Grace From Galatians (14 Of 19)

But in this last section, Paul begins to deal with the conduct of the Believer. In the remaining part of the Book of Galatians, Paul breaks the conduct of the Believer into six sections.

In this sermon we are going to see where God has set the Believer free from the bondage of the law and how it affects our conduct.

HOW DID HE SET US FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW? He did it through the works of Christ on the cross!

Those who oppose the teaching of salvation by grace alone, say, “SALVATION BY GRACE THAT EXCLUDES ALL WORKS GIVES PEOPLE A LICENSE TO SIN!”

Paul was very familiar with this argument because it was the same argument he had to deal with in his ministry. It is comforting to know that we who believe in salvation by grace excluding all works must be on the right side, as Paul was.

In this passage Paul proves their argument is not true. Let’s look at how Paul deals with this.

I. OUR LIBERTY

Look at verse 13, we read, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Many have the mistaken idea that the Lord is the Savior, but He does not do all the saving. They claim that we have a part in this salvation also!

Illus: A preacher that believes in salvation by grace AND works used this unscriptural illustration in a sermon to make his point.

He said, “My son really wanted a car, in fact, he wanted a car so bad he actually thought he could not live without one. So I saw his predicament, and I said, ‘Son, I tell you what I will do. I will help you get a car, but here is how I will help you. You work hard, save your money and every hundred dollars you put in the bank, I will match it. And when you and I have put enough in the bank together, we will purchase a good used car for you.”

That is the most unscriptural illustration any preacher has ever used to teach how we acquire salvation. But false preachers all around the world are teaching the same thing.

There are many who have fallen from the faith, as the Word of God says many will do in the last days before He returns, and they teach we are saved by mixing our good deeds with His good deeds.

The Bible says, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;” The Bible teaches that it is impossible for us to save ourselves by our good deeds. Why? Because we could never do enough good deeds. NEVER! NEVER!

Listen, when we do a good deed, we cancel it out with a bad deed within a short time after we have done the good deed. The Mosaic law is perfect, but we are far from perfect.

Illus: When we try to get to heaven through our good works, it is like being in a rocking chair; we are putting forth a lot of effort but we are not getting anywhere.

Illus: It is like trying to go somewhere, but we take one step forward and one step backward, and we never get anywhere like this. NEVER! NEVER!

Illus: Have you ever tried to climb a slippery bank? You take one step up and you slide back to where you started. The only way you can get up the slippery bank is for someone to reach down and to pull you up, because within yourself you are not capable of getting up.

The fact is, He did the saving and we did the sinning! He saw we could not save ourselves, and He reached down from the portals of heaven and pulled us into the kingdom of Heaven.

If it were not for Him, we would still be in the miry clay of sin. When we get to heaven by His marvelous grace, He is going to receive all the glory because He did all the saving.

However, notice as soon as Paul talks about our liberty, he also begins to show that liberty is not to be used, “…For an occasion to the flesh….”

WHY DOES PAUL DO THIS? Because as already stated, any time a Bible preacher proclaims salvation by grace alone, the opponents of grace will step up and say, “IF YOU PREACH THAT STUFF YOU ARE GIVING PEOPLE A LICENSE TO SIN!”

Listen, our LIBERTY IS NOT A LICENSE TO SIN! But many feel that when you exclude works from salvation, this gives people a license to sin. They are quick to point out that the Bible teaches works.

The Bible does teach about works, however, the Word of God teaches OUR WORKS ARE FOR OUR REWARDS, NOT FOR OUR SALVATION.