All right, verse 13 verses, Galatians
chapter 5. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is
a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are
fallen from grace are driven off the course of grace. For
we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. For in Jesus Christ, neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. You did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion comes
not of him that called you. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense
of the cross ceased. I would that they were even cut
off which trouble you. For brethren, ye have been called
unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another. Now the first verse and the 13th
verse principally bring us to truth. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage." And the last verse said, you
have been called unto liberty, only do not use your liberty
for an occasion unto the flesh. I mentioned that this is a doctrine
or teaching about which there is not a lot of agreement. There's
a lot of disagreement in Christendom about what are the bounds of
true Christian liberty. For example, One person's liberty,
another would call licentiousness, not liberty at all. And what
one regards as his duty, another would call or look upon as legalism. And we see that in the Corinthian
church in their great dissension about the matter of eaten meat
sacrifice on the idol. Having mentioned, therefore,
the contention that exists about the true bounds of our Christian
liberty which we have in Christ, I think it is probably safe for
us to say that we might all agree that one's view of his Christian
liberty will be largely formed in connection with their understanding
of the gospel and of salvation by grace. And of the former bondage
that once enslaved us until Christ made us free, and therefore it
might also be affected by the first teaching that we had when
we entered into the door of Christendom. For that first teaching like
that of the Jew is sometimes hard for us to shake off, even
in the face of truth. Now, we have studied here in
Galatians chapter 5 for our text of the evening. And the first
thing for us to do, as often is, is for us to consider the
context in which our text appears today and how it fits in with
the flow of thought that Paul is giving unto them. Contextually,
Galatians 5 and verse 1 takes us back into chapter 4 and beyond
to Paul's amazing passage in the end of chapter four that
he calls an allegory where he allegorizes the history of Abraham
and of Sarah and of the two wives that Abraham had, Sarah and Hagar. And he does that in order that
he might illustrate the condition of those that are under one of
the two covenants and the two Jerusalem, and this allegory
is a last attempt, if I may say so, by Paul to show the disadvantage
of placing oneself under the law. And also to convince the
legalist the blessing of being a spiritual son of Mother Sarah
or that which is above. Now the two women, Hagar was
a bondwoman. She was a house slave, a servant,
as we might think about it in our day. And her son was born
strictly according or after the flesh, by natural ability, nothing
supernatural about it at all. While Sarah was the true wife,
the free wife of Abraham, and bore a son not out of natural
ability, but according to the promise of God and the supernatural
work. Now, the point of the allegory,
which also is set forth in some extent in Roman 9, 6 through
9, is that mere descent from Abraham does not make one a spiritual
son or daughter of God. Romans 9 and verse 8. They which are the children of
the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. And in Galatians 3
and verse 29, And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise. Galatians 4 and verse 30, The
son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free
woman. Galatians 4 and 28, And you,
brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. So then,
brethren, we're not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. Now, verse 31, chapter 4, is
the conclusion of the allegory. And Paul said, the case with
us is this. after the pattern of Isaac, who
was a son of promise, or freeborn, born of and through the spirit
of the free woman, Jerusalem, which is above. In other words,
our children of grace. In chapter 5, verse 1, the exhortation
is, therefore, that being the case, what we just read in the
end, of chapter 4, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. So if we might flash back again
and see how they came to have this liberty in Christ. In Galatians chapter 3 and chapter
4, very important, where Paul likens Israel to a minor son
or child that has been put under tutors and governors and overseers
until they come of a ripe age that they might inherit fully. How the apostle likened them
to a young heir and the law as a strict, stern pedagogue over
them to discipline them, to keep them in, to train them until
they come to full sonship. And saying unto them, in Galatians
3 and verse 24, the law was our schoolmaster. That was its purpose. That's the function that it served,
or one of them. Literally, the law was our child
trainer or our pedagogue. Not a teacher in the classroom,
as we might think about that, but it was a pedagogue to discipline
us unto Christ. and that in order to a certain
end, that we might be justified by faith. And in chapter 4, verse
1 through 7, he compares them to a minor child. Yes, they are
an heir. They are heir to all that the
father possesses, but temporarily they're put in the custody of
a tutor or governor in order to prepare them for the time
when the father, at his set time, would free them from the oversight
of the tutor, the pedagogue, and bring them into adult sonship
and give them the fullness of their sons here. Now, this deliverance
spiritually came when Christ was sent to redeem Israel and
others from the curse of the law that they received the adoption
of children. You have that in chapter 4. What
a good passage. Chapter 3 and verse 25, after
faith has come, We are no longer under a schoolmaster. And this was an unbearable yoke
to them, as we read in Acts 15 and verse 10. Who is there of
the sons of men that could keep the law? Who could satisfy its
burdensome demand? It was actually, says Paul, a
ministration of death in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. It would never
say unto anyone, that's enough, I'm satisfied, you have fulfilled
all of my demand. Because if man keep the whole
law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, says James
chapter 2 and verse 10. The law shows no mercy to them
that are under it, and the Jews who believe were brought under
or into a completely new dispensation by the coming and the death of
Christ, who nailed the ordinances to the cross, who rent the veil
in the temple and brought them into the new covenant. Now to
such Paul says, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. Liberty, freedom, how precious. how it ought to be cherished.
My, there's nothing worse than slavery or enslavement. And whether we're talking about
political or talking about spiritual, to be free, to have liberty,
not be enslaved, is a great blessing and ought to be contended for
and maintained. But alas, we look at the world.
We look both civilly and we look ecclesiastically or churchwise
or religion in both areas, whether it be civic or whether it be
spiritual. Many people are way too eager
to yield up their liberty and have some sort of shackle put
upon them. The gullible would bring them
into bondage of one sort or another and call it liberty. while they
put the shackles upon them, calling them the free men of Christ. And so those who are willing
to trade their liberty for empty promises and false delusion to
buy a pig in a poke, as we sometimes use the expression. One of the
early leaders of our country, they are willing to give up liberty
for security, will soon have neither. If you're willing to
do one, you'll soon lose the boat. But in the spiritual realm,
I think we find the same thing is true. to forego the liberty
that we have in Jesus Christ or to satisfy someone else or
peace of conscience and soon find they will have neither. So they strike a very rotten
bargain as Esau did when he sold his birthright, and for what?
A plate of pottage or a plate of stew. So, as we look upon
this matter of our liberty, Galatians chapter 5 and verse 2 makes it
clear that the issue of that day and there in Galatia was
circumcision. Now by that we mean Judaism. The whole body of Judaism was
sometimes called the circumcision. The Jews insisted that that become
a part of the Gentiles acceptance with God. You have that in Acts
15 verse 1 and again in verse 5. That except they submit unto
the right R-I-T-E, of circumcision, which would mean an espousal
of the whole Judaistic system. And Paul answers that if circumcision
be necessary to acceptance with God, if righteousness come by
keeping the law, then look what he said, Christ shall profit
you nothing. That by getting themselves circumcised,
they forfeit all advantages that might flow from Christ. Christ
will not be a co-savior. He will not share His saving
glory with any other thing, not even the ceremonial law, or with
any other that we might make a co-savior with our Lord. What's more, in the third verse
of our chapter, I solemnly tell you that everyone that gets circumcised,
and he means as a part of their justifying righteousness before
God, has then obligated themselves to espouse and to keep every
requirement of the law, as it were, put themselves under the
wrong covenant. And that's what it amounts to.
Circumcision being what one called the initiatory right into that
covenant, as was Abraham. Then look at verse 4. A certain
person is addressed. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, then it follows that a certain thing is also true. Now, it's not that any can be
justified by the law. That's an impossibility, and
Paul declares it often, such as, or hope or try for justification
by the works of the law, then they do cut themselves off from
Christ and have abandoned the way of grace. And they are outcast
from the covenant of grace and have, as it were, put themselves
under the law and therefore under His curse. Such have abandoned
Christ for Galatians 2 21 if Righteousness come by the law
then Christ is dead in vain and to be under the law is to be
in Bondage and that's very clear in the scripture now the text
in Galatian is concerning the first century situation in the
churches between the Jew and the Gentile when they began to
be mixed in great numbers or practically in equal numbers. But also we need to enlarge our
focus beyond the days of the Apostle and the early days of
Christianity when we speak of the subject of Christian liberty. For though the issues might be
different, It's something else today that is the issue. It's
not circumcision like it was in that day, but it carries the
same principle, and we are to do the same thing, stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. I have a book
in my shelf by Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian
Freedom. And he made the point, there
are two parts of Christian freedom for us to consider when the subject
is before us. Number one, there is the freedom
that we have in this life and in this world that we have in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we could be in bondage under
a cruel dictator, but still be the Lord's free man. in the world. Secondly, there is that freedom
in the coming world. And oh, how great and complete
that will be. Bolton called it consummate freedom,
unquote. That'll be the day when we are
completely, absolutely removed from sins, presence, or power,
or influence. In John chapter 8, verse 31 through
36, The Lord told some Jews the liberating effect of truth. He
said, knowing the truth will make you free. And he spoke of
freedom and bondage from sin in that passage. In John 8, 34,
whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And I bet that's
the word doulos. Literally, it could be translated
as a slave. Who does sin? not who sins, but
who lives in sin, and it is the habitual, ruling, guiding force
and principle in their life. You have it again in Romans chapter
6 and verse 17. The servants of sin you were
at one time. But the very worst slavery is
that of sin and of Satan. And the greatest liberty is that
which is spiritual and which is in Jesus Christ. Now most people today, no matter
how they practice their Christianity, would be a lot like the Pharisees
and would deny that they are slaves of sin. They would be
offended. They'd get insulted for any to
tell them that they are the slave of sin. But the unregenerate
are under the dominion of sin, every unregenerate. In John 8
and verse 33, upon hearing the Lord speak of being made free,
they denied that they were ever in bondage of any sort whatsoever. Now, for what it's worth, me
thinks that J.C. Ryle has a point here as to a
dual liberty. Point number one, In verse 31
and 32 of John, freedom from the bondage of spiritual slavery,
the generality of the Jews were under from their spiritual leaders. who lay upon them heavy burdens
and grievous to be born, Matthew 23 and verse 4. And they taught
them the traditions of men rather than the word or the law of God,
so that he said Christ's words could liberate them and make
them free. Secondly, freedom from the bondage
of sin is meant there and mentioned in John 8, 33 through 36. In verse 35 of John 8, sandwiched
in between that passage of scripture and its bearing on the thought
of our blessed Lord, to illustrate the difference between a slave
and a son, in that the slave does not continue in the house
forever, but the son does. A slave does not have a perpetual
right in the house and may be sold or cast out or whatever,
but the son abides ever. Perhaps there's an illusion here
Or it made us think of Isaac and of Ishmael. One cast out
of the family of Abraham because he was born of the flesh. So that the Jews both, we are
Abraham's seed. Well, so was Ishmael. Ishmael
was a child of Abraham, but he was cast out. He did not abide
in the house forever, but a son does abide in the house forever. They, therefore, must understand
the difference between slavery and true freedom. John 8.36,
if the Son make you free, then are you really free or free indeed. How dare they claim such an affinity
to Father Abraham when they acted so contrary to the character
and the faith of Abraham, as well as his view of Messiah that
he saw afar off. Now, let's make a point of emphasis,
and that is denying that they are slaves of sin does not change
the fact or their condition at all. A slave is a slave is a
slave, no matter how much he denies it. It's strange that
some there are of us, even to this day, who greatly abhor human
slavery, and yet they give so little thought to spiritual slavery,
which is a horrible one indeed. For it is the slavery of the
soul, the rule of the person, spirit and all. I know it's called
slavery, but it has been renamed in our day. Christ used the word,
you're a slave of sin. But today, it's mistakes, it's
addiction, it's poor choices, it's habits, it's weak human
nature. And that's all that is described
by it. And so they seek the remedy through
medicine or science or rehab or psychiatry. Thirdly, spiritual
liberty includes freedom from the curse of the law, and freedom
from the curse of the law is necessary to both justification
and sanctification. Where once it could not justify
us, now it cannot curse us. The law never could justify us,
but now we're in a condition it cannot curse us. On one hand,
where it could not give life, On the other hand now, it cannot
kill us, it cannot slay us in death. On the other hand, once
it was against us, now it has nothing to hurt us with because
of our being in Christ. We're not only free from the
law, but we are dead to it by the body of Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 7, 1 through 4. Paul says of himself in Galatians
2.19, and this always amazes me, I through the law am dead
unto the law that I might live unto Christ our God. The first
is necessary. unto the second, dead to the
law that we might live unto Christ. Now, the Jews, are we hearing
Paul when he said, whoso gets himself circumcised as a part
of justification becomes a debtor to the whole law? Have any ever
really considered that? And what's more, Galatians 5
and 4, seeking justification by the law drives one off of
the course of grace and out from under trusting justification
in the Lord Christ. And it displays a disdain for
Christ and His sacrifice and His death and His blood. So I just wanted to say that
to confirm that this is not a tech supporting falling out of grace. And Paul said you're falling
from grace, you have gone away, you have driven off of the course
of grace. Not one who has been saved and
then renounces grace under the condemnation of their soul. Then fourthly, There is a blessed
aspect of liberty, and that is that Christ has destroyed the
one who has the power of death, and that is the devil. And you
read that in Hebrews chapter 2, 14 and 15. Christ destroyed
the devil and his work. 1 John 3, 8, Christ delivered
us from Satan, thus from the fear of death and the dread and
the expectation of that dead, unless they fall into the hands
of an angry God. And then fifthly, let us mention
another aspect of Christian freedom, That's freedom in the conscience. Oh, how great and wonderful is
that? Freedom from a condemning conscience. Freedom that the conscience no
longer condemns and accuses and unsettles. The sacrifices of
the law could not free the worshiper. It could not purge their conscience. But the blood of Christ does,
Hebrews 9, and verse 14, and chapter 10, and verse 2. Now
the conscience, I love this, one of my favorite subjects in
the New Testament, and the conscience operates upon the light of truth
that it has. It can only operate up to the
amount of truth that it has, whether it be natural or whether
it be spiritual revelation. And the conscience is purged
of dead works through Christ, and the conscience is freed in
Christ. It's freed from the traditions
of men to worship God according to biblical and gospel truth. and to use things indifferent
without guilt, except if it would offend a weaker brother, and
to discern what is sin and what is indifferent in the scripture,
so that the conscience, therefore, is a vital faculty both in nature
and in grace. If it were not for conscience,
this world would be a stew that we could not live in. Now, to
bring our study to a close, using the caution of Paul in chapter
5 and verse 13 of Galatians, also 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse
16, grace is not a license to sin, and grace does not lead
one into sin. The very opposite. It teaches
how to live godly, Titus chapter 2 and verse 12. Still there are
those who seek to bring us into bondage. They would impose upon
us many do's and many don'ts. They do not turn such liberty
into an occasion to the flesh. Not only is it offensive to God,
but it's offensive doubly unto our brethren. Stand fast in it. Don't give it up. Don't let people
put shackles of men's inventions and traditions upon us. But stand
in that liberty, purchased for us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. But do not let it be a license,
as some say, to sin. to give free reign to the flesh. And a lot of people who say they're
Christians do a lot of things that Don't come under the heading
of true Christian liberty, even though they call it that, and
it is sometimes disgraceful and contrary to the word of the Lord. So, we have liberty, stand fast. Don't use it as an occasion to
the flesh to give it reign, to do those things that are fleshly,
worldly, and forbidden.