Christian Freedom and the Law of God (Galatians Sermon 18)

I. Introduction

This past week I watched a powerful movie for the second time. I’ve seen it years ago, but just came across it again and wanted to see it. That movie is Amistad, it’s based on a true story. It’s the plight of some Africans who had been abducted from their villages by slave traders and then illegally shipped to Cuba, the year is 1839. And during the voyage from Cuba in July of 1839, one slave named Cinque managed somehow with his fingernails ripping and his fingertips bleeding to pry out a single nail that began to set him free. He was able to use the nail to pick the lock and to basically lead an onboard insurrection or battle for their freedom. They kept alive the captain and his mates so that they could sail them back to Africa, but the captain fooled them through the navigation and they ended up in Long Island, it’s a true story, New York. The ship was impounded by the US Navy, brought to New Haven, Connecticut where the 53 Africans were taken into custody and they were charged with leading a murderous slave insurrection. The movie unfolds powerfully, revealing intense political wrangling over slavery that were going on obviously, in 1839, threatening to rip this country apart. The legal drama was a focus on the rights these Africans had to regain their freedom from vicious men who had stolen it from them.

At one very moving point in the movie, Cinque, who’s the focus, stands up. He didn’t know a word of English when he came but he was a very, very intelligent man and he’s got chains on his wrist and he just cries out in broken English, “Give us, us free,” over and over. It’s just… He doesn’t know what’s going on in the court proceedings, can’t understand a word, but it’s clear what he wants. He’s yearning for freedom. Pleading with it. And I thought about it, just in terms of so many scripture verses were flooding in my mind. That’s how I watch movies. Just, what verse does this make me think of? And so just… And I was just thinking about the yearning that we have to be free from the chains that bind us. And how we can’t be free and how Jesus looked on us with compassion and he saw that we were harassed and what, helpless. It says in Isaiah, “The Lord looked and saw that there was no one to work righteousness” and we needed a savior. Jesus is the savior. Well, I’m getting away from the movie which is fine but let me finish the idea.

So the court trial goes on eventually to a hearing in the Supreme Court. The case is argued by former President John Quincy Adams. One of the most compelling movie moments I’ve ever seen. He stands up to make his closing argument, soliloquy and he said, “The center of the case comes down to the basic, the true nature of man.” And he cited an article written at that time by pro-slavery senator John Calhoun which asserted that slavery had been woven into the very nature and fabric of human society from ancient history, even back to the beginning of biblical times. And therefore slavery was an essential part of man. Well, Adams strongly disagreed and this is what he said in the movie. He said, “I know this is a controversial idea but the nature of man is freedom. Is freedom. And the proof is the length to which a man or a woman or a child will go to regain it once it’s taken. He will break loose his chains, he will decimate his enemies, he will try and try and try against all odds, against all prejudices to get home.”

Well, I don’t watch movies and just take even powerful soliloquies at face value either. So I thought to myself, “Is that true?” I didn’t intend to couple the watching of this movie to preaching through Galatians 5, but here we are. And it struck me, they do connect. A major theme in Galatians 5 is the theme of freedom. Right from the beginning in verse 1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm then and don’t let yourself submit again to a yoke of slavery,” Galatians 5:1. So, Christ has died and risen again and the gospel has come to us by his spirit so that we can be set free. And that freedom is fragile and it needs to be protected and it’s misunderstood and it can be abused. And we can take this freedom and use it for flesh and for sin and that’s the opposite of what Christ intended. But I was led again to think about what is the true nature of man. Is it freedom or is it slavery? Now, we said only God alone has absolute freedom, because this is his universe and we are all creatures in it. It says in Psalms 115:3, “Our God is in heaven. He does whatever pleases him.” Our freedom is controlled by God’s pleasure. It’s controlled by God’s will. It’s controlled by God’s purposes for us. Our freedom has boundaries.

“Only God alone has absolute freedom, because this is his universe and we are all creatures in it.”

There are walls around the freedom that Christ shed his blood to purchase for us. Are we free to do whatever pops in our minds to do, to go anywhere we want to go, anywhere the wind blows? Are we free to do that or are there boundaries? Right from the beginning Genesis 2:16-17, it says, “The Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free… ‘” These are the first words God speaks in quotation in the Bible to man. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.” Here’s your freedom. “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” There are your boundaries. “For when you eat of it, you’ll surely die.” You’re free to eat but you must not eat, so it’s freedom within boundaries.

So, what is the true nature of man? Are we both created… Are we created to be free or are we created to be in boundaries? The answer must be both. Jesus, when he was born as a human being, it says in a very powerful passage in Philippians 2:6-7, “Jesus who being in very nature God,” it’s an expression used in the Greek, very strong expression, “Being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing; taking the very nature of a slave.” That’s the Holman Christian Standard translation for that word. “He was as much slave as he was God,” it’s the exact same Greek expression. He didn’t just play at being a slave, he was one even to the point of dying on the cross right to the end of his life.

In the same way at the end of this whole story, at the end of everything in Revelation 22, we have this beautiful picture of the new Jerusalem and the new heaven and the new earth in all this glory and beauty. And it says there… This is Revelation 22:3. “There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him.” Interesting though, Holman Christian Standard Bible likes to translate one Greek word to be slaves when it can. A couple of verses later, it says in Revelation 22:8-9, John, he says, “I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me but he said to me, ‘Don’t do that, I am a fellow slave with you.'” Not I was a fellow slave, I am one right now. “And with your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book,” keep means obey, worship God. And it says in Romans 6:22, “You have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God.” And Paul isn’t ashamed of it. Paul a bondslave of Christ, etcetera. So, what is the true nature of man? It’s both, dear friends, it’s both. We were created to serve and we are created to serve in freedom, in absolute freedom.

“What is the true nature of man? … We were created to serve and we are created to serve in freedom, in absolute freedom.”

Now, this morning I want to look more deeply into the boundary lines of Christian freedom. I want to talk specifically about this deep and weighty topic. I’m going to ask a lot of you as hearers of a sermon today, okay? I’m going to lay some heavy ideas on you but you will find them almost indispensable going forward in terms of your Christian life. Not so much that the sermon is indispensable or even the questions I’m asking, but these ideas are going to come up again and again and again.

II. Free From the Law… or Free To the Law?

What are the boundary lines of Christian freedom? What specifically is the role of the law in the Christian life? Post justification, what is the role of the law for us now? As we are justified. We’re going to try to answer the questions: In what sense a Christian is free from the law? And in what sense is a Christian still connected to the law? Now, this is a very weighty debate, it’s been going on a long time. I’d trace out the history of it but I don’t have time. Moving on, you want to know some of the history of the debate? Come and talk to me, but you probably don’t. So let’s just move on. There are clear assertions in this chapter concerning our freedom and its boundaries. Again, look at verse one, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free,” set us free. “Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Then again in verse 13, “You my brothers were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.” And then the last verse that Tom read a moment ago verse 18, “If you are led by the spirit, you are not under law.”

So earlier also in Galatians, Paul has been asserting the freedom that all Christians have from the law. He did this because these churches he had planted in Galatia, Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, after he left, false teachers came in preaching a false gospel. And it was a gospel of a mixture of Christ’s work on the cross plus their need to obey the law of Moses in order to be saved. And the best summary of their teaching I found is in Acts 15:1 in which they said, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” And then a few verses later in Acts 15:5, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.” Required for salvation. Paul said this is a false gospel, it’s no gospel at all. And he said clearly in Galatians 2:16, “We are justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Very plainly, we’ve been justified, that is forgiven of all of our sins by simple faith in Jesus Christ, not by your obedience, not by your good works, not by your efforts, or by your striving but by simple repentance and faith in Christ are you saved from sin.

And then he starts talking about the law and says, “We’re free from it.” In Galatians 2:19 Paul says concerning himself, “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.” So I have died to the law now. The law brought me to the point where now I’ve died to it. And then Galatians 3:24-25 it says, “The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we’re no longer under the supervision of the law.” Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his son born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law so that we might receive full rights as sons.” And then at the end of Galatians 4, he talks about this image of Hagar and Sarah. Sons of Hagar are sons of the Old Covenant born for slavery. They are born in slavery, but we are children of the freed woman, the Jerusalem that’s above and she is our mother and we’re free.

Sinai equals slavery, law equals slavery, we’re free now. Free. And this is also taught in many other places especially in the Book of Romans. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not be your master because you’re not under law but under grace.” Many other verses in Romans teach us. So the summation of all of this is powerful. In some very real sense, Christians are no longer under the law. We died to the law, we’re free from the law, the law has ended in reference to us in some sense. But other verses seem to teach the opposite. Like Romans 3:31, he says, “Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all, rather we uphold the law.” Alright, how do I understand that? Or even Jesus saying very plainly in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not think that I’ve come to abolish the law or the prophets. I’ve not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” He says, “I tell you the truth until Heaven and Earth pass away, not the smallest letter or least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever loses even the smallest of these commands will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Huh, what do we make of that? Or even right in the chapter we’re looking at here, look at verse 14. He says in verse 13, “Serve one another in love,” and in verse 14 he says, “The entire Law is summed up in this one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Clearly, Paul doesn’t think the Galatians are done with thinking about that or obeying it. He commanded it of them, that they should love their neighbors as themselves. Why would Paul write that if the Law had nothing to do with this whatsoever? Seems to me then, that the law shows us that we’re sinful and wicked. We do not obey what God’s told us to do, it brings us as broken, helpless sinners to the cross. There we find forgiveness, there we find simply by faith total forgiveness and reconciliation with God and we’re given the gift of adoption as sons and daughters and the gift of the indwelling Spirit of Christ who then brings us back to the law and says, “Now obey this.” But not for the forgiveness of sins, but so that you may live the most beautiful, fruitful life you can possibly live as a child now of the living God. That seems to be the rhythm that we have here.

III. Six Vital Questions

The essence of our salvation is justification apart from any transformation in us, just by faith, leading to a continual transformation in which we become more and more obedient to the law by the power of the Spirit. And it’s not easy to understand that sometimes. We struggle understanding that. So I wanted to ask some questions and I had a helper in asking these questions. A Puritan pastor who lived in the 17th century, Samuel Bolton. And in 1645 he wrote a little booklet by the title, ‘The True Bounds of Christian Freedom.’ What are the boundary lines around Christian freedom? The true bounds. And he asked six questions and they became kind of the outline that’s going to carry us through the rest of the message. Six really probing questions and these are going to lead us to some very practical important issues in the Christian life, things that you probably asked yourself.

This sermon is pretty dense. It reminds me of, I was saying it to my wife, it reminds me of this shipping crate that we paid for with our own money to ship stuff back from Japan and it wasn’t by the weight, I don’t think, it was by the volume. And I was taking cases off the cassette tapes so that we could get all of them in there. We used cassette tapes back then, some of you don’t even know what those are. But anyway, and just things that we’ve just… I was looking at paperbacks and I didn’t like the first half of the book, so we’d rip that and the second half we’d keep. It was that bad. We were just whatever… I mean, that’s what this sermon’s like. So I guess what I’m saying is, there’s going to be a lot of truth that’s going to fly by you. I would recommend you go back to the website and listen to it, slow it down because these are weighty questions. And I’ve summarized basically a 300-page book in the sermon that’s about to follow. So yeah, it hasn’t even started yet. That’s all intro.

• Question 1:  Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from the law?
• Question 2:  Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin?
• Question 3:  Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because God has commanded them?
• Question 4:  Can those freed by Christ come into bondage again through sin?
• Question 5:  Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience?
• Question 6:  Does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to other people?

Question number one: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from the law? But what is the law? The word is used in a variety of ways in scripture. Sometimes it refers to the Old Testament like Moses, Psalms, Prophets, the writings, all of that together called law. Jesus called Psalm 82, “It is written in your law, ‘I have said you are Gods'”, that’s Psalm 82, but he calls it law. Sometimes the word is used to refer to just the first five books of the Bible, the Books of Moses. So Moses equals law, that happens a lot. Sometimes it’s just the word of God, in general, just anything spoken by God is law. Isaiah one speaks of it that way, “Hear now the law of our God,” etcetera. Just anything that God says is law. So that would extend even into the New Testament, any of the gospels, Paul’s epistles, Peter’s, all of it, law.

Now, theologians talking about Old Testament, especially the books of Moses, the law of Moses divided into three categories: Ceremonial law, civil law, and moral law. Now examples of ceremonial law are circumcision, dietary regulations, sacrificial system, worship, annual feasts, clothing regulations, other things like that, things to do with the beards, all those things, ceremonial law that set the Jews apart as holy and enabled them to worship in that pattern. Civil law was the laws by which the nation of Israel were run and operated: Kingship, taxes, property issues, things like that. Scholars tell us that Christians are freed from any observances of those. We don’t need to make three times a year pilgrimages to Jerusalem, we don’t have to offer bulls or goats or sheep or any of those things, those days are over, we are free from that. But the moral law is different, it seems different, it feels different. If you look at the 10 Commandments, You shall have no other Gods. You shall not make any idols. Remember the Sabbath day. Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder or commit adultery or steal or bear false witness or covet. These things seemed timeless and generally are called ‘moral law’. Remember that Jesus’s summary of the law, I think tends to point toward the moral law, although it does include the ceremonial and civil law too. But he said, “The first and greatest commandment is this: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all you strength and with all your mind. [He said] The second commandment is like it; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Very thing Paul quotes in the same text.

So I guess I’ll just make a simple assertion to answer the question. The moral law, the moral law remains a rule of daily life for God’s people, for Christians. We are still obligated in some sense to follow it. When Paul says, “We are free from the law,” he clearly doesn’t mean we don’t need to love God or love our neighbor anymore. Clearly, he doesn’t mean that. I can’t imagine any Christian teaching that that’s true. The New Testament epistles make it clear that the moral law still binds Christians today. For example 1 John 4:21. There the apostle John says, “He has given us this command ‘Whoever loves God must love his brother also.'” That word “must,” does that bother you? Christians must love God and love neighbor. So the moral law is still binding on us. The very own passage we see that Paul’s enjoining the Galatian Christians to serve one another in love on the basis of the fact that the law says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And so that’s still binding on our consciences. We still must do it.

Second assertion though, and this is key in understanding the New Covenant. God’s grace continually works in us to enable us to keep the moral law. That’s the essence of the New Covenant, that’s the essence of the salvation. We are free from the law as it condemns our souls to hell. We are free from the compulsion and the fact that the law doesn’t lift a finger to help us. Instead now in the New Covenant, we have been empowered from within by the Spirit to keep it and we’re being transformed by that. I love what it says in Ezekiel 36, and this is so beautiful, verses 25:27, there God says to the prophet centuries before Christ what he’s going to do in the New Covenant. He said “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.”

“God’s grace continually works in us to enable us to keep the moral law. That’s the essence of the New Covenant, that’s the essence of the salvation. We are free from the law as it condemns our souls to hell.”

That is justification, forgiveness of all of our sins. “I will sprinkle water on you and you will be clean. And I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you” that’s regeneration. He’s changing us from within. “I will remove from you your heart of stone and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you. And I will move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Do you see it? It’s a whole different stance that we have now. Having been forgiven completely of all of our sins, past, present, and future we do not ever earn forgiveness by future obedience, that never happens. But now having been transformed, heart of stone out, heart of flesh in, yielded and submissive now to God, by the Spirit, we obey God’s law. How beautiful is that? And so it says in Hebrews 8:10, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their heart.”

So does being free from the law, does that mean being free from the daily need to obey God’s moral law? No, it does not mean that. But it does mean being free from needing to obey it on our own, left to ourselves without the law lifting a finger to help us, only telling us what’s right and condemning us if we don’t do it, that’s what the law does. We are not on our own, we are aided by sovereign grace. And it does mean that we are free from the moral law’s power to send us to hell. Amen? Sent to hell because we don’t love God and sent to hell because we don’t love our neighbors as ourselves, we’re free from that. Amen? Instead, now we are commanded to live it out. The moral law, loving God with all your heart, loving your neighbor as yourself, describes the most beautiful, the most peaceful, the most fruitful possible life a human being can live. It describes it beautifully, it is the life that Jesus himself lived every moment. It is the very life the Holy Spirit of God within us is working in us more and more, and it is the life we will live forever in heaven, Amen. We will live the love of God and love of others in heaven forever.

Jonathan Edwards preached a great sermon called ‘Heaven is a world of love.’ Heaven is a world of love. And in it part of the message he proclaimed that since 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love,” it follows that, “God is an infinite fountain of love, seeing that he’s an all sufficient being, and it follows that he is a full and overflowing and an inexhaustible fountain of love, seeing he is an unchangeable and eternal being. He is an unchangeable and eternal source of love. There, even in heaven dwells that God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is or ever was proceeds. The source of all love there has ever been will be right there in heaven.” So I couple that statement from Edwards with the beautiful verse in Revelation 22 describing the new Jerusalem. Remember how it talks about that in Revelation 22:1-2, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, flowing clear as crystal from the throne, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city and on each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Well, there in Revelation 22, it just says it’s the river of life but Edwards just says it… We could also say it’s a river of love and it flows into us and forever we’ll be drinking that healing water and we will bear fruit of love. Love to God and love to neighbor forever. Now, what I’m saying is, that that is the kind of life we can increasingly live here and now by the Spirit. Love for God by the power of the Spirit, flowing from the throne of God and love for neighbor flowing from the throne of God and that is awesome.

Alright. Question number two: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin? And we would add, here and now on earth. There will be no punishments, no suffering, no chastisement in heaven. No. But here on earth are we free from all punishments and chastisements for sin? Is it possible, that God can completely forgive us for all sins past, present, and future, cover us in the righteousness of Christ, promise us heaven when we die and still chastises us and punish us for sins that we commit now contrary to his law here on earth? And the answer is, Yes! Absolutely. Not only it is possible, if you’re truly a child of God, he will do that for you. It’s part of his fatherly love for you to chastise you and to discipline you when you break his laws, when you violate his commands.

Alright, there’s lots of scriptural support for this. We’ll get to one very clearly in Galatians 6:7. It says, “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked, a man reaps what he sows.” So the law of sowing and reaping points toward punishments for sins. We’ll get to that in a minute, and I’m not going to unfold that fully because we’ll get a chance in the future, God willing, to talk more. Then there’s the clear teaching in Hebrews 12 on God’s fatherly discipline. It openly says, “The Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son,” Hebrews 12:6.

Christ himself makes this clear statement in Revelation 3:19, “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline, so be earnest and repent.” That’s the loving language of your Savior. He says, “If I love you, I’m going to rebuke you and discipline you, so be earnest and repent, when you need to repent, repent.” There’re many examples from scripture, like David and Bathsheba. David was forgiven over his sins but really the rest of his life was impacted by what he did with Bathsheba. We have the Corinthians at the Lord’s Supper, where it says that many of them were weak and sick and a number had even fallen asleep because of their sins with the Lord’s Supper. That’s pretty strong fatherly chastisement. Why did God discipline his forgiven children? Well, he disciplines us, it says in Hebrews 12:10, “For our good that we may share in his holiness.” So in order that we may share in his holiness, he is going to discipline us and chastise us for sins.

“Why did God discipline his forgiven children? … So in order that we may share in his holiness, he is going to discipline us and chastise us for sins.”

Well, what disciplines may we expect? Well, let’s start with the law of sowing and reaping. Okay? Perhaps a Christian couple may have premarital sex. It is possible they may have to face the challenging circumstances of premarital pregnancy as well. Just because we’re free from the law doesn’t mean that we’re free from consequences for sin. Alright? Perhaps a Christian may stray into internet pornography, he may lose his job as a result. Perhaps a Christian may get into habits of overeating, he may gain a lot of weight as a result. Perhaps a Christian may get angry and say some very unkind thing to a friend, that relationship may be damaged severely because of that statement that was made. A lie may deeply damage trust. A pattern of laziness can come in resulting in someone failing to do preventive maintenance on the car and not changing the oil, running out to 12,000, 14,000 miles, 16,000, until suddenly, you’re hearing some strange sounds from under the hood and you’re not quite sure why. The mechanic will tell why. It’s like, “I just think to remember putting this decal up here four years ago, what happened?” So law of sowing and reaping, you reap what you sow. We’ll talk more about that when we get to, God willing, Galatians 6.

But then there’s also disconnected fatherly discipline where he sees spiritual attitude, some pride, some spiritual laziness, some other things, and he’ll just bring a different unrelated chastisement in your life, like a health issue or a financial issue, and he’s just disciplining you. And we should learn to walk in the fear of our father’s discipline. You should fear sin and its consequences. That’s not a bad thing to do, and just because you are no longer under the law, doesn’t mean that you don’t need to fear what sin can do to you and what God’s fatherly discipline can do.

Question number three: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because God has commanded them? Friends, I hope so. How many commands are there in the New Testament? Isn’t it nice to know you don’t have to obey any of them? That doesn’t make any sense! Of course, we must obey God. Being free from the law doesn’t mean that we don’t obey God, still. Paul is continually giving commands to the people he’s writing to. There are many commands in Galatians, like right here in verse 13, “Serve one another in love.” That’s a commandment. Okay? At the end of the chapter he says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” That’s a command. “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” There are some commands.

Next chapter, Galatians 6:6, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” That’s a command. It says in Hebrews, in… Sorry, in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who are of the family of believers.” There are all kinds of commands. There are many commands in the epistles, many commands in the gospels. It’s so clear that Christians must still obey Christ and Christ’s message to the apostles even though they are not under law, but under grace.

Now, obedience comes from love. Jesus said it very plainly, “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” John 14:15. Also, obedience comes from faith. The more you believe in Jesus, the more you’ll obey him. Because it says in Romans 1:5, Paul speaks of the obedience that comes from faith. So, a heart filled with love toward Christ and filled with faith in Christ will be an obedient heart. That’s the clear teaching of the New Testament. And what will we obey? Obey God’s word. Obey God’s commandments. Can we call that God’s law? Yes, we must obey God’s law. But not for the forgiveness of our sins, that’s been settled. We are not justified by obedience to the law. It’s so that we can live a life pleasing to the Lord, so that we can have fruit for him, so that we can stay away from those wicked moral, immoral things that God says he hates. That’s why, we have to be so clear about that.

Now, we are free from obedience as if it’s a burdensome duty. It says in 1 John 5:3, “This is love for God to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome.” We’re free from duty as some kind of a trade by which we earn things from God. We’re not workmen; we’re sons and daughters. We’re not hired hands and we’re free from duty as if done by slaves. We don’t have the spirit of slavery, but the Spirit of sonship by which we cry out, “Abba, father.” So Christian obedience becomes Christian delight.

Well, in order to answer this, it’s not a simple yes or no. In order to answer this, we have to understand two different kinds of bondage. There is a universal bondage to sin and to Satan as a tyrannical principle, and then there is a partial gradual temporary bondage that comes through false doctrine, believing false doctrine or false living, living in license. We have to make a distinction between those two. Now first and foremost, let me tell you the good news. If you are justified now, you are a Christian. You can never ever sin your way back into Satan’s kingdom again. Isn’t that awesome? Just think about that. You will never sin your way back under Satan’s dominion again. You’re free from him, and you’ll never sin your way back into condemnation or sin your way back into wrath again. We are free from those forever. Jesus rescued you and he will never give you up, so you cannot sin your way back into that kind of bondage, ever, but you can sin your way into habitual temporary bondage. There are two ways to do it right in Galatians 5. Alright. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free, stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Clearly, it’s talking about the Judaizers, their false doctrine. Don’t listen to legalistic doctrine, whether from false teachers that come from the outside or from your own legalistic heart from the inside and you have one. You really do and so do I. We all struggle with legalism, all of us.

And so through false understanding of the gospel, you can behave like a slave when you’re really a son or daughter. And that’s very tragic. You don’t need to do it but it can happen. And so you are trying to break free of certain things in your life and you’re thinking like a slave, and you’re acting like a slave and you’re forgetting the cross of Christ and the grace of God and the in-dwelling Spirit and all that, and you’re trying to do it on your own. You’re acting like Jesus never came. And that’s the very danger that Paul wrote to Galatians about. Don’t do that. You’re free. You are free, so live like it. So don’t act in a legalistic way. The proof of the pudding is, what do you do when you sin? And you’re convicted by the spirit of sin, what do you do?

Now, the two wrong things you can do at that point, legalism or license are both wrong. Okay? What He wants you to do is humble yourself before him, confess your sins honestly and completely to him, be honest with him in what you did, go in your heart again to the cross. Say, “Christ died once for all, he doesn’t need to die again, it’s sufficient. His blood has been shed, I am forgiven, I am covered by faith alone, by grace alone. Thank you, Jesus.” You may need to grieve, and mourn and wail, and deal with the depths of it, that’s all fine. But ultimately what you do is you trust in Christ alone for forgiveness. But so many of us are tempted to try to earn our way back in. Try to earn our way back in. Don’t do that. So legalism, is one way you can start just acting like a slave, you put chains on yourself through legalistic practices. Don’t do that.

The second way you can do it is by the bondage of license of sin. Sin is so tricky, and so entangling. It’s a net, this big billowing net and you’re trying to walk through without getting tangled up, and it’s just so easy for sin to entangle you through habit, habitual sin. You get drawn in, you do something once, you jump out, but then you go back in and pretty soon you’re just there all the time. A lust can deceive you and surprise you into some sin. Some internet site visited or some movie watched, something like that. Or spiritual laziness can trick you into skipping your quiet time once and then maybe a couple times a week, and then more and more. Or skipping church a little bit more and more just so nice to have Sunday morning to ourselves. And just little by little you’re just in bad habits. Proverbs 24, says, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a bandit, and scarcity like an armed man.” You just give yourself a little leeway, a little license, just a little extra sleep and pretty soon you’re enslaved. Some excess enjoyment of various pleasures, not sinful in and of themselves but soon you’ve built up the habit, living for pleasure, living for things to watch or places to go, or fun things to do, or foods to eat, or for sleep. Paul’s clear warning in verse 13 is, “You, my brothers, are called to be free but do not use your freedom for the flesh.”

He also says very clearly in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “Everything is permissible for me,” it’s usually in quotations, like, “What you’re telling me, everything’s permissible for me, right? I can eat anything I want now. Alright, fine, let me go with it.” “Everything’s permissible for me,” as you say, “but not everything’s beneficial.” “Everything is permissible for me” as you say, “but I will not be enslaved by anything.” Are you enslaved by anything right now? Have you enslaved yourselves by bad habits? Are you enslaved to food, or to drink, or to fun, or to sleep, or to things you’re looking at? Are you enslaved?

Now, these forms of bondage, both the legalism and license bondage, are temporary. And the beauty of the gospel is that any time, you can get out, anytime. That’s what it means that you’re not a slave. You can walk away. Like Christian and Hopeful, in “Pilgrim’s Progress,” you have the key right here, pull it out, put it in and walk out of doubting castle. You can do it any time. Those of you that know “Pilgrim’s Progress,” you know that story, the rest of you don’t worry about it. Anyway, you can get out any time. You are free, you don’t ever need to sin that sin again, you don’t have to work your way back, just stop sinning. By the power of the Spirit, you’re free, at any time. So keep in mind, Galatians 5:1 and 5:13, and stay away from those guardrails. And don’t go into bondage anymore.

Question number five: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience? Are there conditional blessings in this life? And are there conditional rewards in this life and the next life that are based on your obedience to God’s laws? The answer is yes. there are. There are some blessings that will only come to you if you obey him. And all rewards are conditional, all of them are conditional on you doing the works that cause the reward. You have to do them to get rewarded.

Now, the rewards are a very big topic in the New Testament. Probably the best chapter on rewards, I think, is the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 6. Jesus teaches us very plainly and in detail about rewards. He says, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you’ll get no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, don’t announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, in the street corners, to be seen by men, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. [Why Jesus?] So that your giving maybe in secret and your father who sees what is done in secret, [what?] will reward you.”

“And when you pray, don’t announce it, and be on the street corners like the hypocrites. But when you pray go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who’s unseen, and your father who sees what is done in secret, [what?] will reward you.” And when you fast, don’t disfigure your face and say to everyone, ‘Hey, I’m fasting, I’m fasting all day, but no, it’s good, I’m fine, it’s all good.'” Don’t let anyone know you’re fasting. So that your fasting may be in secret. “And your father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” That’s three times Jesus has told you, how you’re going to be rewarded for giving to the needy, and for praying, and for fasting, extend that up to all Christian duties, you will be rewarded for whatever good you do in the Christian life by faith for the glory of God, out of love for others. He will reward you, but you have to do those things. He doesn’t give the rewards for nothing, they are conditional. There are no rewards for prayer given to people who didn’t pray. There are no rewards for Christian giving, given to people who didn’t give. There are no rewards for evangelism to those that didn’t evangelize.

The rewards are conditional, and so Jesus then goes beyond, and this is the clearest statement you can find on this, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Let me ask you, you study with me the book of Galatians. Can you store up justification by your works in heaven? Please shake your head no, everybody no, no, we can’t do that. Can not earn justification. Can you store up righteousness in standing with God by your good works? No. Can you store up enough points so he’ll adopt you as a son or daughter? No, all of those things are given by grace. Then what are you storing up so you will be rich in heaven? Rewards. It’s the very thing he is talking about all chapter, rewards. Be rich in good works. Be rich in courageous opportunities to share the gospel. Be rich in missions, rich in prayer, rich in generosity to the poor and needy, rich in acts of service to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Be rich, and on the other side of judgement day, you’ll spend eternity enjoying those rewards. But they are conditional. The more you do, the more you’ll get. The measure you use is the measure you will receive.

Now here’s something that will blow your mind. All Christians in heaven will be perfectly happy but not all Christians will be equally happy. Work on that one. Alright. Your circuit-breakers are tripping and I see it now… I see some smoke coming up from ears. Alright. Our happiness in heaven will be unmixed by any poison at all. It will be pure. Pure happiness, but some people will have smaller cups and others bigger cups. And the size of your cup is dependent on how you live right now. You live… The measure you use is the measure you’ll receive. So be generous now and you’ll have lots and lots of commendation and praise from your father in heaven. Those things are conditional.

“All Christians in heaven will be perfectly happy but not all Christians will be equally happy.”

And earthly blessings are also many of them conditional. Some blessings he gives you and you don’t deserve it. We don’t deserve any of them. All of this is by grace. That’s all a sermon for another day. But all of the rewards and blessings are grace but there’s some blessings he will only give to people who meet the conditions. Let’s take assurance of salvation for example, that’s a blessing, to just know, just really know that you’re forgiven. But if you’re just living in sin as a justified Christian and you’re just violating your conscience all the time, God will withhold the blessing of assurance from you, and you won’t be sure that you’re born again. Conversely, somebody who is sacrificially by the spirit putting sin to death they have a vibrant, a vigorous assurance. Lots of earthly blessings are conditional on your obedience, okay? Lots of verses I’m skipping them. Let’s just go on.

And then question six: Does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to all other people? No it doesn’t, okay? We are commanded to submit to God-ordained authorities. So just because you’re under the law, doesn’t mean you don’t need to obey the civil government, or that you don’t need to obey the TSA at the airport. Try that one out, okay? Go ahead and try it; no don’t try it! “Hey I’m free from the law, happy condition and right through.” Alright, we’ll see how long you’re happy okay. They [TSA] will make sure you’re not. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with them that day. So yes, we must submit to God-ordained authorities. We must submit to the government. We must submit to the President and to the senators, and to the lawmakers, and to the state police, and to people who have the right to command us.

Wives must submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Children must submit to their parents. Okay? These things are true. Church members must submit to their spiritual leaders. Hebrews 13:17, “Obey their authority,” that’s what it says. So, yes, we must submit. It says very plainly in Romans 13, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authorities, rebelling against what God has instituted and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves.” Okay. But, obviously, we don’t have to obey our human authorities when they contradict the word of God as it says in Acts Chapter 5, “We must obey God rather than men.”

VI. Application to Unbelievers and Believers

So finally, I just want to take a moment and apply these things. If you came in here as a non believer, you are invited here, you’ve never been. This is a heavy sermon, mostly meant for those that have been thinking about these things for a long time. But there is something here for you. And what I want to say to you is all of that freedom, I’ve been talking about, it doesn’t describe you right now. If you’re not a Christian, you weren’t a Christian when you walked in here, you’re not a Christian now, you’re actually a slave of Satan, you’re a slave to sin, you can’t help but sin. But here’s the good news. Jesus Christ Son of God died on the cross in the place of sinners like you and me to give you hope of eternal life. Trust in him. That’s all. And as soon as you trust in him, your invisible chains will fall off, and you will be free, as free as any veteran Christian has been in here who’s been a Christian for 50, 60 years. You’ll be free immediately. Free from all these things.

And then you can understand these six questions, and the rest of you look at them. You know how to answer them now. Does being free from the law mean that we no longer have to obey it in any form? No, it doesn’t mean that. We still have the moral law. Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin? No, God may still chastise us and punish us when we violate his law.

Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because Christ has commanded them? Yes, you have entered a kingdom, and there’s a king there, and he will command you. But his commands are not burdensome. And he doesn’t leave you alone but by the Spirit he enables you to obey them. Can those freed by Christ come into bondage again through sin? No, if that means you’re back in Satan’s kingdom; but, yes, if you’re talking about temporary chains you put on yourself through foolishness, bad doctrine, and willful sin. You can enslave yourself. Cut free. Step out.

Question five: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience? Yes, all of God’s rewards are conditional given to those who obey. Judgment day is clearly a time in which God will give to each person according to what he has done, and that’s by God’s law. And finally, does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to other people? No, we must still submit to God-ordained authority.

Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for these things we’ve discussed today. I pray that these weighty questions and their weighty answers would rest on our hearts that we would understand what kind of life we may now live by the spirit in order to be maximally fruitful, maximally pleasing to you, and bring great joy to our own hearts in Jesus name. Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

This past week, I watched a powerful movie for the second time… the movie was called “Amistad,” and it was based on a true story… the plight of some Africans who had been abducted from their villages by slave traders and then illegally shipped to Cuba. During the voyage from Cuba in July of 1839, one slave named Cinque managed with extreme effort and the ripping of fingernails and the flesh from his fingertips to pry loose a single nail from a plank of wood to which he was chained…. He used that nail to pick the lock of the shackles that bound him, and then freed the other slaves. They grabbed some weapons and took over the ship, slaughtering their captors but keeping the ship’s captain and mate alive so they could sail them back to Africa. But the Captain fooled them and sailed them to Long Island, New York. The ship was impounded by the US Navy and brought to New Haven, CT, where the 53Africans were taken into custody and charged with leading a murderous slave insurrection. The movie unfolds powerfully, revealing the intense political wranglings over slavery that were threatening to rip the United States apart. The legal drama was a focus on the rights these Africans had to regain their freedom from vicious men who had stolen it from them. The opponents claimed they were slaves and had no rights to rebel against their lawful owners. The drama culminates in the case being argued by John Quincy Adams before the Supreme Court of the United States. The soliloquy offered by Adams in the movie is one of the most moving moments I’ve ever seen in a movie:

He said the center of case comes down to the true nature of man. He cited an article written by pro-slavery Senator John Calhoun which asserted that slavery has been woven into the very nature and fabric of human society from ancient history, even back to the Bible times, and is therefore an essential part of man. Adams strongly disagreed:

I know this a controversial idea—[but the nature of man] is freedom! Is freedom. And the proof is the length to which a man, woman or child will go to regain it once taken. He will break loose his chains. He will decimate his enemies. He will try and try and try, against all odds, against all prejudices, to get home.

I did not intend to couple the watching of this movie with preaching through Galatians 5… but it struck me how they do connect. A major theme in Galatians 5 is the issue of FREEDOM, that Christ has bought us FREEDOM, that it is fragile and needs to be protected, that it is misunderstood and can be abused… we can take this freedom and use it for the FLESH, for SIN… the very opposite of what Christ intended

So I was led to ask again, what is the TRUE NATURE of man? Were we created by God to be free? Or were we created by God to be slaves? Or is there a deeper answer that draws both themes together and harmonizes them?

As we’ve said before, only GOD ALONE has absolute freedom in His universe:

Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

Our freedom is controlled by God’s pleasure, God’s will, God’s purposes for us… our freedom has BOUNDARIES

1.  Are there any WALLS around the freedom Christ shed his blood to purchase for us?

2.  Are we free to do whatever pops in our minds to do, anywhere the wind blows we may roam… or are there BOUNDARIES?

Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

You are FREE TO EAT… but YOU MUST NOT EAT… That is the clear language of freedom within boundary lines

So we were BOTH created to SERVE God and created for FREEDOM:

Philippians 2:6-7 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.

CSB Revelation 22:3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.

Revelation 22:8-9 I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Romans 6:22 you have been liberated from sin and become enslaved to God

As humans, we were created to SERVE, but in FREEDOM!!

This morning, we will look more deeply into the BOUNDARY LINES of Christian freedom… and specifically, the role of the LAW in the true Christian life. WE will try to answer the questions in what sense is a Christian free from the Law, and in what sense is a Christian still connected with the Law…

II.   Free From the Law… or Free To the Law?

A.  An Ancient AND a Modern Debate: the Role of the Law in the Christian Life

1.  Battle over relationship between justification and sanctification

2.  The “Lordship Controversy” between John MacArthur and Zane Hodges (among others)… can you accept Jesus as Savior but not submit to Him as Lord? Can we expect someone who is openly living in sin to have the same assurance of salvation as someone who is putting sin to death by the Spirit?

3.  Tullian Tchividjian: Jesus + Nothing = Everything (2011)… very much lined up with the themes of Galatians, and Paul’s arguments against the Judaizers… BUT… some questions about whether there can be a confusion of justification and sanctification… is sanctification just a matter of reminding yourself again and again that you are already seen to be perfect by God? Or is there a need for LABOR BY THE SPIRIT IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW?

4.  Debates with Kevin Deyoung over the role of striving and effort in sanctification… and therefore, the role of God’s Law in the ongoing life of the Christian AFTER JUSTIFICATION

B.  So… this is a LIVE ISSUE

C.  More than that… each of you struggles with ongoing questions about daily Christian life, and how to walk in the freedom that Christ has given you while also living in a manner that pleases the Lord… WHAT ROLE DOES THE LAW OF GOD PLAY IN THAT DAILY LIFE???

D.  Clear Assertions in this Chapter… and Elsewhere

Galatians 5:1 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.

Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

1.  So also earlier in Galatians, Paul has been asserting the freedom all Christians have from the Law

a.  The Judaizers were teaching a false gospel which had at its core the NECESSITY of obedience to the Law of Moses in order to be saved

b.  The best summary of their doctrine is in Acts 15

Acts 15:1 “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:5 “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

2.  Paul has clearly taught that justification from sin is by faith apart from works

Galatians 2:16 [We] know that a man is not justified by observing 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 observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

3.  So, he has asserted that Christians are FREE from the Law

Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

Galatians 3:19 What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.

Galatians 3:24-25 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:24-26 One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

4.  And this is taught in many other places as well

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 7:4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

Romans 8:2 through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 10:4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5.  The summation of all this is powerful: in some very real sense, Christians are no longer under the Law… we died to the Law; we are free from the Law; the Law has ended in reference to us…

E.  BUT… Other places seem to teach the opposite

Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Why would Paul write that if the Law had nothing to do with us whatsoever? So also this verse:

Romans 8:4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

And especially this:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

It seems like the Law brings us TO CHRIST for forgiveness; Christ gives us His Spirit; and then the Spirit brings us BACK TO THE LAW to know how we should now live in order to please God

The essence of our salvation is a transformation from within so that we now DELIGHT in God’s Law as the most beautiful way to live… but we don’t TRUST IN our own efforts to obey the Law to justify us from our sins!!

F.  The Nature of Christian Freedom

1.  Negatively: Freedom from…

a.  Freedom from Satan’s power

b.  Freedom from Sin

c.  Freedom from the Ceremonial Law as a Covenant

d.  Freedom from the Law’s Curse: the Power to Condemn Our Souls

e.  Freedom from Death

f.  Freedom from the Grave

2.  Positively: Freedom to…

a.  Freed from a state of wrath and brought into a state of MERCY AND FAVOR with God

b.  Freed from a state of condemnation before God and brought into a state of justification, perfect righteousness in the sight of God

c.  Freed from a state of enmity with God and brought into a state of reconciliation and friendship with God

d.  Freed from a state of spiritual death, and brought into a daily experience of spiritual life by the Spirit

e.  Freed from a state of sinful rebellion against God, and brought into a life of obedient service to God

f.  Freed from a state of bondage and slavery in our service, we are brought into a spirit of sonship and freedom in our service

g.  Freed from death and hell, and brought into life and glory in heaven

III.   Six Vital Questions

A.  Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom

1.  Samuel Bolton (1606-1654), Puritan pastor

2.  Wrote a careful little booklet in 1645 by that title: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom

3.  The BOUNDARIES of Christian FREEDOM

4.  Paul was adamant that the Galatians not allow anyone to make them spiritual slaves

Galatians 5:1 ¶ 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.

5.  By telling you that there ARE limits to your freedom, and those limits are perfectly described by God’s Holy Law, am I trying subtly to craft a yoke of slavery now and slip it over your necks?

6.  I read Samuel Bolton’s six probing questions on this issue, and felt immediately led to ask them in front of you, and seek to answer them and apply them to your lives in Christ… to show you the TRUE BOUNDS of Christian freedom

7.  His six questions:

a.  Question 1: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from the law?

b.  Question 2: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin?

c.  Question 3: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because God has commanded them?

d.  Question 4: Can those freed by Christ come into bondage again through sin?

e.  Question 5: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience?

f.  Question 6: Does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to other people?

B.  Question 1: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from the law?
1.  What is “the Law”?

a.  The word is used in a variety of ways in the Bible

i)  Sometimes it refers to the Books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets

John 10:34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? (Psalm 82)

ii)  Sometimes it refers to the Five Books of Moses alone

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

iii)  Sometimes it refers to any word from God

Isaiah 1:10-11 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “The multitude of your sacrifices– what are they to me?” says the LORD.

b.  Theologians have divided the Law of Moses into three main headings

i)  The Ceremonial Law: circumcision, dietary laws, sacrificial system, worship, annual feasts

ii)  Civil Law: by which the nation of Israel was run… matters of the king and taxation and justice in the courts and provision for the poor, property rights, etc.

iii)  Moral Law: timeless moral principles having to do with God and humanity—you shall have no other gods, you shall not worship idols, honor your father and mother, you shall not murder or steal or covet

c.  Christians are FREE from the first two… we are no longer required to be circumcised or to offer animal sacrifice or go to Jerusalem three times a year to worship; neither are we required to honor Israel’s king or follow Israel’s national laws… we are not Israelites in that sense

d.  But the Moral Law remains binding on the conscience of the Christian… we still MUST obey it!

e.  Jesus’ summary of the Law seems to point to the Moral Law:

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

2.  Assertion #1: The Moral Law remains a rule of daily life for God’s people

a.  When Paul says we are “free from the Law,” he clearly doesn’t mean we don’t need to obey these two great commandments any more

b.  I can’t imagine any Christian claiming we no longer have to love God or love our neighbors

c.  The New Testament epistles make it clear that the Moral Law still speaks an obligation to Christians

1 John 4:21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

d.  And in our very own passage this morning, the second great commandment is repeated as clearly binding on Christians

Galatians 5:13-14 serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

3.  Assertion #2: God’s grace empowers us to fulfill the Moral Law

a.  Loving God with all our hearts is the whole point of the transforming power of the Gospel and the indwelling Spirit

Ezekiel 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

b.  Ezekiel promised that, in the New Covenant, God would remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh? Remember that He said He would put His Spirit in us and MOVE US to obey His Laws? Remember that He said He would do all of this AFTER He cleansed us from our sins?

c.  The cleansing from sin is done at the beginning of the Christian life, at justification… so also the transformation of our hearts making us new… then comes the gift of the Spirit… then comes the power of the Spirit to MOVE US to obey God’s Laws

Philippians 2:13 it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.

4.  SO… being “free from the Law” does NOT mean being free from the daily need to obey God’s moral Law…

5.  But it means being free from needing to obey it ON OUR OWN, UNAIDED BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE… and it does mean being free from the moral Law’s power to condemn us to hell when we fail to love God or our neighbor

6.  The moral law (Love God with all your heart, love others as you love yourself) describes the most beautiful human life that one can possibly live! It is the life that Jesus Himself lived every moment… it is the very life the Holy Spirit is working in us moment by moment… and it is the life we WILL LIVE IN HEAVEN!!!

7.  Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon called “Heaven is a World of Love”… in it he proclaimed that since 1 John 4:8 says “God is love”, it follows that God is an infinite fountain of love, Seeing he is an all-sufficient Being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing and an inexhaustible fountain of love. Seeing he is an unchangeable and eternal Being, he is an unchangeable and eternal source of love. There even in heaven dwells that God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is or ever was proceeds.

Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Not merely “river of life” but “river of love”… we WILL LOVE GOD PERFECTLY as He does… and we WILL LOVE OTHERS PERFECTLY as He does as well… and we will not need to be COMMANDED to love Him any more than we will need to be COMMANDED to breathe or to delight in the beauty around us or commanded to be happy in the ocean of joy that we will be swimming in… HEAVEN IS A WORLD OF LOVE… so the Holy Spirit moves in us on earth as much as possible to

Ephesians 5:2 live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us

C.  Question 2: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin?

1.  Is it possible that God can completely forgive us from sins, cover us in the righteousness of Christ, welcome us to heaven despite our sins… yet bring heavy consequences and chastisements for our sins?

2.  Scripture clearly teaches YES!!!

3.  Scriptural support

a.  The Law of Sowing and Reaping

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

b.  The Teaching on God’s Fatherly Discipline

Hebrews 12:6 the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.

c.  Christ’s Clear Statement in Revelation

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

4.  Examples from Scripture:

a.  David and Bathsheba

b.  The Corinthians and the Lord’s Supper

5.  Why God disciplines His forgiven children

Hebrews 12:10 God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

6.  What disciplines we may expect

a.  The “law of sowing and reaping”… perhaps a Christian couple may have premarital sex… it is possible they may have to face the challenging circumstances of premarital pregnancy. Perhaps a Christian may stray into internet pornography… he may lose his job as a result; perhaps a Christian may get into habits of overeating… he may gain a lot of weight as a result; perhaps a Christian may get angry and say some very unkind things to another person… that relationship may be permanently damaged as a result… a lie may deeply damage trust; a pattern of laziness may result in someone failing to do preventive maintenance on a car and failing to change the oil, resulting in major engine damage… ; a pastor may get lazy and fail to prepare his sermons diligently, and the result will be mediocrity in preaching and a failure to produce fruit as he should; JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN DOESN’T FREE YOU FROM

THE LAW OF SOWING AND REAPING… much more on this when we get to that passage in Galatians 6

b.  Fatherly discipline: God may bring chastisements in our lives not directly tied to sowing and reaping… for example, he may bring health troubles or financial troubles on you because of some spiritual sin—some pride or hardness in your heart; he may lead you to give to missions or the poor and needy, and you harden your heart and fail to give—then God will bring a major car repair or other financial loss that teaches you to give money when God says to give it; any time you have a health problem, you should seek the Lord to see if you perhaps are being disciplined for sin

James 5:14-16 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

7.  Walking in the fear of the Lord’s discipline

a.  We should FEAR SIN and FEAR THE LORD’S FATHERLY DISCIPLINE for sin

b.  Just because we are free from the condemnation of the Law doesn’t mean that we are free from consequences for sin

D.  Question 3: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because God has commanded them?

1.  Obviously, the answer must be YES!! Or else why should we read any of Paul’s epistles?

2.  Paul is continually giving commands to God’s justified people that he expects them to obey

Galatians 5:13 serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:25-26 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 6:6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

3.  Scriptural support that Christians still must OBEY CHRIST though they are not “under Law”

a.  Obedience comes from love… the stronger your love for Christ, the more you will obey Him!!

John 14:15  “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

b.  Obedience comes from faith… the stronger your faith, the more you will obey Him

Romans 1:5 the obedience that comes from faith.

Romans 16:26 so that all nations might believe and obey him

Obey WHAT???? Obey God’s laws… God’s rules… God’s word!!!!

So, being free from Law does NOT mean being free from obedience to God

4.  Ways Christians ARE free from “duty”

a.  Free from “duty” as a burden

1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome

b.  Free from “duty” as a trade by which we earn wages

Romans 4:4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

John 10:13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

c.  Free from “duty” as if done by slaves

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

5.  Instead, Christian obedience becomes Christian DELIGHT

E.  Question 4: Can those freed by Christ come into bondage again through sin?

1.  Two kinds of bondage:

a.  Universal bondage to Sin as a tyrannical principle…

b.  Partial/gradual bondage to sin by false doctrine or habitual sin

2.  We shall NEVER again be enslaved by Satan, sin, death, Law as a condemning power

a.  If Christ ever sets a soul free from sin as a lawful power, if Christ ever delivers a soul from Satan’s dark kingdom, they can NEVER be enslaved again

b.  We are totally secure in our freedom from sin and Satan and hell!!

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves

3.  BUT we can sin ourselves into habitual bondage

a.  Bondage of legalism

i)  This is the very thing Paul was pleading with the Galatians about!!

ii)  The Judaizers were trying to enslave their consciences with the Law, saying they had to obey in order to be saved

iii)  So Paul commanded this:

Galatians 5:1 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.

iv)  We also need to be constantly reminded even in the absence of false teachers… a sick conscience can be used by Satan to trick us into legalism and bondage to fear

v)  When we sin, we feel that we need to DO SOMETHING to earn back our right standing with God… we feel we need to DO SOMETHING in obedience to the Law to pay for our sins… but the answer to sin will always be the same: REPENT AND BELIEVE IN CHRIST!!!

vi)  Obedience to the Law can never be used to pay for sins… cling to Christ

vii) Confess your sins, acknowledge that you have violated God’s best for you… repent, grieve over the sin, resolve to fight it… but KNOW THAT FORGIVENESS IS A FREE GIFT GIVEN BY THE GRACE OF GOD THROUGH THE CROSS OF CHRIST!!! Not by works, so that no one can boast

viii)  So STAND FIRM, and do not yield to the bondage of legalism

b.  Bondage of license

i)  On the other hand, sin can entangle us in its ways by habitual yielding to temptation

ii)  A lust can trick you and surprise you into some sin… some internet site visited… some movie watched… some

iii)  Or spiritual laziness can trick you into skipping your quiet time or skipping church…little by little, some bad habits can creep in

Proverbs 24:33-34 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest–34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

iv)  Or some excess enjoyment of various pleasures—not sinful in and of themselves, but soon, you have built up a habit: living for pleasure— Redbox, or Netflix or some computer game… or living for weekend getaways or living for food or living for sleep

c.  Paul’s clear warning:

1 Corinthians 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me”– but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”– but I will not be mastered by anything.

4.  Both forms of bondage are powerful but EARTH-BOUND… the bondage of legalism through false doctrine and the bondage of license through habitual sin

5.  The whole time, the true Christian is FREE and can walk out of the voluntary prison

Illustration: Pilgrim’s Progress… Christian and Hopeful imprisoned in Doubting Castle by the wicked tyrant, Giant Despair… he comes daily and beats them and assaults them and accuses them of crimes and tempts them to commit suicide… but all the time they had the key to their own release in their breast pocket: the Key of Promise! Trusting in God’s promises, they found the key could unlock any door of their prison and set them free. They could have escaped at any moment. So it is with genuine Christians! We NEVER NEED TO SIN AGAIN… but if you have enslaved yourself to legalism on the one hand, or to habitual sin on the other, you can walk away by trusting in the promises of God

6.  Here we must read again Galatians 5:1 and realize that you are responsible to keep yourself free from VOLUNTARY ENSLAVEMENT… either to legalism or to licentious sin

7.  Application:

a.  Are there any habits that you have that have secretly, silently put chains around your heart?

b.  Are there any patterns of activity that are effective idols in your life, that you effectively can’t live without?

1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

Is anything enslaving you? Any pattern of eating? Or drinking? Or watching? Or playing? Or spending? Or recreating? Or sleeping? Anything enslaving you? If you’re not sure, trying FASTING FROM IT for a time… a day for food, or a week from some recreation or comfort food or hobby… the harder it is to live without something, the more certain you may be that it has its chains around your heart… that you have VOLUNTARILY ENSLAVED YOURSELF

Mark Twain: “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.”

F.  Question 5: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience?

1.  Being “free from the Law” does not mean we are free from the necessity of obedience in order to be rewarded by God

2.  REWARDS are a big topic in the Christian life…

3.  The New Testament reveals that God gives rewards based on obedience

4.  The more you obey the more He will reward you

5.  The greatest single statement proving a works-based reward system comes from Christ in Matthew 6

Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6:3-4 when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6 when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Galatians teaches us very plainly that we can’t “store up” forgiveness by works, we can’t store up a righteous standing with God by works; we can’t “store up” payment for sins by works; we can’t “store up” enough heavenly credit to be adopted as His sons and daughters. All of those things are given by grace through faith apart from works

So… what treasure do we “store up in heaven”? I believe we begin “storing up treasure in heaven” the moment we have been justified by faith… from then on, every good work we do is stored up in God’s book, waiting for our reward!!! We store up good works for reward AFTER JUSTIFICATION

And how do we know what “good works” are? BY THE LAW!!

6.  The Bible gives LAWS, RULES, PRECEPTS, COMMANDMENTS…including in the New Testament

a.  We are commanded to give generously financially… and are told the more we invest in the Lord’s work, the more we will receive of His blessing

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

b.  We are commanded to work hard as for the Lord, not for men; and the better we work, the more the Lord will reward us

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

c.  We are commanded to evangelize, and people we win to Christ will be our crown

1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?

d.  We are commanded to support the Lord’s servants in their ministry, and the more we support them, the greater will be our reward

Matthew 10:41-42 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

e.  We are commanded to help build the Lord’s church, and the more we use gold, silver and costly stones rather than wood, hay, and straw, the better our reward

1 Corinthians 3:8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

1 Corinthians 3:14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

f.  SO obedience to the Laws of God results in great reward… both on earth and even more, eternally in heaven

7.  Everything we get is a gift of grace… we don’t truly merit anything ever! Even our best actions are tinged with sin, hardly perfect… that God would ever reward any action on our part is SHEER GRACE!

8.  But… it seems that, in the New Testament, there are an array of blessings given both on earth and in heaven that are rewards for obedience… and this pattern of obedience being rewarded IS NOT a violation of Christian freedom

9.  On earth: there are conditional blessings, gifts given are a reward for obedience to Christ’s commands

a.  Again, we appeal to the Law of sowing and reaping

b.  If you sow to the Spirit by laboring on your soul in a pattern of consistent prayer or scripture memorization, you will reap REWARDS: a deeper walk with God, a more thorough knowledge of the Scripture, a wider scope of ministry, more fruit in evangelism

c.  Hard workers in the Kingdom are rewarded IN THIS LIFE with more and more blessing from God

d.  The more we obey, the stronger will be our ASSURANCE OF SALVATION… we should not expect someone in willful sin to have a strong confidence that all is well with Jesus… this is part of the earlier discussion of DISCIPLINE… God will withhold assurance from a willfully sinning Christian… conversely, He will pour out assurance on the sacrificially obedient Christian

e.  Obedient children will KNOW GOD BETTER THAN DISOBEDIENT ONES

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

10.  In heaven: there are rewards given to those who serve Christ faithfully here on earth; they are contingent upon OBEDIENCE… Works done by faith

Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

11.  SO… we should LIVE DAILY for rewards… and understand those rewards come as a result of obedience to God’s commands

G.  Question 6: Does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to other people?

1.  Two kinds of subjection: subjection which violates Christian freedom; and subjection yielded as a part of Christian freedom

2.  Subjection which violates Christian freedom

a.  Submission to false teachers who impose legalism on your souls

Galatians 2:5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

b.  Submission to government authorities which command you to violate God’s Laws and your conscience

Acts 4:18-19 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.

Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!

3.  Subjection which is a part of Christian freedom

a.  Submission to God-ordained authorities in general

i)  Submission of a wife to her husband, of children to their parents, of church members to elders, of citizens to the governing authorities

Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.

IV.   Application to Unbelievers and Believers

A.  To Unbelievers: Understand your present state of bondage… and let Christ set you free!

1.  The FREEDOM we’ve been talking about… if you’re not yet a Christian, you are still a slave to sin

2.  You are still in Satan’s dark Kingdom

3.  You are still under the curse of the Law and the wrath of God

4.  FLEE TO CHRIST!!!

John 8:34-36 “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Look to Christ crucified… trust in Him and He will make you free

B.  To Believers: Defend your Christian freedom, but understand the delightful submission to the perfect Laws of God

1.  Understand the answers to these six questions:

a.  Question 1: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from the law?

We are delivered from the Law as a condemning power and a crushing burden… but we are still instructed by the Law in the most beautiful way of life to glorify God

b.  Question 2: Does our being made free by Christ deliver us from all punishments for sin?

No… God may still chastise us for disobedience

c.  Question 3: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties because God has commanded them?

Yes… we have been saved into a KINGDOM and the King still commands His subjects; we have been adopted into a FAMILY, and the Father still commands His children. The New Testament is FILLED with commands to justified Christians, and we would have no way to understand those commands if “freedom from the Law” meant we never have to obey again

d.  Question 4: Can those freed by Christ come into bondage again through sin?

No, we can never be kidnapped back into Satan’s dark kingdom to serve sin again; no we can never sin our way back into condemnation by the Law; BUT we can give away our freedom by legalism or by license… we can try to live the Christian life in the flesh as if we were slaves—in constant legalistic terror of offending God; OR we can throw off constraints in areas and become temporarily enslaved to specific sins—like lusts, or food, or hobbies, or lies, or gossip… our habits can enslave us if we are not constantly vigilant. God’s Law is PURE and the more obedient we are, the more free we will live!

e.  Question 5: Is it consistent with Christian freedom to perform duties in order to be rewarded for our obedience?

Yes. All of God’s rewards are conditional, given to those who obey. Judgment Day is clearly a time in which God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” This is consistent with Christian freedom.. we are free from the Law’s condemning power; but the Law perfectly describes the life God will reward by grace.

f.  Question 6: Does the freedom of a Christian free him from all obedience to other people?

No. God has given to created people delegated authority… and He commands us to obey them as long as their commands do not contradict His.