Bible Chapel of Shawnee  
March 25th, 2018  
Galatians series

Lesson 3: Understand that freedom is a tool
 
**Rhetorical theme**: Understand that freedom is a tool.
 
**Full theme**: Freedom is a tool which we are called to use according to its purpose, without abusing or neglecting it.
 
1. Introduction
    
    1. A hammer
        
        1. A tool for what?
        2. Can you misuse it?
        3. What if you never use it?
    2. Lesson 3 of the last section of Galatians: restoring confidence in the freedom of the gospel
        
        1. Paul has so far taught two lessons:
            
            1. The stakes are high: all freedom or all slavery (vv1-6)
            2. The situation is serious, but recoverable (vv7-12)
        2. Now: freedom is a tool (vv13-15)
          
        
2. Christ has called us to use it (v13a)￼_We have a responsibility to use freedom._
    
    1. "Freedom" - what is it?
        
        1. Of course, opposite of slavery
        2. Context of chapter 4: story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar
            
            1. Following God's purpose by faith brought about His plan
            2. Forcing (or, trying to force) God's purpose by the flesh (son through Hagar) brought conflict, anger, frustration and trouble.
        3. Summarized form: freedom to accomplish God's purpose through us by faith. It is the opposite of slavery which is trying to work God's purpose through us by the flesh.
        4. Specific context of Galatians: freedom from the pursuit of righteousness on our own. The opposite of continually pursuing (and never attaining) righteousness through following the Law.
          
        
    2. "Calling"
        
        1. Definition:
        
        to urgently invite someone to accept responsibilities for a particular task, implying a new relationship to the one who does the calling—‘to call, to call to a task.’56
        
          
        
        _Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 423). New York: United Bible Societies._
        
        5. By Christ: **Galatians 5:1**
        6. Implications
            
            1. Not an optional calling, like a benefit
            2. Our freedom comes with responsibility.￼
3. It can be abused (v13b)￼_Like any tool, freedom can be abused._
    
    1. Abuse type 1: an excuse for the flesh, "I'm already righteous, now I can do what I want."
    2. Abuse type 2: an excuse for self-centered freedom
        
        1. **1 Corinthians 8:4-13** - a great example, eating meat sacrificed to idols
        2. **1 Corinthians 10:23-33** - continuing with the example of meat sacrificed to idols￼
4. It has a specific purpose (v13c)￼_To be free to lovingly serve one another._
    
    1. Like any tool, freedom has a specific purpose: to serve one another with love.
    2. How is this freedom's purpose? When we are concerned with our righteousness, we are enslaved to always wondering if we have achieved it.
        
        1. We can eternally ask questions:
            
            1. Am I righteous?
            2. Did I sin today?
            3. Did I do that right thing with the wrong motive and lose my righteous standing?
        2. In Christ, we _have already_ attained His righteousness by faith. As we continue in this faith, we are free from focusing on ourselves to be able to focus on others.
    3. How Jesus used His freedom
        
        1. **Matthew 9:9-13** - Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors
        2. **John 4:7-9** - Jesus meets and speaks with the Samaritan woman
        3. Notice how Jesus did not cater to everyone. He used His freedom to meet the needs of the "sick". You might see the Pharisees as one who are "weak in conscience" but Jesus did not see them that way. Rather, He saw through their hypocrisy.
    4. How Paul used his freedom
        
        1. **1 Corinthians 9:1-23** - Paul does not sin with his freedom, but he focuses on others 6. Using it fulfills the whole Law (v14)
    
    1. Not a new thought from Paul
        
        1. **Matthew 7:8** - the golden rule
        2. **Matthew 22:36-40** - the greatest commandment
    2. **Romans 13:8-10** - much (or perhaps all) of the Law is how to treat your neighbor to some degree or another. If we always loved our neighbor, we would always be keeping the Law.
    3. Remember: purpose is not to conclude that the Law is evil, but that seeking righteousness through it is working by the flesh and will never achieve righteousness--it is slavery.
        
        1. The Law reveals out sin: **Romans 7:7**
        2. The Law is good: **1 Timothy 1:8-9a** 8. It can be neglected (v15)￼_Finally, we neglect to use our freedom at all and instead seek to enslave each other by our biting and devouring._
    
    1. Unsure I can say for sure why Paul has this here?
    2. The consequences of abuse?
        
        1. We use our freedom as a club to, instead of serving each other, we nit-pick each other's strength in freedom
        2. The result is not that we spur each other on to greater use of a our freedom, rather we consume (use up) each other. Our freedom is expended.
    3. The natural result of neglecting our freedom?
        
        1. Paul could be answering the question of what happens when we don't use our freedom
        2. We would do what the Galatians are doing
            
            1. Not trusting in righteousness being done in Christ
            2. Turning back to the Law for righteousness
            3. We become Pharisees, biting and devouring each other's adherence to the Law until we consume each other
            4. Everyone is paralyzed and no one grows or serves--we are again in slavery
          
        
9. Conclusion
    
    1. Paul has explained two lessons so far:
        
        1. The stakes involved: all freedom or all slavery--no middle ground
        2. The present situation: serious, but recoverable
    2. Now: that freedom is a tool which we are called use according to its purpose, without abusing or neglecting it.
        
        1. Christ has called us to use it
        2. It can be abused
        3. It has a specific purpose
        4. Using it fulfills the whole Law
        5. It can be neglected
    3. The freedom we have in Christ has been given to us for the purpose of serving each other in love.
        
        1. It's not a license to sin
        2. It's not a club to crush each other
        3. It's the rest we have in Christ that our righteousness is accomplished and secure with Him. This peace of mind allows us to now focus outward toward each other in love.