The Spirit Sets Us Free 1

“The Spirit Sets Us Free 1”

Gal. 5:13-14

SUBJECT: GRACE AND CHRISTIAN LIVING

THEME: Living the Christian life in freedom involves receiving Christ’s real-world uprightness by faith and not by mere mechanical obedience to rules. We are set free from the curse and the control of the law to liberty that does not warrant permission to sin, but rather to mature responsibility and holiness before God. To live by grace, through faith, gives us a free and satisfying Christian experience, and the Holy Spirit is the secret to “everyday life.”

INTRODUCTION:

1. Freedom from our Sinful Nature Results in Service to our Lord and Others. 

“Liberty” (Gal. 2:4, 4:26, 31; 5:1), is almost entirely about freedom from sinful domination—practical terms related to an ethical life. The true nature of Christian freedom is only through the life of the Spirit and by the Spirit's power enabling us to refuse the desires of our sinful nature. Service or “love” is both to God and man (Gal. 5:14).  (Dr. W. W. Wiersbe)

2. Legalism Does Not Positively Influence our Wicked Nature.

No amount of legislation can change people’s basic sinful nature. Legalism is the practice of relying on strict, man-made rules or external laws rather than inner transformation; it utterly fails to change our human nature. Instead of fixing our deepest flaws, it simply hides them behind a ‘mask’ of good to acceptable behavior. Beloved it is not rules on the outside, but love on the inside that makes the difference (Gal. 5:14). We need a different power within, and that comes from the Holy Spirit of God.

3. The Holy Spirit Does Impact and Conquer our Sinful Nature.

   A.  The Presence of the Spirit within.

There are at least sixteen references to the Holy Spirit in Galatians. When we believe on Christ, the Spirit comes to dwell within us (Gal. 3:2). We are “born after the Spirit” as was Isaac (Gal. 4:29). It is the Holy Spirit in the heart who gives assurance of salvation (Gal. 4:6); and who enables us to live for Christ and glorify Him. (Dr. W. W. Wiersbe)

   B.  The Personality of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not simply a "divine influence"; He is a divine Person, just as are the Father and the Son. What God the Father planned for us, and God the Son purchased for us on the cross, God the Spirit personalizes for us and applies truth to our lives as we yield to Him.             

This paragraph is perhaps the most crucial in the entire closing section of Galatians; for in it we discover three ministries of the Holy Spirit that enable the believer to enjoy liberty in Christ.

MESSAGE:

The Spirit Enables Us to Fulfill the Law of Love (Gal. 5:13-15).

We are prone to go to extremes. One believer interprets liberty as license and thinks he can do whatever he wants to do. Another believer, seeing this error, goes to an opposite extreme and imposes his laws on everybody. Actually, something quite different from license or legalism results in true Christian liberty.

A.  THIS IS OUR CALLING.  Vs. 13, For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;”

We see our calling:

     1. We Are Called to Liberty.   Gal. 5:13

We are free people in Christ. We are free from the guilt of sin because we have experienced God's forgiveness. We are free from the penalty of sin because Christ died for us on the cross. And we are, through the Spirit, free from the power of sin in our daily life.

True Christianity is showing that the freedom we have been called to in Christ is a responsible freedom that leads to holiness of life. Yes! But this is a freedom to serve God and others as love dictates!

     2. We Are Called from Law.  Gal. 5:8

We are also free from the Law with its demands and threats. Christ bore the curse of the Law and ended its tyranny once and for all. We are “called unto liberty” because we are “called into the grace of Christ” (Gal. 1:6). Grace and liberty go together, but not law and liberty. (Dr. W. W. Wiersbe)

Beloved, what about a faith without law being sufficiently strong enough to resist the immoral wickedness of pagan practices? Every Child of God is morally and ethically obligated to live in the freedom of God’s Spirit.  The Grace of God insists on moral and ethical behavior for us who enjoy the freedom which Christ gives. First, the phrase “have been called” expresses a complete idea meaning independent of any other added statement, "called by God to be people of his own" (“calleth,” vs. 5:8). Secondly, this preposition “unto,” points to the condition upon which God had called us: they were "called" upon with the understanding that they should be in a state of liberty. So just as Eph 2:10, “Created in Christ Jesus “unto” good works.” Likewise, God calls us in Christ to be free. 1 Thes. 4:7, For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

B.  WE MUST HEED A CAUTION.  Gal. 5:13

This is where we need to pause and clarify to avoid confusion.  

    1. Liberty is Not a License to Sin. Vs. 13, ... only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh . . .

Having explained our calling, Paul then issues a caution: "Don't allow your liberty to degenerate into license!"   This, of course, is the fear of all people who do not understand the true meaning of the grace of God. "If you do away with rules and regulations," they say, "you will create chaos and anarchy."       

• Liberty is the freedom from the power and guilt of sin. It allows believers to live righteously through the Holy Spirit.
• License is the freedom to sin. It is an abuse of grace that uses God’s forgiveness as an excuse for fleshly desires.

    2. Liberty Is Not an Opportunity to Sin. (Gal. 5:13) “an occasion”

Paul says that the Christian is not to allow this freedom in Christ to become a beachhead for the armies of indulgence to gain a foothold in his life. The meaning of the words “an occasion” is "a starting point or base of operations for an expedition," it refers to an “opportunity” (see 2Cor 11:12).

“Liberty” (Gal. 5:13) means having freedom from the old rules. However, this freedom is not a pass to do wrong. Instead, the goal is to use that freedom to serve others with love. Think of it like being set free from prison. You are not free to break more laws. You are free to build a good life and help your friends.

To those who have been accustomed to regard law as the only controlling factor that stands in the way of self-indulgence and a free rein in sin, and to those who have not been accustomed to a high standard of ethics, the teaching of Christian liberty might easily mean that there is nothing to stand in the way of the unrestrained indulgence of one’s own impulses. Paul often during his ministry, had his hearers react in this way to his teaching of grace.^[a]

    3. Liberty Can Be Abused to Permit Sin.

Of course, the danger of manipulating liberty is real, not because God's grace fails, but because men fail of the grace of God (Heb. 12:15). Since there is the “true grace of God” (I Peter 5:12), then there is also a false grace of God; and there are false teachers who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,” (Jude 4). So, Paul’s caution is a valid one. Christian liberty is not a license to sin but an opportunity to serve.

1. Reflection immediately shows us that a "freedom" which allows a man to obey the passions of his lower sinful nature is a miss usage of the term “Christian Liberty;” it is not that freedom “wherewith Christ hath made us free.”  Such emancipation hands its victims completely over to the slavery of sin (John 8:34; 2 Peter 2:18, 19).  Peter, in his First Epistle, addressed (see 1 Peter 5:12) and ratified Paul’s statement (1 Peter 2:16). “The flesh” is not to have its own way, but it is to be mastered by the Spirit. (Dr. W. W. Wiersbe)

2. 1 Peter 2:16, As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

3. “Flesh” (Gal. 5:13) refers to anything a person is and is capable of as a sinful fallen depraved individual apart from the unmerited intervention of God’s Spirit in his life (v. 16). This is even seen in modern churches.  

4. When modern churches mistake sinful license for liberty, they trade holy freedom for self-indulgence. True liberty empowers believers to reject sin through love. License perverts grace. It replaces the lordship of Christ with the rule of self. (See SBC Voices)

5. The Danger in Modern Churches

• Over-emphasizing Grace: Some churches teach grace without truth. They fail to mention the call to repentance and personal holiness.
• Abandoning Truth: Pastors may avoid preaching against sin to stay culturally relevant or avoid offending the congregation.
• Subjective Morality: Believers claim that the Holy Spirit allows them to do things the Bible directly forbids.

6. The Biblical Correction

• The Apostle Paul warned the early church about this exact mistake in Galatians 5:13. (See Berean Bible Society)

For these reasons I do not personally fellowship or interact with these misguided ministries and apostate ‘churches.’ It is not that I am superior or even ‘better’ in some way, please don’t misunderstand me, but God has graciously given me a respect for Him and His ways first above all else. I must respect “thus saith the Lord” entirely to the best of my ability. I must live to please Him as my priority. God is the ultimate reality to me; I am foremost answerable to Him! God and His Word are opposed to these behavior patterns that characterize these modern churches. All believers would be wise to be more loyal to Christ and what the Scriptures really teaches.  

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^[a] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 148.