Dedicated to Truth

Dedication · Senior Member

Lesson 11 Gal. 5:1-15 Freedom in Christ

Dedication · Senior Member

But what does Paul mean when he speaks about “freedom,” which he does so often?

What does this freedom include?

How far does this freedom go?

Does it have any limits?

And what connection does freedom in Christ have to the law?

What is this freedom that Christ brings to His followers? It is not freedom to follow the desires of the carnal nature. Paul makes it clear in Romans 8, that to live after the carnal flesh ends in destruction.

It is sin that holds people in bondage. Sin enslaves and while it may bring excitement and momentary pleasure, that soon erodes into misery, trouble and ultimately death. Sin is a terrible master that entices and then binds its victims in its deadly coils, like a snake squeezing the life out of its victims.

Christ came to free us from sin through His atoning sacrifice.

Scripture says, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)
Christ paid the death penalty for us, freeing us from death row through His sacrifice.

By His atoning sacrifice Christ forgives and cleanses by taking away the guilt and shame of the repentant person clinging to the promises of a Savior.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This results in a clean conscience and frees us from debilitating guilt and fears.

Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

A Christian is called away from superstition, error, bondage to sin and the carnal nature. He is called away from deception, guilt, depravity, ignorance and a destructive life He is delivered from these cruel taskmasters. He is freed from being a captive of Satan and facing eternal death. He is called to liberty in Christ, receiving forgiveness of sins through His shed blood, and now knowing freedom from guilt, he is free to serve the Lord .

He is released from the kingdom of satan and adopted into the kingdom of God.

Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' (John 8:31-32)

Unfortunately, some claim religious freedom through Christ while denigrating His law and refusing to submit to it. Jesus Christ, as the perfect example of freedom, kept God's commands. He said:

John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.”

True freedom cannot come to those walking contrary to God’s law for they are demonstrating their bondage to sin and the carnal nature. True freedom comes with harmony with, God's commandments

Dedication · Senior Member

Paul explains in his letters, that if you set your mind on the flesh, (that is to focus your life on the things of this world, like trying to fit in with the crowd by getting drunk for example) if we have our desires and our thoughts focused on the things of the world, it will result in death. (See Romans 8)
The things of this world will work a total separation from God because the person who has their mind set on the things of the world is walking in the opposite direction FROM God, they cannot please God. Nor do they have any desire to do so. They are concerned with what pleases them, not how to bring glory to God.

On the other hand Paul tells writes that to live according to the Holy Spirit, means the focus is no longer on the Flesh but on spiritual things. They are led by the Holy Spirit into truth and relationship with God. The Holy Spirit leds away from sin, into the glorious freedom of righteousness in and with Jesus our Savior.

Dedication · Senior Member

From Monday's Lesson:

Paul’s command to stand firm in freedom is not made in isolation. An important statement of fact precedes it: “Christ has set us free.” Why should Christians stand firmly in their freedom? Because Christ has already set them free. In other words, our freedom is a result of what Christ has already done for us. ¹

This pattern of a statement of fact followed by an exhortation is typical in Paul’s letters (1 Cor. 6:20; 10:13, 14; Col. 2:6). For example, Paul makes several indicative statements in Romans 6 about the facts of our condition in Christ, such as “We know that our old self was crucified with him” (Rom. 6:6, ESV). On the basis of this fact, Paul can then issue the imperative exhortation, “Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies” (Rom. 6:12, NRSV). This is Paul’s way of saying essentially, “Become what you already are in Christ.” The ethical life of the gospel does not present the burden of trying to do things in order to prove that we are God’s children. Rather, we do what we do because we are His children.

From what has Christ freed us from? Rom. 6:14, 18; 8:1; Gal. 4:3, 8; 5:1; Heb. 2:14, 15.

The use of the word freedom to describe the Christian life is more prominent in Paul’s letters than anywhere else in the New Testament. The word freedom and its cognates occur 28 times in Paul’s letters, in contrast to only 13 times elsewhere.

What does Paul mean by freedom? First, it is not a mere abstract concept. It does not refer to political freedom, economic freedom, or the freedom to live any way we might please. On the contrary, it is a freedom that is grounded in our relationship to Jesus Christ. The context suggests that Paul is referring to freedom from the bondage and condemnation of a law-driven Christianity, but our freedom includes much more. It includes freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil.

“Outside of Jesus Christ, human existence is characterized as bondage—bondage to the law, bondage to the evil elements dominating the world, bondage to sin, the flesh, and the devil. God sent his Son into the world to shatter the dominion of these slave-holders.”—Timothy George, Galatians, p. 354.

What things do you feel enslaved to in life? Memorize Galatians 5:1 and ask God to make the freedom you have in Christ a reality in your life.

Dedication · Senior Member

Dangers of legalism.

Why is legalism dangereous?

First of all we must not confuse legalism with obedience to God.
Legalism is entering the realm of legal matters.
Legalism looks at the law and says, "I can do that" -- and God better honor my good works with eternal life. I earned it.

On the other hand, a person who trusts in grace, realizes how far short they are of meeting the standard of righteousness, and so they go to Christ and by faith accept the gift He offers them -- forgiveness and his robe of righteousness, and they walk day by day with Christ. By beholding a person is changed.

The danger of legalism is simply this:

1. No amount of good works can forgive even one sin. Uness a person comes to Christ in repentance and confession they continue to bear their own sins which will exclude them from heaven.

2. God's people keep God's commandments, but a legalist who is trying to do it on his own, simply can't keep them. He may be able to make an outward impression that he is meticulous about commandment keeping, but if he is not operating in grace and faith in fellowship with Christ, he is falling far short.

3. Self sufficiency conflicts with what each of us need more than anything else -- accepting Christ as our Savior.

There was a story in a paper not long ago.

It's based on people "meeting Peter at the gates" after they die. That part we don't agree with but the message hits the nail on the head.

Mr Jones has arrived at the gates of heaven.
Peter informs Mr Jones that he needs 100 merit points to enter.

So Mr. Jones starts adding --
I was married and faithful to one woman, my wife, for 45 years.

Peter answers: -- that's one point

Mr. Jones: And I taught the Sabbath School lesson on numerous occasions

Peter answers -- that's one point

Mr. Jones: And I was the church elder and led out in prayer meetings.

Peter answers -- that's half a point.

Mr. Jones: Half a point??? !!!!! And I didn't even cheat on my income tax.

Peter answers -- another half point.

Mr. Jones: And how about all the times I drove my kids and the neighbor kids to event?

Peter answers -- well that might be worth a quarter of a point.

By this time Mr. Jones is greatly agitated.

Mr. Jones: At that rate there's no way I'll get enough points to enter?
There's no way except by the grace of God ....

Suddenly the counting apparatus shock and the bell rang as the needle hit the top.

Peter" It is only by the grace of God, that anyone will ever enter here.

Eriel · Veteran Member

How to understand legalism.

Keeping the law to be saved is not legalism ipso facto. Legalism is keeping the law to merit heaven and be saved. There is a world of difference between keeping the moral law to have a viable relationship with Christ, and thus to “be saved”, from trying to keep the law to merit heaven and earn the favor of God.

There are two aspects to redemption, one is legal and the other is moral. What the ceremonial law typifies, is the legal and meritorious aspects of redemption, and helps us understand what God does without our help in the salvation equation.

Namely, Jesus died for our sins and presents Himself to the Father as the “second Adam” standing at the head of the human race, and thus provides a way that any and all sinners can have free access to God. This we believe by “faith alone” since we add nothing to what Jesus has done in this context.

But this is only one aspect of redemption. In light of this “gospel” man is now liberated to decide if he will continue in sin or accept the provision God has made.

The moral obligations to “be saved” are to enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus which requires not only faith (alone) in what only Christ could do to redeem us, but it also includes repentance and obedience to the law of God. So, sanctification and the human response to God is not faith "alone” but faith demonstrated by works.

And so Paul says, “We are justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” The context is obvious. He means apart from the ceremonial law. Paul is not dealing with the moral implications of salvation in his conflict with the Judaizers. So Paul is saying, “If you add any part of the ceremonial law as a necessity for salvation, you must add all the ceremonial law and not just part of it, namely, circumcision.

This is the whole of Paul’s discourse to the Galatian church. And so he says, there is a law that has been “added because of transgression” and is now “subtracted” since what it typifes has become a reality.

This does not deny that the moral law can and will work as a “schoolmaster” to lead us to Christ. But in the context, Paul can not be dealing with this issue and if he was, here is what he would be saying, “The moral law was added, and is now subtracted.”

The authors of our lessons this quarter, fall all over themselves trying to explain how the law in Galatians is the moral law, and then try to explain how the law was not done away with at the cross. Even trying to claim God’s covenant with Abraham was not really a covenant, but a promise. All in an effort to negate and explain how “obey and live” is not a new covenant exhortation for the believer to do, but rather, it is something God has done, and that somehow, God writing the law on our heart releases us from the covenant condition of “obey and live”.

This convolutes what the ceremonial law typifies and how the moral law functions in the salvation process.
Is the Christian community subject to the ceremonial law as a requirement to demonstrate faith? No. Faith by way of the ceremonial law has been negated and done away at the cross. But we must not try to apply the moral law in the same context.

And as a side note, there is a vast difference between eliminating a false idea that may be attached to the moral law and doing away with the moral law itself.

When Rome claimed merit for the works of believers, the Reformers, especially Luther, pointed to Galatians and rightly imposed a broader application than Paul had originally intended. Paul would never disagree with Luther’s application. None the less, he would have said, “This was not my original intent.” And the reason should be obvious.

That law that was “added” in Paul’s application is now “subtracted” and this could never be the moral law. Even if there is a valid moral law application that goes beyond Paul’s original intent.

-- Edited by Eriel on Friday 16th of December 2011 12:36:55 AM

Eriel · Veteran Member

I am not insensitive to those who may have had a rather warped view of God and His justice. Being raised a SDA, I often had more than a few misunderstanding of God’s justice and how we should relate to it. And this problem is always a challege, no matter what level of understanding of the gospel we may have come to know and appropriate.

None the less, if there is always a problem with “legalism” and a misunderstanding of the law and its application, it is no less a problem and factor in understanding God’s grace and how it is applied in our biblical realtionship to Him by way of Christ.

So, one has well said, “If legalism has destroyed it thousands, antinomianism has destroyed its tens of thousands.” And Luther commented on this problem when he said, “The Christian community is like a drunken German peasant, you push him up on one side of his donkey, and he falls off the other.”

I think the illustration is obvious. You teach people the gospel and keep emphasizing the dangers of legalism, they soon use the gospel to embrace an anti-law concept.

According to EGW, the final apostacy is an anti-law concept that eventually leads to Universalism. That is, everyone is going to heaven eventually. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure our how such an idea can be taught and supported. You simply have to warp the bible gospel from its true biblical application and re-apply it in a way that negates the true function of the law. And Satan will do it in such a subtle way, that it apparently has some element of credibility that seems biblically acceptable and in harmony with scripture.

Dedication · Senior Member

There are two ditches --

sort of like your example of getting on the horse from one side and falling off the other side. Moving from legalism, accepting grace, but then falling into antinomism.

JERUSALEM WAS TWICE DESTROYED
demonstrating the results of falling in BOTH ditches.

1st destruction.
The historical background shows us that about 100 years before Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian armies, good king Josiah had reinstated all the temple services, cleansed the country of idols and encouraged everyone to worship the true God. Amazingly the temple services continued to operate right up till the end. Josiah’s sons and grandson, who reigned after him continued to support the services. From all outward appearances Israel was worshiping God. So what’s wrong here?

The prophets of the time reveal that while there was worship in the temple, just about anything else was acceptable as well. Ezekiel 8 shows they were worshiping, but it was not true worship. Jeremiah 7:8-10 sums up the attitude of the people:
“Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know; And then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?”

The had fallen into the antinomism ditch. This ditch is the “only believe and you will be saved, it doesn’t matter that much what you do” –ditch. Israel didn’t get away with it, and neither will we. Let no one deceive themselves with the belief that they will be accounted holy while willfully violating one of God’s requirements. The commission of a known sin silences the voice of the Holy Spirit and separates the soul from God.

In the 2nd destruction we find Israel had fallen into the other ditch.

Once again we see the Israelites engaged in religious activities revolving around their temple. They believe in God and they believe in obedience. In fact they believe in obedience so strongly that they carefully outlined to the minutest detail how obedience is to be carried out. Yet God rejects them. Why?

Romans 9 and 10 tell us why: (Romans 9:31-32, 10:3)
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This is the opposite ditch Christians can fall into. It is just as dangerous as the other ditch. The devil doesn’t care which ditch he gets us to fall into, as long as he can keep us from fully surrendering our lives to Christ and walking with Him.