The following sermon was preached at Redemption Baptist Church on Sunday, 2 July 2017. We encourage you to look up the Scriptures that are referenced. May the Lord speak to your heart as you study His Word.
Stand Fast in Christ’s Liberty!
Galatians 5:1-6
Several years ago, as I was looking up something on the internet, I happened to stumble upon the website of a cult called “Zion Ministry.” Upon closer inspection, I discovered it to be a sort of “copycat” of the Worldwide Church of God, which was founded in the 30’s with a man named Herbert W. Armstrong. It would take a while to list all the heresies that Armstrong preached; but you might sum it all up by saying that he formed his theology by mixing, matching, and revising the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Mormons. Like these groups, Armstrong denied the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit; he denied that there is a literal hell; he denied the bodily resurrection of Christ; he denied that Christ had a sinless nature; he taught that Anglo-Saxons are the true physical descendants of the ten “lost tribes” of Israel; and he taught that Christians can progress to godhood.
However, the one overwhelming characteristic of Armstrong’s religion, and of all its splinter groups, is their intense legalism. I was fascinated as I read through some of the sermons that were written by Neville Stevens, the leader of Zion Ministry. Stevens teaches that one must keep all seven of the Old Testament feast days to be saved. He says that one must be circumcised, worship on Saturday, eatkosher meat, and so on, in order to be saved. He can’t seem to find enough adjectives to describe his contempt of born-again Christians. Those who believe that salvation is by the grace of God alone, through faith in Christ’s complete, one-time sacrifice, he describes as “curdle-headed morons.” Those who believe that salvation is eternally secure in Christ he accuses of being spiritually vacant, ignorant, evil, lustful beasts, who think they can break God’s laws and get away with it. Those who quote John 3:16 to explain salvation Stevens accuses of being simple, lame-brained idiots, who don’t know a scrap of Scripture.
What I find particularly interesting is Stevens’s rabid hatred of the book of Galatians! There are many large portions of the New Testament that Stevens doesn’t like, which he simply declares to be “forgeries”; but Galatians is the book which he hates above all others. According to Stevens, the entire book of Galatians is the work of a very clever but evil “forger” who passed himself off as the Apostle Paul. He scornfully ridicules Galatians 3:10, where Paul wrote that “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.” He denounces the book of Galatians as a wicked forgery; and he vehemently curses everyone who believes its words.
I must say that perusing the “Zion Ministry” web site was an eye-opener for me. It helped me to understand just what kind of people the false teachers who infiltrated the Galatian churches were. It also helped me to understand just why Paul was so upset with the Galatians for following these false teachers! Even though the Galatian Christians were truly saved, they were grieving their precious Saviour by following these false teachers; and Paul was grieved with them.
There is a great price to pay for following a false gospel of salvation through works. This morning, we will examine those consequences. The title of this message is Stand Fast in Christ’s Liberty!
Read Galatians 5:1-6
- The only alternative to Christ’s freedom is bondage (vv. 1, 3).
There is one thing you have to say for Mr. Stevens: he is consistent! If you believe that you can earn your salvation, you may as well rip Galatians out of the Bible. In fact, if you believe that your salvation is to any degree dependent upon your performance of the Law, then you may as well stop preaching Christ altogether. I find it interesting that in Stevens’s long article about the book of Galatians, not once did he state that the sacrifice of Jesus is necessary for salvation. To this false teacher, salvation isthrough keeping the Law. To him, Christ’s sacrifice means nothing. Folks, that’s a serious thing! There is only one sacrifice for sins; and those who despise that sacrifice are despising the Son of God, and calling His blood unholy!
Read Hebrews 10:26-29
Now, as we read the last half of Galatians 4 last week, we saw that Paul made an allegory from the Old Testament in order to show the difference between those who are trusting in the Law to be saved, and those who are trusting in God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. Paul said that those who are trusting in the keeping of the Law to be saved are “sons of the bondwoman”; and he said that those who are trusting in Christ alone are “sons of the freewoman.” Those who have been made free in Christ Jesus are sons of God, and heirs of His Kingdom. Those who are trusting in the Law are not sons, and not heirs: instead, they are in spiritual bondage. Therefore, Paul concluded that the “bondwoman and her son” needed to be cast out. In other words, the Galatians needed to cast out, from their pulpits and assemblies, those who had taught them that they needed to keep the Law in order to be saved. They were freemen, and not slaves; and thy needed to cling to their liberty.
That is exactly what Paul says as he begins this next section of the letter. In verse 1 of chapter 5, Paul urges the Galatians to “Stand fast…in the liberty” wherewith Christ had made them free. Let’s go back to verse 1 again, and read those words. (Read verse 1.) Paul’s command to “Stand fast” in Christ’s libertylays the groundwork for this whole chapter. All the wonderful works that God can do in a Christian’s life are possible because of this “liberty” that Christ has purchased for us. Let’s see what else Paul had to say about the effect of this “liberty” in our Christian lives.
Read Romans 8:1-4
In these verses, Paul presents a wonderful truth: Because we have been made freefrom the law of sin, we are now able to fulfil the God’s Law. You see, Christian, before you were saved, you were bound under a law called “sin.” Sin had complete jurisdiction over you. You couldn’t help but sin all day long. The law of sin bound you, and controlled you, and kept you from being able to obey God’s Law. You were as sure to sin as the law or gravity is sure to pull you to the ground.
Now, God’s Law couldn’t do anything to remedy your sinful condition. It couldn’t give you any power to obey God. It was “weak through the flesh.” All the Law could do was to point out that you were breaking God’s laws. But when Christ came in human flesh, and died on the cross for your sins, He “condemned sin in the flesh.” In other words, He passed sentence upon the law of sin, and broke its jurisdiction over the believer.
For the Christian, the sin nature is still there; but its power is broken and overruled. We don’t have to sin. Why? Because there is a new Law which has been introduced into our lives. It is called “the law of the Spirit of life.” This law was ratified by Christ’s blood on the cross; and it does something that the Mosaic Law (the Old Covenant) could never do. The “law of the Spirit of life” actually gives us the power to overcome sin.
The law of gravity may pull a crystal vase toward the ground, where it will crack and break; but if I hold that vase with the power of my hands, so that it doesn’t fall, the power of gravity is overruled. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, by His divine power, upholds the believer, so that he does not fall into sin. As long as the believer is “walking in the Spirit” (allowing the Spirit to have control), that believer cannot fall into sin. He is able to fulfil the Law.
Now, as a New Testament believer, I am not bound to keep the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament (such as circumcision, and keeping the feasts); but all the laws that do still apply to me, I am able to fulfil. How so? Because love is the fulfilling of the Law; and love just happens to be the number one characteristic that the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian life!
Read Romans 13:8-9
Read Galatians 5:22-23
When we get to the last part of Galatians 5, we will be examining the “fruit of the Spirit” in detail. However, before you can understand the fruit of the Spirit, there is something that you must fully understand: you must understand this “liberty” that you have been given in Christ. It is impossible to have the fruit of the Spirit in your life until you are fully persuaded of, and are resting in, the“liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.”
Why does a Christian need to stand fast in Christian liberty? Why is it so important that a Christian not give one inch of ground to those who say that keeping the Law is necessary for salvation? Because the only alternative to Christian liberty is bondage. Either we are bound to keep the Law in order to be saved, or we are saved by God’s grace alone; but if it be our keeping of the Law that saves us, then we are all hopelessly doomed. Why? Because we can’t keep it!
Multitudes of people who claim to be Christians are, in reality, children of bondage. They have never been set free by Jesus Christ, because they are not trusting in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on their behalf. I once had a conversation with a man who claimed to have been born again for a number of years. His testimony sounded solid at first; but as the weeks unfolded, and I came to know him more, I was increasingly troubled by statements that he made. I began to have real doubts that his salvation is genuine. He told me that he still goes to Mass every now and then, and that he doesn’t see a problem with it. When I disapproved of his going to Mass, he said that he couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal that the priest would call the wafer “Christ’s body.”
My friends, there is everything wrong with this! This isn’t a mere “academic” quibble! This isn’t a mere trifle of personal opinion. If that bread really be the body of Christ, and if it be true that Christ’s body must be sacrificed again and again in the Mass, then the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross 2,000 years ago is not finished, and is not all-sufficient to save us. The doctrine of the Mass is diametrically opposed to the Gospel!
Read Hebrews 10:5-14
Any religion that tells you that you must keep the law (whether it be the Old Testament Law, or their own traditions, or both) in order to be saved, is denying that Jesus’ sacrifice is complete. The Catholic religion openly denies Christ’s completed sacrifice by teaching that Christ’s sacrifice goes on and on and on every day, in the Mass. They don’t even make any pretensions about it.
But what say you? Whether you base your belief about salvation on the teaching of a particular church, or merely on your own notions, the fact is that if you be relying to any extent on your performance of rituals and good works, you are denying that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is complete. You are choosing to be in spiritual bondage. You are binding yourself to fulfil every single demand of the law—which is utterly impossible for any sinful man to do! That’s why Christ is the “end of the law... for everyone that believeth.” He is the one who brought the Law to completion, by fulfilling all the prophecies that pointed to Him as the Saviour of sinners.
Read Romans 10:1-4
The Galatians had exchanged the joy and gladness of freedom for the fear and dread of bondage. In reality, they were free. They had been truly saved years before, and Christ was still faithful to them, even though they had been unfaithful to Him. However, they were living their Christian lives as though they were under the yoke of bondage.
In which state are you—freedom, or bondage? If you be trusting in your performance of the Law to be saved, then you are a debtor to do all of it! (Read verse 3 again.) The rite of circumcision brought Jewish males into the Mosaic Covenant, and bound them to do all that the Law requires. Jews who didn’t keep the whole Law perfectly were cursed, and doomed to spiritual and eternal death—if, that is, they were actually trusting in their keeping of the Law to be saved. But if they were trusting in the Messiah who was coming one day to take away their sins, they were saved from God’s wrath.
The same is true for us who are living after the cross. If you be trusting in the Law to be saved, you are doomed. Why? Because you are a sinner; and God says that if you have broken even one of His laws, you may as well have broken all of them. (See James 2:10.) The Law never could save anyone. What foolishness it is, then, for a Christian, who has been saved from the penalty of the Law, to try to add the Law to the Gospel! Paul’s message to the Galatians was “Stand fast! Don’t be entangled in the yoke of bondage again!”
- Christ grace is “of no effect” to those who choose to be in bondage (vv. 2 and 4).
We’ve talked so much about why salvation cannot be through keeping the Law, that it may be getting a little tedious to some of you. However, I am only expounding on what Paul wrote. Paul considered this matter to be so vitally important, that he spent ¾ of this letter reiterating, again and again, that salvation is not by the works of the law! But now, in the remainder of chapter 5, and throughout chapter 6, Paul is going to show us how this doctrine of “salvation by grace through faith” affects our everyday Christian life. Let’s read again verses 2 and 4, and see how Paul introduces this section of the letter. (Read verses 2 and 4.)
Now, what does Paul mean when he says that Christ is of “no profit”to those who are circumcised? Well, what Paul is saying has a twofold application—for the lost and the saved.
First of all, if you have never stoppedtrusting in your keeping of the Law to be saved, then Christ is of no effect to you in regard tosalvation. You are lost. You are not saved. You are not justified before God. Because you are choosing to be justified by keeping the Law, you cannot be justified by Christ—because God will grant justification only to those who put their complete trust in His Son. Even though Christ died on the cross to purchase your salvation, you are rejecting the free gift that He purchased. His salvation is of no effect to you, because you have not received it by faith. Whether you are trusting in the Old Testament rite of circumcision, or the New Testament rite of baptism, or any other outward ritual or work, Christ is of no effect to you. You do not know Christ, nor His salvation.
Now, if you have been saved—if there was a day in your life when you stopped trusting in your good works, and instead put your trust in Christ—then Paul’s statement particularly applies to you. Remember, Paul was writing this letter to people who were truly saved, yet who had returned to trusting in the deeds of the Law to be saved. Paul is telling these Galatian Christians (and all Christians everywhere) then Christ is of no effect to you in regard tosanctificationif you have gone back to a works-based gospel. You are truly saved, justified, and an heir of God; but by returning to the Law, you are cutting yourself off from Christ’s sanctifying power!
You see, the Christ who saves and justifies people is the same Christ who sanctifiesthem after they have been born into the family of God. Christian, it is vital that you understand this matter of sanctification! In one aspect, sanctification is the setting apart of the sinner to salvation. The setting apart to salvation happens one time forever. It is instantaneous, and it is permanent. It happens at the same instant that a person is justified.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:11
All true, born-again Christians are called “saints” (literally, “sanctified ones”). They have been set apart unto salvation. That is their permanent position in Christ. Thank God, positional sanctification cannot ever fail, because it is based entirely upon the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there is another aspect of sanctification—and that is practical sanctification. Practical sanctification is the daily “setting apart” of the believer from sin. After you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit living within you; and as you submit yourself completely to Him, and let Him have His way, He sanctifies you (practically sets you apart) from sin. This kind of sanctification is what suffers when a believer returns to trusting in the Law for salvation.