Freedom is Here | Donovan Rillion | Stand Firm in Freedom

Aaron took it easy on y 'all last week, because

if I would have been preaching about revival,

the first thing I would have told you is the

Cane Ridge revival, which is one of the key moments

in restoration history, restoration movement

history, where the Church of Christ started,

lasted seven days. And there are some reports

that say it went on for weeks and weeks after

that. So I'm just saying, we're going to talk

about revival. I'm going to need y 'all to stop

worrying about the hour mark on the service,

okay? All right? No, I'm just kidding. I'm super

grateful for Aaron filling in last week. He does

such an awesome job. I loved his message and

what it means. And I do believe we need to hear

a message of revival because here's the thing.

We're talking about freedom. And when the Restoration

Movement, where the churches of Christ are born

out of, the Christian churches are born out of,

when the Restoration Movement started, The whole

principle was we want to be free from all of

these traditions and markers that we use to define

our denominations. We just want to be Christians.

We just want to be followers of Christ. And so

we pray for that. We pray for that restoration

of that simple gospel message of just Jesus.

And so today I want to pray that revival starts.

and continues here in this congregation, but

more so in the church across the world. Can we

pray together for that? Let's pray. Father God,

we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for the

power of his work. We thank you for the power

of the Spirit and the way that the Spirit works

within our lives, within us, but more importantly,

the way that the Spirit stirs up a group of people

to do amazing things for your kingdom. And God,

this morning we're praying for revival. We're

praying that we would be restored to this just

Jesus gospel, this gospel that says we are going

to follow and proclaim a life of Christ. And

so, God, today we pray for that. We pray that

you revive our spirits. We pray that you revive

this congregation, revive the church, the kingdom

in this world so that we would do the work that

you've put us here for. Father, we love you and

we thank you. We praise you for your might and

your goodness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So we're coming to a close in Paul's letter.

Well, I say a close. We're kind of on the back

end of Paul's letter to the church in Galatia.

Remember, that's modern -day Turkey. And all

throughout this letter... Paul has been fighting

against this false teaching, these teachers that

were trying to tell you that there is something

more that you need to do to be in good standing

with God. The Galatian believers were being told

that Jesus wasn't enough, that they had to somehow

work to receive salvation, that they had to earn

their salvation. They were being told things

like, you need to fulfill these laws in order

for the work of Jesus to save you. And so Paul

is fighting against these Jesus plus gospels.

And the Galatian believers were, they were falling

for it. And so what Paul is really illustrating

to us in this letter is he's not having any of

that. He is not going to stand idly by while

the church of Christ is misled. While the church

of Christ is being brought to these false gospels

and falling for it, he's not going to stand by

for it. He spent the first half of this letter

making the case that you are free. That you're

free from the bondage of sin, but you're also

free from the bondage of tradition and man's

law and the old law. And not only were you saved

from... Those things. You weren't just saved

from your sin. You weren't just saved from the

law. You weren't just saved from. You were saved

into something. We've talked about the family

where God has adopted you in. What Paul is wanting

you to know is you were saved into a family.

You were saved into a purpose. You were saved

into a place of belonging in the Father's house.

And so now, as we move into the second half of

Paul's letter. He's going to give a final plea

to the church in Galatia. He wants to make sure

that the church understands exactly what he is

trying to get them to know. He wants to make

sure they know exactly where they stand when

it comes to their relationship with God. And

he does not want the church to backslide. He

doesn't want the church to go back into the bondage

of sin or to go back. into the bondage of the

law. And so I want us to read Galatians 5. We're

going to read all 12 verses and then we're going

to kind of break it down. So Galatians 5 verses

Galatians 5:1–12

1 through 12. For freedom Christ has set us free.

Stand firm therefore and do not submit again

to a yoke of slavery. Look, I, Paul, say to you

that if you accept circumcision, Christ will

be of no advantage to you. I testify again to

every man who accepts circumcision that he is

obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed

from Christ, you who would be justified by the

law. You have fallen away from grace, for through

the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait

for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ

Jesus, Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision

counts for anything, but only faith working through

love. You were running well. Who hindered you

from obeying the truth? The persuasion is not

from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens

the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord

that you will take no other view, and the one

who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever

he is. But if I... Brothers, still preach circumcision.

Why am I still being persecuted? In that case,

the offense of the cross has been removed. I

wish those who unsettle you would emasculate

themselves. Pretty bold stuff from Paul there.

And that's some pretty strong language. But the

first thing we have to talk about, first thing

is we have to note the word therefore. There

in verse 1. Whenever you see the word therefore,

what we have to know is that this means in response

to or because of what I just said. So Paul has

said all that stuff in chapters 1 through 4 of

this letter about your freedom and you being

adopted into the family of God and this belonging

and this gospel that you need to obey. And he's

attacked these counterfeit gospels. And so he's

saying because of all of that, stand firm. When

we see, therefore, in verse 1, what Paul is saying...

Oh, there's another slide of passages. Hope you

had your Bibles open. What Paul is saying is

because Christ has freed us, we now have to stand

firm in that freedom. There's no going back.

There is no going back to the old ways. Whatever

your old ways may be, whether, again, whether

that be the bondage of sin, Whether that be the

bondage of addiction. Whether that be the bondage

of rule keeping and law keeping, whatever it

is, don't go back. Stand firm in the freedom

that you now have. And when Paul says stand firm,

he's explaining that this takes an active effort

on our part to stay in this place of freedom.

It's not something we can do passively. It's

not something that we can accidentally do. When

he says stand firm, he's saying you take ownership

of your place in freedom. Do your part to stay

free. Because we have been made free. But if

we're not attentive to our freedom, if we're

not paying attention to this liberty that we

now have in Christ, we might find ourselves living

in bondage still. There's a story told by a preacher

of a former slave woman living in the South after

the Civil War. And this is what this woman said.

She was a former slave, so she was a little confused

about her status. And she asked this. Now, is

I free or been I not? When I go to my old master,

he says I ain't free. And when I go to my own

people, they say I is. And I don't know whether

I'm free or not. Some people told me that Abraham

Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says

he didn't. He didn't have any right to. You see,

so many followers of Christ live like we're confused

as to whether or not we're free. We live as if

we don't know our standing when it comes to God.

We don't know if we do have this liberty to live

in the light of His salvation and in that liberty

and freedom that He's now given us. We don't

act like or we don't maybe feel like we have

had our chains removed from us. And so we live

with these restraints. And we also live with

this burdened conscience, not understanding and

not knowing and being comfortable in the idea

that we do have freedom. But Paul says, you are

free. No question about it. No debate. You are

free. Christ has signed this emancipation proclamation

for all of us. That if we're in Christ, if we

have given our lives to him, if we've accepted

his free gift of salvation, we no longer have

to submit to any earthly authorities. We no longer

have to submit to the bondage of sin. We no longer

have to submit to the bondage of the old law.

See, our old master would have us believe that

we are still slaves. But Christ says, absolutely

not. Free. You're free. The chains are gone.

The cell's been opened. You're free. Paul wants

to make sure that there is no confusion in our

status. And he says, don't look back. Do not

look back. Here's why we need to stay away from

that bondage. What Paul says in verses 2 -4.

He says, look, I, Paul, say to you that if you

accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage

to you. I testify again to every man who accepts

circumcision that he is obligated to keep the

whole law. You are severed from Christ. You who

would be justified by the law, you have fallen

away from grace. Paul is saying, if you're going

to follow a little bit of the law, you've got

to follow the whole law. You can't have a little

bit of it. If you want to follow the law, then

Jesus cannot help you. If you're going to submit

yourself to the yoke of slavery, you're going

to have to wear those chains always. That's what

Paul is saying. He says you can't have a little

bit of grace and a little bit of law. You can

either have all of Christ's grace and all of

the mercy that he's given you and all of the

freedom that he's given you, or you can find

yourself still under the law. And you can find

yourself still in bondage. You see, what I would

say Paul is saying, and this is my maybe not

apostle thought process speaking. If you're going

to trust in your own ability to save yourself,

if you're going to trust in your own ability

to get you into heaven, you're out of luck. Because

you're not strong enough. You're not good enough.

I'm not strong enough. I'm not wise enough to

do it myself. This is why we needed Christ from

the beginning. The legalists in Galatia were

trying to sell them these Jesus plus gospels

that made them mix the work of Christ with the

work of themselves. But the problem is the work

of ourselves will never be good enough. It will

never be good enough. It takes the steering wheel

out of Christ's hands. And I don't know about

you, but I want Jesus to be the one driving.

Grace and law are two very different systems.

They don't mix. And you can hear the way in Paul's

voice when he says, Look, I, Paul. What he's

saying is, he's reminding them of his authority,

of who he is. He's saying, I, I, Paul. The one

that you have trusted before. The one who has

taught you. The one who has brought the gospel

to you. The one who you have trusted for all

of this time. I, Paul, the apostle, sent to you

from God, am testifying. And if you've been in

court, you know what testifying is. It's a very

serious thing. It is not something you can just

throw out there. This is a matter of fact. A

matter of truth. It's a sworn statement. And

Paul is saying, this is the truth. Don't miss

it. Because to claim to follow Christ, yet act

like Christ isn't enough, is a tragedy. This

is what Martin Luther once said. He says, tongue

cannot express, nor heart conceive what a terrible

thing it is to make Christ worthless. And when

we try to do our own work, when we try to earn

our own salvation, when we try to get ourselves

into heaven, when we try to be our own savior,

we make Christ worthless. Worthless. I want you

to imagine a man walks into an upscale restaurant.

One of those places where they don't have prices

on the menu and you know immediately that you're

out of your depth. Maybe you've been to one of

those. Or maybe you're wise enough to not go

to one of those. But imagine a man walks into

an upscale restaurant where there's no prices

on the menu. He's kind of nervous because, you

know, he doesn't make that much money, but he

wants to treat himself. So he orders the best.

He gets the steak and the finest wine, and he

gets a nice dessert. He gets the full experience.

And so he's enjoying his dinner, and the waiter

comes up to him and says, Hey, I just want you

to know, I'm really pleased to let you know that

somebody has covered the cost of your dinner.

It's paid for. for. It's taken care of. The man

is shocked. And he says, are you sure? You know,

I don't need somebody else to cover the cost.

I can handle it myself. And the guy's like, yes,

sir. It's fully covered. This is a gift from

somebody. They wanted to do it for you. You don't

owe a thing. And now I want you to imagine that

instead of receiving this gift and walking out

in gratitude and a full stomach, the man instead

Tries to pay it himself. He insists on it. So

he gets the waiter and he's like, no, no, no,

you don't understand. I need the check. I got

to pay for it. And the waiter's like, no, sir,

I can't. I can't let you. Somebody's already

paid for it. And he's like, okay, I'm going to

pay somebody. So he storms into the kitchen.

He finds somebody. He's like, let me give you

money for all of this. And they're like, no,

sir, we can't. And finally, the manager of the

restaurant comes out. He says, hey, I don't know

what to tell you. Somebody's already paid for

it. So here's what we're going to do. If you

insist on paying for it, then you can pay the

full tab. But let me tell you, you can't afford

the full tab. Which, first of all, my pride would

have been like, what do you mean I can't afford

the full tab? I'll tell you a funny story. One

time I was at, we had this grocery store in Montgomery.

It was like one of those, you know, like fresh,

everything's healthy places called Fresh Market.

Really cool grocery store. I loved it. But a

little pricey. And I was looking for hot dogs

because the boys love hot dogs, and I didn't

go to Publix like I should have, and so I had

to stop at the Fresh Market because it was the

closest place I had to pick them up from school.

So I go in, and I'm looking for hot dogs. I cannot

find any, like, prepackaged, awful -for -you

hot dogs. So I finally, you know, humble myself

enough to ask one of the workers, hey, sir, where

are the hot dogs at? He's like, oh, well, you

can always go back to the meat department and

see if they've got any. That was mistake number

one. At that point, I should have walked out.

So I go to the meat department. And the guy standing

back there, he's like, yeah, we've got these

hot dogs. They're fresh, whatever, blah, blah,

blah. He's like, but if I were you, I'd probably

wait until they go on sale for Labor Day or something.

I was like, hold up. What do you mean if I were

you? You don't know what I got in my wallet.

Let me tell you something. Those are the most

expensive hot dogs I'd ever bought. And they

weren't even good enough for what they cost.

But so our pride would tell us, no, no, no. I

need to pay for this. I need to put my money

on this. I need to do my part in getting this.

But what the manager says is you cannot afford

it. It's out of your price range. Quit being

so prideful and understand that it is not something

you can pay for. And that's what we have here

with our salvation. Paul is saying it's not something

that you can pay for. It's not something that

you can earn. It's not something that you can

work for. Our pride tells us we need to contribute

to our salvation. But the truth of the matter

is it is far beyond our affordability. And that

is what we're up against. Because we want to

save ourselves, don't we? We want to be the ones

that earns the good things we have. We don't

want to just sit idly by and let somebody give

us good stuff. We want to work for it. We want

to put our hands in the dirt and earn it. But

Paul says you can't. And this is why in verses

5 -6 he says this, For through the Spirit by

faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope

of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither

circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,

but only faith. Working through love. We eagerly

wait. He doesn't say we work. He doesn't say

we pay. He doesn't say we earn. He says we eagerly

wait. And you know what that's like, right? You

know what it's like to eagerly wait. Maybe Thanksgiving's

coming up. And if you're like me, you love Thanksgiving.

You love getting to eat some good food. And so

Thanksgiving comes around and you wake up and

you can smell because, you know, grandma or mom

has been cooking since like 4 a .m. because that's

just for some reason what we have to do even

though we don't eat until later in the afternoon.

But they've been cooking all morning. So you

wake up and you immediately smell the amazing

smells and aromas of Thanksgiving being cooked.

But you can't eat it. Until everybody gets there.

Until everybody's here to gather around the table

and eat. And so you sit down on the couch and

you start watching ESPN so they can talk about

the football games that are coming on that day.

And then you look in the kitchen and you can

see the ham getting pulled out. And you can smell

and now you can see the yams getting put on the

counter. And you see that green bean casserole.

I don't know why y 'all like that. For some reason

people like that, but you see it and you smell

it and you don't care about the football game

anymore. All you can think about is the meal

that you're about to eat and this feast and you

can smell it, you can see it, you can just imagine

what it's going to be like when you get to eat

it and you're eagerly waiting for that meal.

It's not a passive thing, is it? It's not something

that you're just like, yeah, when we eat, we

eat. If you're like me, you're going in the kitchen

trying to picket stuff and you're like, they

don't even matter that much. They're just bringing

the rolls and they're not that good. Can we just

eat without them? We eagerly wait with anticipation.

And that's the image Paul's painting here. He

says we're waiting for that day when Christ redeems

us. And what I don't, I mean, he's already done

the redeeming, but I'm talking about, you know,

that day when it's all finally complete and we

get our new bodies, we get our new home, we get

our new status. That day, we eagerly await it.

And he's saying it doesn't matter if you work.

It doesn't matter if you try to pay. You can't

earn it. You just eagerly wait. It doesn't matter

what you do. if you're walking in the Spirit,

if you're living by faith, if you are living

a life that trusts and follows the commands and

the words of God, you're safe. But don't miss

what I'm saying. Living by faith isn't just about

belief. I'm not saying we just sit idly by and

we sit on our hands until the day of judgment.

I'm not saying we don't do anything. I'm not

saying we don't say anything. Living by faith

It isn't just about belief. In fact, what Paul

says, he says faith working through love. It's

not saying working for love, working to earn

love. He's saying we're working through love.

It's faith in action. I can't just say I'm a

follower of Jesus. I can't just say that I'm

a believer. I can't just say I'm redeemed. My

life has to look like He's had His hands on it.

My life has to look like He's the one doing the

steering or He's the one doing the prompting.

He's the one doing the speaking. And when I live

that life, this is what it looks like. It's a

life led by the Spirit. It's a life working through

love. And here in verses 7 -9, Paul kind of feels

like a dad talking to a child who had so much

potential. You know, maybe you had a kid that

was really athletic or they were really smart.

And so Paul is talking to the Galatians like

a dad talking to his child that had so much potential

but kind of gets off track and maybe wastes that

potential a little bit. This is what he says

in verses 7 through 9. You were running so well.

Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This

persuasion, it's not from him who calls you.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Paul

sounds a little heartbroken. He's like, you were

doing so good. You had everything going for you.

You were doing all of the things you should.

You were living right. You were walking right.

You were talking right. And then all of a sudden,

somebody took you off track. What happened to

you? Who did this to you? Why? And then he tells

them, he knows why. A little leaven leavens the

whole lump. In other words, it only takes a little

bit of compromise to throw everything off. It

just takes a little bit, and you've seen it before,

right? Somebody was free. Somebody was clean.

Someone was running the race well, and then it

all fell apart. They relapse. They fall back

into that addiction, or they fall back into that

trap, and they go back to the lifestyle that

they were doing so well to stay away from. Because

they just let a little something in. You know,

we've heard the stories of the former alcoholics

that they had been sober for years. And then

one drink. And now they're back to just going

and wasting their life and their money and their

time and destroying their family because of this

one little thing. You let a little bit in. And

all of a sudden... You're back in the chains

of sin. And the same is true for the church.

When we let a little bit of legalism in, it leads

us to now being fully bound. By legalism. And

the same is true on the other end. We let a little

bit of compromise towards Scripture in and now

we're fully bound by this overwhelming progressivism.

And what Paul is saying is just trust the words

of Jesus. Just trust the commands that God has

given you and live by that. Don't allow these

false gospels to take you off track. But Paul

doesn't just leave them with a rebuke. He wants

to let them know that he still has a little bit

of confidence in the church, right? He gives

them this vote of confidence. He says this, I

have confidence in the Lord that you will take

no other view. I have confidence in the Lord

that you're going to do what you need to do.

You're going to follow Jesus and just Jesus.

And the one who's troubling you, he'll bear the

penalty. Whoever he is. I love that Paul says

whoever he is. Because I have a feeling Paul

knows exactly who he is. This is like, you know,

when your parents are talking about a friend

that's kind of messing you up. And they're like,

that little friend of yours. It's like, you can

just call them, you know, John. You know their

name, right? But they're like, no, no, no. Whoever

he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision,

why am I still being persecuted? In that case,

the offense of the cross has been removed. I

wish those who unsettle you would emasculate

themselves. He says, I've got confidence in the

Lord. Not confidence in you, not confidence that

you're strong enough, but confidence that God

will bring you back to truth. And Paul's not

soft on these false teachers either, is he? He

says, the one troubling you will bear the penalty.

They'll get theirs. And in verse 12, Paul makes

it very clear how dangerous false teaching is.

I'm not going to explain to you what emasculate

means. But if you want to look that up on your

own time, go ahead. I'll just say it's pretty

painful sounding. So Paul is telling them, he's

like, this thing, this false teaching, it's not

something that you just take lightly. Whoever

is teaching you these false gospels, whoever

is leading you astray, the penalty is going to

be theirs. They are going to have their trouble.

And honestly, I wish they would just go ahead

and punish themselves. Paul is showing just how

serious God takes the purity of the gospel. Just

how serious this just Jesus gospel is. False

teaching is not a minor issue to God. It's an

offense to the finished work of Christ. Jesus

has done the job. He's paid the bill. He's removed

the chains. And when we start telling people

that they have to pay. Their part? Or when we

start telling people that they've got to do some

work and undoing the chains? We've taken the

power away from Jesus. It's just Jesus who frees

us. It's only Jesus who pays the debt. And so

here's where we land. Paul is not just closing

this letter. He's making a final plea. He's saying,

don't go back. Don't go back. Don't return to

a system that Christ has already freed you from.

Don't just go back to this bondage. You weren't

just saved from sin. You were saved into something,

into a family, a purpose, a life of faith working

through love. So stop trying to earn what's already

been paid for. Stop letting that old master whisper

lies into your ear about your worth and your

status in the kingdom. Don't let him take your

freedom away. Whoever he is. I don't know who

your former master is. I don't know if it's your

greed. I don't know if it's lust. I don't know

if it's drugs. I don't know if it's alcohol.

I don't know if it's legalism. I don't know who

your old master is. But whoever he is, he'll

face his penalty. Don't let him put chains back

on you. Don't let him put chains that have already

been broken back on you. Your debt is gone. If

you are in Christ, you're free. If you are in

Christ, it's been paid. If you are in Christ,

you are in God's family. You have freedom. Stand

in it. Stand firm in that freedom that Christ

has given you. It's an active stand. It's not

something that happens passively. You've got

to work to stay in it. But it's already been

given to you. I think about that slave woman.

You know, she goes back to her master who has

no legal right to own her. But if she goes back

to him and starts doing a little work for him,

what's going to happen to her? She's back in

slavery. And she will not be free. But if she

leaves the master and she just does her job to

stay away from him, to not work for him, to not

give him an inch, she will never have to worry

about being his slave again. So I don't know

who your old master is. I know who mine is. Whoever

your old master is, do everything you can to

stay away from him. Don't go back. Stand firm

in the freedom that Christ has given you. If

you've wandered, if you've been trying to pay

your own way again, if you've let just a little

bit in, and you feel like the chains are starting

to get put back on you, if you can feel the cell

door closing, wherever you are today, whatever

you need today, we would love to pray for you,

pray with you. We'd love to help you find salvation

in Christ. Whatever you need, we invite you to

come now as we stand and as we sing.