Who were teaching the Galatians that they must believe in Jesus plus a concession, Jesus plus the law, Jesus plus all the rituals and ceremonies stipulated in the law, Jesus plus all the additional requirements that the rabbis had included in the law. And unless they kept all those laws, they could not be saved.
And Paul spoke about the freedom we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read about that in Galatians chapter 2, verse 4, that the believer was not bound by the law and works. He was not just a physical descendant of Abraham, but a spiritual descendant. Therefore, Paul urged the Galatians to stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Galatians chapter 5, verse 1).
But the moment Paul talked about the believer's freedom in Christ, the Judaizers and false teachers would take the opportunity to accuse Paul of being an antinomian. An antinomian is the opposite of a legalist. Let me explain: a legalist is someone who believes that he can satisfy himself and please God by observing a strict set of rules—do's and don'ts, a strict system of the law. An antinomian is the opposite; he's someone who believes that there's no law. He believes that he can satisfy himself by rejecting all the laws completely and just live his life to pursue after his own personal passions and desires.
It was either the Judaizers and false teachers had already started accusing Paul, or he anticipated that they would soon accuse him of being someone who has taught the Galatians that there was no law; once they are saved, they can continue in their habitual sins because of this freedom in Jesus Christ, this liberty in Christ. Therefore, Paul had to use these few verses to explain to them that this was not the Christian freedom that Christ has saved them from.
This is the background of the passage. The title of our message is "The Christian Freedom." Our first point is our Christian freedom is not a license to sin. Let us begin with the first part of verse 13: "For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh."
The phrase "ye have been called" was a reference to the salvation call. We have been called by God to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. It was a call unto liberty, of freedom. Here, Paul was referring to the freedom from the legalistic system that was impossible to keep; the freedom of knowing that the Galatians, no matter what they do or how they do it, they could not satisfy God's demands in the law. It was a knowledge of knowing that they were accepted by God based on what Jesus Christ had done on the cross, not on what they had done or not done. Here, Paul made it very clear that this salvation that they had received through the gospel of Christ was not a license for them to sin.
The word "flesh" was a reference to the old self that was inclined to sin, and the word "occasion" or "opportunity" is very interesting. It is a military term that speaks of a central base whereby all the military campaigns were planned and then exercised. For example, like the recent war between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainians would fight the war from a central base. They would plan all the military strategies from this central base, which is in Kyiv, the capital city. Just like you and I who plan in our hearts, in our minds, which is our central base, all these sinful activities, and then bring them to fruition.
In other words, Paul was trying to say here is this: Christ did not give us freedom so that we can carry out all these sinful operations, campaigns, and activities. We do not have the freedom to do whatever we want, but instead, to do what God wants us to do. God did not save us so that we can satisfy the sinful desires of the flesh, but rather the opposite; we must fight against sin, we must oppose sin. That is the meaning of the phrase "only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh."
You see, Christ's death on the cross was to save us from the penalty of sin and to free us from the bondage of sin. So, this Christian freedom does not give us the right to return to our sins, whereby our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had paid with his own life, with his precious blood. That was the reason why the Apostle Peter said in First Peter chapter 2, verse 16: As believers, you must live and behave as free men; Christ has set you free. Do not use your freedom as a covering of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. In other words, do not use your freedom to serve sin, but use your freedom to serve God.
There are some professed Christians who believe that they are free to live any way they want. They can drink and get drunk, indulge in worldly activities, watch dirty movies, and live in habitual sins. But that essentially is a strong evidence that the person is not a Christian at all. No doubt, as believers, we will still fall into sin from time to time, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will not allow us to continue in habitual sins, to be comfortable in our sins, to be at home with our sins, to enjoy our sins, so to speak. The Holy Spirit will not allow that to happen, and we must never use our Christian freedom to justify our sins or to use it as an excuse for our sins.
There was a time when you and I lived in sin and we loved our sins—that was in the past, before our conversion. After we have been saved, we become new creations. Remember, Second Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. As new creatures, something has changed—radically changed. The things we used to love in the past, we will not love them anymore; we will love the things God loves, we will hate the things God hates. God loves righteousness, and God hates sin.
Let us ask ourselves this question: Do we love righteousness and do we hate sin? Alas, there were these Judaizers and false teachers in Galatia who would twist God's word and turn the Christian freedom into a license to sin. This was not something new. In Jude 4, the Bible warns us in a similar fashion. Maybe you can turn with me to Jude 4. Let me read for you; Jude 4 says this: "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."
According to Jude, there were certain men—false teachers—who had crept into the church. He described them as those people who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. They were people who denied the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who can save them, so they were unbelievers; they were unsaved; they were ordained to be condemned. These false teachers had turned the grace of God into lasciviousness— meaning into immorality, into a license to sin. They were telling the people during Jude's time that it was all right to sin; after all, we have a God who was so gracious and merciful, He would forgive your sins. Indeed, we have a gracious God, but we must not forget that He will not compromise our sins.
Why do Christians or professed Christians continue to sin? Very often, because they only focus on the abounding grace of God to forgive. They believe that when they sin, God will be gracious to forgive, but they fail to see the wrath of God coming their way. As much as we know that God is a God of love, He's also a God of wrath. He is also a God who will not tolerate sin. When a person only focuses on the grace of God and keeps on sinning and sinning, and forgets the wrath and judgment of God, it is just like taking a hammer and knocking your hands. It is very painful, but when you remove the hammer and you put ointment on your hands, you feel good. Would you then put your hand under the hammer again? Well, our common sense forbids.
Likewise, the Apostle Paul said in Romans 6, verse 1 and 2: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? The more we sin, the more God's grace will increase? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Today, there are many pastors who do not like to preach messages about sin and repentance, because the people like to hear messages about love, blessings, grace upon grace, because they want to continue in their sins and they want to hear of a gracious God who is always willing to forgive.
But we all remember the woman who was caught in adultery in John chapter 8. God was very gracious to that sinful woman; He forgave her, but then He also said to her, "Go and sin no more." So, my friends, we must never misinterpret, misapply, or misuse the grace of God and the Christian freedom as a license for us to sin. God forbids. Just because you mouth the name of Jesus Christ does not make you a Christian. If today you are still living in sin, you are comfortable with your sin, you are at home with your sin, and you just go on and on and on, it is a strong evidence that you may not be a believer because the indwelling Holy Spirit will not allow that to happen. The Holy Spirit will not allow the true believer to go on without convictions; your hearts will be convicted, and you will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance.
Our second point is our Christian freedom is to fulfill God's law. Look at the second part of verse 13: "But by love, one another." Our Christian freedom is not a license to sin, but an opportunity to serve. Here, the key word is love. The motivation and reason behind our services is because of love. Jesus himself gave this classic example once: the disciples were arguing amongst themselves as to which one of them was the greatest. Jesus said to them: Do not behave like the Gentiles. The king of the Gentiles lord over the people, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. You do not behave like them; let him who is greatest become the youngest, and the leader as a servant. Then Jesus asked this question: For who is greater, the one who reclines and eats at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who serves that is of a lower stature, and the one who reclines at the table greater? But I am among them, or among you, that serves.
I am paraphrasing Luke chapter 22, verse 24 to 27. Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, came into this world; He dwelt as a man and taught His disciples the true nature of servanthood. He lived His life as a servant, both to God and men. Our Lord Jesus, He did all that because of His love. How do we apply this to our Christian freedom? You see, God wants us to fulfill His law. He wants us to obey His law, not to be saved—we are already saved if we are true believers—but He wants us to obey His law because we are saved, by serving others. And we serve others through love.
If I may give you an illustration, let's say I have extra days off this week. I walk into the kitchen and say to my wife, "I think I will fix the leaking tap in the kitchen, and then I will buy the groceries, and I will cook dinner. You can take a rest." You may ask me, or you may say to me, "You are free to do whatever you want on your days off, and yet you choose to fix the leaking tap, buy groceries, and cook dinner. How interesting." Well, my response will be, "Indeed, I'm free to do whatever I want on my days off, and I choose to do all these things because of love. I love my wife, and I'm willing to do all these things for her."
Likewise, you and I have the freedom to choose in regards to our services. Some people choose to serve as ushers. When you walk into the church, you will see some greeters; they will lead you to the pews. Some would choose to serve in the PA Ministry; others would choose to serve in the refreshment teams; yet others would choose to serve in the Children Ministry. We are serving one another in the ministry, isn't it true? We are serving others in the ministry. Why do we do what we do? Because of love. Our motivation is love. Without love, our services will be empty and meaningless.
So Paul was saying to the Galatians: instead of using your Christian liberty, your Christian freedom, as a license for you to sin, you should use it to serve one another in love. Paul went on to say in verse 14, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." Sin is a violation of God's law. Christian freedom is not a license for us to break God's law; rather, it is the opportunity for us to fulfill God's law. God's standard of right and wrong has never changed, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, whether before salvation or after our salvation. God wants us to obey his law.
Why did Paul emphasize that all the law is fulfilled in one word, which means in this one statement: "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself"? In Matthew 22:35, there was a lawyer who tried to tempt our Lord Jesus, and he asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
In other words, if you take all the laws—the entire Ten Commandments—it can be summarized into these two fundamental commandments: love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself. You see, if we truly love God, we will have no other gods before him; we will not make graven images of him; we will not take the name of the Lord in vain; we will keep the Sabbath day, or the Christian Sabbath, holy; we will honor our parents because our parents are God's gifts to us. Here, Paul emphasized: "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself."
If we truly love our neighbor, we will not cause someone to commit adultery; we will not kill and take another person's life; we will not steal what belongs to someone else; we will not tell lies to someone else; we will not covet what our neighbor has or belongs to our neighbor. That was exactly what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 13, verse 10: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor," which means love does not do any wrong to the neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Today, you and I still obey the laws and commandments of God, but we do not do it out of fear or out of obligation; we do it out of love. This is the love that the Holy Spirit has produced in our lives, as verse 22 tells us that the first facet of the fruit of the Spirit is love. The word "another," as in the phrase "by love serve one another," is very interesting because it means another of the same kind. Sometimes the Greek word for "another" means another of a different kind; here, it is another of the same kind. Most likely, it is a reference to loving our fellow Christians, just like you and me—of the same kind.
My friends, does your Christian freedom cause you to love your brothers and sisters in Christ? When you see your brothers and sisters struggling, in need of help, in need of financial assistance, do you go out of your way to help them? When you see fellow church members struggling in the ministry, in their services, do you come alongside and serve together with them? When you hear of a brother or a sister who is sick or grieving, do you visit him or her and pray alongside the person? Our Christian freedom is not a license to sin but an opportunity to serve, and we serve with love.
Our third and final point is our Christian freedom does not harm others. Verse 15: "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Here it is a picture of wild animals engaged in a violent struggle, attacking one another, killing one another. What a way to illustrate and describe a divisive church, a problematic church. Apparently, the Galatians were becoming legalistic, and they were very proud of themselves. They thought they were spiritual. The church was divided. In fact, this is proof that the law cannot force the people to get along with one another. No matter how many rules and regulations Bethel BP Church may adopt, there's no guarantee that we will be united; it is only when the Holy Spirit has filled our hearts with love. Otherwise, all the infightings, all the quarrels, all the divisions will continue.
In fact, when a person is legalistic, it is inevitable that he will feel that he is more spiritual than others because he has observed all the laws; he has observed a set of do's and don'ts. He thinks he's free to say and think and do whatever he wants; he will impose upon others his opinions, his ideas, and his understanding; he will not accept other people's way of thinking; he will be negative, critical, judgmental; and when people do not bend to his ways, he will get angry, and when he gets angry, he will attack with words like wild animals biting one another, devouring one another. And when that happens, the church will be consumed—as in, the church will be destroyed. That was how so many churches were destroyed. That was how Bethel BP Church was once plagued with much trouble.
My friends, this is not the Christian freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Christian freedom is not about me and myself; Christian freedom is not about my right as a leader or your rights as a member. Christian freedom does not give us the right to do and say whatever we want. Every believer must remember that he or she is a member of the body of Christ, and as a member of the body of Christ, we have fellow brethren who make up the other members of Christ's body. So we must always examine ourselves: do I say this thing out of love, or do I say this thing out of spite? Is my action going to encourage the person or discourage the person? Will the church be edified, or will the church be destroyed?
Take a moment and think about this: if, by our words, if by our actions peradventure the church is consumed—because of our words, because of our actions—we bite, devour, consume one another, the church is destroyed, do you think we will not have to give an answer to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church? Oftentimes, when people fight and quarrel and divide, they forget that ultimately they have to give an account to the head of the church, who is none other than Jesus Christ.
So my friends, our Christian freedom is not a license to sin; our Christian freedom is to fulfill God's law, that you and I will serve one another in love. Our motivation must be love; otherwise, it is empty and meaningless. Our Christian freedom does not hurt others, but rather, others will be encouraged and edified by us, God willing.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for this opportunity for us to consider this portion of scriptures. We pray that thou will cause us to be able to apply thy word into our lives. We thank thee for thy infallible and inerrant word, preserved through the ages, kept pure and perfect, that we may hold in our hands and read for ourselves. Help us to be diligent in the study of thy word, and we pray that we will not be hearers only, but be doers of thy word as well. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.