Galatians 5:1-15

Galatians 5:1-15

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GALATIANS 5

Christian Liberty

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Love Fulfills the Law

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Gal 5:1-15

• Transcript

  Okay, we're live over there. Wonderful. Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions. This where every day you and I, we get together we have a little bit of coffee, or tea. We get into God's word and we've grown our love for the Lord together. And this year, Lord willing, we'll get all the way from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon. That's right. That's right, you did. Why don't we have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into Galatians chapter five together. Father, thank you so much for the blessing of coming to your word of hearing from you. Lord, we pray that as we read your word that you would teach us that your Holy Spirit might instruct us in the ways we should walk. Father, we love you. And we thank you for all your many good deeds in Jesus's name, Amen. All right, so we're collations chapter five. Galatians chapter five and we grab your Bible and we're all read the first 15 verses together. So Galatians chapter five, the first 15 verses almost, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John acts Romans First and Second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians. Oh, too far. Oh, no, you're right. Galatians five. You're perfect. Okay. You want to read verses one through six and I'll read seven through 15. Okay, let's make sure that this is in front of you. Okay. There you go. Still faster. For the liberty of which class has made us food and do not be in the same boat yet with a yoke of bondage. I will say to you, that if you come shock in size, class will profit nothing and if and I testify again, to every man who become shocky says that he is a debt debtor Ghana to keep the whole lot you have become extreme estranged flow class. who attempted to be just by by law you have fallen from grace. For me, though, you're still with through the Spirit. evilly wait for the hope of what useless by faith for students have either circumcision, no answer feature. Circumcision, circumcision, circumcision nor uncircumcision nails anything but faith walking through well? Does it say alone in your translation? Yeah, true love good. You ran well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from him who calls you a little leaven leavens the whole lump? I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will have no other mind. But he who troubles you shall bear His judgment, whoever he is. I Brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased? I could wish that those who trouble themselves with even cut themselves off for you brethren, have been called the Liberty only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. Well, we need to ask ourselves first a what is this? What's the best boss and see what is? Good. So first a What's this about? So the verses you read? Right? It's talking about circumcision and uncircumcision What do you think that part was getting that? Okay, you're circumcised or you're not right. But in verse one, it says standfast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, or Jesus has made us free. And so should we become slaves again? No. No and and what was he talking about? In the last Do you remember the two different covenants you had the slave woman in the free woman and you had their children? And so he's saying, Don't become entangled with the yoke of bondage, right? Don't become a slave to the law and all its requirements. Again. Right so. So if somebody does, if somebody says, Well, I'm gonna go back to the Old Testament law, I'm gonna go back to the ceremonies. I'm going to go back to circumcision. I'm going to go back to trying to be justified by the works that I could do. What does he say about them? Well, look at verse two, and the end of verse two, Christ's will what size price or profit you Kreiswirth profit you nothing. And if you do become circumcised, what is verse three say? Circumcision. Christ will posit you nothing. Crazy will profit you nothing. And then in verse three, everyone who becomes circumcise, that he is a debtor do know what that means debtor. So a debtor is like somebody who owes someone something. Right? So if you become circumcised, and you're saying, I'm a child of the covenant in the in the way in which I'm saying, I'm a child under the law, that means you have to keep the law. Absolutely. Perfect. Well, if you don't keep it, then you owe, right the debt. That's why Jesus in the Lord's Prayer, do you remember what he says? And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors? Because we have a moral debt to to God. Yeah, right. moral debt to God. It's a moral debt we can't repay. Do you remember the story that Jesus told about that? About the guy who owed a ruler a ton of money? And the the ruler forgave him right? He canceled off the debt. And then he goes out and somebody owes him money. What does he do? Actually, it says he starts strangling him and he throws him in jail until what? Until you met what I think some translations they had just a little bit of money at it right not not even like a glitch. You know, the guy he goes in, starts choking and throws in jail only owes him a little bit of money. Like he got jail. I just thought oh, yeah, but the point is, is that had he been forgiven of his debt much? Well, no, the one guy had been. But now Did he recognize what forgiveness was? That's right. And so Paul is saying, hey, look, I don't think you understand what Jesus came to do. By redeeming us from the law. We're no longer under the curse of the law. So don't put yourself back under it. Don't go back to circumcision. Don't go back to the Old Testament sacrifices and all this other stuff, right? That's not how you'll find right standing to God and if you think that's the case, Christ avails you nothing. Because you can't earn your way to God's favor. So he says, You've been estranged from Christ for verse for you who attempt to be what verse for you have become estranged from Christ you who it took to be justified by Well, you have fallen from grace right. You fallen from God's unmerited favor. If you're trying to justify remember is that that declaration from God, you are righteous. But if you're trying to put yourself back onto the law, you don't keep it. No, keep it you've fallen from grace from God's grace or form. Do you remember what what we're gonna get there in maybe a couple of days but For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of work of your own works? Right. It's by grace. We're saved is the gift of God Not of works. Yeah, cuz we would boast about it. That's right. So if you're trying to put yourself back under Hagar, you're trying to put yourself back under Sinai. Yes, exactly. Exactly. For we through the Spirit eagerly. Wait, the hope of righteousness. And how do we get that righteousness? What does verse five say the very last part of verse five. We will we do the spew eagerly wait for the hope of whitespace by faith by faith by faith. We're getting it from Christ, which receive it by faith so that first part if you were to talk about that first part and you were to go home and mommy said Well, what was the part Baba read about what would you tell her? To go on, trying to be was worth nothing. Exactly. Good. Trying to earn your own righteousness from under the law is absolutely worth nothing good. Then verses seven through 15 This is the part that I read. It he's he's kind of got some really hard things to say to them. Right verses seven through 12. Right? He says they're like 11 Have you remember when mom makes bread? She puts a little bit of yeast into the sour or even just a little bit of flour into the into the sourdough starter and what happens? It blows up right it gets really big. He says that's like a little bit 11 Little bit of yeast that you put into the into the lump and then it's going to fill the whole dough. Anything is not good. Right? Whoever these people are, who's teaching who are teaching you that you need to be circumcised you need to follow all the law that's how you'll be righteous. That's how you'll have right standing before God is not going to be good for you. And he says those who would make you want to be circumcised what he wishes they would do. He wishes that they would go the whole way and just cut themselves off. That's kind of nasty language, isn't it? The ugly picture? Right but that's, that's what he's getting at here. Is like this. That's how horrible this is. Or because it's cutting people off from Christ is saying I wish they would just finish their own job. emasculate themselves right become a Unix. So he's he doesn't have very nice things to say about these guys does he know but for you brother and verse 13. It changes. For you brethren, you have been called to liberty. Only do not use that liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love. Yeah. And so if somebody really wanting to know how do they fulfill the law, how do they fulfill the law? Well, what's it say in verse 14 there? How is someone how does someone fulfill the law? You shall love your neighbor Exactly. should love your neighbor as yourself. Right? So this is this is what we're saying? We're, we're not free from the law. In the sense that we're free to do whatever we want and in doing whatever we want, we can hurt people and devour people. But now we're free to actually love hopefully to love Exactly. doing that. Your long as it's not going against that yet. Yeah. And so as we love our neighbor, we're fulfilling what isn't that interesting? Right now? We're actually free because we're free under the condemnation of the law. Yeah, but to do it without the, the guilt without the the without the debt, because the debts been paid. So now out of a love for God, we get to love others. And so, a great book for this, to understand this as the book of First, John. Right because the first John First John will tell us about lawless people anti no mechanisms. All right. And people who are against God's law. And he says that's not the way to go. And then he'll also say that we're not under. We're not to be walking according to the deeds of the flesh either. And so it's it's this weird thing where we're, we are free from the curse of the law. But now by the Spirit of Christ, we're actually free to keep and to do what the law would have required, but not out of a sense of earning our own righteousness. Right so vodi balcom, have I ever shown you any videos from vodi balcom? He's a big, big black pastor and he used to play football. He's really deep voice different than that. vodi balcom says we're free from the law, from the curse of the law. And we're now free to do the law, on a sense of love for God and our neighbors. And so I think that's a sense in which this is user. That's why it's a are the 10 commandments gone? No. Cuz, right. It's still teaches us now, who God is and how we ought to relate to him and to others. But do we have to slavishly think, oh, no, if I don't do these, God's going to cast me into the pits of hell. Why? Not? Because we're in a fleet. Not we are free to be trying. We're under. What do you mean it makes sense? It means you're free from the law. You're free from the word be unlawful. Well, you're free from the curse from the slavish obedience. You're free in the sense that the condemnation is no longer from you. It's not earning your own righteousness, but we've read here, right in verse five, that righteousness comes by faith. Right so we're not our relationship to the law is different. So let me ask you, right your you go to school right now with your mom, right? In one sense, she's she's kind of like your tutor, right? When you leave our house are you going to be under your mom's authority anymore? When you leave our house, so you're going to be under my authority anymore? So when you leave our house, does that mean you should forget every single thing we've ever taught you? No, but we won't have authority over you anymore. Okay, good. Morrow, Oster flobo. Which are helpful. Exactly. They're helpful. But am I gonna walk into your house and spank you if you don't keep keep my rules? No, because you'll be a grown man doing your own thing, right? This is what he's saying when we come to Jesus. Christ. Now we are grown people. We're no longer under that tutor. We know our sin. We know the depths of our need for Jesus. And so now we we say okay, Jesus paid for our sin. And now I get to walk like Jesus and what did Jesus walk in lawlessness? What did Jesus do? He walked perfectly, right he it's called active obedience. That's what theologians call it. So he actively obeyed every single command of God. And Jesus himself said not one jot or tittle will fall away from the law till everything is fulfilled. He did not come to abolish the law. But to establish it, right? Yeah, he fulfilled it. Yep, simple but I'm righteous. Exactly imputes His righteousness to us. Right, and then now we as his children, we get to walk in the liberty of Christ, a liberty to actually do the things because we love him. Well, what do you think about underlining here? What what verses would you underline? To Oh, I would do four and five. So two, four and five. What do you guys think? Help us out what what would you underline in yours? I would also underline verses 1314 and 15. For that second part. You know, me too well, what would you guys help us out here? What would you underline? Well, last Let's talk. We're running really late today. Let's talk about C calling real quick. What are you going to walk away from here thinking you can do or how does this point you to Jesus called to you not try to keep your perfectly but to try to let Jesus free us from it. Try not keep it but to do the walk when? Okay, so do the law. In freedom. That's an interesting way to say it, I would say for calling for me is have faith in Jesus Christ. Right. Rejoice in His righteousness and love God and love my neighbor. You're ready to pray. God, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is to know that our righteousness comes from you that we are not slaves to the law. We are not under the condemnation of the law, but that you have given us the law keeper. You have given us a righteousness by faith. And you have given us liberty to love You and to love our neighbors. Lord, please let us walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh in Jesus's name, Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And we'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai