Freedom

Scripture Text Galatians 5: 13-14

Intro: Last Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. When someone believes in this resurrected Jesus as their Savior and Lord, their whole life is changed. Because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection people can be liberated from the bondage and penalty of sin. A believer in Christ comes under the authority of a new law, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus!

I. The believer’s great law of spiritual freedom. Galatians 5:13a (NKJV)  For you, brethren, have been called to liberty;

 a. Romans 8:2 (NKJV)  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. As Christians, we are now under the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus. All of the sins we have committed and will commit in the future have been forgiven by that One sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood on the cross. We have spiritual freedom from sin and death. The believer no longer has to work in order to secure God's approval and acceptance. The believer is accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ. We are spiritually free from the bondage and penalty of sin through Christ Jesus!

II. Liberty versus license. Galatians 5:13 (NKJV)
^13b only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh,

  a. There is the danger of license. If Christ sets us free from the law, does this mean that a person can believe in Christ and then go out and live like he wants, doing his own thing? Can he use his liberty as an occasion to go out and satisfy the flesh knowing that God will forgive him? Can he believe in Christ and still live in worldliness? No! A thousand times no, Scripture declares! A person is condemned that thinks this way. A person who thinks and declares such an idea fails to understand belief—true belief. In the Bible belief does not mean intellectual belief, to just believe something in the mind. Belief means a committed belief, to believe something with one's life. To believe Christ is to commit one's life to Christ. Just think about it for a moment and it becomes perfectly clear: if a person is not willing to commit his life to Christ and live like Him, he does not believe in Christ. He could not have a committed belief, not really; for if he really believed, he would beyond all questions give all he is and has to the Son of God.

 b. There is the restraint of love.  Galatians 5: 13c but through love serve one another.

A person who thinks that belief in Christ frees them and gives them license to sin does not understand what Jesus’ love and forgiveness is. This is the subject of this passage. The true believer is freed from having to secure God's approval by law, but love is the one restraint that is placed upon him. The believer’s only restraint is love. There are at least two reasons for this. 1.) God has loved us, so we truly see and experience the love of God and we are drawn to love God and to love all God's creatures. 2.) Love embraces all the commandments of God. Jesus Himself said so, and the fact is clearly seen in the points of this passage.

III. Love is serving others. (v:13c) – Love is a verb! Love is an action!

 a. As a believer we are free in Christ: we are set free of trying to work to please God Christian freedom is freedom to serve one another in love. Love for others flow outward from God’s Spirit He has placed in each believer’s heart. (John 7:38) Out of believer’s heart. The Greek word for love (agape) refers to selfless, self-giving love. Christian freedom does not leave believers wandering through life without laws, rules, restraints, or guidelines. Instead, they freely live according to God’s standards and glorify God through loving service to others.

   b. God’s law is fulfilled through love. Galatians 5:14 (NKJV) ¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

      If a person cared for everyone else as much as he cared for himself, he would need no law. He would be living and fulfilling the law of God as a Christian should. This is the reason love fulfills all the law. Love does not take advantage of other people. Love will not use other people to fulfill one's own purpose, greed, or lust. Love will not hurt someone else any more than we would want someone to hurt us. Love involves some very practical acts that are clearly spelled out in Scripture  in (1Cor. 13:4-7). Freedom through the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus doesn’t remove responsibility. Instead it turns responsibilities into privileges. Our life is no longer about us, instead we are to act in love, serving one another “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:5)

Invitation:  Are you using your freedom in Christ to serve others with this love that God poured out in your heart? That’s what you and I were saved to do!

You can’t serve others in love unless you have been set free from the law of sin and death by Jesus Christ. Let God speak to your heart about your relationship with Him! If you need salvation, this is the time to confess your sins against God and ask Jesus to forgive you for those sins. Invite Him into your heart to take charge of your life from this day forward. Then got to church and be baptized to show you are sincere! You will be so glad you did!