Called to be Free - Galatians 5:13-26

Verse 13.

Let's hear God's word.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature,

rather serve one another in love.

The entire law is summed up in a single command.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out,

or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, live by the Spirit,

and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit,

and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.

They are in conflict with each other,

so that you do not do what you want.

But if you are led by the Spirit,

you are not under law.

The acts of sinful nature are obvious.

Sexual immorality,

impurity and debauchery,

idolatry and witchcraft,

hatred,

hatred,

discord,

jealousy,

fits of rage,

selfish ambition,

dissensions,

functions,

and envy,

drunkenness,

orgies,

and the like.

I warn you, as I did before,

that those who live like this

will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus

have crucified the sinful nature

with its passions and desires.

Since we live by the Spirit,

let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited,

provoking and envying each other.

Ralph, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Thank you, Johnny.

Thanks for reading this morning

from Galatians for us.

Back in April,

the science magazine called

New Scientist

asked this question.

It was their lead article.

It was on their front page.

Who are you?

They looked at all kinds of ideas

about what makes you,

you,

what makes you uniquely you.

And the conclusion of the articles

is it's not actually your temperament

or your personality

or your memories,

all the things that you've experienced

that make you truly you.

Actually,

when it comes down to it,

our perception of others

that we see

is that of the moral self

as being the true self,

which is kind of interesting.

So when we're asked

of when someone

has been true to themselves,

it's when they're being true

to their moral selves.

And this is what the article

was concluding.

That's who we truly are,

apart from all of the other things.

So what it's really saying

is that moral behavior matters.

The things we do

and the things we say

are like a window

onto a person's real self.

You see,

in an age of social media,

of self-promotion,

of building your own identity

and different identity issues

that we struggle with,

we still continue to value

people who act

in line with their moral sense.

Hypocrisy is frowned upon

and freedom to be our true selves

is cherished.

And this recent scientific article

that focused on the moral self

as being that kind of a window

onto the true self,

it's actually coming

from a much,

much older source.

You see,

the Bible,

the Bible has always been

the great book

on the human condition.

It's always told us

all that we need to know

about who we are.

And it tells us

the same thing,

that the moral self

is a window

on the soul.

Look at these words

from Jesus,

from Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Each tree is recognized

by its own fruit.

People do not pick figs

from thorn bushes

or grapes from briars.

A good man brings good things

out of the good

stored up in his heart.

And an evil man

brings evil things

out of the evil

stored up in his heart.

For the mouth speaks

what the heart is full of.

And in some ways

you can say,

so far,

so good.

But for you

and for I

and for many

attending churches

this morning,

there is a deep,

deep conflict

in our moral center.

On the one hand,

we know the good

that we should do

and that we want to do.

Yet there is a struggle,

a struggle as a Christian,

as a believer,

as a follower of Jesus,

when we do not obey Jesus

and when we do not

honor him.

Put very simply,

Christians,

this is not going to be

a shock to anyone,

Christians continue to sin.

The core of the New Scientist

magazine article

focused in actually

on this very conflict,

very interesting,

even as it relates

to professing Christians,

this struggle of identity

of who the true self is.

And this is a quote

from the article.

I've just clarified

a few things towards the end

and that's the bit in brackets.

In the 1980s,

evangelical Christian

Mark Pierpont,

he traveled the world

preaching that homosexuality

was a sin

and promoting ways

to resist gay urges.

For him,

it was a deeply

personal quest.

He himself was wracked

by the very yearnings

he sought to excise

from others.

And it was a contradiction

he openly acknowledged.

So here's the question.

Which of Pierpont's attitudes

reflected his true self?

Was his message

about the sinfulness

of homosexuality

a betrayal

of his essential gay self?

Or did that message

reflect what he was

deep down?

That is,

a Christian freed

from distorting

sinful urges.

It's a good question,

isn't it?

Which one reflects

the true self?

As we come to Galatians,

Paul is writing

to churches

in the area of Galatia,

local churches,

in many ways

just like the church here,

and to Christians

in those churches

to free them

to be their true self.

And they need to be freed

from two forms of slavery.

Two forms of slavery.

Slavery to sin

and slavery to legalism.

Look back at chapter 3

and verse 22.

Which will help

to give some context

as we dive into chapter 5.

Chapter 3

and verse 22

and 23.

Page 1170.

But the scripture declares

that the whole world

is a prisoner of sin.

So that what was promised,

being given through faith

in Jesus Christ,

might be given

to those who believe.

Before this faith came,

the promise of faith,

we were held prisoners

by the law,

locked up,

until faith should be revealed.

So the whole world

is imprisoned

by the law.

Now the law was given

to highlight sin,

to keep society in order,

and to keep sinful practice

at bay.

But apart from faith in Jesus,

both the law and sin

are enslaving people,

keeping them prisoners.

And then we come to

Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

and verse 1

as Paul begins the section

about freedom in Christ.

He writes right at the beginning

of chapter 5,

It is for freedom

that Christ

has set us free.

Echoing those words

that Johnny read earlier

from the Gospels,

Jesus,

the call of Jesus

to be free.

Paul says,

Stand firm then

and do not let yourselves

be burdened again

by a yoke of slavery.

Paul is saying that

Christ came

to give us freedom.

Stand in that freedom

and do not be imprisoned

all over again.

It's a call to live

truly free lives.

And leads us up to

our key verse this morning,

which is verse 13.

You, my brothers and sisters,

were called to be free.

But do not use your freedom

to indulge the sinful nature.

Rather, serve one another

in love.

In verse 13,

I think there's three things

that we see clearly

and we want to look

at each one of them

this morning

a little bit more

from the Scriptures.

The first is a statement

of freedom,

the call to be

our true selves.

The second is a warning

about sin.

And finally,

a call to serve others

in love.

Statement of freedom,

a warning about sin,

a call to serve others

in love.

Firstly,

the statement of freedom

is a call

and it's a call

to liberating

Christian freedom.

That's not a term

often associated

with Christianity.

Christianity is often seen

by the world

as a straitjacket,

but it is full

of this call

to freedom

and a freedom

that is based

foundationally

on our identity,

who we are,

our true selves,

our authentic selves.

Paul reminds the church

in Galatia

that their identity

has been aligned

with that of Jesus Christ,

what he has done,

who he is.

As they say,

the clue is in the name.

Christian,

Christ's ones,

those who are in Christ.

That's what Christian means,

a follower of Jesus,

to be in Christ.

The basis for identity

as a Christian,

as a Christ follower

is in Christ.

And I think we see that

quite clearly actually

a few verses earlier

in verse 6,

chapter 5 and verse 6,

for in Christ Jesus,

neither circumcision

nor uncircumcision

has any value.

The only thing

that counts

is faith

expressing itself

through love.

You see the language

there in verse 6,

in Christ Jesus,

identity language,

identifying with Jesus.

And we read then

that to be in Christ Jesus

neither circumcision

nor uncircumcision

counts.

And what circumcision,

you can kind of think

of circumcision

as law keeping,

as rule keeping,

as keeping the regulations,

keeping the rituals,

keeping the traditions.

And then we can think

of uncircumcision

as casting aside

the moral law,

casting aside

those regulations

and living as if

there was no law.

What Paul is saying

neither circumcision,

law keeping on one hand,

nor uncircumcision,

which is licentiousness

or living for self

or ignoring the law,

neither of those

have any value.

No, the only thing

that matters

is faith,

verse 6.

And Jesus says

that's a faith

that expresses itself

through love.

A love for God

and a love for others.

So to be in Christ,

that great language

in verse 6,

and you see it all

through the New Testament,

is to be united

to Him in faith

and that,

my brothers and sisters,

has changed forever.

how we are to identify

and how we are to live.

You are a new you.

You are a new you.

The old has gone

and the new has come.

The authentic you

has been wholly

and radically changed.

And this change

has come about

through Jesus' death

which rescues us

from sin.

Again,

we're just going to go

just one more time

back to the beginning

of Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

Galatians chapter 1

Galatians 1:3–5

verses 3 to 5.

I think these are

great verses

to show that

this change

has been brought about

by Jesus' death.

Paul writing

right at the beginning

is setting the scene

for the book

and he says,

grace and peace

to you

from God

our Father

and the Lord

Jesus Christ

and this Jesus

who gave himself

for our sins

to rescue us

from the present

evil age

according to the will

of our God

and Father

to whom be glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

We are rescued

from this age

rescued

from sin

we're rescued

from lawlessness

and we've been brought

into the kingdom

of God

and that's

because we've been

united through faith

by the Holy Spirit.

Our identity

our true selves

is now bound up

in who Jesus is

and what Jesus has done.

That's our new identity.

It's linked

inextricably linked

who we are

with who Jesus is

and a spirit changed

identity

is now the basis

for our true identity.

Back to Galatians 5

and this is where

we will spend

the rest of our time

this morning.

Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

and verse 25

Since we live

by the Spirit

let us keep

in step

with the Spirit

since we've been

made alive

since we have

this new birth

since we live

because of the Spirit

that's the basis

for our life

keep in step

with the Spirit

and we see

similar language

in verse 16

right at the beginning

so I say

live

by the Spirit

and just glance down

to verse 18

you are led

by

the Spirit

Paul says

that the true believer

is led

by the Spirit

where

the Spirit

goes

we go

as we walk

and keep

in step

with Him

this is the Spirit

led life

our new identity

so the call

to liberating

Christian freedom

is based

on your identity

your true self

the authentic self

which is a person

who has been united

to Christ

by faith

through the Holy Spirit

and so we have

this Spirit

led life

secondly

from verse 13

there is

there is a warning

there is a warning

do not use

your freedom

for sin

our new identity

in Christ

means that we

follow the Spirit

and as a result

we begin to know

the desires

of the Spirit

we too

keep in step

with the Spirit

and begin to know

and desire

the same things

that the Spirit

of God

desires

verse 17

for the sinful nature

desires what is

contrary to the Spirit

and the Spirit

what is contrary

to the sinful nature

they are in conflict

with each other

so that you do not do

what you want

we know the desire

of the Spirit

a desire which is

contrary

to desires

of sin

you see

the desire

of the Spirit

is always

away from sin

it's always

away from sin

and towards

obedience

in Jesus

the desire

the desire

of the Spirit

is away

from sin

and towards

Jesus

a Spirit

filled life

if you want to know

what a Spirit

filled life is

it's this

it's daily

turning from our sin

turning in repentance

from our sin

and turning towards

Jesus

in faith

that's what a Spirit

filled life

we turn from the sin

that we read about

in verses

19 to 21

that long list

and instead

we begin to desire

the fruit

of the Spirit

verses 22 to 23

the great

contrast

against that list

of sins

and we can be free

we can be free

to turn from our sin

and turn to Christ

because of verse

24

verse 24 says

those who belong

to Christ Jesus

have crucified

the sinful nature

with its passions

and desires

you see

we belong to Christ

we now live by the Spirit

verse 25

and because we belong

to Christ

and we live by the Spirit

we can use this

new found freedom

from the law

and from sin

to walk

with

the Spirit

but we're not free

we're not free

I want to stand

as my authentic self

under this banner

of freedom

but I don't always

feel free

some days

I actually feel

trapped in my life

with its

competing demands

on one hand

I wish to love

Jesus

but on the other hand

I just want to focus

on me

and I want

and I need others

to look after me

and my needs

our freedom

means that we can look

out from ourselves

that's what this freedom

in Christ means

we can look out

from the true authentic self

and we can look outwards

but sin is still there

taking my love

and this is something

that Martin Luther

would say

or Augustine

they would say

and put it this way

it's taking that love

and it's in a sense

curving

that love

that we express

back in

on ourselves

and that love

that we want to express

is just curving

being bent

back into ourselves

as fundamentally

a self

love

it's as if

the true self

which is identified

now with the

spirit of God

is being

misdirected

as we want to live out

as we want to live out

our new identity

in Christ

that love

is being misdirected

and turned back

in

on itself

which really

is what sin

is in many ways

it's a turning

of our love

back into ourselves

and so for all

the talk of

freedom in the

Christian life

and I know

if you've experienced

this you hear people

and they're

they express that

in some ways

and they're

overcoming sin

and they're

growing in their

faith

for all the talk

of freedom

in the Christian

life

I just feel

that that tension

and that

that that

that burden

in my heart

it doesn't always

feel free

it almost feels

like because I'm

a Christian

it's it's more

tense

I almost feel

more encased

in at times

verse 17

isn't it

is a description

of that

heart

prison

for the sinful

nature desires

what is contrary

to the spirit

and the spirit

what is contrary

to sinful nature

they're in conflict

with each other

so that you do

not do

what you

want

and so the spirit

and the sinful

nature are in

conflict

both desiring

different things

for Mark Pierpont

his struggle

was with his

Christian identity

and his deep

desire to live

a gay life

now other

struggles

may be more

subtle

I don't know

what they are

for you

maybe it's

you're an office

worker

who pours

your soul

into your job

and you put

all the emphasis

in that

and you want

to do well

in your job

but it's

becoming all

consuming

and begins

to rule us

and cause

anxiety

and stress

yet our

love

for our own

identity

in that

keeps turning

our efforts

and our energy

and our time

back into itself

so that I can

achieve my

ambitions

and my goals

in my job

so in our

hearts

we feel

divided

like there

are two

opposing

forces

battling

for control

at the very

centre

and so

I think

it's very

difficult

as a Christian

it's something

I've

wrestled with

a lot

recently

to understand

what is it

within us

that continues

to sin

or to desire

to sin

because the

Bible has

such strong

language

about moving

from

you move

from death

to life

you move

out of this

kingdom of

darkness

and you move

into this

kingdom of

light

it says

it speaks

of dying

and being

born again

of our

baptism

our Christian

baptism

as a

demonstration

that we

have died

to the old

life

it's gone

and buried

and now

we've been

raised

in the waters

of baptism

and raised

with Christ

into a new

life

seated with

Christ

in the

heavenly realms

Paul writes

that we are

a new creation

the old

has gone

and the new

has come

again

writing in

Galatians

he says

I have been

crucified

with Christ

and I no longer

live but Christ

lives in me

if all of this

is true truth

how is sin

still there

and how is it

that I can

continue

to sin

why do I

still feel

that tension

because the

truth is

I do

continue

to sin

my desires

are being

misdirected

and my love

is being

misdirected

by my

sinful nature

so I

continue

to use

my freedom

to curve

my love

back to

myself

constantly

as if I

am a

slave

to sin

and without

freedom

those opposing

verses

of

those opposing

forces of

verse 17

are at war

leading to

the kind

of acts

that we

read about

in verses

19 to

21

the battle

with sin

to battle

with it

we need

the light

of God's

word

to lead

the way

to lead

our thinking

to lead

our hearts

the truth

is still

this

it is still

true

verse 24

those who

belong to

Christ Jesus

have crucified

the sinful

nature

with its

passions

and desires

we

have

died

to sin

we

are set

free

from sin

this is

truth

when you

came to

faith

in Jesus

you moved

from the

kingdom of

sin

to the

kingdom

of

obedience

and you

made a

decisive

decisive

break

with

sin

you see

we are

no longer

slaves

to that

sin

to that

way

of

living

instead

we are

a son

of God

indwelt

by the

Holy Spirit

sin

is not

yet fully

done

in our

lives

we know

that

it's

dead

sin

is

defeated

but

its

lingering

effects

are

still

present

you see

repurposing

a whole

life

repurposing

a soul

repurposing

a person

in a

body

for life

and a

spirit

it's

like

trying

to

reuse

a deep

sea

oil

drilling

platform

and you're

going

what

do you know

if you ever see

pictures

you know

in the

north sea

those big

massive

oil

platforms

well a

deep sea

oil

platform

it drills

deep

down

into the

sea

to bring

up

oil

stored

within

the

seabed

and in

a sense

our

lives

have

drilled

deep

down

into

the

depths

of

our

heart

into

our

true

selves

apart

from

Christ

and in

those

depths

it is

hit

layer

upon

layer

upon

layer

of

sin

and

it is

from

these

sinful

oil

seams

and

deposits

that

are

in

our

hearts

that

the

sinful

acts

have

spilled

up

and

out

acts

as we

read

about

of

sexual

morality

idolatry

hatred

selfish

ambition

envy

and

like

but

through

faith

in

Jesus

that

poisonous

and

destructive

well

of sin

has been

capped

and the

drilling

platform

has been

relocated

we've

been

cut

from

those

depths

of

sin

and

we

have

been

replanted

now

we

are

tapped

into

a

well

of

living

water

that

now

flows

up

through

our

lives

by

the

spirit

living

water

producing

fruit

fruit

of

love

of

joy

of

peace

of

patience

of

self

control

but

here's

the

thing

that

drilling

platform

of

our

lives

it's

still

coated

in

the

oily

residue

and

gunk

as we

walk

with

the

spirit

we

sometimes

falter

and we

begin

drilling

again

into

those

seams

and

pockets

of

sin

that

still

seem

to

linger

but

for

the

believer

and

this

is

crucial

for

the

believer

the

drilling

rig

of

our

lives

is

being

renewed

day

by

day

all

the

machinery

all

the

working

parts

every

corner

of

our

lives

is

being

reclaimed

and

washed

out

by

living

water

it's

a long

process

and

it's

a hard

process

and

it's

a process

sometimes we

feel like

it'll never

end

but it

will

ultimately

when the

Lord

returns

or we

go to

be

with

him

and

that

process

is

called

sanctification

that's

the word

we use

to

describe

it

becoming

more

like

Jesus

over

time

we

see

sanctification

in

verse

16

and

this

is

the

heart

of

it

so

I

say

live

by

the

spirit

and

you

will

not

gratify

the

desires

of

the

sinful

nature

that's

what

sanctification

is

living

by

the

spirit

not

gratifying

the

desires

of

the

sinful

nature

repenting

from

our

sin

turning

in

faith

to

Jesus

there

is

a

warning

however

there

is

a

very

stark

warning

in

this

passage

for

some

that

drilling

platform

has

never

been

moved

you

are

still

continuing

to

drill

down

into

a

deep

well

of

your

own

identity

apart

from

Christ

and

into

your

own

self

love

and

you

drill

and

you

drill

and

your

life

is

continually

being

re-coated

by the

practice

and

the

enjoyment

of

sin

so

instead

of

there

being

clean

up

operations

taking

place

in

your

life

there

are

new

layers

of

oily

sin

being

pumped

around

your

life

each

day

that

is

why

the

warning

at

the

end

of

verse

21

is

so

strong

do

you

see

it

verse

21

just

the

second

half

of

it

I

warn

you

as

I

did

before

that

those

who

live

like

this

will

not

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

you

see

these

verses

19

to

21

are

characterizing

the

life

of

an

unbeliever

those

who

haven't

been

born

again

and

haven't

been

united

to

Christ

in

faith

this

is

one

whose

life

is

marked

out

by

an

unrepentant

practice

of

sin

the

warning

is

for

those

whose

heart

has

never

truly

changed

those

who

from

the

depths

of

that

heart

bring

forth

a

life

that

is

just

marked

by

unrepentant

sin

they

will

not

the

scriptures

say

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

for

their

kingdom

is

still

a

kingdom

of

sin

final

part

of

verse

13

you

are

free

that's

how it

begins

stay away

from sin

and

finally

serve

one

another

serve

one

another

the

good

news

through

all

of

this

is

that

the

believer

is

indeed

free

and

in

all

that

talk

of

sin

don't

lose

sight

of

this

you

are

free

you're

free

to

have

that

battle

with

sin

others

are

not

they

are

slaves

to

sin

and

slaves

to

the

law

but

we

are

free

from

sin

and

we're

free

to

serve

we

can

now

read

through

some

of

these

verses

again

and

see

how

they

shift

our

focus

away

from

ourselves

into

serving

one

another

verse

13

do

not

use

your

freedom

to

indulge

the

sinful

nature

do

not

wallow

in

that

oily

mess

but

rather

continue

to

clean

it

up

in

your

life

by

serving

one

another

that

inward

bend

that

inward

bend

that's

curving

in

on

yourself

should

each

and

every

day

just

become

a

little

less

as

you

grow

in

your

relationship

with

Jesus

it

should

start

to

curve

less

and

less

inward

you

do

not

need

to

give

in

to

sin

you're

free

so

you're

free

you're

free

this

Thursday

to

forget

about

that

me

time

that

you're

planning

because

you just

want to

focus

on

yourself

you're

free

instead

to

call

over

and

spend

that

time

with

your

sister

in

the

Lord

who

needs

your

encouragement

you're

free

to

serve

it

doesn't

all

have

to

be

about

you

the

blessedness

of the

Christian

life

is that

our

freedom

means

that

we are