Walk in True Freedom
March 23, 2025, Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: If you have been freed by Jesus, you are free indeed!
Focus Passage: Galatians 5:1-15
Supplemental Passage: "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36 NASB)
Introduction: "What must I forsake?" a young man asked. "Colored clothes for one thing. Get rid of everything in your wardrobe that is not white. Stop sleeping on a soft pillow. Sell your musical instruments and don't eat any more white bread. You cannot, if you are sincere about obeying Christ, take warm baths or shave your beard. To shave is to lie against him who created us, to attempt to improve on his work." Quaint, isn't it -- this example of extrabiblical scruples? And perhaps amusing. The list has constantly shifted over the 1,800 years since this one was actually recorded. Jim Peterson, Living Proof, NavPress, 1989, p. 106.
I. Stand in Freedom
a. Statement AND Exhortation – made free in Jesus, stand firm in grace
b. If you subject yourself to any part of the law, you are responsible to keep all of the law
c. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36 NASB)
d. Legalism and self-righteousness enslave us; faith in Christ alone justifies us.
e. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)
II. Beware of False Teaching
a. False teachers seek to distort the gospel by adding requirements to grace.
b. "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15 NASB)
c. Even a small amount of false teaching can corrupt an entire community of believers.
d. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3 NASB)
III. Serve in Love
a. Christian freedom is not a license to indulge in sin but a call to love and serve others.
b. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1-2 NASB)
c. When believers live selfishly, division and destruction follow.
d. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 NASB)
Conclusion:
1. Stand firm in the freedom Christ has given.
2. Guard against false teachings that distort the gospel.
3. Use your freedom to love and serve others.
Application/Call to Obedience: The Bible says “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)
