Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): If you had to choose between a life of bondage and a life of freedom, which would you choose? The answer is obvious, but a lot of people still willingly choose bondage. Here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: And remember we talked about are you of Hagar or Sarah? That was an interesting area. Chapter four. Are you of Hagar, a work of the flesh, or you of Sarah, a work of the spirit? Are you of that bond woman or are you of the free woman? See, we're talking about freedom here. We're talking about being free as Christians. So which one? Are you of religious Jerusalem or are you of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free?

Guest (Male): Not only does the grace of God relate to our eternal redemption, but it works as a provision for our every daily spiritual, material, emotional, and physical need. Today on Sound Doctrine, Pastor Jeff Johnson takes us to Galatians chapter five. It's here that the Apostle Paul combats the legalists of his day with the message of God's grace. It's pretty amazing that even with the life of Jesus and his resurrection still fresh in their minds, the people of Galatia still thought they needed to follow the rules in order to get to heaven. Here's Pastor Jeff in Galatians chapter five.

Jeff Johnson: Galatians chapter five this morning. Galatians five. We're continuing on. We're starting a new chapter this morning. I really appreciate Paul and and just what he just endures uh and and fights hard for his children in the faith. He's not going to let it go. He's not going to let any Judaizer, legalist, or anybody take his children and bind them up in the law. I love what Jesus shares in John chapter three. There Nicodemus, that religious man, came up to Jesus. How can I be born again? And it is a work of God's spirit. And Jesus says in there in verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.

That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So Jesus came against that what was going on in the day he was in big time. He came against the Pharisees and the scribes. He said, you hypocrites, you vipers, you're whited sepulchers on the outside, but inside you're full of dead man's bones. He wasn't never angry at sinners. Have you noticed that throughout the scriptures? Not angry at sinners, angry at those that are hypocrites, those that would say one thing and do another. That's the big thing with the Lord. So if you want to put down a scripture, put down Matthew 23 to read later on, and you're going to find out how much the Lord hates hypocrisy and those that would say one thing and do another.

I mean, it's serious. So we always healed on the Sabbath day. Interesting. He ate on the Sabbath day. He broke the law over and over again. Why would Jesus come to do that? To break the law? That law that was so established and so right there? Jesus came, it says, to fulfill the law. The law was a school master. We've already learned that, revealing and condemning sin. Without the law, Paul said, I would never have known how much a sinner I am. I've broken the law many times over. No man can go by the law.

You'll be condemned by it. Over there in John's Gospel again, and you just jot it down in chapter eight verse 31, he talks about they came to him and said, if you continue uh Jesus said to those Jews that believed on him, if you continue in my word, then you are my disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you or yeah, make you free. They answered him and said, well, hey, we're Abraham's seed. We're already free. You know, they forgot about Egypt when they were in the bondage with them, the Romans.

And they're just going on thinking, hey, we're free. Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, Jesus says. And the servant abides not in the house forever, but the son abides forever. And if the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Free from condemnation, free from the law. Jesus came. He paid for man's sins on the cross. He's the only way to God. There is no other way. The Jews thought it was through Moses and the law. They held so much to Moses and the law. And then the Gentiles came to believe.

Uh-oh. These Gentiles they they called dogs to the Jews. They were worse than anything. Uh they were the scum of the earth. And now the Gentiles believe. And so Acts 15, we looked at it. And that that established their what they are trying to do. The Judaizers said, okay, they can have these Gentiles can have Jesus, but we want them to follow the law of Moses and get what? Circumcised. Interesting. The way of Moses. Peter said there in Acts chapter 15 in verse 10, jot it down. Acts 15:10. He says, now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we, the Jews, were able to bear?

Why would you want to do that? None of us could ever tow up to the law. We never could obey it. Why would you want to put this on these Gentiles who have just received Jesus? But we believe that through the grace, this is Acts 15:11, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they. So it's about salvation through Christ and him only. There's no other way to go. Then in verse 20, he says, let's just write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.

Let's just give them a few little things that they shouldn't do, which is not good for them to do, and leave them alone. You can stay away from this whole thing of Moses. So Paul here in Galatians continues the good fight that he is wrestling with the whole region. Was it was talked about, you know, that this warfare was going on. The Judaizers, the legalists. And he's trying to say, let's reason together. And remember we talked about are you of Hagar or Sarah? That was an interesting area. Chapter four. Are you of Hagar, a work of the flesh, or you of Sarah, a work of the spirit?

Are you of that bond woman or are you of the free woman? See, we're talking about freedom here. We're talking about being free as Christians. So which one? Are you of religious Jerusalem or are you of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free? So he he shares that in chapter four. And then finally in verse 30 there of Galatians chapter four, kind of building up to go into chapter five, he says, nevertheless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the bond woman with her son, for the son of the bond woman shall be heir with the son of the free woman.

Shall not be heir of the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman. Don't go there, but of the free. We're born again. It's a whole new life. We're free. So the legalists were really pouring it on at this time. They had their best speakers. They had the guys that really could speak and and articulate what they were trying to say. And they pushed the whole thing with the law and Moses. And it's so important to us as Jews, so it should be to the Gentiles. And they made their case.

But they did a full-on full court press, if you will. They were really laying it on because they also were fighting for establishing their way instead of God's way. So Paul had his hands full. So here in chapter five, Paul had to make one final practical exhortation. This is it. Actually chapter five and six. Very interesting argument here. It's time to walk in the truth, guys. It's time to walk in grace. So grace is an interesting word. Someone has said grace broken up is God's riches at Christ's expense. I love that. Let me say it again.

God's riches at Christ's expense. Here in chapter five and six is Paul's practical application of grace. He's going to just lay it out there. Remember uh first section, chapters one and two, Paul was personal uh experience of grace. And then the the three and four is is second section on the doctrine of grace. You know, we're we're justified by faith. We're sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I mean, he really got into the doctrinal issues there. And that was something to go through. But now we get to the practical. Now these Judaizers, they said that Paul is seeking to replace the law with license.

Got to have the law. You can't just not have the law. It gives license. Some have called it greasy grace. But there's no truth to this. So chapter five verse one. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Interesting. Stand fast. Do you remember Galatians 2:20? We we used to sing the song, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the son of God who loves me and gave his life for me.

It's all about identifying with Christ, dying to self. No longer in bondage to a law relationship with God. It's done. Stand in the liberty in Christ. You are free. That why had uh Jake sing that. You know, we are free. It is for freedom. It is for freedom that he has set us free. Free indeed. I love that scripture in Matthew. We even have it out in the foyer. Matthew 11 where Jesus says, come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me and I for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

For my yoke is easy. My burden is light. I didn't come to lay a trip on you. I came to free you, totally liberate you from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and from the law. Over in in uh Romans chapter six and verse 14, he says, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law. You're under grace. Different world, different place. We're free. To abandon grace for law, you're always going to lose. You're never going to be a winner. You're going to be a loser. The liberty here is free from the tyranny of the law, the bondage of the law.

It's you know, no longer having to defend your flesh, living for yourself, to earn your relationship with God. Free from sin and guilt and all these things. From the penalty and the power of sin. And soon, and very soon, from the presence of sin, you know, that's what we're looking forward to. That's such a great hope. So legalism is dangerous. Yet it permeates everything in our world. Legalism. But he says, stand fast. I mean, it's it's not going to be easy. It's going to take some effort. But to be legally made free and yet you're in bondage, that's that's rough.

That means you're in slavery. DL Moody, he has a story that he tells. And the story is of a former slave woman in the South after the Civil War. She's confused about her status. And she says now, is I free or been I not? I go to my old master. He says, I'm not free. I I go to my people. Say I is. Am I free or not? Some say that Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation. My master says he didn't. He didn't have a right to. And here's where Christians find themselves so confused on this point.

Are we free or are we not? What a question. Christ has given us and an am I get the word in a minute. Emancipation of proclamation. But sometimes that old master says, no. You're still slaves to a legal relationship with God. And there's Christians teaching this today. So bondage continues. And they're deceived. They're ripped off. They are entangled. Notice what he says in verse one. They're entangled with the yoke of bondage. Do you know the law has 613 commandments? 613. It frustrates, it condemns. To obey it is impossible. No man or woman can obey it.

It 's like an adult crawling back into his crib, you know. Don't do this, Paul says. Don't go there. Don't be entangled. Stand fast in the liberty. So verse two. He goes on to say, behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised Here we go again with this circumcision. Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to the whole law. Christ has become of no effect to you. Whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. Heavy stuff.

To be bound to the law is dangerous. You're going to lose. Three things here, he says. Number one, Christ will have no profit to you. Good luck on that one, huh? That's the way you want to go. No profit to you. You'll be a debtor of the whole law. If you want to go that way. And Christ will have no effect to you. He says, I, Paul I mean, he's he's just reaching out. Hey, guys. It's me, Paul, the Apostle, the father of of you that have received Christ. I want to talk with you something very serious.

I fed you. I watched over you. If you get circumcised You know, circumcision to the Jew was the badge of the law. I've been circumcised. Got the badge. That's what it was. It was very serious. If you look to it as circumcision for your relationship with God, Christ has no profit to you. No help from Christ. You get none. Zero. It's a deal breaker. The law did not die for you. Jesus can't be your righteousness. There's no way. You can't have both law and Christ. You got to choose who you will serve, who you will go with.

They're incompatible. They don't they don't go together. You can't ever have them together. It's either Christ enough for me. That song we sang this morning. Christ is enough for me. He's all I need. I need nothing else. It's all about Jesus. Period. That makes it so simple for us because he's all we need. And as we get right with the Lord, as he fills us with with the spirit and that I mean, that's it. The end result. You're a child of God serving God, experiencing the liberty of Christ. It's either he's enough for you, or you can trust in circumcision in works.

You know, this is why the cults, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses. Hey, and I'm I'm I'm to be the first one to you know, admire their stick to it themness. I mean, their sincerity. I mean, they're they're very sincere in what they believe. But they're sincerely deceived. It's sad because they're doomed. Because see, they don't trust in Christ. They trust in what they believe. They don't believe in Christ. So that means they're doomed to hell. Anybody that would follow after them. See, Christ is everything. He's the center of everything. Paul's trying to get this through to these guys.

They're in those that would do anything else but Christ. They're in the laws clutches, and they're they're going to be choked out. Christ will not profit them. Over in Romans, there's a simple little look at circumcision, the Christian way. And that is in Romans two verse 28. Jot it down. For he is not a Jew or I'm going to infuse their Christian, which is one outwardly. We're not Christians outwardly. Neither is the circumcision and I'm going to throw in baptism there because sometimes that that's a big deal with Christians, right? You need Jesus, and then you need baptism.

Uh-oh. You're danger. Which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew or a Christian uh and Jew means a praise to God which is one inwardly. The circumcision is of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. So our circumcision is of the heart. It's the inner discipline of God that we have received. That it's not by our might, our power, but it's by what? What? The spirit working in us. We did nothing and we can do nothing. We got to get that through our heads.

We're free. It's awesome. He's doing the work. To God be the glory. Ours is circumcision of the heart, justified in Jesus Christ. Some don't want this liberty though. They don't want to make they don't want to say that you know, I don't want to be sort of they don't know what it means to be led by the spirit, guided by the Lord. And I don't want to make those decisions. So they go out and they try to find a dictatorship or a legalistic fellowship cuz they don't want to walk by faith. They don't want to be led by the spirit.

They don't want to depend on grace and grace alone. To yield to his spirit, to live for others, to glorify God. They don't want that. If you go by the law, you'll be held accountable for all the law. Isn't this what he Paul says here? If you ask the way you want to go, okay, you better get a seat belt on, a tight one. Cuz you got 613 laws to obey. Not only that, you got the the the Talmud, uh the teachings of the rabbis. You've got you know, I mean, one thing the the kosher laws of eating, what to eat, what not to eat, how to split your meals, you know, one with milk and the other with meat and oh.

That's why I can't understand Christians that want to go back to Judaism. Why? Oh, I just like the law. I like to be kosher. Okay, you're free to do that. I'm not going to condemn you to do that, but why? Well, I just like Judaism now. You know, the ritualism and all and why? Waste of time, really. Jesus set us free. We're free from all that. And you're not experiencing your liberty. Can't go over three quarters of a mile on on uh on uh the Sabbath. You got to obey all the Sabbath laws. And so there's those that say, you can't worship God on Sunday.

It's you're supposed to worship God on Saturday. Okay, if you're going to go that route, then how'd you get to church? I drove. Oh, no. You can't. It's a spark of the spark club. That's working. Turn the key. You could turn the key. You went over three quarters of a mile. You just broke the Sabbath law. Huh? So then busted, right? Come on. Don't go that route.

Guest (Male): Well, we're out of time for today. So we'll bring you the conclusion of today's message in Galatians chapter five from Pastor Jeff on our next program. And this is Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. If you enjoyed today's message from Pastor Jeff Johnson from the book of Galatians, I'd like to remind you that you can hear it again on several different venues. First, you can go online to sounddoctrine radio.org where you can hear today's study and more, as well as make a donation to this radio outreach. That's sounddoctrine radio.org. You can also listen to us at oneplace.com and through the Sound Doctrine radio podcast app.

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