Theme: Freedom (July 12, 2015)

Devotion: Acts 13:38-39

Title: Christian Liberty

Introduction:
Good morning to every one of you today. Before we continue, let us pray…
Freedom is one of the most sought after virtues(katangian/bagay) in our world, especially those
who are, or consider themselves to be, oppressed. We commemorate our day of independence
because we know that people have given their lives for the freedom of our country from
foreign powers. We fight and protect for our freedom of speech, of religion, of assembly and
more. But today we will realize that there is a greater freedom than just political or economic: it
is spiritual freedom. Many people enjoy various freedoms today, but as most of us know, in the
realm of the spiritual, it is an all-together different topic. No matter the freedoms here on
earth, many souls are in chains because of sin. It is only by the grace of God that He has made a
way for us to become free. We remember the people who fought for freedom, because of their
work and mission for independence, we regard them as heroes. Freedom did not come easy.
Someone had to fight for it. The same thing happened in regards to our spiritual freedom. Jesus
Christ is the reason for our freedom. Our message for this morning is all about Christian
Liberty.

Exposition: When Jesus Christ redeemed us, He paid a price for our freedom. Now we are free.
What does this freedom mean for us? What are the important things to remember about our
freedom in Christ?

Proposition: Brothers and sisters in the Lord, as people who have been redeemed by God, we
have a newfound freedom in our lives; A freedom that has come because of Jesus Christ.

We look now to the book of Galatians, an epistle written by Paul in response to some very
troubling news that he heard. The believers in Galatia, made up of both Jews and gentiles, was
a result of God’s spirit moving in Paul’s ministry of proclaiming the gospel, nevertheless, in just
a short period of time after leaving them, false teachers have come inside the ranks of the
church, teaching them wrong things about justification, they teach that justification is a result
of works. Gal.1:6-7 Paul called them Judaizers, because of their insistence that Christians should
follow the law in order to be saved. Paul wrote this epistle to jolt them out of their foolishness
and get back to the truth. Gal.1:8 Paul reminds them of their freedom in Christ and their
standing because of it.

Interrogative: What can we learn about Christian liberty from the Word of God?

I. We are all slaves in bondage

The question to answer is: why is freedom needed? Many of us have a good idea as we
touched this topic when we were studying redemption: because of the reality that all of us are
slaves. As we have said a moment ago, many of us enjoy various freedoms on earth. But our
soul, our very nature, is enslaved. To what are we in bondage to?

A. Bondage to sin – Gal.3:22

First and foremost, all people are in bondage to sin. They are slaves to it.
Gal.3:22 Bondage means that you cannot escape on your own. You cannot run from it.
You cannot free yourself even if you tried. Someone else has to help you, else, you are
helpless. Jesus himself tells us this in John 8:34 to understand this better, we are in
bondage to sin in two things: 1) Dominion – we are under the dominion, the control, the
power of sin. Everything in our life revolves around it. Sin becomes normal, evil becomes
natural for us. We lie in the biggest and littlest of things and think that nothing is wrong.
We say that dishonesty is shrewdness. We say that drunkenness is just socializing.
Fornication is now called live-in. We replace the labels, but even if you would change
the label of poison, the fact is it still remains poison. Many of us don’t even know that
we are under the dominion of sin, because we as people enjoy it. 2) Penalty – because
of sin that we have, the sin that we do, the sin that we live out, we are under the
penalty of sin. And what is the penalty? None other than death. Rom.6:23 this is not
physical death, which all of us know will come eventually. But the reality is that the
penalty for sin is eternal damnation. An eternity of punishment. Rev.20:12;14-15
From beginning to end, this is the bondage of sin.

B. Bondage to the law – Gal.3:10

We know the purpose of the law. It was given by God to the Israelites to reveal
his nature and glory. It was a covenant: a contract between Israel and God. If they were
to obey, they would receive the benefits. But if they were to disobey, God’s anger would
be upon them. The problem is this: no one could keep the law. No one can obey the
whole law. And the worst part is, if you disobey even one law, then you have disobeyed
the whole of it. James 2:10. This is the curse that the law brings. Gal.3:10 in this, we are
all shown that none of us could obey, and that in turn, just shows us how sinful we are.
But then again, that is for the Israelites. what about us gentiles? Are we free because
the law was not given to us? Paul answers this question in Rom.2:12-15 even though we
have not been given the law explicitly, the bible says that the law of God is written in
our hearts. Those who have the law is judged by the law. And those who do not have
the law is judge by our conscience. Either way, there is no escape.

C. Bondage to the world – Gal.4:8-10

As a by-product of our bondage to sin and the law, we have become enslaved as
well by the world around us. Gal.4:8-10 We were enslaved to idols around us. literally
and figuratively. Literal idols: we worshipped idols and images. Things carved in wood
and stone, and made them our gods. We prayed to them, kneeled to them, expected to
be blessed by them. Things made by human hands. It is only now that we are in the
truth that we understand our folly. Figurative idols: maybe not all of us worshipped
images of wood and stone, maybe we didn’t pray to a picture. But we were worshipping
idols nonetheless. These are called the idolatry of the heart. The love of money, the
 heart of pride, self-centeredness, greed, and more. John summarizes it simply.
1John2:16 and in relation to idolatry, our bondage to the world includes the worthless
principles and traditions from the world. How many of us grew up as idolaters because it
was handed down to us? How many of us believed that we could be saved by good
works? How many of us believed in superstitions? Paul said in 1Cor.3:19 people want to
believe in foolishness, rather than the truth of God.

D. Bondage to the flesh

And lastly, we are enslaved to the worthless works of the flesh. Gal.5:19-21 this
is the final blow in our list of bondages. This just goes to show the complete and utter
hopelessness of a person on his own. We read this in church and go: (grabe naman yung
kasamaan na yan) but if you think back in your own life, and look all around us, this is
the reality of the condition of people in the world. And we were part of it. We loved it.
We thought there was nothing wrong with it. As I have said before, you can change the
label of poison, but it still remains poison.

Application:
All of these just show the condition of man because of our various bondages. This can
be traced back to one thing: sinfulness. It is all because of our sinfulness before God. We cannot
run, we cannot escape.

II. We have been set free

Now we know why freedom was needed. Without freedom, we were doomed to eternal
punishment, we were doomed to second death. We were doomed to hell. But now freedom
came, and it came through Jesus Christ.

A. The cost of our freedom

In an ironic statement, freedom really isn’t free. Our freedom came with a cost.
And that cost was paid in full by Jesus Christ. Because of our bondage, Christ needed to
come into the world. Gal.4:4-5 Christ was born of a woman: He was truly human in His
birth. He talked like us, walked like us, and experienced the same things we have
experienced. He knew sadness, He knew pain, He knew suffering, and He knew betrayal.
He did so in order He can relate and identify with us like no one else can. He knows
what we feel, and He understands us fully. Born under the law: He was born under the
law in order to fulfill what man could not do. He was human, and yet He did not sin. He
was human, and yet, He fulfilled the law. 100%. Completely. He was fully human and
still, fully God. Rom.10:4 He had to be born, in order to one day die; His crucifixion on
the cross: Gal.3:13 this is redemption: without the shedding of blood, there would be no
forgiveness of sin. Christ came into the world, fulfilled the law, and gave up his life as
payment in our behalf. Instead of us paying with our life, Christ gave His life for us so
that we might live. 1Cor.15:1-4

B. The result of our freedom

 The result is simple as it is profound. We have been set free from bondage. We
have been set free from the dominion, the power, the control of sin, and even the
penalty of sin itself. Whereas there was once only death, now there is life. Rom.6:23 we
have been set free from the law: whereas knowledge of the law could only condemn,
faith in Jesus Christ saved us. Gal.2:16 we have been set free from the pattern and
traditions of the world: 1Pet.1:18-19 and now we have been set free from the flesh, and
have been given the spirit to combat it: Gal.5:16 Before you were helpless and
defenseless. Now under the spirit of God, we can give glory to Him. Gal.4:4-7

Application:
Let no one take our spiritual freedom for granted, because freedom is not free. Christ
Jesus paid the cost for our freedom, and with our freedom, we reap all the spiritual blessings
that are found in Jesus Christ.

III. Standing firm in our Christian liberty

This freedom is available today. This freedom is now, and all those who are in Christ
Jesus experience this blessing. It is not something future, it is not something to be waited upon.
Paul had wanted to remind these believers about their freedom in Jesus Christ.

A. Do not go back to bondage – Gal.5:1

Gal.5:1 Paul tells us to stand firm. Christ has set us free. It was not us who freed
ourselves, but our Lord who did it for us. God had already done the “dirty work” He had
already done the hardest part. He already gave us our freedom which we received the
moment we put our faith in Him. Our part then is to stand firm: it takes an effort to
remain in freedom. It carries the idea of being immovable, giving no ground. Not taking
even one step back. Is it because our freedom can be taken away? The simple answer is
no. our freedom can never be taken from us. Then why does Paul give this warning? It is
because there are Christians: people who have been set free by Christ, who still live and
act like they are in bondage. They have been freed from bondage, but their life still
looks like they are slaves. This should not be! We need to stand firm because all around
us the world constantly wants us to give in, and give up. Satan attacks us left and right.
He wants us to fail. But again, stand firm! We are free, so don’t act like a slave anymore!

B. Do not serve the flesh – Gal.5:13; 1Cor.6:12

Gal.5:13 this time Paul tells us to use our freedom for things that would be
pleasing to God, and edifying to man. Some people believe that once you have received
freedom, you will be free to do whatever you want. But Paul reminds us that we have
been set free for a purpose. Some people see the grace of God as a license to sin. they
use 1john1:9 as an excuse for their evil deeds. This should not be so. Rom. 6:15 grace
came to change you and me. God saved us so that we might be born again: born in the
spirit. And those who are born in the spirit should now live in the spirit, not in the flesh.
we are free indeed. We are free to do what we want. So we should choose to do what
gives glory to God. it just goes to show that if a person says that he has been saved by
God, but still chooses to commit sin, it just means that that persons salvation is
 questionable to say the least. 1Cor.6:12 Freedom has been given, so make sure that we
use it for the glory of God. (noon, nandon lang tayo sa gusto nating gawin. Ngayong
Malaya na tayo marami na tayong kayang gawin. Pero tandaan natin. Meron tayong
dapat gawin)

Application:
We need to stand firm in the freedom of Christ. We need to remain in it.

Conclusion:
For my conclusion, brothers and sisters in the Lord, freedom is so important to us, more
so now that we understand the spiritual freedom that has been given to us by God. Jesus has
set us free for a big cost, a cost you and I could never pay. We fight for our freedoms here on
earth, if we give importance to freedoms that are temporary, how much more should we value
the freedom that is for eternity? So if we have been freed by God, act like it! Jn. 8:35-36 You
are a child of God, not a slave of sin. You are now living in the spirit and not in the flesh. Do not
go back to the worthless and empty ways of your slavery.