Galatians 5:1, 13-25 - Stand Firm in Your Gospel Freedom - July 10, 2022

Have you ever noticed that many of life’s biggest milestones are marked by the achievement of some level of freedom? From getting your first bike or your driver’s license – which free you from relying on your parents for transportation; to moving out of the house – which frees you from the house rules; to paying off your home – which frees you from monthly mortgage payments; to retirement, which frees you from the demands of the workweek. At the same time, when you achieve these freedoms, does that mean that you are then free to do whatever you want? Hardly. (Just ask any of the retirees here.) In fact, with freedom often comes greater responsibility. Up to this point in his letter to the Galatians, Paul has argued adamantly that salvation comes by grace through faith alone not by works of the Law. Now, Paul addresses the criticism hurled against all who teach and confess salvation by grace through faith alone: “It’s dangerous to say that people don’t have to obey the Law to be saved – because if people realize they are freed from the demands of the Law then they will just go back to their sinful ways.” And, logically, this criticism seems to make sense, doesn’t it? If you’re free from the Law – totally free – then you’ll just go back to sinning, right? In the face of this criticism, Paul doesn’t waver from his original premise:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again. Commentators are torn on whether this verse belongs with the section that precedes or follows. The chapter and verse numbers are not inspired, so there is room for argument. But at least one commentator suggests that this is a Janus verse. Janus was the Roman god of gates and doorways – he’s depicted as having two faces, one looking to the past and the other to the future. Before we look ahead to what it means to live as a liberated child of God, we must remember that we were slaves. Jesus said: Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34). If we lie, lust, covet, hate, hurt or steal – we are slaves. Apart from Jesus we were enslaved by our sins because we can’t get rid of them, can’t remove them; apart from Jesus they control us, define us, and determine our eternity. Tragically, those who attempt to free themselves from their sins end up in an even worse form of slavery: slavery to the Law. Trying to overcome sin by trying to be a better spouse or parent or friend, by striving to be more honest and diligent and selfless is futile because try as hard as you might, you can’t do it. You can have the 10 commandments memorized and strive every day to keep them and you will wind up 6 feet under long before you actually do. As natural born sinners we can’t overcome sin nor can we keep the Law and so we were slaves to both – powerless to free ourselves.

But Christ has set us free. He set us free by virtue of his active and passive obedience. Actively, Jesus set us free from the Law by keeping it perfectly as our substitute – by lifting that burden off of our shoulders and crediting his obedience to us through Baptism (Galatians 3:27). And having kept the Law for us, Jesus turned toward Jerusalem and carried the burden of our sins to the cross, to passively absorb God’s wrath and sin’s punishment as our substitute. And, as of Good Friday, his work is completely, absolutely, finished (John 19:30). As a baptized believer you must stand firm in this message of freedom: you stand before God completely righteous, completely justified – free from the consequences of sin and the demands of the Law – through faith in Jesus. Don’t let anyone rob you of that freedom. Don’t let anyone tell you that you must do this or that, you must have this experience, you must be better to be saved. Don’t rob yourself of that freedom by turning back to your good works, your charity, your effort as your confidence for salvation – because if you do, you’re becoming a slave all over again. Instead, stand firm in the freedom Christ suffered, died and rose to give you. At the same time, this verse not only looks behind but it looks ahead. You are freed from sin and the Law but you are not free to use this liberty however you choose. In other words, the road of Christian freedom is narrow; and having warned us of the ditch on one side – the ditch of legalism; Paul now looks to keep us from slipping into the ditch on the other side.

Paul describes this ditch in detail: After all, brothers, you were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as a starting point for your sinful flesh…now the works of the sinful flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, complete lack of restraint, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things similar to these I warn you, just as I also warned you before, that those who continue to do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The ditch on the other side of the narrow road of Christian freedom is using that freedom as license to sin. Paul says that these works of the sinful flesh are obvious. Do you think so? I mean, they are clearly spelled out as sins in God’s Word. But is that the way they are regarded today? Half of American Christians polled in 2020 considered casual sex between consenting adults to be acceptable. [1] There are many Christians who secretly think that homosexuality is a defensible lifestyle, that living together outside of marriage or getting an easy “no-fault” divorce is ok because God just wants us to be happy. Then Paul mentions sins against the 1st commandment: idolatry and witchcraft. Whatever you fear, love and trust the most – that is your God. And as for hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition – who of us can claim to be innocent? And Paul’s warning is clear: those who continue to use their Christian freedom as a license to sin will not inherit the kingdom of God.   

Because the freedom which Christ died to give us is not freedom to serve the sinful flesh but freedom of another kind: to serve one another through love. In fact, the whole law is summed up in this one statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I know it sounds paradoxical, but the Greek literally says that we are freed to be slaves – slaves to one another. So, Paul spends 4 chapters arguing that we are free from the Law, only to tell us now that we are once again slaves to the Law? How does that work? We are free from the Law – as far as our relationship with God goes. Jesus has satisfied God in our place. But we still owe a debt of love to one another (Romans 13:8) and the Law still serves the crucial role of defining and guiding what love for others looks like (the third use of the Law). In other words, while we are freed from the Law as a means of salvation – of pleasing God – that frees us to serve one another through love.

What does this look like? Paul says: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There are four things to note about this verse. First, Paul doesn’t use imperatives (commands) but indicatives to describe this life of freedom. He doesn’t say you shall do these things, he says you will do these things, naturally, inevitably. We don’t love others to become Christian or to remain Christian, we love others because we are Christians – because we know how God has loved and served us in Jesus! Second, note that in contrast to the visible works of the sinful flesh; the fruit of the Spirit consists of changed attitudes – because where the heart is changed, where the tree is made good, good fruit will inevitably follow. Third, these fruits are not the product of our hard work and effort, but the work of the Holy Spirit in us. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10). And, lastly, against such things there is no law. That’s a major understatement – but you get the point, right? No law in the world forbids or restricts these fruits – you are absolutely free to be as loving, joyful, patient, kind and self-controlled as you want.

But here’s the rub: if we are free to produce as much fruit of the Spirit as we want, why do we so often find ourselves serving our sinful flesh? The reality is that the sinful flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful flesh. In fact, these two continually oppose one another, so that you do not continue to do these things you want to do. The fiercest war raging in this world is not in Ukraine, it’s not being waged in any courtroom or legislative chamber, it’s one that will never make the headlines – it’s the war going on in the heart and mind of every Christian between the Old Adam and our New Self. Unlike the rest of the unbelieving world which remains completely enslaved to the sinful nature, we Christians are torn – so that [we] do not understand what [we] we are doing, because [we] do not keep doing what [we] want. Instead, [we] do what we hate (Romans 7:15). And this war will not end until God kills this flesh once and for all and takes us to heaven.

But just because the battle rages on within doesn’t mean the outcome of the war is uncertain, because those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful flesh with its passions and desires. No respectable Roman would ever cast crucifixion in a positive light. Crucifixion was such a brutal, gruesome and shameful form of execution that it was reserved only for non-citizens, slaves and those guilty of the very worst crimes. So why does Paul cast crucifixion in a positive light here? His point is that there is no reforming, no rehabilitating, no reasoning with the sinful flesh – the only thing to do with it is kill it without pity or mercy. That’s what the Holy Spirit did for you through Holy Baptism. He nailed that sinful flesh to the cross to die (Galatians 2:20). But one of the most horrible things about crucifixion is that death doesn’t come immediately. The sinful nature will claw and struggle to get down, to regain control of your life – and Satan will tempt you to pull the nails out yourself. The only solution is to return to baptism through repentance. When you hold out your sins to God and cling to Jesus in repentance then the nails are driven ever deeper – and the sinful flesh loses more control over you.

This life-long process will produce visible results: if we live by the spirit, let us also walk in step with it. These are military terms. He’s picturing a military parade where a disciplined squad of soldiers marches down the street in perfect lock-step with one another. This is what the Church looks like that is standing firm in Christian freedom. We walk in line with the Spirit and with each other, not out of fear or guilt or obligation, but because we have been set free by Christ to serve one another. Yes, we will continue to stumble and fall along the way – but, freed by Christ from our sins of the past frees us to look forward in service to others – and that’s what it means to stand firm in your Gospel freedom.

Martin Luther summarized these verses beautifully when he wrote: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” [2] You are free; free from sin and the Law; you are free to serve others in love. Stand firm in that freedom because that’s the freedom Jesus died to give you. Amen.  

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/31/half-of-u-s-christians-say-casual-sex-between-consenting-adults-is-sometimes-or-always-acceptable/

[2] AE 31:344