Walk in the Freedom of the Spirit - Pastor Tom Loghry

In Galatians 5:13-26, Paul tells the Galatians of the freedom that they have through Christ. False teachers had come in and told them that they had to follow the old law, but Paul explains that Christ is the fulfillment of the law.

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Galatians chapter 5 verses 13 through 18. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: love your neighbor as yourself. If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Well, so I have a question. How many of you here have been roller skating?

I remember when I was a kid that roller skating was kind of all the rage. It seems like every other party I went to as a kid was at a roller skating rink. There's something both limiting and liberating about strapping some wheels on your feet. Once the skates are on your feet, It becomes pretty awkward to walk.

Looks like something's wrong with ya. If you try to move around like you normally would, uh, you're just as likely to fall on your face. Skates aren't meant for walking. They're for gliding. They're for speed. In fact, the fastest downhill speed on skates was 82 miles an hour. You can never run that fast, even downhill. When you put on skates, you choose a different way of moving. You leave walking behind. Paul's message to the Christians in Galatia is very much the same. They accepted the gospel when he came to them. But in his absence, some came in who began persuading them that something more than Jesus was needed. They were told that they needed to be circumcised.

That they needed to uphold all the ritual standards of the law to be accepted by God. Paul has been reminding them that no one can be accepted by the law. We all fall short. It is only in Jesus, who fulfilled the law, that we can be accepted. But there was something more. More than just being accepted by God because of Jesus, we are also set free because of Jesus.

In verse 1 of chapter 5, Paul tells us, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. In the remainder of chapter 5, Paul explains to the Galatians, and to us, exactly what this freedom looks like. So, looking first at verses 13 through 18, which we just read, Paul reminds the Galatians of their call to freedom.

Now, the thing that we have to understand when we're trying to reckon what Paul means when he's talking about freedom is that his meaning of freedom is something different than just mere liberty. I've talked about this a couple of times already, where liberty is this idea where you can, you can choose to do A or B.

It's just pure and simple choice. I've used the analogy of a piano where you can press any key on the piano. But, just because you have liberty, it doesn't mean that you have all the ability to do what might be possible. So to use a different analogy, you can think about how a toddler, when they're first beginning to come, coming close to walk, in, in theory, no one's saying you can't walk, kid.

No one's saying that's not allowed, so they have the choice, but they lack the ability to actually quite get there yet. So when Paul's talking about our call to freedom, he's talking about something beyond just mere liberty of choice. Everyone's had the choice to do right or wrong since human beings were created.

But since the fall, we've lacked this ability to follow through in obedience. But now that Christ has come, we are given this freedom.

To no longer indulge the flesh, but rather, what he says in verse 13, serve one another humbly in love. Elsewhere in his letters, in Romans 7: 4, he says, So my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit.

Notice how there's a purpose attached to this salvation. We died to the law through the body of Christ. And not only just so that, again, that we might be spared from punishment, but so that there'd be a positive outflow from our union with Christ. That we would bear fruit from, for God. Peter says something fairly similar in 1 Peter 2: 16. He says, live as free people. But do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Live as God's slaves. So Peter obviously has a very distinct notion of what freedom means here, because it's not just do whatever you please. The point of the freedom is that it's in order to make it possible that we would walk in God's ways.

And there really is only two options. We can either walk in the ways of sin, the ways of the devil, or we can walk in the ways of God. So that you could term it as living as God's slaves, but that's the best condition to be in because as we live in accordance with God's ways, we are actually living into those ways, which will result in our flourishing, in our benefit, in our good.

And so that's the purpose for which Christ came, is that we would enjoy that freedom, that we would walk in that freedom and receive those benefits of realizing all of who we were created to be. So when we consider what does it look like? What does it look like to walk in this freedom? It looks like, 13, serving one another humbly in love.

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, Love your neighbor as yourself. Last week I talked about how love is really central to all of God's commands. And Jesus is the one that points this out explicitly in Matthew 22, when he's asked, What is the greatest command? He says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the first and greatest command. And that's taken from Deuteronomy 6: 5, and then he says and the second, which is taken from Leviticus 19, is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commands. Love God, love others. Paul says the same thing as well, in Romans 13, verses 9 through 10.

He says, the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. And one of, and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Now Jesus himself is the perfect example of this. Everything at bottom that he did was done out of love. In John 13: 34 he says, A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

It's fairly simple, this idea that the command is just simply to love. In fact, its simplicity, though, makes it a great indictment against us that we fail to love properly. And I think a lot of times we actually like to try to kind of bury that fact, where we say, Oh, yeah, I have a problem with my temper. I do have a problem with some lust.

I have some problem with greed. And we paper over what is really the key and core issue, which is this, is that you simply do not love God enough. You do not love others enough. And we don't want to admit that because then you feel like, Oh, gee whiz, I'm the, I'm, I'm a bad person because I'm, I don't love God the way that I should.

And I don't love others the way that I should. And that the thing is, is we are bad persons. We are messed up in our loves.

And this is why Christ has come so that our hearts would be redeemed and restored so that we would love God in the way that we ought to. And then we might love others. And there's something about love, because when we truly love someone, we are under no compulsion to do what is right for them. I think I've used this example before, where, you know, if you love your spouse, and it's your anniversary, or it's Valentine's Day, or something like that, you're under no compulsion to to get them something nice, take them out.

It's simply an outflow of your love for them, that you do these things for them. That's the way it ought to be. I remember as, in my adolescence, when I was struggling with trying to walk in the ways that God really was calling me to, and feeling like, this just feels like it's a bunch of classroom rules.

And it felt joyless. And the reason why it was joyless is because there was a lack of love. If you love God in the way that you ought to, if you love others in the way that you ought to, all these other specific commands in the way that you should treat one another and serve God, they will not be burdens.

They'll be sources of joy for you, because you'll just be living into that love that is within your heart.

Now, in the case of the Galatians, Paul picks up on the danger that this lack of love poses to them. Because if they continue to kind of be at each other's throats, there seems to be some division and dissension because of these teachers that have crept in. It's gonna result in them destroying one another.

So, if there's a solution that's to be prescribed here for the Galatians as to how they should avoid that outcome, Paul gives it in verse 16. He says, So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. That's his prescription for the Galatians. That's his prescription for all of us.

Loving God and loving others in the way that we ought to does not come naturally to us. It does not come easily to us. It's something that can only come about by this power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. That's how we love properly. That's how we live the Christian life. But there is conflict.

There's an ongoing conflict between the flesh and the spirit, and both continue to abide in us. At least we have the Spirit if we've believed in Christ. There's a conflict going on. And in Romans 7, Paul describes this conflict. And some of you, I'm sure, have read this passage before. And it can be a little bit, it can be a little bit difficult to follow.

But it actually, I think, perfectly captures our experience and our wrestling with sin. In Romans 7, verse 15, Paul says, I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, as it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it's sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. Now sometimes it can be a little bit difficult to follow Paul there, but doesn't it capture your own experience where you know the right things to do?

And you even desire to do those things, but you find that there's a conflict within your heart where you're being pushed, tugged, and pulled to do exactly the opposite sort of thing. So you're doing what you don't really want to do, but you just keep doing it. Now, the good news for the Christian is that we are no longer captive to sin.

We are no longer slaves to sin such that there is no conflict, you know, there could be no conflict in that. We just simply do what the flesh tells us to do. And there's many people who live in that condition where they, they don't desire the things of God. And so they're just, yeah, they just kind of do whatever the flesh tells me to do.

We no longer live in that state of being. We're no longer slaves to sin. But that doesn't mean that we're at perfect peace. There's an ongoing battle within our hearts.

Paul describes it in verse 17. He talks about how the spirit and the flesh are in conflict with each other. So that you are not to do whatever you want. But, if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. And so we do have this freedom set before us that's available to us. I, I remember as I've kind of reckoned with, you know, that battle going on within my own life.

It's kind of almost as though before we came to Christ, we were sitting in a jail cell, and I was locked up, and it was like, this just kind of is what it is. Now Christ has opened up that door, and we can simply walk out of it. But sometimes we willingly sit ourselves in that dark cell. But now in Christ, we can get up and walk out.

And I think this is part of what Paul's talking about when he says, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. As though you would be pursuing this obedience simply as a matter of compulsion, but that in fact you've been invested with new life from the spirit so that you can walk in the freedom that's being offered.

But, it is a conflict, it's a one or the other sort of thing, and this is where we begin to stumble. It's like the skating. You got to choose. You're either going to walk, or you're going to skate. If you try to do a mash up of both, it's just going to end up with you falling flat on your face. In Romans 8, uh, Paul describes this new reality that, which is ours in Jesus. He says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So we're all very familiar with that idea. You come to Jesus, you put your faith in him, and you're no longer condemned. Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

So if you put your faith in Jesus, all of us here who have done so have admitted that we're not perfect people. We haven't lived in the way that we've supposed to have lived. We've put our faith in Christ because in him, we find one who is able to be our sin offering because he has lived the perfect life.

He has fulfilled all the requirements of the law. But something to notice here and what. Paul is saying is that, is that Christ came and fulfilled all that, not so that we could just say, okay, now I don't have to have any interest in doing what's right because Jesus is just taking care of it. No, that's not the purpose at all. The purpose is that Christ came, gave himself as this offering for sin, in order that we may no longer be condemned.

And so that we may now walk in his ways, not by our power, but by the power of his own life. That's something that we have to understand if we're gonna properly understand verse four, what he says there. It's not saying that we are justifying ourselves, that we're saving ourselves. It's that the fullest completion of all that God has desired is only realized in Christ, insofar as He has fully fulfilled the law, and now, joined to Him, we begin manifesting the fulfillment of that, of the law, even in our own lives, as we become the righteous people that God has called us to be. So that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh, so this isn't fleshly power, but according to the Spirit.

Now if we're going to understand the actual contours of this conflict between the flesh and the spirit, it's helpful to have some examples of the actions that flow from each. And Paul gives us this. In verse 19. It says, the acts of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now this isn't the first sort of list that Paul has put together, or not the only list that he's put together.

He's, he's offered this as well to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5 3. Among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed because these are improper for God's holy people. This is very much similar thing to the Colossians. Now, something that's, I think, important for us to notice here is that when we're talking about sins of the flesh, these acts of the flesh, we shouldn't just simply think of sexual things, sexual sins. I think that's what a lot of us think of, because we think of it as like a very bodily sort of sin. But notice all the sins that are included here. Idolatry, witchcraft, fits of rage. And notably in verses 20 and 21, in the case of the Galatians, dissensions, factions, and envy.

That's not included in that list given to the Ephesians and the Colossians. So Paul seems to be picking up on a particular theme here, an issue with the Galatians, in that, you know, he warned them about kind of fighting and devouring each other, and now he's talking about divisions and factions between them.

But all the way, all that to say, really kind of the sum of what Paul's getting at here, in offering these examples of acts of the flesh, is that it's a particular way of being. And I would describe it as kind of a bestial, sort of animalistic, sort of way of being. Which, uh, Isn't so surprising in our own time, as we live in a society that tends to think that we're only very highly developed animals.

It's a, it's a sort of eat or be eaten kind of way of living. Just doing what feels good and getting yours. Any of that is all, all, any and all of that is in accordance with living according to the flesh. Living in that sort of bestial sort of way is not how one acts who is a son or daughter of God, who is a member of the royal family.

And this is why Paul says plainly in verse 21, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, we were just talking about struggles earlier, so is Paul saying that anyone who struggles against these things isn't going to enter the kingdom of God? No. Because, once again, your own personal perfection is not the basis of your acceptance before God, it's Christ's own perfection which is the basis of that.

But, if you are truly joined to Christ, it should not be the case that you are ruled by the flesh.. Because if you're being ruled by the flesh, if there isn't, in fact, no pushback against these sins, then it's clear that you do not have the spirit. Because if the spirit is present, then there's always a conflict with the flesh.

There's always a battle, and it's a battle, which I would say that the spirit's going to progressively win, in your life. So that, From where you began in your walk with Christ, there should be a progression in your life moving forward.

The genuine Christian has the Spirit of Christ within them. Paul says this in Romans 8, verses 8 through 9. He says, those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

So you, see, you cannot have Christ without the Spirit of Christ. You can't have salvation without the Holy Spirit. The two go hand in hand. And so if you've been joined to Christ, these things are gonna be, begin being beaten down. Having identified the acts of the flesh, Paul now identifies the fruit of the Spirit.

So we've identified what the Christian life shouldn't look like, but what should the Christian life look like? He says, in verse 22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, that's another word for patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. Something that I think is important to notice here, and the fruit that Paul's describing, is that these virtues are not just internal sentiments of having, like, positive feelings towards other people. But, in fact, they're virtues that should have external manifestation. They should actually manifest themselves as actions in your life. It should kind of define your posture as you go through this world. And it's interesting when you take these examples of fruit, and set it against examples of the acts of the flesh, because you can see how they stand in direct contrast with each other.

As far as love, I mean that pretty much is in contrast to all the acts of the flesh. I remember one of my professors, he gave this example of how very often we can twist our notion of love, so that you know, spouses who might be tempted to cheat on, on their, their spouse would, by having an affair with someone else, they might think of that as love.

But the fact is, is that you cannot love someone else in that way. If I'm, if I'm stealing the spouse of another person, I'm not loving anyone in that situation. That's a perversion of love. When we think about joy, well, that's the opposite of jealousy. If I'm jealous, if I'm envious of someone, I'm lacking in joy.

If I have peace, well, that's in direct contrast to someone whose life is full of discord, always being in arguments with other people. If I'm someone who's characterized by forbearance, this being someone who's patient, that means that I'm not giving over to fits of rage and getting, you know, flying off the handle and getting angry with other people at the drop of a hat.

If I'm filled with kindness, I'm not going to be hating other people. If my life is defined by goodness, I'm not going to be given over to the chaos of debauchery. If I'm faithful, I'm not going to be given to sexual immorality.

If I'm gentle, I'm also not going to be given over fits of rage. If I'm under self control, then I'm not going to be given over to selfish ambition or drunkenness. But you can just see how everything that the spirit offers is in direct conflict with everything that the flesh is driving us to do. Now, when we look at these, the examples of this fruit, we might be tempted to think, okay, so is this a new law, like a new list of things that I have to do?

If we think that, then we're completely misunderstanding everything that Paul's been saying up to this point. He's not giving us a new law, What he's saying is that, in Christ, you have been given a new life. And I love this commentary offered by S. H. Hook. F. S. Bruce cites him in his commentary on Galatians.

Hook is a biblical scholar, and he says this. He says, a vine does not produce grapes by act of parliament, as by a law, by a decree. They are the fruit of the vine's own life. So the conduct which conforms to the standard of the kingdom is not produced by any demand, not even God's, but it is the fruit of that divine nature which God gives as the result of what he has done in and by Christ.

In Christ, things have truly changed. Before, we did have a list of God's demands. We had the law. But we did not positively respond to that. And that's what Hook's picking up on here. He's saying, it's not by just saying that these are the things to be done, that these things actually manifest themselves.

There actually has to be an internal transformation of who we are. And that transformation comes about as we have been joined to Christ. Jesus says this in John 15. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.

See, the only way that you will bear fruit, that you will bear the fruit of the spirit, is if you are joined to Christ. If you're not joined to Christ, you can do nothing. Yeah, you might do some semblances of some things that are good things to do. I'm not denying that people in this world that are non Christians can't do good things.

But on the whole, those things tend to be twisted and perverted in their motivation. And on the whole, their hearts remain ruled by the flesh. And this isn't an us versus them sort of thing. This is the condition of all of us, you and me included, if we are not joined to Christ. The fruit which is borne out in our lives is not our own, it is Christ who is within us.

And the wondrous thing about this is that this fruit, it's not just abstract in its quality, it's actually, actually has been concretely demonstrated in Jesus Christ. It is him who has actually lived this out. And in fact, we see examples of this fruit in our communion together, in each other's lives.

Which is part of the reason why it is important for us to gather together. Because we set an example for each other. We bring encouragement to one another. Because each of us has different qualities and quantities of this fruit in our, in our lives. Some of us have more joy than others. Some of us have greater amounts of love.

Some of us have greater amounts of self control. God is intending that all of us would be rich in this fruit. And by bringing us together, he brings growth to the whole lot of us.

Another example that we can find in Paul's writing as far as Thinking about this idea of what the Christian life should look like is, is found in Colossians 3. In Colossians 3, verses 12 through 17, it says, Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body you are called to peace, and be thankful.

Look at everything that Paul's saying here to the Colossians. It's pretty much everything that he just said here to the Galatians, just recast. It's as simple as this, that the life that God desires for us to live It's borne out in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. And we gain the Holy Spirit, we gain His indwelling presence in our lives as we join to Christ.

And so Paul, as he's writing to these churches, he's reminding them of that reality. Because it's not just automatic. There is a conflict going on. And you can see how some Paul's urging them to walk in the freedom which has been given to them in Christ Jesus. He reminds them in verse 23 that there is no law against living out this fruit.

Verse 23. He's reminding them this freedom that you can do this because you've been given the Holy Spirit. Joined to Christ, this way of life opens up to us. All of it is centered in Christ, who died and was raised again so that we might live. So that we would live and walk and keep in step with the Spirit.

Keeping in step with the Spirit. What that means is that we are walking in the ways according to the call, which Paul said at the beginning. This freedom that we've been called to. We're walking in accordance with that call that God has placed on all of our lives. We talk about God's calling on our lives.

And very often we get caught up in the nuances of that. Like, you know, am I supposed to do this job or take up that role in the church or do this or that? Very often we would do much better focusing our attention, I think, on this broad call which applies to us all, which is that we are to keep in step with the spirit and live out these virtues.

And I think as we find, as we press into that, as we press into the fruit of the spirit, God will open up the doors and guide us as far as the nuances of our lives go. His far greater concern is that we live into this broader call which applies to us all. His purpose is to make us instruments of righteousness.

In Romans 6, Paul says this. He says, For we know that our old self was crucified with him, that's Jesus, so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. There's that freedom again. Jumping down to verse 12.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. You've got the power now. Don't let the sin rule. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of witness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Taking that word, instrument, very literally, it's as though, you know, before this time, you know, we all have our instruments and we've just kind of been playing our own tune. And it's been pretty messy. It's been quite a racket. But now in Christ, we've been brought into this beautiful orchestra, this heavenly orchestra, in which we've been given the ability, this freedom, to follow God's direction, through the power of the Holy Spirit, who leads us.

Hit that note, get loud, get soft, do all these things, and it comes together as a, as a beautiful melody. We follow the direction of the Spirit, rather than our own way. And once again, here at the end of this passage, in verse 26. Paul is hammering the Galatians to please stop being conceited, provoking, and envying each other.

Each one of us has our own, you know, the Galatians had their issues, each of us have our own particular areas where we really need to work on.

Whatever we're dealing with isn't too big for God. It's not so powerful. It doesn't have any power that exceeds the power of the Holy Spirit. And if you've put your faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit has given you the ability to throw off those shackles and walk in the freedom that's been given.

Jesus doesn't just offer us deliverance from punishment. He offers us a new way of life. That's the complete picture of salvation. We can live like animals in the flesh. Ruled by lust and jealousy. Scratching and clawing one another. Or, we can go with Jesus Christ. Every human being does have the liberty to choose good or evil.

But we are captives. We are slaves to sin, always choosing evil and embracing broken patterns of living. Only in Jesus, only by the Spirit are we freed to walk in the goodness for which God created us. United with Jesus, the fruit of His life, His love, His joy, His patience. His kindness, His goodness, His faithfulness, His gentleness, His self control becomes our own.

By the Spirit, we become like Jesus. You can't become like Jesus independent from Him. It's only in Him that we become like Him. It's only in Him that we become who we are supposed to be. This transformation is not how we save ourselves. This transformation is the sign, the symptom of our salvation, the life of the spirit, our union with Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Dear Father, we thank you that in Jesus Christ, your Son we have been given new life, that we have been made free from the power of the flesh, so that we might walk by the power of the Holy Spirit. Father, we confess that we do still continue to struggle with the flesh. Father, we admit that we don't always turn to the power that's available to us to overcome sin in our lives.

So Father, we pray that we would do that. That we would walk in the Spirit. Because this is the fullness of the salvation that you've offered to us. That we would share in the love that you've given us. By loving you and loving others. And just walking in the joy of obedience, Father. That's what, that's what you've wanted for us.

So Father, transform our hearts so that, that would become the reality of our lives. And Father, I pray for anyone that is, just given over to sin, where there is no conflict.

That they would truly turn to Christ and put their faith in Him. So that they might know your forgiveness. And so that they might know this freedom. So that they may know this new life that you have offered to us. Which we can begin enjoying today. And will enjoy for all eternity. Help us to keep step with the Spirit, Father. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we continue our series through the Letter to the Galatians. It's our joy to welcome you into our community.

Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)