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.
The Foundation: Freedom in Christ
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.
Estranged from Christ and Fallen from Grace
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.
False Teaching Hinders Obedience
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.
Loving Rather Than Devouring
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.
Introduction
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.
The Liberty of Christ
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.
The Warning: Yoke of Bondage
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,
Christ's Work Made Void by Works
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,
Awaiting Final Vindication by Faith
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,
Liberty and Things Indifferent
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.
The Law of Love
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
Leaven of False Doctrine
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,
The Offense of the Cross
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
Liberty Is Not Licentiousness
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.
Closing Prayer
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.