The Appeal to Liberty and Love - Part 2 (Gal. 5:1-15)

GALATIANS EXPOSITORY SERIES

 

The Judaizers charged that Paul’s teaching would lead the Galatians into lawlessness. Paul countered that the false teachers wanted to replace one expression of legalistic bondage for another. Who was right? In this section Paul argued that a proper apprehension of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone would lead to a life of spiritual freedom and holy love.

In 5:1 Paul wrote, Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. In 5:13 he wrote, For you were called to be free, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. Warren Wiersbe says that liberty minus love will issue in license, whereas liberty plus love will result in service.

What is the purpose of this liberty? Using liberty for selfish pursuits is not love. The real goal of spiritual liberty is to serve one another. A sinner has been set free from the bondage of self, sin, and Satan so that he might become a slave to others.

 

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