Do Not Lose Your Freedom (2)

Summary: Paul warns the believers with urgent clarity that if they accept circumcision as a requirement, then Christ will be of no benefit to them. He insists that anyone who receives circumcision as an obligation is committing to keep the entire Law, not just one part. By taking that route, they shift their basis of standing with God away from Christ and toward law-keeping, and Paul says this amounts to being severed from Christ and falling away from grace. He contrasts that approach with the posture of those who belong to Christ: they wait for the hope of righteousness by faith through the Spirit. In this new reality, outward markers such as circumcision or uncircumcision have no saving power; what counts is faith that expresses itself through love. Paul then turns to the Galatians’ situation with grief and sharpness. He says they had been running well, but someone hindered them from obeying the truth. He rejects the idea that this influence comes from the One who calls them, and he uses a proverb to show how a small corrupting element can spread through the whole community. Still, he expresses confidence that they will take no other view and says the one who is disturbing them will bear judgment. Finally, Paul answers a charge implied by his opponents: if he still preached circumcision, he would not be persecuted; the fact that he is persecuted shows he does not. He ends with biting intensity toward those unsettling the church, wishing they would go all the way in their self-mutilation—underscoring how seriously he views the attempt to impose circumcision and thereby empty the cross of its offense.   Teaching: One cannot be justified in the Law. That is why Jesus came. A person who tries hard to be justified in the Law comes to have the obligation to do the whole Law, and such people become far from the grace of the cross. We wait for the hope of righteousness by the Holy Spirit, according to faith. Before faith, the Holy Spirit was there and drove us so that we believed in Jesus. Therefore, our faith is the work of the Holy Spirit, and this faith is following the Holy Spirit. Truth is a word that must be obeyed, and the Holy Spirit is a Spirit that must be obeyed. If you know the truth, you obey the truth. Another gospel that prevents obedience to the truth is leaven. Therefore, leaven that spreads everywhere must be removed. Paul is certain that all things were completed by the cross of Christ; if one speaks of circumcision or the Law, it is a sure violation of the gospel of the cross. Excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Lee, Mar 10, 2026 Galatians 5:2-12