Sermon Overview
Scripture Passage: Galatians 5:1
We live in a world that speaks much about freedom but knows little about it. Jesus came to set the captives free, to break the power of sin.
Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” When we understand the dimensions and dynamics of freedom in Christ, we can live liberated lives.
In Jesus Christ, we are free from the bondage of legalism.
In Galatians 1:6, Paul questions why some deserted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and followed a “different gospel”. The specific “gospel” these believers bought into had to do with self-effort and good works. But the true Gospel reminds us of God’s unconditional love. We cannot earn salvation on our own; it is the grace of God alone that saves us from our sins.
Adrian Rogers says, “God’s love is an action toward us, not a reaction to us. It is not based on what we are but on who He is.” The true Gospel of grace speaks of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; anything else is false.
We’re also free from the bondage of criticism.
There are some who entangle fellow believers with their own preferences and subject them to criticism. But we must stand fast in the liberty in which Christ has made us free. Though we must be conscious of our weaker brothers, we cannot be in bondage to them. Every demand of the law has been paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ. We must remember who we are in Him and that He loves us.
Finally, we’re saved from the bondage of fatalism, or the elemental forces of nature.
In Galatians 4, Paul discusses the Galatian church’s fascination with astrology. In their obsession, some of these believers had enslaved themselves to the idea of fate. But Christ has set us free from the slavery of circumstance. We were in the heart and mind of God before the foundations of the world were established.
The cross of Jesus Christ reminds us that when we die to ourselves, we find liberated living.
Apply it to your life
Are you living the executed, energized life in Christ? Don’t stay in bondage today; you’ve been set free from legalism, criticism, and fatalism. Praise God for all He’s done in your life and walk with Him.