Freedom. It is a national value. We write national anthems about it. We remind each other about it. ‘This is a free country’. I think that we as Australians are used to freedom. We are used to having to make choices and used to making decisions.
And when you have freedom, I think there are two dangers? Losing your freedoms. Or abusing your freedoms.
Think of the freedom of speech we historically have enjoyed. I remember going to see one of my lecturers at law school. And we got talking about Christian things. And he said to me: “I don’t agree with anything you said, but I’d fight to the death for your right to say it”. That was very gracious, wasn’t it. That was very tolerant. Actually, that’s what tolerance is.
True tolerance says: I profoundly disagree with you. I think you are wrong. However, I respect your right to say these things. You are free to say these things. And I will protect your right to say them.
Now, we assume that we have a right to free speech. But our right to free speech is fragile. We might lose it. Or we might abuse it.
So the two dangers of the free are: losing freedom or abusing it.
In Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul is drawing some conclusions. He has established some things through the letter. He has shown we’re all sinners. We’re all shown to be lawbreakers. And therefore, we cannot be justified, or forgiven, by doing the law. The only way to be justified or pardoned by God is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born of a woman, like us. He was born under law. But unlike us, he fulfilled the law. He was the man who did the things stipulated by the law, and earned eternal life by them.
But he died. He won a blessing of the law. We incurred the curse of the law. But, here is the wonderful exchange, Jesus became a curse for us. He loved each of us individually and gave himself for us. And in so doing, he freed us from the curse of the law.
And this same Jesus has sent his Spirit. And the Spirit comes to us not by the doing of law but by the hearing of faith. Christ crucified is preached. And when we believe we receive the promised Holy Spirit. So we who trust in Christ are free, just as the Galatian Christians are free.
But there are two dangers that free believers face. They face losing their freedom, or abusing their freedom.
First of all, they face the possibility of losing their freedom. Chapter 5 Verse 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. (NIV)
Freedom is always a shaky, fragile thing. One generation fights for it, the next generation assumes it, knowing nothing else, the third generation loses it completely. And the freedom of the Galatian Christians is at risk. Action is required. They must stand firm.
What is the form of slavery that threatens their freedom? It is a false gospel. This gospel says, ‘you have to be circumcised to be a Christian.’ Non-Jews need to become Jews before they become Christians.
Now, if it was just a matter of whether someone should have a small elective procedure like circumcision, I don’t think there is an issue. For as Paul says, ‘neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value’ (15:6; compare 6:15). As far as the gospel is concerned, circumcision doesn’t matter. We are free to do it, free not to do it. So Paul, for example, circumcises Timothy. Paul does this so that Timothy would be able more effectively to minister to Jews (Acts 16:3).
But the whole situation in Galatia is different. False teachers have been saying that people must be circumcised to be saved (compare Acts 15:1 ff). And thus they are adding to the gospel. Sure, they say, you are saved by Jesus Christ, and his death and resurrection. But you also have to be circumcised.
You have to keep the whole law as well. It is gospel + circumcision. It is gospel + obeying the law. And the gospel plus anything equals no gospel at all.
So Paul’s call is to stand firm and not to be enslaved. Verses 2 to 4:
Mark my words! I Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. (NIV)
The stakes are very high, aren’t they. It’s not like, ‘Shall I get my tongue pierced?’ Really a matter of personal preference and taste. (Unless of course you are my son... In that case, NO WAY!) And circumcision would otherwise be this.
Paul is saying, ‘if you submit to circumcision in these circumstances, you fall away from Christ.’ You cut yourself off from Christ and grace. Not good, if you are a sinner. Because you have decided you can earn your salvation by obeying the law. And that is a decision for death and hell. You want to be right with God by obeying the law? You are obligated to obey all of it. Not just the bits you think you’ve done.
Cursed is the man who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.
And the tip of the ice berg is circumcision.
The false teachers say you must be circumcised to be saved. So you must not do it. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Resist them. Stand firm. Fight for your freedom.
Where might we see this sort of legalism coming into church life? Where do our Judaizers lurk? Wherever something that is indifferent or even good is elevated to something necessary for salvation. It might be things like baptism or the Lord’s Supper. Things good in themselves, appointed by Christ himself, but not necessary for salvation per se.
Can you think of a crime worthy of castration? Perhaps there are some. Though I am thankful we don’t punish people that way. But so serious does Paul take this attack on Christian freedom, that he utters verse 12:
As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves. (NIV)
They’re so into cutting human flesh, why don’t they just go the whole way and cut everything off?
Well, the first danger is losing our liberty. The threat of legalism. But the second is abusing our liberty. The threat of the libertine. It is possible to take liberties with our liberties.
And perhaps this is the more pertinent danger for us. Verse 13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature. (NIV)
Think about our situation in Australia. Our forefathers fought wars for our liberty. WWI, WWII. But what have we, their children and grandchildren, done with their hard won gains?
Remember the 2000 Olympics? An opportunity to show the world the best of Australia. So in the closing ceremony we beam into Indonesia and Malaysia and other Muslim countries pictures of half naked women singing pop songs. We celebrated a movie called ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’. We declared to them that transvestism and homosexuality are the high points of Australian culture. We proudly offer the global community a drunken dance party and a mardi gras.
And we say, don’t you envy us? Don’t you want to be like us? Here is where freedom gets you. This is where liberty leads. No wonder they despise us and our democracy.
In our society we can buy and sell alcohol. Alcohol is a good thing, created by God. So we have freedom. But now as a community we are so dependent on duties and taxes on the sale of alcohol that it is almost in the interests of the state to be a high consumer.
In our society, we can wear what we like. Women can wear what they like. So we have freedom. But why do we misuse our freedom by the rude, crude, posters, continually pushing the boundaries.
In our society, we have relative freedom of the media. Our television can report all manner of things. So why do we have beamed into our homes trashy American television where people are talking about sex and getting their clothes off. People are dying around the world, and suffering in our country, and this drivel is served up as entertainment.
But it is easy to point the finger. How do we use our freedom to indulge the flesh. How am I spending my money or my time? We have freedoms of time, of wealth, of resources, of opportunity. How am I spending my retirement, or my work time, or my free time. We each have legitimate needs. But how many of these freedoms are used to indulge our sinful natures?
Here are our dangers. To lose our freedom. To abuse our freedom. But what is our Christian duty? Not to lose or abuse our freedoms, but to use them.
Paul says we are free. But this freedom brings responsibility. Verse 13 and 14 again…
You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve [or be enslaved to] one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
You are free men, says Paul. But don’t submit yourself to the slavery of the law. No, says Paul, I’ve got a better job for you.
Serve one another in love. Be enslaved to one another in love.
You see, we are freed from slavery to the law. Christ has freed us. Now we can become slaves to one another in love.
You see this where grandparents are called on to look after their grandchildren full time. In their old age they are called on to do another round, and raise their children. Now they are also called on to raise the next generation. Because of some tragedy in their children’s life. Drug abuse, mental illness, death. They’re left literally holding the baby. That might be some of you here. And while I sensed grief and disappointment at their situation, I also sensed that, given the situation, they wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, there’s an example of being freed to became slaves again.
It’s a paradox. We are freed from slavery to become slaves. And in our slavery we find our freedom. As our prayer book says ‘God’s service is perfect freedom’.
Martin Luther understood this perfectly well. This was the way he presented it: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all” (Martin Luther, On the Freedom of the Christian, 1520)
And the irony is, when we love, we fulfil the law. The law can be summarized in a word as ‘love’. The Old Testament law shows us what love looks like. If you love your neighbour, put a fence around your roof. If you love your neighbour, make sure a bull that gores doesn’t run free. If you love your neighbour, do not keep a poor man’s coat as a pledge. If you love your neighbour, pay your tithe. If you love your neighbour, save sex for marriage. For this is how you love your neighbour as yourself.
But without love, the law has nothing in the engine room. Love is the engine room, the law is the rudder. The propeller is love. That is the motivating, active force. But the ship needs a steady hand on the rudder for it to be steered safely. And that hand is the law of Christ. Which considers others needs as my own.
Another way to put it is this way. Love asks the question, ‘I want to look after my neighbour; what must I do’. And the law answers, ‘this is how to look after your neighbour’. Love your neighbour as yourself. And if we are a bit too thick to work out how to love my neighbour as myself, there are a few case studies in the Old Testament. That’s why we don’t cut the Old Testament law out of our bible.
But still, how can I love? If love is the engine, with what can I fuel it? Paul tells us this also. Verses 5 and 6:
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself [or working] through love.
With what do I fill up the tank of love? Faith. Faith works through love. So it is by trusting Christ that I will be empowered to love. It is by faith in Christ Jesus I will work the works of love. We receive God’s empowering Spirit by faith. We apprehend our hope of righteousness by faith. It is by faith that we will be enabled to love.
Again, Luther saw this ever so clearly. He said: ‘Faith changes us and makes us to be born anew of God. Faith kills the old Adam and makes us together different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers. And it brings with it the Holy Spirit. O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly” (Martin Luther, Preface to Romans in Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul, 32)
How, then can I get this faith? Well, you are in the right place for faith. For faith comes from hearing the Word of God. And today I have portrayed Christ crucified before your eyes. Trust him, the one who died and rose again. And then faith will work through love. And love will fulfil the law.
Let’s pray.
1[it is] for/by/in [dat] freedom [that] Christ freed us.
2Therefore, stand upright/firm, and do not again be held in a yoke of slavery. Behold, I Paul say to you (pl) that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing!
3Now I testify again to every man receiving circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law
4You [pl] be severed from Christ, whoever [is seeking to] be justified by/in law. From grace you’ve fallen away[3].
5For we by/in [dat] Spirit originating from faith eagerly await/expectantly look forward to [the] hope of righteousness.
6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is strong [enough] to do anything, nor uncircumcision; rather, [it is] faith through love working in/energizing/acting out/operating/
7You were running well. Who hindered you [pl] to not be persuaded by the truth?
8Th[is] persuasion [is] not from the one calling you [pl]
9A little leaven leavens the whole lump
10I am persuaded concerning you [pl] in the Lord that nothing different you [pl] will think. But the ones troubling you [pl] will bear the judgment, whoever he might be.
11But I, brothers, if circumcision still I am preaching, why still am I being persecuted? Then the scandal of the cross has been severed/abolished.
12I wish that those subverting you (pl) would cut off [their own gonads completely].
13For you (pl) are called for the purpose of freedom, brothers. Only [do] not [take] this freedom [as] an occasion to [be enslaved] to the flesh, but through love be slaves to serving one another.
14For all the law is fulfilled in one saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
15But if you bite and devour one another you, watch [that] you aren’t exterminated by one another.