I have been looking over the past week at a bit of American history around slavery. Specifically those who had gained their freedom and how they held on to it. One example that has stuck with me is the story of Ona Judge Staines who was actually a slave in George Washington’s house. At the age of 10 Ona (OH-nuh) or Oney (OH-nee) as the family called her became Martha Washington’s personal maid. She was skilled at sewing and looking after Martha. As her personal maid she also travelled with the family to different American cities, and on May 21, 1976 while in the city of Philadelphia she escaped, she fled the president’s household. Ona was willing to leave her family, who were also slaves for she understood the value of freedom. This wasn’t the end of it though. Advertisements and rewards were put up to try and get Ona back. On more than one occasion family members and associates of Washington tried to persuade Ona to come back but she refused to give up her freedom. She stood firm and friends, Ona became a child of God. She turned to Christ and understood freedom better than most. In fact “When asked if she is not sorry she left Washington, as she has labored so much harder since, than before, her reply is, ‘No, I am free, and have, I trust been made a child of God by the means.’” Ona died in 1848. So friends as we come to this passage today and see the word freedom we need to have the passion that Paul was speaking with in mind. We need to look at what this freedom means and why as followers of Christ we have been given it. And most importantly we need to make sure that we don’t give up our freedom in Christ and once again become slaves.
Well friends there is an outline for today up the back if that is helpful. And so you know where we are going in today’s sermon, the 5 points are now up on the screen.
Galatians so far
So far in Paul’s letter to the Galatians he has hammered home the one point over and over again that we are justified by faith in Christ, that is, we are declared righteous before God through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins, and that by the law no one will be declared righteous.
“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians 2:15-16
In today’s passage Paul continues this same argument now speaking in terms of freedom and slavery. Christ has set us free, which means we are free to live as children of God saved by the precious blood of Jesus. So why would you want to give up your freedom and Christ’s glory to go back to slavery. It makes no sense, but that is what we can so easily do. When we take our eyes off Jesus and start looking at ourselves. Christ set us free, why would we choose to become slaves again. Because we can be inclined to trust ourselves more than we trust Him.
Read with me verse 1 of chapter 5.
Paul then ends with 5:1
- Freedom in Christ
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Paul makes the point that as Christians we have all been set free. He is talking here to the gentile Galatian believers. That is clear by what will come in the next few verses around circumcision. And in the words of verse 1 he is reminding them that at one time they were slaves, slaves to the world before turning to Christ and that they were now free. He was warning them not to now become slaves to the law. The idea of the yoke was a heavy burden, an actual yoke was a wooden bar or frame that would be around the neck or head of animals joining them together. And friends it was painful and could cut off the windpipe at times making it a real burden for the animals. This is a picture of what
Jesus has freed believers from the curse of the law, from the punishment of the law. The law that brings death. The law that no one apart from Jesus could live perfectly under.
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death
Romans 8:2
In Christ Jesus we are truly free. So he then warns the Galatians that they need to be careful not to again become slaves, prisoners, to make themselves slaves to the law. The law can never give you freedom. It is a burden. It was never meant to last.
Paul spends the majority of the proceeding chapter pleading with the Galatians to not be led astray into being followers of the law instead of followers of Jesus. Chapter 4:8-12 (and the rest of chapter 4). The Galatians were starting to observe special days, months and years (Chapter 4 v 9-11). They had heard the Gospel and put their trust in Jesus, they were free. Yet now they were starting to act like slaves again, and would soon become slaves to the law if they followed the path they were on. So Paul reminds them strongly of who they are and what is at stake.
- Don’t return to slavery (v2-4)
Paul goes straight from talking about slavery to talking about circumcision. So we need to understand what Paul is saying here. Let’s read verses 2 – 4
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.“ 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”
Look at the first few words here from Paul. He has upped the warning. In fact, I find it helpful that the NIV, ESV and CSB all have used slightly different words to start this section. The ESV says simply Look, and the CSB says Take note! We need to hear that Paul is serious and pleading with the Galatians to listen to this warning, just as he pleaded in chapter 4.
The words circumcision or circumcised are used 12 times in the letter to the Galatians. What circumcision meant for Paul’s hearers is important. Whereas today there can be all sorts of reasons why someone might be circumcised. These could include medical conditions, personal preference, family tradition. Yet in Paul’s day there was only one. And we see it here in verse 3. Circumcision was a sign that you are under the Law. Theologically circumcision was a symbol, As John Stott writes
“It stood for a particular type of religion, namely salvation by good works in obedience to the law.”
Paul was warning the Galatians that by letting themselves be circumcised they would be making themselves slaves to the law. It meant that these Christians would in effect become Jewish, and be under the law.
The effect of this slavery though is devastating and that is why Paul goes to such lengths to warn the believers. Look at verse 4
By becoming circumcised and therefore slaves to the law we see in verses 2 to 4 three distinct dire consequences and this is what Paul is warning them about.
Firstly, Christ will be of no value to you at all (v2). As Paul has made clear throughout the letter the only way we are declared righteous before God is through faith in Christ. Therefore, trying to claim a righteousness of their own through the law meant that Christ’s righteousness wasn’t theirs. They would forfeit Christ’s benefits.
Secondly, likewise in an effort to be justified by the law, it means that you are alienated from Christ. In effect you are cut off from Christ. You are no longer his disciple.
Thirdly, trying to be justified by the law means that Christ wasn’t enough, therefore Christ has no value. That God’s grace, the free gift of salvation that comes through faith in Christ you have rejected. You have lost the grace of Christ.
In summary it means that they will give up their freedom to become slaves and so Paul pleads with them not to. As he has already done in Galatians 2
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Christ plus anything is slavery, it is not the Gospel. I want us all to ask ourselves this morning how we look at our works. Are we trying to be justified by anything else apart from faith in Christ? Are we trying to make ourselves good enough, or right with God? Friends, adding anything to faith in Christ is saying that faith in Christ is not enough, and worse than that we are saying Christ is not enough. Let us all be reminded that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. So after Paul makes it clear that trying to be justified by the law would return the Galatians to slavery, he reminds them and us of what freedom is.
- Stand Free (firm) in Christ Alone
Have a look at verses 5 & 6 with me.
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
The wonderful truths of being a child of God by faith in Christ are found in these two verses.
By faith in Christ we have the Holy Spirit, as a seal of the sure and certain hope of God declaring us righteous on that final day because of our faith in Jesus. And in verse 6, the one truth that only faith in Christ is what matters. I want this to sink in for all of us here this morning. Friends, Paul says it clearly. The only thing that counts, the only thing that is left when all else has gone is faith in Christ. All else will fade away. It reminded me of those great words of Jesus, when asked what is it that God requires?
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
(John 6:28-29)
- False Teaching (v7-12)
After showing so clearly how they could lose their freedom in Christ, Paul now calls out not only the false message of the agitators, but also reminds them that there are true and false teachers. Have a look at verse 7-10
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.
Paul quite likes to use the imagery of running a race as we can see from several of his letters. Here we see the idea that you are running and then suddenly someone cuts in front of you and makes your race hard. They are distracting you from the goal. Getting in your way and perhaps even affecting your stride. Your race is in trouble.
These false teachers and agitators as Paul calls them were the ones who were saying that the gentile christians needed circumcision to be real believers. Paul is saying that the Galatian believers started so well in their faith in Christ, yet now they were in danger of becoming slaves. They needed to stop listening to the false teaching and keep running the race. Which brings me back to Ona Judge who could have lost her freedom many times if she had listened to those who would try and persuade her to come back to George Washington’s house and resume her role as a slave. Ona refused to listen to the false messages and stood firm in her freedom. And we see in verse 10 that Paul is confident that in a similar way the Galatian believers will continue to follow Christ. He is also confident that judgement will come on those bringing this false message.
Paul then finishes this section by defending himself and ending with a rather exasperated comment.
11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Friends, freedom is only found in Jesus. The world around us promises freedom, but is unable to fulfil this. There is freedom in Christ or captivity to the law, to the world.
- Freedom In Christ to serve one another humbly in love
Our section today finishes with what our freedom is to be rightly used for.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Freedom is life lived in the Holy Spirit. Pastor Philip will unpack next week what a life in the Spirit looks like more completely. But for today we see what freedom is from a macro view. Our freedom that Christ has set us free for allows us to live as God intended us. Humbly loving and serving our brothers and sisters in Christ. Friends, Church is a beautiful picture of this each week, as we gather together, serve and share our lives with each other. Let us keep doing this more and more. Freedom in Christ is a call to loving service. Those who have been set free by faith in Jesus Christ, the suffering Servant, are empowered to extend the same self-sacrificial love to others. In doing so, believers fulfil the intent of the Mosaic Law, as expressed in Leviticus 19:18, where God’s people are commanded to love their neighbour as themselves.
Friends, freedom is faith in Christ. For only faith in Christ’s atoning death and resurrection can mean that you are declared righteous before God. Faith in anything else leads to destruction.
A couple of questions for you to chew on during the week. Are you adding to Christ’s finished work? If so, why are you adding to Christ’s finished work?
Any addition is a return to works and slavery.
In fact the final word on this is that if you want to add anything or subtract anything from the Gospel you end up without a Gospel and without Christ.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Freedom is only found through faith in Christ. Let’s read God’s word everyday and come to him in prayer as we guard our freedom in Christ.
Let’s pray.
