Our Freedom in Christ

[0:00] And I came upon a video clip in which a college student was questioning Dr. Ravi Zacharias.! This college student claimed to be an atheist. And he was questioning Dr. Ravi Zacharias,! who was at a college campus and doing one of his Q&A with students who had questions.

[0:24] And the student asked Dr. Zacharias whether human beings are free since God is sovereign.

[0:36] He felt that since God was sovereign, then we really weren't free. And he wanted Dr. Zacharias to explain that. And Dr. Zacharias wisely responded to him and he asked him, he said, were you free to ask the question that you asked? And the student was stumped. He was confused. He didn't know whether he should say yes or no, knowing that depending on what he said, Dr. Zacharias was probably going to take him to pieces. As I was preparing this sermon, that student's question came to mind. This question about freedom, and I want to ask you the question, are you free?

[1:20] free? And by free, I don't mean free to do what you want to do. I mean free to do what you ought to do. And what scripture clearly teaches is that the only way to be free to do what we ought to do, to be freed from sin, we have to be free in Christ. It's the only way to be able to do what we ought to do.

[1:48] To come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, trusting in his finished work on the cross for sinners.

[2:01] But there are many people who actually believe that being freed from sin means that you no longer commit big sins or you no longer commit gross sins like sexual immorality and lying and stealing.

[2:14] But the shocking reality is that you can come you can cease to commit these gross sins, these big sins, things and still not be truly free.

[2:29] And this is the point that the apostle Paul makes again to the Galatians in the section of his letter that we have come to this morning as we continue our sermon series in Galatians. Galatians 5 verses 1 through 12. So please turn there in your Bible if you have not yet done so.

[2:49] In these 12 verses, the apostle Paul reminds Galatians, he reminds them that performance-based religion cannot bring us to Christ.

[3:07] Performance-based religion cannot bring us to Christ. The Galatians felt it could. They thought they could be justified and find freedom through keeping the law.

[3:22] They thought they could be free from sin by keeping false as no. And he has been explaining to them why. And as he comes to this section of the letter, he again tells them why.

[3:36] So please follow along with me as I read Galatians 5 verses 1 through 12. Let's consider this morning why performance-based religion cannot bring us to Christ.

[3:56] Paul writes, For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

[4:08] Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

[4:25] You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

[4:37] For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

[4:57] You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

[5:09] A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view. And the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

[5:24] But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed.

[5:35] I wish those who unsettled you would emasculate themselves. Would you bow in prayer with me? Lord, thank you for your word this morning.

[5:50] Thank you for the privilege that we have to gather and to sit under the reading of your word and now the preaching of your word. Lord, give us all airs to hear.

[6:05] Meet us, Father, through the preaching of your word. I pray that you would grant me grace that I desperately need to be faithful, to care for these who are gathered, and to stay within the four corners of your word.

[6:27] Once again, I pray that you would keep me from error, keep me from excess, and help me to proclaim your word, the glory of your name, and for the good of those who are gathered this morning.

[6:41] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. One of these 12 verses we have just read, the Apostle Paul is concluding what can be called the theological instructions of the letter up to this point.

[6:58] He's instructing the Galatians about what it means to be justified by faith, and he is coming to the point where he is concluding the theological instructions.

[7:10] He's going to transition, starting in verse 13 of chapter 5, to begin the ethical instructions, to tell us, in light of the fact that you have come to Christ, this is how you're supposed to live.

[7:23] Paul was not just interested in sharing mere theology with the Galatians, but the theology always has implications. But right now he is summarizing what he has been saying to them up to this point in the letter.

[7:38] So how does Paul conclude the theological instructions concerning what it means to be justified? Well, he does so by doing three things.

[7:52] First, he gives a firm command. Notice what he tells the Galatians in verse 1. Paul tells the Galatians in verse 1 that Christ has set us free to be free.

[8:10] The way Paul actually says it is, for freedom Christ has set us free, meaning that Christ has set us free that we would know true freedom. Earlier in Galatians 4 verse 31, Paul had said to the Galatians and to us, he says, we are no longer, he says, we are not the sons or the children of the slave woman, but we are the children of the free woman.

[8:35] And so here in verse 1 of chapter 5, he commands the Galatians, and he commands us to stand firm and not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

[8:50] Now clearly the yoke of slavery that Paul had in view for the Galatians was the law. They were submitting to the law for justification, or they began to drift in that direction.

[9:02] That's what Paul had in view for them. But notice that Paul does not say, Christ has set you free, and you must not submit to the law or the yoke of slavery.

[9:19] He doesn't use a definite reference to this yoke of slavery.

[9:30] Again, for the Galatians, it was the law. But what he says is that you must not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

[9:45] Now, again, back to the Galatians, they saw the law as a yoke. They saw they can get freedom through it.

[9:56] But it's instructive that the Lord Jesus in Matthew 11, 28 through 30, would say these words. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[10:08] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

[10:23] And so the clear implication is that there are other yokes, and they are not easy yokes. The law was one of those yokes that was not easy. It was especially hard.

[10:35] It was actually impossible to carry because no amount of effort to fulfill the law would result in its fulfillment, because fallen human beings just can't fulfill the law.

[10:48] So it was an unbearable yoke, and the Lord invites all who have other yokes to take his yoke upon him. But I believe that Paul is speaking beyond the Galatians when he says to them, do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

[11:13] The different yokes of slavery. And even as we consider this this morning, anything that we approach or we believe in, any belief system that we have, any thing that we do, believing that we will be accepted by God based on our performance, is a kind of yoke of slavery.

[11:42] It's a kind of yoke of slavery. It's not the law that the Galatians were following, but it is a kind of yoke of slavery that we believe that if we do it, if we perform it, that we will find acceptance before God.

[11:58] And so if you have more faith toward God and expect him to bless you more and answer your prayers, if you do certain things, if you pray, if you regularly maintain your devotions, if you attend church, if you give tithes and offerings, all these things, and these are good things.

[12:16] These are things we should do. But if we do them, believing that God accepts us or loves us more because we do them, it is a performance-based yoke of slavery.

[12:33] And the word that Paul gives to the Galatians really is a word to us as well, that Christ has set us free to know true freedom, and therefore we should not yoke ourselves with any yoke of slavery.

[12:47] I remember a number of years ago, as a young Christian, I heard this missionary giving a testimony, and he was sharing about how he was under such religious bondage that he would get up in the mornings, and he could not make a decision whether he would brush his teeth first or read his Bible and pray because he felt that he had to read the Bible first and pray first, and he would say some mornings he would get up and he would brush his teeth first, and he would be condemned.

[13:24] His devotions would be meaningless because he was under such condemnation, he said that he literally almost lost his mind. Almost lost his mind trying to be on that performance treadmill of trying to please God and accept God by some routine that he had developed.

[13:48] It is a yoke of slavery. It is an impossible yoke that leads nowhere. And it's not to say that we should be careless with how we live.

[13:59] It's not to say that how we live does not matter at all. It matters, but it does not matter in terms of our acceptance before Almighty God. God will discipline us when we persist in sin.

[14:13] He will do that, but he will love us no less. He will accept us no less. But we rob ourselves of the great joy that comes from freedom in Christ when we submit to yokes of slavery.

[14:30] And so I want to ask you this morning, those of you who have put your trust in Jesus Christ, have you been tempted, are you tempted in an ongoing way to submit yourself to yokes of slavery, believing that God accepts you based on your performance, and there are certain things that you must do or not do in order to be accepted or more accepted by God.

[15:03] And again, yokes of slavery come in all different forms and all kinds of shapes, and you must guard against them. And so we need to heed this command that Paul issues in verse 1.

[15:18] We need to stand firm and not submit again to a yoke of slavery. As Paul concludes this theological section on what it means to be justified through Christ alone, he not only gives a firm command, but he also issues a sober warning.

[15:42] Paul warns the Galatians that their very salvation is on the line.

[15:55] Look at what he says starting in verse 2. He says to them, Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

[16:06] What is he saying? Is Paul fighting against circumcision? Is he opposed to it? Not at all. He's not opposed to it. Not in and of itself.

[16:18] You'd recall earlier in the letter in Galatians chapter 2, when Paul recounts this meeting he had in Jerusalem when he went up to meet with the apostles, he said that though Titus was a Gentile, they did not force Titus to be circumcised.

[16:36] And here in verse 2, it is quite clear that the requirement to be circumcised for salvation featured very prominently in the teaching of these Judaizers who had infiltrated the Galatian church.

[16:53] And Paul's point to the men in the church at Galatia was, you're Gentiles. You're not circumcised. But if you feel obligated to be circumcised for spiritual reasons, then Christ is of no advantage to you.

[17:11] There's no saving benefit of Christ to you. If you feel obligated to be circumcised for spiritual reasons, Christ is of no advantage to you. Why does Paul say this in such a strong way?

[17:25] And the reason is because salvation is through faith in Christ alone. Not Christ plus circumcision, but faith in Christ alone.

[17:40] The Galatian men were being called by the apostle Paul to resist being circumcised because it was unnecessary for their salvation.

[17:50] And then he explains why that's the case in verse 3. He says it'll be pointless for you to do that.

[18:01] It will be pointless. And here's why. He says, because every man who accepts circumcision is obligated to keep the whole law.

[18:15] You keep one part of the law. If you say, I must keep this, Paul says you're obligated to keep the whole thing. And what we know is we can't keep the whole thing. We have a hard time even keeping a part of it. We cannot keep any part of the law to God's perfect standard.

[18:30] Not just one part of it. You take one part of the law, we cannot even perform that perfectly for a holy God. It's short through with sin. And so Paul is making the point, this is why Christ will be of no advantage to you because if you submit circumcision for spiritual reasons, you're obligated to keep the whole law and you can't keep it.

[18:58] This is again, Paul made this point earlier in Galatians chapter 3. And this is why he says to them in verse 3, I testify again, I tell you again.

[19:10] This is worth repeating. I tell you again, to every man who accepts circumcision, he is obligated to keep the whole law. Then in verse 4, Paul states generally what he had specifically been saying to the man concerning circumcision.

[19:34] He says in verse 4, you are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

[19:47] There are some people who use this particular verse to serve as a proof text to say that a believer can lose his salvation because of the language severed from Christ and fallen away from grace.

[20:02] But that's not the correct interpretation of what Paul is saying at all. First of all, Paul is not talking about a believer's security, his eternal security.

[20:14] He's not talking about a believer's eternal security in Christ. If we want to find where Scripture talks about the believer's eternal security in Christ, we read other passages like John chapter 6 and John chapter 10 and Romans chapter 8, especially verses 28 through 39.

[20:37] But here in Galatians, Paul is simply telling the Galatian church that those who would be justified by the law have essentially separated themselves from Christ and from grace.

[20:54] He's basically saying it this way. He's saying that law keeping and Christ and grace are two worlds apart, two separate worlds apart.

[21:05] He says that you seek to be justified by the law, you who do that, you have separated, severed yourself away from Christ, you've fallen away from grace, you're in another realm. You're in a completely different realm.

[21:17] Paul is not saying, oh, you were saved and now you will be cut off and lost and you will lose grace. No, he's not saying that at all. He says if you want to be justified by keeping the law, you're in a different realm.

[21:31] You have separated and cut yourself off from Christ and grace. He's saying that Christ and grace are foreign to trying to be justified by the law.

[21:48] And the Galatians needed to hear this because the Judaizers were in their midst and were upsetting their faith, telling them that in addition to coming to Christ, you also need to keep the law to be justified.

[22:01] And they needed to hear this hard reality about the impossibility of what they were doing. Those who seek to be justified by the law or any kind of self-performance, any kind of good works that they believe is meritorious before God, they give evidence that Christ and grace are separated from them.

[22:25] They're not in the realm of grace and of salvation. In verse 5, Paul goes on to explain the true righteousness that we need and hope for.

[22:41] And he tells us it comes by faith, not through works of the law or works of self-performance. not what we do or what we don't do.

[22:53] He says, for through the Spirit in verse 5, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. And again, notice how it comes. It comes through the Spirit and by faith.

[23:08] Through the Spirit by faith. And herein lies the challenge for us as believers. In this life, though we are in Christ, we will never feel as righteous as we truly are.

[23:30] In Christ, we are declared perfectly righteous. But in this fallen world, in our fallen bodies, we will never feel as righteous as we truly are in God's sight, which is perfectly righteous.

[23:50] And so oftentimes, what we can be tempted to do is we can be tempted to try to do what we think will make us feel righteous.

[24:01] What we think will earn us some righteousness. Because we're not fully trusting in the cross of Jesus Christ, in the righteousness that God imputes to us, that He credits to us because of Jesus Christ.

[24:21] We're so aware of how we fall short, and so we move towards some kind of works righteousness when we are tempted in that particular way.

[24:33] Paul tells us what we are to be doing. We are to be eagerly awaiting for the hope of righteousness. We eagerly await for the day when the righteousness that has been declared of us, declared over us, is fully realized by us, and that's the day that we die or the day that the Lord Jesus actually returns.

[24:55] Notice in verse 6 that Paul tells us, tells the Galatians what really matters. He says, here's what matters.

[25:07] What matters is faith working by love. Faith in Christ Christ that is evidenced by true love, love for God and love for others.

[25:22] Paul says, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. If you're in Christ and circumcised, it doesn't matter.

[25:37] If you're in Christ and you're not circumcised, it doesn't matter. the only thing that matters is whether or not you're circumcised, is that your faith in Christ is demonstrated by love.

[25:53] Love for God and love for others. Notice that Paul is calling for evidential faith.

[26:05] Faith that gives proof that it is saving faith love because it bears the fruit of love. Love for God and love for others. Here's how the Apostle John describes the love that gives evidence to our faith in God in 1 John 4, 7, and 8.

[26:23] He writes, Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.

[26:41] Brothers and sisters, let us hear these words this morning. A faith that knows no love for God and no love for others is not saving faith.

[26:53] It's what Jamaleth calls wasted faith. It's not saving faith. It is wasted faith.

[27:03] John goes on in verses 9 through 12 and he writes, In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.

[27:19] And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

[27:38] No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

[27:52] Paul is going to go on in the next section of the letter and he's going to be calling the Galatians to love. And it seems that the Galatians were more preoccupied with law keeping and fulfilling all the requirements that were laid upon them by the Judaizers.

[28:13] And they were missing the whole point that the evidence that they were saved, the evidence that they belonged to God, the evidence that God had received them as his children was their love, their love for God and their love for one another.

[28:33] It's easy to gloss over or read quickly over verses 11 and 12. But John uses very strong language.

[28:46] He uses unexceptional language. He says no one, no one has ever seen God if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

[29:03] His love is matured in us. His love is evident in us. Paul tells us this is what really matters.

[29:18] It doesn't matter whether you are circumcised or not. It doesn't matter whether you eat meat or not. It doesn't matter whether you only eat vegetables. In Christ it matters not.

[29:32] It doesn't matter if you drink alcohol or you don't drink alcohol. It doesn't matter in Christ. What matters is that the faith we profess in Christ bears the fruit of love, love for God and love for one another.

[29:49] John 3 16 is the most well known verse of scripture. But you know one of the most least known verses of scripture, certainly the New Testament, is 1st John 3 and 16.

[30:10] Here's what it says. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

[30:25] It's 1st John 3 16. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

[30:36] We give evidence that we have come to know God by our love for one another. And that's not just a philosophical love.

[30:50] That's not just a love that's emotional in our hearts. No. John tells us it's going to be manifested in how we live. He says it's going to be manifested in a willingness to lay down our lives for the brothers.

[31:05] Because Christ has given us his own example in laying down his life for us. And clearly John doesn't mean that we are to literally sacrifice our lives the way Christ did. It would be pointless to do that because our lives being spilled out would have no saving effect.

[31:23] Clearly what John is calling us to is laying down our way of life. He's calling us to sacrifice in life the way Christ sacrificed his life.

[31:36] This is how we give evidence to saving faith in the community of God's people. And in the community of God's people we will have ongoing ways and opportunities to live out the love that's supposed to be working out of our faith.

[32:00] God will always give us opportunities to do that but it requires sacrifice. it requires that we sacrifice.

[32:13] Recently we had two members of our church to lose siblings. Information was shared in the WhatsApp group. It was placed in the bulletin.

[32:25] prayers requested for them. I wonder how many of you read and prayed for them, prayed for Patrice, prayed for Zenovia?

[32:42] how many of you picked up the phone to call to give condolences to assure them of your prayers?

[32:53] How many of you who were able to attend the funeral attended the funeral? This past week Iver had surgery that also was shared.

[33:06] They've read that, prayers are requested. How many of you prayed? How many of you called? How many of you who were able to visit visited her? See, brothers and sisters, this is how we lay down our lives for one another.

[33:21] We all have busy lives. We all have many things going on, but we learn to lay them down because in the full scope of things, in the light of eternity, many of the things mean nothing.

[33:36] We're called to lay down our lives for the brothers. We're called to demonstrate love, love toward each other. And this is the point that John makes in John 3, 17 and 18.

[33:51] In 18 in particular, but starting at 17, he says, but if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

[34:04] he says in verse 18, little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

[34:15] The Galatian church was preoccupied with doing this and doing that and trying to be accepted before God and trying to look holy with all the things that they did. Paul says there's none of that.

[34:27] He said, it is faith working by love. And this is what we are called to be called, as John says in verse 18, not to love in word or talk, but we are to love in deed and we are to love in truth.

[34:49] And when we do, we give evidence that we belong to Christ. I wonder how many of you this morning feel the sober warning that Paul gives about trying to be justified by what we do.

[35:15] That we place ourselves in another realm. We place ourselves away from Christ and away from grace because that is foreign to Christ and foreign to grace.

[35:26] That we would do anything that's meritorious for our salvation. A very sobering thought to consider how he would say to these individuals who heard the gospel, he proclaimed the gospel to them and he would now issue these very sobering words to them to say if you find yourself in that realm, you are cut off from Christ.

[35:53] You are away from grace. and the call to ensuring that the faith that we profess is truly saving faith that evidences itself by love for God and love for one another.

[36:16] And you know, truth be told, when you assess what John says in 1 John, we cannot see God.

[36:31] We can say I love God, but we cannot see God, but we can see one another. And therefore, our expressed love for one another in what we do is a greater indication that we know God than any amount of declaring how much we love God and doing all the things that point to living for God and serving God.

[36:59] It is in faith that expresses itself in love. So first, Paul gives a firm command.

[37:11] Second, he issues a sober warning. And third, and finally, Paul offers a gracious encouragement. Throughout this letter, Paul has been speaking about the Galatians in very tentative ways.

[37:28] At some points, you really can't tell whether he believes they are converted or not. At some points, he is expressing his regret that he may have run in vain, that he may have wasted all of his efforts on them.

[37:46] But he comes to this particular part of the letter and Paul graciously expresses confidence in the Lord concerning the Galatians.

[37:57] faith in believing that though they have been upset and unsettled in their faith, that they truly do belong to Christ.

[38:14] Notice what he says, first of all, in verse 7. He says, you were running well. What happened? Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

[38:27] The Galatians had obviously been persuaded by the false teachers. Their line, whatever they told them, it was persuasive enough because they began to move away from the gospel.

[38:42] But Paul says to them, it may be persuasive, but those who are persuading you with that stuff, it's not coming from God, it's not coming from the one who is calling you. And he warns the Galatians in verse 9, he tells them, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

[39:02] His point is we must be careful with the powerful effect of even a little bit of false teaching, a little bit of unsound doctrine. We must be careful about the effect of it.

[39:14] We're not mature enough to handle it. And some of us, and I shouldn't say us, some people listen to individuals they know are not sound. They know their doctrine is off, but they like them.

[39:30] And so they listen to them. And Paul says it just takes a little bit of leaven to leaven the whole lump. And Paul is no doubt encouraging the Galatians to make a complete break with the false teachers, no matter what it is.

[39:48] And then he says to them very graciously in verse 10, he says, I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine. The first way he has confidence.

[40:02] He says, I have confidence in the Lord that you're going to listen, you're going to hear what I'm saying, you're going to heed this. Paul is expressing his conviction that they had saving faith and they would hear his appeal.

[40:16] But he also is expressing confidence that the one who was troubling them was going to bear his penalty, that God would not allow that false teacher or the false teachers to go unpunished.

[40:32] in verse 11, Paul seems to be addressing some kind of a false charge that was spoken against him when he writes, if I brothers still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?

[40:54] It seems like they were saying, well, here Paul is telling you not to be circumcised, but you know Paul, when he is with the Jews, he calls them to be circumcised, he's just telling you that, but he preaches circumcision as well.

[41:09] It seems to be something Paul was defending against. And Paul says, think about it, if I'm preaching circumcision, why am I suffering persecution? I shouldn't be. If I'm preaching circumcision like they are, then I should not be persecuted.

[41:26] But Paul was being persecuted. And the reason that he was being persecuted was because of the message that he was preaching, which is the message of the cross.

[41:40] And Paul says to them, if I was preaching circumcision and the cross, then I would remove the offense of the cross. And brothers and sisters, the cross is offensive.

[41:53] The cross is offensive to us because it is preached as the necessity, it is preached as the necessary means by which men and women can come to know God.

[42:10] It is preached to say that you are helpless in and of yourself, there's nothing you can do to save yourself, you must believe in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone.

[42:22] And that's the offense to our prideful hearts. Because we want to do something. We want to contribute something. But the cross says no, the sacrifice has been made.

[42:33] Christ has given a complete and full substitution for sin. And if you will be saved, you will trust fully in what he has done and nothing else. And that message is offensive because it is the only way that we can be made right with God.

[42:57] It makes an exclusive claim on salvation. There's no other way. We contribute nothing other than what Martin Luther says, we contribute our sin to our salvation.

[43:10] That's all we bring to it. And so before the cross of Jesus Christ, we are brought low in our pride. And we hate it because we're being told there's nothing you can do to deserve it and you don't deserve it.

[43:25] Nothing you can do to earn it and you cannot earn it. And we are rendered totally helpless before God. And it is an offense to us.

[43:37] Circumcision is easy because you say, well, do this or keep the law. And we can do that. And we feel we have accomplished something. Paul says, no. preaching of the cross brings an offense.

[43:54] Paul concludes in verse 12 with the most shocking statement by saying that he wishes that the Judaizers, those who were unsettling the Galatians, would emasculate themselves.

[44:12] While these words would sound shocking to us, I believe that they were intended to encourage the Galatians. Because Paul directs his anger, not at the Galatians, but at those who were unsettling them, those who were feeding them with false teaching.

[44:33] He says, you've been running well. You have done well until these false teachers things came along. And so Paul encourages the Galatians as he concludes this particular section of his letter.

[44:53] And brothers, I pray that it encourages us as well. I pray it encourages us as well to remember that Christ has set us free. And we should not submit ourselves to any form of performance-based religion, any kind of ritual, any kind of doing anything to be accepted or more accepted by God.

[45:17] But to grow in faith, to grow in believing that on our worst day, we are fully loved by God as much as on our best day. And we grow in our assurance.

[45:32] And the energy that we would put into doing things to try to please the Lord, we put that instead in simply having faith in a God who loves us comprehensively, a God who loves us before the foundation of the world and who promised that he will love us to the very end and he will present us faultless before his presence with great joy.

[45:58] And God, help us to stand free in the freedom that Christ has brought for us. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word this morning.

[46:18] Cause us to hear it as we ought to hear it. And then cause us to obey it as we ought to obey it. We pray in Christ's name.

[46:31] Amen. Let's stand for our closing song. sing my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

[47:10] I dare not trust the sweetest frame. But only trust in Jesus' name.

[47:25] trust in Jesus' I dare not trust the sweetest frame.

[47:51] but only trust in Jesus' name. Christ the Lord. Christ the Lord on us own weakness strong in the Savior's love through the storm He is Lord Lord of all When darkness seems to hide its face I rest on His unchanging grace He need every high and stormy glare My anchor holds within the air

[48:55] My anchor holds within the air Last alone He Lord of all Christ the Lord Christ the Lord All eyes strong Meek made strong

[49:56] In the stainless love Through the storm He is Lord Lord of all When He shall come When He shall come With trumpet sound Oh may I thank In Him be found Dressed in His righteous Mess alone Foughtless to stand Before His throne Christ the Lord Christ the Lord Connors stone Week made strong In the stainless love

[50:57] Through the storm He is Lord Lord of all Father would you help us to Keep our faith in Christ alone Lord of all Lord of all Lord we pray that you would By your spirit Convict us And remind us When we like the Galatians Are drifting Into performance Based religion Seeking to be more accepted By you Seeking to be accepted By you God give us the grace

[51:57] To stand Firm In the freedom That Christ has bought For us Help us Help us not to Take upon ourselves Any yoke Of slavery But to trust In Christ Father we pray That as we leave this place That you would cause Your word to echo In our souls God cause us To rejoice In the freedom That Christ Has won for us Through his Substitutionary death On the cross And we live for your glory As we leave this place In Christ's name Amen Amen You're dismissed If you are here And you need prayer Please come as the others

[52:59] Leave It would be our joy To pray Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Lord alone Yes Thank you.

[54:08] Thank you.

[54:38] Thank you.

[55:08] Thank you.

[55:38] Thank you.

[56:08] Thank you.

[56:38] Thank you.

[57:08] Thank you.

[57:38] Thank you.

[58:08] Thank you.

[58:38] Thank you.

[59:08] Thank you.

[59:38] Thank you.

[60:08] Thank you.

[60:38] Thank you.

[61:08] Thank you.

[61:38] Thank you.

[62:08] Thank you.

[62:38] Thank you.

[63:08] Thank you.

[63:38] Thank you.

[64:08] Thank you.

[64:38] Thank you.

[65:08] Thank you.

[65:38] Thank you.

[66:08] Thank you.

[66:38] Thank you.

[67:08] Thank you.

[67:38] Thank you.

[68:08] Thank you.

[68:38] Thank you.

[69:08] Thank you.

[69:38] Thank you.

[70:08] Thank you.

[70:38] Thank you.

[71:08] Thank you.

[71:38] Thank you.

[72:08] Thank you.

[72:38] Thank you.

[73:08] Thank you.

[73:38] Thank you.

[74:08] Thank you.

[74:38] Thank you.

[75:08] Thank you.

[75:38] Thank you.

[76:08] Thank you.

[76:38] Thank you.

[77:08] Thank you.

[77:38] Thank you.

[78:08] Thank you.

[78:38] Thank you.

[79:08] Thank you.

[79:38] Thank you.

[80:08] Thank you.

[80:38] Thank you.

[81:08] Thank you.

[81:38] Thank you.

[82:08] Thank you.

[82:38] Thank you.

[83:08] Thank you.

[83:38] Thank you.

[84:08] Thank you.

[84:38] Thank you.

[85:08] Thank you.

[85:38] Thank you.

[86:08] Thank you.

[86:38] Thank you.

[87:08] Thank you.

[87:38] Thank you.

[88:08] Thank you.

[88:38] Thank you.

[89:08] Thank you.

[89:38] Thank you.

[90:08] Thank you.

[90:38] Thank you.

[91:08] Thank you.

[91:38] Thank you.

[92:08] Thank you.

[92:38] Thank you.

[93:08] Thank you.

[93:38] Thank you.

[94:08] Thank you.

[94:38] Thank you.

[95:08] Thank you.

[95:38] Thank you.

[96:08] Thank you.

[96:38] Thank you.

[97:08] Thank you.

[97:38] Thank you.

[98:08] Thank you.

[98:38] Thank you.

[99:08] Thank you.

[99:38] Thank you.

[100:08] Thank you.

[100:38] Thank you.

[101:08] Thank you.

[101:38] Thank you.

[102:08] Thank you.

[102:38] Thank you.

[103:08] Thank you.

[103:38] Thank you.

[104:08] Thank you.

[104:38] Thank you.

[105:08] Thank you.

[105:38] Thank you.

[106:08] Thank you.

[106:38] Thank you.

[107:08] Thank you.