Galatians Ch 5:1 (NIV)
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I. It is for

that we have been set free.

A. It is human nature to prefer

over grace.

B. This is because it is simpler on the

to follow set standards and pay the penalty when you miss it. However, while relationships can start with a set of
rules and boundaries, (i.e. teaching your child the proper rules of society through
instruction and discipline), if they do not

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beyond that surface level, they cannot properly be called relationships. This chapter of Galatians is Paul admonishing the church not to slide back into a weak and ineffective religion after
having experienced the fullness and power of a relationship with Christ through the Spirit.

Galatians 5:2-6 (NIV)
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

II. We do not need

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when we have, on offer,

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and

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.

A. Justification under the law is like trying to restore a car from the outside in, starting with the finish and ending with the tear down.

Matthew 5:17 NIV
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

B. Jesus said it this way to help us zoom out and see the bigger picture. It is not
that the law is

or

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, it is that

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are powerless and flawed. And the path back to right standing with God, aka

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, is not through behavior modification, it is through spiritual renewal that leads to soul
transformation.

Galatians 5:7-12 (NIV)
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the
truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

C. Circumcision here is being used as a stand in for all the ways we try to work
out our salvation by looking

and sounding

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. Paul has very strong words here for those who preach this fallacy. Salvation and sanctification cannot be
forced, both come only by

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to, and partnership with, the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:13-15(NIV)
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

III. Love your neighbor as

.
A. How can this one phrase fulfill the entire law? How could it possibly be distilled down to this one sentence?

Galatians 5:16-18 (NIV)
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

B. Determine the source of your

and follow the

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over the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-24 (NIV)
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

C. The purpose of the law becomes clear when you see it through the lens of grace. The law acts as a

marking out those things that have their roots in the fallen, damaged, and deadly soil of our flesh and sin. When we

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those things, we follow them back to their root and invite the spirit of God to move into that space and renew it. It is an inside out work that is ongoing and in partnership with our own spirit, soul, and body.

Galatians 5:25-26 (NIV)
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.