“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1, We inhabit a world full of fantasies of freedom. We expend tremendous amounts of energy, time, and money feeding these fantasies. Our pursuits of power, prestige, sensual experience, and leisure know no bounds. False notions of freedom shape our family priorities, our careers, and our political movements.
We strive for the experiences of freedom and fulfillment; but, inevitability, our daily lives tell a different story. It is the story of disappointment, loss, boredom, frustration, and anxiety. Eugene Peterson puts it plainly: “Living in the land of the free has not made us free; we are a nation of addicts and complainers.”
We need the letter to the Galatians. This letter is a Magna Carta of Christian liberty and a “Trumpet-call to Christian Freedom” (F.F. Bruce). The Apostle Paul offers a very different “declaration of independence.” It is summarized in Verse 2:16: We know that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.”
On Sunday morning, August 10, we begin a new sermon series: “Galatians: A Letter to the Land of the Free.”
Series Outline
1:1-5 Free to Live
1:6-12 Free to Curse
1:13-24 Free to Change
2:1-10 Free to Resist
2:11-16 Free to Confront
2:17-21 Freely Justified
3:1-14 Abraham’s Freedom
3:15-27 Faith, Failure, and Forgiveness
3:28-4:11 Slaves or Heirs?
4:12-31 Free to Trust
5:1-12 Free to Stand
5:13-21 Free to Love
5:22-6:5 The Fruit of Freedom
6:6-10 Free to Give
6:11-18 Free to Die
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