For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.—Galatians 5:1
  

Our theme in Pastor Jason’s three-week absence has been Worship, Prayer, and Word. Dan asked me, with some hesitation, if I would take the week on the Word. He asked hesitantly because he knows I’m not a preacher—and my knee-jerk reaction was to say “No.” I didn’t immediately decline, but rather responded, “Let me think and pray and I’ll get back to you next week.” I didn’t immediately decline because even as Dan asked me to preach, this thought came to my mind: “Does the Word make any difference in our lives?” I thought, “That question is worthy of a sermon.”

You see, I have a problem; one that I’m confident you share with me. My functional theology doesn’t always match my confessional theology. That is, what I say and do in response to my situations and circumstances (functional theology) doesn’t always match what I say I believe to be true (confessional theology). What comes out of my heart doesn’t always match what is in my head. When I honestly appraise myself, I see an imperfect, broken, sinful, follower of Christ. What I deserve is his wrath, not his grace. I feel stuck. It’s as if I am in bondage to my condition. I’m so quick to forget the promises of this book. But I also know how often, when I turn to the Word, God meets me powerfully. I want to encourage us all to do that more often. In the midst of life’s struggles, remember God; turn to God. Go to this book, the Word, to seek God and his grace. 

Here is a thought that encourages me often. The people written about in this book, the “stars” of God’s great story of redemption, are imperfect, broken, sinful people who come from imperfect, broken, sinful families. They are just like me, just like you. Their lives are sometimes a mess. But these are the types of people God works with. After all, what other kinds of people are there? The story of my life is not in this book and your story is not recorded in the pages of this book, but if you are in Christ, you are part of God’s great redemptive story. You are part of what God is doing. And don’t doubt this: God is doing something—and it is marvelous to behold!

One of the benefits of being on staff at a large church is that I am exposed to a lot of things. I see more situations here in a year than many pastors see in a lifetime. And honestly, some of the stories that I hear ... well, you couldn’t make this stuff up. Some of you have stories like that: you couldn’t make them up. I love getting involved in these stories, the hard ones; the harder, the stranger, the better. Weird isn’t it?  But I love it! I love it is because in those types of situations, where is the only hope? The only hope is that God would show up and do a miracle. And I’ve seen it! I’ve been there when his Spirit shows up! God is able to do more than we could ever imagine possible and he often does, when we turn to him.

Now don’t think that you have to have some bizarre story before you seek counsel in this church. I mean I have heard plenty of the more generic kinds of stories too: conflict, in-law issues, rebellious children, depression, hard marriages—the everyday stuff of life. But you know what, the people with the most unusual stories and the people with the everyday issues really share the same struggles. We all share the same struggle. How do we stand as sinful man living in a fallen world before a just and righteous and holy God? How do we even stand, much less move forward boldly in hope? Gil talked about this last week.

When I sit down with people for the very first time, after they tell me their story, I almost always ask this question: “Where is God in your story?” I have just listened for 30–40 minutes about something that is hard; hard to talk about, hard to experience, hard to know what to do; but God is not there. I’m not putting anybody down. I’m the same way, just ask my wife. When life gets hard, we forget about God. Folks, we need to bring him in to our stories. You know that God is right there, don’t you? He knows what’s happening, what you are experiencing. He’s allowed your struggle to be there and he is doing something in the midst of it. Look for him; look to him.

I want to do an experiment this morning. I want us to have a group counseling session. It’s going to take some effort on your part; some thinking and imagination, but try this with me. You are the group. My hope is that we would all be helped this morning. But I also want to equip you to self-counsel in the future. If this works, it will be personal and it will be sanctifying. Who knows, you may even be able to speak a word of hope into the life of someone else this week.

Are you ready? Think back over the events of the last week. Is there anything you would change if you could? Was there anything especially hard, difficult, or painful? If you were writing the story of your life, how much of last week would you have written a different way? What would you have changed? Remember that unpleasant moment, that especially hard morning, that painful response you received from a trusted friend, that moment you were so filled with anger you couldn’t even think. Did you experience any intense moments of fear, or uncertainty, or loneliness, or rejection? Was it ever so bad that you asked, “Why is this happening? Who is writing this story, the story of my life?” Do you ever ask these questions?  

Honestly, I don’t ask those questions very often. I’m learning that I should ask them much more often than I do. I mostly just try to get through those hard moments. Aren’t we usually just trying to survive? Trying to come out on the other side with as few wounds as possible? 

But when I do pose those questions as I did: Why is this happening? Who’s writing the story of my life? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? It is God. David wrote of God, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:16). God is the author of the script for the story of your life. [Remember, we are group counseling here. Did you notice that we are starting to bring God into the story? You all are doing great!]

Okay, now, we are ready to pose the really important question that went unasked last week. Are you ready? “God, what were you doing?! What were you thinking? Do you know how much that hurt when my best friend turned her back on me? How alone and unloved I felt when my husband shut down? I was just trying to understand what he was thinking. How frightened and anxious I became when I received that diagnosis at the doctor’s office? How utterly helpless and hopeless I felt when I lost my job?” I could go on and on; you fill in the questions from the story of your life last week. [You may not realize it but we are really making progress now.]

By simply asking the question, “God, what are you doing?” you have made significant progress. How? By asking that question you have placed God at the center of your life and circumstances. God is at the center of your troubles. Before this you were the center. With you at the center, your world shrank to the size of your troubles. With God at the center, your world has exploded with the possibilities of what God might be doing. Remember this week’s Fighter Verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Now we are ready to really get at it. We’ve got God in the story; in fact he is at the center. We’ve changed our focus from self to God; our hearts are beginning to change. Now I think we are ready to pull in our text. We want to look at the Word in our group counseling session believing it does make a difference. We’ve brought God into the picture, we’ve got us out of the center of the story and placed God there where he belongs. Now what does he have to say to us? What is he calling us to do? Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” This is a strange text, “for freedom Christ has set us free.” What does that mean? 

Let me try to explain. In unpacking this verse I am going to address three questions: 

1. What were you set free from?
2. How were you set free? 
3. What were you set free to do? 

Then we’ll walk through several illustrations of how the Word makes a difference in life. It’s relevant. It’s powerful. It’s life-changing. It helps us line up our functional theology with our confessional theology. 

I’m going to give you my answers to the three questions before I show you how I arrived at them. This will help you see where I am going and you can determine if it makes sense or not. 

1. What are we set free from? We are set free from the standard of perfect obedience to be justified by God, to be declared not guilty in the heavenly courts, to stand before God and not be condemned.
2. How are we set free? We were set free by the gospel, by the good news. Isn’t it good news to know that we can stand before God without condemnation?
3. What are we set free to do? Simply, we were set free to love: to love God and love other people. 

Now that you have the answers, I’m going to approach the questions in a different order, starting with the second question.

How are we set free? 

We are set free by the gospel. 

Matthew 20:28: "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.—Colossians 1:13–14

These verses establish that Christ ransoms us (there is freedom), delivers us (freedom), and redeems us (freedom). Open your Bibles with me and turn to Galatians chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. I want you to see that this was what Paul was thinking even as he started his letter. Paul is totally gospel centric. 

Paul wrote this letter to a group of churches in a region called Galatia, in what is now modern day Turkey. There are some unique things about this letter. The greeting is quite short for Paul; just 5 verses. Paul dispenses with any thanksgiving to God for these churches, which is also unusual for Paul. And it totally lacks any commendation to the churches in Galatia. Even in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, a church that was tolerating sexual sin that appalled even the Gentiles, Paul found reason to thank God for the Corinthians and to commend them. But this is not the case for the churches of Galatia, as we will soon see. Okay, now read with me:

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.—Galatians 1:1–5

Do you see a gospel theme woven into these verses? Think about it. What does Paul say is their condition and by extension, our condition? What do we need? Verse 4: We need to be delivered. We need to be delivered from our sins in this evil age. And who can do this? Who is the Deliverer? Verse 4 again: It is the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself up in order to deliver us. And whose idea was this plan of redemption? It was God’s! “According to the will of our God and Father.” All of this is according to God’s will. And finally, what was the purpose this? Verse 5: The glory of God. 

I am arguing that even before Paul began to write, he had the gospel in mind. And Paul starts writing with the gospel in his thoughts. And if you are still not convinced, look at the next paragraph:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.—Galatians 1:6–9

Do you see what I mean about how strange Paul’s letter is compared to the rest of his letters? No thanksgiving. No commendation. A quick hello, and whoop! Paul smacks them over the head with a 2x4. Paul is angry! I think he’s furious! 

Why is he angry? What is the problem? The problem is that they are turning from the gospel he delivered to them to a competing gospel message (not that there is another one). He’s angry because he knows that if anything is added to the gospel, it in no longer gospel. If there was another way to be right with God, Jesus would not have had to die (Galatians 2:21). 

Paul explains in the next several chapters that there were visiting preachers (“some who trouble you,” Galatians 1:7) who wanted to distort the gospel by requiring circumcision and obedience to the whole law. Believe in Jesus—yes—but also do these things. Now it is not “in Christ alone,” “through faith alone,” “by grace alone.” According to these itinerant preachers, salvation is up to us again; we have to do something—perfectly. And we all know how that works in the end. If you don’t know, read chapters 2, 3, and 4 where Paul explains it. We are set free by the gospel.

What were we set free from? 

We are set free from having to obey the law perfectly to be justified by God, to be declared not guilty in the heavenly courts, to face God and not experience condemnation. We are set free from having to earn God’s favor and acceptance. This letter to the Galatian churches reminds us that we can’t do it. Salvation is by faith alone through grace alone—and faith is in Christ alone. Again, what happens to the gospel when we add anything to it? It’s no longer good news. It is no longer the gospel. 

• Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ ... by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:1).
• I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
• Galatians 2:21 For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We were set free from law-keeping, from having to justify ourselves in order to be right with God, to be accepted by God. If we add anything to the gospel it is no longer Good News, because we can’t do it. That’s why we need a deliverer. If we could justify ourselves Christ would not have had to die. Don’t labor to earn his favor. That is precisely what you have been freed from. You can’t do it. Rather, rest in an abiding faith in the risen Christ and receive God’s favor; a gift received, not a wage earned. 

Now, what are we set free to do? Remember, “For freedom Christ has set you free.”

What were we set free to do?

If you have ever wondered what God’s will for your life is, it is stated right here. Freedom. If you want to know what his will is for you on this day, in this moment, this is it. We were set free to love; to love God and to love other people. Where do I get that idea? Look with me at the end of the first paragraph of chapter 5, we get a hint about where Paul is headed. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love" Galatians 2:20. The only thing that counts is “faith working through love.” 

Then in verse 13–14, Paul gets more specific, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.” 

Let me stop right there. Isn’t that an amazing statement! The whole law is fulfilled in one word. Now I’ve argued that we have been set free from having to keep the law. But wouldn’t you all agree that God is for the law, in favor of following the law that he handed down, for our good? That he is pleased by law-keeping? Do this one thing and you please God. What is that one thing? Love! “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ " (Galatians 5:14). 

Okay, now I have to stop again. I have to think about that one for a minute. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ " How does this fit with Matthew 22? Remember the lawyer? A lawyer came up to Jesus and asked him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36). How did Jesus reply? Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38). That’s what I expected to hear from Paul, “the whole law is fulfilled in a word, that you love the Lord your God.” But that’s not what Paul said. Paul said, “Love your neighbor.” Which is it; love God or love neighbor? Paul is not contradicting Jesus. Think back with me to Matthew 22, Jesus didn’t stop with “love the Lord your God.” He went on to say, almost in the same breath, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).  

Here’s what I believe is going on in Paul’s mind. There is only one way that you can love your neighbor as yourself: if you do love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. No one can see the heart, but we can see what flows out of the heart. Loving your neighbor is evidence that you love the Lord your God. You can’t love your neighbor like yourself without first loving God. 

What are we set free to do? We are set free to love God and to love others. Whatever your situation or circumstance, if you want to know what God is calling you to do, answer these two questions. What does it look like, right now, to love God? What does it look like, in this circumstance, to love other people? That is God’s will for your life at that moment. And he has enabled you to do it. You can do it. The gospel has freed you from whatever is holding you back. Whatever it might be: fear, anxiety, doubt, bitterness, hurt, anger, pride, or worrying about what others will think of you. You don’t have to be perfect, because he is perfect. You don’t have to worry about being rejected, because you have been accepted by the King of the universe. You don’t need to bear the weight of guilt, because there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (See Romans 8:1.) You are free. You are free! Free to radically love God—and free to radically love other people.

Now as I turn to consider some ways to apply this to our own lives, I want to point out something that came to me as I considered this passage. In Paul’s day I think people were more concerned about what God thought of them.

To them, to be justified by God was important. I don’t think in our culture today people worry as much about being accepted by God. The self-actualization philosophies so prevalent in the last 50–75 years and the spirit of individualism born out of the 1960s and post-modern relativism have taken deep root. People today generally don’t feel condemned by God for failing to follow his commandments and laws. The modern idea of love is such that if God is loving, he must accept us. Nonetheless, people today still seek justification. We are all experts at self-justification. The difference is that more often we are in bondage to the laws of our small “g” gods; our idols. Whether it is comfort, or security, or control, or acceptance by man, or various fears and anxiety, or pride, or whatever your flavor of the day, the gospel frees us from slavery to the laws of these gods and offers comfort in the one and only God through the gospel of Christ.    

Examples of How This Works 

I said at the beginning that this was going to be a group counseling session. In a group counseling session, we share a common struggle and we learn from one another. I’ll start with an example from my own life, a moment from last week when I didn’t like how the story of my life was being written. I wanted editorial rights because the story wasn’t unfolding the way I would have written it. 

Last week was very full. I had something every night last week: Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night. By Thursday morning I woke up tired, looking ahead to another full night, followed by plans both Friday night and Saturday night. “Woe is me” I thought. I’m weary, I’m tired, and I just want to check out for a few days. Why is my life so busy? Why does my calendar fill up like this? Why can’t I just sit at home with a good book—no people—maybe even a movie where everything blows up? Cook some brats on the grill ... Can you see how tempted I am by comfort? See how easily I can become enslaved to my comfort? See how quickly I reduce my world to the size of my struggle? How I place “me” directly in the center of my world? Where’s God?

That is exactly the question I needed to bring myself to ask. I needed to start with a shift from being self-focused to being God-focused.

Here’s how it works. I’ve come to know myself. I know how much I love my comfort and how controlling it can be. I remember that I need help. In a sense, I am humbling myself; remembering who God is and who I am. Now that is humbling! I go down to my chair on our porch and I pick up my Bible. I don’t want to do that. I just want to wallow in self-pity, grumble about how hard life is. But I know that I am believing a lie. I know that my comfort is fleeting pleasure; a counterfeit god. I remind myself that I know the true God and I turn to him in his Word. I turn from being inward focused and turn to God. So I ask, “God, what are you doing?” You know how weary I am. You know that sometimes I just need to check out. Rest is important. You call us to rest, so I am going to try and rest, rest in you this morning.”

It is amazing how God meets us when we turn to him. Last Thursday was August 1 and in my reading plan I turned to 1 Timothy and here is how God met me.

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. ... The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.—1 Timothy 1:12–15

I am reminded of the gospel. I’m reminded “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (verse 15). I’m reminded that God called me to this very thing, this ministry that I am complaining about. I am freed from the yoke of slavery to my comfort. I find rest in Him, the God of comfort. I am freed to love—to love God for giving me this ministry. And I am freed to love those I serve—they are not a burden but a joy. God met me with a reminder that I was called out of darkness into Christ’s marvelous light. God reminded me of my calling; I am called to serve God’s people. I am reminded that there is nothing in this world I would rather do. A moment on the porch in the Word and my attitude changed. I believe that I was far more productive throughout the day. I was able to respond to others in love. And it increased my joy in my Savior and the ministry he gave me.  

Another example with a different comfort. 

Not long ago Mary and I met with a man and his wife to pray with them. He had just lost his job the previous week. He went into work one morning and was informed that his company was undergoing a massive layoff and he no longer had a job. Then because of the confidential nature of some of the things the company was working on, he was pretty much just escorted to the door. 

Do you think he felt free in that moment? Free from being judged?  Free from anxiety? Free from doubts, despair, worry, insecurity? No. He liked his job. He has a family to support. The job market isn’t exactly hopping. I can imagine that he felt the burden of a heavy yoke of various cares that morning and in the days to follow. Where is God in the loss of a job? This is definitely not how this man would have written the story of his life.

But in the days following all of this, this is how God met him. This man knew where to go in time of trouble; he went to the Word of God. And God met him in Psalm 94. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Do any of you remember that verse? I confess that I did not. I have read Psalm 94 many times and never noticed this verse. Since I prayed with that man, I have gone there often. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” In that moment, in the Word, God met that brother. He was reminded of God’s past grace, and this provided confidence in God’s future provision—he was comforted that day and for many days after.

A last example, a testimony that this does work. 

I met with a man just over a week ago. I have met with him several times and I asked him to read Galatians as an assignment one week. I asked him to read Galatians, because I could see that many of his struggles came out of his failures and his self-condemnation for those failures. He tried so hard to be right with God and failed. I asked him to read one chapter a day for six days and then on the seventh day answer these questions: What were you set free from, and what were you set free to do?

He came back and said, “That’s me. I believe that I have to do something to be accepted by God. When I fail in what God calls me to do, I get angry; angry at myself and angry with God. I take my anger out on those around me—my wife and my kids. I set standards that they can’t meet, and judge them harshly when they fail.” 

But it wasn’t until about a week later, when a life crisis hit, that he came to the realization that he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do anything good enough ... he was at the end of himself and had nowhere else to turn but to God. I’m not saying he wasn’t a believer before, but God used this crisis to break that last resistance to trusting more fully. He trusted in Christ’s ability to do what he could not do. And I think he felt God’s acceptance. He experienced grace. 

Now only time will tell how he does in the long haul but here is the exhortation to him and to you. “For freedom Christ has set [you] free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).