Are You Living In The Freedom Of Grace? (Galatians 5:1-4)
GIST: We have been rescued, so we can truly live, but we need to be deliberate because there is no middle ground.
This morning we’re coming to the first section of Galatians chapter 5. We’ve moved through Paul’s passionate appeal to these early Gentile believers not to fall into the trap of thinking you need to do particular works in order to be saved. He has argued from experience and Scripture that justification, being declared righteous as you’re rescued from your sins, is the gift of grace through faith. Now, maybe at long last for many of you ☺️, we’re coming to the application section of his letter. For the final two chapters, he breaks down what freedom in Christ looks like. Today, we’re just going to look at his opening points which give us the broader strokes of his argument. We’ll then see more specific aspects of this freedom in Christ over the next several weeks. Let’s read verses 1-4 today→
“1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”
Here’s this morning’s gist: We have been rescued, so we can truly live, but we need to be deliberate because there is no middle ground. Let’s look into that. First→
I. We Have Been Rescued So We Can Truly Live
This first line is so key. “1 For freedom Christ has set us free;” The repetition of the concept of freedom is pretty obvious, right ☺️? And as simple as this might seem on the surface, it’s actually incredibly profound→
Jesus Freed Us So We Could Be Free. And this is more than just a nominal designation. The transformation from slave to sin to freed in Christ should be all encompassing. We’re not just freed from consequences, but to be free to live purposefully and abundantly. I know this might just sound like semantics or “church-ese”, so let me try to break this down. Often when we talk about being saved, we focus on what we’re being saved from and not what we’re being saved to. You’ve probably heard pastors refer to this as people looking to get “fire-insurance” or a “get out of Hell free card”. I definitely think that is what motivates many to make professions of faith. They aren’t coming to Jesus. They’re just running from the idea of Hell. This isn’t salvation. If you walked an isle or prayed a prayer because you didn’t want to go to Hell and not because you saw your need for a savior who loves you— a savior who will then walk with you, a savior who will define your life from this moment forward— then you need to examine your heart to see if you’ve ever really experience salvation at all.
When slavery was first abolished in this country, it wasn’t a smooth transition to say the least. Former slaves were technically free, but their lives weren’t really much different, and many treated them like nothing had really happened. That racism was then fought against and continues to be fought against because freedom shouldn’t be in name only. You weren’t set free to just “be”. You were saved and rescued because you were in need of a complete transformation. You needed a new heart and a new direction. We use the term new life but then act like we’re really about remodeling. We wouldn’t expect a former slave to willingly return to a life of bondage as long as they thought their life wouldn’t end as poorly. They got their “freedom” stamp, so they’re safe from really bad stuff now. That just wouldn’t make sense.
Of course, though this might seem obvious, it’s not easy because it’s not natural. Slavery is all we know. So it’s easy to approach the whole idea of salvation through tainted lenses. If you’ve experienced salvation, you have been saved from more than just the consequences of your sins. You have been saved to live. You’ve been saved so that your life will be something completely other→
II. But We Need To Be Deliberate
Again, because this doesn’t come naturally. Paul knew this. Don’t be discouraged if you struggle to live the Christian life. It’s not easy. That’s why so many passages in the Bible call us to stand and take up our cross and not lose heart. Passages like the rest of verse 1 ☺️→ “... stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” This reminds us that there is an expectation of vigilance. Passive Christianity doesn’t work. In fact, it doesn’t exist. Let me break this down in two categories. We’re called first to→
Stand Firm In Grace. Make a conscious effort to walk in the freedom of grace. Be intentional about not wavering. I don’t want this to just seem like meaningless rhetoric. There is a lot that could be put under this category, but here’s how it hit me this week. I need to be intentional about how I spend my time and what I let into my heart. Time is short, so I don’t want to waste it. When I think about time, it overwhelms me because I definitely have less time in the day that I do tasks to accomplish. Still, do I use that time in ways that honor God, or do I allow things to creep in and take root that pull me away? Think as simply as the shows we watch or the books we read, or the places we go and the people we surround ourselves with. What are you feeding your heart? I’ve said it before and remind myself of this often. If trash goes in, trash is defining me.
The second thing that hit me was relationships take effort, so I need to take the steps. I will find times for the things that mean the most to me. Where is my prayer life and Bible study? It’s not natural to stand firm in His grace, so we have to be deliberate about letting it define our lives. On the flip side then, we need to also→
Stand Firm Against Slavery. Make a conscious effort to not fall back into slavery. The word translated “submit” here is actually really interesting. It carries the idea of willingly giving yourself over to, getting entangled with, or all wrapped up in something. If we’re truly saved, we can’t lose our salvation, but we can fall back into lives of slavery. Not only can we allow sin to enter our lives, but we can also live in such a way that we make our lives about us again. We can live like our hope is all wrapped up in what we do. Even in our pursuit of standing firm, we can make our successes or failures in that pursuit as signs that point to the authenticity of our salvation. We don’t stand firm in order to save ourselves. Instead, we stand firm because we’ve been saved and we want to walk with Him. We’re not slaves, so we want to live set free from the bondage that defined us before. We can now experience real fulfillment, and returning to slavery isn’t part of that.
So, we live deliberately→
III. Because There There Is No Middle Ground
Look at verses 2-4. “2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” These are strong words, and Paul is very clear. The situation is→
All Or Nothing. If we want to save ourselves, we are binding ourselves to expectations we can’t uphold. If you want to be saved by your own works, God has already laid out what that would look like in the Old Testament. We can’t just pick and choose what we want. The standard is perfection, and we won’t measure up. So if you put yourself under the law, you won’t experience the grace that saves. Let me just say it as clearly as possible. We’re talking about→
Eternal Separation. If you think doing enough will get you to Heaven, you’re currently lost and following good intentions straight to Hell. If we’re truly saved, we can’t lose our salvation, but as we saw earlier, we can fall back into lives of slavery. In this context, living for yourself points to never having experienced grace in the first place. We’re severed from Christ and falling away from the grace we’ve been presented. The situation is dire.
TAKEAWAYS
Salvation isn’t a membership card or free pass on Hell; it’s a transforming relationship meant to define your life. You have been set free to live. Every day this side of your rescue from sin is an opportunity to walk with Him and experience what He’s doing around you!
We need to deliberately stand close to Him and flee temptation by filling our hearts and minds with His Word. Dig deeply and consistently into the Bible. Spend time with people who will walk this road with you.
Please, don’t be fooled into thinking your efforts will ever get you to Heaven. That burden is one you cannot bear, and that road only ends in separation from the God who made you and poured out grace for you.
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