Christ Is Enough

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Since Christ has set us free from the enslavement of the law, let us then be enslaved to Christ who offers us true freedom in himself.

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Good morning. Go ahead and grab your Bibles and turn to Galatians 5.

Years ago, in my junior high and early high school days I ran track. The main race I ran was the 400. It was one lap around the track. It was simple. Basically, it was run as fast as you can, stay in your lane, don’t look behind you and keep your eyes on the finish line. There were no obstacles in front of me.

I refused to run the hurdles. There were a couple reasons why. I grew up in a small school and so training was not something we really all did that well. We didn’t have equipment to train with and so I had no idea how to run the hurdles at all. But, someone had to because it was part of the competition.

And so, I was at least smart enough to say no. A friend of mine said “Sure! I’ll run the hurdles” even though he had never trained in the slightest. This led to my second reason and affirmation of why I would never run the hurdles.

At the very first track meet of the year, he sets up to run the hurdles and we’re all standing nearby watching because we knew it was going to be a disaster. The track he was running on was not your typical track either. I don’t know what it was made with but all I know is there was a lot of loose gravel. You can probably see how this story ends.

The gun is fired, he starts off in a dead sprint toward that first hurdle and just completely wipes out hard. I mean he’s flipping all over the place, the hurdle is flipping all over the place and next thing we see is him rolling around on the ground screaming in pain with his legs all ripped up and bruised.

He never ran the hurdles again.

The reason I liked to run the 400 was because there were no obstacles in the way. The problem with running the hurdles is that there are nothing but obstacles all along the way until the finish line.

Now, it’s a stupid analogy, but it’s what first came to my mind when I was studying out this text from Galatians 5. Paul said in verse 7, “You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth?”

He’s basically saying, “You were doing well.” “What happened?” “What tripped you up along the way?”

This really is the issue that Paul had with the Galatian church. They were at one point early in their journey growing in grace, resting in the gospel, looking to Christ. They had begun their Christian journey in a healthy place and then suddenly, they began to deviate from that path. They began to get tripped up. They began to look to false saviors to make sense of their lives, to give them hope. They were not finishing the race set before them. Instead, obstacles and hurdles were leaving them laid out on the ground.

As the church gathered here today, we need to recognize that the same threats which tripped up the Galatians are just as real today as they were to them. The Galatians failed to truly understand that Christ is enough. They failed to understand the freedom we have in Christ and instead were living as captives to the law. False teaching and false teachers were tripping up these brothers and sisters causing them to look to the law for their justification and sanctification.

The hope of what we’ll read through today from this text is that Jesus is all we need. He’s sufficient. If you’re struggling in life feeling like you’ll never be good enough, that you’ll never live up to what you should be. That God will only accept you if you meet a certain standard of goodness.

If you feel like you’re running life on a treadmill, just running and running, working and working, striving and striving with all your might only to find that you’re still in the same spot as when you started, then the good news for you today is that Jesus is enough to carry that burden, to lift that weight off of you and has set you free from the burden of trying to earn God’s love and acceptance.

We must learn that Christ is enough, and he has set us free. And so, the question we’ll answer today is, “How are we free?” So, we’re going to look today at what we’re free from, what we’re free in, and what then we are free to do.

Look with me at verse 1.

Galatians 5:1, For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.

It’s here that we answer the question, “what are we free from?” We’re:

Free from enslavement to the law.

Now, let’s unpack this so we don’t misunderstand what Paul’s saying.

Far too often people think that Christian liberty means a license to do whatever we want, live however we want, say whatever we want. That’s not Christian liberty. That’s not what Paul is saying here at all.

What Christ has freed us from is the burden or enslavement that the law brought upon us. The purpose of the law is to reveal to us our need for a Savior, our need for redemption. The law was not given so that through it we would find life. The law should only reflect to you your need and insufficiency to obey it completely.

I once heard Paul Tripp refer to the law of God, the commands of God as a mirror that reveals your true self.

And so, think of it this way. When you first woke up this morning, at some point you stumbled into your bathroom to get ready for the day. At one point you looked at yourself in the mirror and most likely what that mirror reflected wasn’t pretty. Your hair was disheveled, eye crusties, it’s just not usually a good picture. But the mirror was reflecting or revealing your true self.

The same thing happens when we read God’s commands. So, “do not lie.” A clear command. You know what that command reflects back to me? I’m a liar. I can be dishonest. Don’t covet. Yeah, I find myself wanting things that other people have. Don’t worship any of god other than the one true God. I’ve got plenty of other idols in my life that I often turn to for hope.

The law was never meant to save us but to reveal our need for a Savior. But the Galatians were instead turning to the law, turning away from Christ thinking that their obedience to it would somehow make them right. They were not believing that Christ was enough. They needed Jesus, yes and amen, (They had begun in the Spirit – chapter 3) but they were also thinking and beginning to believe as they were progressing in the faith that they needed something else on top of Jesus to be sanctified and that something else was their rigid obedience to the law.

And Paul is pleading with them to not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Why is this such a big deal? Because you will never be able to fully and perfectly obey the law. We will always fall short.

A couple years ago I took the summer months to preach through the Ten Commandments at my church. We just took one a week and from the outset I told our people that each week, with each new commandment you’re going to see how you fall short with every one of them.

I remember one week after we got done teaching through the command, “Do not murder” a guy came up to me afterwards, a fairly new believer, and he was visibly frustrated because he thought out of all of the commands that was going to be the one that he could say, I’m innocent. But it was Jesus who said in Matthew 5, “You have heard it said, do not murder…but I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister is guilty.”

As we talked through it together it actually became the one he was most guilty of when he recognized that the anger he held in his heart towards others had caused him to be guilty.

The Galatians were drifting into works-based righteousness. They were adding effort to grace. I’ll be accepted if I obey.

How many of us are guilty of that same thing? How many of us have thought, “Well I’m attending church so God must really be pleased with me now.” “If I just don’t lose my temper today then God will love me more.” “If maybe I just give a little extra money to the church then maybe God will make my life easier.”

What is this? It’s works-based righteousness. It’s thinking God is fully pleased only when we perfectly obey. What’s the truth? God is pleased with us because we are in Christ and God is pleased with Christ.

(Gospel Proclamation)

So, we have been set free from enslavement to the law. We’ve been set free from condemnation.

Secondly, we’re:

Free in Christ.

Let’s pick it up in verse 2.

Galatians 5:2-12, Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to do the entire law. You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. For we eagerly await through the Spirit, by faith, the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth? This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough. I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. I wish those who are disturbing you might also let themselves be mutilated!

It’s here in these verses that we see the main issue, the main hurdle that the Galatians were facing. False teachers were infiltrating the church and teaching that acceptance with God was based upon an obedience to the Jewish law of circumcision. Ultimately what was being taught to these believers was that in order to gain acceptance with God they needed to conform to a Jewish identity rather than an identity in Christ.

Circumcision can be traced all the way back to Genesis 17. It’s there that God gives Abraham this sign of the covenant that he had made with him. Basically, the covenant that God made with him was that from Abraham he would call a multitude of people to himself from all nations.

It’s a promise of redemption. A promise of hope. God is going to save people from every tribe, language, and nation. Through faith, they will become sons and daughters of God.

Circumcision was a sign of this promise. This sign did not save, it did not justify, it did not make one right. But the Jewish people began to find their identity in the sign rather than in the sign-giver. What mattered was faith in God, not the sign, not an outward appearance of religious conformity.

Here’s how I’ve seen this dangerous, Christ-less, burdensome teaching in my church experience.

“Oh, you’re a Christian? Make sure from this point forward you only listen to this kind of music.”

Oh, you’re a Christian? You can no longer watch movies in the theater.”

“Oh, you’re a Christian? Make sure you dress this way and not that way.”

“Oh, you’re a Christian? Well here’s what you can eat and drink.”

“Oh, you’re a Christian? Well, you can only have a certain kind of haircut.”

”Oh, you’re a Christian? Well you must vote for and support this political party.”

“Oh, you’re a Christian? Make sure you’re always at every church event, but don’t bring your problems with you. You keep those tucked away. Just smile and act like a Christian.”

What’s happening in those moments? We’re looking to an outward expression of religious conformity to justify us before God. It’s devoid of Christ. It’s us saying, he’s not enough.

For the Galatian churches it was circumcision. For us today, it’s music selection, dress codes, certain prohibitions that are not rooted in Scripture. And what’s Paul say?

If you look to religious externals to justify or sanctify you before God, Christ will not benefit you at all because you’re not looking to Christ. In fact, Paul says, if you’re going to say acceptance comes through the law then don’t just look at circumcision, you’ve got to do it all perfectly. Isn’t that what he says in verse 3? “You’re obligated then to do the entire law.”

The more we look to externals to make us right the farther we drift away from the beauty of Christ and the grace of God.

Now, in no way does this excuse us to pursue holiness and to do that which is good and right. But we need to understand what God’s commands are there for? First, they point us to our need for a Savior, and then, once we are resting in that Savior, we’re then free to obey. And so, obedience comes from a desire to please the God who has made us right.

And so, why should Christians be generous? Is it so that God will love and accept us? No, he already has in Christ. And so, because of Christ we’re now free to live generously just as God was generous toward us.

Why do we forgive? Because God has forgiven us through Christ.

Through Christ, the law no longer becomes a burden but now in Christ we’re free to obey knowing that when we fall short, and we will, our acceptance is found through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The message of the gospel is one of absolute freedom but it’s also one of offense. Paul says that in verse 11. The cross is offensive. Why?

Well, why are we tempted to find acceptance and justification through our good works rather than Christ? Because ultimately, we want to be our own Savior. Our hearts don’t want to look to another. Our hearts don’t want to submit to his reign and his rule over us.

The cross screams you are guilty and have failed to obey. The cross screams you are insufficient to save yourself. The brutality of the cross displays the ugliness of our sin. In our flesh, we don’t want to hear that. And so, rather than looking to Jesus, we turn inwardly and look to ourselves. I’ll fix this. I don’t need anyone else.

The cross is offensive, yes, but it is freeing. We’re set free from the burden of the law and its demands and now we’re united to Christ, set free in him and now we are free to obey.

That’s how Paul finishes up this section.

Verse 13.

Galatians 5:13-15, For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

It’s through Christ that we’re:

Free to serve.

True freedom in Christ removes two dangers from our lives: legalism and license.

Legalism teaches us that if we do this and not do that, then God will love you. Licentiousness teaches us that God loves you no matter what so just do whatever you desire. Both are wrong and reckless.

True freedom in Christ causes us to serve others just as Christ served us. It’s an interesting paradox here. Paul is saying that through Christ we’re set free from the enslavement of the law but at the same time he’s saying we’re enslaved to Christ and bound to one another. And it’s there that we’re free.

R.C. Sproul once said, “The only freedom that man ever has is when he becomes a slave to Jesus Christ.”

Why is there freedom there? Because Jesus removes the burden of the law and its demands upon us by fulfilling the law himself. He lived and obeyed perfectly in our place so that we no longer have to carry that weight.

In Matthew 11, Jesus said,

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When putting these two passages together Paul says, “Don’t take upon your shoulders the yoke of enslavement to the law, instead, take upon your shoulders the yoke of enslavement to Christ where true freedom is found.”

This is why the message of the cross is offensive. We don’t want to be enslaved to anything. But the reality is, we’re all enslaved to something. Every one of us is looking to something to give our lives meaning and hope. We’re all under the weight of something to give us life.

The message to the Galatians and to us is come find that freedom and life in Christ and from there we’re now free to love and serve others the way Christ has loved and served us.

When God saves, he saves you into a community where we build up, edify, love and serve one another. No longer do we only look out for our needs, but we seek the good of others, dying to ourselves just as Christ died for our sake.

Brothers and sisters may we see that Christ is enough. He is sufficient. His yoke is easy, his burden is light. May we run with endurance, finishing well as we rest in the freedom of Christ.