want to because I am righteous 
in his sight. And Paul is going to write to 
combat both of those things in this text. Now I should say, 
we're always going to have a legalist among us, and we're always going 
to have a licentious person among us. That's just going to be reality 
until Christ comes back. But as I always say, remain in 
the middle. You are justified by faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, but those who are justified will be sanctified. But even our sanctification, 
even though we're called to work at our salvation with fear and 
trembling, it is God who works in us both to will and to do. Even our sanctification, we still 
lead upon the Lord Jesus Christ in the battles that we do go 
through. But justification, righteousness, 
is only by Christ's righteousness. So perhaps we can ask the question, 
as we look at this application section, how should a Christian 
live without adding works to one's justification? How should 
a Christian live without adding some sort of covenant keeping 
to being right with God at that final, there's no final justification, 
but on that final judgment day, well, we got to avoid that. We 
don't come before that throne. We don't come before the judgment 
seat based on anything we do, but we lean on Jesus Christ. 
But still, how might a Christian live in this life? And we'll 
seek to answer this question under two headings this morning. 
First of all, the liberty of Christ in verses 1 through 6. 
Then secondly, the law of love in verses 7 through 15. So the 
liberty of Christ and the law of love. Let's first look then 
at the liberty of Christ in verses 1 through 6. And notice we see 
the foundation. And I actually, what's going 
on, he gives the command first in the New King James, but really 
what comes first is the saying, Christ has made us free. That's the foundation which one 
stands upon. We don't stand upon our own good 
works, we stand upon Christ who is righteous. We stand upon Him 
who releases us from those chains. With the freedom which Christ 
has made you free, that truth, therefore, then stand fast in 
the freedom with which you have. You have true liberty in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, true liberty, when we 
think about Christian liberty, sometimes we think about things 
of preference. We think about alcoholic beverages 
or schools that we go through. But the true essence of Christian 
liberty is the fact that we are found in Christ. We are free 
from the guilt of sin. We are free from the curse of 
the law. Our confession even talks about this in chapter 21 
of Christian liberty. the liberty which Christ hath 
purchased for believers under the gospel, consists in their 
freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, 
the rigor and curse of the law, and in their being delivered 
from this present evil world, bondage to Satan and dominion 
of sin from the evil afflictions, the fear and sting of death, 
the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation." And so 
many other things. But that's true liberty. It's 
who we are in the Lord Jesus, that freedoms that we do are 
found in Him. So the charge then is, stand 
fast in Christ because you are already free in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So he says that. Stand fast, 
therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made you free. 
So that's the positive command. But he also gives a negative 
one as well. Do not be entangled again with 
the yoke of bondage. The yoke was what went on the 
back of an ox, and it was meant to weigh them down. It was meant 
to weigh someone down. You see, when he says to these 
Galatians, with these false teachers that were saying you had to go 
back under the law to be saved, what he's saying is, you are 
actually putting that burden back upon yourself, that load 
that you cannot carry on your own, that load that you cannot 
carry at all. This is the burden of going back 
under the law as a means of being right with the Lord God Almighty. And you see, this was the problem 
at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Galatians probably is written 
before that, before Acts 15. We see that Jerusalem Council, 
people came and Judaizers came and taught that salvation was 
faith, plus circumcision. And this led to this council, 
and it came to the point where it was the case where they would 
not call Gentiles to be circumcised, but certain things they did. 
But nonetheless, they talked about this idea of a yoke in 
Acts 15, verse 24. Since we have heard this is the 
letters going around to the churches, since we have heard that some 
who went out from us have troubled you with words unsettling your 
souls, saying, You must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we 
gave no such commandment. It seemed good to us, being assembled 
with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas 
and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas 
and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit to us to lay upon you 
no greater burden than these necessary things, that you abstain 
from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, 
and from sexual immorality. It's a burden to have that law 
back under someone's shoulders, upon someone's shoulders. And so he's saying, do not be 
entangled again with this yoke of bondage. And it is just that. It's slavery. It should be common 
sense that once you're free, why go back into bondage? But 
that's not always the case. Because you see, people want 
tangible things. We talked about this last week, 
right? It's the problem with the Hebrews. They actually liked 
the smell of the burnt offering going up because they knew and 
saw that the sacrifice was going up. We still have that today, 
don't we? We still want visual things. 
We know that we are justified in God's sight, but sometimes 
that's hard for us to understand because there's no voice from 
heaven saying, you are righteous in God's sight. I mean, that's 
sort of not true. We don't have a beaming, audible 
voice, but we have the word of God. that says we are righteous 
in God's sight. And that's sometimes not good 
enough for us, is it? We always want those extras, 
those tangibles, and it was the case for the first century Christians 
as well. So Paul says, stand fast, don't 
go back with the yoke of bondage. So then he says in verse 2, Indeed 
I Paul, to highlight the importance of what he's saying, say to you 
that if you become circumcised to be right with God, Christ 
will profit you nothing. If you mix a little faith and 
a little bit of works to be righteous before God, Christ's work is 
null and void. If you think that I'm going to 
be righteous before God because of faith, plus my own good works 
on that final day, and when I claim on that judgment day, it's me, 
God, covenanting to accept my best efforts, Christ will profit 
you nothing. You see, there might be some 
here today who profess to be believers, and you profess to 
be Christians. But what are you leaning upon 
in that profession of faith? Is it because of your covenant 
keeping? Is it because of your good works? 
Are you a Christian? Are you saying to yourself you're 
a Christian because you go to church, or because you were born 
into a Christian home, or you were baptized as a child? You 
see, if you're leaning upon those things, that's not true faith. 
True faith is leaning on Christ and Christ alone for salvation. So if you're leaning on your 
own good works, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall 
find life and freedom and hope in Him. Because if you mix a 
little faith and a little bit of works, Christ will profit 
you nothing. God doesn't covenant to accept 
our best efforts. God covenants to save us in Christ's 
best effort. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that 
if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Cause you see, it wasn't just 
circumcision. Circumcision was just a description for the whole. 
If you actually, if you, it was not just circumcision, but they 
had to keep the entire law. And Paul says this in verse three, 
I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised, that 
he is a debtor to keep the entire law. It's not just that circumcision. You have to do everything written 
in Deuteronomy. And there's a lot of specifics 
in there that are hard to keep. Even the law actually says that 
according to Galatians 3.10, when Paul quotes Deuteronomy 
chapter 27, verse 26. Cursed is everyone who does not 
continue in all the things which are written in the book of the 
law to do them. Everything. They had to keep 
everything in order to find some sort of righteousness before 
God. Now, we know from Galatians and from other parts of Scripture 
that the law was meant to teach us we can't do any of it, right? We think about that entire law 
and what it says and what it signifies, not just the external 
things, but the internal things. There is no way that we can keep 
one jot and tittle of it. And if you think you can keep 
one jot and tittle of it, you're lying, and I know you've broken 
that law. So what's it meant to show us? You're a sinful person 
and you need to look to Christ for life and hope. And so if 
you go back, if you become circumcised as a way of salvation, you have 
to keep the entire thing. And so then Paul goes on to say, 
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be 
justified by the law. And then he goes on to say in 
that section, you have fallen from grace. Now, this is a difficult 
passage, isn't it? Fallen from grace. Typical reformed 
people don't teach that you can fall from grace. But when we 
think about the context and what's going on, you've become estranged 
from Christ because you see you're not leaning upon Christ properly. And in the context, he's talking 
about faith versus works, being righteous before God by believing 
on Jesus or righteous by your own covenant keeping. So he's 
contrasting those things. And look how vehement Paul is 
about the gospel. If you add anything to Christ's 
work, you have fallen from grace. If you add anything to Christ's 
finished work, you've become estranged from Christ. It's serious 
stuff here when we think about what the gospel is, because it's 
Christ and Christ alone. It's not by our own goodness, 
it's not by our own good keeping, it's by Christ and Christ's own 
working. So, humanly speaking, they sort 
of fell from grace, but it proved that they were never truly saved 
anyway. So that's what's going on. It's 
not as though if you're a believer and you believed on Christ and 
you struggle with assurance, I'm not really talking to you. 
You are a believer. You have believed on Jesus. Be 
assured that you have faith. But what he's saying is, if you 
lean upon your own works, you've fallen from grace. That's what 
he's saying in the context. Then he goes on to say, as he 
continues to explain all this, verse 5, For we, through the 
Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." 
Again, a difficult passage to think through about what's going 
on here. Probably what he's talking about here is the day when Christ 
comes back. We eagerly await for that judgment 
day. And again, for us, because we're 
visual people, we want that declaration that says you are not guilty. 
You see, brethren, we are essentially justified right now if we believed 
on Jesus. But on that final day, when we 
stand before the judgment seat, God the Father will say to us, 
not guilty because of Christ's work. God the Father will say, 
not guilty. And we will say, it's nothing 
in our hands that we bring, but to that cross that we do cling. 
And we will hear it and declare to us that we are righteous in 
God's sight because of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's referring 
to one's standing. It's referring to one's standing 
before God, not some sort of final justification. People teach 
that today when they talk about faith and works, right? You're 
justified initially by faith, but then in order to be finally 
righteous before God, you have to keep something along the way 
towards the end. You always ask that question. 
When is the threshold? When do you fall off the bandwagon 
and are no longer saved? When do you fall off from what 
you need to do? You see, it's kind of a lack 
of assurance if you actually have to keep it towards the end. 
That's not right. On that final day, we will be 
acquitted. We will be vindicated. But again, 
it rests solely and solely on Christ alone. Because the thing 
is, we still struggle with sin. Unless you never sin, which is 
probably no one here, we all struggle with sins after we are 
justified before God's sight in this life. And so the hope 
is we will be declared not guilty because of Christ. For we, through the Spirit, eagerly 
wait for the hope of the righteousness by faith. And he goes on to say, 
as he continues to explain this text, for in Christ Jesus neither 
circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working 
through love. Basically he's saying ethnic 
distinctions don't matter. There's either Jew nor Greek, 
slave nor free, male nor female when it comes to believing on 
Jesus. Because the Judaizers were teaching 
you had to be a Jew to be saved. That's not right. Anyone from 
every tribe, tongue, and nation, if they believe on Jesus Christ, 
are part of the people of God. So neither circumcision, Nor 
uncircumcision avails anything. But what? Faith working through 
love. Not faith formed by love. That's 
an important distinction because the Roman Catholics teach that. 
Faith formed by love by your own keeping. Well, that's not 
what it says. Faith working out, evidencing 
through this love. And what's interesting is Paul 
uses this phrase in two other places in the scriptures, and 
they both include love and law and new creation. In 1 Corinthians 
7.19, circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but keeping 
the commandments is everything. But then he says in Galatians 
6.15, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision 
avails anything, but a new creation. You see, our faith is not formed 
by love, but our faith is evidenced by love. And it might not be 
perfect love, and it's definitely not a perfect love, but those 
who are part of the new creation, which Paul says in Galatians 
6.15, will live in a way that pleases God. And that living 
in a way that pleases God is keeping God's law. not to be saved, but as a pattern 
for living. And we'll deal with that more 
when we look at verses 7 through 15. But obedience is being part 
of that new creation. We are justified. Certainly justification 
precedes sanctification, but those who are justified will 
be sanctified. It's always clear. What's the 
freedoms that we have? The freedoms we stand fast, the 
liberties that we have, is based on Christ alone. Now, this also 
gives us an application as well when it comes to things indifferent, 
when it comes to things like Christian liberty under that 
things of preference. And brethren, you must not infringe 
on another person's liberty. You must not do that by adding 
works to salvation. That's wrong. But you also must 
not do that by your own preferences that are not based on God's law 
and claiming them to be God's law. People have differences 
of opinion when it comes to enjoying certain things in life. Don't 
get your bee in a bonnet over those things. You see, when it 
comes to things like school, I don't care if you homeschool 
or not. If you want to homeschool, wonderful. But not everyone might have the 
luxury of being able to do that. You might have to send them to 
a private school or a public school. You'll have to think 
through that and use the wisdom and the brain that God has given 
you to do and to think through those things. We sometimes have 
to use our noggins and have wisdom and think through things sometimes. 
Or things like food. or things like drink, or things 
like jobs, or things like politics. I know that's hard to say sometimes, 
but that is true. People can have different opinions 
when it comes to politics, and we must not infringe on those 
things. Not saying you can't have a throwdown with someone, 
and here's my opinion, here's yours, but realize that you can 
have differing opinions on some things with respect to these 
things. But, you know, whenever we talk, 
again, about these things, it doesn't mean, again, we shouldn't 
have wisdom. Right? I just said that. I'm 
repeating myself. When it comes to things like 
alcohol, for example, Christ just turned water into wine when 
we read that this morning, right? It's not wrong to have an alcoholic 
beverage get this in moderation. It's not wrong to enjoy the things 
God has given us as a sign of festivity in moderation. And what's really interesting 
is people, when they have their preferences and they get their 
being a bonnet over something, it's usually really arbitrary. 
You see, people get their knickers in a knot over someone who enjoys 
an alcoholic beverage legally in moderation, but they have 
no problem eating 18,000 calories a day. They should suck, put 
a gullet or some cork in their mouth, but rather they get their 
knickers in a knot over the alcoholic beverage. Now, if you eat 18,000 
calories a day, I get that. I love savory things. The worst 
thing for me was when they invented bottomless fries at restaurants, 
because I could just keep eating and eating and eating. And usually, 
your spouse is like, I just want two. Okay, well, I'll have the 
other 20. But you see, there's a problem. There's arbitrary 
things. And when you think about other things as well, it's arbitrary. 
That's why we need to know God's law well, that we might not infringe 
on someone else's liberties as well. Because if you infringe 
on someone's liberties, what you're doing is not letting them 
obey God's law by the Spirit. But I should say as well, even 
with our preferences, we are to love one another, right? If we have a liberty, we shouldn't 
just go, it's my liberty, too bad. Because Paul doesn't do 
that, does he? Even when it comes to the example 
of circumcision. Paul gets very vehement when 
he talks about circumcision as a way of salvation, doesn't he? 
When it comes to a cultural practice, Paul is willing to circumcise 
Timothy so it would not be an offense to the gospel. Sometimes, 
brethren, we might be able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage without 
sinning, but if we invite a brother or sister over who does struggle 
with that, we just maybe should forego that for the evening. 
Why? So that we show love and kindness 
towards one another. The stronger brother should love 
the weaker brother. And the weaker brother just needs 
to grow up into maturity, knowing that those things are okay to 
enjoy in moderation. There's two sides. We always 
forget that. Stronger should, you know, we should consider 
the weaker, but the weaker has to grow as well. So you must not infringe upon 
another's liberty when it comes to salvation or things indifferent 
because you are not God. So that's the liberty of Christ. 
Let's then look secondly at the law of love in verses 7 through 
15. Notice he uses an analogy of running. You ran well, who 
hindered you from obeying the truth? Because you see, false 
truth leads to disobedience, right? You see, we have freedoms 
to keep God's law. And when we seek to keep God's 
law, we know that it's based on what Christ has done for us, 
so we don't have to fret. But if you have to keep God's 
law to be righteous before God, you're going to fret a lot. So 
having the right understanding of something helps us in our 
practice as well. You ran well, who hindered you 
from obeying the truth? Who hindered you from obeying 
what is said? And what's interesting here is the analogy of hindering 
carries with it the running idea. Someone sticking out their foot 
to trip someone. Who caused you to cheat? Who 
caused you, who ran into your lane? That's what he's saying 
when he comes to this race that we all run. Those people who 
say you must believe by faith and works are cheating. And they're 
gonna be found out for it, and they are found out for it, who 
hindered you from obeying the truth. Then Paul goes on to say, 
this persuasion does not come from him who calls you. They 
might say they're from God, but you have to listen. Are they 
actually from God? They might say, yes, I am a Christian, 
I am a preacher, but I believe that you have to believe on Christ, 
but you have to keep these seven sacraments as well. I believe 
on Christ, but, usually that but is an indicator of something. 
You have to beware and be on guard with respect to these things. 
This persuasion does not come from him who calls you, because 
a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Immorality and false teaching, 
even a little bit, leavens the entire lump. A little bit can 
spread into the church. Circumcision itself doesn't seem 
like that big of a deal, does it? But it is a pretty big deal 
with what it signifies. Brethren, sometimes people come 
into churches and have their differing opinions, and they 
have the way of justification by faith and works, and they'll 
take some people aside and say, Don't just don't agree with that 
guy saying, but believe a little bit of faith plus works. The 
factions might begin to join in churches because a little 
leaven leavens the entire lump. Why do you think we hold fast 
to the doctrines of justification with vehemence? Because a little 
leaven leavens the entire lump. So Paul knows this. Paul's been 
very vehement in his letter about this. But he has confidence in 
the Galatians. I have confidence in you, in 
the Lord, that you will have no other mind. They'll be fine. They'll return to the truth. 
But the false teacher, he calls judgment upon him. He who troubles 
you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. He will bear his 
judgment before the throne of God. And so then Paul goes on 
to say in verse 11, when he talks about this idea, when he talks 
about, he talks about persecution. And I, brethren, if I still preach 
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? The Jews 
persecuted Paul because he didn't preach circumcision. The Jews 
persecuted Paul because he preached the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews 
persecuted Paul because he preached a gospel other than the one that 
they preached. And even then, the Judaizers 
were actually afraid of persecution because it says in 6.12, only 
that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. They 
were Nancy boys. They didn't want to hold fast 
to the truth and preach the Lord Jesus. But Paul did. And Paul 
faced the persecution for preaching Christ. For if I still, if I 
preach circumcision, then the offense of the cross has ceased. Because again, people are more 
receptive to works based, aren't they? Because they can see it 
and they can do it. When it comes to faith, you tell 
them that they're wretched, and that's hard for them to understand. 
But yeah, because they can't understand without God changing 
them. But nonetheless, we need God to change them that they 
might come and believe. So if Paul preached what the 
Jews want to hear, why would he have been persecuted? then 
the offense of the cross has ceased. The cross is no longer 
a scandal. The cross is no longer foolishness, 
if he preaches salvation by works. Again, people want an exemplary 
Jesus, don't they? People want an aloof Jesus. He 
doesn't see me. People want a genie Jesus who 
gives me my three wishes and gives me whatever I want. But 
people don't want to crucify Christ. People don't want a crucified 
Lord. They want a crucified Jesus who 
hangs on that cross, bearing the wrath of God for the sake 
of His people, taking that sin upon Himself for the sake of 
His people. People don't want that Christ. 
They don't see that battered, bloodied, and bruised Savior. 
They don't want that. Only those who've been changed 
will see, who've been given new hearts and new minds, will look 
and live. That's how we know salvation 
is not of us, because it's God Almighty who works to change. 
Because who would believe on a crucified Savior, a crucified 
Christ? So Paul says this, then the fence 
of the cross has ceased. Then in verse 12, he gives another 
imprecation, another call of judgment, and this might tickle 
or cause some of us to be offended. He's basically saying, he's talking 
about spiritual castration. That's what he's saying. That's 
what the language signifies here. and it has a pagan background 
and a Jewish background. The pagan background, people 
would do this for a religious reason or for a religious ritual 
that they were saved by it. But even in the Jewish background, 
there were eunuchs who would be cut off from the branch, according 
to Deuteronomy 23. But not just Deuteronomy 23, 
but even back to Abraham as well, when it comes to the covenant 
of circumcision in Genesis 17. Those who would not be circumcised 
would be cut off. There's a judgment aspect involved 
in that Abrahamic covenant, and Paul's drawing back to all those 
things. And what's more, a bit more of 
a dig against the Judaizers, they would have claimed Abraham, 
right? They would have claimed him as their own, and he's saying, 
you are not part of Abraham. Those I wish, I could wish that 
those who trouble you would even cut themselves off. So he says these things with 
respect to the running, the little leaven, circumcision, persecution. But then in verses 13 through 
15, he talks about how liberty does not mean licentiousness. That would have been the charge 
of the Judaizers. Well, they can live in any way they want. No, that's 
not true. For you, brethren, have been 
called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an 
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled 
in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Again, Christians, you're not 
a Christian because you do these things. You do these things because 
you are a Christian. You seek to live in a way that 
pleases God because He saved you. And it doesn't mean we can 
live in any way we want to. And this is where true gospel 
holiness lies. Philip Rikens says, now that 
God has accepted me through Jesus Christ, I am free in Him. And 
this freedom is the key to gospel holiness. You see, this is true 
freedom. Freedom isn't living any way 
I sort of want to. Freedom isn't self-fulfillment 
or personal freedom. I can do whatever I want to. 
True freedom means liberation from sin, death, and the devil. That's true freedom. The world 
today teaches a freedom that is based on your own self-fulfillment. That's not freedom. Being free 
from sin is true freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ's 
burden is easy, and his yoke is light. And so even here, he 
quotes the law, he quotes the Old Testament, he quotes Leviticus 
as a pattern for living. And what's kind of interesting, 
too, is sometimes you'll meet some professing Christians who say, 
I don't need law, I just need love. How do you love? By keeping the law. I mean, that's 
very clear with what he's saying. For all the law is fulfilled 
even in this. You shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. And clearly implied in this is 
the first table as well. We must love the Lord our God 
with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourself. We must 
have no other gods before us. We must not make for ourself 
false idols. We must not take the Lord's name 
in vain. We must love the Lord's day and remember it and keep 
it holy. We also must honor those in authority. We must also not kill others 
or kill ourselves. We must not lust after others. We must preserve the chastity 
of others. We must also not take or steal. We must also not bear 
witness. We must also not covet. That's 
how we love one another, isn't it? And all the positive aspects 
as well, you know, covening, being content, you know, not 
lying, telling the truth, not stealing, but working hard, not, 
you know, lusting, but loving. You're the person God has given 
you to love. Not murdering other people or 
yourself, but preserving the life of other people and yourself 
as well. Those things are all involved. 
Those positive aspects are all involved when it comes to Christian 
life. We must love God and love our 
neighbor. Notice it's not love your neighbor 
because he treats you well. It's just love your neighbor 
as you wish to be treated. That's difficult sometimes, isn't 
it? When someone's a mean person to you, we are still supposed 
to love them, even when they're not very nice to us. So he says this, he quotes Leviticus 
here, and then he goes on to say in verse 15, but if you bite 
and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. This is just the opposite of 
loving. Biting, devouring, sometimes we should probably just not say 
something, even though we might wanna say it, especially with 
preferences. If you really don't like what someone does when it 
comes to those preferential things, You don't have to talk to them 
about those things. That's just fine and OK. Sometimes we all 
feel like we have to say something we don't. We should probably, 
for the most part, just keep it to ourselves for a while, 
think about what we want to say, and then we can say it. Because 
sometimes when we do that, when we get our bee in a bonnet over 
those preferential things, we bite and devour one another over 
petty little things. It's so ungodly, isn't it? Don't 
think I struggle with these things. I got my preferences too. We 
all struggle with those things. But we're not supposed to bite 
and nitpick and devour one another. Beware of these things lest you 
be consumed by one another. The opposite of this is to love 
one another. He even goes on to say in chapter 
5, verse 26, let us not become conceited, provoking one another, 
envying one another. And in chapter 6, brethren, if 
a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore 
such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you 
also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and 
if anyone thinks himself to be something, then he is nothing. He deceives himself. So, how might we love one another? 
How might we avoid discord by loving one another? So, the clear 
application is, as free believers, love the Lord your God and love 
your neighbor as yourself. That's very clear. It's not hard, 
but it's hard, isn't it? Like, it's very clear what we're 
supposed to do, but it's actually hard to carry that out without 
the Spirit. Because we're still sinful. We 
still have remaining corruption. We wrestle with the Spirit against 
the flesh. And again, the Christian gospel 
does not mean licentious living. There are those who battle and 
fight on, and we still sin and struggle in this life, we repent 
and confess those things to God, knowing that we have the Lord 
Jesus, that advocate with the Father, in whom our sins are 
forgiven. By the Spirit we strive after 
holiness, by Christ we strive after holiness, not by our own 
good works. As Luther says, and although 
there be remnants of sin yet still in us, they are not laid 
to our charge, but pardoned for Christ's sake. So even in our 
Christian life, we must still look to the Lord Jesus Christ 
always as the author, perfecter of our faith, and as that advocate 
who even pleads now and intercedes now for us. So how should a Christian 
live? Live in the liberty of which 
Christ has set you free. Love the Lord your God with all 
your heart and soul and mind as one who is free in the Lord 
Jesus. But if you're an unbeliever here 
today, my task for you is not to love the Lord your God with 
all your heart and soul and mind, because you can't. My charge 
to you is to believe on Jesus, because you are still in bondage 
with your sin. When you think about every jot 
and tittle of that law, when you think about those 10 words, 
when you think about the internal aspect of it, have you never 
lusted? Have you never been angry in 
your heart? Have you ever never lied? Have 
you never coveted? Have you never stolen time? Have 
you never, you know, went over the speed limit? Because that's 
part of commandment number five. Have you never broken the Lord's 
day? Let's be honest, we all woke 
up today and broke that as soon as we woke up. Have you never 
had any other gods before you? That shows you that you need 
to believe Christ. Look to the Lord Jesus and you 
shall be free. Your chain shall be broken and 
you shall be redeemed in Him. Look to the Lord Christ and find 
freedom and liberty in Him. Well, let us pray. Dear Heavenly 
Father, we are thankful again for the things that Christ has 
done for us, the liberties found in Him. We know, God, that this 
is based on your goodness, based on your kindness, and not based 
on our own. And we know, God, that sometimes, 
even as believers, we struggle with preferences, and we struggle 
with making those things our own law. We struggle with infringing, 
and we even struggle sometimes to add works to justification. Forgive us for this, O God. We 
know that we are righteous before you because of Christ's work. 
We know, God, that you sanctify your people as well. And we do 
pray that you would sanctify us. cause us to die unto sin, 
cause us to grow more and more into the image of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and help us to do this in a way that is pleasing to 
you. Help us to love your law, help us to love your commandments, 
and help us to seek to live these things in a way that is pleasing 
to you, O God. We know that we need your spirit 
to do these things. So God help us to love you. Help us to love 
others. We confess we have not loved 
you as we ought. We have not loved others as we 
ought, oh God. But we're thankful for the high priest, the Lord 
Jesus, in whom we lean upon, in whom we stand upon, in whom 
there is freedom. There are here today who do not 
know you. Pray that you would change them, O God, cause them 
to come to saving knowledge in the Lord Jesus, and, O God, if 
there are any here today who profess faith in Christ but rely 
on their own works, cause them to believe as well. We know, 
O God, that it's by Christ and Christ alone, and when we stand 
on that judgment seat that final day, it'll be based on His righteousness 
that we will be declared not guilty. We long for that day, 
O God, and we pray that Christ would come quickly. We know that 
you are gracious and good to us, and we give you praise for 
these things. So, God, we pray that you would be with us now, 
we pray, in the name of Christ. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation. When the piano's finished, you're 
dismissed.