FREEDOM!
GALATIANS 5:1
SEPTEMBER 30, 1998


What does it mean to be free? Every nation has had times when its people have cried for freedom. Perhaps it is freedom from some burden imposed by the government. Or maybe it is a freedom related to sensual desires. The craving for freedom in all of its extremes seems to be the common lot of mankind. Each week our local newspaper carries articles describing the pursuit of freedom from various forms of tyranny in Africa or Asia or Eastern Europe. 

Suppose one of these countries received political freedom, then shortly turned back to the bondage it had known before. We can only look at what seems to be taking place in Russia to have an idea that this is not a far-fetched possibility. Imagine, knowing the wonderful taste of freedom, then tossing it aside to go back to bondage. 

Such was the case in Galatia! Here we find a group of professing believers who had known the liberating power of the gospel. They had been freed from the sin and legalism which held them tightly in grasp. Now, they were considering going back to this bondage. The Apostle Paul found it strange that they should be so subverted as to step right back into slavery. So he exhorts them to see the freedom that Christ has won for them and to stand firmly in that freedom. 

Freedom in Christ must not be treated carelessly. To have been delivered from the curse of the law and the bondage to sin through the sacrifice of Christ moves us from a life of slavery to a life of freedom. The unfortunate tendency bound up in our humanity is to slip back to the law for justification before God. It seems that we are more comfortable trusting some external code than resting in Him who died for us. For this, the Apostle reminds us to "keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."  

Samuel Bolton, a Puritan pastor of the 17th century, expresses our freedom well in his book, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom: 
It is when the law has accused and sentenced us, when it has stopped our mouths and we become guilty, that the sinner comes to make his appeal from the law as a covenant to Christ as a Saviour. He looks for nothing from justice, but all from mercy. And when he has thus appealed, the law has no more to do with him; he is not under the sentence, the penalties of the law; he is out of the law's reach. The law can take no hold of him for condemnation; he has fled to Christ, and taken sanctuary in Him.

What a privilege is this, to be free from the curses and penalties of the law, so that if the law threatens, Christ promises; if the law curses, Christ blesses. This is a high privilege. If God did but let one spark of His wrath and displeasure fall upon your conscience for sin, you would then know what a mercy it is to be thus freed [p. 34].
The refuge of faith in Christ for justification delivers us from the legalism of the law into the liberty of the children of God. We must never live as though the death of Christ lacked enough merit for us before God. Has the enslaving power of the law attempted to creep into your soul? Let us see how Christ has set us free, so that we can continue to walk in freedom as the children of God.  

I. The affirmation of freedom 

The issue of the sufficiency of the work of Christ in our salvation and the necessity of faith alone for justification has not changed at this point in the epistle--nor does it change. Paul continues to work out this grand theme, now pointing to it as the basis for the moral and ethical issues of life. As far as justification goes, the law only has place to point the sinner to Christ (Gal. 3:19-22). It shuts him up unto sin so that he realizes the horror of being at enmity with God and looks to the cross of Christ for relief from the condemnation heaped upon him by the law. 

It is not that Paul abandons the law altogether as something useless. It has a grand part in preparing the sinner to trust in the merits of Christ alone, as his own self-righteousness crumbles before the thundering woes of the law. Once he is justified by faith, the new believer need never look to the law again for justification. But as we will see in expounding chapters 5-6 of Galatians, Paul does lay forth commands incumbent upon the child of God. These are laws; but not laws for justification. Instead, they serve "as a rule of sanctification" [Bolton, 219-220]. They have no power to justify. Nor does their observance increase one's merit before God. They serve to set the Christian's foot in the right steps in his ongoing walk with God. 

But this was not yet understood in Galatia. The scheming Judaizers had intimidated and connived to bring this young church into the shadows of bondage. So the Apostle summarizes his great argument of justification by faith alone by declaring, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." He had already explained the difference between slaves and sons (4:21-31). Only slaves result from those clinging to Mt. Sinai and the law. And only through the promise in Christ can sons be born into God's family. The freedom of the believer is affirmed in this passage. We see this as... 

1. Liberty through redeeming grace 

By freedom we imply that a person is delivered from tyranny or bondage of some sort. Here it is a bondage of the law which heaps condemnation upon a sinner. Paul looks back to the children of Israel and their pursuit of righteousness through adherence to the law in both its moral and ceremonial dimensions. They had fooled themselves into thinking that their outward appearance of righteousness was satisfactory to God. They had neglected to see the breadth of their sin and the corruption of their hearts. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life," Paul wrote. The letter of the law could only kill, for its woes are pronounced upon the least transgression (cf. Gal. 3:10). 

Perhaps this is why Paul, more than any other New Testament writer, speaks of liberty or freedom that is ours through faith in Christ. For as a Pharisee, he had devoted himself to following the intricacies of not only the Law but even the commentaries on the Law! He had learned the hundreds and hundreds of prohibitions and commands which the Law required; and he was bent on doing all of them. Yet when grace was shown to him, he realized that he had been in prison: the prison of condemnation under "Warden Law." He could not liberate himself. Instead, he could only get deeper and deeper entrenched into legalism. 

A legalist may change his conduct by strict observance to law. But he cannot relieve the anxiety of his burdened conscience. When his conscience presses upon him, he only works harder in conforming to his understanding of the law. He may get a momentary relief only to repeat the cycle again. He is so wrapped up in himself and so subdued by condemnation that he proudly turns away from the message of grace. Yet his only hope is to see that "a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 2:16). And to see that "It was for freedom," not condemnation, not bondage, "that Christ set us free." 

Martin Luther, one who knew well this experience of condemnation by the law, explained the cycle and its end result.
They that seek righteousness by the law, are captives, and oppressed with the yoke of bondage, this is, with the law, and when they have spent their strength a great while, this is their reward, that they are perpetual and miserable servants, even of sin, death, God's wrath and of the devil....Therefore the doers of the law, and such as stand upon the righteousness and works thereof, are rightly called the devil's martyrs. For they take more pains, and punish themselves more in purchasing hell, than the martyrs of Christ do in obtaining heaven [Commentary on Galatians, 301].  
Yet see the simplicity of the Apostle's words, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." That is, it was for freedom from the condemnation of the law, freedom from sin's power, freedom from the fear of death, freedom from the devil's snare that Christ, by His grace, has set you free. It is through the redemptive work of Christ alone that we are so liberated. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). If He has borne our curse and the condemnation which we deserve, we have no cause to bear it again! He bore it with finality at the cross. Our justification legally declares us free from the law's condemnations, free from all its penalty. That is why the epistle to the Romans can echo the believer's glad refrain,
There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did [that's grace!]: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4).

2. Liberty as an experience of grace 

Notice the power of the little preposition "for" in our text. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." The word "for" conveys the idea of "for the purpose of" at this point. It was for the purpose of you, a hell-deserving sinner, that by the effectual working of God's grace and the application of the redemptive work of Christ, you might have the experience of freedom from the guilt of sin. The liberating work of Jesus on the cross was not a "paper transaction." It was not merely something to record in the record books of eternity with no thought of personal experience. Christ saved you that you might be free! This is why our Lord could tell the Jews who thought they were free, but did not know they were slaves to sin, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). They believed that their strict observance of the Mosaic law and their bloodlines connected to Abraham were enough. They looked to their works and heritage as merit before God. But Christ testified that they were still slaves of sin and that only through His work could they be set free. 

Let me be personal for a moment. I have had opportunities over the past 28 years of preaching to visit with quite a few congregations in numerous countries. I have observed those who appear to be no better off than the Pharisees. They attend church with no real delight. They morosely sing the great hymns of the faith. They almost seem to practice sour countenances. They listen to the exposition of the Word with great disinterest. Jude describes them as "hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds, autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever" (Jude 12-13). 

On the other hand, I have observed people that I had never before met, who radiated with the love of Christ, who delighted in worshipping in spirit and truth, who received the Word in gladness of heart, whose very spirits communicated with my spirit of their place in the family of God. The most unusual of these times have been in other countries, where I've seen true believers who do not even speak my language, but the language of the soul speaks loudly of the liberty in Christ by faith. Their faith was not on paper. It was real, experiential, and liberating. Is your faith like this? 

3. Liberty as a testimony of grace 

There is another matter implied by the phrase, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." In a corporate sense, we have been set free so that we might together be a testimony of the grace of God in Christ. Paul included himself in his statement. He is part of the "us" along with all of those born of God. His affirmation stands in sharp contrast to the false testimony of the Judaizers. They stood for bondage. It showed in their countenance in spite of whatever warm, fuzzy smiles they mustered before the Galatians. It was evident in their words, as their only hope for righteousness was wrapped up in 'law, law, law'.  

Just take a look at a pair of cultists standing at your door. They have been "trained" to put on a certain face when you open the door, to use certain words to make you think they are winsome. But they are quickly unmasked when you confront them with the truth of the gospel of grace in Christ. I cannot tell you how many times their plastic smiles have turned south when I've gone to the Word of God to show their error and the glories of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But not so with those who have been set free by the grace of God in Christ! 

There is nothing like being with a group of believers! It is almost like a little slice of heaven has been dropped from the clouds so that we might bask in the future wonder that is ours in Christ! An unbeliever looking in might think we are strange...and we are! We are strangers and pilgrims in this land. We have our citizenship in heaven. By God's grace, we reflect our homeland in our joy, our worship, our love for one another (I Peter 2:11; Philippians 3:20-21). We stand together as those who have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ, set free from the power of sin. Our liberty in Christ testifies to the world about us of the power of the death and resurrection of Christ in saving sinners. 

4. Liberty won by the work of Christ 

There is always a price to freedom. We know this as a country. The blood of our forefathers was shed in the battle for our independence from Great Britain. We sought freedom from tyranny and by a huge price, it was won for our nation. And we have had to continue to fight for this freedom. The two major wars of this century placed our freedom at the crossroads. Had decisive battles not been won, then our freedom would have been in jeopardy. 

Our freedom from condemnation by the law was won in the greatest battle of history. It was not fought upon the high seas or earthly battlefields, but at the cross. For there the battle for our liberty was secured by the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ the Lord. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." It was not our doing nor our might that set us free. It was the work of Christ alone.

The battle is the Lord's!
The Victor crucified
Must with the travail of His soul
Be satisfied.
The pow'rs of hell shall fail,
And all God's will be done,
Till every soul whom He has giv'n
To Christ be won. ["The Battle Is the Lord's" by Margaret Clarkson] 

The only place of true liberty is in Christ. And the only way to be "in Christ" is through faith in Him and His saving work on the cross and in the resurrection. Are you resting in Christ alone? Do you know the liberty of the children of God by faith in Christ?

II. The maintenance of freedom 

The first clause of this verse states the doctrine or affirmation concerning our freedom: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." That becomes our foundation for understanding the ongoing freedom which belongs to us in Christ. For the next clause offers us two imperatives: "keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." These two commands explain to us how to maintain our freedom in Christ. 

1. Rest in the work of Christ 

To "keep standing firm" implies a steadfastness on the part of the believer. It is something which he does as part of the process of sanctification. His justification was wrought by Jesus Christ. It was Christ who set the believer free. Now, as one who is set free, the believer is exhorted to consciously remain steadfast in his confidence in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

The "therefore" of this clause points back to Christ and Him crucified. We can only remain steadfast if Christ has set us free. Some attempt to jump over the first clause and run to the second. But the word "therefore" stands as an immovable barrier to keep us from this error. It is because Christ has done His gracious saving work in us, liberating us from the power of sin, the condemning power of the law, the bondage of Satan, and even the fear of death, that we can continue standing firm in the faith. This, from a doctrinal point of view, is our perseverance in the faith. Because we are preserved by the Lord, because of the sufficiency of His saving work, then we can keep pressing on in the faith. 

In order to do so we must know what we are standing in, for he tells us, "keep standing firm." We must give ourselves to understanding what Christ has done for us, what His work has accomplished in our lives. We must look at every angle of this great work of Christ and rest in His sufficiency. We must understand what is ours through justification. We are to stand firm in what Christ has already accomplished for us at the cross. The satisfaction of Christ's death is to ever be our meditation. Martin Luther expressed it like this: 
Now, since these enemies are overcome, and we are reconciled unto God by the death of His Son, it is certain that we are righteous before God, and that whatsoever we do, pleaseth Him. And although there be remnants of sin yet still in us, they are not laid to our charge, but pardoned for Christ's sake [p. 300].
Do you realize the immensity of what Christ has done for you as a believer? Do you realize that your sins are taken away through His atoning death and that you no longer bear their guilt? The typical problem of reversion to legalism comes because we fail to understand the extent of the work of Christ, that all of our sin, past, present, and future, has been taken out of the way in Christ. We fail to see that we cannot add to our pardon, that God is not looking for additional atonement to be made through our rigid, legalistic achievements. He is fully satisfied with Christ and so should we be. 

This is where we must exercise ourselves on this truth. It is something upon which we need to meditate as Christians. So much attention seems to be given to other things in the Christian community. We think of our waistlines, our budgets, our next Christian social event, but how much do we consider the extent of the work of Christ? Do we ponder the richness of what it means to be pardoned before God? Or the wonder that we who are still sinners, are justified before God through Christ? 

I am speaking of something very deliberate at this point. As we read the Word we must let its truth sink into our hearts. We must give ourselves to meditation upon Christ. We must "instruct" our consciences. Again I turn to Martin Luther's sage counsel. 
Therefore our conscience must be instructed and prepared beforehand, that when we feel the accusation of the law, the terrors of sin, the horror of death, and the wrath of God, we may remove these heavy sights and fearful fantasies out of our mind, and set in place thereof the freedom purchased by Christ, the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life, and the everlasting mercy of God. And although the feeling to the contrary be very strong, yet let us assure ourselves that it shall not long endure [pp. 299-300].
Why do we give attention to singing all the stanzas of some of the church's great hymns? It is because those noble writers from the past rehearsed the wonderful truths and promises of Christ in these hymns, so that as we sing them, we rehearse these truths in our own hearts, thus giving us delight in resting in Christ alone. I cannot tell you how many times my own heart has been lifted to rest in Christ's sufficiency as we have lifted our voices together in praise to the Lord as we recall the glorious effectiveness of Jesus Christ's death! And we are to add to this our own reading of the Word and meditations upon it. I would also suggest that we find great encouragement by reading works such as Bolton's The True Bounds of Christian Freedom and Ernie Reisinger's Law and Gospel, et. al. 

So what do we do with our sins and the law's demands? We must recognize that Christ has forever taken away the guilt and condemnation of our sins, thus ending the law's reign over our lives. But there is a value in the law even for the Christian. As Samuel Bolton put it, "Let the law come in to remind you of sin if you fall into sin, but you are not to suffer it to arrest you and drag you into court to be tried and judged for your sins. This would be to make void Christ and grace" [True Bounds of Christian Freedom, 219]. 

2. Turn from the yoke of legalism 

The second imperative of this clause offers an even more telling demand. "And do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." The picture is that of a pair of oxen yoked together in pulling a plow. They plow the fields, eat the fodder provided, then are eventually butchered. Paul intentionally sets forth this graphic picture to help the Galatians understand that legalism is bondage.  

Perhaps he discussed this same idea with Peter a short time after this at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). For there the Apostle Peter took on those who wanted to add the works of the law and circumcision as necessary for justification. He asked this question, then followed with one of the clearest statements on how a person is saved. "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" This was the yoke of the law with all its condemnations. Then he explained, "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are" (Acts 15:10-11). The great council of the early church laid down the gauntlet upon retreats into legalism. They pointed out the error of legalism for justification or sanctification for that matter. 

If they apostles addressed this so much, then why is it still a problem? There is a natural tendency to lean in the direction of legalism, because it is at its heart, a trust in one's own self for justification before God. It is the same trap in which we lived as unbelievers, which is what Paul had in mind when speaking of being held "in bondage under the elemental things of the world" (Gal. 4:3). And it is why he chided the Galatians who were considering falling back into a legalistic means to God by saying, "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?" (Gal. 4:9). It does not make sense! If Christ has atoned for your sin, if He has removed your guilt before God, if He has satisfied all that God has demanded for you to be righteous before Him, then why to you try to find refuge in your works of legalism? You are only falling back into slavery and getting into the yoke of bondage.

Conclusion 

If you are going to walk with Christ in sanctification, then you must rest in Christ for justification. The ethical and moral demands of the Christian life will be grim and harsh if you view them as some work of merit before God. But if you are resting in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, then do not let the adversary tempt you to fall back into condemnation. You are set free, so live like it. Christ has availed for you, so press on in faithfulness to Him as one who has been delivered from the law's condemnation, who stands before God justified fully and freely in Christ alone.

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