I invite you to turn with me in your copy of the New Testament Scriptures to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter number five this morning, Galatians chapter number five. It was in the year 1215. that King John of England was under duress from English nobles who confronted him about his totalitarian rule. And they forced King John to sign a document. It was a charter of civil liberties for the English people. We know that historic document as the Magna Carta. It's a fascinating piece of history. Magna Carta is Latin for great paper. Since that time, other documents have been drafted to champion the cause of freedom of those most familiar to us would be our own nation's Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights there. But those documents were written to establish and preserve liberties for people in the face of legal oppression. In perhaps a similar way, Paul's letter to the Galatians, this epistle has been called the great charter of religious freedom. It's been called the Christian declaration of independence. It's been called the Magna Carta of the church. And the freedom that is set forth here in the book of Galatians is a freedom from those who insist on some form of legalism in the life of the Christian. Look at Galatians 5 verse number one with me. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. So then our understanding of this Magna Carta demands that we understand Paul's notion of liberty or freedom here in verse number one. The word is used twice here in verse number one. The spiritual liberty or the freedom that we have in Christ can be understood in these ways. By way of introduction, just briefly, we are free from the curse of the law. In Galatians 3, Paul wrote, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, that no one is justified by the law on the side of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are free from the curse of the law. Secondly, we are free from the curse of sin. Romans 6, Paul wrote, having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of God. So we are free from the curse of sin. We are free from the curse of the law. We are free from the curse of sin. We are also free from the curse of death. Romans chapter eight. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free. from the law of sin and death. And so we are free from the curse of the law, from the curse of sin, from the curse of death. That is the freedom, that is the liberty of which Paul is speaking in Galatians 5 verse number one. But then also, Paul says, positively speaking, we are free for spiritual life and living. We are free for spiritual life and living. Galatians chapter five here before us this morning, for you brethren have been called to liberty, only do not use your liberty, this is Galatians five verse 13, only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. He says, and then verse 16, I say, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And so in the final two chapters of Galatians now, Paul will make the case that the freedom that we have in Christ is not simply a freedom from the curse and the consequences of law and sin and death, but it's a freedom for Spirit-filled living in love toward one another. One Bible scholar has written this summary, it's here on the back of your notes, also projected for you. He says, the implications of this Christian freedom as Paul develops it are vast and far-reaching, but essentially he sees freedom as a reality affected in and through the Christ event. What is the Christ event? his incarnation, his crucifixion, his resurrection, the work of Jesus Christ, which has broken the power of sin and neutralized the individual hostility against God, which at the same time has covered the guilt and stain of our sin and erased the past, which has crushed all enslavement to self, to religious convention, to the present powers of evil and to cosmic forces, and which has triumphed over every force that dominates humankind. including human morality itself. But that is only one side of the Pauline coin, the freedom from what side? There is also the significant freedom for what side? And this many-faceted emphasis in Paul, though it can be simply stated, is infinitely complex in its outworking. A Christian is now free to obey God in a radical fashion by serving his fellow human beings in selfless love. If we were to cheat ahead to the end of verse number 13, Galatians 5 verse 13, we find this theme there. And in any great document of freedom and liberty, there is a declaration from oppression, from oppression and there's a declaration for. opportunity, a freedom for opportunity, and our freedom in Christ liberates us from the bondage to the law and the consequences of sin and death, and it liberates us for a right relationship with God and with one another in love. And so here now, as we've come to Galatians 5 verse 1, we're gonna flip the coin as it were, and look not just the freedom from the law, sin, the curse of death, but liberty and freedom for living for the Lord. So from Galatians 5 verses 1 through 12, I prepared a message titled Don't Lose Your Grip on Grace. Let me pause for prayer and then we'll unpack the text together. God in heaven, we come to you in Jesus' name this morning asking for the aid of the Holy Spirit to help us to understand and apply the scripture text. God we recognize the importance of the gospel and we recognize the importance of truth but Lord sometimes we struggle to apply it correctly in life and in living and Lord as I As I address this assembly of believers, I pray that you would help us to not lose our grip on the glorious grace that you have shown toward us in Jesus Christ. May we live in light of that, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Alright, Galatians 5 verses 1-12. In my mind, these verses could be divided into two parts. In verses 1-6, Paul describes the dangers of a different gospel. And then in verses 7-12, Paul describes the disseminators of a different gospel. the dangers and the disseminators of a different gospel. You say, what is the different gospel? Well, remember all the way back to chapter one, verse number six, Paul wrote, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. And we have certainly identified that different gospel as any other gospel than the gospel of faith alone. in Christ alone by grace alone has been the theme. And so we begin here with the dangers of a different gospel in verses one through six. Chapter five, verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Here's the first danger of a different gospel. First, Christ becomes of no value. And because it was common and customary for all Jewish baby boys to be involuntarily circumcised on the eighth day after their birth as a physical mark of their identification as a Jew, we can assume this morning that the Apostle Paul, being a Jew, was in fact circumcised in that same manner. If Paul had not been circumcised, he could not have boasted of being a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He could not have boasted of being a Hebrew of the Hebrews as he did in Philippians chapter three. But Paul is saying to intentionally receive circumcision as a means of meriting salvation or sanctification annuls the work of Christ. The atoning work of Jesus Christ does not benefit a person who trusts in anything else or anyone else in addition to Christ alone. Why? Because that something else or that someone else becomes a human supplement to Christ's work. Bible commentator William Hendrickson put it this way, he said, a supplemented Christ is a supplanted Christ. That is, if we add anything to Jesus Christ and his work alone, we have replaced Jesus Christ. The gospel is not Jesus plus anything, it is Jesus alone. But in the first century, Gentile churches, circumcision became a big issue of question. And we know that that issue of circumcision became the issue for the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, where they asked, is circumcision also necessary for salvation? Today, that isn't an issue or a question for us, but today in the 21st century, there are issues of baptism, or church attendance, church membership, Confirmation, charitable giving, sacraments, all sorts of good works. For example, I would cite Roman Catholicism. It teaches a different gospel. You say, oh, but pastor, they're good people. They believe in Jesus. Well, they don't believe in Jesus alone, you see. They believe in Jesus plus Mary. Mary is a co-redemptrix in Romanism, Roman Catholic theology. They believe in Jesus plus good works. That's legalism. They believe in Jesus plus. You say, but pastor, there may be Roman Catholics who are truly saved, and that may be the case, but what Paul is saying here is be careful of the danger of another gospel, because if you add anything to Jesus alone, it annuls the work of Christ. Christ becomes of no value. And so, not just to pick on the Roman Catholics, what about us? Could it be some of us who make a profession of faith for salvation in Jesus Christ, we become members of a Baptist church, yet we are trusting in something other than or in addition to the work of Jesus Christ alone for our salvation and sanctification? What is necessary for salvation? What is necessary for sanctification? It is Jesus Christ alone. Anything plus Jesus equals nothing. Jesus Christ alone is everything. All right, verse number three. Verse number three, and I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. And so a danger of a different gospel, Christ becomes of no value, the law then becomes an obligation, letter B. If one attempts to be made righteous by any part of the law, the Old Testament, Mosaic law, for example, circumcision, then that one is obligated to keep the whole law. The problem is then, if we keep the whole law, yet we stumble in one point, we are guilty of all, James says. Look back to chapter three, Galatians three, verse number 10. Galatians 3 verse number 10, just a page away. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, its obligation, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. The ESV, all who rely on the works of the law. If we are to achieve self-righteousness by the law, we better follow all the law. I confess that in my lifetime I have been unable to keep all of the Ten Commandments, let alone all 613 of the mitzvot or the commandments that the Jews have counted in the Torah. I know what you're all thinking, which of the Ten Commandments has Pastor Matt not… I can't think of any right now, but I… No, I have, I regret, I repent that I have dishonored my parents. I have coveted. I have stolen. Is that enough? Can we be done already? If we submit ourselves to the law for our own righteousness, then the law becomes an obligation, all of the law. Back to chapter five, verse four. You have become estranged from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, not by law. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but it's faith working through love. So a third danger of a different gospel is that a Christian becomes legalistic, legalistic. If one seeks to be justified by the law or sanctified by the law, that one falls from or loses their grip on grace. Now, let's be careful here. Do not misunderstand the notion of falling from grace as meaning losing one's salvation. Don't misunderstand the title of our study. Don't lose your grip on grace as losing or letting go of your salvation. The scripture is very clear that once we are saved, we are always saved. Once we are a son, we are always a son. The notion of falling from grace or losing our grip on grace does not mean invalidating our salvation. I submit it means interrupting our sanctification. Let me explain this here. Perhaps you'll agree with me. The notion of falling from grace here in Galatians 5 verse number four occurs when one who has genuinely trusted in Christ alone for their salvation returns back to a life of external rituals and ceremonies and traditions for further spiritual growth or promotion. And so how does a Christian become legalistic? And this is how I would describe it. It's not in your notes, but perhaps you wanna capture it here. One who has genuinely trusted Christ might exchange living by grace for living under law. And that was Paul's concern for them. You remember, you are sons of promise. And why would you go and live like you're a son under the law? You've come to spiritual maturity in adulthood, why would you go back and long for childhood again as a servant under law? And that's what was happening to these Galatian believers. Back in chapter four, verse nine, he asked them, why do you want to turn back to the beggarly elements? In fact, go back to chapter four, verse number nine. We're just connecting some dots here. But now, after you have known God, Chapter four, verse nine, or rather are known by God, that's better. How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? Oh, that we could go back to Egypt is how the children of Israel complained after being liberated and freed from enslavement and bondage there. Turn your notes over again and I'll read for you what Pastor Teacher John MacArthur has written. True Christians will not reject the true way of salvation, but they confuse themselves and they confuse others when trying to live by works. The security of our salvation from the divine side is guaranteed by God to his own. The security of our salvation is a matter for God alone and he holds us safely in his hand, John chapter 10. Nothing can separate us from his love, Romans chapter eight. But from the human side, that's our side, it is manifest by the perseverance in grace. Paul here is calling for such perseverance in grace by the genuine believer. Okay, how does this work? How is this seen? What does it look like? How do we keep our grip on grace? Look at the end of verse six. But faith working through love. Love is mentioned again in verse 13. Look at chapter 5 verse 13. but through love serve one another. Look at verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jump to verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. We're gonna get here in the weeks to come. Look at chapter six, verse number two. I think this is what it looks like. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill Not the law of Moses, but the law of Christ. You see these themes, how they're being woven together? Look at chapter six, verse number 10. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith. And I think this is the exercise and the demonstration of the law of Christ in love toward one another. You see, we are not just free from law. Flip the coin, we are free for love. And how do we exercise and demonstrate that love? It's in the power of the spirit of God, which again, we're gonna discover here in the weeks to come. As we have been recipients of God's love and grace, we have been liberated for that, to live that love out among one another. And so I would say to us here that the greatest oxymoron in all of the world is a legalistic Christian. Because a legalist is of law, a Christian is of grace, a legalist is of law, a Christian is of love. And I wish we had the time this morning to keep plowing to verse 13 and following where we learn how love can govern like the law never could. We'll get there. But there are dangers of a different gospel. Christ becomes of no value. The law becomes an obligation. The Christian becomes legalistic. Now I think we have the time. I want to just depart for a moment. from a strict study of this text. And I want to address some confusion regarding legalism that has even been a point of conversation among us as a church family over the last few weeks. Don't confuse wisdom with legalism. Don't confuse holiness with legalism. Don't confuse issues of obedience with legalism. Don't confuse matters of worldliness with legalism. Let me give you some quick illustrations, then we'll get back to the text and back to our notes. If I adopt the Billy Graham rule, or perhaps you know it as the Mike Pence rule, it's the idea that as a married man, to preserve the sanctity of my marriage, I should be careful not to be alone with another woman. in a compromising situation. Is that legalism? Or is that wisdom? I've adopted the Billy Graham rule or the Mike Pence rule. I'm careful to guard myself from perhaps putting myself in a compromising situation that is not a legalistic matter, that is a wisdom issue, you see. Let's change the illustration. If I purpose not to set anything wicked before my eyes, Psalm 101 verse three. If I purpose not to watch a movie with content that is wicked, is that legalism? Or does that become a holiness issue? We are called to be holy as God is holy. How is God holy? He has a purer eyes that he cannot look on evil or wickedness. Could it be that as I pursue holiness in my life, as God is, I purpose to not set anything impure before my eyes? So there are wisdom issues, there are holiness issues. Let me change the example again. Perhaps there is some area of life or lifestyle that is so uncharacteristic, I'm sorry, so characteristic of an unbelieving world that it is not characteristic of a follower of Christ. And so I abstain from that matter. Is that legalism or is it my effort to not be worldly as we're commanded to be, which then changed the illustration again. ultimately don't confuse legalism with obedience to Christ. And sometimes we conflate these things. And so any practical matter of entertainment or recreation or discipline or activity, we might throw the stones of legalism, legalism, legalism, but that may not be the case. What Paul is saying here is if you exercise yourself in a matter, circumcision was at issue in Galatians, in order to merit or maintain your salvation. That is a different gospel, and you have fallen from grace, and there are dangers in that. Christ becomes of no value, the law becomes an obligation, and a Christian becomes legalistic. Number two. disseminators of a different gospel. And Paul is then now here in verses 7 to 12. He's going to identify characteristics of the disseminators, those who are going to preach a different gospel. Verse number 7, you ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Now Paul is not necessarily asking for the names, for the specific identity of the Judaizers there in verse number seven with the question who. Paul is really asking a how question. He's saying how could the Galatians have allowed those Judaizers, whoever they are, to mislead you? Because the Judaizers, whoever they are, they hinder the truth. They hinder the truth. Using the imagery of a race here, verse seven, Paul says that they were running well, they were free from any weight, any hindrance that would discourage their progress, but then the Judaizers, whoever they are, led them away from grace, led them away from faith and back to law and works, even demanding circumcision from the Old Testament Mosaic law. Perhaps you remember, well, go there, chapter one, verses six and seven. I just think it's so important to connect the dots here in the epistle, chapter one, verse six. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert, to twist the gospel of Christ. And folks, that will cripple you in your Christian walk. It will hinder you in your race of faith. So the disseminators of a different gospel, they hinder the truth. Go back to chapter five, verse number eight. This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. So another characteristic of disseminators of a different gospel is they're not of God. They're not from him who calls you. And that's really strange or a strong language there. How do you know if something is from God or not from God? Have you ever thought that? Any prompting, is this the spirit or is this the flesh? Any message? How do we know? Well, of course, we can square things with the truth of God's word. That's always our benchmark. You can read 1 Timothy 4, 1 John 4. How do we know things are not of God? We'll get back to chapter one, verse eight. I keep wanting to, as book ends, chapter one, verse eight. But if, even if we, or an angel from heaven, some angelic being, some supernatural message, preach any other gospel to you, than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. They are not of God. Back to chapter five, verse nine. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, okay? These disseminators of the gospel, they corrupt everybody. And physically, we know that yeast, leaven is yeast, and leaven or yeast, it permeates the bread dough to make the whole lump rise. In Scripture, leaven is often a picture of sin, just as a single cancer cell can spread or metastasize throughout the whole physical body, just as a spark can ignite a large fire, just as a bad apple can spoil a whole bushel. Sin can corrupt. and error can destroy. Verse number 10, chapter 5, verse 10, I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And again, Paul isn't necessarily asking for a specific name. He's acknowledging the Judaizers and the influence there. But this is good news. Paul's confidence is in the perseverance of the saints in Galatia. And the true believers will not ultimately fall for or follow the Judaizers because they will both be preserved by God and they will persevere. On the other hand, he says there at the end of verse number 10, the disseminators of a different gospel, letter D, they will be judged. The end of verse 10, they will bear that judgment. Verse 11, and I brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I'm gonna say letter E, they oppress others. These disseminators of the gospel, they are oppressive, they are persecutors. And the reason that Paul was being oppressed and persecuted was because he wasn't preaching circumcision. If he would preach circumcision, then the message of the cross wouldn't bother anybody. But what did he say back in chapter two? Turn the page back to chapter two, verse 21. Chapter 2, verse 21, Paul says, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes to the law, circumcision or any other matter, then Christ died in vain. Verse number 12, chapter 5, verse 12. I could wish that those who trouble you, whoever they are, the Judaizers, the false disseminators of a false gospel. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off. Now there was a popular pagan cult in the region of Galatia during Paul's day where men who were devout worshipers in that cult would castrate themselves as a gesture of devotion. And in a grotesque and graphic way, Paul is saying, if the Judaizers are so insistent on circumcision as a means of pleasing God, then why don't they go and mutilate themselves? However, Paul here is not ultimately calling for physical consequence. I think he might have in mind Deuteronomy 23 verse one, and you can jot it in your margin there, I'll read it for you. Deuteronomy 23 one explains that emasculation excludes one from the assembly of God's people, and I'll read it. He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. What is Paul saying? They should be cut off. Paul is saying this, those who disseminate a different gospel ought not to be part of the fellowship of the saints and the worship of God. This is some of the strongest language that you're going to read in your Bible. I think it indicates to us how serious of a problem this was. So Paul's Magna Carta here, his great paper on religious freedom calls us to stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. Chapter five, verse number one. To not lose our grip on grace. Chapter five, verse number four. Lest we fall from grace. Folks, I would charge you individually, I would charge us as a church to not lose our grip on God's grace and think for a moment that our good works add anything to our salvation. There are issues of holiness, there are issues of obedience, there are wisdom issues that we may exercise, but do not lose your grip on the liberty, the freedom by which Christ has made us free. Now here's the good news. I think the Church of Jesus Christ has always struggled with these matters over the centuries, but the good news is this, at the end of the day, as we struggle to stand fast and hold on, know that God is holding on to us. He will never let us go. And we struggle to demonstrate love toward one another in the Spirit. We struggle, perhaps, to demonstrate grace toward one another in the Spirit. And as we struggle to hold on, know that nothing separates us from the love of God, and that He is holding on to us. He will hold us fast. That is His grace toward us. Let's pray, God in heaven, I thank you for the strong language and the clear teaching of your Spirit through the Apostle Paul to the Galatians. God forgive us for in our flesh hoping to merit anything or maintain anything by works of the law. What I pray that you would find us to not be that oxymoron that legalistic Christian. But Lord may we be those that walk in the spirit as we will study now in the next couple of weeks. I thank you Lord for holding on to us in spite of our failure and in spite of our falling. Thank you for holding us fast. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.