THE WHOLE LAW
GALATIANS 5:13-15
SEPTEMBER 13, 1998

            When does freedom become bondage?  Perhaps this is a paradoxical question to ask if we think merely of the typical definition of freedom, i.e., someone who is not enslaved to anyone or anything. From a biblical standpoint, Paul expresses the new birth as being a life of freedom. To be justified by faith in Christ is to be set free from the law as a means to justification. Paul had even stated, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." Jesus declared, "If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!"  So how can freedom become bondage?

            The age-old question of whether or not there are responsibilities accompanying grace comes to mind when we think of this question. For the whole idea of grace places the responsibility of salvation upon the Lord God and His pleasure. Yet to be the recipient of grace does not mean that we are free from grateful responsibility. Not a responsibility that has any saving power, mind you, but we do have a responsibility to live as those who have been transformed by the grace of God in Christ.

            Much misunderstanding abounds at this point. I've heard those individuals who profess to have been 'saved by grace', and who have used this as an excuse for being able to engage in whatever lifestyle suits them. This is particularly true among Baptists because of our strong emphasis on the eternal security of the believer. It is as though a person can be saved yet with that salvation he has merely signed on the dotted line but has no further interests until he makes it to heaven. That kind of attitude leads to what is called libertinism. This is behavior which disregards any rules, laws, standards or restraints. A person does what he feels like doing without feeling the necessity to conform to someone else's standard of moral conduct, even if it is God's standard.

            I recall Martyn Lloyd-Jones, on numerous occasions in his works, pointed out that when you are properly teaching and preaching grace you will be accused of giving way to libertinism or antinomianism (lawlessness). But, as Lloyd-Jones would express, that is a misconception of grace. What Paul is explaining in light of dealing with the legalism of the Judaizers is that grace does not mean you have no responsibilities. To view grace in this way is to actually embrace a new form of bondage.

            Central to the biblical teaching of freedom is having a right view of the Law.  While the Law has no power to justify, it has a wonderful place in guiding the believer through sanctification. Viewing the Law rightly helps the Christian to continue walking in liberty with the Lord.

            How can we truly walk in freedom as children of God? Let us see how we must live in the freedom which is ours in Christ.

 

I.  The basis of freedom

            Paul is moving into the moral, ethical issues related to the Christian life. This seems to be his normal practice after setting forth a doctrinal foundation. Doctrine always ushers forth into practice. We are not just to be filling our heads with truth, but we are to find that doctrinal truth applied produces right living before God. So many try to "live right" as Christians without having a doctrinal foundation. This produces what has been termed 'spiritual burnout'. It is a breeding ground for frustration, discouragement, and often great failure in the spiritual realm. So, as we work through this epistle to the ethical issues, we are doing so only with the knowledge of the solid foundation of justification by faith in Christ alone.

            Let me be candid at this point. Nothing has been a greater help to me in walking with the Lord than to continually live in the foundational truths of the Christian faith; good solid doctrine. It is the strength I receive from the knowledge of the Lord and of His working in my life, that enables me to press on by the enabling power of the Spirit. I am constantly glancing back to the cross.

 

            1.  Rooted in divine grace

            That is what Paul is doing at this point. He is teaching about freedom but he reminds the Galatians why they even had freedom. It was not something which they worked for or attended a seminar and learned how to exercise it. Freedom came as a gift from God. "For you were called to freedom, brethren." It was  not your doing that gave you freedom. You did not decide, after seeing that you were in bondage for many years, that it was high time that you have freedom. So you made up your mind and 'decided for freedom'. No, the Apostle tells us, you were called to freedom.

            Paul uses a passive voice to express that the calling which you received came from outside of you. You were the recipient, yes indeed, but you had no part in determining the calling. God was not waiting on you to see what mood you might be in or what kind of decision you might make before He called you. It was God who called you out of His own good pleasure.

            The term points to what students of the Word call effectual calling. By this it is distinguished from what is termed the 'general call'. The latter is that call which is given in the gospel to all men. All who hear the gospel have the opportunity to respond. Indeed, they have an eternal responsibility before God to respond! They must respond in repentance and faith or face eternal damnation.

            But man has a deep spiritual problem in responding to God. We are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3). We live in the blindness of the kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13). We are spiritually incapacitated due to the Fall (Rom. 5). We have natures that are hostile to God and who have no interest in knowing Him nor in obeying Him (Eph. 4:17-19). Can we overcome this problem? Do we have the capacity to reach down into some hidden region of the soul and pull out a new nature bent on obeying God? Do we have faith in Christ alone welled up within us so that it only needs to be released through a decisive act? My friend, we are no different than Lazarus in the grave! We are just as dead as he was and must receive a call from God to wake us up!

            This call is effectual. That is, it effectively or energetically works in us. It accomplishes its divine intention. Do you see what Paul is doing? He is reminding the Galatians that they were not saved because they thought all of this Christianity stuff sounded like a good idea. They were saved because God called them!  He found them in the stubbornness of their hearts and in the deadness of their minds. And just as Jesus called out to the dead man, "Lazarus, come forth!" The Spirit of God calls in the hidden portions of the heart. He calls His own by name and they hear Him and definitely follow (John 10:2-3). Because Jesus Christ has availed for you at the cross, you can rest in Him by faith. God can call you into the freedom of those who are liberated from spiritual bondage because He does not call you to a new level of self-righteous performance, but to die to yourself and cling to Christ alone for righteousness.

 

            2.  Relief from law's condemnation

            What happens in this new freedom through faith in Christ prompted by the Spirit's call? The believer is now free from the guilt and condemnation he has been living under because of the Law. He no longer finds himself trying to justify himself on the basis of the Law. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4). He is no longer scrambling trying to find enough merit to commend himself to God, for Christ is his merit. Jesus Christ has become the righteousness of God on his behalf (II Cor. 5:21).

            Something remarkable has happened in his conscience. The believer is freed from guilt. He has lived with condemnation, perhaps for many years, but now he is free. It is as though a gigantic burden has been lifted from his shoulders. He knows that Jesus Christ has taken away his sins and has removed the enmity between him and God. The Law which sparked such condemnation in his life, so that he viewed it as an impossible taskmaster has now been seen for what it is: a tutor to lead him to the cross of Christ. He rejoices that there is now no condemnation as he looks at the Law for Jesus Christ has satisfied its demands on his behalf (Rom. 8:1-4). The believer is now free! He can live as a free man. The Law can no longer condemn him for his inadequacy. It can no longer put its icy fingers upon his shoulders and tell him that he is damned forever. He is free!

            All of this is wonderful indeed! We rejoice in such freedom that gives us a foundation for living in this world and on into eternity. But with freedom comes responsibility.

 

II. The abuse of freedom

            We understand this in our own country, or at least we should. We have many freedoms as Americans, yet these freedoms do not mean that we no longer have responsibility as free citizens. We have rights and privileges which are ours. But they exist only as long as we are conforming ourselves to the laws of our constitution.

            In our mission visits to some of the formerly communistic countries, we found that the average citizen did not have the freedom to drive a car. Automobiles were reserved for the bureaucrats. We have this freedom in the United States. But with this freedom we have responsibilities to follow the traffic laws which enable us to enjoy the greatest benefit of owning an automobile. If I participate in this freedom but decide that I will not be restrained by any traffic laws, then I will soon find myself in bondage, not to mention a wreck!

            Listen to how Paul explains this in the spiritual realm. "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Freedom received can, with neglect, become freedom abused.

 

            1.  Launching pad for sinful nature

            Paul warns of letting our freedom become a staging area or launching pad for sin. The word "opportunity" literally means 'a base of operation' or 'a place from which an attack is made'. That which is so wonderful, freedom, can become the very launching pad for greater sinfulness in our lives when we fail to maintain freedom's responsibilities.

            It seems that the experience of grace stands right at the threshold of libertinism. Because we are standing in the grace of God and not trusting in our own works of righteousness for merit before God, we can become presumptuous about it. We can think that grace releases us from responsibility before God. Therefore we can take license with sin. We can have the idea that since I am saved by grace, then God will be ready to forgive me if I sin, so why not indulge?

            Paul unraveled this same issue in Rome and Corinth. After describing the great abundance of grace that has been shown to us in Christ, he asks the question, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?" (Rom. 6:1). In other words, since God has given me grace because of the sin which abounded in my life (Rom. 5:20), can I not do more sinning to receive more grace? Will my indulgence in sin not simply open the floodgates of grace to pour forth upon me in greater measure? Paul's answer: May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (6:2).

            This was a problem in the early church. And due to the neglect of teaching on the right use of the Law and what is grace, it is still a problem in our own day. The typical attitude is that of the person who makes a profession of faith. He is told that nothing can take away his salvation, that he can never lose his salvation whatever he does. If he has any doubts, he only needs to look back on that particular occasion and remember 'what he decided' then be assured that he is saved. With this kind of nonbiblical teaching of assurance, the professed believer is led to believe that he can sin with gusto! Whatever he wants to do, it is no problem since he already has the 'eternal insurance' to cover him. So grace becomes a launching pad or staging ground for greater sinfulness. He has been exposed to the freedom of grace, but uses it, rather abuses it to enter into greater sinfulness.

            It is proper so see that the law has no merit for us in being justified. But it is wrong to think that the law no longer offers restraint and guidance to us as those freed from the law for justification. It seems that we often have two extremes in this area and few who see the "law of liberty" which is ours through grace. You have those who look to the law for justification apart from grace and those who look to grace without any consideration afterward of law. Perhaps a comparison by John Gerstner will help.

       Whenever you find a person who puts a premium on morality and really specializes in conduct and expects to make it on his record, you invariably find him supposing that he can justify himself by his works. On the other hand, if you find a person who revels in grace, who knows the futility of trying to make it on his own and simply cannot say enough about the blood of Jesus and salvation full and free, he has a built-in tendency to have nothing to do with works in any form. When you get a person who really puts a premium on morality, he almost inevitably falls into the pit of self-salvation. And, on the other hand, when a person sees the principle of grace, he has a built-in temptation to go antinomian. But the Christian religion, while it preaches pure grace, unadulterated grace with no meritorious contribution from us whatever, at the same time requires of us the loftiest conceivable conduct.... [quoted by James M. Boice, Foundations of Faith, 427].

 

            2.  Source of division and destruction

            As a matter of fact, Paul goes so far as to demonstrate that such an antinomian mentality leads to division and conflicts in the church. "But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another." If you fail to follow the essence of the law in loving your neighbor as yourself and serving one another, then you will revert to animal behavior. All three key words of this verse bring to mind a group of animals engaged in a wild fight. I can almost picture a pack of dogs in conflict, so that they are each biting one another, tearing the flesh to the point that some are even killed. Paul points out that such will be the behavior of those who cast aside the responsibilities of Christian living. And he adds, almost with a bit of sarcasm, "take care lest you be consumed by one another." Don't eat up each other in your pursuit of a lawless lifestyle!

            The Epistle of James takes up this same idea. "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?" (4:1). In other words, is the problem not residing in your own self-centered ways. Have you not neglected to show the true spirit of Christ by failing to minister to one another, so that you end up fighting one another?

            If Paul's language almost seems to be shocking, I believe that is because it is supposed to be! We are to realize that it is only to the degree that we follow after the summation of the law, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," that we will find the sweet spirit of unity prevailing among us. Having witnessed church fights up-close and firsthand, I can testify that inevitably you will find a gross breach of this teaching at the roots. Selfish living breeds a stench among the church. It is only as we are able to turn outward in service, genuine loving service, to others that we discover the delight of our Christianity spilling over into every facet of our lives.

 

III. The practice of freedom

            The natural man or unbelieving man, must be changed in order to follow after the lifestyle which we are exhorted to practice. We cannot live in freedom unless we are free. We may do nice things for others and even serve others without being free. For at the root of such service can be the hidden motive of gaining merit with God. Remember the basis of freed, "For you were called to freedom, brethren;" it was God's doing in the first place, so now you can live as one who is free. So Paul is speaking of the true freedom of serving others out of love with no motive other than the pleasure of Jesus Christ! It is not to gain merit. It is not to impress others. It is rather due to having experienced the profound transformation of mind and soul through faith in Christ. We then can give ourselves, even as our Lord did (Mark 10:45), in service to others.

 

            1.  Freedom leads to loving service

            A strategic movement is taking place in the life of the believer. He has moved from being self-centered as an unbeliever, to being God-centered through faith in Christ, which inevitably causes him to be other-centered. "Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." There is a new love which the believer has within him, the love of Christ. This fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) overflows in relationship to others. He may naturally have an altruistic spirit without possessing this love of Christ. Here the whole mind of loving service takes on a new meaning. For the whole idea of service is that of 'service as a slave'.

            I realize that this is a strong term. But I think it points clearly to the type of lifestyle which by grace we are to live. We are not just to do a few nice things for folks whenever it is convenient to us. We are to become slaves to others. Paul could have used another term to describe this which would have softened the language and perhaps made his audience more comfortable. But he speaks it in great contrast. You have been a slave to sin. Now you are free in Christ. So take on a new form of slavery, that of lovingly serving others. It is a slavery of freedom through Christ. It is giving yourself to others for the sake of Christ. It is meeting the needs of others because Christ has met you at the most important point of need in your life.

            Again, you are not doing this to gain merit with Christ. You have all the merit you need through His righteousness. You are doing it because it pleases Him. How does this work out in practical terms?

            First, we must make sure that we do not look at others as stepping stones for our own lives. If we serve only as a means of using people to accomplish our own self-centered goals, then we have failed to understand what Paul has spoken. If a young person serves his parents so that he can get what he wants, then he has failed to see the liberty of Christian service. If an employee serves his the people in his company simply to get a raise, he has not done anything that an unbeliever could not do. But when he takes it to a new level in which he serves for the glory of Christ regardless of whether he is noticed or appreciated for it, then he has understood what it is to love for the sake of Christ.

            Second, we must make sure that we do not try to serve those whom we know very little yet fail to serve those closest to us. This is probably most often a problem within the home. Parents and children can be great servants to those outside their own homes. But within the home, it becomes 'dog eat dog'! Biting and devouring one another seems to be the rule! Instead, let us begin our service in our homes with husbands and wives lovingly serving each other. What can you do to better serve your spouse? And it is also seen in parents and children lovingly serving each other. We are not to use each other to accomplish our selfish motives, but to see how we can outdo one another in service (Rom. 12:10).

            Third, we must serve without desire for recognition. Let's be honest: all of us like a little recognition and appreciation. And I do believe it is important to give that to those about us. However, if that becomes our motivation for service, then we can become sullen and discouraged when others fail to give us what we believe is our due recognition. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for me; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Col. 3:23-24). Paul spoke those words to slaves but I believe that are very much applicable in principle to all of us.

            Fourth, we must serve without showing favoritism. James picks up this principle in his epistle, declaring, "But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors" (James 2:9). In context, he had just quoted the same passage which Paul quotes in the next verse of our text as a summation of the law. This means that we must work on our relationships. Some people are easy to serve. Others are difficult because of their background or due to our own prejudices. Through the love of Christ, let us seek to develop that spirit of loving service to all men.

 

            2.  Freedom requires law

            Paul comes right back to the issue of the Law after we are saved. "For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF'." To say that "the whole Law is fulfilled," the Apostle is declaring that this requirement is a summation of the moral law. It particularly suits the 2nd table of the Ten Commandments, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. But it also encompasses the 1st table of the Law in another sense. For you cannot love your neighbor without having first loved God with your whole heart.

            Notice that in the context of Christian freedom, we are told that the law has a bearing on us. It can do nothing to commend us to God. We can gain no merit through the works of the law. But it serves as a divine standard, an extension of the moral character of God, to lead us in our ongoing sanctification. As an unbeliever, the law has fearsome warnings. It stands as a reminder of our failure before God. It condemns us. But as a believer, it no longer is to have that same kind of effect. Christ has freed us from the law as a means to justification. He has freed us from its curse. And He has freed us through His indwelling Spirit to delight in the law of God after the inward man (Rom. 7:22; Psa. 1:2).

            Instead of the law being something which we hate--the condition of the unbelieving mind, it becomes that which is a delight to us. The very fulness of that law as expressed by our Lord and in the teaching of the apostles becomes sweet to our lives. For in it we understand that our Lord finds pleasure, for we are living as He lived. To paraphrase what Paul wrote in Romans 6:12-14, because of our whole new relationship to the law as one who has been born of God, we will so live in conformity to this holy law that sin might not reign in our lives; we will see the righteous standards of God and keep on presenting our minds and bodies to God as His instruments of righteousness in this world; we will not live under the law's threats, for we have been liberated from them; but we shall live as those who have experienced grace and now live in conformity to the image of Christ, an image which in a moral sense is presented in the law.

 

Conclusion

            How are you living as a Christian? Does the law of God have a bearing on your daily conduct? Do not view the law as an ominous threat but as a loving guide from our great God. Do not face the law in the weakness of your flesh, but in the strength of one who has been born of God, indwelled by the Spirit, and enabled by grace. Let us fulfill the law as we through love serve one another.

            Have you been trying to gain merit before God by your adherence to the law? Then you have failed to understand why God gave us the law in the first place. It stands to show you that apart from Christ, you are condemned. It points you to Jesus Christ and His death on the cross as the only merit which God will accept. Will you find refuge in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and raised from the dead?

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