The war was truly a battle for freedom, but freedom was understood differently by each side. Again, the colonies had declared their freedom, but had to fight for it against a massively superior army and, especially, navy. They were free, but really weren’t. Freedom had been declared, but it was not recognized by Britain. The British, on the other hand were free, but had to fight to preserve what they felt was rightfully theirs.
How might our country’s independence relate to Christianity? Jesus declared freedom for all who choose to believe when He cried out from the cross, “It is finished.” But most people are unwilling to believe that truth. In fact, 71% of people believe that each person must contribute something to their salvation. 71%. For the early Americans, their freedom had been declared, but they had to fight to secure it. But a major difference must be noted.
In 1776, the Continental Congress declared themselves free from the king.
At the cross, the King declared all people free (if we simply believe).
In both instances, the issue the belief of the people involved. The reality is that as a follower of Christ, you are free, whether you realize it or not. On the other hand, nothing you can do can earn God’s grace no matter what you may believe. In either case – the Christian who does not believe s/he is free or the non-Christian who thinks they are based upon their merit – the issue is mistaken identity, and perhaps even an attempt at identity theft.
If we are confused about who we are, then we will be confused about what we should do. Having identity confusion is a form of either not understanding Jesus or not believing God – two of our four reasons for not making disciples. Before we dive further into this idea, let me remind us of the (now) four overarching reasons people and churches do not make disciples.
- We don’t understand Jesus (it is our responsibility too, not just 1st Century disciples)
- We don’t believe God (He is greater than the problems we will face)
- We don’t love Jesus (If you love me, you will obey my commandments – make disciples)
- We don’t know how (But it is our responsibility to learn how)
Currently, we are discussing the fifth step of this particular development theory. Previously we:
- have moved through trust by looking at how different groups opposed one another in 1 Corinthians.
- discussed the idea of autonomy and Paul’s life as he shared his ambition in Philippians.
- we observed that we must take the proper initiative to accomplish what God has for us in 2 Corinthians.
- saw our need to imitate God from Ephesians.
This week, we need to understand our identity is in Christ, so we turn to the Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
Before we recite our GPS, let me provide a brief outline of Galatians so we have the context for our passage today.
Ch 1: Paul’s call by God and the message of God
Ch 2: Paul confirmed by apostles; justification by faith
Ch 3: Faith or Works vs the Promise
Ch 4: Co-heirs with Christ
Ch 5: Freedom in Christ; Spirit-living vs living in the flesh
Ch 6: Living by the Law of Christ; Concluding remarks
As I have each week of this series, I now submit our GPS as a reminder of our purpose and process – ultimately with an aim at making disciples.
VISION
To be A large church in a small town. (Matthew 5.13-16)
MISSION
Exalt the Savior (John 12.32).
Equip the Saint (Ephesians 4.11-13).
Evangelize the Sinner (Acts 1.8).
STRATEGY
Jesus (Matthew 16.18-19) – The One worth following.
Observe (Colossians 1.28-29) – Following the commands of Jesus.
Unite (1 Corinthians 1.10) – Being one in fellowship with other believers.
Revere (John 12.32) – Worshipping God in all aspects of our lives.
Nurture (Eph 4.12-13) – Building up others for the work of ministry.
Engage (Acts 1.8) – Stirring the hearts of all people with the Gospel.
You (Matt. 15.15-16) – The one who decides to follow.
STEPS
Learn With Each Other (Acts 17.10-12)
Live For Each Other (Rom 15.1-2)
Love God and All Others (Matt 22.37-39)
Lead One Another (to Follow Jesus) (2 Tim 2.2)
(Leave) When Called by the One True Other (Acts 13.1-3)
Leon provides a brief overview at what it means to Exalt the Savior. To properly exalt Christ, we must know Him. As we better know Him, we become identified with Him. And eventually, we find our full identity in Him. When this happens, we cannot help but make disciples. With that understanding, let us turn to the idea of disciple-making churches.
Disciple-making churches live freely because of Christ. (vv. 1-6)
Christ has set us free. Do you believe that? OK. Free from what? Free from sin? Free from the wrath of God? Sure, maybe. But in Galatians 5, freedom certainly includes not being under the requirements of the law. Specifically, Paul refers to circumcision, and in verse 6, Paul equates circumcision with the law of Moses.
A few weeks ago, I posted about Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In Philippans 3, Paul wrote about the Judaizers who were a group of Christians that insisted that all Christian males should be circumcised. Circumcision was an important part of Jewish custom – it was an external sign of being the people of God. Circumcision did not originate at the time of Moses, but rather hundreds of years earlier with Abraham. Yet, circumcision came to be equated with the law and following God. So, the Judaizers wanted this tradition carried forward and went from town to town to convince new Christians that to be a “true Christian” you needed to be circumcised.
But Paul taught that God’s grace, not the law, was what truly mattered. Paul states this unequivocally in Galatians 5.1. You are free! And the freedom is because of Christ.
In fact in the next few verses, Paul says to accept circumcision as a means of salvation is to cast aside the work of Christ – to cast aside the grace of God (i.e. to cast aside the freedom Christ provided). Notice Paul’s argument. In verse 3, one chooses either circumcision (and thus the law) or Jesus. This is not to say that circumcision is wrong. What is wrong is being circumcised for the sake of salvation. For salvation, it is Jesus or circumcision, not Jesus and circumcision.
Paul continues by saying if you choose circumcision, you choose the whole law. That is, you are obligated to keep all 613 commandments perfectly. And if that is the path chosen, then grace means nothing. That is what is meant here when Paul says you have fallen away from grace – not that salvation was lost, but grace was of no use to them – at least in their minds. The choice is freedom in Christ or a return to being a slave to the law.
Fairfax Baptist Church, are we free in Christ? Do we find our freedom in Him and extend that freedom to others or do we impose strict requirements for people to belong to Jesus? Don’t misunderstand, obedience is necessary (see the next section), but not for salvation. Obedience should be our response to salvation; it is not a requirement for salvation. As Paul writes in verse 6, the idea of circumcision – either way – means nothing, only faith through love truly counts.
Disciple-making churches live obediently to Christ. (vv. 7-12)
Notice verse 7. “You were running well.”
The church knew the truth, but had moved away from it. Paul uses imagery of being tripped up in a race. The truth they were following was not God’s truth. It was from a different persuasion. The truth is that we can follow God’s truth or our thoughts. And our thoughts will not always be consistent with truth. And it doesn’t take much to get us off course.
Paul was confident the people could return from the truth, but only if they were to seek the truth. Paul is also confident that whomever is sowing these lies about the need for circumcision would be punished appropriately in God’s timing. And a part of the false teaching was a claim that Paul was teaching that people needed to be circumcised. The truth is that Paul had taught the need to be circumcised – but that was BEFORE he met Jesus and began to follow Him. Verse 11 provides insight that not much has changed in nearly 2000 years. We know that people can change, but we hold their past against them, and use past words and actions to prove our point even if we know that we are wrong in doing so. We see this in advertising snippets during election season, for instance. Again, Paul acknowledges he had taught the need for circumcision in the past (as a Jew), but he no longer did so (notice the word “still” in verse 11). Paul knew that requirements for salvation apart from the cross made the work of Jesus obsolete. As he wrote in verse 11, the cross carries an offense with it and we must not minimize that offence by forgetting the true work of Christ.
However, just because we are free does not mean that we have complete freedom. Notice verse 7 again. You were running well. But now you are not obeying the truth. But does this contrast with verse 1? Verse 1 says we are free because of Christ. Verse 7 says we must obey the truth. Freedom vs. Obedience. But remember to obey the truth is to obey Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14.6).
As has often been said, freedom is not free. Christ paid the price for us to obtain it. And our obedience to Him is what He desires from us because of it. Absolute freedom leads to anarchy. But, as Paul wrote elsewhere, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6.19-20).
The reality is that we will obey someone or something – ourselves, others, or Jesus. But, as Paul wrote here, to gain eternity with God, you either trust what Christ has done and thus become obedient to Him, or you must keep EVERY law of God completely every day for the entirety of your life.
Fairfax Baptist Church, are we a church that desires to obey Jesus? Are we willing to respond to His call to “Follow Me” whatever that may mean? We just completed a year looking at the life of Jesus and explored what it meant for those in the 1st Century to follow. Circumstances may have changed over twenty centuries, but Jesus hasn’t. Are you willing to follow? Are we willing to follow as a church? If you say yes, how will you keep running well?
Disciple-making churches live in love for Christ. (vv. 13-15)
Now we move to the idea of identity.
In last week’s post, I shared that Paul challenged the church at Ephesus to imitate God. As I mentioned, sometimes it is difficult to imitate others, and our greatest challenge is to imitate God. But here in Galatians 5.13, we see one reason why imitating God is possible. We were called. Specifically, Paul says we were called to freedom. But first, and foremost, we were called – by God. If you are a follower of Christ, if you are truly free, then it is not by accident. It is because God was intentional in calling you. I repeat, GOD CHOSE YOU.
So, if your identity is defined by God, then what does He want us to do? Ultimately, He wants us to love. We show our love for Him and others by:
- Serving others (v. 13)
- Loving our neighbors as we do ourselves (v. 14)
- Not backbiting others (v. 15)
Paul is trying to communicate that we have been made free so that we may benefit others. Christ was free, but was obedient to the Father for our benefit, and now wants us to be obedient to Him for the benefit of others. Again, make not mistake that a Christian is truly free.
Free from what? From the penalty of sin which is the wrath of God.
Free for what? To love and serve Christ by loving and serving others.
When we understand that we are called by God we can begin to understand our identity is truly in Christ. When we understand our identity is truly in Christ, we begin to live like Him – i.e. we begin to imitate God.
Fairfax Baptist Church do we realize we were called? Do we serve one another? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Or do we gossip and backbite, tearing down one another? Do others in our homes, in our community, in our lives wherever that may be, recognize us as people of God? Do they recognize that our identity is in Christ? We do not claim to be perfect, but we must claim to be His.
CONCLUSION
At the beginning of this message, I spoke of two kinds of people whose homes were in America during the Revolutionary War. Both were free, but in very different ways. The loyalists, or tories, were loyal to the king and Britain. The other group were known as rebels and wanted a new country of their own. The freedom of the rebels had been declared by them, but it was yet to be realized. They had to fight to secure that freedom against a king and a kingdom that would not grant it.
But our freedom was proclaimed by the King. Our freedom was purchased by Christ, our freedom is secured in Christ, and our freedom is sustained by Christ. But only for those who are in Christ. The question for each of us is do we claim our freedom in Christ or do we wish to fight a battle that cannot be won?
So, where is your identity? In yourself? In your family? In your job? In your country? In your church? Or is your identity in Christ?
If it is in Christ, live freely, yet obediently, knowing He has already won the victory.
JOURNEY: R – Revere
The most complete way we can revere God is to realize the freedom He has provided and live accordingly.
NEXT STEP(S): Love: Paul concludes this section of Scripture by reminding us of the need to love. We are to obey Christ who said the greatest commandment is to love God and love others (Mark 12.30-31). Making disciples requires loving others. This week, how can you express God’s love to the individual(s) you chose to disciple? Once you know the how, to fulfill God’s command, you must then do.
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