Confronting Modern Pharisees: A Call to Christian Liberty
Galatians 5.1-14
INTRO. The Apostle Paul wrote, "You have been called to liberty." Exactly what did he have in mind? What is Christian liberty, this thing to which all Christians have been invited? Responses to this important question have been approached, as you probably know, from many directions by many people. But, sadly, from my many years of observation, the subject of true Christian liberty seems rarely understood and seldom exercised by those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. The reason for this, I am convinced, is that religious professors have put their own peculiar spins to it and think that they both practice and teach it in their dealings with fellow Christians. Perception, however, is not always reality. If the premise is wrong, then the perception or understanding is also wrong, the teaching is wrong and, finally, the application is wrong. If the perceptions are wrong, then actions and conduct based on that understanding are likewise inaccurate.
A. In the eighth chapter of John, Jesus made two important declarations regarding freedom: First, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8.31-32). Secondly, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’" (v.36). The context of Jesus’ teachings is that Jews who believed on Him were freed from the bondage of the Law.
B. As articulate as the words may be, there is always the imminent danger of allowing oneself, who has been freed from servitude, to be drawn back again into slavery. Listen to this warning spoken by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5.1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." This peril is ever present in Christian fellowships that do not exemplify or promote true Christian liberty.
I. Why is Christian Liberty Opposed?
A. Why would any Christian be opposed to freedom? Why is it that our liberty in Jesus Christ is so often attacked or, at the least, redefined by those who would take away our Christian freedom? I would like to suggest that it stems from a base intolerance rooted in judgmental attitude among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. This is compounded by a lifestyle where legalism, rather than liberty, is exercised with perfect justification and always with scriptural proof texts for every link in their chain. Legalism sets up its own rules of conduct and acceptability and anyone who does not conform to those standards is judged to be in disharmony with the group and a threat to their belief system.
B. Legalism, in the hands of its practitioners, is, purely and simply, a power play for control. The Pharisees were the masters of legalism and went to the extreme to maintain their religious influence and control over the people, even to having our sinless Savior crucified.
II. What Does a Pharisee Look Like?
A. Jesus’ sternest rebuke of Pharisaism is found in Matthew chapter 23. Here is an overview of the most glaring defects in pharisaical thinking:
1. Pharisees elevate themselves to controlling positions, 23.2-3.
2. Pharisees are not to be emulated, 23.3.
3. Pharisees are inconsistent in their teachings and practices, 23.3.
4. Pharisees make godliness difficult without offering support, 23.4.
5. Pharisees emphasize external appearance and performance over internal purity, 23.5.
6. Pharisees seek to elevate their own offices, titles, influence and authority, 23.6-12.
7. Pharisees take without giving, 23.13-15.
8. Pharisees major on minors and minor on majors, 23.23-24.
9. Pharisees practice an external religion of appearance, 23.25-28.
10. Pharisees persecute those who disagree or resist them, 23.29-39.
B. This is legalism run rampant. All of these traits are commonplace in the modern Christian church. Pharisaism is alive and well in the Twenty-first Century.
III. The Marks of Modern Pharisaical Legalism
A. Jesus warned us to "beware of the corrupting influence of the Pharisees in Matt. 16.6. The word for "leaven’ here is zuma, "zuma," a metaphor for a pervasive "mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others" (Strong). Below are some of the distinguishing marks of Pharisaical Christianity that identifies the conditions that exist in a system of bondage and abuse:
1. Members of a particular group suppress in others their ability to critically analyze and instead to accept the teachings of its founder or leadership.
2. Once a person has accepted the group, they are then isolated (and insulated) and discouraged from association with Christians of other denominations or groups who do not believe as they do, especially in practice or in critical areas of pet or cardinal doctrines.
3. Pharisaical Christianity becomes cultic when religion --rather than God-- controls a person’s life. They seem unable to make the distinction between religion and faith.
4. Personal religious works, standards and traditions are required in order for one to be found acceptable to the group and, ultimately, to God.
5. The "earn as you go" philosophy places the individual’s future in the range of their own human capability to achieve. Dutiful adherents are made to feel guilty if they do otherwise.
6. They are encouraged to take on the "giving to get" mentality, making receiving God’s gifts and blessings dependent on their own performance. It is no longer grace,
7. There is a general attitude of superiority manifested in the actions and words of those within the group toward those who are different from or might ask questions or challenge their particular belief system.
8. The members of the group are condescending to others outside of their fellowship, stressing that they are particularly special and are the ones with whom God is working. It fosters an intolerant "us versus them" mentality. Pharisees do not feel a part of the universal Christian community outside of their own narrow society.
9. Any idea or thought expressed that is contrary to what is commonly held by the group, congregation, or denomination is considered an attack on their belief system and often strongly resisted and condemned.
10. Passivity (even gullibility) among its members is fostered under the guise of its being humility.
11. Uniformity is substituted for unity. There is not a clear distinction between the two and they are synonymous terms. (Unity permits diversity; uniformity does not).
12. Legalists believe that only members of their special group, congregation, or denomination, unlike other groups, have truly forsaken and sacrificed all to follow the Christ.
13. Attendance and involvement in the group’s meetings, activities and works are used as a measure of one’s faithfulness to God. Good works outside the structure of the group don’t count.
14. They live in their own narrow, isolated and insulated world with their own set of rules and are generally unwilling to associate with anyone who does not abide within their subgroup.
15. Often, the founder’s (or leader’s) words are more often quoted than the Scriptures and are used to clinch a point, being regarded as convincing proof on the understanding of a topic.
16.The focus is based on the group’s system of doctrinal tenets, usually pet-doctrines, rather than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
17. The members of the group are convinced that only they have had special knowledge or revelation entrusted to them and that their mission is to convince all others of their doctrinal correctness.
18. Labeling and judging other religious groups to be Babylonish is commonly practiced.
19. Biblical concepts such as Christian "liberty," "grace," and "freedom," are not understood, much less taught, nor encouraged by the group. On the other hand, misused and ill-defined terms like "submission," "yieldedness," "obedience," "sound doctrine," "truth," etc. are frequently employed.
IV. What Is True Christian Liberty and How Is it Exercised?
A. Liberty is defined as having freedom from slavery, exempt from obligations and able to do as one pleases.
1.Is this what we mean when we talk about Christian Liberty? The answer is, amazingly, yes, when applied in relation to Christian principles.
2. The Jews who believed in Jesus were freed from the bondage of the Law and the tradition of men. This is the essence of Jesus’ teaching in John 8.31-32, 36.
3.Jewish believers, along with us who are Gentiles, have been set free from the bondage of corruption, sin and death delivered by the Law.
4. Jews who believe in Jesus are exempt from the obligations of the Law. Romans 8:2 states, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
B. We are able to do as we please as long as it is pleasing to God. "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify" (1 Cor. 10.13).
V. A closer look at what the Bible says about your liberty in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3.17 - "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. " This passage is telling us that if liberty is being allowed, then the Spirit of God is working among those who are exercising this Christian liberty. Conversely, if liberty is not allowed, then the Spirit of the Lord is absent.
Galatians 2.4 - "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage"). This passage is warning the Galatian church to beware of those Christian Jews who were trying to put their brethren back under the yoke of the Law. Even today, Christian legalists would like to impose the yoke of their rules and traditions upon their fellow Christians and thus bring them into bondage to their religious system.
Galatians 5.1 - Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. The New American Standard Bible translates the first phrase of this verse to read, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." In other words, Christ did not lay down His life to pay the awesome cost for our liberty for us then return to servitude to law, traditions and religious regulations. This is precisely what the Galatians were doing. And it is what we do when we choose to rely on personal performance, and not on God’s grace, to find approval with God.
Galatians 5:13 - "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Even though we have been set free from the law of sin, this does not give us the license to do as we selfishly please if it is harmful to someone else. Our liberty should be exercised positively so that love and not just obligation will be the controlling factor.
1 Corinthians 8:9 - "But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak." This verse is similar to the one above in that it tells us that we should be cautious in the exercise of our liberty so as not overburden one who may not understand or who may be weaker in faith. Again, liberty does not give us the license to selfishly do something that could hurt someone else.
1 Peter 2:15-16 - "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men -- as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."
The Apostle is saying that we should be using our freedom and liberty in God’s service in doing good so that our good deeds themselves will nullify any criticisms of those who oppose God’s way.
1 Corinthians 10:29 - " . . . For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?" The Apostle Paul was being attacked by the legalists of his day. Apparently he was not conforming to their expectations or rules and they found fault with him. They were attempting to wrestle away from him his liberty in Christ because his beliefs did not conform to their way of thinking. They wanted to impose their conscience upon him. This is still a great danger and a very common practice today among many Christian fellowships.
James 1:25 - " But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." When liberty chooses to align itself with obedience to God’s will, it will reveal itself in actions and works that are pleasing to God. The exercise of true liberty chooses not only to bless others, but it produces a blessing to all those who properly exercise it. The perfect law of liberty is always motivated by love, and love would not use liberty selfishly but always for the good of all.
CLOSING. We have an obligation to our Lord Jesus who paid the supreme price for our spiritual emancipation.
A. His death has set us free from all bondage.
1. To live in bondage to sin is to nullify the grace of God.
2. To live in bondage and be subject to Satan’s wiles nullifies the grace of God.
3. To live in bondage to the edicts of any religious group or system nullifies the grace of God.
4. To live under the tyranny of trying to please others at all costs nullifies the grace of God.
5. To live under the constant demands of having to perform in order to earn and maintain God’s love is bondage which nullifies the grace of God.
B. True Christian liberty begins when we confess our sins and turn to Jesus Christ. Rom. 6.7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
