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Sermon summary in English:

Gal. 4:1-7

Freedom in Christ

[Introduction]

What was the best thing that ever happened to you, when you became a Christian?

One of the answers would be to become God’s children.

You call God “Father.”

That makes you God’s children.

Do you feel it that way?

Then, the next question is, what was the difference for you ever since you have become God’s children?

Well, this is what I want to talk about today.

The passage that we read this morning talks about Sonship (huiothesia).

Gal. 4:5 is one of the better known passages in the Bible regarding our privileges and rights as God’s children.

Let’s look at verse 5.

You see “the full rights of sons” in NIV; “adoption as sons” in ESV.

However, it is one word in Greek huiothesia.

-> huiothesia: the rights and privileges for sons and daughters of God

And we are going to talk about huiothesia God’s children’s privilege today.

[Passage]

Let’s go over the passage we just read.

One of the things that are posed to be in contrast is the difference that has been brought to reality because of the time factor.

Verse 4: “when the time had fully come”

What I mean by the time factor is the whole new reality that has been brought about through the Son Jesus Christ.

And the new reality makes such a drastic contrast with the past.

What was the past like? What was it like to live in the past?

You were an heir but not better than slave because you were under the authority of another slave.

Verse 3 says, practically “We were in slavery.”

You were in slavery bound by the rules and regulations imposed by the world whether you liked it or not.

That was the reality of your past.

So all of those things of the past put together make you “a slave.”

However, verse 7 says, “you are no longer a slave but a son.”

You were a slave but no more.

The contrast between the past and the present, the difference between before and now, is summed up in this verse “you are no longer a slave but a son.”

This is the thing that we want to remember before we talk about the rights and privileges of the children of God, that is,

YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE ANYMORE BUT A SON.

This change is a drastic one, a definitive one, a qualitative rather than quantitative one and, if you are familiar with theological terminology, an eschatological one.

Here is a common misunderstanding for many Christians in the church today.

They think that to become a Christian is a gradual change.

They gradually give up the past and pick up the new gradually one step at a time.

It seems to make sense and even sound reasonable, Right?

But that is not how the Bible presents about the new way of life in Christ.

For example, we have the very well-known passages about the change; Yes, putting off the old and putting on the new (Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10).

The exegetical conclusion of the Greek texts demonstrates that putting off and putting on is not a gradual change but a once-and-for-all change.

It is a definitive change; it is to cut off from the past once-and-for-all and to have nothing to do with the past anymore.

To become sons and daughters of God is exactly like that.

When you are sons and daughter of God, you are not slaves anymore.

You can by no means be the children of God and at the same time slaves.

You can by no means be in Christ and at the same time out of Christ.

You must remember all this change has been brought about because of the Son Jesus Christ.

“When the time had fully come, God sent His Son.”

The things have changed because of the Son Jesus Christ.

We live in the post-Christ era, meaning that Christ has come already.

There is a specific way of life that we are to live because we are with Christ.

Once again, I emphasize that the difference is a definitive change.

[Freedom in Christ]

The characteristic that may manifest we are the children of God is that we are free in Christ. WE ARE INDEED FREE IN CHRIST.

The characteristic of huiothesia the sonship is freedom, that we the children of God are free.

“You are no longer a slave but a son” (v.7).

“We are no children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (v.31).

Let me ask a question: “Are you free indeed?”

You may say, “What are you talking about? We live in America, the land of freedom.”

That is so true: freedom is inseparable with us living in America that we sometimes don’t even care to know what it is.

We all know that freedom is so important and valuable and yet it is something that is hard to grasp, hard to express in everyday words.

So I googled for the definition of “freedom” and this is what it says:

1. “the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint”

2. “exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.”

3. “the power or ability to determine action without restraint”

4. “political or national independence”

...

To me they all are description rather than definition.

They all describe about freedom rather than qualify it.

Well, it is true that the Bible does not give us the definition either.

But we know for sure from the Bible who is absolutely free; that is God Himself.

God alone is free in the absolute sense.

Freedom is one of the divine attributes that belong to God.

We do have freedom to some extant because we are created in the image of God.

I think this is really interesting that the Bible does not give us the definition but just tells us that we are free.

5:1 reads, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

5:13 reads, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.”

It is amazing how we have become free at last.

It is through the work of Christ that we are made free.

We are restored to freedom that we were supposed to have and enjoy from the beginning.

When you think about freedom, there are various kinds of freedom and the highest kind is moral freedom or spiritual freedom, if you will.

There is physical freedom, for example, freedom to walk, freedom to see, freedom to fly, etc.: it is more of physical ability

There is political freedom, such as freedom of religion, freedom of residence, freedom of speech and publication, etc.

There is financial freedom: more of financial ability to purchase something

(You are physically free to go to market to buy something and politically free to buy whatever you want but whether you can financially afford is a different matter.)

There is moral freedom or spiritual freedom that you are transcendent from moral and spiritual contradiction to yourself.

(For example, God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18) not because he is physically incapable but morally and spiritually does not do anything contradictory to Himself, that is, His own moral and spiritual quality and standard.)

In reality, when the apostle Paul says that we are free in Christ, he has in mind moral freedom and spiritual freedom rather than physical, political or financial kinds.

In other words, when the apostle Paul said that we are the children of God not slaves, we should not be bound by or enslaved to moral contradiction, that is, sin.

Romans 8:17 says that we are co-heirs with Christ; Christ is our brother.

If we are sons of God, just like Christ is the Son of God, we should not be sinning.

That is moral freedom.

And that moral freedom defines our moral integrity.

Please turn to 1 John 3:9

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”

1 John 5:18

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”

Where there is sin, there is no freedom.

When there comes sin between husband and wife, there goes freedom in their relationship.

Where there is sin, freedom is compromised.

Let me tell you what!

The highest form of Christian spirituality is freedom in Christ.

Think about it.

You may pursue all sorts of spirituality but the highest kind and the most difficult one is freedom; moral freedom.

And moral freedom sets us apart from this world.

God wants us to be more like him.

For that matter He sent His Son so that we may be free.

When we are free, we are like the Father.

But if we choose to be rather bound by man-made codes and regulations, I don’t think God would be pleased to see us like that.

Remember God is our Father and we are His children.

Whether children are good or not so good, children are children before the parents.

It would be heart-breaking for the parents to see, if one of their children don’t enjoy freedom but behave so awkwardly before them.

Freedom is something that many Christians fail to enjoy before God the Father.

It is an intention of the Father that we should enjoy freedom in Christ but not many Christians truly enjoy that privilege.

Then, here comes a practical question.

How do you learn freedom? How do you exercise freedom?

I would say that you don’t learn freedom until you practice freedom.

Yes, there can be many failures but there is no other way around.

You have to try it believing that the Holy Spirit will help you with the power that once raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

There is a well-known story about a prodigal son in Luke 15.

The prodigal son wanted freedom away from his father.

He took his portion of inheritance and went to a far-away country.

He wasted all the money and for his survival he ended up eating what pigs were eating.

What is the lesson from this parable of Jesus?

For Jewish people pigs are the most unclean animal that they despise most.

The prodigal son once was the son of a good father but now became like a pig.

His dignity and esteem collapsed down to what the pig may epitomize in this parable.

His moral worth and integrity failed and he became like a pig.

When he lost his freedom as a son of his father, he lost all the moral worth of himself.

Simply he became a pig.

That is not the end of story.

He comes back to his father.

He still calls him father, when you read Luke 15; "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, 'Father, I sinned against you'."

He is able to go back because he was a son of his father.

He was able to repent because of the undeniable fact that he was the son of his good father.

Well, I don’t mean to promote sin and failure for you as the prodigal son once did.

However, I want to highlight that even if we fail along the way of learning freedom, you must remember that you are sons and daughters of God for whom He did not spare His One and Only Son.

Along the way you will have to admit that it is not by your might and power that you may enjoy freedom but by the Spirit of God.

Along the way you will have to come back to the Father begging for His mercy and grace to redeem you back.

Along the way you will have to praise the good Father that He always embraces you with loving arms.

Go ahead and enjoy freedom because you are sons and daughters of God.

God has set us free that we may enjoy the privilege as God's children.

[Closing]

What was the best thing that ever happened to you when you became a Christian?

Please remember that you are God’s children and therefore you may enjoy all the privileges as the children of God.

I remind you one more time:

Let us remember who we are.

Let us remember our moral value.

Our freedom defines our spirituality.

When we are free in Christ, we are the most spiritual with God.

When we enjoy freedom in Christ, it sets us apart from the world.

Freedom in Christ is to keep ourselves from sins.

We do not take our freedom to be the opportunity to sin.