Liberty Versus Legalism

GALATIANS 5:1-6

 

Living the Christian life in freedom involves receiving Christ’s true practical righteousness by faith and not by mechanical obedience to mere man-made rules. As Christians we have been set free from the curse of the Law and the control of the Law. That is correct! Christians should not be governed, motivated by, or directed by the OT Law nor the mere rules of religious organizations. Beloved, we are freed from the OT Law in Jesus Christ. The type of liberty into which believers are called is not a liberty that leads to license to sin, but is rather a freedom that leads to mature responsibility and holiness before God through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

Liberty must not be destroyed by Legalism either...a rigid adherence to man-made regulations does not result in salvation or growth in Christ. Legalism is not the Gospel at all; it is an attempt to add to the work of grace. In addition, there is nothing to fear when we emphasize real godly liberty in Christ! You see, to live by grace, through faith, gives one a free and deeply fulfilling Christian life. We are free to live out God’s plan and will with real power from the Spirit of Grace! The Holy Spirit is the secret to living godly in very practical ways. Let us consider some results of Liberty versus Legalism and then make some God-honoring decisions.

A.  LEGALISM RESULTS IN BANKRUPTCY.   Vs. 2-4 (vs. 3, “he is a debtor”)

Legalism by definition, is a strict adherence, or the principle of rigid devotion, to OT Law or legal prescriptions...traditions.  This is especially problematic when there is devotion to the letter of the OT Laws and traditions rather than the spirit of the Law. The spirit of the Law transcends the dispensation of the Law revealing the very nature of God…such principles are timeless. In contrast, legalism is exceedingly dangerous to real godly prosperity.

    1.  Believer Are Brought Back to Poverty Under the Law.  Vs. 2, “Christ shall profit you nothing”

Paul uses three phrases to describe the losses the Christian incurs when he turns from grace to Law:

       A. "Christ shall profit you nothing" (Gal.5:2);

       B. "a debtor to do the whole Law" (Gal.5:3);

       C. "Christ is become of no effect unto you"(Gal. 5:4).

This leads to the sad conclusion in Galatians 5:4: "Ye are fallen from grace." It is bad enough that legalism robs the believer of his liberty, but it also robs him of his spiritual wealth in Christ.  The believer living under Law becomes a bankrupt slave.

    2.  Sinners Are in Poverty Under the Law.  Gal. 5:1, “and be not entangled again” (See Gal. 4:9, “how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements”)

God's Word teaches that when we were unsaved, we owed God a debt we could not pay.

        A.  Sinners Come Short in Money.

Jesus makes this clear in His Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:36-50). Two men owed money to a creditor, the one owing ten times as much as the other. But neither was able to pay, so the creditor graciously forgave them both. 

        B.  Sinners Come Short of Glory.  Rom. 3:23

No matter how much morality a man may have, he still comes short of the glory of God.  Even if his sin debt is one tenth that of others, he stands unable to pay, bankrupt at the judgment bar of God. God in His grace, because of the work of Christ on the cross, is able to forgive sinners, no matter how large their debt may be.

In the case of the Galatians, legalism involved adding elements from the OT Law like the ritual of circumcision to gain salvation or to advance in spiritual growth. The erroneous formula is grace + works = salvation and spiritual growth. The problem here is there is nothing inadequate or missing in Jesus Christ and His complete redemptive work to warrant such supplementations. Beloved, Jesus is our redemption, sanctification, and glorification! We have no need to subsidize the work of God’s grace through our faith.

B.  LIBERTY RESULTS IN FREEDOM AND RICHES.   Gal. 5:1, “Christ hath made us free”

     1.  The Spiritual Riches Are With Christ.  Gal. 5:1, 2, 4, 6, “Christ”

Thus when we trust Christ, we become spiritually rich.  We now share in the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7), the riches of His glory (Eph. 1:18; Phil. 4:19), the riches of His wisdom (Rom. 11:33), and the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). In Christ we have "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col.  2:3), and we are "complete in Him"(Col. 2:10). Once a person is "in Christ," he has all that he needs to live the kind of Christian life God wants him to live.

     2.  Legalism Says You Need More then Christ.

You see the Legalist wants us to believe that we are "missing something," that we would be more "spiritual" if we practiced the OT Law with its demands and disciplines. They dismiss the fact that the Law was given to Israel (a nation) and carried major penalties for failures. But Paul makes it clear that the Law adds nothing—because nothing can be added! Instead, the Law comes in as a thief and robs the believer of the spiritual riches we have in Christ. It puts us back into bankruptcy, responsible for a debt we are unable to pay.

     3.  Grace is a Dependence upon Christ’s Resources.

To live by grace means to depend on God's abundant spiritual supplies for every need. To live by Law means to depend on our own strength—the flesh—and be left to get by without God's supply. Paul warns the Galatians that to submit to circumcision in these circumstances would rob them of all the benefits they have in Christ (though circumcision itself is an indifferent matter— Gal. 5:6; 6:15).

C.  LEGALISM RESULTS IN ENSLAVEMENT.  Gal. 5:1, “the yoke of bondage,”   Vs 3, “he is a debtor to do the hold law”

    1.  Enslaved to Keep the Whole Law.  Vs. 3

Furthermore, to submit would put them under obligation to obey the whole Law.  It is at this point that legalists reveal their hypocrisy, for they fail to keep the whole Law.  They look on the Old Testament Law the way a customer surveys the food in a cafeteria:  they choose what they want and leave the rest. But this is not honest. To teach that a Christian today should, for example, keep the Sabbath but not the Passover, is to dismember God's Law. Also remember dishonoring parents and adultery demanded a death penalty under the OT Law! When was the last time a "Christian" or "Church" obeyed that requirement? No, they dismiss such requirements believing it’s no longer required. Well, none of the OT Law is required for genuine Believers. 

     2.  Partial Obedience is Disobedience.  

The same Lawgiver who gave the one commandment also gave the other (James 2:9-11). Earlier, Paul had quoted Moses to prove that the curse of the Law is on everyone who fails to keep all the Law (Gal. 3:10; see Deut. 27:26). Again merely adhering to some laws while ignoring others is a violation of them all!

 Imagine a motorist driving down a city street and deliberately driving through a red light.  He is pulled over by a policeman who asks to see his driver's license. Immediately the driver begins to defend himself. "Officer, I know I ran that red light—but I have never robbed anybody. I've never committed adultery. I've never cheated on my income tax."

The policeman smiles as he writes out the ticket, because he knows that no amount of obedience can make up for one act of disobedience. It is one Law, and the same Law that protects the obedient man punishes the offender. To boast about keeping part of the Law while at the same time breaking another part is to confess that I am worthy of punishment. (Source Unknown)

D.  LEGALISM RESULTS IN A FALL.  Gal. 5:4, “ye are fallen from grace”

What does "Ye are fallen from grace" mean?  Some have taken it as teaching that salvation can be lost.

   1.  Falling from Grace is Not Losing Salvation.  

It is in this context that we can better understand what Paul means by "fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4).

      A.  Paul Addressed Them as Believers Throughout the Letter.

Certainly, he is not suggesting that the Galatians had "lost their salvation," because throughout this letter he deals with them as believers. At least nine times he calls them brethren, and he also uses the pronoun “we” (Gal. 4:28, 31). This Paul would never do if his readers were lost.   He boldly states, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father' " (Gal. 4:6). If his readers were unsaved, Paul could never write those words.  No, to be "fallen from grace" does not mean to lose salvation. (Wiersbe) 

      B.  Living Spiritually and Maturely Is the Real Issue. (Not Living Sinfully)

Thus, the phrase, "fallen from grace" has assumed an importance far beyond Paul's use of it and in a way entirely out of keeping with his context. The phrase does not mean that if a Christian sins, he falls from grace and thereby loses his salvation.

Many believe that Paul teaches it is possible for a person to be truly saved, then fall into sin, and therefore to fall from grace and be forever lost. This has come to be known as the “falling away doctrine”. This interpretation is not correct. The verse does not describe saved people who fall into sin.  In fact, there is no mention of sin.  Rather, the verse is speaking of those who live moral, respectable, upright lives hoping to be save thereby.  Thus the passage works like a boomerang on those who use it to support the falling away doctrine.  They also teach that a Christian must keep the OT Law, live a perfect life and otherwise refrain from sinning in order to remain saved.  However, this scripture insist that all who seek to be justified by works of the Law or self-effort have indeed fallen from grace.

   2.  Falling from Grace is Living in Legalism.   Vs. 5:4, “whosoever of you are justified by the law”

God does not declare believing sinners right before Him on the basis of our performance, diligence, commitment, or perseverance. God justifies us sinners purely by His grace...undeserved kindness and favor. Salvation can never be a reward or award for excellent living!

        A.  It is Mixing Law and Grace.

The phrase "fallen from grace" means "fallen out of the sphere of God's grace." You cannot mix grace and Law. If you decide to live in the sphere of Law, then you cannot live in the sphere of grace. The believers in Galatia had been bewitched by the false teachers (Gal. 3:1) and thus were disobeying the truth. They had removed toward another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), and had turned back to the elementary things of the old religion (Gal. 4:9).  As a result, they had become entangled with the yoke of bondage, and this led to their present position: "fallen from grace." And the tragedy of this fall is that they had robbed themselves of all the good things Jesus Christ could do for them by grace.

        B.   It Is Choosing the Law Over Christ.

But to fall from grace, as seen by this context, is to fall into legalism. Or to put it another way, to choose legalism is to relinquish grace as the principle by which one desires to be related to God. The article with "grace" distinguishes it as that specific grace of God in Christ that Paul has already stated to be the core of the gospel.

E.  LIBERTY RESULTS IN GODLINESS. Gal. 5:5-6

Paul next presents the life of the believer in the sphere of grace (Gal. 5:5-6). This enables us to contrast the two ways of life.

    1.  Grace in the form of Dependence upon the Spirit by Faith.  Vs. 5

When you live by grace, you depend on the power of the Spirit; but under Law, you must depend on yourself and your own efforts. Therefore, we do not hope to achieve maturity and practical righteousness by our own efforts, but wait/depend on the Spirit to bring to pass in our daily experiences. Through our dependence and faith, the Holy Spirit will accomplish right motives, desires, goals, and feelings in our hearts and then He will empower us to live out the requirements and expectations of God. We as Christians do not choose legalism; rather, we wait in faith through the Spirit for the full realization of God's life-changing righteousness.

    2.  Legalism Does Not Make Righteousness a Daily Reality.   Vs. 6

       A.  Legalism Does Not Result in Spiritual Maturity and Godliness.

What Paul is condemning is the theology of circumcision--namely, the theology that makes works necessary for salvation and seeks to establish conformity to some external standards of behavior as a mark of spirituality.

For the believer “in Christ” rituals, rites, rules, religious days, religious organizations, and regulations avails nothing at all.  There is no benefit, not profit in them for salvation or growth in the Lord.  It does not make the person any better.  There is absolutely no room at all in the ‘realm of grace’ for human efforts. While we are to cooperate with the Lord, real growth and development is the fruit of the Spirit of Grace. Law and grace cannot be mixed!

       B.  We are to Wait, Not Work for Daily Righteousness.

Once again, the Christian “wait” even ‘waits eagerly’ for the full realization of his salvation in practical experience. We do not work for it; we waits for it.  In the context, "the hope of righteousness” does not refer to that imputed righteousness the believer has in the present through faith in Christ's death, though the thought is not far away, but rather (in line with the ethical section to follow) to that actual righteousness the believer is to grow into and which he is to be perfectly conformed to in glory. In the Bible, "hope" refers to that which, though certain, is not yet fully realized.

    3.  Grace in the form of Faith Works by Love in the Heart.  Vs. 6

What God looks for in the believer is faith working by love.  Faith prompted by love not law.  This blessed truth is found many times in the Scriptures— that God is not interested in rituals, but in the reality of a godly life.  (See 1Sam. 16:7; Ps. 51:6, 15-17; Lk. 11:39-40; Rom. 7:22)

        A.  Grace Does Produce Good Works.

While salvation is all of grace without works, there is still room for works in the Christian Life.

             1. Works are not the root of salvation, but they are the fruit of salvation (Eph. 2:8-10).

             2. Works are not the means of salvation, but they are the results of salvation.

        B. Faith Which Worketh by Love   Vs. 6

             1. Saving faith is a working faith. If it doesn't work, it is not saving faith.  Faith is not dead; faith works (see James 2:14-26). But the efforts of the flesh can never accomplish what faith can accomplish through the Spirit.

             2. Faith which worketh by love—not law.

             3. The law demands—love compels.  But faith works through love—love for God and love for others. Unfortunately, flesh does not manufacture love; too often it produces selfishness and rivalry (see Gal. 5:15). No wonder Paul pictures the life of legalism as a fall!

             4. Grace delivers us from the law.  Love takes over and goes BEYOND the demand of the law.  Love does not ask how little can I do and get by, but how MUCH MORE can I do? It is faith which works by love.

A CONTRAST OF GRACE AND LAW

1. Note the difference or contrasts between law and grace.

   a. The law prohibits—grace invites and gives.

   b. The law condemns the sinner—grace redeems the sinner.

   c. The law says do—grace says it is done.

   d. The law says continue to be holy—grace says it is finished.

   e. The law curses—grace blesses.

   f.   The  law  says  pay  what  you  owe—grace  says  I  freely forgive you all.

   g. The law says "the wages of sin is death"—grace says "the gift of God is eternal life."

   h. The law says "the soul that sinneth it shall die"—grace says believe and live.

   i.   The law was given by Moses—grace and truth come by Jesus Christ.

   j.   The law puts us under bondage—grace sets us free.

2. Feel free to add to this list and make personal applications.

When we believers walk by faith, depending on the Spirit of God, we live in the sphere of God's grace; and all our needs are provided for in Christ. We experiences the riches of God's grace afforded to us upon the merits of Jesus Christ, the Lord. As genuine Believers, we always have hope—something to look forward to—the “hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal. 5:5): one day Jesus will return to make us like Himself in perfect righteousness. In the meantime we depend upon His capable Spirit to apply the Word to our lives and enable righteous expressions through our faith. The OT Law gives no promise for perfect righteousness in the present or the future. It was never given by God for that reason or to serve that purpose!

The Law prepared the way for the first coming of Christ (Gal. 3:23-4:7), but it cannot prepare the way for the second coming of Christ. The Law can still prepare the sinner to receive Christ today; this is still its very design. The Law helped me realize God’s perfect standard of righteousness, and that I do not even remotely measure up to it! Thus, like everyone else I admitted I was a sinner in need of Jesus Christ, the Savior. Christ fulfilled all the Law’s legitimate requirements and expectations perfectly. When I accepted Christ as my Savior I also received credit for satisfying the Law’s just requirements; the Law has no more requirements for real Believers. They all were satisfied through Christ’s sinless life, atoning sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection. All of this becomes ours not because we earn it with our adherence to rules, rituals, rites, and regulations, but simply through faith in Jesus Christ, the Word of God and the Spirit of grace.

So, the believer who chooses legalism robs himself of this wonderful spiritual liberty and spiritual wealth. Such individuals deliberately put themselves into spiritual bondage and bankruptcy. You know…when we honestly look at Liberty versus Legalism, the choice becomes really clear…doesn’t it.