Called Unto Liberty

All right, I was debating on just going to the verse today, but in fact maybe I will, just for the sake of time, without reading all the verses, because what I've done is taken something that Wolford has wished he had patented last week, and I told him that although he can get his ego built up by my sharing it again today, We'll have to have the Lord be dealing with him going forward. All right. So I like this, Bob. Thanks very much.

So I did cut this and paste this into our section today that I thought the kaiism really spoke very, very nicely of the whole book in terms of specifically Chapter 5 and how it relates to where we're going. So I can't tell which pair of glasses I should use for which things are done, so I'm going to come closer here. But Bob Nicely last week outlined the whole book of Galatians in terms of specifically chapter 5 and how it relates to where we're at today.

So let's review that again. Verse 1, we're going to turn to that in the presentation today. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. So that seems like a contradiction to some extent, a redundancy, but nevertheless we'll build on that theme later in the lesson this morning. Verses 2-6, a whole issue of circumcision. Christ preached it, but did not endorse it in terms of any utilization in terms of the freedom that Christ has given us today.

So, those are verses 2 through 6, and 7 through 9 you were running well, but now you're being hindered, and that hindrance is the middle of the chapter in terms of the Judaizers warned, and that's what Bob's covered the last several weeks for us. Walk restored begins today in verse 13, and that's via love for one another. That's a tough task and we'll return to that.

The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit and really that's the, if you will, the top of the mountain of Galatians 5. In fact, the entire book, actually, is the Spirit-led life. And finally, the freedom practice relates the positional truth in terms of the flesh being crucified and the conditional truths day in and day out. And by the way, I think this whole issue of living by the power of the Spirit, as we're thinking of... I'm going to set the stage for that in terms of what's going to follow, how we live by the power of the Spirit.

But this isn't simple. I mean, we have confrontations and problems exist day in and day out, and you kind of... The flesh likes to react in a reactionary manner, but that's not the new life we have in the power of the spirit. So is that something we turn on and turn off? Or if the spirit-led life is so victorious, why doesn't it just show up and relieve the fleshly response to earthly trials and tribulations?

And Marvin and I are dealing with this on the mountain property that we're living on now in terms of issues with some of the neighbors. And well, just leave it at that. But day in and day out, this power of the flesh never ceases to declare itself versus the power of the spirit.

All right, so verse 13. Stacked full of truth and application. For you, brethren, having been called to liberty, only don't use this liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. but through love serve one another. Stack first. Let's look at the ILG, which reads a little differently.

You know, if you look at the Blue Letter Bible, which I use a lot, the ILG, there's not accurately the initial translation. So I have a book that has the ILG in it. And sometimes the language is complicated because the order of the text is different than the ILG. The ILG in Blue Letter Bible tries to make it easier.

But here's the original ILG. For ye for freedom were called. brothers, only not the freedom for advantage to the flesh, but through a love serve ye as slaves to one another. Interesting, a little bit, I think a little bit more robust, don't you agree? I mean the ILG here is a little richer than the New King James. I looked at the NASB, I think again the ILG probably is a little bit more detailed in terms of its language and its application. What's for therefore? It's kind of like therefore, but here we're saying for, not therefore. What's for therefore? Don't all respond at once, please. I think that there's too much noise in the room here. All right. Okay, so what occurred before?

Well, Is it what follows in this verse an alternative for the brethren, it's actually for the brethren, from how the Judaizers have promoted or promised legal ways to prove that they've been saved? I think that's what it's there for, is to contradict the bad teaching that this body of believers at the Church of Galatia was experiencing.

And Bob, I think, over the last few weeks outlined that very clearly. Bob, you want to make a comment on that? Now, if you look at what some people feel about Yi, and I think this was emphasized by several commentators, Yi is an emphatical statement. to oppose the legalists who were misleading you or them at that time. So ye is a strong verb, I mean, a strong way to address the body of believers that ultimately this epistle is being written to, emphatic. Have been or were called heirs, passive indicative, but who was doing the calling? Who's doing the calling here?

God did. God did. Paul, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, who? Actually, I think it's the Father who calls us. It's who? It's the Father who calls us. Okay. Jesus doesn't call us, it's God who calls us. God the Father. Indirectly or? No, directly. He just, you know, He calls us. Other thoughts on that? I'm with Jim. I'm sorry? I'm with Jim. Okay, with Jim. We're not going to be voting on this. That's my thought.

You asked for my thought. In terms of being called to a liberty, who's doing the, oh God, the Father, yes, but how's that mediated? No responses. I just said it's through Christ. All right, so the calling occurs through, we're going to build this case here today. By the Holy Spirit. Oh, thank you, Bonnie. The power of the Holy Spirit. Is he calling the flesh to this liberty? No. He's calling us through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the new life we have in Christ Jesus.

And we're going to build the case for that going forward. Now, to liberty or for freedom. So, that's Eleutheracea. What I've been doing, you know, Strong, so if you go to the Blue Letter Bible, has the way to pronounce this. And he puts it in a kind of a phonetic that ultimately we can use. Eleutheracea. Eleutheracea. Okay, anyway. So that's how you pronounce that.

So, by the way, this whole liberty term, freedom or liberty, is used 11 times in the New Testament, four of which are found in the Book of Galatians. Literally translated, the word liberty or freedom means to do or to omit things having no relationship to salvation. That's the literal interpretation of this. Liberty is a freedom to do what you want, basically. So in context, we can interpret it for empowering the flesh or calling us to the power of the but the literal interpretation is make your own decisions, do what you want, freedom, liberty.

All right, so this term could be also translated as an advantage which the interlener Greek did actually when applied to the flush. It could be an opportunity or occasion. Aforme, aforme is a military term used to indicate intention to do something. It's not necessarily the action of doing it, but it's an intention to do it, used in a military sense. That's the original Greek interpretation.

Now, this liberty of freedom can be directed as an advantage or as an opportunity for the flesh or to serve one another with love. Strong says this, that by which endeavor is excited and from which it goes forth and that which gives occasion and supplies matter for an understanding, the incentive, the resources we avail ourselves of, in attempting or performing anything. So Strong gives you various options by way this liberty of freedom can be interpreted. And basically to summarize what I did here, in context it says an advantage or an opportunity for the flesh to serve or to serve one another with love. Those are the options for this freedom as it's being applied.

Say Bob? Yes? Doesn't freedom Freedom here in chapter five, doesn't it mean freedom from being under the law, but not to be free to do anything we want? I said the literal interpretation. The original Greek interpretation doesn't apply to salvation. In context, you're right. And we're going to get this, and I'm going to build this case in more detail.

So Strong's, again, says this in three or four different ways, but basically it says the same thing. Now notice the difference in how the outcome of the liberty is expressed to the flesh versus to the spirit. It's expressed as advantage for the flesh, but it's also to serve in terms of this freedom to love one another, to serve as bond slaves to love one another. Think about that, being called to be a bond slave of love. how incredibly, two things, how profound that is, and number two, how difficult that is, because the flesh has no capacity in terms of loving in the way Christ has called us to love one another. So again, we're building a case to follow here. For believers, how should we interpret this liberty or freedom? And Bob, why don't you go ahead and expound what your thoughts are a little bit more.

Well, before Christ's death on the cross, we were all under bondage to the law, or to our own sin nature. And now we're no longer under that bondage, but it doesn't mean that we're free to just do whatever we want. Well, should I continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, no, absolutely not.

Paul mentions that also in 1 Corinthians 8.13. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

Okay, so we have a freedom there. Yeah, and has levity. There's people who believe that freedom means that, you know, we don't have to obey laws, we don't have to... that's antinomianism. Okay, that's where we're at here, for sure. Right. All right, let's go ahead a little bit forward here. I often turn to words of our Lord and Savior, and this may be out of context a bit, but nevertheless, it's in the Gospel of John, which is not necessarily not applicable to the church, although we can apply some things and maybe not all.

But in John 8.36 it says, Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. So, what did Christ perhaps mean in terms of the application to us as believers today? What did He mean by that? What do you think? What's Christ's indication that He's going to make us free? The power of sin. Thank you. Yes, okay. Bondage of sin and the law. Okay. So, in terms of identification truth, what does this mean, being made free? I'm sorry? Two answers at the same time. They were the same though, right?

From our sin nature? It's a power to be free from living a life of sin. That freedom he creates in us, conditionally, is one to live a new life. A life that's not sourced and dedicated to the flesh and the old man living through the power of sin that we all have, day in and day out. That's what being made free is. That's the way I interpret this. Now, what are we free? We're freed from what? I just mentioned one thing. We're freed from the power of the flesh. What else are we freed from in context?

Well, we're freed from the mosaic and any other law system. Remember, the Greek term is nomos. That's not simply Mosaic law, but Wolfer always keeps us all in context. In context, this is the Mosaic, the Judaizers, bringing you into a Mosaic law system in terms of living the Christian life. We're freed from that. Or any other law system.

We're free from that. We're freed from the source and the power of sin in the flesh. That's what I think what Christ meant by when he's going to set us free, he's going to set us free indeed. Freed not only the consequences of sin, but also the power of sin in the existing life and of Satan and his rule in or around our lives in general. So remember, the three adversities are our flesh, the sin nature, the mosaic legal system, which doesn't save anybody, and the final thing is Satan himself. Now, how much power does Satan have in the Christian life? People got some ideas there. Does Satan have any power over us? If we give it to him. If we give it to him, Jim? Other thoughts? He can influence us. Okay, through what mechanism, Bob? Well, look around you. Every commercial you see on TV, every billboard. Every football game? Yeah. I don't know. I don't watch football. You can't even define it.

Isn't it good we can have fun and laugh in the Lord? Anyway, maybe we're not laughing. One thing we're free from is we don't have to keep trying to live a good life. I think that's very important. We're free from trying so hard to please the Lord. We don't have to do that. We just have to live by faith. Good. All right, so let's set the stage for how to best and apply this freedom and liberty. So this is what I have intended to take home from this verse. So let's begin. This is, I think, solid Holly Hill's Christianity 101. First of all, we're called to and positioned as righteous. I always think my Christian life begins with who I am in heavenly places.

Remember, we had an interesting discussion with a Jewish couple on Friday night about him teaching now at Denver University about how he's going to merge Judaism with Christianity in terms of understanding how we approach the world system. So we shared the gospel with him. He's heard it from us before. But ultimately, he doesn't see, in fact, he, I think, didn't disagree with the fact that Israel's an earthly group of people.

And I tried to confirm with him, scripturally, that we're called and positioned as righteous. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, one of my favorite verses, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we not might become, that we are made, in fact, first class conditional.

We are righteous before God in Christ. And to build on that a little bit, we're going to cover in Romans probably three months from now, Romans 8-17, we're joint heirs. We're actually adopted into the family of God. We're made righteous positionally.

If you don't begin there, everything that shows up in the power of the flesh, the world system, and Satan falls short of God's glory. You've got to see us the way He sees us. We're members of the heavenly family. not after we die here. Remember, we were saved, we're being saved, and we're going to be saved and ultimately glorified. But right now, positionally, we're looked at as righteous.

And I remind myself of that all the time when I fall into fleshly thoughts and ways. So, we carry no consequences before the Lord from our earthly birth and existence in the atom nature. Yes, we know there are two atoms. and the first Adam, Roger, Miles, and Mike are covering in detail in the service.

Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

After all, wretched man that I am. And you know, the Romans 7 experience, I think that most of Christianity doesn't understand the Roman seventh experience, you just think they're failing a little bit. That, gee, you know, I'm not doing as well as I need to. I need to work harder.

No, as Roger said, I think there's a peace and a rest in our positional truths of who we are in Christ Jesus. So, no condemnation. Isn't that great to think that all that stuff that shows up in the three ways that we're put under penalty or ultimately legalistic modification of our performance, isn't it nice to know there's no condemnation? And were new creations in Christ Jesus? 2 Corinthians 5 said, therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Romans 8.3, therefore, we were buried with him through baptism unto death. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. We're new creations, and that walk is in our new creations.

Philippians 1.21 says it all, for me to live as Christ, to die as Cain. Either way you win there, by the way. But to live as Christ, that's that new creation that we're positioned to live in conditionally.

And also, therefore, as Bob reminded us as we started this chi-ism, Verse 1, chapter 5, stand fast therefore in the livery by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again to any kind of bondage, whether it be mosaic, legal bondage, or any other kind of bondage. So our position in Christ and our walk in faith-based is faith-based and dependent on and conditioned by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8-2, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Galatians 5-16, I say then, we'll be coming to this perhaps next week, walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

And we're to serve as slaves or bond slaves one another with a love. Interestingly enough in the interlinear Greek there's a modifier of love. It's a love, a certain kind of love, which is agape. I mean, we all know that agape love is not conditional love. Some of the things that are happening on our mountain, we don't like a couple of people that are actually instituting all the problems on the mountain. But I said to Margaret on our way here, but I'm going to talk this morning about this different kind of love. And Scripture doesn't call us to like anyone.

The love that's extended through, by the way, the power of the Spirit in the new creations we are in Christ Jesus is a whole different entity. So, notice the article, A, before love, in the ILG. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win them all. And that's a whole different kind of love.

So, question to the class. How are you, me, all of us doing in this service of love and bondage for one another? How are we doing there? Define this copy love and how it's impacting your life. I need some comments. Margaret, we'll need to call in someone else here. Will you answer Tex? So in other words, here's the question that we could discuss a little bit.

Let's compare the love of the old nature versus that of the Holy Spirit. Is this something we turn on and turn off? I mean, I think sometimes we can become schizophrenic in our walk in grace and the power of the Spirit. Gee, was that of the flesh or was that of the Spirit?

I think this new life to live in Christ, for me to live is Christ, is a whole different entity than ultimately we don't need to ponder and think about. We live by faith, don't we? So we're not there to measure how well we're doing. We're measured to live by faith. And that love, that agape love, shows up in our lives to be a dependency that's spirit-led in the truths of what God has revealed.

Your thoughts, some interaction, please. Andrew, Roy, Jim, Peter, Bonnie, Margaret, Patty, Heidi, Not Wayne, though, back there. We've already seen too many pictures of you, Wayne, in the last few weeks. What's his name? Can you hear me? Ron? Yeah, please, go ahead. Gail. Is that Gail? No, it's Roy.

It comes out to me in this passage is that the love under the law was to love as we love ourselves. but the love under the Holy Spirit revealing Christ to us and His love as it extends away from ourselves to His love unto death. Love as I have loved you unto death. So is that something where we turn on or we turn off sometimes? How is this expressed in our lives? That's an express of the life that we now have in Christ. It's a new life that we're willing to give our lives for our brothers. Okay, other thoughts?

Comparing the love of the old nature versus that of the Holy Spirit. I guess I see a lot, the old nature, I think self, kind of the way I think of it, self. And when you feel like self is kind of just, I'm bothered because that's bothering me, you know. Well, you want to defend it. Yeah. That's the thing. And I guess, but that's where the Holy Spirit, I think, convicts, you know, to say, no, is this, is this, is this the Lord, or is this my spirit, or is this your flesh? It is a battle. But, you know, that's where you say, no, I think recognizing that I'm acting out of the flesh versus...

And the Holy Spirit's job is to convict but also to uplift and encourage. I think when we walk in the new creations we are in Christ Jesus, we don't need to even pay attention to that because the life is lived out so naturally by faith in us. Let's see what someone smarter than me might say about this. Say, Bob, before you go to that, if we're commanded are encouraged to walk by means of the Spirit, doesn't that also mean that it's possible not to walk by means of the Spirit? No, absolutely. This liberty, by the way, could be to the flesh, right? So, how does this relate to, are we in or are we out, back and forth?

Your condition? Well, that's what I was going to say. A lot of the old nature is conditional. Well, that's a condition of the old nature of loving that only goes so far. It's circumstantial and self-centered. I think Weiss will deal with that, Peter. Let's look at that.

So, Weiss, the Greek word for love here is agape, which refers not to human affection, but to divine love, the love produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit and the love with which that believer should love his fellow believers. This love is a love whose chief essence is self-sacrifice, thank you Patty, self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one who's being loved. Such a love means death to self and that means defeat for sin since the essence of sin is self-will. and self-gratification for the benefit of the one who is love. Such a love means death to self for benefit of the one who is being loved. Such a love means death to self, and that means defeat for sin, since the essence of sin is self-will and self-gratification. Just to confirm that, Bob, I thought I might say that Gail has been yelling at me to talk to you. And what you just said is what she said.

So I think that's great. Wow. Gail, you could be teaching from me in times going forward here. No, that's great. That's really good. All right, so, and also others have something to say about this. Kotzebuel, I think, revealed something kind of interesting, and I thought that was worth sharing with you today.

Under Grace, dot, dot, dot, it's a much longer passage, the Mosaic Law was revelatory. And he quotes that, we're going to look at that quote in a second, even though it does not have regulatory value controlling our behavior. Kind of a complicated phrase. The Mosaic Law has revelatory value. And of course, Second Timothy is something we'll recognize. So let's go back to the Old Testament.

Leviticus 19.18, you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I'm the Lord. So the demand was for the Israelite to love one another.

But we know how far short they fell of that, like we do as believers, in terms of the power of the old man, the Adam nature, the flesh, the sin nature, to love in that way. But 2 Timothy, I think, is broadly interpreted by Constable here. Let's read it. All scripture, if we know this well, is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work in terms of loving one another. And I forget who said this, but God first loved us, that we might love one another. I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but in effect. The inspiration of God means God breathed That God does what? God breathed. God, okay.

And only cures once a hoppock's legomena. I think we think of our day-to-day experiences in terms of allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us in this power of God giving love for one another. That becomes hard because the flesh ain't there. It's just not there. And I think as we walk in the power of the Spirit, then that love is expressed with us considering, gee, I did pretty well with my loving in the power of the Spirit.

No. I think once we start to reflect on was that the power of the Spirit or not, I think the Holy Spirit constantly reminds us when we fall short. And sometimes he doesn't. In fact, I think most of the time he doesn't, because Martha's on my case about a lot of things. We'll talk after class, OK? Anyway, other thoughts about how this love of one another and the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested or reflected? I think when we use a yardstick to measure our performance, we are also using a yardstick of the flesh. Well, God hasn't told us.

He's told us to exercise faith. Faith is a key aspect. The believer brings to the table this faith. for salvation, for his Christian walk. Faith is the main focus for the believer, and it's faith in what Christ has done for us, faith in who he is. And how did Schofield define faith? Believing what God has revealed.

We could go to Hebrews 12.1 and memorize that verse, but Schofield made it simple. Faith is simply believing what God has revealed.

And for the believer, We can be founded in Old Testament principles, and I think it was good that Constable O'Connor returned us to the fact that loving one another was also a task given to the Israelite. But he or she failed miserably, as we do in the flesh. But remember, our Christian walk that relates to this liberty we have to serve one another as bond slaves in love begins with our position. God sees us as righteous. and as our condition continues to grow in grace, that position becomes our condition. Bob, you can't measure faith, so you can't measure obedience. But God does, doesn't He? Well, God does, but He doesn't reveal that to us. If we live by faith, then we're going to be obedient, but you can't measure that.

Alright, time's up and let's summarize as Garvey does. Garvey says, the Christian, truly free from the yoke of sin, positional truth. as well as from its condemnation for Christ is risen in his life as well as in his righteousness and the spirit and the power and the guide of his walk towards glory and according to Christ.

That's all in parenthesis. Instead of serving his lust, the freedom we have to do that, seeks to serve others as free to do it in love. Thus, the law itself is fulfilled without our being under its yoke. And for the whole practical law is summed up in this word, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

And that's perhaps the greatest demonstration of who we are as believers. And how that's manifested I think we all have to kind of look at in our day-to-day lives. The Spirit will convict us if in fact that love of the Lord is not there. But how to turn it on and turn it off is simply by faith. That's what God, that's how He sees us and how He is in fact telling us to live day in and day out.

Any other closing thoughts? Jim, close us in prayer, would you please? Father, this is so difficult to really understand, but if we would just, I guess, if I just live by faith, then I'm going to live in love. If I trust in you, then yeah, I'm going to live, you're going to live your life through me. So I ask that you just help us to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. And this is all we can ask. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.