Well, happy belated Thanksgiving.
I know that for many of us, Thanksgiving is a wonderful thing, but others of us, Thanksgiving
is a hard thing because, let's be frank, relationships tend to be messy.
And relationships can be downright hostile from time to time.
Here's why.
Whenever you have people coming together, there's usually some kind of relational mess
that happens.
Has anybody seen the Peanuts Thanksgiving?
Do you know who Pigpen is?
Pigpen is that little guy with kind of the smoky dirt cloud that kind of goes around with
him.
That's kind of like a picture of us.
We bring this little kind of relational mess around with us because we've got something
in us called the flesh that likes to wreak havoc on relationships.
The church is no exception to relational mess.
Our church is no exception to relational mess.
I don't know about you, but imputing motives?
When someone says something to you and you think, oh, I know why they're telling me this.
I know what's going on in them.
Or maybe it's defensiveness or being critical with one another, holding grudges, avoiding
each other, fear, control, gossip, envy, anger.
All of these things wreak havoc within a church.
It's the little dirt around Pigpen.
Now, I don't know about you, but I see all of these things I've just named in me.
How about you?
Every one of us has this potential to inflect harm on our church and not just insignificant
harm, significant harm.
What resides in us, what Paul calls the flesh, can undo what God by His Spirit is seeking
to do.
Unite us in love.
Apparently, back when this letter was written to the churches in Galatia, there was this
major threat of losing the gospel of grace with this threat of legalism.
But in addition to this threat to the gospel, there was this other threat of infighting.
And so if you're in Galatians 5, if you look at verse 15, we read it this way.
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you're not consumed by one another.
Now, if you flip down to 5, 19, and 20, we read, now the works of the flesh are evident,
sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits
of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy.
It's a kind of infighting.
Now, it should not surprise us when we hear that when a people loses sight of the gospel,
that there is this resultant infighting.
Because when you lose sight of the gospel of grace, when it ceases to become central to
your community, you tend to forget what God in His love has done for you.
And when you forget what God in His love has done for you on the cross, it's just a matter
of time before you revert back to your old way of doing things, living for your flesh.
And when your flesh is governing your interactions with others, especially within the church, the
result is a harmful chaos, biting, devouring, and consuming.
We're all prone to give way to our flesh and wreak havoc on one another.
Whether that's on a Sunday morning, whether that's on a ministry team, whether that's in
your life group, whether that's in your marriage, or in your parenting, or in your friendships,
our flesh is a threat.
But it's not the gospel way.
Our freedom in Christ doesn't give us the license to wreak havoc in our flesh, but our
freedom in Christ compels us to serve one another in love.
So let me put it this way.
Our freedom in Christ is not an opportunity for our flesh, but an opportunity for our love.
So this morning, I'm going to walk you through this passage, and I want you to see three
things.
There is a gospel reminder in 513.
You were called to freedom, brothers.
There is a gospel warning.
Also in 13, do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
And then there is a gospel mandate.
It's the end of verse 13.
Through love, serve one another.
Our freedom in Christ is not an opportunity for our flesh, but an opportunity for our love.
So let's look at this gospel reminder.
You were called to freedom, brothers.
Brothers, who's doing this calling?
Well, if you look back to verse 8, Paul says, this persuasion is not from him who calls you.
The one who calls us to freedom is God himself.
It is an effectual call in which once you hear the gospel, you respond to God.
God has called every Christian in this room to freedom in Christ.
On January 1st, 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Quote, that all persons held as slaves are and henceforward shall be free.
End quote.
At that moment in our nation's history, every slave in the Union was legally free.
Regardless of how they, the slaves, felt about it.
Regardless of how their southern masters felt about it.
Regardless of how the southern economy felt about it.
They were free.
And ever since, we've been fighting for the equality of our African American brothers and sisters.
The gospel is God's emancipation proclamation to sinners that sets us free.
Freedom from what?
Well, freedom from a certain slave mentality.
Thinking that our obedience to God's law is what saves us.
That's what we're set free from.
We're set free from thinking that we save ourselves by obeying God's law.
We're set free from thinking that if only I obey God's word so much, then he'll love me.
We're set free from that.
And this particular slave mentality is called legalism.
It's one of two mistakes that distort the gospel.
But we know.
And this is what Paul has been hammering on in the book of Galatians.
We know that it's not our obedience that saves us.
It's only the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross that saves us.
And that saves us once and for all and forever.
If you believe it.
If you believe in what God has done for you through Christ on the cross, you have been set free.
God has called you to that.
God has set you free.
God has called you to that.
How do you apply this?
Well, if you're not a Christian in the room, you need to turn to Christ and call out to him to set you free.
You simply say something like this.
Lord Jesus.
Risen Lord Jesus.
Set me free from me.
And if you are a Christian in the room, here's what I'd like you to do.
Turn to the person next to you.
And say this.
Christ has set me free.
Go on.
Christ has set me free.
So, this gospel reminder is this reminder that God himself through the cross has called us to freedom.
It's God's emancipation proclamation.
And if you believe it, you're free.
Free from earning God's acceptance through obedience to his law.
So, we move from a gospel reminder to a gospel warning.
This is the second part of verse 13.
For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
If one mistake, one distortion of the gospel is legalism.
Seeking to earn God's love and acceptance through obedience to his law.
There's another mistake.
There's another way to fall off the horse of the gospel.
You can fall off the gospel in one of two ways.
If legalism, we lose the gospel of grace, licentiousness is the abuse of the gospel of grace.
Legalism loses the gospel.
Licentiousness abuses the gospel.
If legalism says, I must obey the law to be saved, licentiousness says, now that I'm saved by God's grace,
I don't need to obey the law of God anymore.
In that word, licentiousness, I hope you hear the word license.
This thinking is that God's justifying grace gives us license to sin.
It does not.
What you need to understand is both legalism and licentiousness are just two different forms of slavery.
So we read in 13a, you are freed, saved by believing in the gospel of grace.
And then 13b, only do not use your salvation as an opportunity for the flesh.
If you truly get what Christ has done for you.
If you truly understand the gospel.
If you realize that all of your sin, past, present, future has been forgiven at the cross once and for all and forever.
However, if you realize that, and you're an immature Christian, you can hear a blank check to sin.
Holy cow, man, he has forgiven me all that.
I can do whatever I want.
It's like a teenage boy who gets his father's credit card and unlimited balance.
He's just going to rack up charges, baby.
But that's an abuse of God's grace.
The gospel is not an opportunity for the flesh.
Let me help you understand what this word flesh means.
When you read this, when you hear the word flesh, you might be thinking the skin and the muscle on your bones.
Don't think that.
The apostle Paul is not talking so much about your physicality.
The apostle Paul, when he talks about do not give an opportunity for the flesh,
he's talking about a different aspect of who you are.
He's talking about that part of you or parts of you that have yet to be brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
That part or parts of you that have yet to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That's your flesh.
That part of you that resists God still.
Let me try to put it this way.
Do you remember in the Garden of Eden, Jesus was praying, dripping drops of blood?
Do you remember what he prayed?
Father, not my will, but your will be done.
Here's what the flesh says.
The flesh says, my will be done, not yours.
That's how the flesh operates.
So fleshly thinking, fleshly feeling, fleshly desires, they all have the motto, me first.
Self-centered thinking, self-centered feelings, self-centered desires that look around and say,
I don't exist for you, you exist for me.
That's the flesh.
Now, I want to help you think this through a little bit.
Because when you became a Christian, all of who you are was crucified with Christ.
I've been crucified with Christ.
It's no longer I who live, Galatians 2.20.
If you flip over to 5.24, you read, and those who belong to Christ, Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
So the flesh has been crucified at the cross.
And what that's getting at, it's the power of the flesh has been crucified at the cross.
But here's the distinction.
The cross, though it crucified the power of the flesh, did not eradicate the presence of the flesh.
That will happen when either you die or when Jesus comes back.
And now we have this existence in the presence of God without the flesh, without the sinful nature.
It's going to be really weird.
Wonderfully so.
So the point is, the flesh still exerts influence in our lives.
Which means daily, we have a choice to make.
A choice between either sowing to the flesh or sowing to the spirit.
And what Paul is saying here is, do not use your freedom.
What Christ has purchased for you at the cross.
Do not use your salvation as an opportunity for the flesh.
That word opportunity is a great word in and of itself.
It was used of an army's forward base of operations in order to mount military campaigns.
In order to advance its purposes.
It's a place from which to expand.
And what Paul is saying is, don't let your salvation purchased through Christ become the base of expanding your flesh.
So here's what God is telling us this morning.
Do not use what Christ has accomplished for us.
As some kind of beachhead for fleshly advance.
Don't do that.
Christ did not die for us so that we could live for our flesh.
Christ died for us so that we could truly love one another.
Now, I thought it would be helpful to spell this out in a little bit more detail.
So I want to introduce you to a family.
The Fleshlies.
Maybe you've heard of the Brady Bunch.
This is the Fleshly Bunch.
Maybe you'll see yourself.
The first person I want to introduce you to is Ivan Fleshly.
A.K.A.
Ivan the Imputer.
Ivan imputes motives onto other people as if he knows their hearts.
It usually shows up when someone is saying something that Ivan doesn't want to hear.
Ivan is quick to say, there you go again.
Judging me.
Ivan wreaks havoc in relationships.
Denise Fleshly.
Defensive Denise.
Denise is very guarded when you raise issues that threaten her.
She lives in fear.
She's guarded.
She's suspicious.
She's self-protective.
Oftentimes it's because something's happened in her past.
But when Denise is in a life group, Denise does not share much.
Because the Fleshly.
Because the Flesh is ruling her.
And then there's Gary Fleshly.
Gary the Grudge.
He holds past offenses or perceived past offenses against the one who offended him.
Gary.
His lack of forgiveness has hardened his heart.
And he's become quite cynical.
You know when Gary shows up.
Gary.
You know when Gary shows up.
Because when Gary shows up to a Christian gathering, usually a chill runs through the room.
And then there's Alice Fleshly.
Alice the Avoider.
Alice avoids all conflict.
If you've offended her or she's offended you, she will find out where you're sitting on a Sunday morning.
And she will purposely sit as far away from you as possible.
Or if Alice sees you walking towards her in the hallway, Alice will quickly find an alternative route to her destination and go after it.
She thinks she's keeping the peace.
But in reality, peace, peace.
When there is no peace.
And then there's Chris Fleshly.
Chris the Controller.
Chris always needs to have the last word.
He always needs to be the one that makes the decision.
Sometimes Chris will be heard saying,
Better to ask for forgiveness afterwards than permission beforehand.
And if you go and make plans without Chris, he's deeply offended.
Chris has a cousin.
Her name is Kendra.
Kendra Fleshly.
She's also a controller.
And here's how Kendra rolls.
Her life, her marriage could be in shambles.
She could have just lost her job.
Her mortgage payment might be past due.
But when you go up to Kendra and ask how she's doing, she says,
Everything's great.
Everything's just fine.
Controlling the way things look.
Could it be an operation of the flesh?
When any of these fleshlies are given an opportunity to take over among God's people,
it can wreak havoc among God's people.
And not only does it wreak havoc,
it dramatically limits the degree of relationship and intimacy and mutual understanding.
It limits the kind of peace and unity a fellowship can experience.
Some may say that this is like a multiple personality disorder of the flesh.
Because I'm guessing if you're like me,
you've seen a number of these fleshlies in you.
Now I could just move on to the last point here.
But I wouldn't serve you well.
When you see a fleshly show up in you,
whether that's imputing motives or being defensive, avoiding,
projecting that everything is fine when it's not,
you need to say something to that fleshly.
You need to say something like this to yourself.
You need to say something because I belong to Christ.
This manifestation of the flesh belongs on the cross.
When I see defensiveness in me, I must speak.
That has been crucified with Christ.
When I see imputation of motives coming from me on another,
that's been crucified with Christ.
When I avoid people,
that's been crucified with Christ.
Get back on Christ's cross.
That's what you need to say.
You can't brush it aside.
You must kill it.
If we don't put the fleshlies in their place,
which is on the cross,
they will find their place among us
and wreak havoc.
That's why you have this warning in 515.
But if you bite and devour one another,
watch out that you're not consumed by one another.
Do you know what this is a picture of?
This is like a picture of a dog fight,
biting and devouring one another.
My favorite book is Jack London's Call to the Wild.
And it's a story of this dog named Buck
who goes from living a really comfortable life
to going wild.
And Buck turns into this raging beast
that kills.
Brothers and sisters,
is the church to be a place like a dog fight?
Biting and devouring one another?
Consuming each other?
That is not the gospel way.
So let's now turn to the gospel way.
At the end of verse 13,
we have a gospel mandate.
But through love,
serve one another.
If we're not to use our freedom in Christ
as an opportunity for the flesh,
what opportunity does our freedom in Christ afford us?
How are we to use our freedom in Christ?
But through love,
serve one another.
Our freedom in Christ
is not an opportunity to serve ourselves
ourselves in our flesh,
but to serve one another in love.
Do you see that word in verse 13?
It's in the ESV.
It says,
but through love,
serve one another.
The English kind of loses its force.
It really means
to enslave yourself to others.
It means to give up your rights,
die to yourself,
and seek what's best for others
like a slave.
A slave has no rights.
And what Paul says here,
we are to enslave ourselves
to one another through love.
Does anybody see the paradox here?
Our freedom in Christ
results in enslaving ourselves to others.
Do you see it?
It's not enslavement to the law.
It's not enslavement to the flesh.
It's enslavement through love to one another.
The Apostle Paul talks about this
in Ephesians 5.21
as submitting to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
Christ freed us
from ourselves,
serving ourselves
to serve one another
in love.
Another way to think about it is this.
In our church,
there's not one master
with many servants.
One servant
with many masters.
You figure that?
See that?
If you're hearing this right,
you're seeing yourself
as a servant,
seeking to serve
the many masters
of our church.
And Paul
zeroes in
on the motive.
Through love,
enslave yourself
to one another.
Our freedom in Christ
from the law
is a mandate
to serve one another
through love.
It's not optional.
It's a command.
When you hear the word love,
don't think feelings,
think commitment.
Don't think 70s love songs.
I'm lost in love
and I don't know much.
Do, do, do, do.
Don't think love song.
Think wedding vow.
One spouse
vowing to another
to do what's best
for the other,
for better,
for worse,
for richer,
for poorer,
in sickness
and in health
till death do us part.
Our love
for one another
makes us
slaves
to one another
to submit
ourselves
to each other.
So, biblical love
is essentially
an abiding commitment
to one another
to do
what's
best
for each other
even
at great cost
to ourselves.
It's the nature
of slavery.
You don't need
to go any further
than our Lord Jesus Christ
for the model
of this.
He himself said,
I came not to
be served
but to serve
and to give
my life
as a ransom
for many.
He is our model.
And did you notice
in verse 14
how Paul grounds
this command
to love,
this mandate?
He says,
for the whole law
is fulfilled
in one word,
you shall love
your neighbor
as yourself.
The whole law
is fulfilled
in just
one word.
All 613 commandments
fulfilled
in one word.
Love.
Do what's
best
for the other.
Do the greatest
good
as you
would have
the greatest
good done
to you.
Now,
if you're thinking
right now,
if you're looking
over at your spouse
and saying,
finally,
someone is telling
you how to be
my servant.
You're totally
missing the point.
This is a call
to you
and save yourself
to your spouse,
to your family,
to your life group,
to your church.
love.
Love.
What are we aiming
at here?
It's very interesting
because you shall love
your neighbor
as yourself.
If I really like
Ben and Jerry's
chocolate therapy,
does that mean
you love me
by getting chocolate
therapy for me
all the time?
Is that what
slavery looks like?
No, the understanding
of what the Bible
is this.
The best thing
I know is for me
is Jesus.
He's my first love.
He's your first love.
He's the vine.
We're the branches.
We love each other
best by pointing
one another
to Jesus
sacrificially.
So I hope you see
what's going on
in this passage.
We've been set free
from the law
through Christ
in order to
become slaves
of one another
just like Christ
which fulfills
the whole law
which pleases Christ.
We don't fulfill
the law
to be saved.
We've been saved
so now we fulfill
the law
by Christ-like
love for one another.
Our freedom in Christ
is not an opportunity
for our flesh
but an opportunity
for us to
love one another
like Christ.
And do you know
what's really encouraging
about this passage?
This is why
I reached into
verse 16.
Paul says
but I say
walk by the spirit
and you will not
gratify the desires
of the flesh.
Do you know
what's so encouraging
about verse 16?
when you realize
you're more like
pig pen
and you make
relational messes
where you go
isn't it good
to know
that God
has put
an inside man
in you
the Holy Spirit.
And what the Holy Spirit
is looking to do
is to direct
and empower us
daily
to love one another
sacrificially
to fulfill
the law
and please Christ.
That's what it means
to walk by the spirit.
To daily depend
on the spirit
to direct
and empower us
in order to
not gratify
the desires
of the fleshlies
but to live out love.
The Holy Spirit
is the hallmark feature
He is the hallmark feature
of the new covenant
people of God.
He was the one
anticipated
in Jeremiah 31
Ezekiel 36
and Joel 2.
He is the game changer
God who would come
and dwell within us
to work
in each of us
to fulfill
God's law
directing us
and empowering us
daily
to love each other
sacrificially
isn't it good
to know
that the third person
of the Trinity
dwells in us
to bring all this
love stuff
about.
He wants to do it.
Do you remember
the fruit of the spirit?
Do you remember
the first
fruit of the spirit?
Love.
the fulfillment
of the whole law
is just one word
and the Holy Spirit
is seeking
to bring it about
in us.
Our shared freedom
in Christ
is not an opportunity
to gratify
our flesh
with one another
but to fulfill
the law
with one another
to love
one another.
So I want to boil
this down
a little bit
more.
I want to boil
it down to
just one question
that is a
diagnostic question
to govern
your relationships
with other people
in our church.
Here's something
that you can be
asking yourself
before you write
an email.
Before you send
a text.
Before you make
a phone call.
Before you talk
to someone
about someone
else.
Before you think
certain thoughts
about someone.
Before you act
towards someone.
Here's the question
that you need to be
asking yourself
from this text.
Will this thought
does this feeling
will this word
does this text
email
or action
does this
lovingly
serve
my brother
or my sister
in the relationship
with Christ?
Does it serve
their relationship
with Jesus?
That's how we love
one another.
And inevitably
here's what's
going to happen.
when he started
asking that question
and started asking
okay God
this doesn't feel right
feels kind of defensive
what's going on
spirit lead on.
You know what's
going to happen?
It's going to expose
the spirit
out of love for you.
He's going to expose
sin in you.
He's going to expose
the fleshlies.
And now you're
going to have a choice
to either
respond in faith
and repentance
or ignore
the spirit's prompting.
So
when I start
praying
and asking
beforehand
will this
whatever it is
serve this person's
relationship with Christ?
Will this
really love them?
It helps me
to start seeing
my imputing
motives tendency.
And it helps me
then to be able
to say wait wait
I'm imputing
motives on that person.
I don't know
what's going on
in their heart.
Oh Lord Jesus
that belongs
with you
on the cross.
And then I'm
reminded of this.
1 Corinthians 13
7
Love believes
all things.
I'm going to
believe the best
in this person.
If I start
seeing defensiveness
in me
kind of a
guardedness
I'm going to say
okay Lord
that belongs
on the cross
with you
because in
1 Corinthians 13
love does not
insist on
its own way.
If I start
seeing envy
in me
that I'm
going to send
an email
out of envy
I'm going to
say oh Lord
that too
has been
crucified
with Christ
on the cross.
And then I'm
not going to envy
I'm going to
weep with those
who weep
I'm going to
rejoice with
those who rejoice
I'm going to
love this person
If you start
seeing grudge
in you
you're avoiding
someone because
you're on a
grudge against
them
it's
it's the
Alice Gary
mix
crucify that
with Christ
because love
is not
irritable
or resentful
it does not
keep records
of wrongs
it forgives
as God
in Christ
has forgiven
me
and I've
been forgiven
way more
what this
love ethic
does for us
this spirit
working
love ethic
does for us
it helps us
to bear
one another
in love
Ephesians 1
Ephesians 4
1-2-3
so church
let me ask
you
what happens
when more
and more
Christians
from our
church
are seeking
to put
to death
the flesh
and by
the spirit
bring to
life
this love
we're not
going to be
consuming
one another
we're going
to be
building each
other up
in love
or in
Galatians 6
9-10
we're going
to be doing
good to
each other
this morning
God has
reminded us
of
the gospel
we've been
freed
in Christ
God has
helped us
to see
a gospel
warning
give no
opportunity
for the
flesh
God has
also helped
us to see
a gospel
mandate
to love
one another
at cost
but I want
to close
by saying
this
we have
a unique
challenge
as a
church
along
these
lines
it's a
unique
challenge
we must
face
together
as a
church
because
this call
to love
one another
sacrificially
would be
hard enough
if all
of us
were of
the same
ethnicity
if all
of us
were of
the same
socioeconomic
class
if all
of us
were the
same
age
if all
of us
had the
same
cultural
background
we would
have all
of those
things in
commons
and it
would still
be hard
to love
one another
because we
still have
to die
to ourselves
but God
has called
us as a
church
to live
out the
gospel in
such a
way
we're praying
that God
will unite
a people
through the
cross
of very
diverse
backgrounds
and that
is going
to raise
a unique
temptation
with us
because when
we interact
more with
more and
more people
who are
different
than us
we're going
to be
tempted
to withdraw
from them
but we
must not
withdraw
from them
the gospel
compels us
to move
towards
people who
are different
than us
we must
purpose
all the more
not to
use our
freedom
as an
opportunity
to withdraw
in the
flesh
but to
move
forward
to our
people
in love
to serve
them
and not
only will
we experience
depth of
community
and richness
of diversity
we will
live out
something
Jesus
himself
prayed
for us
for
in
John
chapter
17
20
and 21
Jesus
prayed
I do
not ask
for these
only
but also
for those
who will
believe
in me
through
their
word
that's
us
that they
may all
be one
just as
you father
are in
me
and I
in you
that they
also may
be in
us
so that
the world
may believe
that you
have sent
me
not only
is the
quality of
our fellowship
dependent on
our putting
death the
flesh and
bringing to
life
love
our
witness
to this
city
depends
on
it
our
freedom
in
Christ
is not
an opportunity
for our
flesh
but an
opportunity
for our
love
let's
pray
God in
heaven
we are
in over
our heads
we make
messes of
our
relationships
this
flesh
that
influences
and exerts
itself
in us
oh God
it can wreak
havoc among
us
God would
you do
a work
in us
by your
spirit
would you
do a
purifying
work
would you
do a
mortifying
work
in which
you
kill the
flesh in
us
so that
we
can love
one another
unto you
God we
pray that
you would
grow us
as a
church
not only
to love
one another
in this
room
but to
love
those
who are
more and
more different
from us
outside
of this
building
God would
you do
a work
and it
can only
be by
your
spirit
only
through
the
power
of the
cross
by which
you
unite
a
people
a
diverse
people
in the
worship
of your
name
for the
good of
all
people
amen