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Slave WomanFree Woman IshmaelIsaac According to flesh, human effort Through promise, waiting for God HagarSarah SlaveryFreedom A Quick Look at the last couple weeks

Slave WomanFree Woman IshmaelIsaac According to flesh, human effort Through promise, waiting for God HagarSarah SlaveryFreedom A Quick Look at the last couple weeks Trying to be right with God through religion is nothing but slavery

This Week’s Message Galatians 5:1-6

New International Version (NIV) Freedom in Christ 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:1 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Stop 1: Freedom

Two Parts to Verse 1 – 1. We have been freed to live free Freed from: Guilt of sin Slavery to law Condemnation of sin The “Already” Stop 1: Freedom

Two Parts to Verse 1 – 1. We have been freed to live free Freed from: Guilt of sin Slavery to law Condemnation of sin The “Already” Freed to: Trust in grace Know we are sons and heirs Obey by the Spirit Love others The “Not Yet” Stop 1: Freedom

John 8: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Stop 1: Freedom

Two Parts to Verse 1 – 2. To protect this freedom we must stand firm We must continually monitor our lives to ensure that we are trusting in Jesus + nothing. We cannot lose our salvation, but can lose this freedom from enslavement Stop 1: Freedom

The Galatians were in danger of going under this yoke. But the startling word in this last sentence is the word “again”. The Galatian Christians had been pagans, who were under the slavery of literal idolatry—”the basic principles of the world” (4:3, 8-9). But here Paul once more makes his radical claim that pagan idolatry and biblical moralism (ie: keeping the laws of the Bible) are basically the same thing. The Galatians had been amoral liberals, and now they were about to become very moral conservatives. Paul is saying that these boil down to the same spiritual slavery! Under circumcision, the Galatians will experience once again the anxiety, guilt and burdened life they knew before as pagans. They will never be sure that they are being good enough. Their lives will be as fear-based and proud and guilt-ridden as they were before; in fact, probably more so! They will fall into the touchiness, insecurity, pride, discouragement and weariness of people who are never sure that they have worth (ie: righteousness). Tim Keller ~ Galatians for You

Galatians 5:1-6 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Freedom Can be Lost!

Judaizers – You need to be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved Paul – If you listen to them and do this, you cannot be saved – Christ is of no value Freedom Can be Lost! Galatians 5:2 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Galatians 2:4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. Freedom Can be Lost!

Jesus Circumcision And Law

Judaizers View Jesus Circumcision And Law Not Enough Hopefully Enough

Paul’s View Jesus Definitely Enough! “you can’t add to Christ without subtracting Christ. He is either all of their value, or he is without value” ~Keller

Galatians 5:3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. Freedom Can be Lost! Romans 2:25 25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. Galatians 3:10 10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Galatians 5:1-6 New International Version (NIV) Freedom in Christ 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

“Severed” in ESV – “Cut off” or “Made ineffective” We can’t earn salvation by what we do – it’s Jesus’s performance that matters, and that’s done We also can’t un-earn our salvation by what we do Because……… Alienated from Christ

“Severed” in ESV – “Cut off” or “Made ineffective” We can’t earn salvation by what we do – it’s Jesus’s performance that matters, and that’s done We also can’t un-earn our salvation by what we do Because……… We have been set free. Christ is of advantage to us. He’s given us grace and freedom Alienated from Christ

For just as someone on a ship is drowned regardless of the part of the ship from which he falls into the sea, so someone who falls away from grace cannot help perishing. The desire to be justified by the law, therefore, is shipwreck; it is exposure to the surest peril of eternal death. What can be more insane and wicked than to want to lose the grace and favor of God and to retain the law of Moses, whose retention makes it necessary for you to accumulate wrath and every other evil for yourself? Now if those who seek to be justified on the basis of the moral law fall away from grace, where, I ask, will those fall who, in their self-righteousness, seek to be justified on the basis of their traditions and vows? To the lowest depths of hell! ~Martin Luther

Galatians 5:1-6 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Stop 2: Faith – How Freedom is Maintained

Galatians 5:5 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. Hebrews 11:1 11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Romans 8: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. What is it that we “eagerly await”?

What does this mean? The believer can have complete confidence in their future. We can look forward to eternity with eagerness We are as loved now by God as we will be in eternity with him The Spirit enables us to have a heart attitude that continually delight in all that we have in the Gospel and Christ

Galatians 5:1-6 New International Version (NIV) Freedom in Christ 5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

NOT circumcision NOT uncircumcision What is truly important?

Colossians 3:11 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. What is truly important? Galatians 3:28 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus

What is truly important? Galatians 5: You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul ties together three things that are at the core of following Jesus: Faith Hope Love What is truly important?

What things in your life are opposing your freedom in Christ and, potentially, cutting you off from God’s grace? Do you believe Paul’s message of what truly matters (faith working through love)? If so, how is this being worked out in your life? How much of a difference does the fact that your hope is certain make in your everyday life? Gospel Application Questions