Sunday Morning July 5, 2015

1. Sweet Land of
Liberty
Heritage Addition church of Christ
By Jim Bradshaw
Sunday Morning, July 5, 2015
Galatians 5:1-15

2. Sweet Land of
Liberty
From http://merriam-webster.com on a Synonym Discussion
of FREEDOM
freedom, liberty, license mean the power or condition of acting
without compulsion. freedom has a broad range of application
from total absence of restraint to merely a sense of not being
unduly hampered or frustrated <freedom of the press>. liberty
suggests release from former restraint or compulsion <the
released prisoner had difficulty adjusting to his new liberty>.
license implies freedom specially granted or conceded and
may connote an abuse of freedom <freedom without
responsibility may degenerate into license>.

3. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.--

4. Gal 5:1 ESV For freedom Christ has set us
free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit
again to a yoke of slavery.
Freedom – eleutheria true liberty is living as we should not as
we please (Thayer)
Freedom Comes
with a Price & It Has
Conditions

5. Standing Firm in Freedom
Gal 5:1-6 ESV For freedom Christ has set us free;
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a
yoke of slavery. (2) Look: I, Paul, say to you that
if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no
advantage to you. (3) I testify again to every man
who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to
keep the whole law. (4) You are severed from
Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you
have fallen away from grace. (5) For through the
Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the
hope of righteousness. (6) For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts
for anything, but only faith working through love.

6. Standing Firm in Freedom
Gal 5:1 ESV For freedom Christ has set us free;
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a
yoke of slavery.
What did Christ free us from?
Joh 8:31-32 ESV So Jesus said to the Jews who
had believed in him, "If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples, (32) and you will
know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Joh 17:17 ESV Sanctify them in the
truth; your word is truth.

7. Standing Firm in Freedom
What did Christ free us from?
Joh 8:33-36 ESV They answered him, "We are
offspring of Abraham and have never been
enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You
will become free'?" (34) Jesus answered them,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who
commits sin is a slave to sin. (35) The slave
does not remain in the house forever; the son
remains forever. (36) So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed.

8. Standing Firm in Freedom
How Do You Stand Firm in Freedom
Rom 6:16-17 ESV Do you not know that if you
present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either
of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience,
which leads to righteousness? (17) But thanks
be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart to the
standard of teaching to which you were
committed,
Freedom – eleutheria true liberty is living as we should not as
we please (Thayer)

9. Standing Firm in Freedom
Our Faith Working Through Love
Gal. 3:27; Heb. 11:1;
1Co 13:1-3 ESV If I speak in the tongues of men
and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If
I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body
to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Gal. 5:6 ESV For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working
through love.

10. Who Hinders You From Obeying
the TruthGal 5:7-12 ESV You were running well. Who hindered you
from obeying the truth? (8) This persuasion is not from him
who calls you. (9) A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
(10) I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other
view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the
penalty, whoever he is. (11) But if I, brothers, still preach
circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the
offense of the cross has been removed. (12) I wish those who
unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
We have run well in
the Past Obeying – (peithō) an obedience of
persuasion.

11. Those Pesky Past
PersuasionsRom 6:3-6 ESV Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? (4) We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in
newness of life. (5) For if we have been united with him
in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in
a resurrection like his. (6) We know that our old self was
crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be
enslaved to sin.
WhoHindersYoufromObeyingtheTruth

12. Penalties Await Troublemakers
Gal 5:10 ESV I have confidence in the
Lord that you will take no other view
than mine, and the one who is troubling
you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.
WhoHindersYoufromObeyingtheTruth
Gal 5:12 ESV I wish those
who unsettle you would
emasculate themselves!

13. You Have Been Called to
LibertyGal 5:13-15 ESV 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. (14) For the whole law is fulfilled in
one word: "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself." (15) But if you bite and devour one
another, watch out that you are not consumed by
one another.
Freedom is not an opportunity
for the FleshRom 6:1-2 ESV What shall we say then? Are we to continue
in sin that grace may abound? (2) By no means! How can we
who died to sin still live in it?

14. You Have Been Called to
Liberty1Co 6:9-11 ESV Or do you not know that the
unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice
homosexuality, (10) nor thieves, nor the greedy,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were
some of you. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

15. You Have Been Called to
LibertyGal 5:14 ESV For the whole law is fulfilled in one
word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Mat 7:12 ESV "So whatever you wish that
others would do to you, do also to them, for
this is the Law and the Prophets.

16. You Have Been Called to
LibertyYou Can Hear the Savior Calling
Mat 11:28-30 ESV Come
to me, all who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. (29) Take
my yoke upon you, and
learn from me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for
your souls. (30) For my
yoke is easy, and my
burden is light."