Standing in the Freedom of the Gospel:
Freed to Love and Service
Galatians 5:13-18
Thesis – The freedom Christ Promises is the freedom to love and serve others/Spirit empower serving. The Christina concept of freedom is not the freedom to do anything you want or desire to do. True freedom is not doing whatever you want without restraints. On the other hand you may not feel much freedom. You have habits, hang ups, and hurts that seem to plague you and control you! Maybe you feel or have felt that way?
The bible promises us on multiple levels in in multiple ways. Paul tells us here that freedom is the ability to joyfully and freely serve others out of love. Before we read this passage, let me give review it with you so you can see it clearly. He starts by stating that freedom is our destiny, freedom is defined as serving others, which is an expression of loving your neighbor. The opposite of loving others is destroying others. The freedom to love and serve others comes as we submit and follow leading and impulses of the Spirit in our selves.
1. True Freedom is being Freed to Serve Others (vs. 13-15)
Paul says we were called to freedom. We have seen that Gods call began in eternity past when he chose us in Christ, became effective when he drew us to himself in the gospel, called us to have the character of Christ, and climaxes in our glorification in the age to come. His point is that freedom is our destiny. Freedom from the guilt of our sin and the curse and condemnation the law brings. Then he qualifies this statement two ways; first negatively, then positively.
Negatively we are not to use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. The flesh is not the skin on our bones but rather broadly speaking the flesh is the fallen human nature outside of Christ that is empty and seeks only to meets its own needs sinfully and selfishly any way it wants. All the evils of our world attribute to this problem. The word opportunity is a military term for a base of operations. True freedom liberates us from our sinful desires because we are now found in Christ. It has a base of operation still within us, looking and lurking to gain ground on us. It will do that through outright sin and rebellion, or mask its rebellion through religious activity, moralism, and legalism. The flesh is your relentless adversary in living a life of holiness.
Then positively he tells us that freedom is through love serving others (5:6). Genuine faith leads to love, relationally serving others. Love and service towards others – from a soft touch on the shoulder, to helping others move, to praying for others, to meeting a need you see in another’s life is giving them in need. That word serve is the same word that Paul used of being enslaved to the law and sin. Here he tells us that true freedom rescues us from slavery to sin and the law liberating us to be slaves to loving service. It frees us from our preoccupation with ourselves, our needs, our desires to meet the needs of others because true joy and happiness in life is found in serving others.
In verse 14 he tells us that the reason of this serving love is that loving service fulfills the whole law, love your neighbor as you love yourself.[1] Who is our neighbor – parable of the Good Samaritan tells us that it is anyone who comes across our path that needs help.
Then he gives them a warning, biting and devouring each other will destroy each other and destroy the church. Why does he throw that in there. Well there was some conflicts going on in the church. He uses this metaphor of hungry empty animal who bites and then devours its prey. That is a work of the self, the flesh, which destroys relationships, and community. He is addressing relational problems in the church (19-21). Christian freedom does not have as much to do with my personal life, me and Jesus as much as it does life in community, in relationship. It is easy to say I am loving when I am by myself, living in isolation. I thought I was a loving person until I got married. IU thought I was a other centered until I had children.
How do we do this? I don’t know about you but there are lots of times that I am not a every loving person? Freedom does not come by rules, following the law. Freedom comes by one key factor in our lives and if that is missing, you will never be a loving and service person – the Holy Spirit.
2. True Freedom is by the Power and Presence of the Spirit (vs. 16-18)
Your spiritual life, from beginning to end is animated by the Holy Spirit. All of life lived in Christ is by the power of the Spirit. Lets quickly review what Paul has said about the Spirit so far and then next time look more closely at walking and being led by the Spirit.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer1 so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith-- (Gal 3:1-5 ESV)
We receive the Spirit by faith; we begin lives as Christ followers by the Spirit, and we finish our lives by the Spirit. Chapter five is the answer to perfected by Sprit.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:13 ESV)
When we come to faith we received the Spirit by faith.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal 4:6 ESV)
We are indwelled by the Spirit because we are children of God; heir according to promise not works.
ESV Galatians 5:5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly await for the hope of righteousness. (Gal 5:5 ESV)
The Spirit is the agent, through means of faith, that we have hope for the fullness of our righteousness when he returns.
ESV Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Gal 5:16 ESV)
As we follow the guidance of the impulses of the Spirit we will overcome self, sinfulness.
The way we overcome our selfishness, sinfulness is by the power of the Spirit. Ie learn to follow his promptings, learn to need, fill that need. Word means lean as followed your master. Point is that learn as live life listening, influence, promptings of the Spirit.
