Week Eight | "Stand Free!" | Bellevue Women | "Free"

Lesson Eight – Stand Free

Galatians 5:1-15

I. Stand Firm in Freedom (Galatians 5:1)

“Because of who God is and what he has done for believers in Jesus Christ, Christians are commanded to ‘become what they are,’ that is, to make visible in the earthly realm of their human existence what God has already declared and sealed in the divine verdict of justification. When this indissoluble connection is forgotten or downplayed, the temptation for the Christian to lapse into legalism on the one hand or into libertinism on the other becomes a serious threat to Christian freedom...The fact of justification propels the Christian into a world of struggle, an in-between time bounded by the great accomplishment of redemption in Christ’s finished work on the cross on the one hand and the yet-to-be-realized consummation of God’s salvific purposes at the second advent of Christ on the other” (Timothy George, The New American Commentary: Galatians, Logos).

“If we are in Christ, then Christ lives in our place. He took our place on the cross and He fulfills our place today...In Christ, I am no longer a slave to self, sin, and selfishness. In Christ, I am no longer alone. This does not, however, mean that I call sin by any other name. The law of God is my tutor, because it shows me God’s will, prohibits sin, exposes my failings, and enlists me in the school of Christ” (Rosaria Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Christian on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ, p. 10).

II. Don’t Fall from Grace (Galatians 5:2-5)

“Paul did not here contemplate the forfeiture of salvation by a truly regenerated believer. He was writing to Christian churches that were founded on the doctrines of grace but that were in danger of forsaking that sound doctrinal bedrock for a theology that can only lead to ruin” (Timothy George, The New American Commentary: Galatians, Logos).

“Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcised is nothing...” (1 Corinthians 7: 18–19, NIV).

III. Faith Working through Love (Galatians 5:6-12)

A. You were running well, who cut you off?

B. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

C. Paul wishes that those who have “cut them off” would “cut” themselves.

IV. Through Love Serve One Another (Galatians 5:13-15)

Summary:

Live in Freedom

Don’t use your freedom for the flesh

Through love serve one another

Christian freedom is freedom from self, that enables the love and service of neighbor. Christians are no longer bound to the flesh but have come alive in the Spirit.

“Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made” (Galatians 3:19).

V. The Progression of the Law

A. The Garden – One Rule or Law

God’s Presence was there. The original temple was the garden. God’s desire from the beginning has been to dwell with mankind.

B. After the Fall – 613 laws

Mankind was separated from the Presence of God. Sin caused mankind to be self- aware, to turn in on self.

“Here is the key to understanding the problem of evil: When God’s children disobeyed their heavenly Father, they damaged everything. When Adam and Eve rebelled against the King of the universe, they broke the whole world. This is why there is evil and suffering. Bad things happen in a world that is broken. Every evil that assaults us is the result of rejecting God’s rule...Sin is the mutation that has twisted and distorted manfrom his original beauty. Sin is what has broken the world. And a broken world produces broken people and crippled circumstances” (The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How it Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between, Gregory Koukl, p. 94).

God gave Moses the instructions for the Tabernacle, where His Presence would dwell among His people. It was to be built in just the way and according to the pattern the Lord had shown Moses on the mountain. The articles of the Tabernacle are copies or shadows of what actually exists in the Throne Room of God.

Sin brings chaos. God is a God of order and peace (shalom). Thus, He gave Moses the commandments for His people. Laws for their protection and provision. No one was able to keep the law (Romans 3:23).

C. Christ’s Life and Vicarious Death

“The Word became flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

One law – The Law of Love
The Love of God and neighbor – For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14).

One word – LOVE

God’s greatest command is for our greatest good!

An all-consuming love that lays it all on the altar (Romans 12:1) – and then watches to see what God will do!

D. Christ’s Return and the New Heaven and the New Earth

We will no longer be separated from our God.

The New Jerusalem:
“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:22-27).

Rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! Love the Lord with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. We will be known by our love!

During Mission’s Week, we had several of our members share about the ministries through which they serve our city. Are you serving and loving your neighbor? If not, pray about the area of service to which God is calling you. The attached list contains pathways through which you can serve. Obey the Lord, honor His Name by serving and living out the evidence of His love – “By this they will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

ARISE2Read

https://arise2read.org/

https://arise2read.org/contact/

A WAY OUT

https://www.awoministries.org/

https://www.awoministries.org/contact

Calvary Rescue Mission

https://calvaryrescuemission.org/contact- us/

The Memphis Morning Center

https://www.morningcenter.org/memphis- tn/
https://www.amazon.com/baby- reg/memphismorning-center-december- 2022-memphis/ZXTEY1TX5AIR

Memphis Coalition for Life

https://memphiscoalitionforlife.org/

https://memphiscoalitionforlife.org/contact/

40 DAYS FOR LIFE: Our community is uniting with hundreds of cities around the globe for the worldwide 40 Days for Life campaign. 40 Days for Life aims to peacefully end abortion through three simple components: Prayer & Fasting, Community Outreach, and Peaceful Vigil. To learn more visit: www.40daysforlife.com/ memphis

One by One Ministries

https://www.onebyoneusa.org/

https://www.onebyoneusa.org/volunteer- with-us

Spreading Sunshine

https://spreading-sunshine.org/

https://spreading-sunshine.org/get- involved/

Donate new items for our Sunshine Boxes and snack bags: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist /ls/RSYOR7FA01MG?ref_=wl_share

Sista2Sista

https://www.sista2sista.co/

https://www.sista2sista.co/contact

https://www.sista2sista.co/donate

https://takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=H KSN4371&v=8d55a249e6

Life Choices of Memphis

https://lifechoicesmemphis.org

https://www.lcfriends.org/upcoming-events/

https://www.lcfriends.org/volunteer- opportunities/

Bellevue Orphan Care/WRAP Team Ministry

‍https://www.bellevue.org/info/begin-fostering

https://www.bellevue.org/serve/foster-family-wrap-team-member

Confidential Care Mobile Ministry

https://www.confidentialcaremm.org/