Freedom and Love
Galatians 5:13-5 NLT
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Examine the scriptures:
Galatians 5:13-15 NLT
Freedom and Love
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.
Galatians 3:13
13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.
Philippians 3:8-9 NLT (Paul speaking to the Philippians.)
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
Galatians 5:1 NLT
Freedom in Christ
5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
John 8:36 NLT
36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
- As Christians, we have been called to live in freedom. (Freedom from the Mosaic Law.)
But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.
- Don’t use your freedom to follow your fallen, sinful desires and act contrary to God’s moral laws.
Romans 6:1-2 NLT
6:1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
Romans 6:15 NLT
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
1 Peter 2:16 NLT
16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
- Freedom is not a license to sin.
Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
- Use your freedom to serve God and each other in love.
14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:18 NLT
18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NLT
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Matthew 22:36-39 NLT
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Luke 10:25-28 NLT
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
Matthew 7:12 NLT
12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
Luke 6:27-36 NLT
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
John 13:34-35 NLT
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
**Romans 13:8-10 NLT
Love Fulfills God’s Requirements
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.”
These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
Love, not lust.
- When a Christian genuinely loves others, he fulfills all of the moral requirements of the Mosaic Law.
He does what he should be doing, and does not do what he should not be doing.
15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Strife and bitterness destroys relationships.
Strife and bitterness is destructive to churches. (Schools, families, work places)
Christian fellowship can be utterly ruined by conflict.
Both parties are ruined by conflict.
Matthew 12:25 NLT
… A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
Mark 9:50 NLT
50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”
This is the opposite of love.
- Biting and devouring one another will be fatal to the Christian community as a whole. The life of the body will be destroyed by its own members.
Live in harmony with each other.
Psalm 133:1 NLT
1 How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
Romans 12:16-18 NLT
16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Romans 15:5-6 NLT5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 17:20-21 NLT
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
- Live in harmony with each other.
****************************************
- As Christians, we have been called to live in freedom. (Freedom from the Mosaic Law.)
- Don’t use your freedom to follow your fallen, sinful desires and act contrary to God’s moral laws.
- Freedom is not a license to sin.
- Use your freedom to serve God and each other in love.
- When a Christian genuinely loves others, he fulfills all of the moral requirements of the Mosaic Law.
- Biting and devouring one another will be fatal to the Christian community as a whole. The life of the body will be destroyed by its own members.
- Live in harmony with each other.
