Use Our Freedom Responsibly (Galatians 5:13)

Sermon on 2 August 2026 by Sister Hui Ling

Galatians 5:13-18 - “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”

‭Freedom means to not satisfy your sinful nature anymore. Galatians 5 was about circumcision. It is a painful process that originated from Abraham’s generation. In Genesis 17, God made a covenant with Abraham. God told Abraham that him and his descendants need to have a mark on them to fulfil the covenant. This mark in the Old Testament was a physical mark in males. As the skin is removed, it is a permanent mark. When Jesus came, He died on the cross and resurrected for us. When He reunited with His disciples, He ascended to Heaven. Among the Christians, there were Jews who are direct descendants of Abraham. But there are some Christians who are not descendants of Abraham. There were false teachers who said that all Christians had to be circumcised. This distracted the teachings of Jesus in the New Commandments. They started being confused on whether they needed circumcision or not.

Galatians 5:1-12 - “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.”

‭‭Freedom from man-made and invalid rules allows us to run the race well and follow the truth. When Jesus comes, He comes because God so loved the world. What is invalid now is physical circulation. The Bible teaches a new ‘circumcision’, which is the circumcision of your heart. As we serve as a family, it is our responsibility to minimise and avoid this. We need to watch out for half truths and question ourselves when we teach. Is it our own beliefs or in accordance with the Bible? We don’t want to fall into the trap of Pharisees. If we burden people into serving the Lord, then the people will find it very difficult to serve the Lord. We need to serve the Lord with joy. We need to teach the truth to our children and not exasperate them. For those who are spiritually mature, even though we may feel that there are invalid or burdensome rules, we still need to follow them as we don’t want to stumble others.

How do we differentiate between prescriptive vs discernment and wisdom? The word of God doesn’t tell us what to do exactly step by step. As I read, I store the word of God in my heart. When I need instructions, the Holy Spirit will bring out the appropriate word in season. I will understand what I need to do from that word.

As we serve as a family, we need to be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Bring the light out when the path is dark. The word is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. What does being in sync with the Spirit mean? A mark of a changed heart is no longer relying on praises or assurance from humans. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to encourage people. But we find that our life is not centred around comments from people. Serving is not just serving in church ministries. God placed you where He needs you from Monday to Saturday when we are not in church. For leaders in the workplace, you redeem your workplace culture. God gives you the anointing and blessing to do so.

Romans 2:29 - “No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”

Colossians 3:23 - “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

‭‭What is freedom when there are restrictions? There still exists good and evil in the midst of freedom. God gives you the freedom to choose.

Galatians 2:15-17 - ““You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!”‭‭

It is your choice on how you want to use your freedom to serve God. Are you serving in love?

Galatians 5:13 - “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

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Joshua 24:15b - “But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.””

What motivates you? Find what motivates you to serve. Do you love your family? Do you love the family that God has placed you in? (1 John 4:20-21) Do you love the people God has placed in your life? (Matthew 18:18-20) If you do, you will not allow your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, you will use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:14 - “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.””

However, the family of ministry is still insufficient. Let’s change our perspective from a family of ministry to a family of service. Even if there isn’t a certain ministry in church, you can continue serving outside.

Matthew 28:18-20 - “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Freedom from man made and invalid rules allows us to run the race well and follow the truth. As we serve as a family, our responsibility is to minimise and avoid this. To teach the truth to our children and not exasperate them. We should serve not prescriptively, but led by and empowered by the Spirit. A changed heart produced by the Spirit. There still exists good and evil in the midst of freedom. It is your choice on how to use this freedom. Love should motivate you and your family in ministry. Let’s change our perspective from family of ministry to family of service. Why restrict God’s purpose for you and your family?

Amen.