The Lord Gives Liberty, Not License

Galatians 5:1, 13-25
July 1, 2007
Pentecost 5C

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

It’s really just a happy coincidence that today’s text is all about freedom on this, the Sunday before the Fourth of July. You’re going to hear an awful lot about freedom this week—about the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States. These freedoms are a great blessing, and it is good, right, and salutary that we should all celebrate this Wednesday.

But when St. Paul wrote to the Galatians about freedom, he didn’t have in mind the freedoms we celebrate this week. The freedom that comes from Christ isn’t the freedom of speech, or of the press, or even the freedom of religion. It’s got nothing to do with the Bill of Rights. No, Paul had in mind an entirely different kind of freedom—specifically, freedom from the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament.

What does that mean? It means that the Old Testament laws regulating worship no longer apply in the New Testament. It means that God’s people can gather for worship on any day, not just the Sabbath (or seventh) Day. It means that God’s people can eat any food they want, not just “kosher” foods. It means that God’s people can tithe and return to God exactly ten percent of their income, or they can return eight percent, or nine percent, or eleven or twelve percent. And most importantly for the Galatians (who were Gentiles), it meant that circumcision was no longer a requirement. This is the freedom Paul proclaims. Doing these works of the law won’t get you any closer to God. You are justified by faith. You don’t have to earn God’s favor by what you do; you’re already in God’s favor through faith in Jesus, who died and rose for you. This is the freedom Paul proclaims. The freedom in which you and I live as baptized children of God.

But what does this freedom look like? How does it play out in our lives? That’s the question Paul addresses in today’s text from Galatians chapter 5. He says we should “walk by the Spirit.” What does this mean? Well, picture it this way. Picture life as if you’re driving down the road. If you veer too far to the right, you’ll go into the ditch. But if you veer too far to the left, there’s another ditch to watch out for. I got to thinking the other day, there really aren’t any ditches in Whitefish Bay. We’ve got all this fancy shmancy curb and gutter. But where I come from—where I grew up—we had ditches.

To walk by the Spirit—to live in the freedom of Jesus—means to stay out of the ditches—to stay up on the road. The ditch on our right is called “legalism.” This is what was being pushed on the Galatians. Legalism is requiring what God doesn’t require. After Paul preached the pure Gospel to the Galatians, other folks came in later saying, “Sure you’re saved by faith in Jesus, but you also have to be circumcised, you also have to tithe, you also have to worship on Saturday, you also have to do this, and this, and that—if you’re ever going to make it to heaven.” That’s legalism. We Lutherans are pretty good at staying out of that ditch. We know that we’re saved by grace, through faith in Jesus alone. Our works don’t save us, Jesus does. When He said, “It is finished,” from His crucifixion cross, it meant that your sins have been paid for in full. And this is the wonderful Gospel freedom we enjoy in Jesus.

But it’s the other ditch—that ditch on the left—that tends to be a problem for folks like us. This is the ditch of “license.” License means “lack of restraint.” License is freedom in behavior that exceeds what is appropriate. License is freedom gone haywire—freedom abused. St. Paul puts it this way: “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” Don’t use your freedom in Christ as an excuse for sinning. The Lord gives liberty, not license.

What does this “license” look like? What’s it look like when Christians abuse their freedom? St. Paul gives us a sampling—a smattering of vices. At the top of the list is sexual immorality. This broad term applies to any kind of illicit sexual activity, including adultery, sexual intercourse outside of marriage, homosexuality and the like. The Greek word is actually porneia, from which we get the word “pornography.” In our world today the epidemic of pornography is passed off as harmless, but God views it as sexual immorality—sexual sin—faith-deadening sin. Christians who would dare to look at pornography have left behind their Christian freedom (and their Christian faith!) and landed in the ditch of license.

The abuse of our Christian freedom is also seen in other things: acts of enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, divisions and envy. These things aren’t quite as titillating as sexual immorality, but they’re far more common—common even in the church. Anger, jealousy and division can destroy homes and marriages and congregations. Christian freedom is also abused, Paul writes, by drunkenness. Christians aren’t called to be teetotalers, but Christians who become drunk have left behind their Christian freedom (and their Christian faith!) and landed in the ditch of license.

And here’s the irony: sexual immorality and drunkenness and anger are often viewed as “freedom.” “I’m free to do whatever I want!” But these and many of the things listed here by Paul can easily become addictions. And addictions are the polar opposite of freedom. Some of these things can kill you, or eat you up on the inside, rob your life of joy, and all will deaden your faith. They comprise not a lifestyle, but a death-style.

Then comes just about the stiffest dose of law you will ever read in your Bible: “Those who do such things—those who live like this—will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Note the verb tense in Paul’s words: Those who do (present tense) these things. Those who are living in these sins. Let me be clear: Pornography and immorality and anger and drunkenness and everything else listed here are not unforgivable sins. Paul doesn’t write that anyone who has ever done these things cannot be saved. If that were the case, we should all just pack it up and head home right now. BUT if pornography and immorality and anger and drunkenness are something you are presently “doing”—if these things are a part of your life today—if you’re wallowing in the ditch of license, wantonly abusing your freedom in Christ, then the apostle’s words are clear: “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

If you’re living in the ditch of license—if you see yourself in this list—well then, I have good news for you—the best of news, in fact. You can leave it all behind in Jesus—in His holy wounds, in His precious cross, in His death by crucifixion. You can leave the ditch of license behind. Like the prodigal son who went hungry wallowing in the pig pen, you can leave your mess behind and enjoy a Father’s welcome. Angels will rejoice over your repentance for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Savior.

If you want to make a God-pleasing change in your life—if you want to climb back up out of the ditch to live in the joy and freedom of Jesus—well, that desire shows the Spirit at work in you. That’s the Holy Spirit who first set up shop in you in the watery surprise of your baptism into Christ. St. Paul describes it this way: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” When did that happen? When was your sinful flesh with its passions and desires nailed to the cross of Jesus? It happened in your baptism. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life” (Rom. 6:4). That new life is yours through faith in Jesus—a new life without legalism, a new life without license.

In this new life you have, you’re led by the Spirit. In you the Holy Spirit is at work producing fruit—fruit that lasts and shows itself in all circumstances of your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is the fruit of the Spirit. And everyone knows you can’t make an apple tree bear apples by threatening it, kicking it, and yelling at it to be fruitful. You water it, feed it, prune it at the proper time, and it bears fruit automatically. That’s how it is with the fruit of the Spirit in you. It comes automatically, when you are fed and watered by the Word in worship, by Baptism, by the Lord’s body and blood in Holy Communion.

The Lord Jesus gives liberty, not license. Live in that liberty! Celebrate that freedom as you confess your sins and receive His sure and certain absolution. Walk by the Spirit in the joy of Christian freedom. It’s a road that leads to heaven. When the temptations of your flesh try to run you off the road, don’t begin to say (as many do) “I can’t help myself. I’m a sinner.” That’s true, but it’s no excuse. Don’t live that lie. You’re a justified sinner, a redeemed child of God, a new creation in Christ. There’s no reason for you not to live like one—to walk by the Spirit—to live in the liberty of Jesus. Amen.