On the first of January, 1863, the American Emancipation Proclamation came into effect. By it, all of the black slaves in the United States were set free. Yet a strange thing happened, for many continued to live in slavery. When an Alabama slave was asked what he thought of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator he replied, ‘I don’t know nothin’ ’bout Abraham Lincoln cep they say he sot us free. And I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that neither’.¹

It is not enough to declare someone as being free if they ‘don’t know nothin’ ’bout it’ – instead, they must be taught and shown what it means to be free. And, as we shall see, this is very close to the Apostle Paul’s heart, for he spends the final two chapters laying out his vision for the freedom a Christian is to enjoy. It is a freedom bought at great price, and not to be squandered. It is a freedom to pursue a different kind of service: not the forced servitude of slavery, but the willing service of love for one another. It is not a freedom characterised by the indulgence of the sinful nature, but of growth and health and goodness. Above all, this freedom that Paul speaks of is a spiritual freedom, of walking in step with the Holy Spirit, of standing firm in the midst of conflict and cooperating with the Spirit’s work in our lives.

Tonight we will survey spiritual freedom under the following headings: purpose, origin, interruption, nature and battle.

The purpose of spiritual freedom (Gal 5:1)

A study done some years ago found that nearly 60% of smokers undergoing surgery for heart disease continue to smoke after their procedure.² Even though this was exactly the action that led to them requiring surgery in the first place, they have somehow failed to understand the purpose of their newly restored health. Why were they cured? So they could be healthy, of course; not so they could destroy their health all over again.

We sense some measure of frustration in Paul, akin to a cardiologist doing a follow up with a patient who smells of nicotine. ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery’ (Gal 5:1 NIV, emphasis added). In ancient times, one of the ways a slave might be freed would be that his master sold him to one of the pagan gods; in such a case, the former slave would be presented with a document stating he had been freed ’for freedom’, and ‘let no man henceforth enslave him’. Technically he remained the slave of the god, but in the eyes of men he was a free man.³

It seems strange to our ears to hear of smokers returning to smoking, or of slaves returning to slavery. Why do they do it? Perhaps, like the Israelites in the wilderness it is a question of comfort: they remember the familiar things, the things they enjoyed, and block out the negatives. ‘Better the devil you know’, they say or, ‘We may have been slaves, but at least we knew where our next meal was coming from.’ And in so saying, they forget that they were slaves, subject to oppression by cruel masters. Or maybe it is just old habits, like an alcoholic ordering a beer or a gambling addict turning to the form guide, forgetting for the moment that they have left those things behind.

Friends, if you belong to Jesus Christ, you have been redeemed from slavery. I don’t know the specifics of the slavery that you have been redeemed from. Perhaps your life was characterised by pride, envy or bitterness; maybe you lived for the approval of others, or your own ambitions; or was it greed? anger? lust? Or, perhaps worst of all, maybe you were saved from your own religiosity, your attempts to prove yourself a Christian by church attendance, giving an outward appearance of Christian character and behaviour. Whatever it was, there will be times when those things seem pretty attractive, or when you act out of habit. The Apostle’s instruction is clear: don’t forget that they are slavery, that you have been set free, so stand firm.

The origin of spiritual freedom (Gal 5:2-6)

In the case of the Galatians, they were not actually returning to the same slavery they had been redeemed from, but were being sold a new kind of ‘freedom’.⁴ Jewish boys were circumcised in order to show their obedience to the law of God, hence claiming for themselves the covenant promises God made to Abraham (Gen 17:10-14). Perhaps the argument went that the Galatians could not be granted the ‘freedom’ as sons of Abraham unless they were first circumcised, as Abraham’s sons were.

But Paul is intent to show that this ‘freedom’ is not really freedom at all, if it is founded on this rite and the law that goes with it. To this end, he mobilises every scrap of his authority as an apostle:⁵ ‘I, Paul,’ the circumcised Jew and expert in the law, proud of my heritage as a Jew;⁶ ‘I, Paul,’ the apostle who brought the Gospel to Galatia, who has undergone the pains of giving birth to you not once but now a second time (Gal 4:19); ‘I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.’ And, in case you missed it back in chapter 3, when I said that ‘All who rely on observing the law are under a curse’ (Gal 3:10),⁷ ‘Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.’ In the original language here, the words translated ‘value’ and ‘obliged’ sound similar; we might get something of the contrast by translating, ‘You will not profit from Christ but will be in debt to the law.’⁸ Obligation and debt is not the way of freedom!

Paul continues, arguing that those seeking to be justified by law have driven a wedge between themselves and Christ. Jesus provides unlimited help to those who trust in him; those who seek to bypass his saving work and make themselves acceptable by other means receive no help at all from him, for they have fallen away from grace.⁹

This is a warning for us. It is true that, if you belong to Christ, he has promised to keep you by his grace. But just like road signs and guard rails that help keep us safely on the road, warnings like this remind us to keep putting our trust in Christ.¹⁰

The answer, Paul says, is not what you do, but what you hope for. ‘But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope’ (Gal 5:5). Note the vicious circle: lack of faith or lack of hope makes us want to ensure our own salvation now; but such attempts are ever uncertain or, rather, certain to fail, so faith and hope are destroyed.¹¹ Turning this around, however, when we put our faith in Jesus our hope is certain and secure, for there is nothing uncertain about hope in the New Testament.¹² If you belong to Christ Jesus, his obedience to God in his life and in his death have won for you the title ‘child of God’ (Gal 3:26), and if you are a child then you will share in the inheritance (Gal 3:29; 4:7). Because you are a child of God, he has sent his Holy Spirit into your heart (Gal 4:6) and it is through this same Spirit that we await the future proclamation of our righteousness.

Friends, there is a clear choice before you: on the one hand, you can choose to try and achieve your own righteousness, in which case Christ is of no value to you, and you have no hope; or you can put your faith in Christ, in which case neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. True freedom comes from faith in Jesus Christ.

The interruption of the Galatians’ spiritual freedom (Gal 5:7-12)

At some point, the Galatians must have understood this. For Paul, taking up again one of his favourite metaphor of the Christian life,¹³ says, ‘You were running a good race’ (Gal 5:7). This image, taken from the ancient athletic track, illustrates Paul’s image of freedom well. There is a clear goal (the finish line), and we must keep moving towards that goal. Yet there are also lanes that mark out the direction, and failure to keep within these lines results in disqualification. Paul suggests someone has left their lane, disqualifying themselves in the process, and ‘cut in’ on the Galatians preventing them from running towards the goal.

Who were these navigationally challenged competitors? The people who had come to Galatia trying to convince the Galatians to accept circumcision. In fact, ‘cut in’ here may well be double entendre, referring to both the race metaphor and to circumcision itself.
A question arises, though: If, as Paul has said, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any value (Gal 5:6), why not be on the safe side in case circumcision really does matter to God in the end? This is what some people want to do today, deliberately speaking in language of ‘spirituality’ or of ‘god’ in such vague terms that it might include the God of the Bible, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, Mother Nature, the Divine Self or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Kind of an each-way bet.

Paul has already offered a number of arguments against this line of thinking: circumcision means abandoning Christ (Gal 5:2), and being obligated to obey the whole law (Gal 5:3). Here he offers another two arguments. Firstly, the persuasion does not come from the one who called them (Gal 5:8). This may refer to Paul himself, but in view of what he says in chapter 1 about the Gospel originating with Jesus, I believe he probably means Christ here. ‘Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!’ (Gal 1:8) Indeed, here he says ‘The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty’ (Gal 5:10).

The second argument offered again circumcision is that ‘a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough’ (Gal 5:9). Yeast was a common image for sin in the Old Testament: hence in preparation for OT feasts such as passover, the Israelites were instructed to eat only bread baked without yeast. Here the point is that allowing even a little sinful thinking or action into our life and the life of our church results in the whole thing being contaminated. A friend of mine told me recently about having spent some time preparing a baking tray ready for baking. Having completed this, however, his wife decided to take out the trash and, in the process of removing the garbage managed to drip ‘bin juice’ into the baking tray. I can’t imagine there was a vast quantity of ‘bin juice’; yet a little bin juice would spoil the effort! And sin spreads. We treat cancer as soon as it is detected, even if it is very small and inconsequential at the time, because it is the nature of cancer to grow and to spread.

There is an important lesson here: when it comes to sin, do not compromise. Do not allow it a foot in the door. Do not tell yourself that it is ‘harmless’ because it doesn’t directly impact anyone else, and no-one else needs to know. Examine what you are taught carefully: is it consistent with the Gospel? does it come from the one who called you, that is, Jesus Christ? If not, don’t mess around, don’t dip your toe in. Don’t even settle for ‘I guess he or she is entitled to their opinion’; Paul certainly doesn’t. In verse 12 he says, in effect, ‘So cutting a little bit off makes you holy? Why not go for the big-time and cut it all off!’ Some scholars have suggested that Paul is also inviting the consequence pronounced on the emasculated: removal from the community (Deut. 23:1).¹⁴ If this is so, it is an echo of the curse pronounced upon anybody promoting a different ‘gospel’ (Gal 1:8-9).

The nature of spiritual freedom (Gal 5:13-15)

In strong contrast to the circumcisers, upon whom Paul has pronounced a curse, he continues, ‘You, my brothers, were called to be free’ (Gal 5:13).¹⁵ Disappointed and astonished as he is with their behaviour, the Apostle expresses his confidence that they will return to their calling: freedom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you are called to freedom! This is what it means to be a Christian, and it is a glorious truth. The tragedy is that so many don’t understand this. The common image people have of Christianity today is not freedom, but a cruel bondage. This is, I suggest, because the world has a vastly different definition of freedom.

Here are some common, worldly definitions of ‘freedom’:

• President Roosevelt spoke in 1941 of ‘freedom of speech everywhere, freedom of worship everywhere, freedom from want everywhere and freedom from fear everywhere’;¹⁶
• The Rolling Stones sang:
  

  I’m free to do what I want any old time
  I’m free to do what I want any old time
  So love me hold me love me hold me
  I’m free any old time to get what I want

• We pester our governments for freedom of information;
• We claim our ‘free will’ as the highest authority over our actions.

So what kind of freedom is the Christian called to? Paul offers an answer in two parts: it is not for indulging the sinful nature; it is for serving one another in love. He then goes on to expand on these, describing the battle with the sinful nature for the rest of this chapter, and then describing how we can serve one another in love in chapter 6. Since we will look at chapter 6 next week, for now I will just note how strange it is that freedom should be defined in terms of service (or, literally, slavery)!

The battle of spiritual freedom (Gal 5:16-26)

The phrase ‘indulge the sinful nature’ in verse 13 might more literally be translated, ‘offer an opportunity to the flesh’.¹⁷ The word ‘opportunity’ is used in military contexts for a place from which an offensive is launched, or a base of operations. The point being made is similar to the one about the yeast in the bread, above, but transposed into the language of battle rather than the language of the home.

Make no mistake: the Christian life is a battle. But, unlike other battles, the outcome is never in doubt. Paul promises straight away that if you ‘walk by the Spirit… you will not gratify the desires of the flesh’ (Gal 5:16, emphasis added).

Picture the image of two armies at war: on the one side are arrayed the forces of the flesh, and their desire is destruction; on the other side are those who walk by the Spirit, following his leadership. Once, you fought on the side of the flesh. Perhaps you were a volunteer, or perhaps you were simply drafted, but the fact was you fought and lived for the flesh. And the following the way of the flesh is the road to destruction. But now, in Christ, you have been rescued from that, set free to fight alongside the one who freed you, to ‘walk in step’ with him. ‘Follow the orders of your general’, Paul says, ‘and the enemy will not, can not, accomplish his goal of destroying you.’ You are no longer ‘under law’,¹⁸ but you are under orders, and those orders emanate from the Spirit.

Yet sometimes soldiers offer an ‘opportunity’ to the enemy, whether by negligence, incompetence or disobedience to orders. Paul offers us a means for keeping tabs on our actions and constantly assessing whether we are acting according to the Spirit’s orders.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Gal 5:19-21)

These are the acts of enemy agents, seeking to sabotage the army of the Spirit. And what do we do with enemy agents? Paul’s instruction is blunt: crucify them! No slap on the wrist; no, ‘you seem like a nice bloke so I’ll let you go’; no mercy; no pity; no opportunity for rationalisation or justification. Clear and simple: crucify them, put them to death, nail them to a cross and make sure they don’t come down until dead. A theologian once wrote, ‘be killing sin or it will be killing you’.¹⁹

This means that we have a responsibility to act when we recognise the acts of the sinful nature in our lives. We must confess and repent of our sin, both before God and before those we have sinned against. The trouble is that crucifixion, whilst a certain death, is also a lingering death.²⁰ Too often, we hang around at the foot of the cross, to pity it, to long for its release. We need to learn to leave those sins there.

When some jealous, proud, malicious or impure thought invades our mind we must kick it out at once. It is fatal to begin to examine it and consider whether we are going to give in to it or not. We have declared war on it; we are not going to resume negotiations. We have settled the issue for good; we are not going to re-open it. We have crucified the flesh; we are never going to draw the nails.²¹

Being in an army means fighting alongside others. We are not lone warriors, but are joined together in support of one another. But how do we know who is on our side? How do we tell which orders are coming from our general, and which are planted by the enemy?

Changing metaphors, Paul speaks of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-3). The thing about fruit is that it grows according to the species of the tree. Apple trees produce apples. Grape vines produce grapes. And so on. Do you think my son will have to work hard in order to grow tall like me? Or will my daughter have to strive to grow as beautiful as her mother? Of course not. These things will happen naturally, for they are part of their genetic makeup.

These fruits or, rather, this fruit (for it is singular), is the means by which we can recognise our allies in the fight. They are the uniform, the passwords that authenticate the orders we receive. We must learn to recognise friend from foe. And we must learn to trust one another. As one author writes:

Since the ultimate goal of salvation is for us individually to belong as a growing, contributing, edifying member of the people of God, others in the body exist for the same purpose, and thus should serve you in the same way. Don’t try to be a lone ranger Christian, slugging it out on your own. Seek out those in the community to whom you can be accountable and let them join you in your desire to grow into Christ’s likeness.²²

When Paul writes, ‘Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit’ (Gal 5:25), he is speaking of soldiers marching in formation, of drawing up in battle lines together to face the enemy.

Friends, take advantage of the resources of this army of God. Join with other Christians to learn from God’s word, to sing praises to our God, to offer prayers for one another and to carry out the mission assigned to us. This can be in large groups (like coming to church) but I recommend getting together with a small group as well, because this is where the rubber really hits the road, in all of these areas.

I believe this message is a really practical one for us. War, rather than perfection, characterises the normal Christian life; if we are engaged in the conflict then we should not become downcast. Instead, we should look to the Spirit who leads us, trusting that he is in control, and that his strategy will ultimately prevail. We are called to march in step with him.

Conclusion

In closing, I can do no better than to offer again the words of the Apostle Paul:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1)

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. (Gal 5:13)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal 5:24-5)

Bibliography

Boice, James Montgomery. Galatians. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas. Accordance electronic ed, Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977.

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Accordance electronic ed, New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Cole, R. A. The Letter of Paul to the Galatians : An Introduction and Commentary. 2nd ed, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 1989.

Dunn, James D. G. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1993.

Fee, Gordon D. Paul, the Spirit and the People of God. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

Fung, Ronald Y. K. The Epistle to the Galatians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988.

Martin, Ralph P. Reconciliation : A Study of Paul’s Theology, New Foundations Theological Library. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981.

McWilliams, David B. Galatians, Mentor Commentary. Tain, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2009.

Morris, Leon. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. 3rd Revised ed. Grand Rapids,: Eerdmans, 1965.

“Most Smokers Continue to Light up after Heart Surgery.” American Heart Association, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981112075613.htm.

Owen, John. Overcoming Sin&Temptation. Edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006.

Schreiner, Thomas R. Galatians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Galatians. Accordance electronic ed, The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984.

Swindoll, Charles R. Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations&Quotes (Formerly Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories: A Collection of Stories, Anecdotes, Illustrations, and Quotes), Swindoll Leadership Library. Nashville: Word Pub., 1998.

Endnotes

1. Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations&Quotes (Formerly Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories: A Collection of Stories, Anecdotes, Illustrations, and Quotes), Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville: Word Pub., 1998), 524-5.
2. “Most Smokers Continue to Light up after Heart Surgery,” American Heart Association, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981112075613.htm.
3. Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 3rd Revised ed. (Grand Rapids,: Eerdmans, 1965), 14. cf. Deissman, cited in R. A. Cole, The Letter of Paul to the Galatians : An Introduction and Commentary, 2nd ed., The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 1989), 185. Note, however, Martin, who claims this has failed as a satisfactory explanation of the verse, Ralph P. Martin, Reconciliation : A Study of Paul’s Theology, New Foundations Theological Library (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981), 39.
4. This verse is the first clear indication that the issue at stake was circumcision. Thomas R. Schreiner, Galatians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010), 312.
5. Betz, cited in Ibid., 313.
6. 2 Cor 11:22 ; Phil 3:5-6
7. Ibid., 311.
8. James D. G. Dunn, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1993), 265.
9. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, Accordance electronic ed., New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 229.
10. Schreiner, Galatians, 319.
11. Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 283.; David B. McWilliams, Galatians, Mentor Commentary (Tain, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2009), 188.
12. Cole, Galatians, 192.; Dunn, Galatians, 270.
13. 1 Cor 9:24-26; Gal 2:2; Phil 2:16; 2 Tim 4:7.
14. Ronald Y. K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988), 242.
15. Note the emphatic position of Υμεῖς at the beginning of the sentence. James Montgomery Boice, Galatians, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas, Accordance electronic ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), ad loc. and Fung, Galatians, 244.
16. John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians, Accordance electronic ed., The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 139.
17. So ESV. cf. Ibid., 140.; Cole, Galatians, 204.
18. Paul uses ‘under’ elsewhere in Galatians (Gal 3:10, 22, 25; 4:3, 4, 5, 21) always negatively. cf. Schreiner, Galatians, 345.
19. John Owen, Overcoming Sin&Temptation, ed. Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006), 50.
20. Stott, Galatians, 151.
21. Ibid., 152.
22. Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit and the People of God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 138.