The Gospel of Grace – Part 8

Galatians 5:1

Introduction

Sermon Title: “The Gospel of Grace – Part 8” — Preacher: Dr. Terry LeQuieu

We continue our study through Galatians, and tonight we press into chapter five — the standards of the Gospel of Grace. Up until now Paul has shown the summons, the stand, and the sufficiency of grace; now he gives practical standards for living in the liberty that Christ purchased for us. This message lays the foundation for a further, more specific treatment of flesh versus Spirit, works of the flesh, and the fruit of the Spirit to come in the next services.

Galatians chapter number five. We’re going to continue our study. We’ve been having through the book of Galatians. We are on, as I stated the other day, the downhill stretch and it is an eleven part series and this is part number eight. And we are in Galatians chapter number five. And we’re going to do chapter five tonight and Sunday night and then next Wednesday and the following Sunday we will finish up chapter number six. And we’re looking forward to one the Lord has here. Hopefully we’ve learned some things as we’ve gone through this book. We’ve been dealing with the fact of the theme being the title, the Gospel of Grace and how salvation is by faith through grace alone. It’s by Jesus Christ and him alone. It’s Jesus plus nothing, minus nothing. Nothing else can get us to heaven. It’s not the good works that we do. It’s not the keeping of the law. It’s not being joined to a certain church, it’s not being baptized. It’s not taking the Lord’s, none of those things save us. It’s only by faith through grace. And we’ve dealt with that in the first several chapters just simply by way of review. In chapter one, we dealt with the summons of the Gospel of Grace. In chapter two, we dealt with the stand for the Gospel of Grace. In chapters three and four, we just wrapped that up. We dealt with the sufficiency of the Gospel of Grace and how grace is sufficient in every area of our lives. And now in chapter five, we’re going to begin tonight the standards of the Gospel of Grace. And then we’ll get into chapter six and deal with the support of the Gospel of Grace. Tonight we’re going to lay the foundation to get into what we’re going to deal with on Sunday night. And that would be the flesh versus the Spirit, the works of the flesh, and then the fruit of the Spirit. And we’re going to lay a good foundation for that tonight as we deal with the first half or the first part of the standards for the Gospel of Grace, let’s go ahead and read verse number one and then we will pray and get started. Verse number one. Stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Let’s go ahead and pray. Father, we love you. We thank you for the truths of the Word of God. We thank you, Lord, that this is a living book, Lord. The same truths that that it always has held still holds today. And Lord, we are to stand fast and stand firm and stand faithfully in the things which we’ve been given. And help us as we begin to break this down and begin to explain these truths. Tonight, I pray you teach us your word and that we would see the importance of walking in the Spirit so we don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh and doing the things that you have called us to do, living the Christian life the exact way that you expect us to live it for you and for your glory. Lord, we don’t try to make a name for ourselves, but rather we try to lift up the name of Jesus. And I pray that you would help us to do that tonight. Teach us your word. We’ll praise you, we’ll thank you, we love you. We ask these things. Your name, I pray. Amen. Here we’re going to deal with five aspects tonight. As we get to the first half of this chapter, we’re going to go from verse number one all the way down to about verse number eighteen. And we’ll preach fast if you can listen fast tonight. Amen. And here we’re going to deal with five different aspects of the standards of the Gospel of Grace. And then on Sunday night again we’re going to lay down the liberties that God gives us for we talk about the works of the flesh and what we’re not to do and then the fruit of the Spirit and what we are to do. And we’re going to make some correlation and connection between those two things. So please don’t miss that on Sunday night. But here tonight again, verse number one, let’s jump right into the message here and let’s deal with the these five aspects. The first thing I want you to notice as we deal with verse number one in the standards for the Gospel of Grace, let us understand first and foremost the liberty wherein we stand. God has given us great liberty. Those of us that are saved, born again children of God. We trusted Christ as our personal Savior. Listen, the Word of God is not given to us as a rule book of things to keep, but rather as a guide for how to live the Christian life. And, and it’s a relationship book. As we read the Word of God, we learn how to walk with God. We learn how to have the relationship with God that we should have. Now again, having a relationship with God gives us great liberty in our service for God. Real quick, before we get into that aspect, let me give you a simple illustration. Remember in the Garden of Eden, when God created Adam and Eve, he created them and he told them he’s going to eat of every fruit of the tree of the Garden. You can go to any fruit tree, you can go to any grass. You can eat absolutely anything that is here in the garden. There’s only one tree that you’re not allowed to eat of and that was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He said, if you eat of that tree, you will surely die. Now they could have eaten of absolutely anything that was there. My personal opinion is I believe that that was the tithe of the Lord. That was what God had set apart for himself and they were not to touch it. Now here they were told not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But what did Satan tempt them with? In Genesis chapter three, he tempted Eve with eating of the fruit that God told them not to eat of. He tempted them with something that he explained to her that God was holding out on them. God was keeping something from you. God doesn’t want you to have this because God knows that once you do, your eyes will be open and you’ll be as gods. So what did he do? He played on the mind of Eve and tried to explain to her that God was holding out on her. Now listen, sometimes in your Christian life we focus far too often on the no’s that God gives us rather than the yeses that God has given us. In our Christian life. We need to understand that we have been given great liberty according to the word of God. And the word of God is not a list of do’s and don’ts in the Christian life, but rather it’s our liberty that’s found in Christ alone. As we learn to walk with God, as we learn to spend time in the word of God, there’s great liberty and freedom that God gives us. The Bible tells us over in the Book of First Corinthians that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And so God’s Spirit gives us freedom, it gives us liberty. It gives us opportunity to be able to serve in many different areas and even in capacities that we were not able to serve in before. So here first I want you to understand in verse number one, the liberty which wherein we stand, we see first here in verse one the declaration that he makes. He says, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Now we know that we’re to stand fast. That word, fast is the same word that means to be anchored or to be secured to something. It would be a term that was used by different boaters and mariners at the time where you would be anchored and you would set sail and. And you would get an anchor that would be set in the waters and it would hold fast, or you would be secured there in the harbor and it would hold the boat fast. You would stand fast, you would stand firm, and you would stand faithfully. So here there is a declaration that we are to be anchored and we to stand fast in the things that God has given us. But also notice, not only is there a declaration that’s made, but also there is deliverance that’s given Notice, it says, stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, meaning that we were not free before and before we were in bondage to the law, before we were in bondage to sin, before we were controlled by this flesh, and we did the things of the flesh and we were in bondage to the world. But when God saved us, God made us free. The Bible tells us that. And we’ve covered that all back in chapter numbers three and chapter number four as well. So here there’s a deliverance that is given, but also there’s a danger. We’re warned about in verse one. Notice what he says, and be not notice the next two words. Entangled again with the yoke of bondage. You see, before you got saved, whether you believe it or not, or whether you realized it or not, you were in bondage to the things of the world. The world had a stranglehold on us. The world had bound us, the world had tied us up in chains, and we were bound by the things of this flesh. There were many folks that before they got saved, they had drug addictions and they had alcohol addictions, and they had pornography addictions, and they had all these addictions that they speak of. And what was that in their life? It was bondage to them. It was things that held them down, it was things that tied them up. It was things that. That held them bound to the things of the flesh and the things of this world, rather than the freedom that God gives us in our lives. I was noticing something as I went back and was doing some additional studying. Brother Thoreau, I had never noticed this part before, and God hit me with a thought. Here. It says, be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I was struck with this thought. You’re not going to get tangled up if you’re not messing around in the weeds. There’s a lot of times, and Brother Thoreau and I, we do a lot of hunting and different things and A lot of times we’ll do a lot of work outside. And many of you know, as you go through many a thicketed area, there’s times when you’re walking through the thickets and if there is a thorn bush or a briar bush, you’re sure to find it. You may not have known it was there before, but you’re sure to find it. It’s going to get wrapped up around your leg. It’s going to get wrapped up on your arm. But the thing is, you get entangled by that. Why? Because. Because you’re out there messing around in it. You may not have known that it was there, and you may not have known that it was going to tangle you up or tie you up or cause some scars or cause some bleedings or stick to you and cause some pain in your life. But sure enough, it found you and you got tied up in that. I was thinking about that this afternoon. Here. The Bible says to be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I came to the conclusion, Brother Nick, that many times people get tangled up again in sin because they start messing around with sin again. People get tangled up in a lifestyle that God saved them out of because they get yoked up with the friends that they used to have. They get yoked up with the lifestyle and the crowd that they used to be around. They begin to go and participate in the things that God has already saved them from. We don’t have to go back to that lifestyle. We don’t have to go back to a life of bondage. But God has given us liberty. God has given us freedom. And here there is a danger, there is a real danger of going back to the lifestyle before, simply because we choose to flirt with that. We choose to go back and surround ourselves with people in our lives that draw us back to that kind of lifestyle. But notice here again, verse one. We see the liberty wherein we stand. But notice verses two, three, and four. I want you to notice here the law that we spurn. The law that we spurn or that we kick against. Behold, verse two. I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor. To do the whole law, Christ is become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. These are some sharp words that come from the Apostle Paul here. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Here he just Gets to the brat’s tacks and the bare bones of it. He gets to where the rubber meets the road and he says, listen, if you’re going to live by the law, you’re going to die by the law. If you want to be bound to the law, then you better keep every bit of the law. Because Christ sacrifice is of none effect to you. Because you’re trying to get saved by your good works. Therefore Christ died in vain. And notice what he says. He says, ye are fallen from grace. That doesn’t mean that they’ve lost their salvation. It means they were never saved to begin with. They were never saved to begin with. And I’ll explain that to you as we get to it here. Notice verses two and three. The law is to be kept. If it’s to be kept, it requires total attainment. You either keep it all or you’re going to be bound by it all. You either keep it all or you’re going to have to answer for it all. And by the way, as a reminder, as we covered it already in Galatians in the Old Testament, the Jewish law had six hundred thirteen commandments they were supposed to keep. That’s a lot of commandments. It’s tough enough trying to keep up with my own children, let alone trying to keep six hundred thirteen commandments in the process. Lord help us all here. Paul says that as ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you. Nothing simply. If you’re trying to keep the law as a way of salvation, then Christ has nothing else to offer you. You’ve made up your mind, you made your choice. He says, I testify again to every man that is circumcised. He’s a debtor. To do the whole law again, as a reminder, just simply by way of review, there were those that had come into the Galatian church, it was a Gentile church, and told them that they could not just be saved by grace, but they had to attain the Jewish law as well. They had to keep all the laws that the Jews were keeping. And here Paul is setting all of that straight in the church house. Law keeping requires total attainment according to verse number four. Also, law keeping reflects total alienation. If you’re going to keep the law, you’ve got to become like most of the modern day monks. You’ve got to isolate yourself. You’ve got to get to a point to where it’s just you. But notice here what he says in verse four. This is startling. Christ is become of no effect to you, unto you whosoever of you are justified by the law. He is literally saying that you’ve made your choice to get saved by works and you’ve made your choice to try to work your way to heaven, then Christ has died in vain in your life. Christ is of none effect. He says, no matter what we say, no matter how much we give you the gospel of grace, no matter how much we show you what the word of God says, and no matter how much we tell you of the love of God and the good grace of God, you’ve simply chosen to reject it. By the way, anybody that dies and goes to hell, they die and go to hell with their sin debt being paid for because they’ve rejected Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven and they’ve trusted in other things. Some people are trusting religion, but Thoreau used to say this all the time when he was pastoring. Religion sends more people to hell than anything else. Because people are trusting in a religion, they’re trusting in a denomination. But they never had a relationship with Jesus Christ. They never came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. They were trusting in their own works and they were trusting in all the things they could do rather than in his finished work. But also notice at the end of verse four, law keeping results in total apostasy. Notice what he says. Ye are fallen from grace. Doesn’t mean that they’ve lost their salvation. It means they never had it. Notice the wording. He says, ye are fallen from grace. He didn’t say you fell out of grace. If you fall out of something, that means you lost what you had. Correct, they didn’t fall out of grace. As a matter of fact, hold your place here. Go to the book of Hebrews. Let me show you a simple verse. Hebrews chapter number ten. We’ll get back to this in just a moment. Hebrews chapter number ten. We know in Hebrews chapter number nine and ten this is written to those who are saved. And specifically chapter number ten explaining the fact that Christ is the high priest. And we know in verse number twenty four and verse number twenty five it’s telling us about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. So those of us that are born again believers, the importance of us being in church, to be able to encourage one another in, in the house of God and in the things of God. And then here, notice down at verse number thirty one, notice what he says. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Why did he say fall into the hands? Well, write it down. Look it up later, back in John, chapter number ten, verses twenty six to thirty. The Bible tells us that when we get saved, we are placed in the hand of Jesus Christ and that his hand is placed in the hand of God the Father. He says, no man is able to pluck you out of my hand. Alright? Meaning that we can’t lose our salvation. Nobody can take our salvation away. We can’t even take it away ourselves. But we know that the Bible says in the book of Proverbs that that a just man falleth seven times and riseth again. And here in Hebrews, it’s there on the screen. Chapter ten, verse number thirty one, it says it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That’s as a born again child of God. That’s another verse. For eternal security right there. They never fell out of God’s hand. Why? Because we can’t. It’s impossible. Those of us that are saved. And here in Galatians five, for somebody to try to teach that you can fall from grace and that you can lose your salvation. They are taking this verse completely out of context and they are disannulling every aspect of the truths that were mentioned in the first four chapters that we can’t work our way to heaven. Listen, salvation was not mine to earn. And salvation cannot be kept by my works either. I don’t earn it by works, neither do I keep it by works. It’s by faith, through grace, and it was given as a gift of God. Romans chapter five tells us that time and time again. Now again we’re back. In Galatians chapter five, he says, ye are fallen from grace. This just simply tells us that they had lost their way. They didn’t lose their salvation. They never had it. They had never trusted Christ. They never fell out of the grace of God. They fell from grace, meaning they were trusting in their works the whole time. They never did trust in grace. Now we see the liberty wherein we stand. We see the law which we spurn. Now verses five and six. Let me show you the Lord which we serve. Notice the Lord which we serve. The Bible says in verse five, for we through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. You see, in this Christian life we understand that it is the Spirit that prepares every one of us to do anything for God. Verse five tells us that we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. The Bible tells us in First Corinthians six that once we are saved, then our bodies become a temple of, of the Holy Ghost of God. And the Bible tells us in John chapter fourteen and in John chapter sixteen, Jesus Christ said, I will not leave you comfortless, but I will send you a comforter. And he shall be able to teach you the deep things of God. How can we learn the scripture? How can we understand the Word of God? Because as a born again child of God, I’ve got the spirit of God living inside of me, who teaches me the Word of God as I read it. Just like you as a born again child of God, you’ve got the spirit of God inside of you. If you trusted Christ as your personal Savior, and then the Holy Spirit will teach you the word of God. You ever notice in your life once you get saved, we sing the song in junior church. The things I used to do, I don’t do them anymore. There’s been a great change since I’ve been born again, Brother Nick. The reason we don’t do them anymore is because the Holy Spirit of God convicts us of doing them. We try to go and do those things. The Holy Spirit says, no, we’re not going that way. No, we’re not doing those things. And it’s amazing how you no longer have a desire and you no longer have a taste for certain things that you used to enjoy in the flesh once the Spirit of God came inside. He said, no, we’re not going that way, Bubba. And we begin to learn to enjoy the things of God. Why? Because the Spirit of truth teaches us how to hope for righteousness, teaches us how to walk with God and begins to develop righteousness. Not from us, because our righteousness is as filthy rags. The Bible says our righteousness comes from Christ and Christ alone. And his righteousness is shown in our lives. So here the Spirit prepares all of us to serve him. But also verse number six, we find that the Savior provides for all of us. Notice it says, for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Notice the faith is applied to being in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of verse six, it says, for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision. You see, the works that we do in in Christ’s name mean nothing. But what does mean something is our faith in Jesus Christ. We get saved by grace through faith in whom? Jesus Christ. The Bible says, for the wages of sin is death. Romans six twenty three. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation doesn’t come by any other name under heaven other than by Jesus Christ. Right here we find Jesus Christ is the one that gives us everything that we need. He provides everything in our lives. By the way, even the faith that we have for salvation didn’t come from us. It came from God. Ephesians chapter two, verse number eight says, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. So even not just grace is the gift of God, but the faith that we have to trust God, that’s a gift that comes from God. See, in my flesh and in my life, I have no faith for anything. The faith that we do have, we have because of what God has done in our lives. God has shown Himself mighty. God has shown Himself faithful. God has shown Himself powerful. And because of that, we can trust in what he’s already done. But we trust him why? Because he’s already done these things. He’s shown himself. He’s proved Himself time and time again. We see the liberty wherein we stand. We see the law which we spurn. We see the Lord which we serve. Now notice, nestled in the middle of this verses seven to twelve is a very hard truth. But we’re going to get to it here. The legalism which we shun. Listen, we do not add to salvation in any way, shape or form. We do not believe in legalism. We are not legalistic in any aspect of how we serve the Lord. Legalism is simply this. It is adding works to salvation. And just like it adds works to salvation, it teaches that you can lose your salvation by not keeping the works that you were told to do. Listen, I’m not your savior. Jesus Christ is. I’m not the one that gives salvation to anybody. Jesus Christ is. So therefore, I’m not the one that can put stipulations on salvation. All the stipulations were given by Jesus Christ. And by the way, the stipulations were by faith, through grace. And no man can pluck you out of God’s hand. Notice here, we don’t add works to salvation. So Paul dealt with those that were being legalistic in the church at Galatia. By the way, remember, there were those that came in and preached another gospel. In chapter number one, he said, I marvel you are so soon turned away to another gospel. And then he says, which is not another? We gave you four aspects. You go back and listen to it in chapter one on how to, how to verify whether or not something is truth. Now notice here what he says in verse seven. It’s a very powerful truth. He says, ye did run. Well, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? You know, I’ve come to find, Brother Brandon, the vast majority of times in our Christian life, it’s not always a what that gets us out of church. It’s often a whole. It’s often a person. Because, listen, when we don’t serve God by choice, we serve Satan by default. It’s amazing how many minions Satan has even nestled in the church and in the work of God. And many times the reason we go back to a certain crowd is because somewhere along the way you just quote unquote, so happen to run into an old friend. Ever had that happen in your life? You just so happened to get a phone call from somebody you hadn’t talked to in years and they wanted to reconnect. You begin to tell them about what God had done in your life and you begin to tell them about the change that God had made. And now they begin to try to cast some doubt on what God is doing in your life. Begin to try to convince you that you’ve joined a cult or something because you’ve trusted Christ and because God has changed your life and you’re not doing the things that you used to do. They begin to call you names and tell you that you think you’re better than them because you don’t do those things anymore. It’s amazing. I believe many times those appointments that happen and those interventions that happen from old friends are, in my opinion, many times those are orchestrated by the devil himself because he knows the draw that they had in our lives before he tries to get us out of the will of God. Here we see the legalism that we shun. In verse seven, we notice the standard of legalism. The standard of legalism is this. Let me show you. You did run well. Who did hinder you notice the fact that you should not obey the truth. You see, legalism gives their opinion over the truth. Listen, everything that we do, we’re going to do according to the word of God. It states in the bylaws here at Cornerstone Baptist Church that the word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Everything that we do, everything that we preach, everything that we practice is going to be rooted and based in the word of God. This is my final authority, not man’s opinion. And what happens with legalism? The standard of legalism is this. They take man’s opinion and, and put it above the word of God. They begin to twist certain scriptures and say, well, what God really meant was this. And they put man’s opinion and they put vain traditions over the word of God. It happens in countless churches time and time again. Many times people do things simply because of tradition, not even knowing a Bible reason for why they do it, because it’s been done for years that way. Here it’s normally a who that gets us out of the will of God. And Paul nailed it directly on the head here in chapter five, verse number seven. I believe personally that when he’s writing this under the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God, he’s thinking about the person that had come in, in chapter one and preached another gospel. He was the one who had drawn them away. He was the one who had led them away, hindered them that they should not obey the gospel. And that’s the standard. They put opinion over the truth. I say it regularly around here and I tell our young people this in the Christian school often. Listen, opinions are like armpits. Everybody’s got a couple and most of them stink. Opinions don’t matter when it comes to the word of God. The word of God is our final authority. Listen, we are masters of our own opinion, are we not? Everybody’s got a way they think will work. And God forbid somebody doesn’t take somebody’s opinion, World War three will break out in the home. Here we see the standard of legalism, but also notice verse eight, nine. We see the scheme of legalism. Let’s see how legalism works. This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. Notice what he says. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. How does legalism work? How does legalism get a catch, get a foothold in a church? Well, legalism operates a lot like the devil does. It’s subtle. Remember, the devil was subtle when he dealt with Eve, was it not? See, legalism often operates very subtly. Make some small changes to the Word of God, begins to add a little bit of works to different things. Oh, you better watch out. God may turn his back on you and you may lose your salvation saying little subtle hints. Listen, there’s nowhere found in the word of God and you’re not going to lose your salvation anywhere. People make the statement, well, I hope I’m going to get to heaven. You either believe by faith or you don’t believe at all. We’ve trusted Christ by faith. It’s for by grace. Are you saved through faith? That not of yourselves. I’m not hoping for anything. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. The Bible says in first John five thirteen, and this is the confidence that we have in him. He says, these things have I written unto you that may believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. And then he says, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. How can I know that I’m going to heaven? Because there’s been a time and place in my life where, where I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. I got saved as a fifteen year old boy on june twenty second, two thousand three. I stopped trusting in myself. I stopped trusting in what my parents had told me that I had done as a kid that I didn’t remember. And I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. But you see what happens. The Bible says in verse nine, a little leaven. Leaveneth the whole lump. You see, when a lot of legalism comes in, it comes in very subtly, but also it comes in very sneaky. Very sneaky. You see, the devil operates very sly, like a fox. He sneaks in, he comes in, he begins to make himself a little bit cozy. Everybody begins to accept little things. But also I’ve come to find that legalism operates very secretively. They begin to have little whispers here and there. By the way, that’s how cliques develop in a church. Little whispers here and there, little disagreements here and there. And then this group over here won’t talk to this group over here. And now they only sit on that side of the church. And if so, and so is here, they won’t even come into church. Little cliques that operate in the house of God. By the way, the Bible says in first Corinthians twelve there ought to be no schism in the body. Now, thank God. There’s no clicks in Cornerstone Baptist Church. Praise the Lord for that. But that’s something that’s worth that. We make sure that everybody is a part of the family of God. There’s not one family that’s appreciated over another family. There’s no place for that. There’s no favoritism when it comes to God. Here we see the standard of legalism. We see the schemes of legalism. Verse ten. Notice the sentence of legalism. Notice I have confidence in you through the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. Here Paul says, I know you And I know what you’ve been taught. I know that you’ve been rooted and grounded in the doctrines of the Word of God. He said, I know the spirit of God’s inside of you, and he’s going to lead you into the truths that you need. But notice what he says. But he that troubleth you, he’s going to bear his judgment. By the way, God will always have the last word. When somebody comes into the house of God, they begin to try to disrupt the people of God. They begin to try to change the doctrines of the Word of God. God will have the final say. You read story after story of different men and women and people who are involved in mistranslating and changing and removing the very words of God. Brother Thoreau had taught a series several years ago on why we believe the King James Bible. And in the middle of that series, he passed out some pamphlets and flyers of different folks. And one of them specifically, who had lost his voice as he was given an interview live on air, never spoke again. The rest of his life. God took his voice away because he was chronicling how they removed so many words from the Word of God. The Bible tells us in Revelation, you add to the Word of God, you take away from the Word of God, the curses of this book will be pronounced on your life. Here Paul’s telling the church at Galatia, the person that’s troubling you, the person that’s giving you false doctrine, the person that’s leading you away from the will of God, God’s going to have the final say. He’s going to have his judgment day come. He’s going to have to answer for the things that he’s done. He shall bear his judgment. And then he says, whosoever he be, which tells me Paul may not have known this person, but he knew God was going to have the last word. Listen, the man of God may not know who’s causing turmoil and strife and disorderly in the house of God, but I’ll tell you, God does every single time God does here. Paul didn’t know who was causing this issue in the church, but he knew that God knew. And, and he knew God would have the last word. The truth will come out and that person will be exposed. Notice verse eleven. As Paul so naturally does, he throws in some sarcasm. And I brethren, have I yet preached circumcision? Why do I yet suffer persecution then? Is the offense of the cross ceased? He says, listen, if I start preaching these works of salvation, then persecution would stop, wouldn’t it? But the gospel would also stop. He said, I’m preaching the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ. But why would persecution stop? Because people would stop getting offended by the cross of Christ. But I’ve come to find. Brother Thoreau, you know this. You’ve pastored. I’ve come to find that no matter who you try to please, somebody is going to get offended. It doesn’t matter who it is. Many of you, you know that on your job site, you try to please one person and then the next person gets offended. You try to do something one way that this supervisor says to do it. And now this supervisor gets upset because he wants it done a different way. Everybody has an opinion. You’re not going to be able to please everybody. But here Paul tells them, look, if the persecution stops and I compromise, ok. But he said, the gospel then has ceased as well, because now the cross isn’t being preached. The offense of the cross stops. Notice now the seriousness of legalism. Look at verse twelve. He just says a simple statement, I would. And they were even cut off. Which trouble you? You see those that are bringing in false doctrine, Paul says it’s better off they just get excommunicated. It’s better off they are just simply removed so that they don’t corrupt the people of God. Sometimes in our lives, when somebody is constantly negative in certain areas and constantly teaching something contrary to what you want taught in your home, sometimes it’s better just to separate yourself from the people. You see, I’ve come to find. My wife and I, we’ve come to find that when we want to raise our children for the glory of God, if there’s certain people that we go to hang around with, and they’re constantly trying to get our children to rebel against the teachings that we’re giving them, it’s just better off that we don’t associate with those people anymore. It’s just better off that we separate ourselves from them. Why? Because sooner or later, the longer we stay with them, those seeds are going to get embedded in the minds of those who are simple and those who are impressionable. You see, when we take a stand for Christ, we’ve got to understand, yes, we may be able to stand fast and to stand firm, but we’re also raising young people who are still developing the things they believe, they’re still learning, and we’ve got to be careful for who and what we allow them around. This is the seriousness that Paul deals with of legalism. And by the way, it’s the same seriousness that he dealt with in Chapter one. He says, let him be accursed. He says God’s going to have the final say. And here he says again, I would that they were even cut off. Which trouble you? Now notice, right after he deals with this aspect of legalism, let me review. He dealt with the liberty wherein we stand. The law that we spurn. The Lord that we serve. The legalism we shun. We push it away. Now notice lastly, the love in which we serve. The love in which we serve. Notice. The love that we have for God hasn’t changed. Notice. The service that we are to do has not changed. Notice verse thirteen. And we’ll go all the way down to verse eighteen here and I’ll explain them to you. For brethren, ye have been called into liberty only use. Not liberty, fornication to the flesh, but my love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say. Then walk in the spirit. Ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary the one to the other. So that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Look at four aspects of the love wherewith we serve. First, we see liberty’s call in verse thirteen. For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Notice. Once God saved us. We’ve been given a freedom that we did not have before. We’ve been called unto liberty. Now we have an opportunity to take the freedoms that God has given us and use them for the glory of God. The word of God was never meant to bind you. It’s freedom. In Christ, it’s freedom. My youth director preached a message. Brother Anthony, you’ll remember it. Brother Tara preached a message when we were teenagers. The title of the message is why does it always have to be no? And it was the truth from the Garden of Eden about Adam and Eve in the garden and all the trees that they could eat from there. Being one that God said, don’t touch. And many times those of you that are raising teenagers, you know this to be true. Many times when you have young people, they only focus on what you told them not to do. They ask if they can do something. You tell them, no, you can’t do that. And they will stay focused on that for the next three days. Why can’t I do this. You’re just so mean to me. You don’t love me. Whatever. They’re focused on that. And then if there anything like my kids. I’m so bored. I can’t do this. You can’t do the one thing I said that you couldn’t do. But you got a TV in the back, you got a PlayStation five, you got a Nintendo Switch, you got a tablet, you got all these other. Go call your friends. Well, they’re all busy. They’re all busy. Every single friend you have. All three friends you have are busy. Okay, I’m kidding. They have more than three. They have four. But listen, many times in our Christian life, we as adults, we get the same way. I just don’t believe. I don’t like that preacher said we couldn’t do this. Why do we focus on the no’s? Why do we focus on the one thing that God said don’t do when there’s so much more that God has for us? There’s so much liberty that’s found in Christ. Well, I can’t go drinking with my friends anymore. Listen, that never led to anything good anyway. They gave you a hangover. The next morning you were a different person. When you got home to your spouse, you. You couldn’t drive straight either. It was more detrimental to your life than anything else. Don’t get mad about the one thing God said you shouldn’t do. Focus on all the liberty God gives you in him. Liberty’s call. We’ve been called to be free. But also notice liberty’s caution in verse thirteen. For brethren, you being called unto liberty, notice only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. This is where a lot of Christians fall into Brother Brandon. Well, I’m saved and I’m not going to go to hell if I do that. Yeah, but you’re not going to lead anybody to heaven if you do that either. And we’re to be a testimony to the lost, are we not? We’re to show them by a changed life what God can do in their life. We may not die and go to hell because we did that one thing. But I wonder how many people won’t go to heaven because of our lack of a testimony. And then we’re going to stand behind God and stand before God and give an account for that. And we’re going to see them at the Great White Throne judgment. They’re going to look at us and say, why didn’t you share? I didn’t even know you were a Christian. Why couldn’t you tell me. You see, there’s a caution. Liberty is not a license to sin. It is a liberty to serve. Don’t use the freedoms God gave you for an occasion to the flesh. But notice what he says. We see liberty’s conduct, but by love serve one another. Well, what am I supposed to do? You’re supposed to serve. Supposed to serve how? With love. Remember, Jesus Christ said these two commandments. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy strength, and then to love thy neighbor as thyself. He said, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, all six hundred thirteen laws that were given in the Old Testament, all the prophets that foretold of Christ coming. All of that. Hang it on the two facts of loving God with everything you have and loving people as yourself. By the way, that’s why we put that on the front of our tracks, loving God and loving people, because that’s what we’re supposed to do. Amen. That’s what we’re supposed to do. Here he says, but my love, serve one another. Notice verse fourteen. It says, for the law is fulfilled in one word, even this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. Notice, if we’re to love one another, we’re not supposed to try to dominate other people. We’re not to despise other people. We’re not to destroy one another with our words. Notice what he says. He says, biting and devouring one another. Now that’s not a physical biting of one another, although you shouldn’t do that either. But that’s biting with our words. That’s attacking others with our words. You see, we live in a society and a world today that the philosophy is, I’ve got to cut them down in order to look good myself. And if we’re not careful, that philosophy will carry over to the church. My job is not to cut people down. Our job’s to edify. That’s to build up. Our job is to encourage. Our job is to provoke one another to good works. That’s to help each other, not to tear each other down. It’s been said many a times, many preachers have said this. Christians are bad about shooting the wounded, kicking a good man while he’s down. Somebody falls and immediately I just knew they were going to do that. You could tell. Well, then why didn’t you say something beforehand? Why didn’t you warn them? If you knew it all. That’s how a lot of people are quick to cut, quick to bite, quick to devour. But notice, liberty is conflict. Verse sixteen to eighteen and we’re done. This I say, then walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. Notice, we were told by love to serve one another. We are told by love that we’re to love our neighbors and we’re not to do all these harmful things to one another. And then immediately he says in verse sixteen to walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of flesh. I’ve shared this philosophy with the church before, I’ll say it again. My wife and I, we first got engaged and were dating. We got married, we sat down, we had long conversations about many different things. And one of the things I told her is if we are ever at odds with one another, it’s because one of us or both of us is not right with God. You say, how can you say that? Because of this verse, walk in the spirit and you’ll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. In context, it’s talking about putting others before yourself. By the way, one of the best ways to have a blessed marriage is to spend the rest of your marriage trying to out serve each other. Constantly looking to meet each other’s needs, constantly looking to be a blessing to your spouse. Spend the rest of your marriage just serving one another and just watch and see what God does to grow the two of you together and your love for each other. Why? Because you’re constantly putting your love out there for the other one. Walk in the spirit and you’ll not fulfill the lust of flesh. He says, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, battling one another. Notice what it says. So that ye cannot do the things that ye would. You see, there’s two natures that live within our breast. One’s foul, the other blessed. One I love and one I hate. But the one I feed will dominate you. See, you feed the spirit and it’s going to take control. But if we feed the flesh, then it’s going to take control. And it says so that you cannot do the things that you would. You see, sometimes we can’t do spiritual things because we’re so fleshly minded. But the opposite works true as well. If you’re walking in the Spirit, you’re not going to do fleshly things because you’re spiritually minded. How can I sin less, walk with God more? Very simple. That’s how that works. We don’t reach sinless perfection here in this earth. That’ll come when we get to heaven one day. But we ought to strive to become better in our walk with God every single day. Then notice verse eighteen, don’t disregard the spiritual appetites. We’re told not to desire the sinful appetites. But now don’t disregard the spiritual appetites. Notice what it says. But if you be led of the Spirit, that’s conditional. The word if is a condition. It’s a choice that we make. We choose whether or not the Spirit will lead and we choose whether or not the flesh will take control. Whether or not we want our way versus God’s way. Here he says, if you’re led by the Spirit, you’re not under the law. We’re going to break down more of the Spirit versus the flesh on Sunday night. But here we see some simple truths about standing fast in the liberty that God’s given us. Stand with me with heads bowed, with eyes closed tonight. Some truths that God’s given us on how we ought to live this Christian life. Not constantly cutting one another down, not constantly biting and devouring one another. Not constantly tearing into each other just so that we can begin to look better in others eyes. No, we walk in the Spirit. We do more for one another. We put others above self and then we let God take care of everything else. With heads bowed, with eyes closed tonight. Maybe some of the stuff we’ve talked about tonight may be foreign to you because you may have never trusted Christ as your personal savior. I don’t know where you’re at spiritually tonight, but I will tell you if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ, if you’ve never accepted him for salvation, we can have somebody talk with you tonight if that’s what you desire. Want to show you the same grace that somebody once showed us. But also for those of you that are saved. We’re going to take an invitation time here. Let’s make sure we spend time with God dealing with the things the Spirit of God dealt with us about. Let’s pray. Father, we love you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the truths, Lord. Help us to do better. Help us to live this Christian life the way that we should. Help us, Lord, not to walk in the flesh, but to walk in the spirit. Help us, Lord, to begin to serve you with a committed heart, with a better life. But also help us to love others the way that you love us. Use us. Guide us, please. We ask these things. Your name. We pray. Amen. As the pianist plays? You come as God’s laid things on your heart? What does God have for you tonight? What does God have for you? Are you living the life that God.

Outline

The Liberty Wherein We Stand
1. Declaration: Stand fast
  Galatians 5:1 opens with a command to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.” To stand fast is to be anchored — secure in the freedom Christ purchased. This is not neutral freedom but a freedom that secures us to Christ’s finished work.
2. Deliverance: Christ has made us free
  Believers have been delivered from bondage — to law, to sin, to the flesh. That deliverance is real and objective; Paul repeatedly contrasts the prior bondage with present liberty.
3. Danger: Be not entangled again
  The warning warns against flirtation with old sins, wrong companions, or practices that once bound us. “If you stay out of the briars, you won’t get tangled.” Practical holiness safeguards our liberty.
The Law Which We Spurn
1. The futility of trusting law for salvation
  Paul plainly says that if you seek justification by circumcision or law-keeping, Christ will profit you nothing (Galatians 5:2–4). Law demands total attainment — which none can supply — and so law-keeping as a means of salvation nullifies Christ’s work.
2. Law keeping reflects alienation and eventual apostasy
  To trust in law is to be alienated from grace. “Ye are fallen from grace” is Paul’s indictment — they had never been under grace if they trusted works for salvation.
The Lord Which We Serve
1. The Spirit prepares us
  Verse 5 emphasizes that we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. The Holy Spirit indwells, instructs, and enables the believer — He is the source of spiritual life and growth.
2. The Savior provides for us
  Verse 6 sets Jesus Christ at the center: circumcision or uncircumcision avails nothing; faith in Christ, a faith which works by love, is what matters. Even our faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8).
The Legalism Which We Shun
1. Standard: opinion over truth
  Legalists put human opinions, traditions, and extra requirements over the Word of God. The church’s final authority is Scripture — not man’s customs or preferences.
2. Scheme: subtle leaven
  Legalism spreads like leaven; small additions to the gospel corrupt the whole. Beware the subtle slippage from grace to works — the devil is sly and whispers will corrupt a congregation.
3. Sentence: God will have the final say
  Paul is confident: those who trouble the church will bear judgment (Galatians 5:10). God uncovers error and vindicates truth in His time.
4. Severance: better they be cut off
  Paul’s scathing wish that the troublemakers be ‘cut off’ reveals the severity of allowing false teaching to undermine the gospel. Protect the flock from corruption.
The Love In Which We Serve
1. Liberty’s call: called unto freedom
  Believers are called to use liberty for service. Christianity is not a set of rules that crush the soul but a redeemed freedom expressed by love toward others.
2. Liberty’s caution: not a license to sin
  “Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh.” Freedom in Christ is never a license to gratify sinful appetites. Liberty is stewardship.
3. Liberty’s conduct: by love serve one another
  All the law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor (Galatians 5:14). Our freedom is to make us servants in love, not masters of self-indulgence.
4. Liberty’s conflict: walk in the Spirit
  Walking in the Spirit is the practical route to avoid fulfilling the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16–18). There is conflict between the flesh and the Spirit; which one you feed determines your life.

Summary

Galatians 5 calls the believer to stand fast in the liberty Christ purchased, to reject law-reliance and legalism, and to live a life marked by Spirit-led love and service. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone; any attempt to add works nullifies the cross. True Christian freedom is not license for sin but liberty to love and serve others while walking by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit within us empowers righteousness, restrains sinful desire, and produces a life that honors Christ.

Stand with me with heads bowed, with eyes closed tonight. Maybe some of the stuff we’ve talked about tonight may be foreign to you because you may have never trusted Christ as your personal savior. I don’t know where you’re at spiritually tonight, but I will tell you if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ, if you’ve never accepted him for salvation, we can have somebody talk with you tonight if that’s what you desire. Want to show you the same grace that somebody once showed us.

Application for the Week

These are practical, specific steps to help you live out Galatians 5 this week. Work through them personally and with your family or a small group.

Stand Fast Daily
1. Morning anchor: Each morning this week read Galatians 5:1 and pray: “Lord, I stand fast in the liberty Christ purchased.” Commit your day to Him before temptation finds you.
Identify and Avoid Entangling People or Places
1. Practical separation: Make a list of activities, friendships, or habits that tempt you back to old sins. Remove or limit your exposure and add a positive replacement (church ministry, mentoring, or a godly friend).
Reject Legalism — Embrace Gospel Simplicity
1. Scripture check: Before accepting a religious rule or custom, ask: “Does this add to Christ for salvation, or does it grow my faith in Him?” If it adds, reject it; if it helps you love God and neighbor, consider it under Scripture.
Walk in the Spirit
1. Daily dependence: Spend 5–10 minutes each day asking the Holy Spirit to lead your thoughts and actions. When tempted, say aloud, “Spirit, lead me; I refuse to follow my flesh.”
Serve Others in Love
1. One act of love: Intentionally perform one concrete act of service each day this week (call an elderly believer, mow a neighbor’s yard, bring a meal, encourage a discouraged coworker). Let love, not law, motivate your service.
Engage in Accountability
1. Find a partner: If you struggle with particular sins or doubts, ask a mature believer to be your accountability partner for the next 30 days: weekly check-ins, prayer, and Scripture memory together.
Invite the Unsaved
1. Share the gospel: As Dr. LeQuieu encouraged, if you know someone who has never trusted Christ, ask them this week if you may share the gospel with them, or invite them to a gospel presentation or service.

Use these steps as a starting place. The Christian life is growth — feed the Spirit and He will produce the fruit. Continue reading Galatians 5 this week and prepare your heart for the upcoming message on the flesh versus the Spirit, where we will examine the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit more closely.

Blessings in Christ,

Dr. Terry LeQuieu — “The Gospel of Grace – Part 8”