A. Our relationship with God is only through Jesus

1. It’s not by our works (2-4)

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

2. It’s not through someone else either (7-10,12) 

 7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

B. Gifts of Jesus for us

1. The Spirit and the faith (5)

 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

2. The freedom to love (13-15)

13 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. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

3. Was Paul’s way of life too free? (6,11, 1 Cor. 9:19-23)

 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

1Corinthians 9:19-23 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Summary

To believe and live for Jesus means that we make the purpose of our life to love. This is not a romantic idealism, but rather it means we do our best in our everyday life to realize God’s love. We may be not understood or misunderstood by others. Yet, it is the most free way of life if we don’t fear to be changed and can love others and this world in the way that Jesus sacrificed himself to love us.

For Discussion

1) How can we be free by loving others?
2) How can we sacrifice ourselves to love others as Jesus did?