Understanding Christian Freedom

we are studying the book of Galatians and you want to grab your Bible and open it to the book of Galatians to the fifth chapter there is a text that I want to address to you that if any text in this in this book kind of stands alone it would be this one and it's in chapter 5 verses 13 to 16 it is a very very important text there's so much in just those very few verses that I'm not going to be able to get anywhere near through it even this morning let me draw your attention to Galatians 5 and verse 13 and I'll read down to verse 16 for you are called to freedom brethren when we do not turn 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're not consumed by one another but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh this is a defining portion of Scripture on how we understand freedom in the life of a Christian there has been through the centuries actually much discussion about what Christian freedom is we have already learned in this wonderful epistle that because of the Lord Jesus Christ we have been set free back in chapter 2 verse 4 the Apostle Paul talked about our Liberty the Liberty that we have in Christ Jesus the same as freedom chapter 5 begins it was for freedom that Christ set us free and then down in verse 13 as I read you were called to freedom brethren now freedom in our culture can be a very dangerous word a very dangerous word it has become misinterpreted and misrepresented in many ways even in the evangelical world and certainly in the church world and it sort of flows like this people in our culture want freedom they demand freedom they want to be free to think what they want and do what they want in fact this freedom is escalating to such a degree that they want to be free from you saying anything about what they're doing it isn't that you would merely prevent them from exercising what they see as their freedoms they want to take away your free speech if you decide that what they think they have a right to do is wrong they want to be free to do what they want and free from any and all suggestions of criticism this is freedom at its most extreme level and the culture is demanding it they want the freedom to feel comfortable about their sin they want the freedom to be pronounced and validated as a means by which they can eliminate the natural guilt that is built into being human by God so we're living in a world that demands total freedom they not only want what they want they want it to be tolerated they not only want it to be tolerated they want it to be celebrated and they want it to be propagated and they wanted it to be normal they want it to be normalized you might think this is something new and in our culture it it is certainly escalating to new heights but it isn't anything new at all if you go back 3,000 years ago you have a society of people doing exactly this and it is the Israelites in the day of the judges and it says they wanted to do whatever is right in our own eyes that from the book of Judges we want to do whatever is right in our own eyes that's the kind of time we live in today now in order to do that you have to make sure that you get the Bible out of the way because the Bible condemns much of what people want to do so there has to be a denunciation of the Bible and the role that the Bible plays you need to get the Bible out of the schools you need to get the Bible out of the public discourse because if people bring up the Bible it's going to encroach upon someone's freedom and if someone quotes the Bible they're going to be saying something that somebody doesn't want to hear and that in itself should be considered a crime laws are fast being installed that are leading to one goal to make biblical Christianity a crime to make biblical Christianity a crime that's what it is about to silence the Word of God the society wants to be free from any moral restraint now let me tell you what this freedom is it is not freedom it is sin addiction all human beings apart from the gospel and salvation in Christ are sin addicts everybody has his own assortment and concoction of drugs but they're all sin addicts you can pick your poison you can pick your sin and you can even pick the level to which you escalate your sinful behavior but you have to understand this that the whole human race is made up of sin addicts and if anything is true about them it is this they are not free no one would look at a heroin addict and suggest that that person was free we would suggest that that is probably the worst sort of temporal human bondage that someone could be in someone addicted to opioids if someone addicted to heroin or someone addicted to any other kind of behavior that is destructive self-destructive we would never see that as a kind of freedom we would see it as a horrible bondage that needs to be broken we need to look at the entire human race not as people who are free but as people who are addicted to sin and it's an addiction they can't break and it's killing them and the death is not just physical it is eternal the whole human race is sin sick and addicted to iniquity in fact Jesus says in John 8:34 and here's the sum of it everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin and everyone does commit sin therefore everyone is the slave of sin everyone is an iniquity addict two verses later in John 8:36 it says only if Christ sets you free are you really free so what people in our society think is freedom is simply a more extreme public unrestrained manifestation of their addiction to iniquity in fact the Bible is so clear about this that it says there is no one who is good all they are is evil there is no good thing in anyone even that which we might see as righteous is filthy rags picture in your mind the worst scene of human drug addiction as it takes the victim near to death and he sits in rags somewhere in a black alley waiting to die and sticking the needle in again and you have an illustration of what it is to be an unregenerate sinner you can choose your drug you can choose your sin you can't break your addiction when Christ comes he sets us free from that addiction to sin in the past in our culture there were some sort of social restraints there were some some limits that society put on people there were certain expectations you go back a few decades and there was a kind of general sense of goodness there was a there was a general sense of the importance of a family for example I don't know if you know this 26 out of 27 school shooters had no father what's the common denominator there was a time when people had mothers and they had fathers and they had families and there was a sense of morality and there were behaviors that had shame built into them and you didn't flaunt them you you hid them all that is gone there was a time when you could say there was a general goodness there was a there was a general kindness in fact there were literally millions of people who went to war for this country in other countries and died for the well-being of people they would never meet who hadn't even been born that was very sacrificial but that was that was what people did in a nobler now there's a mad rush into every imaginable and unimaginable form of iniquity and it's flaunted now this has become a problem for the church because at the same time the world is running rapidly after this freedom the church has decided it needs to be the friend of these sin Laden people so there's a move toward pragmatism we want to be accepting of these people we want to welcome these people we want them to like us in the liberal denominations it's of course reached almost virtually a terminal point where the true church is gone altogether and the false Church is now under the control of immoral ministers homosexual bishops lesbian pastors offering same sex marriage but even in the evangelical church where people say they believe the gospel there's a very very carefully constructed method to try to win the world over and that demands that we not confront their true condition we can't take their freedom so this sinful freedom has gone to church it's gone to church and churches don't want to address the issues they don't want to confront the sins specifically head-on the new norm is not to condemn we don't judge we don't condemn if you're going to try to make sinners comfortable in your church then sin goes to church and you can't change that when they show up or they won't come back so any strong dominating concern about sin and righteousness and holiness and sanctification is absent so you have many churches developing today that do not talk about righteousness holiness godliness at any point they can't really talk to the believers in the church about it they can't make it an issue for them or it exposes the non-believers so to accommodate the sinners who have gone to church with their sin many pastors are now calling for a new kind of Christian life a Christian life where you just don't worry about what your behaviors are this is called antinomianism classic term for it those words mean here against the law you you see no place for the law and I told you a couple of weeks ago that this is an old heresy and it says this since Christ fulfilled the law for us we don't have to pay any attention to it since he died for us we don't die for our own sins since he lived for us a righteous life that's imputed to our account we don't have to worry about what we do he's already lived a perfect life imputed to us we're free this is the kind of freedom that is popular and if you're going to have a pragmatic Church that wants to make sinners feel welcome this is a perfect kind of doctrine to suit that environment let me tell you how far they go with this I'm gonna read you some quotes there is a movement of freedom among Christians a joyful release from the things that have bound us far too long now I would assume that that statement means that they've been free from what sin let me say it again there's a movement of freedom among Christians a joyful release from the things that have bound us for too long but the author means by that rules and regulations it goes on to say we need to be fully free in Christ here's a quote freedom and fun must be reinstated into our faith why so that those non-christians will be attracted here's another quote Grace has saved us from sin and freed us from obligation and duty the living out this freedom is difficult because there are so many grace killers this is a form of the new antinomianism that grace somehow saved us from sin and freed us from any obligation and duty but it's hard to live out this freedom from any obligation in duty because there's so many grace killers what are grace killers here's the definition narrow-minded judgmental intolerant bullies who impose bondage on Christians and kill freedom spontaneity creativity productivity and joy the grace killers are the judgmental intolerant bullies who impose righteous standards on Christians they have literally turned this on its head they think that when they were converted they were freed from the law of God to sin rather than being freed from sin to obey the law of God and the reality is that tolerance of sin celebrates bondage not freedom that's what Paul is saying to the Galatian you're not gonna go back are you you're not gonna go back to life the way it was when Paul says back to verse 13 for you were called to freedom brethren does he mean you're free from the commands of God you're free from the will of God the law of God you're free from moral restraint you're free from responsibility is that writer said you're free from duty there is a growing force of these antinomian Zanda no means today but they're there some who've been around a long time and they're fueling this idea one of them is a man in the florida by the name of Steve Brown and I'm just quoting him he says this the good news is that Christ frees us from the need to obnoxiously focus on our goodness our commitment and our correctness really you are free from the need to obnoxiously focus on goodness commitment and correctness he goes on religion has made us obsessive almost beyond endurance Jesus invited us to a dance and we've turned it into a march of soldiers always checking to see if we're doing it right and are in step and in line with the other soldiers we know a dance would be more fun but we believe we must go through hell to get to heaven so we keep marching we must go through hell so duty and responsibility goodness and commitment and correctness is hell let me be blunt and somebody told me I'm always blunt so let me be more blunt I have never met a person who had that kind of idea who was either not a Christian or a Christian justifying habitual sin and given enough time both will be manifest that is not the attitude of a sanctified believer turn back to where we were last time and that was in Titus just to remind you of Titus 2 Titus 2:11 I've been talking to you but I want to show you the Word of God to support what I've been saying wonderful statement in verse 11 the grace of God has appeared that's the appearing of Christ and with him the gospel but driven by the grace of God for by grace we are saved the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men nobody argues with that grace brings the salvation but grace doesn't only do that because the subject the antecedent grace does something else verse 12 grace the grace of God is the subject the verb is instructing us grace instructs us if you have received the saving grace of God that saving grace also becomes your teacher your tutor and by the way the word actually means your your discipline er if that's a word it becomes the firm hand of God and what does it do with regard to justification it brings salvation with regard to sanctification the same grace of God has appeared to give us not only the gospel that saves us but the rest of the New Testament intended to sanctify us that is a gift of grace and it is instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly righteously and godly in the present age the grace of God has brought us the gospel that saves us and the rest of the Word of God that sanctifies us and the reason for this is down in verse 14 for our great God and Savior Christ Jesus gave himself to redeem us from every lawless deed in this life and to purify for himself a people for his own possession in this life zealous for good deeds in this life until that blessed hope and glorious appearing yet to come so grace the grace of God came and with the grace of God came the gospel of Jesus Christ to save us and with the grace of God came the rest of the New Testament to instruct us to deny ungodliness worldly desires live sensibly righteously godly in the present age for in this present age Christ came to redeem us from lawlessness redeem us from impurity make us sell us for good deeds that's what grace does drop down to chapter 3 verse 8 this is a trustworthy statement concerning these things I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds those who have believed in God will be careful to engage in good deeds your freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin your freedom in Christ is freedom for the first time to do righteous deeds your addiction is broken do we sin occasionally yes but the addiction is broken we rather have a heart's craving desire to do what is right Paul is not denying our freedom we have freedom we are free he says in chapter 3 verse 13 we are free from the curse of God and go back to the book of Galatians the curse of God is in verse 10 of chapter 3 cursed is everyone who doesn't abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them you break one of God's laws one time and you're under a divine curse and that means death and hell James adds that if you break one part of the law you've broken all of it but Christ has freed us from the curse how did he do that verse 13 he redeemed us from the curse having become a curse for us so we are free from the lost curse we are free from the laws condemnation Romans 8:1 no one who is in Christ is condemned by the law there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ we are free from the long fruitless search for liberating truth that every sinner at some point goes through we're free from that because when we've come to Christ we found the truth and were free from the surge Paul says in this book that we're free from Old Testament rituals and ceremonies that were designed for Israel on an external basis to separate them from other people we're free from those because all those rituals have been completely obviated completely set aside we don't need to go back to what Paul calls in chapter 4 of Galatians verse 9 the elemental things to which you were once enslaved you don't go back to verse 10 days and months and seasons and years and all the Jewish calendar was all symbolic it was all shadow you don't go back to that because the reality has so yes we're free from the lost curse we're free from the loss condemnation we're free from the bondage of the law as we use the law to try to find freedom that's only available through faith we're free from rituals there were externals in the Old Testament those are the things that Jews had come to Galatia to try to impose on the Gentiles bosses were free from all of those things but mark this you are not free from the holy standards of God you are not free if we were to go back to the Old Testament we would go back to Ezekiel chapter 36 where you have the presentation of the new covenant of salvation listen to what God says through the Prophet this is the Lord God speaking he says I will verse 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you you will be clean I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols there's an actual cleansing going on here salvation is a cleansing it isn't just forensic it is a cleansing from filthiness and idols I will give you a new heart put a new spirit within you I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh give you a heart of flesh I will put my spirit within you what's all of this going to do what happens when you're cleansed what happens when you have a new heart what happens when the heart of stone is gone you have a heart of flesh what happens when the spirit takes up residence it will cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances if you're a true believer you have not been set free from responsibility and duty to God you have been set free from your iniquity addiction to do what honors God freedom for the Christian is freedom from sin and death and he'll and all those external religious features listen to Colossians 2:16 therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or festival or new moon or Sabbath day things that are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance belongs to Christ you don't need to go back to circumcision you don't need to go back to the rituals you're free now how are we to understand sanctification we have been set free with a new heart and the Holy Spirit living in us to willingly and joyfully obey the law of God this is our freedom 1st Thessalonians 4 3 this is the will of God even your sanctification sanctification means separation separation from sin that's the process you go through in your Christian life this is the will of God that you separate from sin separate increasingly separate from cry from sin and conform to the image of Christ we saw that chapter 4 verse 19 my children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you sanctification separating from sin and becoming like Christ so we have to understand what our freedom is now I have several points about freedom that are drawn out of this text I'll give you a portion of one frustrating but that's the way it is go back to verse 13 let's start what we have to start here's the first thing you were called to freedom brethren only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh stop there that puts an end to all antinomian thinking what do you mean by flesh Paul uses the term 91 times the Greek word Sark's back in chapter 1 and verse 16 he used it to refer to people of he said when when I was called the ministry the Lord spoke to me personally I didn't consult with flesh and blood so years is in a very human sense chapter 2 verse 16 he uses it again no flesh will be justified by the law that's just in a general reference to humanity so flesh could refer to certain individuals or it could refer to humanity in general in chapter 2 verse 20 he says the life I live in the flesh and he simply means his physical life and then in chapter 4 verses 13 and 14 he uses it as a reference to the body to the body he talks about his bodily condition uses the term flesh so it is used in a physical way for certain individual humanity in general normal human nature and the body itself a bodily condition but primarily Paul uses the term flesh in a spiritual sense and that's how it's used here what does flesh mean in verse 13 flesh means your remaining humanity your unredeemed humanity the part of you that hasn't yet been redeemed you're a new creation you have been born again you are brand new in fact that change is bigger than will occur at your death the change was transformation when you were saved your death will simply be subtraction you don't become an eternal blessed new creation when you die you simply get rid of what restrains that so the biggest change has already taken place but here we are new creations incarcerated in this unredeemed flesh Paul says this is very powerful stuff he said I look at my own life and there's something in me that responds to temptation and sin and he says it's not me but it's in my flesh the real me would say loves God says the law of God is holy just and good the real me longs to please God the real me would say it is my ambition to be pleasing to the Lord the real me says that that I may die in Christ may live but I see something in me that is in my flesh he says in Romans seven and the flesh is that part of us that's not redeemed until we have the redemption of the body that he talks about in Chapter eight until that day we have this flesh remaining in chapter eight of Romans verse six the mind set on the flesh is death verse seven the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God verse eight the mind set on the flesh can't please God there is an anti-god hostile reality in you as a believer it's in you it's you and it battles against the new creator create creature the new man the new creation you have a war going on inside of you go down to chapter five of Galatians verse 17 the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please that describes the Christian life the addiction is broken but they're still in you an attraction to the sin drug you're weak at the point of your flesh we all are it's the unredeemed nature that becomes the attack point for temptation and the bridge to sin it's the battleground for the believer look at it verse 17 these are in opposition to one another that's the battle going on and what is your flesh want to do well look at a further definition in verse 19 here's what the flesh does here are the deeds of the flesh immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy outbursts of anger disputes dissensions factions envying drunkenness carousing and things like these and the list could be almost infinite that's what the flesh wants that's what the flesh produces and it will always be that battle although the power of the flesh will decrease as you become more like Christ in the process of sanctification and one day the flesh will disappear Philippians 3:21 and you'll have a body like unto his glorious body but in the meantime how do you win the battle I'll give you the answer that we'll get back to in verse 16 walk in the spirit or walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh what do you mean walk by the spirit what does that mean it means to walk in perfect conformity to the Holy Spirit walk in holiness so you're free for the first time in your life the addiction is broken you are free from the complete bondage of sin you are not free to sin but you are free to do what is right and do not he says verse 13 do turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh don't make the flesh the base of operation the interesting Greek word opportunity they're a form a means a military base the military base and it's pictures the believer is a military entity and Satan wants to come with all his forces and attack us don't make the flesh your base of operations you better be operating in the spirit right which means you're operating in the word don't make the flesh the base of your operation you don't want to give the flesh an inch do you understand the urgency of this you have an enemy and the enemy is not beside you this morning the enemy is not around you the enemy is where in you and if you come up with some kind of heretical notion of the Christian life that you are free to sin there is plenty of reason to ask whether or not you're even a Christian at all because that is not what a true believer desires Paul makes it clear I do what I don't want to do and I don't do what I want to do what he's saying is his desire and his behavior are sometimes opposite but his desire is always right that's how it is for a believer the addiction is broken the desire is right but as our Lord said the flesh is weak freedom in Christ does not mean freedom for the flesh not freedom to let the flesh indulge itself I remind you of a text we looked at last time go back to first Corinthians 11 this is a serious word from the Apostle Paul the Corinthians were coming to the table of the Lord sinful they hadn't thought about the things they were doing they were still engaged in some pagan activities and their bodies were not totally given to the Lord they hadn't done what Romans 12:1 says make your body a living sacrifice and so Paul says to them in verse 25 of 1st Corinthians 11 you're coming to the Lord's table you're coming to the Covenant of my blood you're coming to proclaim my death then verse 27 therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord that is serious that takes the guilt at a at a personal level it's against Christ so you better examine yourself verse 28 verse 29 for he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn't judge the body rightly you better judge what's going on in your flesh and for this this reason the reason that there are people who didn't do that many among you are weak and sick in a number sleep people were physically weak physically ill and dead because they came to the Lord's table fulfilling the flesh that would have been a sort of example of the death of the antinomian --zz John says in 1st John 5:16 there is a sin unto death it's not a specific sin categorically it's just the final sin in the life of a believer where the Lord says I got to get him out of there because he's having an evil influence so Paul talks about freedom in Christ we are free from the bondage of sin free from the condemnation of the law free from the disappointment of a hopeless search for truth free from the penalty of sin free from the Old Testaments complex ceremonies and rituals established for Israel but not free from the moral law but rather free to obey that law because it's merely a reflection of the God we love and this freedom is in the power of the Holy Spirit he is the one who empowers us to live this freedom listen to 1st Peter chapter 1 prepare your minds for action keep sober in spirit fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance but like the Holy One who called you be holy yourselves in all your behavior because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy it's a call to holiness look at 2nd Peter also in chapter 1 the Lord verse 3 has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the to knowledge true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence were called to godliness he gave us great precious magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust your freedom in Christ is to be free from the addiction driven by the lust of your flesh how do you live this out verse 5 you apply all diligence in your faith and you go after moral excellence and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love for if these qualities of yours and increasing that's how sanctification works its progressive they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ it's just about pursuing holiness in Romans six it says you were the slaves of sin and now you become slaves of righteousness Romans 6 16 and 17 you were the slaves of sin now you become the slaves of righteousness I want to close with one other passage because I want you to know where this comes from so turn to 2nd Peter chapter 2 this is a powerful chapter and I want to kind of move through the chapter so keep your eyes on the text this is about false prophets false teachers both mentioned in verse one who rose among the people false teachers rise up within the confines of Christianity there around they did in the past arise and they will also in the future they will secretly introduce destructive heresies one of those destructive heresies is antinomianism and they will deny the master who bought them he uses that word despot tests on purpose it's a despot it's a term that refers to the absolute sovereign authority of Christ they will deny the sovereignty of the Lord many will follow their sensuality they are sensual that is they appeal to the feelings of people to the senses of people they malign the way of truth they exploit people for money now just to get a further description of them go down to verse 10 they indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise Authority that's that's a definition of freedom they indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and don't want anyone to render a verdict on that behavior they despise Authority no one can take authority over their freedom now let's learn more about people who say things like this here's the characterization starting in verse 12 they are creatures of instinct to be captured and killed like unreasoning animals or verse 13 they are stains and blemishes reveling in their deceptions as they caroused with you their eyes are full of adultery they never cease from sin enticing unstable souls having a heart trained in greed their accursed children they're like Balaam who prophesied for money and loved the wages of right of unrighteousness 4:17 there Springs without water miss driven by a storm for whom the black darkness has been reserved they have no substance there's the key verse 18 speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires by sensuality those who barely escaped from the ones who live in error now back in verse 14 it talked about them enticing unstable Souls the world is full of unstable people they're miserable discouraged disillusioned unhappy unsatisfied they don't like their job they don't like their marriage they don't like their face they don't like they don't like their place in the world they don't like their circumstances and they're looking for a way out they're looking for a skyhook they're looking for some kind of thing that's going to change their life and they are unstable they're also defined down at the end of verse 18 as those barely escaping from those who live in air so those who live in error means the world as it lives in the midst of its deception they want to escape they want to get out that they want to get out of their circumstances they want to get out of their dilemma their disappointment their discouragement their anxiety their fears their dreads their doubts they want to get out those are perfect targets for false teachers and false teachers will come to those people and what will they give them go to verse 18 peeking out arrogant words of vanity what is vanity nothing they they say words that are flowery and fancy and they mean nothing empty words enticing by fleshly desires appealing to the fleshly desires of people who want somehow to escape their circumstances appealing to them on the sense level how they feel they promise them verse 19 what freedom oh God wants to free you from that he wants to free you from all that all of the disillusion but he wants to free you from all the disappointment you know you have a right to whatever you want health wealth prosperity a car house whatever it is a better circumstance a better job that this is what God wants to do for you you can find those kinds of churches packed in the thousands and thousands and thousands of those people who are defined here as unstable Souls seeking to escape their circumstances being seduced by false promises of being freed from all that binds them they feed the sensual desires that are the basic desires of sinful hearts they're offering the sinner what the sinner wants rather than condemning the sinner and all that the sinner wants and calling him to turn Christ there's no narrow road there's no narrow gate there's no repentance there's no self-denial there's no cross and there's no follow me freedom you can have health and you can have wealth and you can have prosperity and God really likes you and he'll give you a purpose in life and he'll make your marriage better and you'll have liberty and prosperity and happiness and the people offering this by the way here interesting promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption Wow [Music] promising freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption they're promising someone a freedom that they themselves don't even possess they're bound by sin and what happens to people who buy into this I'll tell you what happens look at verse 20 they have a momentary escape they're looking for an escape so they escape some of the defilements of the world they they come in to this group of people they feel like they're religious they're participating there's a lot of talk about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but soon because there's no transformation they are again entangled in the defilements of the world and are overcome again and the last state has become worse for them than the first because they've tried Christ and it didn't work and now they've been vaccinated without ever having the truth would have been better for them verse 21 says that they hadn't known the way of righteousness than having known it turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them the holy commandment the Christian life is described as a holy commandment what happens to them well they're like that proverb the dog returns to its own vomit and a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire that is a devastating way to describe this situation there are a lot of unstable people there are a lot of people languishing in the difficulties of life who are being offered freedom and time and truth will go hand in hand and they will wind up entangled even worse like a dog going back to its vomit or a pig back to the mire freedom is not freedom to indulge the flesh it is freedom from the flesh one final and critical point is in Romans 13 and verse 13 we'll start there let us behave properly not in carousing and drunkenness not in sexual promiscuity of any kind and sensuality and that covers a lot of ground not in strife and jealousy that's not how we live that's not how we behave how do we behave verse 14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts to be like Christ so we obey and we do this and we'll say more about this next time we do this not out of fear but out of love not out of fear but out of love faith works by love

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 45,958

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Keywords: Antinomianism, Free Grace, Cheap Grace, Sanctification, Truth, Gospel, Christianity, Law, Grace, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Bible, Scripture, Biblical Preaching, Exposition, Expository, Sermon, John MacArthur, 48-30

Id: 3Pn8wdWmJgA

Length: 54min 53sec (3293 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 12 2018