Dance Lessons: License to ?Kill
Galatians 5:13-21
Chenoa Baptist Church
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
5-20-2020
What is Christianity?
[Slide]Several years ago, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons wrote a book entitled, “UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and why it Really Matters.” From their research with the Fermi group and Barna Research group, they came up with the six most common objections to Christianity from outsiders, ages 16-29. This list is hard to read. They said that Christians were:
Hypocritical
Too focused on getting converts
Anti-homosexual
Sheltered
Too political
Judgemental
This stings because we all know that these labels far too often accurately describe people who claim to know Christ.
But, after spending all this time in the book of Galatians, I just wonder if we are missing the point. Wouldn’t it be amazing to go to the mall and interview people and ask, “What does Christianity mean to you?” And get the answer:
“One word…freedom! The people I know that are Christians are some of the most free, loving, caring, joyful, grace-filled people I’ve ever met! They’re amazing!”
What keeps this from being how we are perceived? Paul has an answer for that in the verses we will study today.
False Teachers Need to be Kicked Out
In our study last week, Paul took on the false teachers head on and said that they
hindered the Galatians race
They were not from God
They contaminated the whole church
They persecuted true teachers like Paul
Paul ends with some of the strongest language in the Bible:
“As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Gal 5:12)
As Luther paraphrased this verse, “I wish that the knife would slip!”
Paul wasn’t going to tolerate these false teachers cutting in on his spiritual children, these baby Christian Galatians, with the false doctrine of works-righteousness. He would rather they became castrated priests for the pagan god Cybele than confused and distract Galatians as they learn to dance to the rhythm of grace, joy, peace, and, most of freedom.
[Slide] Remember, that those who dance are thought crazy by those who can hear the music.
If you missed last week’s sermon, you can watch all the sermons from this series on our Facebook page.
Turn with me to Galatians 5 and we will start in verse 13.
Prayer
Free To Serve in Love
Throughout this letter, Paul has been warning the Galatians about the dangers of legalism. Legalism is the idea that you can earn God’s favor by doing good works. That’s what the Judiazer’s were preaching. In order to be real Christians, you had to obey to the Mosaic law, follow the dietary rules, and, most importantly, enter the covenant community of the Jews, through circumcision.
Paul directly attacked this idea in his question that began chapter 3:
“I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Gal 3:2)
The Galatians had not even heard of the Law when Paul came to them. They were pagan Gentiles. They knew that they had been saved by “believing what they heard” - by placing their faith in Christ’s sacrificial life, death, and resurrection.
Paul spend the first 4 chapter hammering this theme home - we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. If they allowed themselves to be circumcised, they would be saying that Christ’s death on the cross wasn’t enough, that they had to somehow finish the job. To Paul, this was blasphemy!
It wasn’t about our performance but our position in Christ as adopted sons and daughters of the King.
But there was an other extreme that could trap the Galatians - license.
The Judaizers were saying, “Listen, Paul says you don’t have to obey the Law anymore. How will you know right from wrong? If you sin, what will you do to feel forgiven? Don’t you see? What Paul is teaching is dangerous. Basically he’s saying that because of Jesus you are free to do anything you want to do. You can sin all you want. Who cares? God will forgive you. No, come back to the Law. It will make you feel safe and secure.”
Nothing has really changed all these centuries later. Some people fall into the extreme of legalism and add all kinds of extra rules to follow to be a “good” Christian. Others swing to the other extreme and teach you can sin all you want and God will forgive you.
Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes is the concept of Christian liberty.
This is what Paul was teaching and he wants to start off with an a command, the reason for the command, and a warning.
[Slide] “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Gal 5:13-15)
Notice that Paul shifts back into “brothers” mode. In the previous section, he had basically gone off on the false teachers but now he wants to give his Galatian Christian family some direction about this freedom that they have in Christ.
The Command:
He goes back to verse one and then expands on it:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)
In the first verses of chapter five, Paul is concerned about the Galatians losing their freedom.
In these verses we study today, he is very concerned that they do not abuse their freedom in Christ.
They were called to be free.
Who is it that called them?
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.” (Gal 1:6-7)
It was God who called them, through the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of Paul, to live in the grace of Christ.
This freedom is precious and should be protected. Paul emphatically states that they should not use their freedom to indulge the flesh.
The word indulge, or in your translation may say opportunity, is a military term. It means a base of operations from which to launch attacks.
The word “flesh” doesn’t mean the skin that covers our bones but the part of you that hasn’t been redeemed yet. This is our sinful nature. It is against God and wants to do things its way.
Bon Jovi sang about this in their hit, “It’s My Life.”
It's my life / It’s now or never / I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway / Like Frankie said
I did it my way / I just want to live while I'm alive
It's my life
Jon was simply quoting Old Blues Eyes himself who crooned, “I did it my way!”
When we are saved, sin doesn’t reign in us anymore but it still remains.
So Paul is saying does use your freedom in Christ as a base of operations to sin willy nilly! (that’s for you Dale)
Alistair Begg writes, “Whatever Christian freedom is it isn’t the freedom to go back and do what Jesus set you free from!”
We are not free to commit sins in the name of Jesus.
The Apostle Peter agreed:
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (I Pet 2:16)
Chuck Swindoll writes, “Christians can do whatever they want to do as long as what they do can be done to the glory of God.”
That last phrase may sound strange -“live as God’s slaves.”
Paul sets up a contrast. You have a choice. You can use your freedom to indulge your sinful passions or you can use your freedom to serve one another in love.
In fact, the word serve is the Greek word slave.
It’s a paradox. You can either sin all you want, which actually isn’t freedom at all (ask any heroin addict) and be slaves to sin, or you can be a slave to Christ and serve each other in love. There is no middle ground.
How can we indulge the flesh? I think a lot of people immediately think of sexual sins but, while that’s true, it’s much more subtle than that.
Gossip is a main way that we can indulge our flesh in the church. When we talk about someone who isn’t there in a negative way, we are given the flesh a beach head in our souls.
Scott Sauls wrote on Twitter recently:
“Gossip is pornography of the mouth. A cheap thrill that offers zero commitment to the person being objectified.”
[Slide] The Reason
Paul then gives a very surprising reason for this kind of love to be expressed:
[Slide] “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:14)
When he says the “entire law” he means all the commands, all 613 of them. He quotes Leviticus 19:18:
“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Lev 19:18)
Before our salvation, before the Holy Spirit invaded us, we had no ability to keep the Law. The law crushed us with its impossible expectations and drove us to to Christ.
But, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can actually fulfill the Law by loving and serving each other.
The motivations have changed. We no longer attempted to win God’s favor by doing good things - external.
But now, because we have been set from the penalty of sin and power of sin, and the bondage and guilt of our sin, and the fear of death and hell, the motivation is now internal.
We will not want to covet, or steal, or kill because that hurts our neighbors and we are called and equipped to love instead.
John Calvin described it this way - the law is no longer above our heads like a rod waiting to slam down on us for being “bad, it is now below us as a path that guides our feet and is our moral blueprint for our lives.
Paul wrote to the church at Rome the same thing:
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)
{Slide] The Warning
Paul now moves to a warning:
[Slide] “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Gal 5:13)
These words are vivid - “bite” can refer to a snake bite, “devour” - refers to the crumbs left after you eat something, and “consume” can mean what’s left after a fire.
It can be a picture of an animal that bites its prey, and then tears at its flesh, and then consumes all of it.
Paul warns these baby Galatian Christians that if they do not understand the uses of their Christian freedom, they will abuse that freedom and that will lead to conflict in their midst.
Paul gives the antidote in Philippians 2:
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil 1:1-4)
God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. In response, we are to love and serve others with the love we have been given.
We see this on a large scale in the formation of Christian hospitals, nursing homes, mission agencies, child care organizations, and others that heal, feed, care, and share the love of Jesus with the world.
But we also see it right here in our community. I love hearing stories of people reaching out to their neighbors, helping people with their yards, buying groceries, checking up on older friends. These are beautiful examples of using our freedom to serve others in love.
[Slide] The Battle
Paul then moves on to tell them that this journey is not going to be a cakewalk it’s going to be more like a 12 round UFC match with Conor McGregor!
[Slide] “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal 5:16-18)
Paul gives one of the best promises found anywhere in the Bible in these verses.
He starts by telling the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit.” This phrase literally means to follow around. When a disciple would want to study under a rabbi they would follow them around.
Paul says if you will submit to the Holy Spirit, you will not, in no way, under no circumstances, gratify the desires of the flesh.
Life in Christ begins by the Spirit and is the only progress we can make is by the Spirit.
It’s like Roc em Soc em Robots. This is a battle. In the white corner, you have the Holy Spirit and in the black corner you have the sinful flesh. They are in conflict with one another and will battle it out to the death, your death.
There are some out there that preach the notion that once you come to Christ, all your problems will go away. HA! That’s not Biblical Christianity. In fact, before you were a Christian, your sinful nature ruled you, enslaving you to all kinds of things that brought bondage and pain.
One of the ways that you can tell that you are truly born again is because of this battle that rages inside of you.
Paul described in detail in Romans:
“ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:14-25)
Two things we can learn from these verses:
First, we are not helpless against our sinful nature, against our personalities or our character flaws.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)
One of my favorite Avengers scenes is when Loki yells at the hulk that he is a god. The Hulk picks him up and body slams him about 40 times and finally says, “Puny God!”
Second, we aren’t always going to win. But when we do fall, we don’t have to worry about being crushed by the law.
The Apostle John writes agrees with Paul:
“But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:1)
Paul says the key is being led by the Spirit and not being under law. This is a fulfillment of a prophesy from Ezekiel:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Paul is now going to move on and give the Galatians some examples of what living in the flesh looks like practically - day to day.
[Slide]The Lists
In Paul’s time, it wasn’t uncommon to give the readers a list of virtues and vices. Paul is going to highlight the “deeds of the flesh” and next week we will look at what he calls the “fruit of the Spirit.”
[Slide] “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)
When Paul writes that the deeds of the flesh or “obvious,” he doesn’t mean visible. Most of these sins are not visible, they are sins that can be hidden fairly well in the heart.
Most commentators admit that this list is somewhat chaotic and seems random. From the little tag “and the like” we learn that this list is not meant to be exhaustive.
These list of 15 can be divided into four categories:
[Slide] Personal Sins
Sexual immorality - the Greek word is “pornea,” where we get our word pornography. This is any sexual activity outside of marriage. Remember, that God created sex and it is good, in its context - one woman, one man, for a lifetime. It’s like fire. In a fireplace, fire can light a room and provide warmth. But that same fire in a forest can cause immense destruction, like in Australia this past year. This includes fornication- sex outside of marriage, adultery - sexual sin inside of marriage, homosexuality, prostitution, beastiality, and incest.
Impurity - this word means “defilement.” Sexuality immorality warps your conscience, perverts your mind. Have you ever known someone who can make anything into a sexual joke? This is what this word means.
Debauchery - this is the person that shows a lack of restraint in the area of sexuality.
Paul makes it clear to the Thessalonians how they should approach sexuality:
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (I Thes 4:3-8)
This was incredibly counter-cultural. It was said that the Greeks had mistresses for pleasure, concubines for day to day sexual needs, and wives to give proper heirs and run the household.
Leon Morris writes, “Chasity was one of the completely new virtues that Christianity introduced into a pagan world.”
2. {Slide] Sins in relation to Worship of God
Idolatry - anything that we set up in place of God is idolatry. In this culture, we don’t worship idols made of gold, stone, or wood. But we do worship idols like money, relationships and success.
I’ve been enjoying watching “The Last Dance” that chronicles the Chicago Bulls playoff runs in the 1990s. One of the things that becomes clear in this documentary is that Michael Jordan is the GOAT and he was an idol worshipper. His idol was winning and winning at any cost. He was once told that there is no “I” in team and he responded, “But there is in win!”
* Witchcraft - this Greek word is where we get our word “pharmacy.” This does not mean we should take drugs when we need them, as some pastors preach. This is basically describing what we would know as a witch doctor who would mix drugs together for a high.
This would include any kind of spells or potions or black magic. It also would include using chemicals to get high.
I remember watching The Eagles documentary on NetFlix. You know how they got their name? They went out into the desert and smoked peyote together. An eagle flew over them and they thought that eagles were “magical majestic creatures.”
3. [Slide] Social Sins
Hatred and discord - this is the opposite of love
Jealousy - This can be good or bad. I’ve been known to be a little jealous when other men have paid attention to my wife. But that’s good because it’s motivated by my love for her. God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). But this is an attitude of the heart that is self-focused and gets angry and resentful toward others
Fits of rage - this is explosive, volatile anger. A short fuse.
Selfish ambition - this phrase literally means “office seeker.” This is the willingness to climb the ladder and it doesn’t matter who you stomp on along the way. These people aren’t sincere.
Dissensions and factions - this is what was happening in Galatia. There were groups being formed that considered the other groups their rivals. This happens in unhealthy churches all the time.
Envy - this is the sin of coveting - I want what you have. It shows a lack of contentment.
4. [Slide] Lifestyle sins
Paul finishes his list with two related words - drunkenness and orgies.
Contrary to what some people might what to tell you, the Bible does not teach that alcohol is evil.
Paul told Timothy that a little wine would help calm his nerves. (I Timothy 5:23)
Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding. (John 2)
The Bible says that wine gladdens a man’s heart (Psalm 104:14-15)
But Scripture is very clear about drunkenness.
"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:6)
Proverbs 23 gives us warnings about the effects of drinking too much and compares alcohol to a snake whose venom invades the body and mind.
The term “orgies” in our culture has a sexual connotation to it but it culture it was connected to drunkenness. This is the concept of partying or clubbing and all that goes with that lifestyle.
Did you notice what was missing? Elsewhere Paul’s lists of vices also include: murder, stealing, gossip, gluttony, lying, disrespecting parents, cheating, or greed, racism.
Paul ends this list with a warning that should make the hair stand up on our heads.
[Slide] “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Does this mean that if you have ever lost your temper or lusted or got jealous that you are going to hell?
Let’s look at at that phrase “those live like this.” This means that people whose lifestyles are defined by these acts. It is a habitual way of life. This is visible proof that the Holy Spirit is not in the person and they are not in Christ and will not inherit the promises of Abraham, eternal life.
But for those of us who do have the Spirit, when we fall (and we will), when we chose our flesh over submitting to the Spirit, we have a way back:
“If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of our sins, and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
Application
I want to look at just one deed of the flesh that was rampant in the Galatian churches - racism. Remember, the Judaizers didn’t like Gentiles to begin with and told them that in order to be true Christians they had to follow the Mosaic law, the dietary rules, and circumcision. In other words, they had to become Jews before they could become real Christians.
Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well in American today.
25 year old Ahmaud Albery (who was black) went out for a run on February 23 in his south Georgia neighborhood but never came home. Two white men, father and son, Travis and Gregory McMichael, chased him down and then shot him in the middle of the street. This was filmed, the two admitted they did it but weren’t arrested for two months. They claimed to be making a citizen's arrest because he resembled a burglary suspect.
The only thing that Ahmaud was guilty of was “running while black.”
Someone on Twitter posted a video of Ahmaud looking at a construction site, something that I’ve done many times when out running or riding my bike.
I grew up in Memphis and it is hard not to grow up in the south without being indoctrinated into the sin of racism. My dad was two blocks away from the Lorraine Motel when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.
We’ve lived in North Carolina and Mississippi where saw we racism up close and personal, even in the church.
But other than run 2.23 miles, what can we do about the murder of Ahmaud?
We can submit our lives to the control of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to root out any thought patterns that would lead to us considering others different or inferior simply based on the amount of melanin in the skin.
When He does root it out, and He will, we need to confess it for what it is - sin and asked the Holy Spirit to change those patterns from the inside out.
After this, we need to take every thought captive and make sure we are judging others by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
More than that, we need be quick to stop people from using racial slurs in our presence and slow to make snap judgements about people of color.
Lastly, we need to understand that Jesus isn’t white with blue eyes and long blonde hair. Jesus is a middle eastern Jewish man with olive skin and probably short curly hair. And He is the Lamb that sits on the throne:
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,?who sits on the throne,?and to the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9-10)
Did you catch that? Every nation, tribe, people, and language will be represented there. We are all covered in one color - RED!
I want to end this morning with an opportunity for confession. I’m going to read the list again and then add the others that Paul writes about in other letters. Every one of us has committed one or more of these sins this week, maybe even today. That’s why repentance isn’t a one time thing but a lifestyle.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like, murder, greed, gossip, gluttony, stealing, cheating, disrespecting parents.
