Intro: "It ain’t over ’til it’s over."
This is probably the single most famous quote from baseball legend Yogi Berra. It’s simple but elegant and must have come to him in a rare moment of linguistic clarity, because he is much better known as the master of confusion and doublespeak like this:
"This is like deja vu all over again." "You can observe a lot just by watching." "You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there." "I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early." "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."
"A nickel isn’t worth a dime today." "It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much." "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." "If the fans don’t come out to the ball park, you can’t stop them." "It ain’t the heat; it’s the humility." "You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t come to yours."
"I didn’t really say everything I said."
Yogi’s not the only guy to ever get confused though. It can be a confusing world and even the most important things in life can be confusing. The whole point of Paul’s letter to the Galatians was to clear up some confusion that was the result of false teaching that was going on in their churches. God wanted them to be free and He was going to use this letter from Paul.
History: The churches in Galatia were being confused by these guys, called Judaizers. A few years before this letter was written the Apostle Paul and Barnabas had gone on a missionary journey and planted or started some new churches – they were the first to spread the message of Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jews). They traveled thru Asia Minor what today we call Turkey.
After they left each city where this new faith that one day would be called Christianity was introduced some men, Jewish men, came into the new church and told them that since Jesus was a Jew, and followed all of the Mosaic Law, then they too should follow it. They said in essence, “we Jews are circumcised and you must be too, you must sacrifice the way we do. Everything must be done the way we do them.” This teaching became known as “Legalism.”
Soon, Paul heard what was happening and around the year 48 A.D. this letter was written and sent to be read in these new churches. There is a lot of teaching in these letters – Sound doctrine and practical living. In chpt 5 begins some practical advice from Paul. He gives us 5 ways to set us free.
I. Stand Firm in the Faith of Christ (vs. 1-3).
This first point sounds like an oxymoron from the sermon title, but it is not and let me explain why it is not. Paul states that God’s purpose for deliverance, our salvation, was for the freedom of each believer. “Christ set us free from the “guilt-establishing and deadening power of the law” through His death and resurrection.”
Going back to a yoke of slavery didn’t make sense, it was crazy. That is what the new Christians in Galatia were doing. They were tricked by the judaizers to go back to those old traditions. So Paul writes to them and gives them the command to stand firm in the faith of Christ.
Vs. 2-3: At the heart of what the Judiazers were teaching was a works based salvation. This is what every man made religion teaches. Here they were teaching that circumcision was necessary. The Jews were often referred to as the circumcised. This was their most distinctive outward mark and for many Jews it became a symbol of pride. Often they no longer viewed it as a God given symbol of His covenant promise (Gen 17:9-10). Instead most Jews looked at it as having some spiritual value in itself. In other words, they believed that being circumcised was a guarantee of God’s favor. A stamp of approval.
On the other hand what Paul taught was that the work of Christ is entirely sufficient. He paid it all for you and I. That is the biggest problem with any works-based salvation; it teaches that something must be done on the part of the believer in order to received the blessing, the gift of salvation. What this false thinking teaches is that when Christ said, “It is finished” it really wasn’t finished; it wasn’t finished until you do this work or that thing.
If you insist on following one portion of the Law then you must follow it all. “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point,” James says, “he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). God’s standard is perfect righteousness. Therefore, if part of the law falls short of His standard then salvation is forfeited. Even if a person were somehow able to keep all of the law for all of his life, if he broke a commandment during his last minute on earth, he would forfeit salvation. Or if he managed to keep all of the laws perfectly except one, he would suffer the same fate – no salvation.
If you want to be set free then you must Stand Firm in the faith of Christ, the teaching that Christ paid it all. Only then can you be free.
II. Live under God’s Grace (vs. 4-5). If you try to seek salvation by any other means that Christ, then what happens is you are separating yourself from Christ. The word severed, alienated, fallen from grace means to render inoperative. It means Christ died for nothing.
The attempt to be justified by law is to reject the way of grace. You cannot live by both law and grace. This can be and probably should be applied to two groups of people.
A. Unbelievers. When we apply this verse to the unbeliever we see the principle of falling from grace has to do with being exposed to the gracious truth of the gospel and then turning your back on Christ. During the days of Christ and the early church there were many who heard the Gospel message yet turned away. “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:5,12)
Others hear of Jesus, fall in love with His message, tasted the truth of love and fellowship and then turned back. They came to the very doorway of grace and then fell away, back into their works religion. “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away
B. Believer. Applied to a believer, the principle of falling from grace has to do with a person who genuinely trusts in Christ for salvation but then outwardly reverts to a life of legalism, of living under external rituals, ceremonies, and traditions that he carries out in his own strength, instead of living with a spirit of obedience to Christ. He exchanges life by grace for life back under law, life by faith for life again by works, life in freedom for life back in bondage, life of walking in the Spirit for life back in the flesh.
God is more concerned about your attitude than your obedience towards Him. He less concerned whether or not we sing 2 songs before the offering or 5 songs before the offering. We should be able to worship the Lord with 10 songs or no songs.
The Judaizers’ hope was based on adding the worthless works of the Law, being circumcised, to the perfect and priceless work of Christ. Paul says through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness a hope that is based on God’s grace.
To be set free is to live under God’s grace.
III. Allow Your Faith to Work Through Love (vs. 6). Again Paul is telling the church that it doesn’t matter how strictly you follow the law – circumcised or not, what really matters is that you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and show love towards others. When you do this act of allowing your faith to work through love, you are building your character for the future.
When your life ends, the only thing you will carry with you into eternity is your character. That’s why the Bible tells us in this verse, “what matters is a faith that expresses itself through love.” This is Paul’s summary of the Great Commandments that Christ gave – Love God, Love People.
When you learn that your lifetime is spent preparing for eternity suddenly you realize that you should be helping those in need. You see those needs by being sensitive to the Spirit of God – living a spirit filled life. Life lived in the spirit is active not static or stationary. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do. (Eph 2:10). Works are the product of your faith – Faith is the Root, Works are the fruit.
John MacArthur writes, “The person who lives by faith works under the internal compulsion of love and does not need the outward compulsion of law.” Love sets you free. I was talking with someone the other day and she said that when she is beginning to feel down and out about her life, situation, etc… she decides it is time to get active by serving others.
So, if you want to be set free let your faith be seen and do it with love.
IV. Once You Learn God’s Truth, Obey it (vs. 7). If you trust in your own actions in any way to save you, you no longer are trusting in Christ. When this happens you break the bond of faith of God’s grace. This is what the false teachers were bringing to Galatia.
A false teacher will always twist the truth – they were distorting and hindering the truth. Paul often used this picture of running a race (Rom. 9:16; 1 Cor. 9:24; Gal. 2:2). In fact, they in Galatia were running a good race. Often, it seems that when things are going well that is when problems begin to happen. Often we will refer to it as the calm before the storm. Paul is speaking of their faith in Christ – what they believe about Christ.
Illustration: There was a family who was very active within their church and the wife was particularly active within a few ministries. Over a period of time she decided that she knew how to run the church better than the pastor or congregation. By all outward appearance she was a spiritual person, growing in faith and christlikeness. One day she and the pastor had a disagreement and she ended up quitting her ministries. It wasn’t long before the whole family left the church and left the whole denomination.
It looked as if she was running well, but who hindered her? Time exposed who hindered her – it was the previous pastor of that church. He was trying to still run that church after he left. This pastor knew the bible. His pride wouldn’t let God lead in that church with the man He called. She originally affirmed that this pastor was called to that congregation by God – God chose him to lead them. She knew the truth yet that family did not want to obey God, they followed the previous pastor. It’s almost like Paul predicted that situation in that church when Paul wrote, 8This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you (vs. 8).
Vs. 9. That previous pastor was the little bit of leaven that leavens the whole lump of dough. It only takes one rotten apple to eventually make the whole bushel bad. A small amount of falsehood can corrupt the thinking and living of a large group of people. The previous pastor was wreaking havoc on the church, in fact he had a history and reputation of doing that at every church he pastored after he left.
Vs. 10. Though they in Galatian had turned away, Paul has confidence that they will return to faith alone in Christ. Here is hope for you if have walked away from God, His truths, or have been duped into thinking that there is any other way to God. You can rest assured that You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that You would walk in them. (Eph 2:10). Once you know God’s truth, if you want to remain free – obey His truth.
V. Never Abuse Your Freedom (vs. 13). Grace says that you don’t have to continually sacrifice for your sins year after year. Grace says that you are free. The apostle makes clear again (see 5:1) that 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.
In the book of Galatians the primary freedom to which Paul refers is freedom from being bound to law as a system of government used to regulate daily life, including the Old Testament ceremonies. The Judiazers wanted to drag Christians back into that system.
Grace brings freedom, but it is not for the purpose of self-indulgence. Grace is not a means for satisfying the desires of your flesh. Your freedom should be used to help others as it tells us in vs. 14.
Illustration: The ultimate example of this is Christ Himself. No one could dispute that Christ was the epitome of freedom, He was only chained to a human body because he chose to lay aside his rights as God. Yet as the ultimate expression of His freedom, he chose the cross, the ultimate expression of love, which looked very much like bondage. But he made it clear before he went to the cross that it was his choice: "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
Vs. 15. As it states here, there are consequences for not loving one another. If you choose to back-bite, back-stab etc… be careful because you will eventually get bitten yourself.
Conclusion. All through this letter of Galatians, we see a contrast between the way of the Law and the way of Grace, the way of works and the way of faith, the way of man and the way of God. Following that same pattern, we also explicitly or implicitly see the contrasts of Hagar/Sarah, Ishmael/Isaac, children of Satan/children of God, commandments/ promise, wrath/mercy, bondage/freedom, Old Covenant/New Covenant, Sinai/Zion, present Jerusalem/Jerusalem above, fleshly/spiritual, rejection/inheritance, and lostness/salvation.
Likewise, all through Scripture we see examples that shows the contrast between the way of Satan and the way of God. Ultimately Satan is destroyed and God reigns forever. That is why going back and forth between the two, works and grace is unacceptable. The Bible tells us in Rev 3 that God hates luke warm and you become luke warm by going between on fire for Christ and cold and indifferent with Christ.
God wants you to be free to worship Him, serve Him, and love others.
A young boy wrote a letter to his mother:
Dear Mom,
For cleaning my room: 25c
For doing the dishes: 25c
For taking out the trash: 25c
For cutting the grass: 25c
Total: $1.00
The mother came home and read the note. She then pulled out the dollar and placed it with his note. She then wrote her own note.
Dear Son,
For carrying you 9 months: No Charge
For staying up all night with you when you were sick: No Charge
For helping you with homework when you didn’t know how to do it: No Charge
For working 2 jobs so you can have those nice shoes and food on the table: No Charge
The son came home and saw the dollar. Then he noticed her note. When the mother came home that evening he said to her, “Mom, what else can I do for you?”
That is grace. That is freedom to help others because you have been given help.
