Recently, a labour arbitrator has ruled that the municipality of Waterloo will have to rehire a drug-addicted nurse who stole narcotics and falsified medical records. The crux of this ruling was that the municipality, as an employer, has a duty to accommodate the wayward nurse’s disease of drug addiction. The Arbitrator ruled that it was discriminatory to fire her, even through she had betrayed the most fundamental and explicit obligations of her profession. The theft and the faked paperwork were declared as symptoms, and ought to have been treated as such. (https://nationalpost.com/opinion/colby-cosh-the-big-problem-with-addiction-is-a-disease)
Ours is a day of addiction, not only to alcohol and drugs but also to sexual passions, violence, and many other forms of bondage in which entrap. When people choose to persist in a sin, they develop less and less control over it until eventually they forfeit any choice entirely. When people get to the point of addiction, they cannot successfully control their sinful thoughts and actions even when they may want to. And ironically, the more one asserts a self-centered false freedom, the more one becomes enslaved to sin.
Paul has already spoken of the “liberty which we have in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 2:4) and presented an analogy illustrating the believer’s spiritual descent from Abraham’s wife Sarah, a “free woman” (Gal. 4:21–31). He now declares:
Galatians 5:13a [13] For you were called to freedom, brothers. (Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another). (ESV)
Freedom is at the very heart of the gospel and of godly living. It is not a side benefit or an adjunct to the Christian life. God has called all believers to freedom. To what are we called: we are called to liberty. The Christian is free. Free from the guilt of sin because the believer has experienced God’s forgiveness. The believer is free from the penalty of sin because Christ died for the believer on the cross. And the believer is, through the Spirit, free from the power of sin in daily life. The believer is also free from the Law with its demands and threats. (One day, when believers get to glory, we will be free from the presence of sin. (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 5:13)
Believers have “Freedom in Christ” . In Galatians 5:13b-15, Paul gives four purposes of God’s call to the freedom of loving Him: 1) To oppose the flesh (GALATIANS 5:13B), 2) To serve others (GALATIANS 5:13B), 3) To fulfill His moral law (GALATIANS 5:14), and 4) To avoid harming others (GALATIANS 5:15).
Believers have “Freedom in Christ” in order:
1) To Oppose the Flesh (Galatians 5:13b)
Galatians 5:13b [13] (For you were called to freedom, brothers). Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, (but through love serve one another). (ESV)
The Judaizers, and some of the immature Jewish believers, considered Paul to be antinomian, a lawless libertine. Because the opposite extremes of legalism and antinomianism are both human-centered, they have always been attractive to sinners. The legalist satisfies himself, and presumably God, by adhering to a strict external code of do’s and don’ts, which they imagine demonstrate their self-righteous suitability for heaven. The antinomian, on the other hand, satisfies themselves by rejecting all codes and living completely according to their personal lusts and desires. Whereas legalism demands responsibility without freedom, license grants freedom without responsibility (Philip Graham Ryken: Galatians: Reformed Expository Commentary. P&R Press. 2005. p. 217).
Paul makes clear that the freedom of the gospel is not tolerance of self-indulgence. It is not a means for satisfying the desires of the flesh but for opposing them. That is why he warned: “do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,”. Aphorme (opportunity) was often used to indicate a central base from which all operations of a military campaign originated. In this context flesh (sarx/s???) does not refer to the physical body but to the sinful inclination of fallen humanity, the old self, whose supreme desire is to do its own will and to satisfy its sinful appetites. It is a synonym for sinful self-will. Paul’s declaration is that Christian freedom is not a base of operations from which the flesh is given opportunity to carry on its campaigns of sin freely and without consequence. If unchecked, the ‘flesh’ produces the ‘works of the flesh’ listed in vv 19f (Bruce, F. F. (1982). The Epistle to the Galatians: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 240). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.).
Christ does not give freedom to believers so they can do what they want but so they can, for the first time, do what God wants, because of love for Him. Within the bounds of their particular situations and abilities, even the most ungodly unbelievers are already free to do what they themselves want to do. They have more than ample opportunity to indulge the desires of the flesh, and it was hardly necessary for Christ to provide that sort of liberty. But Paul’s point is immeasurably more important than that obvious truth. The great reality he declares here is that it is freedom from sin, represented by the flesh, that the gospel saves believers. Whatever Christian freedom is, it is clearly not the right of believers to return to that from which Christ paid with His own life to save them. That is why Peter said:
1 Peter 2:16 [16] Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (ESV)
Please turn to John 8
Many who want nothing to do with Christ, claim that they are free. They claim that they are free from rules and live as they please. By God’s standard, an action or inaction that violates His moral standard is sin.
Jesus explains the difference between freedom and slavery:
John 8:31-36 [31] So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, [32]and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." [33] They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" [34] Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. [35] The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (ESV)
Under the cloak of Christian liberty, some professed Christians claim they are free to get drunk, enjoy worldly amusements, feed their minds on smutty books, magazines, and movies, and live in almost unrestrained self-indulgence. But such a person gives strong evidence that they are not a Christian at all. Although a true believer may fall into serious sin, the renewed conscience and Christ’s own indwelling Spirit will not allow them to enjoy it for long. And a true believer surely will not continually try to justify sin as a legitimate expression of Christian freedom. The new nature hates sin and loves the righteousness of God. Earlier in Romans (Rom. 7:14-25) he explained his conflict over sin. Later in chapter 13 we instructed:
Romans 13:14 [14] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (ESV)
• To legitimately carry the name of Christ and to make provision for the flesh are contradictory and mutually exclusive.
Illustration: Someone has pictured legalism and libertinism as two parallel streams that run between earth and heaven. The stream of legalism is clear, sparkling, and pure; but its waters run so deep and furiously that no one can enter it without being drowned or smashed on the rocks of its harsh demands. The stream of libertinism, by contrast, is relatively quiet and still, and crossing it seems easy and attractive. But its waters are so contaminated with poisons and pollutants that to try to cross it is also certain death. Both streams are uncrossable and deadly, one because of impossible moral and spiritual demands, the other because of moral and spiritual filth. But spanning those two deadly streams is the bridge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only passage from earth to heaven. The two streams lead to death because they are human ways. The gospel leads to life because it is God’s way.
Believers have “Freedom in Christ” in order:
2) To Serve Others (Galatians 5:13c)
Galatians 5:13c [13] (For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh), but through love serve one another. (ESV)
Christian freedom takes believers to an even higher level than simply opposing the flesh. Positively, Christ frees His followers through love to serve one another. His freedom is the paradoxical freedom of loving subservience. Christians are to ‘serve one another’ continually—hence ‘serve’ (d???e?ete) is PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE, is in the present tense. (Barnes, P. (2006). A Study Commentary on Galatians (p. 240). Darlington, England; Webster, New York: Evangelical Press.)
The Greek verb douleuete translated “serve” actually refers to the service of a slave. Serving in this way gives the believer deep joy (Barton, Bruce B.: Galatians. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 1994 (Life Application Bible Commentary), S. 174) Previously Paul asserted that they should not be slaves to legalism, but he now balances this with the command that they must be slaves to one another in love (cf. v. 6; Eph. 5:21; Phil. 2:3–4).( Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul’s First Letters: Galatians and I & II Thessalonians (Vol. Volume 11, p. 58). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.) Putting it all in a formula form, we could say liberty + love = service to others, liberty - love = license (slavery to sin) (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 717). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
As Paul explained to the Romans:
Romans 6:22 [22] But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. (ESV)
Please turn to Philippians 2
This teaching forms the very heart of Christianity, but it presents a paradox. We are freed from slavery to sin to become slaves to one another. Worldly people cannot understand this—joy in slavery? They don’t realize they are enslaved either to sin or to some religious system. People enslaved to sin are not free to live righteously. Love for other believers flows outward from what God has done in each 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 (Barton, Bruce B.: Galatians. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 1994 (Life Application Bible Commentary), S. 174).
Paul in said that we should embody this servanthood as Christ did:
Philippians 2:5-7 [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (ESV)
• When Christ incarnates Himself in believers, He endows them with the same nature of servanthood He exemplified when, as the Son of God and Son of Man, He lived on earth as the Servant of God and the Servant of man. How can this service be rendered: By showing deep affection, self-sacrifice, tenderness, genuine empathy, readiness to render assistance, yearning to promote another’s welfare, spontaneous giving and forgiving (William Hendriksen. Galatians: New Testament Commentary. Baker Publishing House2002. p. 211).
o The question is: How this week are we going to show Christ through service?
How is the aspect of loving one another, relate to our flesh? We cannot love our neighbor without being in Christ. Our flesh (sinful human desires) takes our freedom in Christ and uses it to create insensitivity and disregard for our neighbor. We may show love at times and to a few, but it’s very difficult to maintain a loving attitude in our own strength. As Christians, we have two indispensable helps: (1) the Holy Spirit (He empowers us to grow in love for God and our neighbor), and (2) Christ’s compassion and forgiveness (when we fail to love and serve as we should, when we confess this sin to Christ and ask for His forgiveness and help, He forgives us and empowers us to serve others) (Barton, Bruce B.: Galatians. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 1994 (Life Application Bible Commentary), S. 175).
Illustration:
True freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks: without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncontrolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and to the universe. The same law which fences us in, fences others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make (one truly) free.( MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1893). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
Believers have “Freedom in Christ” in order:
3) To Fulfill God’s Moral Law (Galatians 5:14)
Galatians 5:14 [14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (ESV)
Third, Paul explains that Christian freedom is not license to ignore God’s desire for our holiness but is rather the opportunity to fulfill it. God’s nature has never changed, and neither have His standards of right and wrong. The ethical truths of the Old Testament Law are exactly the same as those of the New Testament gospel.
Jesus was asked what the greatest Old Testament principle was:
Matthew 22:36-40 [36]"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" [37] And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (ESV) (compare with Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18).
Please turn to Romans 13
What we just heard in Matthew 22 is known as the “Great Commandment” for it summarizes the whole intent of the law. God has always called His people to serve and obey Him because they love Him (John 14:15).
Paul echoes and expands on that truth in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 13:8-10 [8] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. [9] For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (ESV)
• To “love your neighbor as yourself” solves every problem in human relations. If you love people (because you love Christ), you will not steal from them, lie about them, envy them, or try in any way to hurt them. Love in the heart is God’s (fulfillment for external) laws and threats (cf. Mt. 5:17) (Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Ga 5:13)
Although a New Covenant Saint is not bound under the system of law as were Old Testament saints, when a Christian genuinely loves others they fulfill all the moral elements of the Mosaic law. Even under the Old Covenant of law, God has always demanded heart service, not mere lip service (Deut. 11:13; Josh. 24:23; 1 Kings 8:58; cf. Isa. 29:13). The inner motive of love has always been the only acceptable motivation for serving God or others. Why did Paul call the selfless love of neighbor the fulfilling of the whole law? Not because it is superior to the worship and adoration of God, but rather because it is the proof of it.( George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 381). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Poem: The Scottish preacher Ralph Erskine affirmed both the evangelical freedom from the law and the Christian obedience to it when he wrote: “The law’s a tutor much in vogue, To gospel-grace a pedagogue; The Gospel to the law no less Than its full end for righteousness. When once the fiery law of God Has chas’d me to the gospel-road; Then back unto the holy law Most kindly gospel-grace will draw. The law most perfect still remains, And ev’ry duty full contains: The Gospel its perfection speaks, And therefore give whate’er it seeks. A rigid master was the law, Demanding brick, denying straw; But when with gospel-tongue it sings, It bids me fly, and gives me wings”. (Ralph Erskine: “The Believer’s Principles concerning the Law and the Gospel,” as recorded in George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 384). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
In the preceding three principles Paul deals with Christian freedom in regard to self, others, and God. True liberty in loving, produces self-control, service to others, and obedience to God. Every relationship is harmonized in Christian freedom. Finally, Believers have “Freedom in Christ” in order:
4) To Avoid Harming Others (Galatians 5:15)
Galatians 5:15 [15] But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (ESV)
The fourth purpose of Christian freedom is the reverse side of the second. Reemphasizing the need for Christians to use their freedom to serve each other (see v. 13), Paul here stresses the negative side of that truth-in the form of a warning about what happens when believers do not love and serve each other. They become destructive and bite and devour one another. Those two words speak of wild animals engaged in the fury of a deadly struggle. Paul used the present tense in these verbs, indicating that these problems were occurring as he wrote. Such conflict threatens to tear the church apart. The verbs increase in intensity—daknete (biting, or striking like a snake), then katesthiete (devouring, destroying), leading to the real danger of analothete (consuming, annihilating) each other (Barton, Bruce B.: Galatians. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 1994 (Life Application Bible Commentary), S. 175).
Please turn to Romans 14
Even the world knows that personal freedom cannot be unlimited. The most libertarian societies of history have been forced to recognize that they could not survive if each individual had the right to run roughshod over others while gratifying their own whims and fulfilling their own ambitions. Anarchy is obviously destructive, and one person’s rights are necessarily restricted by the fights of others.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul counsels believers who are spiritually strong to avoid such conflict and:
Romans 14:1-3 [14:1] As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. [2] One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. [3] Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. (ESV)
-We will look at verse 14 in a minute:
• Many early Christians, both Jewish and Gentile, were so contemptuous and fearful of idolatry that they abstained from eating any meat at all, lest they inadvertently eat some that had been offered in a pagan ceremony and then sold in the pagan priests’ market. Because pork was ritually unclean under the Mosaic law, many Jewish believers could not bring themselves to eat it no matter what its market source.
More mature believers realized with Paul that:
Romans 14:14 [14] I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. (ESV)
• The issue is not a matter of intrinsic evil but of conscience. A believer should never go against their consciences, even if it is immature; and other believers should never encourage another to do so or criticize them for their convictions. Likewise, the immature believer should not self-righteously condemn those who feel free to eat any food they desire. In either case:
Romans 14:15 [15] For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. (ESV)
As Paul has already explained (Gal. 5:6, 13), the ruling principle of Christian freedom is always love. The believer with an unnecessarily strict conscience and the one with a freed conscience are to lovingly accept and serve one another in Christ. Otherwise, they will be just like the most ungodly, self-centered pagans who bite and devour one another and end up being consumed by one another. Love conserves, lack of love consumes. The fact that this consuming means destruction of the bond of Christian fellowship needs no further proof. (Lenski, R. C. H. (1937). The interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians (p. 280). Columbus, O.: Lutheran Book Concern.) This in itself is proof that law cannot force people to get along with each other. No matter how many rules or standards a church may adopt, they are no guarantee of spirituality. Unless the Holy Spirit of God (fills) hearts with His love, selfishness and competition will reign. Both extremes in the Galatian churches—the legalists and the libertines—were actually destroying the fellowship. The Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum. He uses the Word of God, prayer, worship, and the fellowship of believers to build us up in Christ. The believer who spends time daily in the Word and prayer, and who yields to the Spirit’s working, is going to enjoy liberty and will help build up the church. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 717). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
(Format Note: Outline & Some Base Commentary from: MacArthur, J. (1996, c1987). Galatians. Includes indexes. (143). Chicago: Moody Press.)
