Christian Liberty

Galatians 5:13-16

If you would please, take your Bible and turn to Galatians chapter 5:13-16.

>In the Bible, Satan is called a liar.

He is called a thief...he is called a slanderer...

He’s called an accuser and he’s called a murderer.

But no where does the Bible ever speak of Satan as a creator...

Because he’s not a creator.

He can lie and cheat and slander and accuse...

And cheat and steal and kill...

But he cannot create anything.

>Let me tell you what he does do.

Though he cannot create anything...

He will take the things God has created and will twist them for his own purposes.

We can all name areas where he’s done that.

For example, he’s done that in the area of sex.

Sex is a gift from God.

It was created by God and placed in marriage for a man and his wife.

One reason for sex in marriage is for the procreation of the human race so that children will be born.

You would not be here had God not created sex.

Also God gave it to a husband and his wife for the purpose of sharing love and intimacy and companionship.

So God created sex.

There’s not anything dirty or immoral or wicked about the sex that God created.

>But what has Satan done?

He has taken that gift of God, that creation of God...

And has twisted it for his own purposes.

Therefore, we have pornography which is one of the biggest problems in our world today.

We have teenage girls walking the streets selling their bodies.

We have a barrage of filth coming over television now more and more...

Not even just on "pay per view" channels, but on regular channels.

The perversion of sex in which man is made to live like an animal...

Is the twisted perversion of a creation of God.

>Think about medicine.

Medicine is wonderful.

Thank God for medicine.

There are many people who are alive today...

Who years before would not have been alive because of medicine.

When I was a little boy I had a first cousin who lived in North Carolina.

His mom and my dad were brother and sister.

His name was Steve Bailey.

Steve was about my age and I was four years younger than him and I loved him.

I enjoyed being around him when we would go up there or they would come to our house.

And I remember when my other said, "Steve has polio".

I’d never heard that word.

I didn’t know what polio was.

I’ glad that hardly anyone ever dies of polio anymore.

I’m glad that God gave to a man named Jonas Salk the wisdom to create a serum...

That could be injected into our bodies that would give us antibodies that would fight against polio.

There was a day when smallpox was the most dreaded disease on planet earth.

But I can stand before you this morning and tell you...

There is not one known case of smallpox anywhere on the face of the earth today.

Nowhere, because of medication.

Many of you who would have been dead because of heart problems...

Are able to live normal lives because of medication.

Medicine is a gift from God.

>But what has Satan done?

He has taken that gift and twisted it and perverted it and made the word "drugs" an ugly word.

Medication that is used to heal is now being used to destroy...

Because Satan has turned a generation toward the abuse of drug addiction.

What a tragedy.

>But not only do we see Satan’s perversion of God’s creation in the area of sex and medicine...

We see it even in the scripture itself.

God has given to us a perfect word, a word that is trustworthy...

A word that is sufficient to strengthen and up build our lives.

>But what has Satan done?

He’s taken the very word of God and twisted it, perverted it...

And today there are some who are teaching false ways of salvation...

And they quote Bible verses to support it.

There are some who are teaching a Satanic health and wealth prosperity gospel...

And they are using scripture verses to support it.

There are some who are teaching unbiblical, so-called experiences of the Holy Spirit...

Using the scripture to support those false views.

Satan has taken God’s creation in sex and medicine and scripture itself...

And twisted it and perverted it for his own purpose.

>But I don’t know of any area where Satan has had greater success at doing that...

Than in the area of Christian Liberty.

The Bible says there in verse 13: You my brothers have been called to be free.

What is Christian liberty?

Christian liberty is simply this.

It is the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ.

Freedom.

You see Jesus makes a person free, but Satan hates freedom.

Satan hates liberty.

Satan has only one purpose and that is to keep people or to put people in bondage.

He is a slave master, and he wants people to live in slavery and in bondage.

And I tell you this morning, if you’re not a Christian, that’s exactly where you are.

If you’ve never genuinely met Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life...

If you’ve never been born again...

You’re exactly where Satan wants you because you’re enslaved.

You say, "Wait a minute preacher...

I’m not enslaved...

I’m free and 21 and I’m free."

No, you’re not free.

You’re enslaved.

The word of God teaches the enslaving power of the world and the flesh and the devil...

And every man and woman and boy and girl who is not in Christ is in bondage today.

You may not know it, but you are.

You may not even feel it, but you are.

You’re in bondage.

>But not only does Satan want lost people to stay in bondage...

Satan wants saved people to come back under bondage.

Now that doesn’t mean that a saved person can ever be lost.

But it does mean that a saved person can be enticed to live in such a way...

So that their witness for Christ will be null and void and they’ll have no impact on anyone else.

Folks, we’ve got a world full of Christians like that.

I mean they couldn’t win a tadpole to Jesus because they’ve lost their testimony.

They’ve lost their witness.

>Now there are two primary ways that Satan tries to get Christians back into bondage.

One of those ways we saw in verses 1-12 when we looked at them a couple of weeks ago.

In verse 1-12, Paul talks about legalism.

In other words, it is for a Christian to come back into a system of regulations and rules.

It robs us of the fellowship that we have with Jesus.

It robs us of joy, and we are simply to live out our Christian life by crossing Ts and dotting Is...

And doing the dos and don’ting the don’ts.

We measure our spiritual life by how many things we don’t do.

I don’t cuss...I don’t chew...

I don’t drink...I don’t commit adultery.

Well neither do bats and birds.

But that’s no way to measure a spiritual life.

That’s legalism...it puts us back in bondage.

>But in the verses I’ve read for you today Paul talks about he other end of the spectrum.

Not only does Satan try to get us in bondage with legalism...

He tries to get us in bondage with liberteenism or a license for sin.

You see there are many today who think that the gospel of grace that gives us liberty...

Is a license to sin.

And that just puts the believer back in bondage again.

When you think your freedom gives you the privilege of sinning...

Then you end up in bondage again to sin.

>There are four things I want to share with you very briefly from this passage of scripture.

#1 – the call to freedom.

The call to liberty we’ve received.

Look in verse 13: For you my brothers have been called to freedom.

The call that we have received.

We’ve been called to liberty or to freedom.

Now this is a reaffirmation of what he says back up in verse 1.

Look in 5:1: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

He says, "Stand in the freedom which Jesus has set you free in."

You are free to be free.

And then in verse 13, he says we are called to that.

>Why are you a Christian today?

Because the Holy Spirit of God called you to be saved.

The Bible makes it very clear that no one can come unless the spirit draws him.

You’re not a Christian just because one day you woke up and decided...

"Well you know, I think today would be a good day to be saved."

No.

You came under the preaching or the teaching of the word of God.

Maybe you heard it from a pastor.

Maybe you heard it from a SS teacher.

Maybe you heard it from a mother or a daddy.

Maybe you heard it from a friend.

But somebody shared with you the gospel.

You heard about sin and you heard about judgment...

And you heard about heaven and you heard about the blood of Jesus...

And you heard about the forgiveness of God.

These truths were impressed upon your heart, and then the HS of God began to convince you they were true.

You see, there are a lot of people that hear the same things and yet they don’t believe them.

They hear that God is real, but they don’t believe that God is real.

They hear that there’s a heaven and a hell, but they don’t believe that there’s a heaven and a hell.

They hear there is a judgment, but they don’t believe there is a judgment.

They hear there’s something called being saved, but they don’t believe there’s anything called being saved.

They’ve heard those things, but you, you’re different.

If you’re a Christian this morning, you heard those things...

And then the HS of God began to drive them in your heart that those things are absolutely true.

I cannot convince you that he was raised from the dead and that he sits at the right hand of God...

And that he’s able to save to the uttermost those that will come to him by faith.

I cannot convince you of that.

But I’ll tell you, when the Holy Ghost gets on your case, he’ll convince you.

You see, that’s the HS of God calling you to be saved.

But this same HS that called you to Jesus Christ whereby you were saved...

This same HS has called you to be free.

We have been called to freedom.

>Now what has he called us to be free in?

What are we free to do?

Well I’ll tell you.

We’re free from condemnation.

Isn’t that good?

Romans 8:1 (put it in your margin) says: there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

We’re free from condemnation.

We’re free from the penalty of sin.

I don’t go to bed at night wondering if I’m going to wake up in hell.

I don’t wake up in the morning wondering if I’m going to be killed during the day and go to hell.

As a born again Christian I’m free from that dread of hell.

That’s enough to be saved for.

>But I’m free from something else.

I’m free from the bondage of sin.

I’m no longer enslaved.

I’m no longer shackled by the power of sin.

Thank God for that.

I’m no longer driven and forced and manipulated and shoved...

Into doing things that I do not want to do because of the power and bondage of sin.

Jesus set me free from that.

I’m no longer a slave.

>He freed me from the fear of death.

Now death is very real.

I’m going to die if Jesus doesn’t come back soon.

I’m going to die one day.

And I don’t know how I’m going to die.

I may be run over by a Volkswagen.

I may be run over by a tank.

I don’t know how I’m going to die.

I may die of old age.

I may die of heart failure.

I may die of cancer.

I don’t know how I’m going to die.

I don’t know where I’m going to die.

I may be in the pulpit...I may be at the house.

I may be in the truck...I may be at the hospital visiting one of you.

I don’t know where I’m going to die.

I don’t know when I’m going to die.

I don’t know if it’s going to be tomorrow or 10 years from tomorrow...

Or 100 years...well I won’t make it that long.

But I don’t know when I’m going to die.

I don’t know how...where...when I’m going to die.

But I know I’m going to die.

But I tell you, I’m not afraid of it anymore.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints...

And I don’t have to be afraid of anything that is precious to God.

Boy I tell you, when you get saved, you take away some of the biggest clubs the devil can use against you...

And the fear of death is one of them.

As a born again child of God we do not have to be afraid of death.

Now that doesn’t mean I wake up every morning looking forward to it.

It doesn’t mean I wake up every day praying for it to happen that day.

But it does mean that I don’t have to live in the fear and dread and wonder about it.

I don’t have to eat my fingernails and chew my knuckles.

I don’t have to do that because I’ve been called to freedom.

I’m free from the curse of sin.

I’m free from the bondage of sin.

I’m free from the fear of death.

>But I’m not only free from some things, I’m free to do some things.

I’m free to love Jesus...just to love Jesus.

And it doesn’t matter where I am.

If I just want to say, "Well praise God!" I can do it.

I can be standing in line at the bank or standing in line at Burger King...

Or in the middle of a crowd of people at a football game and if I want to say,

"Well glory to God! Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!"

It’s nobody’s business.

I’m free to do it...I’m free to love Jesus.

>I’m free to love people.

Isn’t it wonderful to be free to love people?

To be able to go up to somebody and tell them, "You know, I love you"...

Without wondering about, "Well are they gonna think you’re some kind of a strange character or nut."

Just to be able to say, "In Jesus, I love you."

To tell a lady...to tell a man...to tell a little boy...to tell a little girl...

"Honey, I love you."

It doesn’t mean I’m a pedophile.

It doesn’t mean I’m out to molest them.

It just means that in Jesus I’m free to love people.

We’ll talk more about that in just a minute.

In Jesus I’m free to walk in the freedom and liberty of the spirit.

You see that’s what Christian freedom is.

We’re freed from some things, but we’re freed for some things as well.

And Satan hates it.

>But notice a second thing.

And these other three are going to be very rapid.

Not only do we see the call that we have received...

Notice the contamination we must avoid.

Look in verse 13: You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature.

He says, "Do not use your freedom to indulge in sin."

He says, "There is a contamination to be avoided."

>In the KJV that word "occasion" is an interesting word.

It is only used in the NT by the apostle Paul.

No other NT writer uses it.

And here’s what it literally means.

It literally means "a military base where strategic battle plans are laid out and decisions are made."

Now that’s what the word "occasion" means.

A military base where strategic battle plans are made or strategies are determined for the conduct of warfare.

Paul says, "Do not let your freedom become a base of determining a strategy for sin."

>You see, if you have the idea, "Well now man, I’m free. I’m in Jesus...

I’m free...I don’t live by rules and regulations.

I live by the power of the HS. I’m free in Jesus."

And then you use that freedom to say, "Well now, you know, if I’m free it really doesn’t matter who I sleep with.

If I’m free it really doesn’t matter what I drink.

If I’m free it really doesn’t matter where I go.

If I’m free it really doesn’t matter what I do."

And if we use our freedom as a base to plan and execute strategies for sin...

Then we have contaminated God’s purpose in Christian liberty and freedom.

So Paul says, "Don’t use your freedom as an occasion to plan to sin."

>That phrase of verse 13, "to indulge the sinful nature."

It doesn’t refer to this leather substance that keeps our bones from all over the floor.

The word "flesh" means the whole sinful nature of mankind.

It refers to that base self, that old man, that sinful man...

That old nature that you had when you were saved, and still do have.

When you got saved, that old man was not eliminated.

He was not put out to pasture.

You still have to deal with him, but we’re no longer enslaved to him.

And we don’t have to use freedom to satisfy him.

>Notice a third thing in this passage of scripture.

Not only the call we’ve received and the contamination we must avoid...

But notice thirdly the conduct that we ought to manifest.

Look in verse 13, the last phrase: rather, serve one another in love.

(Verse 14) The entire law is summed up in one single command: love your neighbor as yourself.

(Verse 15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

>What is the conduct that we’re to follow as free born again Christians?

It is one of love.

Not lust, but love.

What is love and what is lust?

Love is based on giving...lust is based on getting.

Teenage girl, when that teenage boy says to you, or teenage boy when that teenage girl says to you...

"I you love me you will do this, this and this."

That’s not love.

That’s lust.

They’re not wanting to give you anything.

They’re wanting to get from you everything.

See? Love gives.

"For God so loved that he gave..."

Love gives...lust takes.

Love gives...lust wants.

Lust demands...lust does all those things.

Love never does those things.

>What is the conduct of the life of a Christian that is free in Jesus’ love?

I tell you, the word love is a strange word.

It’s a much overused word.

We use the same word...we talk about...

"Well I love my wife. I love my grandchildren...

I love my sons...I love my car...

I love my house...I love my job...

I love to go fishing with worms...

I love to eat rutabagas and turnip greens."

See?

We’ve used the same word to describe our affection for worms and turnip greens...

That we use to describe our wife and grandchildren.

Love is a very overused word.

It’s a misunderstood word.

Today love has this concept of ooey gooey mushy...

Sort of like when you step down into a bucket of worms barefooted.

You just feel that sort of oozing through your toes.

That’s what love is to a lot of people.

It’s some ooey gooey something.

It’s like a trap...we fall into it.

"I fell in love...well, preacher, we just fell out of love with each other."

Love is not some ooey gooey, sticky icky emotion.

Love is an act of the will.

You love whom you will to love.

And you don’t love whom you will not to love.

Some people we will to love them because they’re a lot like us.

They like the same things we like.

They enjoy doing the same things we do.

They root for the same football team we root for.

Therefore, we choose to love them.

But there are some people that are different from us, and oftentimes we choose not to love them.

Some folks don’t love a man because he is a black man.

And there are some that won’t love me because I’m a white man.

There are some that don’t love me because I’m a fat man.

There are some that don’t love me because I’m a loud man.

Not many people love me...but you see, we love whom we will to love.

It’s not some ooey gooey, icky sticky thing.

"In love serve one another. Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Love him.

Why?

Because that’s why Jesus set you free.

In bondage I cannot love that person.

In my prejudices, in my likes and dislikes I may not can love that person.

But in Jesus Christ I’ve been made free to love that person.

That’s the conduct.

>One last thing.

The call we have received, the contamination we must avoid...

The conduct we must manifest, but finally the course we must follow.

In verse 16 he says: live by the spirit.

In the NT, this indicates the course of somebody’s life, the direction that you’re traveling.

Live in the spirit...don’t live in the flesh.

Why?

Because that puts you back in bondage.

As a Christian, you start hating people.

You’re back in bondage.

As a Christian you start sinning.

You’re back in bondage.

As a Christian you start lying.

You’re back in bondage.

He says, "Don’t live that way. Don’t follow that course."

He says, "Follow the HS of God. Live in the spirit."

Live in freedom, the life giving freedom of the Holy Spirit of God.

Live that way.

Live under the control of the Holy Spirit.

>You’d be surprised how many folks ask me things like this.

"Bro. Joe, is it okay to do this?

Bro. Joe, is it okay to go here?

Is it okay to have this?

Is it okay to wear this?

Is it okay to buy this?

Is it okay to talk like this?

Is it okay to watch this movie?

Is it okay to....?"

I don’t know why they call me and ask me that stuff.

But they do.

I’ll tell you this.

You walk in the spirit and you won’t have to bug me, amen?

You do what God tells you to do and you don’t have to bother Bro. Joe with it.

I’ll never contradict him.

But I’ll tell you this, if he doesn’t tell you to do it you’d better not do it.

If he doesn’t tell you it’s okay to go, you better not go.

If he doesn’t tell you it’s okay to have it, you better not have it.

Because anything you do, anyplace you go, anything you have that’s out of the will of the HS of God...

You know what’s gonna happen?

You’re gonna be in bondage all over again...

And that’s exactly what Satan wants you to do.

>The call we have received is to freedom.

The contamination we must avoid is "Don’t let freedom be a license for sin."

The conduct we should manifest is love.

And the course we are to follow "live in the spirit."

May God help us do that.

Let’s pray.