The Next Step: Serving In Love Series

INTRODUCTION

OPENING SLIDE

• Have you ever noticed how we’re really good at celebrating big moments—but not always sure what comes after?

• Graduation day comes… now what?

• The wedding ceremony ends… now what?

• Retirement finally arrives… Now what?

• Every milestone creates a next step.

• And the same is true in the Christian life.

• When we come to Christ, our sins are forgiven, the burden is lifted, and we rejoice in freedom—but eventually we ask: what does a free life in Christ actually look like?

• Once the chains come off, once the burden is lifted, once the debt is paid, what comes next?

• The Galatian Christians knew what it meant to be set free in Christ—but they were struggling with what to do with that freedom.

• Part of the struggle for them and for us today is the fact that we really do not understand what freedom is.

• How many of you remember telling your parents that you could wait to become an adult so that you could do whatever you wanted to do when you wanted to do it?

• This was likely said after your parents set a curfew or forbade you from doing something.

• Then reality hits you one day because the day you longed for finally came.

• Imagine standing at the edge of a vast wilderness, the sun shining brightly, representing the freedom you’ve always longed for.

• But as you step into this freedom, you realize that it comes with responsibility.

• When we mature in life, we realize that freedom does not mean we get to do whatever we want; it actually brings us enormous responsibility.

• Adults who fail in life do not understand this, and Christians who fail in their faith do not understand this either.

• What to do with our freedom in Christ.

• Paul answers that question clearly—and maybe uncomfortably.

• Paul writes to the Galatians, addressing the confusion surrounding freedom in Christ versus the bondage of the law.

• They had experienced the liberating grace of Jesus but were tempted to revert to legalism.

• Paul clarifies that true freedom is not about self-indulgence but about loving service to one another.

• Freedom in Christ is not the ultimate goal of the Christian life; it is merely the beginning.

• Let’s turn to our text together this morning as we explore three key aspects of our passage of taking the next step in keeping in step with the Holy Spirit in our lives today.

Galatians 5:13–14 NET 2nd ed.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

SERMON

I. The Call

• Paul begins with a reminder—not a command, but a calling.

• Verse 13 begins with the statement to the Galatians that they were called to freedom.

• The Greek preposition (for) used here indicates a goal or purpose; consequently, the very purpose of the Christian calling is that the believer might be free.

Galatians 5:1 NET 2nd ed.

1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.

1 Corinthians 7:23 NET 2nd ed.

23 You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.

• This freedom is something Christians ought to treasure because it was purchased with the "priceless blood of Christ."

Freedom begins with God’s initiative.

• Paul says, “You were called.”

• That language matters.

• This is not something they achieved.

• This is not something they earned.

• This is not something they maintained on their own.

• Freedom in Christ is the result of God’s grace, not human effort.

• For a church shaped by God’s Word (which the Restoration Movement, from which our church finds its roots), this is essential:

• We restore New Testament faith—not to earn salvation.

• We follow Scripture—not to prove ourselves.

• We obey Christ—because He has already set us free.

• Freedom is not a reward for obedience; obedience is the response to freedom.

• This means that our freedom, which was purchased by the blood of Jesus, comes with responsibility.

• Paul reminds the Galatians that their calling is rooted in the freedom offered by Christ.

Freedom Is the Opposite of Bondage—Not the Absence of Direction

• Our freedom in Christ is not merely a license to do as one pleases but a divine invitation to embrace a new way of life.

• The Galatians had been enslaved to the law—rules without relationship.