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The Freedom That Kills Regret · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Happy Memorial Day to those of you in the States.
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  Speaker 1: It's a holiday set aside to celebrate those who gave
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  Speaker 1: their lives for our freedom. Everywhere you look today, that's
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  Speaker 1: the word that you see. Freedom. Freedom is a precious
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  Speaker 1: gift to be celebrated. But sometimes people talk about it
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  Speaker 1: like freedom is a blank check to just sort of
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  Speaker 1: do whatever it is you want. You know, wake up
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  Speaker 1: in the morning, do whatever you feel like, no rules.
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  Speaker 1: But of course doing whatever we want will eventually leave
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  Speaker 1: us feeling empty and trapped and regret our decisions that
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  Speaker 1: we made under the influence of freedom. So it's a
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  Speaker 1: good time to be reading Galations together because Paul wants
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  Speaker 1: us to talk about freedom in totally different ways than
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  Speaker 1: the world does today. On ask Pastor John the freedom
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  Speaker 1: that kills regret. Pastor John, providentially, we're in Galatians five
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  Speaker 1: and our Bible reading plan right now in time for
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  Speaker 1: this question from Vicky in Edinburgh, Scotland. Pastor John, thank
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  Speaker 1: you for this podcast. I write because in Galatians five one,
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  Speaker 1: and then again in verses thirteen to twenty six, Paul
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  Speaker 1: teaches that Christians are called to live in the freedom
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  Speaker 1: that Christ has won for us. A freedom not to
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  Speaker 1: indulge in the flesh, but to live by the spirit.
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  Speaker 1: So if you are struggling to live free, what do
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  Speaker 1: you think it means to be set free in Christ?
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  Speaker 1: How does freedom in Christ differ from the freedom of
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  Speaker 1: the world, which is basically to do whatever you want
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  Speaker 1: to do, whenever you want to do it. And what
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  Speaker 1: does it mean that we are freed in order to love?
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  Speaker 1: In Galatians five thirteen.
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  Speaker 2: So I hear three questions. Let's take them one at
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  Speaker 2: a time. First, what do you think it means to
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  Speaker 2: be set free in Christ? Now that phrase set free
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  Speaker 2: is taken from Galatians five to one, and so we
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  Speaker 2: can get our answer from the context. Here's verse one
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  Speaker 2: for freedom. Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore,
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  Speaker 2: and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
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  Speaker 2: So what's the yoke of slavery that we were set for from?
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  Speaker 2: And here's the next verse. If you accept circumcision, Christ
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  Speaker 2: will be of no advantage to you. I testify again
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  Speaker 2: to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated
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  Speaker 2: to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ,
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  Speaker 2: you who would be justified by the law. So what
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  Speaker 2: does it mean when he says, if you accept circumcision,
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  Speaker 2: Christ will be of no advantage to you. We know
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  Speaker 2: from verse six of this chapter Galatians five to six
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  Speaker 2: that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. Paul doesn't
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  Speaker 2: require circumcision. Paul doesn't require uncircumcision. So when he says
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  Speaker 2: that Christ will be of no advantage to you if
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  Speaker 2: you accept circumcision, what he means is if you accept
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  Speaker 2: it as a requirement for justification. He says in verse four,
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  Speaker 2: you are severed from Christ if you try to be
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  Speaker 2: justified by lawkeeping, in this case, by circumcision. Why is
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  Speaker 2: that because if you're going to base your justification on lawkeeping,
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  Speaker 2: it's going to have to be perfect lawkeeping. That's what
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  Speaker 2: verse three says. He is obligated to keep the whole law.
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  Speaker 2: So the answer to Viki's first question is to be
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  Speaker 2: set free in Christ is to be set free from
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  Speaker 2: justification by lawkeeping. To be set free from the law
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  Speaker 2: means that we do not have to obey the law
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  Speaker 2: in order to be justified, that is, to enter into
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  Speaker 2: God's favor. We are justified by faith alone. Galatians two
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  Speaker 2: sixteen says we know that a person is not justified
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  Speaker 2: by works of the law, but by faith in Gjesus Christ.
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  Speaker 2: So we also have believed in Jesus Christ in order
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  Speaker 2: to be justified by faith in Christ and not by
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  Speaker 2: works of the law, because by works of the law
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  Speaker 2: no one will be justified. All of our obedience is
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  Speaker 2: not in order to get God's favor. It is because
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  Speaker 2: we are in God's favor by faith alone. That's Christian freedom.
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  Speaker 2: Second question picky as how does freedom in christ differ
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  Speaker 2: from the freedom the world offers, which is basically to
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  Speaker 2: do whatever you want, whenever you want to. Now, we
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  Speaker 2: might be tempted to answer that question, well, Christians don't
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  Speaker 2: do whatever they want. They do God's will. But that's
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  Speaker 2: not the way to say it because it assumes that
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  Speaker 2: God's will and what the Christian wants aren't the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: It assumes that we are always having to do what
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  Speaker 2: we don't want to do. That's not Christian freedom. That's
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  Speaker 2: the old bondage. The difference between Christian freedom and the
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  Speaker 2: freedom of the world is that the world gets to
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  Speaker 2: do what it wants, but it is in bondage to
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  Speaker 2: want what is not the will of God. That's their bondage.
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  Speaker 2: Because whatever is not from faith is sin. Romans fourteen
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  Speaker 2: twenty three. Non Christians, by nature do not love God
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  Speaker 2: with all their heart. They don't love God above all things.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore their behavior is not an expression of love for God,
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  Speaker 2: and therefore it is sinful. When they do what they want,
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  Speaker 2: they will regret it, and that's not freedom. Your skydiving
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  Speaker 2: in you fall feels good, but if you don't have
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  Speaker 2: a parachute, it's going to end badly. But the freedom
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  Speaker 2: of a person justified by faith comes into being when
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit changes that person's desires to love the
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  Speaker 2: Word of God, so that we can do what we
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  Speaker 2: love to do, which is great freedom. For example, Romans
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  Speaker 2: six seventeen. Thanks be to God. That's important. God gets
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  Speaker 2: the thanks that you who were want slaves of sin.
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  Speaker 2: It's the opposite of freedom. Have become obedient from the heart.
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  Speaker 2: That's the key phrase, from the heart to the standard
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  Speaker 2: of teaching to which you were committed. So, Paul, thanks God,
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  Speaker 2: not us, because God is the one who set us
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  Speaker 2: free from slavery to loving sin and changed us. So
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  Speaker 2: that quote from the heart, that is from our own accord,
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  Speaker 2: from our own desire, we obey God's will. You could
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  Speaker 2: say Christian freedom is doing what you want to do
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  Speaker 2: and not regretting it in a thousand years because it
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  Speaker 2: was what God wanted you to do. Is Vicky's last question,
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  Speaker 2: what does it mean that we are freed in order
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  Speaker 2: to love? In Galatians five thirteen, freed in order to love?
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  Speaker 2: Verse thirteen says you a call to freedom, brothers only,
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  Speaker 2: do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
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  Speaker 2: but through love, serve one another. So if Christian freedom
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  Speaker 2: is doing what you want to do, when what you
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  Speaker 2: want to do is what God wants you to do,
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  Speaker 2: this makes sense because love is a summary of what
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  Speaker 2: God wants you to do. That's what the next verse
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  Speaker 2: says verse fourteen, For the whole law is fulfilled in
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  Speaker 2: one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But
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  Speaker 2: we can go deeper than this. Why is love the
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  Speaker 2: clearest expression of Christian freedom? It's the same reason God's
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  Speaker 2: love is the clearest expression of his freedom. God did
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  Speaker 2: not create the world or sind Jesus to die for
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  Speaker 2: sinners because he was under some kind of external obligation,
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  Speaker 2: some law outside of him that he had obeyed. He
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  Speaker 2: was acting in complete freedom. He didn't have to do it.
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  Speaker 2: Doing it was the overflow is fullness, not to supply
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  Speaker 2: something to his deficiency. That's what freedom is, and that's
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  Speaker 2: what love is, and the very same thing is true
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  Speaker 2: of those who are born again sons of God. Love
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  Speaker 2: is the overflow of the fullness of joy in God.
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  Speaker 2: Here's the picture of love and freedom in Second grindin
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  Speaker 2: eight two. It says, in a severe test of affliction,
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  Speaker 2: their abundance of joy overflowed in a wealth of generosity.
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  Speaker 2: Love is the overflow of joy in God, and joy
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  Speaker 2: is the opposite of bondage. So, VICKI press all in
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  Speaker 2: your quest for Christian freedom. Embrace all that God is
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  Speaker 2: for you in Jesus as your supreme treasure, and the
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  Speaker 2: result will be that your joy will be your freedom,
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  Speaker 2: and your freedom will become love.
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  Speaker 1: No better reminder of true freedom on this Memorial Day.
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  Speaker 1: The difference between Christian freedom and the freedom of the
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  Speaker 1: world is that the world gets to do what it wants,
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  Speaker 1: but it is in bondage to want what is not
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  Speaker 1: the will of God. So that Christian freedom is doing
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  Speaker 1: what you want to do and not regretting it. In
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  Speaker 1: a thousand years because it was what God wanted you
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  Speaker 1: to do. Wow. That is so it has a lot
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  Speaker 1: to think about. Pastor John, thank you and thanks for
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  Speaker 1: joining us on this Memorial Day. If you have a
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  Speaker 1: question to ask Pastor John, find a link to email
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  Speaker 1: us and find our complete episode of archive at the
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  Speaker 1: same place at askpastor John dot com. Next time. The
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  Speaker 1: secret superpower of when we get treated unfairly, there is
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  Speaker 1: a secret superpower of silence. I'm Tony Rank. You will
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  Speaker 1: see one Thursday