Galatians 5:7-15 Legalists  CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Legalists are people who try to suffocate your faith with rules.  They try to get you back under the law.  They try to get control of your liberty by making you do what they say, the way they say it.  They are trouble makers and a hindrance (v. 7) to you and your church.  Why?  Because they:

1. Cause you to disobey the Word (v. 7)
   1. Gal 2:14, obey
   2. Rom 6:17-18
2. Persuade you against Christ (v.8)
   1. Goal to get you to Christ.  When they set up the law, they set up themselves as the enforcers of the law.  They, therefore, put themselves between you and Christ. You can’t serve two masters so you end up serving them.
   2. Jn 9
3. Leaven the Church (v. 9)
   1. Matt 16:6-12
   2. Doctrine of Pharisees
   3. What are some of the things they do?  They: Love praise of men, Jn 12:43; Become Hypocrites – can’t keep the law they profess to obey, Jn 7:19; Judge based on appearances, Jn 7:24; Seek honor from men, not from God, Jn 5:44 – Under the Law you have to do right – Under Love you want to do right
4. Persecute men who preach the truth (v. 4)
   1. Acts 14:19; 13:45; 14:2; 17:4-5
   2. To scare them, and keep others in bondage
   3. This persecution is coming again in Tribulation
5. Destroy your liberty (v. 13)
   1. Christ made you free
   2. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty
   3. They don’t want you to have that. They want you under them.
   4. If you have liberty, they can’t control you
6. Hinder your love (v. 13b-14)
   1. It wasn’t the law that drove Jesus to the cross, it was love
   2. The fruit of our salvation is not conformity to the law, but to Jesus – God is love
   3. Jesus said that they will know you are my disciples by love
   4. When you Love someone you do nothing to hurt them and everything to please them (you serve them), and there is no law that can make that happen.
   5. Legislation is a notch down – you do it because you have to not because you love to
7. Sow discord in the church (v. 15)
   1. Start comparing yourself not only to the law but also to those who don’t keep it as well as you think you do
   2. Result: strife, envy, bickering, evil speaking, and backbiting – did you see so and so..?
8. Conclusion
   1. They shall be cut off, shelved (v. 12)
   2. They will be judged, Judgment Seat of Christ (v. 10b)