How Christian Freedom Works

well again this morning we are back in the book of Galatians and I would encourage you to turn to chapter 5 for those of you who have not been with us we have been looking at this wonderful epistle by the beloved Paul and one of the concerns that we have addressed in our study of this is that there are certain Christians and this is nothing new but it seems to be rather popular today certain Christians who say once you've come to Christ once you've embraced Jesus as your Lord and Savior your sins are forgiven you really don't have to worry about being concerned with God's law you are free from the law there are statements like that in Scripture of course we read some from Romans chapter 8 there are others here in Galatians you're free from the law so you don't need to bind your life with a lot of sort of duties to obey the law you're free in Christ and there are people who go so far as to say that the fact that you continue to sin gives God an opportunity to demonstrate his grace and you allow him to put his grace on display so we shouldn't be bound by rules we shouldn't be bound by the law as believers we have been set free from that they will say whatever violation of the law we might have made Christ paid for that sin in his death and furthermore his life has been credited to our account he lived a perfectly righteous life God credited his life to our account don't worry about the issue of sin and obedience that is a heresy of epic proportions even though it is extremely popular today and so we have been endeavoring as we look at the book of Galatians to come to a true understanding of of what the Christian life should be like and what should characterize the believer and I want to continue that today by going back to chapter 5 verses 13 to 16 we began to look get it last week and we'll wrap it up this morning let me read these verses to you Galatians 5:13 for you a call to freedom brother and only do not use or return your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another for the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement you shall love your neighbor as yourself but if you bite and devour one another take care that you are not consumed by one another but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh now we're going to be looking at that passage it's a very simple straightforward one and extremely practical but let me kind of work my way in the direction of this passage with a few preliminary comments the Bible is crystal clear about one thing that if a person loves God he keeps God's commandments if a person loves God he obeys God's word that is essential in terms of the definition of a Christian in fact if someone loves God he not only obeys God but he obeys God with eagerness he obeys God motivated by love He desires to honor God to worship God to bring glory to God he longs to see the will of God and the Word of God fulfilled he loves God true Christians love God on the other hand if someone has no interest in keeping his commands or is indifferent to his commands doesn't seem to be concerned about honoring God or obeying the word and the will of God he hates God now that's an extreme statement but there are only two possibilities you either love God or you hate God there is no middle ground and to show you this let's go all the way back to the book of Exodus in chapter 20 Exodus chapter 20 sets forth this clear truth you are either a lover of God or a hater of God in the twentieth chapter God speaks and he says in verse 2 I am the Lord your God who brought you meaning Israel out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth you shall not worship them or serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the father's on the children on the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me but showing loving-kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my Commandments loving God is manifestly demonstrated in keeping his Commandments if you do not keep his Commandments you are identified as one who hates God this is repeated again in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 8 through 10 and then in Deuteronomy 32 41 we read that God judges with divine justice and divine vengeance those who hate me now there are people who would say well I certainly don't hate God if you do not obey his commandments which is a manifestation that you love him you hate him for anyone who does not obey His commandments hates him John 15:14 records the words of Jesus himself if you love me you will keep my Commandments now with all the discussion and dialogue about this issue of Christian freedom let's be very clear Christian freedom is not freedom to be indifferent toward the will of God it is not freedom to be disobedient to God that's what God haters do that's not what those who love God do Christian freedom cannot be to be disinterested in the honor of God the glory of God the Word of God Christian freedom cannot be to be free to sin to be free to be passive with regards to righteousness godliness purity rather Christian freedom must be expressed within the reality that I have been turned into a lover of God and my freedom is defined as finding all the ways that I can express that love toward God and that shows up in my obedience and it shows up in my desire to honor him to glorify him and to worship Him it is then the nature of a true Christian to love God and to love his word and to love his Commandments read psalm 119 a hundred and seventy-six verses a paon of love to God and His Word loving obedience is the mark of a true Christian but there is a new kind of pseudo Christianity that is becoming very popular its flourishing in our generation and the idea of it is to accommodate the current culture of sin this is a sin bent culture it seems to be less restrained if it's restrained at all than previous cultures sinners want freedom to do what they want to do they reject Authority they believe they have a right to whatever behaviors they choose to do and they also have a right to be free from anyone's condemnation of those choices as we said last week sinners think that's freedom what they don't understand is what Jesus said in John 8:34 everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin they think they're free in sinning the truth is they're in bondage they're captive to sin they can do nothing else they can choose the sins of their own preference but that's all they can choose now they will take God and they will take Jesus and they may take the church and some form of Christianity if it does not require them to abandon what they desire and so there are always going to be corrupted preachers who are eager to accept people on their terms not on God's terms demanding no repentance no self-denial no pursuit of godliness holiness purity sanctification when you see someone like that as we pointed out last week and second Peter someone who advocates that kind of freedom you know you're dealing with a false teacher because in 2nd Peter chapter 2 we have false teachers described here in very graphic terms they are like unreasoning animals to be captured and killed they are stains and blemishes reveling in their deceptions they have eyes full of adultery they never cease from sin they entice unstable Souls they have hearts trained in greed they are a curse of children they are Springs without water and mists driven by a storm for whom the black darkness has been reserved they speak arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires by sensuality here's verse 19 promising freedom promising freedom we don't judge you we accept you as you are you're free to be whoever you want to be this is the mark of false teachers promising them freedom when they themselves says that verse are slaves of corruption this kind of lawlessness however has gone to church to be able to accept sinners as they are and then to tell them that God accepts you as you are and you can come and Jesus will give you everything you want fulfill all your desires has given rise to a kind of antinomianism that is not only heretical but deadly lawless forms of pseudo Christianity designed to accommodate sinners and give them what they want abound these days now remember to become a true Christian you become a follower of Jesus Christ by denying yourself and taking up your cross that means you deny yourself to such an extreme degree that it could cost you your life you would give your life before you would usurp sovereignty over your own personal soul becoming a Christian in reality is becoming a slave it is slavery it is the most rich blessed rewarding joyful fruitful peaceful slavery because it's because it is the slavery of love we love the master who first loved us and he lavishes us with all heavenly blessings in Christ faithful Christians are not trying to figure out how disobedient they can be before the Lord kills them in some sin unto death they're not trying to figure out how selfish they can be before the Lord is so displeased he begins to do damage to the things in their life faithful Christians are not so committed to their own lusts and desires that they will press them out to the edge until divine displeasure becomes so evident that they are themselves stricken with some sickness true Christians don't do that they do the opposite they run toward Christ they run toward righteousness they run toward purity they run toward godliness they run toward virtue they run toward saints not sinners it's the bizarre trend in pseudo churches to avoid offending sinners in an effort to make them like the church and maybe they'll like Jesus but that is rebellion against the duty of the true church which is to be pursuing with all its passion holiness virtue of godliness sanctification and it's duty to the sinner is to confront the sinners sin and selfishness and call the sinner to deny all of that even to the point of death and follow Christ at every cost to tell the sinner that for the sinner to fulfill his own desires is an offense to God and puts him on a path of judgment this kind of pragmatic useless superficial trend is a substitute for the scripture and the work of the Spirit where you have the spirit at work and the scripture you have people pursuing sanctification not self fulfillment we have seen that the Word of God says we're free but we have to define that freedom and we've been doing that through Galatians yes we are free from the bondage that the law imposed on us which all sinners are still under and that is this bondage they can only sin they can only sin there's none that does good even what they think is good is filthy rags that is their bondage in Christ we have been freed from that bondage to do what is right not only to do what is right but to love what is right and to fulfill that which we now love we have also been freed from the laws curse cursed is everyone who violates the law of God we are free then from the laws penalty Christ removed the curse in his death and paid the penalty but as Christians we are not free from the moral law we are not free from the law which is moral which is an expression of the nature of God and if you love God you love his law loving the law of God is loving God because the law of God is merely a radiating realization of the very nature of God you cannot say I love God I have no interest in his love God is the sum of all his righteous virtues which are expressed in his law it is impossible to love God and resist his law it is equally impossible to resist his law and say you love God we are the ones who are free John 8:36 Jesus said if the son makes you free you're free indeed you're really free so let's look now at our text with that bit of summary verse 13 for you were called to freedom brethren talking to believers you were called to freedom you were called out from the tyranny of the law out from under the curse of the law out from under the penalty of the law and additionally out from the external symbols of the law that were the ceremonial ritual regulations given to Moses circumcision and and other things all the festivals and feasts all the externals all the shadows you're free from all of those as well you don't have to go back to that and that was always going on in the Galatian churches the Jews had come there said they were believers in Christ but said you cannot be a Christian unless you keep the laws the externals that Moses gave to the people of Israel and unless you're circumcised of course which was one of those all of those had long since been laid aside Christ laid them aside clearly they were set aside these Jews were saying you just can't go from being a pagan to being a Christian you have to go through Judaism and the way you go through Judaism is by circumcision and keeping the ceremonies of Moses you have to do that Paul was saying you don't have to do that you're free from that as well as well as the bondage of the law the curse of the law the penalty of the law you're free from the shadowy symbols of the law that were given to Israel in the past you're free from the shadow because the substance is Christ and he has come as Paul says to the Colossians don't let anybody hold you to a Sabbath the new moon a feast day or anything else already dietary laws Holy Spirit shows Peter rise Peter kill and eat there's nothing that's unclean anymore the shadows are gone the substance is here we are free but now what does that freedom mean well as I've said it's it's freedom to love God and the loving God means loving his law because his law is only an expression of his nature so let's look at this text the call to freedom here is seen in four very simple ways it's very practical first of all we are free to oppose the flesh this is new since you have come to Christ you are now free to oppose the flesh go back to verse 13 for you are called to freedom brethren only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh the flesh as we saw last time is our unredeemed humaneness the sin that remains in us until glorification we are free now for the first time as we read in Romans 8 to fulfill the law the law once condemned us because we violated it and could only violate it and now we can fulfill it by the power of the new creation and the holy spirit so first of all you do not have a freedom to indulge the flesh you have a freedom to oppose the flesh so do not turn your freedom into an opportunity opportunity is military word for a base don't let your flesh be the base of operations this is so frequently going on today that appeals are made in pseudo churches for people to decide what it is they want and then tell God they want that and virtually speak it into existence so that it's as if God wanted them to be able to fulfill by his will and power the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life do not operate off your flesh do not operate off those things which are part of unredeemed humaneness we know what those are go down to verse 17 first of all there is a great battle this tells us how the flesh functions the flesh sets it's his diet desire against the spirit so your believer the spirit lives in you and the flesh is warring against the Holy Spirit and the spirit against the flesh these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please there's a war going on in you and it's a fight against your flesh it is a fight toward righteousness toward purity toward virtue toward godliness and it is empowered by the spirit but there is present the flesh therein lies the opposition and what is it that the flesh wants go down to verse 19 very explicit and we'll look at these few weeks from now the deeds of the flesh are evident which are immorality impurity sensuality idolatry worshiping anything other than God sorcery enmities strife jealousy outbursts of anger disputes dissensions factions envying drunkenness carousing and things like these of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God if if you are living in the illusion that you've added Jesus to your life and living only for the fulfillment of your own flesh Paul wants you to know you will never ever enter the kingdom of God people who practice the deeds of the flesh as the pattern of life will never enter the kingdom of God so our freedom is limited now let's just take the big pressure our freedom is limited by anything that god forbids or anything that God's requires we must do what he requires us to do and not do what he forbids us to do and isn't that that's oppressive it is not again it is a fight for joy because joy is at the other end of obedience John says I write these things unto you that your joy may be full it's a fight for joy peace it's a fight from love for joy peace gentleness goodness faith meekness self-control all the fruit of the Spirit that's the battle that's going on you as a believer are fighting against the flesh so that you may be filled with the spirit and that your life might be marked by the fruit of the Spirit it's a fight for joy and peace and all those glorious promises so let's just start with this your freedom does not mean freedom to be indifferent to the will the will and word of God or to be disobedient it is a freedom to obey it is a freedom to pursue righteousness you have become a slave of righteousness and it is willing loving slavery because you have such a loving Lord who lavishes you with all these blessings through his Spirit but that is not that is not the only limitation on your freedom not just not just those things God requires and those things god forbids there's even more limit on our freedom and that is regarding things that are not forbidden and things that are not necessarily required by God there are a lot of things that aren't in the Bible right a lot of things we talk about certain habits aren't in the Bible certain behaviors that are not in the Bible the Bible doesn't say things specifically about certain forms of entertainment the Bible doesn't say anything in particular about certain certain things that people do recreationally doesn't say anything in explicit terms about whether you should drink or not drink whether you should attend a theatre or not attend theatre whether you should indulge in recreation at this level or that level whether you should take a vacation etc etc etc an extended vacation the Bible doesn't talk about that the Bible doesn't talk about categories of behavior that are neither righteous or unrighteous but life is full of those kinds of decisions that we have to make so what do we do well look if you are an antinomian and you think you're free from sin you've got no problem with these things if you think you're free from from any condemnation and so you don't have to worry about saying you're not gonna live under laws I said last week gonna follow the lead of that preacher who said just just remember that the Lord called you to a dance not a not a war you don't need to feel like you're soldier just go dance your life away so if you think that you're just supposed to go blissfully and have fun and ignore the law of God because Christ paid for your sins anyway and Christ's perfect life has already been credited to your account so there's there's no loss so live it up if that's what you think you're gonna have no interest in what I'm about to say because what I'm about to say is not only is that heretical and may well indicate that you're not a Christian or you would love God and His law but your freedom also has further limits on things that aren't forbidden in Scripture how do you deal with those well let me give you a handful of questions that will answer how you deal with them first question I asked this question all the time I've asked it throughout my life when there is something that is not forbidden in Scripture and not commanded in Scripture I could do it maybe not maybe yes the first question I ask is this will it be spiritually profitable will it be spiritually profitable and I draw that out of first Corinthians I want you to follow me because these are very helpful in practical first Corinthians chapter 6 and they're just very pithy short directs Eggman's first Corinthians 6:12 Paul says this all things are lawful for me by that he means all things that are not forbidden all things that are lawful are lawful for me all things that God doesn't forbid are lawful for me but not all things are profitable not all things are beneficial not all things are to my spiritual advantage instead of thinking how can I live as close as possible to the edge of sin and survive and how can I live as close as possible to the tolerances of God with regard to doubtful things and still be okay you asked the question that is that the other end of the spectrum is this spiritually beneficial is it to my advantage there are a lot of things that are lawful there are a lot of things that you could do but will they be spiritually profitable because everything in the believers life needs to be spiritually profitable and that's what we desire and spiritual benefits and spiritual blessings as they come to us come full of joy and peace question number one will it be spiritually profitable question number two will it build me up will it build me up or will identify me listen to 1st Corinthians 10 23 another one of these very direct statements verse 23 he repeats what I just read in chapter 6 all things are lawful but not all things are profitable then he says this all things are lawful but not all things edify so now we're not only looking for something that's profitable beneficial we're looking for something that builds us up something that string offends us we've moved from a kind of minimal is it going to have a spiritual benefit to now is it gonna actually make me stronger as a believer is it going to lift me up build me up edify me there's a third question and for this one I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12 familiar coming right after the heroes of faith in chapter 11 and chapter 12 we're talking about a life of faith and so the writer says we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us and they all give testimony to the validity and blessing of a life of faith it's not that they're sitting in a stadium watching us please they're in heaven they couldn't care less about us what it is is that they are living in glory because they lived a life of faith and the life of faith that's recorded about them in the 11th chapter speaks to the blessing connected to that kind of life so we have all these people giving testimony to the blessing of the life of faith so since we see the value of that let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us let us run with endurance the race that is set before us the writer says the word race is a gown from which we get agony it it's an effort it's an effort it requires endurance this is a long there's a long race this is a life long marathon were engaged in this is a very hard long race and in order to run this race effectively there are two things that you need to eliminate lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us it easily entangles us because it's there in us in our flesh so he says there are two things sin that's clear we know what that is what god forbids but what is this encumbrance it's not sin because it's used as another burden it is encumbrance and the sin so what is the end Brens the Greek term is Uncas it means bulk it isn't sin it is something else that is unnecessary weight so the third question is this if I do this will it hinder my running the race of faith will it weigh me down do I need to carry this you don't see a 100-meter sprint or with an overcoat you don't see an athlete going out to run a marathon carrying a suitcase that's the unnecessary bulk is it something that diverts my attention that sucks my energy that lowers my eyes from looking at a Jesus the author and finisher of the faith is it something that reorders my priorities is it something that eats up my energy uselessly is it something that fills my mind of things that have no value like watching stupid videos and reading stupid literature and filling your mind with things that have no value why would you want to run the race of endurance carrying around that kind of baggage so my freedom is not freedom to sin and it's not even freedom to do things that might that might not be sinful in themselves but they don't provide any spiritual benefit they don't build me up and they're very well could slow me down in the race and I want to run as Paul says in 1st Corinthians 9 - what to win here's another question if I do this will it be likely to start a habit go back to 1st Corinthians 6 again will it be likely to start a habit we started with first Corinthians 6 all things are lawful but not all things are and right after that he says this all things are lawful for me but I will not be mastered by anything in doing this am I going down a path that's going to create a habit like not being able to shut off your cell phone not being able to live without the distractions I don't want to start a habit that sucks my attention and my energy and my focus this is to be brought under the power of someone or under the power of something other than the Spirit of God I don't want to become a slave to anything except my Lord and righteousness and one more thing I'll mention in a moment so if if I do this is it profitable will it build me up or will it hinder me in the race of faith is it likely to start a bad habit that I can't break and it eats up huge amounts of my resources financially timewise energy-wise focus wise another question will it be consistent with Christ's likeness first John 2:6 first John 2:6 it's a very simple principle I've basically thought of this my whole life the one who says he abides in him Christ ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked would Jesus do this would Jesus be involved in this that's a pretty high standard isn't it will it be consistent with Christ's likeness and remember in Galatians 4:19 Paul said I'm in labor again until Christ is formed in you and then another question that you perhaps have asked will it glorify God right will it glorify God 1st Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do whatever whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God so you see a Christian is not saying how much sin can I get away with and how much sort of neutral stuff can I fill my life with because I'm under grace and I don't want to live this life of law no the Christian says how hard can I run in the direction of righteousness how devoted can I be toward godliness purity and holiness and how can I eliminate out of my life anything even things that aren't forbidden but that have the power to pull me in the wrong direction freedom in Christ is far from freedom to sin it's even far from freedom to indulge yourself in all the distractions all the bulk all the encumbrances all the bad habits that Life offers us in Galatians 5 verse 16 again let's focus back to our freedom I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh verse 24 now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if you're Christ's you're not trying to figure out how much damage you can do if you're trying to figure out how much you can run toward righteousness so we have freedom but freedom to oppose the flesh second freedom to serve others back to verse 13 end of the verse but through love serve one another through love agape the highest noblest sacrificial humble love this is the highest of all loves reflecting selflessness this is the kind of love that our Lord demonstrates his recorded in Philippians chapter 2 where it says he didn't think that his position with God was something to be grasped and hold onto it but he humbled himself took on the form of a slave was made in likeness of man humble himself all the way down to death and even the death of the cross have this mind in you which is also in Christ Jesus humble through love serve one another so now I've got another problem not only do I have to all these ask all these questions about me but I have to ask all those questions about the people around me will this behavior build them up will this be profitable to them or will this hinder them in the race will this be an encumbrance to them will this be for them an example in the direction of Christ's likeness and glorifying God so I not only ask it about myself I ask it about everyone else because this is through love serve one another by the way the word serve here do Luo you're a slave to others everybody is your master in some sense you're a slave to righteousness even though you're free you're a slave to Christ who is your Lord and Master even though you're free and you are slave to others I am a slave to non-believers and believers as we'll see to live a life that moves them in the direction of spiritual growth look at first Corinthians 8 so much of this is in first Corinthians as Paul obviously is dealing with serious misunderstanding of Christian freedom in the Corinthian church but just to pick out a few things first Corinthians 8 we don't have time to go into all the context but look at verse 9 but take care that this liberty of yours and he's talking about the issue of eating meat had been offered to idols which an idol was nothing the meat was up nothing didn't matter spiritually but it offended some people who had been converted out of idolatry that that somebody would eat meat offered to that idol from which they had just escaped so Paul says take care that this Liberty of yours Liberty to eat the meat the fact that it's offered to an idol doesn't matter because an idol is nothing but take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak if there's a new young believer who's been saved out of idolatry and you're eating meat offered to the idol that was their captor their demonic captor and they've been liberated from that that would offend them don't eat it so now you're liberally liberties not only limited by those things that matter for your spiritual growth your liberty is limited by those things that matter for somebody else the spiritual growth you don't want to go against that brothers conscience verse 11 says you'll ruin a weaker brother for whose sake Christ died verse 12 you'll wound their conscience and if you do that you sin against Christ therefore a food causes my brother to stumble I'll never eat meat again it's not talking about being a vegetarian it means meat offered to idols so that I will not cause my brother to stumble that this again is even further away from a Nanami anism now I am limited by what somebody around meas expectations are and what might offend them chapter 9 Paul says I'm free am I not free am I not an apostle have I not seen Jesus our Lord look I'm I'm at the top of the sort of food chain here I'm free I'm an apostle I've seen our Lord personally you're the evidence of my Apostleship you are my work in the Lord as if to say you'd imagine I had the right to do anything I want but go to verse 19 though I am free from all I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win more now he's talking about freedom not to offend a believer but freedom not to offend a non-believer now this means that if I am a believer I am concerned to live my life in such a way that it will benefit other believers and even benefit non-believers I don't want to do anything in my life that would do damage to a non-believer that I want to win in chapter 10 verse 27 he pictures going to dinner at a unbelievers house if an unbeliever invites you eat whatever he puts up you know just eat it meat offered to idols whatever it is just go ahead and eat it you don't have a conscience problem just eat it don't ask any questions if he says this is you know if someone says this is sacrificed to idols do not eat it what's that let's say you had a new Christian with you if you went to the house of a pagan guy pagan guy brings out meat and he says this is this the best meantime we get it over at the pagan temple they offer to the gods that comes out in the butcher shop and it's really great meat and there's a gasp from this weaker brother this young Christian who's been saved out of the damming reality of having worshipped that very Idol so now you're in dilemma who do I offend do I offend the Christian brother or do I offend the unbeliever pragmatism would tell you offend the brother don't offend the non-believer right you kind of win the non-believer the Bible says offend the non-believer don't eat for love's sake don't eat if you do eat and you offend the brother the unbeliever will conclude it's better to be a non-believer than a brother because they take more care about me than they do about each other by this shall all men know that you're my disciples that you have what love for one another love the brother and say no to the non-believer and let him see that this is a union of love this is something he'll know nothing about put love on display make whatever sacrifice you need to make at the end of the chapter verse 33 just as I also pleased all men in all things not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many so they may be saved he is saying that not eating and offending that non-believer is the pathway for salvation for him because he's going to see the love that you have for one another that's something he know nothing about this idea that you're supposed to live any way you want is so alien to scripture you obey the law of God because you love it and even where there is no law of God regarding certain behaviors you run in the direction of what edifies and builds you up and gives you strength and honors God and is like Christ and you are determined not to live a life that would be a stumbling block to another believer to do something that if that believer felt free to do it might destroy him people have asked me through the years do you drink alcohol no never I wouldn't do that why wouldn't I do that because I don't want anybody ever to be able to say I drink alcohol because John MacArthur does and some of them end up a disaster that's that's my concern I have to live my life not only as a slave to believers serving them that way but even non-believers for the sake of them being saved Paul deals with this again you look at Romans 14 Romans 14 verse 13 actually verse 12 says we're going to have to give an account of ourselves to God so let us not judge one another anymore but rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way pretty simple isn't it verse 1 of chapter 15 bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification for Christ even didn't please him self so what does Christian freedom mean it is freedom to oppose the flesh and freedom to serve others thirdly now you can go back to Galatians it's freedom to fulfill the law at its highest level it is freedom to fulfill the law at its highest level verse 14 for the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement you shall love your neighbor as you that's quoted by the way from Leviticus 19:18 you shall love your neighbor as yourself in Romans 13 and I know you're familiar with this the Apostle Paul says basically that this love fulfills the law it says verse 8 Romans 13 oh nothing to anyone except to love one another for he loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law there you go wonderful Phil oh I just love your neighbor for this you shall not commit adultery you shall not murder you shall not steal you shall not covet if there's any other commandment it is summed up in this saying you'll love your neighbor as yourself if you love your neighbor you don't commit adultery with your neighbor's wife if you love your neighbour you don't murder your neighbour you don't steal from your label neighbour you don't covet what your neighbour has love then sums up the law that's the point the problem where the law was well I was an external force and the heart was wretched and couldn't obey now the law has gone inside and the power of the Holy Spirit and the love that is poured out in us allows us to love our neighbour I don't have signs on my garage reminding me not to kill my neighbour or not to to covet what he has or steal from him all I have to do is love my neighbour and the whole laws fulfilled verse 10 love does no wrong to a neighbor therefore love is the fulfillment of the law so when you live a life of love for others yes that's limiting your freedom but again that's a fight for love isn't it that's a fight for joy that's a fight for peace this is called we'll see it in chapter 6 verse to the law of Christ the law of Christ is the law of love when we walk in the spirit chapter 5 verse 22 the fruit of the Spirit is love and everything flows out of that Romans 5:5 the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts poured out within our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us one final thing just quickly and we'll be done you are free to oppose the flesh serve others and fulfill the law at its highest level by love and fourthly to avoid destructive conflict to avoid destructive conflict one of the things that happens when people think they have every right to do what they want is they Kareem through life leaving a trail of broken lives that just crash and burn into people the Paul says in verse 15 if you bite and devour one another you know in the mad dash for your own freedom take care that you're not consumed by one another it'll come back and get you if you bite doc met a used of crocodiles or poisonous snakes devour means to gulp down if you're like an alligator or a crocodile careening through life chomping on people and swallowing them the word devour is on a loath ate a from which we get annihilate if you're going through life annihilating people for the sake of your own freedom take care that you're not consumed by one another the loveness lovelessness of sin the lovelessness of indifference literally causes conflict everywhere where there is love and where there is sacrificial service conflict disappears fighting and devouring that's simply disobeying the commandments of God that's not being loving so how is it possible for us to live like this verse 16 but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh you're no longer under the external control of the law and a threat your honor the internal control of the Holy Spirit and love and all of that drives you in the direction of sanctification Spurgeon said holiness is essentially voluntary it's right it's not the external law is voluntary in the sense that it's the work of the Spirit on your heart Spurgeon said the Holy Spirit educates from the scripture as he operates on the mind hence when the understanding is enlightened to see the beauty of holiness the will is certain to seek after it and the heart is induced to obey it's a fight for joy and peace gentleness goodness faith meekness self-control and against such there is no law

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 42,980

Rating: 4.8708377 out of 5

Keywords: Sanctification, Legalism, Antinomianism, Truth, Gospel, Christianity, Law, Grace, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Bible, Scripture, Biblical Preaching, Exposition, Expository, Sermon, John MacArthur

Id: do8A1cjw83E

Length: 55min 43sec (3343 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 20 2018