GALATIANS 5:1-15

Jesus Our Freedom - Galatians 5:1-15
This was only the 3rd conclave that has happened in my lifetime, but they are so intriguing. The whole process is shrouded in secrecy & the rituals are straight out of the Middle Ages with their colorful smoke signals, fancy robes, & sequestered cardinals. It all unfolds in the most beautiful room in the most beautiful city in the world. It is designed to catch the eye.
As I was preparing for this sermon, I fully expected that the attention would fade away once the new pope had been elected. We would all tune in for a few minutes, see the pope wave, & then get back to our lives. But I honestly don’t know what to expect now that an American pope has been elected. Over the past few years, there has already been a trend of Americas Evangelicals moving to the RC Church. I imagine the election of a Pope from Chicago will only fuel the conversation. Have you ever heard the pope speak your own language? He’s apparently a huge White Sox fan. That will make an impact in America. I believe it will be very important for Evangelical Christians to understand the core doctrinal distinctions in the RC Church so we can have compelling conversations. There are, of course, so many things we can celebrate. We are thankful for how they fight for unborn children, & for their reverence for God & their love of beauty. We are thankful that they believe in the Trinity & can quote the Nicene Creed. There are so many sincere men & women in the Catholic church. And yet, in spite of these good things, we must be aware of some core & foundational differences, especially when the Catholic Church deviates from the Word of God & the clear proclamation of the gospel.
I want to carefully address some of these concerns today. But before we jump in, I want to confess that this was a very challenging sermon to write. God has given me a burden to speak into some of these issues, & yet I realize that this is a deeply personal subject for many of you. I had actually been working on a different sermon, but it felt too technical & confrontational for a Sunday morning, so I scratched it. The last thing I want to do on a Sunday morning is to create any unnecessary controversy, or even worse – to push people away, because my heart is to bring people to Jesus. So, as I labored over this, God led me to simply preach the gospel. This is the best way to evaluate any teaching or system, anyway. So, if you have your Bible, please turn to Gal. 5. We are going to look at the first 15 verses.
This text is one of the most glorious passages in the entire Bible because it is all about the freedom that Jesus purchased for us with his blood on the cross. Paul will unleash his inner William Wallace & defend this freedom with all the force he can muster. He will proclaim 2 important truths about the freedom we have in Christ. First, Paul will explain the price of our freedom. Second, he will explain the nature of our freedom.
Let’s jump in. First, what is the price of our freedom? The great promise of Christianity is freedom. Sometimes people look at Christianity as a restrictive/oppressive religion, but the opposite is true. Jesus is the great liberator. If you have been following along in Luke, you know that Jesus sets people free! He frees us from our sin & bondage & fear & addiction. The specific type of freedom that Paul addresses in this text is the freedom that Christ gives us from the law. Jesus sets our troubled conscience free! Jesus brings us the most unexpected peace with God. If you are in Christ, God is no longer your accuser, but a comforter & advocate & friend.
In Gal 5, however, Paul knew that the freedom of this church had been compromised. They were chaining themselves back to the yoke of slavery. When Paul first planted this church, they had warmly received the gift of salvation through faith alone. But soon after he left, a group of false teachers crept into the church & began to teach a variation of the gospel. These guys were known as the Circumcision Party & they pop up all over the NT.
Their teaching was quite simple, & on the surface, it made a lot of sense. They basically argued that when dirty Gentile sinners converted to Christianity, they needed to obey some of the basic Jewish customs. They needed to be circumcised & conform to a few of the OT dietary laws. They had no desire to replace the gospel; they simply wanted to improve it. This new system – Gospel 2.0 – would clean up these dirty Gentiles & make the church more presentable. And it would also provide these converts with some tangible evidence that they were actually living a life that is pleasing to God! They could rest on their circumcision & spiritual disciplines as proof of their salvation. I know so many Christians who are looking for some tangible proof of salvation. What a gift… right?
This was the main contention that the Protestant Reformers had with the RC Church in the Middle Ages & it remains the main contention today. Some people may try to convince you that the Reformation is basically over, but it is far from over. After Pope Leo XIV was elected on Thursday, he held his first mass on Friday. If you heard some sound bites that came out of his speech, it was pretty good. He confessed sin & encouraged the people to grow in faith! He said that the church must be a light on a hill! He included core gospel elements. But as he closed the sermon, he offered an indulgence to everyone in attendance!
And you’re like, wait – the Catholic church still offers indulgences? Yes! If you’re wondering what indulgences are, they are special gifts of grace that the church gives to saints who perform some good deed. They can wipe away your sins or take off a few years of purgatory. You can apply them to your own salvation, or to a deceased loved one who is suffering in purgatory. According to Galatians 5, it is an offense to the gospel, & it is happening right now.
Will you please pray for Italy? The entire world was watching this beautiful country this week, but they do not understand the gospel. Less than 1% of the country belongs to an Evangelical church that preaches Christ alone. I know of a church planter who has been in Rome for 15 years & has never met a person in a Catholic church that had genuine faith in Christ. You are far more likely to meet sincere Christians in Catholic churches in America, but this category does not exist in Italy. It is a mission field, & my heart hurts for them.
Paul’s reply is stunning. He said: “If you truly understood the nature of our freedom on the front end, you would fulfill the law on the back end.” So, what is the nature of this freedom? Paul explains 2 features.
First, in v13 we discover that Christian freedom is opposed to the flesh. You have been set free, but don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. When Christ sets us free from sin, we run from sin. We learn to say no to our desires. This is counterintuitive because our world has conditioned us to believe that freedom means that you can do whatever you want whenever you want. But have you ever tried to live like that? It’s slavery! It’s fun at first, but your desires will lock you in a prison of indulgence.
So, we kill the flesh! But we must go further. The 2nd feature of our freedom in Christ is that we get to actively serve other people. Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. This is one of the beautiful paradoxes of the Christian life. We will only experience the joy of our freedom in Christ when we serve other people. The message of the gospel is this: You are free! Now live like a slave.
Let’s not stop serving one another until Jesus comes back. I suspect that we’ll keep serving one another throughout eternity. If Christ has set you free, use that freedom as an opportunity to serve other people. Men, serve your wives today with excellence! And not just because it’s Mother’s Day! Make it your ambition to serve her every day. Children, make it your ambition to serve your siblings. Students, make it your ambition to serve the people in your dorm room or apartment complex. If you are in a life group, you know the needs that exist within your community. Serve one another as an expression of your freedom in Christ. When you do the work of Christ in the power of Christ, you will experience the freedom of Christ. This is what the free gospel sets you free to do.
I’ll close with this. In Acts chapter 4, the church was so passionate about meeting needs that they literally ran out of needs. Don’t you want to be part of a Christian community that serves others like that? One of my favorite things to see when I drive around Boone is Karson Kimbro picking up trash on the side of the road. Nobody asked him to do that, and nobody pays him. What compels a person to do that? If you ask Karson, he will tell you that he serves because Jesus has changed his life. If every person in this church served Christ like that, our town would run out of needs! And we would be free! Let’s pray.
As you prepare your heart for this final prayer, I want to ask you to reflect on your own view of the gospel. When your conscience convicts you of sin, how do you defend yourself? Do you go straight to the cross? Or has your gospel been mixed with some form of law. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.