Galatians 5:1, 13-25
You Were Called to Be Free!
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. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In one of my previous congregations I had a couple whose daughter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All of this happened before I became the pastor of that congregation. All of this happened before the parents became members of that congregation. When they asked me if I would visit their daughter I said yes. By the time I came into contact with this woman she had been in prison for decades. Over the course of the years I visited with her she never once denied her guilt. She openly confessed that she had been a rebellious teenager who got involved with the wrong person and started traveling down a very dark path— a path that led her into prison. Her only chance of ever getting out of prison alive was if the governor granted her a commutation of her sentence. She and her parents had been trying for many years to make this happen, but to no avail.
After I left that congregation I found out that the governor did grant her a commutation. After spending most of her life in prison she was finally free! We can’t imagine the joy and the astonishment that swept over her as she began her “new” life of freedom! Do you think that after she had been granted her freedom that she would go back to her “old” friends or start walking down that dark path which led to decades behind bars? Not a chance! Her faith in Christ had grown so strong and her thankfulness to Jesus for granting her freedom precludes any possibility of her repeating the sins of her rebellious past.
Whether we realize it or not, whether we want to admit it or not— on a spiritual level we are no different than this woman. Our sinfulness, our rebelliousness, our crimes against the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth meant that by nature we were sentenced to the eternal prison called hell. There was no possibility of parole. There was no possibility of having our sentence commuted. The only reason why we are no longer under that sentence is because of what Paul assures us here in our text: You Were Called to Be Free!
Since there was no possibility of us gaining our freedom on our own, since there was no possibility of parole, since there was no possibility of any earthly ruler granting us clemency— how were we set free? That is the question that Paul has been addressing for the last three Sundays! That is the question that Paul addresses very succinctly when he says in the opening words of our text, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” The Son of God Himself set us free from enduring the eternal punishment of hell by taking our place. He willingly endured the punishment we deserved— right there on the cross of Calvary’s hill. (Pointing to the cross) That’s why Paul was laser focused on preserving and proclaiming the pure message of the Gospel! Anytime anyone adds any conditions to the message of the Gospel, the freedom that Christ won for us is lost. That’s why Paul so clearly told the Galatian Christians, “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.”
You have been called to be free, my friends. The cross on Calvary’s hill guarantees that your Brother Jesus secured your freedom for you by enduring the punishment that you deserved! What does this mean? Does this mean that you are free from God’s Law? Does this mean that you are free to do whatever you want? Does this mean that you are free to live your life however you choose? Not at all! Paul summarizes how the freedom that Christ won for us impacts our daily lives when he says, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”
“Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” Is that command easy to understand? Yes, it is. Is that command easy to follow? No, it is not! Paul reminds the Galatian Christians and Paul remind us of how difficult this is by giving them and us a series of warnings. First Paul says, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature…For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”
There are two “parts” to every single child of God. There is the old sinful nature with which we were born and there is the New Man, the Christian part of us. These two “parts” of us are constantly battling for control— control of our minds, control of our hearts, control of our lives. As we grow and mature in our faith, as we are feeding our faith with the spiritual food of God’s holy Word and God’s holy Supper the Christian part of us grows stronger and the old sinful nature grows weaker. If we are not growing and maturing in our faith, if we are not feeding our faith with the spiritual food God has graciously given to us then our old sinful nature will grow stronger and push the Christian part of us onto the sidelines of our minds, our hearts and our lives.
How can we tell if our old sinful nature is growing stronger— at the expense of our faith? Paul gives us a couple of examples. His first example is found in the words, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Now Paul is not accusing the Galatian Christians of cannibalism. But Paul is warning the Galatian Christians to remember that the Gospel freedom which they had been given does not mean that the can verbally “bite and devour” each other without suffering any consequences. Continuing conflict among Christians destroys the Gospel freedom that we have been given. Therefore we would all do well to take this warning to heart and examine they way we treat each other, the way we talk to each other, the way that we talk about each other.
Paul makes this admonition to “not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” even more pointed when he gives us a second warning. He says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
These are the “desires” that live in the sinful nature of each and every one of us. These are the “desires” that we are all inclined to “gratify”— some of them more than others. If we were to go through this list and say, “Oh, I could never do that!” we need to remember that each and every one of these “desires” is equally abhorrent in the eyes of our God. So don’t let Satan deceive you into thinking that since we all struggle with something we ought to be thankful that we are not struggling with the “worst” of these “desires.” Paul warns us that if we “live like this” we forfeit the freedom Christ has won for us. (Pointing to the cross) At the same time, if we are brought to the realization that we have indeed “gratified” even one of these sinful “desires” we need to humbly turn to our Savior and ask for His forgiveness!
Since we all have that spiritual battle taking place inside of us we all need to remember that through the power of God the Holy Spirit we have been called to be free! Paul focuses our attention how this glorious Gospel freedom impacts our daily lives when he says, “Serve one another in love…The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Since the Gospel of Jesus Christ keeps us focused on the cross (Pointing to the cross) the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the freedom to take the agape loved that our God so graciously showers upon us and share that agape love with our neighbors— especially our brothers and sisters in the faith!
How do we do this? Paul answers that question when he encourages us to “live by the Spirit.” The same Holy Spirit who used the power of the Gospel to create the gift of saving faith in our heart, the same Holy Spirit who continues to strengthen and to nourish our faith through His holy Word and Sacrament is the same Holy Spirit who has given to us what Paul describes as “the fruit of the Spirit” which includes: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control Against such things there is no law.”
I personally find it insightful that Paul talks about “the fruit of the Spirit” and not “the fruits of the Spirit.” I look at “the fruit of the Spirit” as a beautiful flower which has nine petals to it and not nine individual “fruits.” What difference does it make? To me, it prevents a child of God from saying, “I have love— but not patience.” Or “I have joy— but not gentleness.” As Christians we have been given “the fruit of the Spirit.” This means that with the help and the guidance and the strength of the Holy Spirit we can exercise and exhibit all nine of these characteristics in our relationships with each other. So if you struggle with any of these nine characteristics turn to God the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help you! And don’t forget Paul words, “against such things there is no law”! There is no commandment which says, “Be careful not to love too much!” or, “Don’t be too patient or too kind!”
“So I say, live by the Spirit.” Those are Paul’s words to you and to me. Once again let me ask you, Is that encouragement easy to understand? Yes, it is! Is that encouragement easy to follow? No, it is not! Paul reminds us of how difficult this can be when he says to us in the closing verses of our text, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” A more literal translation of that last sentence would be, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us keep walking with the Spirit.”
The only reason that we are the children of God, the only reason that we are spiritually alive is because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Our status in the eyes of God, the priceless gift of being spiritually alive empowers us to do two things. First, it empowers us to “crucify” our old sinful nature with its “passions and desires.” Our Christian baptism serves as a daily reminder to us that our old sinful nature no longer has power and dominion over us. We don’t try to “reform” it. We don’t try to “improve” it. We “crucify” it! We put it to death each and every day!
Second, our status in the eyes of God, the priceless gift of being spiritually alive empowers us to “keep in step with” or “keep walking with” the Holy Spirit each and every day. These words easily remind me of Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Through His holy inspired Word God the Holy Spirit takes us by the hand and says, “Walk with Me! I will guide you through the darkness of this sinful world into the glorious life of heaven!”
While it would be very difficult to relate to that woman who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was then granted clemency which set her free, on a spiritual level we are all that woman! By nature we were all sentenced to an eternity of suffering in hell for all the sins, all the crimes we committed against the Almighty. It is only because of the love and the grace, the mercy and the forgiveness of God (Pointing to the cross) that we have been set free! May God grant that we will treasure our Gospel freedom so very much that we will never allow anyone or anything to lead us to forfeit our Gospel freedom. May God grant that our glorious Gospel freedom will lead us to “keep in step with the Spirit” as we continue our journey Home to Heaven!
To God be the glory!
Amen
