|
By Pastor Brian Bestian
On January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared with America what has become known as “The Four Freedoms.” He believed that all people should enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Those freedoms, for the most part, have been widely achieved in America.
Freedom and America are practically synonymous throughout the world. America is known as the land of the free. We have political freedom; we are a democracy, and therefore a free society. We have economic freedom; we are capitalists who believe in free enterprise. We have intellectual freedom; we have a free press.
Although we may live in a land of freedom that doesn’t mean all of us are free from the slavery of soul and spirit. You’ve seen the middle-aged man who, in wanting to provide for his family, becomes enslaved to his job. You’ve seen the young girl who, in wanting to look good, ends up starving herself. You’ve seen the student who, desirous of getting good grades, becomes enslaved to a lifestyle of cheating. You’ve seen CEOs become corrupt because they were enslaved to keeping intact, their string of unbroken successes.
In fact, most of the world is still in bondage to sin. We have sex addicts, drug addicts, gambling addicts, alcohol addicts, porno addicts, and the list goes on and on. Jesus said in John 8:34, “I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” It is our addiction to sin that feeds all of the other addictions.
Galatians has been called the Magna Carta of the Christian faith. The theme of this entire book is the freedom and liberty that we have in Jesus Christ. As great as political and economic and intellectual freedom is, there is no freedom like spiritual freedom, no liberty like the liberty that comes from Christ.
I. The LORD of Liberty:
Paul starts out saying in verse one, “Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” True freedom is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. “If the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed.”
There is a difference between freedom in Christ, and freedom from Christ. One brings fulfillment, the other brings frustration. Paul is speaking of being free in Christ Jesus. Now someone might object and say, “Wait a minute! This same Paul who speaks of the freedom that Christ brings, also called himself repeatedly a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (See Philemon 1)
That’s true, and it may sound like a contradiction, but it’s not. The only way to become free is to become a slave. It is a paradox. The Bible contains many paradoxes. Jesus said the way to get is to give. He said if you would save your life, you must lose it. He said if you would become the greatest, you must become the least. He said whoever would be a master of all, must be a servant of all.
In order to free you from humanity’s masters of sin, death, and the devil, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born into this world. His entire life, from cradle to cross, was designed to free each of us from our enslaving masters.
The tax collector, Matthew, was as hated as any modern day drug dealer, but Jesus freed him and called him to discipleship. Without Jesus, Peter’s life was a roller coaster ride—bold statements were often followed by cowardly comments. With Jesus, Peter became a successful spokesman for the redemption which had been won by the Savior’s bloody sacrifice. Paul, Pharisee and murderer, was forgiven, and then he was freed from the enslavement which had demanded he work his way into God’s grace.
Understand, what Jesus did for these men, He can, and wishes to do for you. If your life is a blackboard filled with a list of sins and disgraceful acts, Jesus’ nail-pierced hands have erased them. All He asks is that you believe in Him as your Savior and Substitute. You are free to believe. If you are plagued by doubts and indecision, Jesus can free you, and show you a new and confident way to live. Do you think your future is filled only with darkness and despair? Jesus wants to be your Light. Jesus wants to set you free.
Let me share a biblical definition of freedom with you: “Freedom is becoming a slave to the right Master.” When you follow the Lord Jesus, and He becomes your Master, that’s when real freedom begins.
II. The LIFE of Liberty:
When you know the Lord of liberty, then you will experience the life of liberty. Paul was addressing one of the major problems in Galatia—Pharisaical legalism. There were people in the church who were saying that you not only had to know Jesus, but you had to be circumcised if you were going to be right with God. He warns them “do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (v. 1).
The life of liberty is a life that is free from the yoke of legalism. A right relationship with God is not determined by rules or regulations. Listen carefully. Legalism is a highway paved with hypocrisy that leads to the dead-end of failure.
Just as there were legalists then there are legalists now. Today, there are some who say you must keep the Sabbath by going to church on Saturday, instead of Sunday, if you’re going to be right with God. There are still others who say you’ve got to make so many prayers, you’ve got to give so much money, you’ve got to attend so many meetings, you’ve got to listen to a certain kind of music, and you’ve got to use a particular style of worship, if you’re going to be right with God.
However, there are two problems with legalism. First of all, legalism puts you under a curse. Paul says in verse 3 that if you’re going to try to be right with God by keeping the law, then you’ve got to keep the whole law. He says back in chapter 3 and verse 10, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’” Obeying one part of the law does not excuse you from disobeying another part of the law.
Imagine you’re driving down a street and you either deliberately or unconsciously run a red light. You’re pulled over by a policeman, and he asks to see your driver’s license. Immediately you look at him and say, “Officer, I know I ran that red light but I’ve never robbed anybody, I’ve never committed adultery, and I’ve never cheated on my income tax.” Do you know what that policeman will do? He will probably smile as he writes out your ticket. Because he knows that no amount of obedience can ever make up for one act of disobedience.
Secondly, legalism drives you away from Christ. “You who are trying to be justified by the law,” Paul says in verse 4, “have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” In other words, if you add anything to Jesus, you end up losing Jesus. In verses 5 and 6, Paul then describes the life of liberty: “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Notice the difference between the life of liberty and the life of legalism. The life of liberty is experienced in the power of faith. The life of legalism is lived through the power of the flesh. The life of liberty is found in trusting Christ for your salvation. The life of legalism is found in trying to earn your salvation. The life of liberty is seen by faith working through love. The life of legalism is seen by flesh working through the law.
Look again carefully at verses 5 and 6 and you will see the words—faith, hope, and love. That’s not coincidental because they are the only things that will last forever. That’s what the life of liberty is all about—a comforting hope, a confident faith, and a compassionate love.
III. The LIMIT of Liberty:
In verse 13, Paul writes, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Christian liberty is not freedom to sin, it is freedom from sin. Freedom is not a license to do what is wrong; it is the power to do what is right.
Understand carefully, liberty is not license. Paul says, “Do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.” The Greek word for “opportunity” is a military term that referred to the base of operations for an army that was about to go to battle. In other words, don’t use the liberty you have in Jesus Christ as a base from which you can go out and live just any way you want to.
When liberty is guided by love, the result is service. When liberty is guided by license, the result is sin. Liberty is limited by love—love for the Savior. If you love Jesus, you will keep His commandments. It is also limited by a love for the saint. You will never do anything to cause a Christian brother to stumble. Finally, it is limited by a love for the sinner. Because a Christian wants to live their life in such a way as to help unbelievers come to Jesus.
IV. The LAW of Liberty:
In verse 14, Paul says, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Love not only limits liberty, it lifts liberty. There is a very interesting case that came before the Supreme Court in the State of Massachusetts back in the late 1920s. A man had been walking along an ocean pier, when he tripped over a rope and fell into the cold deep waters of that ocean bay.
He came up sputtering, screaming for help, and then sank beneath the surface. He couldn’t swim. His friends heard his faint cries in the distance, but they were too far away to rescue him. But within only a few yards, a young man was lounging on a deck chair, sun bathing. Not only could he hear the drowning man plead, “Help, I can’t swim,” but he was also an excellent swimmer.
Now the tragedy of the situation is that he did absolutely nothing. He just watched indifferently as the man finally sank below the surface and drowned. The family of the victim was outraged by such a display of extreme indifference. So, they sued the sunbather. The final outcome? The family lost the case. With a certain measure of reluctance, the court ruled that the man on the dock had no legal responsibility whatsoever to try and save the life of the drowning man.
In that particular case, liberty was limited by legalism, but it would have been lifted by love. Because love would have lifted that sunbather into the ocean so that he could have lifted the drowning man out of the ocean.
Jesus said, “If you shall know the truth, the truth shall set you free.” Jesus is the truth. Faith in the Savior brings forgiveness of sins, and forgiveness of sins brings freedom for service. The law of liberty is that you always do the loving thing. You do what you do because you love Jesus and because you love others.
During World War II, a Scottish chaplain and a Glasgow professor who had enlisted in the army, were captured and put in a POW camp. A barbed wire fence separated the friends, since the chaplain was put in with the British and the professor was imprisoned with the Americans. Even though conversation was kept at a minimum, every day, the professor would wander over to the fence and share a few words with the chaplain. Since they spoke in Gaelic, the Germans never discovered the professor was sharing pieces of news which had been picked up on the American’s contraband radio.
One day the news was good . . . the best. The Germans had surrendered and the war was over. The professor shared the intelligence and watched as the chaplain hurried back to the barracks. There his secret was met with shouts and an impromptu celebration. Even though the guards still stood in their towers; the dogs still patrolled the camp’s perimeter; and the barbed wire remained intact, the men knew they were free. Days later when the Germans got the news and evaporated into the surrounding woods, the prisoners left camp. But in those last days they had known they were already free. So are all those who have faith in the Savior.
That is the freedom faith brings. That, dear friends, is freedom in Christ. May our gracious Lord help us to experience this freedom, to enjoy this freedom, and to enlist others to be free by sharing His gospel message with them. Amen.
|
