It is for Freedom
that Christ has Set Us Free Lesson 16
Galatians 5:1-12
Ps 118:5
In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.
Ps 119:32, 45
I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
Ps 146:7
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
Rom 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
2 Cor 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
James 1:25
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom , and continues to do this,
not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
1 Peter 2:16
Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
I. A Principle to be Embraced
Gal 5:1 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.
A. A principle to be affirmed
1. Freedom from …..
a. the curse of the moral law – the penalty of sin
b. the servitude of the ritual
c. the love, power, and guilt of sin
d. the dominion of Satan
e. the corruption of the world
f. the fear of death and the wrath to come
2. Freedom to ……
An vast difference
Slavery Freedom
to work that we may be loved to work because we are loved Eph 2: 5-10;
to have a motive from without to have a motive from within Titus 2:14
to be compelled by a fear to be attracted by an affection 2 Cor 5:14; 1 Pet 1:8
B. A command to be obeyed
1. stand firm
2. do not be burdened again
II. A Predicament to be Exposed
A. You make Christ of no Value
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.
B. You are obligated to obey the whole law
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
C, You have fallen away from grace
4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
D. You have no hope of righteousness
5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
III. A Process to be Evaded
Gal 5:2-4, 7-10
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 law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view.
The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.
A. Persuasion
Eph 4:14 …infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
B. Confusion
1. Concerning salvation
1 Cor 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
2 Cor 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Cor 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Eph 2:4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
2. Concerning sanctification
Col 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
Phil 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
C. Circumcision (self effort) You can’t have it both ways
Gal 3:10-11
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."
D. Obligation
Gal 5:3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
E. Alienation
Heb 6:4-6
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Heb 10:26-27
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
III. A Privilege to be Exercised
Gal 5:5-6
5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit 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.
A. The righteousness we have
Phil 3:9 …and be found in him (Christ) , not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
1 Cor 1:30 It is because of him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
B. The righteousness for which we hope
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
2 Tim 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
C. The things that do not matter
D. The only thing that does matter
IV. A Person to be Emulated
Gal 5:11-12
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
A. The possible cause
Acts 16:1-3
1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
B. The offense of the cross
1 Cor 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
1 Cor 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
C. The futility of paganism
TNBS Questions Lesson 16
Preparation for week 17
Read Galatians 5:1-12
1. What does Paul say is the only thing in the Christian life that truly matters? Why would he say that?
______
2. Read 1 John 4:7 – 5:21 What is the theme of 1 John 4:7-21?
______
3. What is the theme of 1 John 5:1-20?
______
4. Why does 1 John 5:21 fit the context of the rest of the passage?
______
5. What is idolatry?
______
6. Read Jeremiah 2:13 How does this passage tell us we produce our own idols?
______
7. From Galatians 5:6, what would you consider a circumcision mentality?
______
8. What would you consider an uncircumcision mentality?
______
9. What are things that “count” in your life? (These are things that you fear, things that you depend on, things that you desire, things that make you angry) Just name the top 5
______
10. Can a person have faith without love? Explain. ______
______
11. Can a person love without faith? Explain. ______
______
12. What does the way we love others tell us about what we believe about god?
______
13. What do our idols tell us about what we believe about God?
______
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