Freedom in Christ – Life by the Spirit

Colin Bird

Galatians 5: 13-26

Do you wake up in the morning, look out the window, see the frost on the ground, watch the last of the leaves being blown from the branches by a blustery southerly, follow the grey clouds scooting across the sky disguising the sun, and say to yourself.... Thank you,
God, it’s good to be alive!

When Paul gets a message that there is frost on the ground amongst his churches and the leaves of the church (the believers) are being blown from the branches by a deceptive wind, as was the case in Galatia, he responds promptly with a letter. He wastes no time in getting to the hub of the matter – “I am astonished that you are so
quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all”
What he had heard was, that they were moving away from the message of redemption by faith in Christ and justification before God and reverting to their previous beliefs and traditions.

In the first 4 chapters Paul reminds them in depth, that the law cannot bring salvation, because their inherent sinful nature meant that they couldn’t live within the bounds of the laws. To break just one law was to break them all. Therefore, by its very existence they
were condemned. But Jesus by his sacrifice and through faith had brough them and us redemption and freedom.

Chapter 5 verse 1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery”. In other words, chained and bonded by the law.
Our reading this morning from verse 13 picks up this theme. - “You, my brothers, were called to be free”.

To be free! What does that mean?
Let’s take a moment to understand what it is or means to be free.
Freedom as defined is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants, or live in a state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
There are three types of freedom.
The first kind is a “freedom from” - a freedom from the constrains of society.
The second a “freedom to do” – to do what we want The third a “freedom to be” - to be who we want and, or who we were meant to be.

We in this country live in a state of relative freedom when compared to many others whose lives are not their own in their own country.
Freedom is subjective and is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions.
My idea of freedom in something that may and probably will differ from your thoughts or perspective on the subject But in essence are we truly free or are we actually bound by the constraints of society? Are we free to do what we want, when we want? Are we free to be who we want?

Imagine this scenario – I want to be a fireman. I want to be free to fight fires. So, when I see on the tv or get notification on social media that someone’s house on fire I can race down there, grab a hose and attend the fire. I am exercising my freedom to be and to do, but the
constraints of society would preclude me from realising my freedom. And for good reason.

Some of the constraints of society exist to prevent chaos.
God has given us free will but that doesn’t mean it comes without consequence. Just as the law of physics states that” every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, so too, every decision we make has consequence, both for ourselves and others.

“You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in sinful nature”.

A few weeks ago, we remembered Pentecost where the Holy Spirit came upon those who believed. Jesus had promised in John 14:16 that he would ask the Father to give them another Counsellor, the Spirit of truth, to be with them forever once He left. It is this very
Spirit that we are commanded to live by.
Yet the choice exists that we either live by our sinful nature, into which we were born, or we make the choice to follow the Spirit. But we cannot follow both because they conflict with each other.
Paul lists and warns us of some of the acts of a sinful nature and it is possible to put these into two categories. Simply, sins of the body and the mind.

Those of the body include – sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, drunkenness, orgies and the like.
Those of the mind include – hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissention, factions and envy.
As we consider these two lists, I put it to you, that whilst both are abhorrent, one of these has a greater capacity for harm.

Sins of the body, in essence, are self-fulfilling and to a large extent incorporate mutual consent from those involved ie. using the analogy of” it takes two to tango”.
But the second list is way more sinister. There is no mutual consent when we consider hatred, discord, jealousy, dissention, factions etc.
Can there be any positive outcome where one or more of these exist?
Of course, we are free to indulge in these attitudes but to do so is to invoke these warnings taken from verse 15” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other and verse 21, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live
like this will not inherit the kingdom of God”.

The law as it was given by God to Moses was intended to maintain the bond between himself and his people but as the laws were expanded by the people, instead of reinforcing that relationship they had the opposite effect making them more difficult to keep them.
The consequence of that was punishment and separation from God.
So how was it possible that the relationship could be reinstated, yet retain the laws that create the boundaries we need to stay on the straight and narrow.
Jesus said in Mathew 5:17 “do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfil them”.

So, the question remains, how is it that we can adhere to the laws which Jesus has vowed to fulfil, but seem impossible to uphold?
The answer is given in verse 14; “the entire law is summed up in a single command; love your neighbour as yourself”.
The power of this command comes in its simplicity – “To do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

Do you want to be hated? So don’t hate.
Do you want to live in discord? So don’t cultivate the conditions for discord to grow.
Are you part of a faction or perhaps excluded from a faction? How does that make you feel?
Does it encourage harmony?
If we adopt an attitude of love in everything we do, then upholding the principles of the law become possible or rather the need for the law falls away.
Verse 22 sums it up for us “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”.

Those of us who profess to belong to Christ Jesus should have crucified our sinful nature with all its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit, then we should be seeing the fruits of the Spirit evidenced in our lives.
We should be encouraged if we have and display some of these attributes, but we must accept that if we do not express all of them then we are still ‘work in progress’. We are not perfect and never will be, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive for perfection. For
as long as we acknowledge that we have shortcomings and conscientiously and genuinely seek to make amends, (and that’s the important aspect) I’m sure the Spirit will guide us through to redemption.
Whilst researching for this sermon I came across this explanation of what it means to walk by the Spirit: “I start off with the conviction that I’m a child of God, and that God has a plan for my life. I may never know exactly what God’s will is, but I choose to believe that God has given me a destiny that only I can fulfil; and so, I trust God to lead me in ways that are in accordance with his will. I try to start out each day by making myself available to God. Then to the best of my ability, I listen for God’s voice, look for signs of God’s presence and try to be flexible in taking the path God would have me take, even though it may be different from the path I had in mind”.
Every part of that explanation is bursting with a sense of confidence and positivity, commitment and expectation. I try to start out each day by making myself available to God.
So ........ Do you wake up in the morning, look out the window, see the frost on the ground, watch the last of the leaves being blown from the branches by a blustery southerly, follow the grey clouds scooting across the sky disguising the sun, and say to yourself.... Thank you,
God, it’s good to be alive!
No matter what the day looks like or what it may hold in store for you, remember this ...

As Paul wrote in Rom 8:38
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And then step out confidently to face your day, listening for God’s voice, looking for signs of God’s presence and try to be flexible in taking the path God would have you take, even though it may be different from the path you had in mind.
Amen.