Well we are continuing today with chapters 5 and 6 of Galatians. And I told you last week that these chapters address how a Christian who is free in Christ is supposed to live. In this letter, Paul has been drumming out the message that Christianity is not bondage to the Old Testament law, but freedom. We are not bound by a church or moral master, who demands that we say certain prayers, and certain washings, and diets, etc. That’s the way it was under 1st century legalistic Judaism, and some of you may have come from churches like that. Churches that told you exactly what to do and how to live. In every circumstance, they said, “This is right, and this is wrong.” And if you choose wrong, you are not saved.
Galatians 5:7-15
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
Now I want to make this as practical as I can for us today. And the practicality of it comes down to a question; “How do I decide what is right and wrong?” As children, those decisions are made for us. As adults, we sometimes wish that somebody would make those decisions for us. Once we are adults, we are constantly making decisions about right and wrong. Let’s just take a typical day. On a typical day, the alarm goes off, or it doesn’t, we wake up. And we are faced with a decision of right and wrong. Do I get out of bed or not? Should I call in sick? Even if I’m not sick. So let’s say we do get out of bed. Should I brush my teeth? Is it right or wrong to brush my teeth? Should I take a shower? Should I get dressed? Should I make the bed?
Now you may think that some of those questions are trivial, they are just a matter of personal choice. But there is, or can be a moral element in all of them. And religions the world over have turned cleanliness into godliness.
Once I’m dressed and groomed, what should I eat for breakfast? Should I be drinking coffee? Should I eat raisin bran, or 4 donuts? And the moral choices go on, they expand to how I live in this world. If you stay at home, what am I going to do? Clean the kitchen, do my laundry, work in the flower bed, read my Bible, or binge watch some show on Netflix? If I have to go to work, will I take it easy today, or really put in an effort to get something done?
And the moral decisions continue. How will I spend my evening? On my own comfort, will I call a church member that I think needs encouragement, will I spend some time in prayer? Will I do something to build a relationship with a neighbor or family member?
You see, all of life is comprised of moral decisions. What kind of car should I drive? Do I pay my bills right away, or late? Should I have debt? How should I furnish my house? With the nicest things, or second-hand? Should I give 10% of my income to the church? Should I tip, and how much? How much should I eat? Should I go out to eat, or cook myself?
What kind of clothes should I wear? Ladies, if I buy a swimsuit, should it be a bikini? I guess that applies to men to. What kind of shows and music should I be watching and listening to? Should I vote, and who should I vote for? Should I wear a mask? Should I social distance? Should I walk down aisles according to the signs on the store floor? Should I talk to people, or just get in and out?
So this is where Paul is coming from. The Galatians had been told by the Judaizers that there was a list of rules that they needed to follow. And if they didn’t follow them, they couldn’t be right with God, go to heaven, be saved. And Paul says “no.” You are free from the law. You are bound to the Judaistic ritual law in order to be saved. And that’s what chapters 1-4 addressed in this epistle; Paul’s answer to the question, How am I saved.
But now, in chapter 5 you still have all these moral decisions to make. You still have to decide if you should drive the speed limit or not. How do you decide?
I mean Paul keeps saying, “You’re free from the law.”
2:16a 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
3:13a 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
4:30-31 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
So we are free from the law.
But how do we live now? You just got rid of all the don’ts, now what do we do? Because anyone with sense knows that Christianity is not a life of living as we please. How do I make moral decisions, decisions regarding right and wrong. And last week we started looking at chapter 5-6, which gives the first of five principles about how we are to live and make those decisions. It was, “Don’t Give in to legalism.” In particular, he is telling them not to be circumcised, because if they get circumcised, as a work to save them, then two things will happen; You will have obligated themselves to follow the whole Mosaic law, and you will be severed from Christ. You will be fallen from grace.
Essentially, you will have demonstrated that your faith is in their own works, not in Christ, and so demonstrated that you are not saved at all. But Paul is talking about a legalism designed to save. What Christians have really done is traded the Judaistic legalism for a new law;
5 principles; Don’t Give in to Legalism, Live by the Law of love, Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, Do Good to each other, boast about nothing but Christ’s atonement
That’s how you live
I. Don’t Give in to Legalism
So the first principle is “Don’t Give in to Legalism.” So, as you live your life, as these moral questions come, big and small, ask yourself; Am I doing this, or not doing this, because of legalism? This more specifically applies to things that you think will give you eternal salvation. For the Jews who claimed to believe in Christ it was circumcision. Today it may be participating in mass, praying the rosary, being baptized, going to church services on a particular day of the week.
Or it may be things that you don’t do, that if you did, you think they will cause you to lose your salvation. Some churches teach that women should dress certain ways. Or you shouldn’t eat certain foods.
So that’s the first principle. Don’t put your faith in your own works or morality to get you to heaven, to save you, to keep you saved. Your faith should only be in Christ dying, and taking the punishment for your sins. His part did it all. Nothing you do, adds to or subtracts from that. You just trust, believe.
Now let me clarify something. Let’s say you are pregnant with a boy. “OH NO!” Do you circumcise? Well there are a number of things to consider, some of them medical. But, if you are doing it because somehow that saves the child, don’t. Now what about infant baptism? Well, the only reason anyone does that is because they believe it somehow spiritually protects the child until the child reaches the age of accountability, so no, don’t do it.
“Free from the law.” “Free from the law.” We have a hymn with that title.
“Free from the law, oh happy condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all. “
You say, “Yea, but isn’t that a dangerous way to live.” Free from the law.
Won’t that lead to people just going crazy with selfishness? I mean, if for example, I have a moral choice to either go get a job, or live on unemployment the rest of my life, who wouldn’t choose unemployment? If I have a choice of helping a church member move, or staying home and eating a bucket of chicken, who wants to help someone move? So how do you decide, as a Christian? You are free from the Mosaic law, but there is another law you are to live by. Paul talks about it in verses 7 through 15. Let’s read it again.
II. Live by the law of love 5:7-15
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
So Paul uses verses 7 to 12 to set us up for the new law that we are to live by in verses 13 to 14.
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The second principle is “live by the law of love.” In every moral decision, how can I choose the path of love?
So Paul sets it up with verses 7 through 12 by reminding them,
A. Somebody has been troubling you 7-10
7 Ye did run well;
Galatians, before these Judaizers showed up, you were doing so well. And Paul compares the Christian life to a race. The picture of a race implies, forward movement toward a goal at a steady and deliberate pace. You were trucking along so well.
“who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.”
And all of a sudden, you were running the race well, but you fell, or you took a detour.
In Galatians 1:6 Paul identified God as the One that called the Galatians to salvation. Now he’s saying, “This new desire to follow Jewish legalism didn’t come from God.” God didn’t trip you, or redirect you to be circumcised.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Somebody among them was teaching this legalism, and some others were encouraging it. So Paul uses a familiar illustration to describe the danger of letting this teaching continue. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Just like yeast, if put into dough, will grow until the whole loaf is leavened. So this kind of legalistic salvation teaching, even if it is just one or two people, will end up influencing the whole church.
Somebody among you to spreading his lie.
10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: (I know that you will confront these people and take care of this.) but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
So he’s asking, “Where did this teaching come from?” It wasn’t God,
B. It wasn’t me 11-12
11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
Now this verse implies that some were even confused about what Paul taught. He’s emphasizing to them that he has never taught them that they had to be circumcised to be saved. And to further convince them that he doesn’t teach circumcision, he says,
12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
To put it as discreetly as I can, he is saying, if they think the removal of skin saves them, they ought to just go all the way, and become eunuchs.
Now all that to set up the law of liberty. If we don’t follow legalism, how do we decide right and wrong? More specifically, We say, we are not bound by legalism. But the Judaizers might say, “hold on, are you saying, you have a problem with “Thou shalt not kill, steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, honor your father and mother, don’t covet?” Are you saying that you are free to break those laws?
C. The law of liberty is bounded by love 13-15
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. What is the law that Christians live under? It is the law of love. Everything we do, every decision we make should be made with love as a guiding principle. I do certain things as a Christian, I don’t do certain things, as a Christian, not because it’s written on a rule sheet on my wall, or because it will get me to heaven, or keep be from hell, but because “the love of Christ is shed abroad in my heart.” I live by the law of love. But what is love? And how is that different than the Mosaic law, the 10 commandments? This was from “Christian Views of the Old Covenant” on Wikipedia, so you know that it’s true. “The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) divides the Mosaic laws into three categories: moral, civil, and ceremonial.[17] In the view of the Westminster Divines, only the moral laws of the Mosaic Law, which include the Ten Commandments and the commands repeated in the New Testament, directly apply to Christians today.[18] Ceremonial laws, in this view, include the regulations pertaining to ceremonial cleanliness, festivals, diet, and the Levitical priesthood.” So, when Paul is talking about the law bounded by love, he is primarily talking about the moral law. I mean Jesus Himself said that
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
So Paul says in verse 13
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
So there are 3 things in this verse,
a. You have been called to liberty—you were called to faith in order to make you free.
But,
b. use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
How would I use my liberty as an occasion to the flesh? My flesh is the sum total of my bodily desires. “The flesh” means the satisfaction of my stomach, my sexual impulses, my hearts desires. It is the choices we make to satiate our self-centered desires.
So, he is saying, we have the freedom to eat what we want, to gratify ourselves, but that’s not why Christ gave you freedom. But,
c. by love serve one another.
He gave you the freedom so you would be better equipped to serve.
I mean it seems kind of obvious. I don’t murder, commit adultery, or steal, not because of a command, but because I love my neighbor. I don’t lie, because of love.
But what about those civil and ceremonial laws in the Old Testament. Like don’t eat pork. Should I eat pork or not? Well the first test is, don’t be bound by legalism. And since “eating or not eating pork” is not a moral law, you are not bound to follow it.
But, even then, your new law is love. If you were a Jewish Christian, living among orthodox Jews, I would advise you to stay away from pork at your dinner parties. Why? Because you love these people and want to see them come to faith in Christ. And offending them at the dinner table doesn’t get them closer to Christ.
As Paul said,
Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
So, love is the second guide for a Christian’s life. First, any Old Testament moral command can fall under love God, and love your neighbor.
And any other Old Testament law can be measured by love. I’m not going to do something to hurt people, I want to serve others.
Do you realize how much that simplifies my Christian life? Practically any decision I make in life can be measured by love. Should I call in sick today, if I’m not sick? I could say, well let me rattle off 100 Scriptures about lying, or I can say, “You know what, I’m going to work, I love my family, and we need the money, I want to show love to my employer, because they rely on me to produce what we produce, I love my coworkers, and I don’t want them burdened with the extra work they would have to do if I don’t come in.
Should I get drunk? I could list 100 Scriptures that say, “Don’t do it.” But I don’t have to. I love my wife, kids, church. And if I got drunk I might do something stupid or hurtful to them. And if I got drunk, their opinion of me might suffer, or they may follow my example, and destroy their lives with alcohol.
I have freedom. Now let’s step on some toes. I have the freedom to skip being a part of church. Now I’m not being critical of those who stay away for health reasons. But it always baffled me, the people who claim Christ. They say “I’m a Christian,” but they are not a part of church. Sure, you are free, but do you have no love for your children, or grandchildren? What are the odds that they will come to faith in Christ, if you don’t make church a priority in your life? Not to mention the lack of love for other Christians.
So principle #1 is that you are not bound to legalism, #2 is that you make behavioral decisions with love on the brain, in other words, you are thinking of others ahead of yourself. Principle #3, we will barely scratch the surface of this morning.
III. Follow the Leading of the Holy Spirit 5:16-26
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The third principle that Christians live by is “follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.” We have traded legalism for love, we have traded an external list of rules for an internal leading by the Spirit.
And as we just read, this is a long section, that gives us a couple of lists; Sins to avoid and virtues to cultivate. Well, when you look at those two lists, you might think that we are getting back to “the law.” I mean, there sure seems to be a lot of “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots” in those lists.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
But, Paul says that we are free from the law. So what are these lists? Simply put, these lists are enumeration of the products off of two assembly lines. One assembly line is in the “Works of the Holy Spirit manufacturing plant.” The other list are the products that come out of the “Works of the flesh manufacturing plant.”
You see, when you weren’t a Christian, there was only one plant in operation. “The works of the flesh.” That’s all you could produce. But, once you come to faith in Christ, God comes to live in you by His Holy Spirit. Now, your life can produce stuff from both plants.
So all Paul is saying is, “Here’s your new law, don’t follow legalistic salvation plans, judge your actions by love, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. How do I know if I’m following the Holy Spirit? If you are following the Holy Spirit, these good works will characterize your life.
I cannot stress enough what a wonderful gift we have been given as Christians. We don’t have to make long lists of good deeds and put them on our walls, God built a “good deeds factory” inside each believer. And if I will just turn on the power, it will produce good deeds.
Let me illustrate what I mean by “turn on the power.” We discovered something the last 9 weeks of the 19/20 school year, the weeks we sent kids home because of the Covid scare. All of a sudden, these kids schooling was on their own. And, what was unique was that many of them had parents at home with them. So we had to make all these online lessons. By the way, one thing you may not know, is that from the start, we were told that none of the student’s work would be graded.
Now let me compare that to the Christian life, that is free from the law. We sent kids home with no more rules, no more ceremonies, or rituals, no routines, no schedules. And here’s what we discovered about these students; nobody did anything. Well, let me amend that statement. Out of 75 students that were on my rolls, in 9 weeks, 4 logged on to any of the work I assigned. One completed a lesson. Toward the end of the 9 weeks, 99% of parents or students weren’t answering phone calls from me. Why didn’t they do anything? Because they and their parents are human. They only have one assembly line running; the works of the flesh.
So this is what we discovered, as though this was a surprise. Kids need 2 things to succeed with at home education. First, motivation. They have to either be motivated themselves, or parents have to apply the board of motivation to the seat of knowledge. The second thing the student needs is connection. They may be motivated, but sometimes they just need a teacher. And that could be online instruction, or a phone call, or chatting online, but if they don’t understand they need a teacher.
Well here’s the beauty of becoming a Christian. God built that second assembly line; the fruit of the Spirit. God gave you a gift. The Holy Spirit, guess what the Holy Spirit does? Just what every student needs; He teaches you, and motivates you.
A. If you listen to, and follow the Spirit’s leading, you will know how to live.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
This Scripture verse has fascinated and captivated me for years. Being a Christian since I was 8, I’ve had the Spirit of God in me compelling me to live a life that is pleasing to God. Of course, I am also a human being, and my flesh, my sin nature pulls me toward pleasing myself. Having both inside of me brings me to the same place as Paul,
+++++”That which I would do, I don’t…wretched man that I am.
So then I read this verse, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust’s of the flesh. I want to do that. I want to live a life where my flesh loses it’s power over me, and God’s Holy Spirit is in complete control.
But, how do you walk in the Spirit? Well, here’s the key, compare this passage to…..
What that means is that walking in the Spirit, and letting the Word of God dwell in you richly are equivalent. So what does it mean to Walk in the Spirit? It means to make God’s Word a dominant force in your mind. “The mind of Christ.” It means to be so full of the Bible, that when you are cut, you bleed King James. It means that Scripture becomes your immediate thought in any and all circumstances.
Now, am I saying that just knowing the Bible will make you make the right decisions, choose the right paths? No, if you take a deranged, imprisoned, homicidal maniac, and put him in a prison cell with the Bible piped in 24/7, you will have a deranged homicidal maniac, who will now justify his fleshly compulsions with Bible quotes. You see, it’s not just the Bible in you that changes you, it’s the Bible energized by God’s Holy Spirit in you. As a believer, you have a new nature in you, and the power available to that new nature, is the power of the God of the Universe. So, if you fill yourself with God’s Word, the Bible, meditate on it, study it, pray over it, make it the key of your life, when any circumstance or decision arises, the Spirit in you will automatically bring to mind the right thing to do, or what you shouldn’t do. You have that internal teacher. And, because you have been surrendering your fleshly desires, to your internal drive to please God, you will have strengthened the Spirit, and it will dominate the fleshly inclinations. Look at how Paul describes it,
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
So, if you let the flesh dominate your mind, if you fill your mind with the world, the flesh, and the devil, then your responses will automatically come from your flesh. So you have to mortify the flesh…
It reminds me of an illustration a preacher used once for the flesh. He said that you can keep a tarantula in a jar, poke holes in the lid, but never let it out, never feed it, and it will die after =======days. But, if you do all that, still never feed it, but ever so often, let it out to walk a bit, it will live =======days longer.
It is the same with the flesh. If you entertain it ever so often, it is energized. But if you deny it, and fill yourself with the Word, and continue to choose the way that the Spirit directs, the flesh loses power, and the Spirit is energized. That’s what Paul means when he says,
“Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”
So we still have a standard to live by, but it is not a long list of rituals, rites and confessions. It is simple enough that a child can understand it, “Love God, and love people.” It is an internal light and source of power.
Now I love what Paul does. He not only tells you to walk in the Spirit, he tells you what that will look like.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
I’m going to start looking at those works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit, next time. Now I could preach a sermon over every one of those words, I’m not going to. But we’ll pick those up next time.
How do I live? That question makes me think of what school is going to look like this year. You can only regulate human behavior with rules, so far.
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