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[177.86 --> 180.02] and halfway houses and community leaders
[180.02 --> 182.52] to discern, okay, how does this person
[182.52 --> 184.36] who's now served X amount of years
[184.36 --> 185.66] at Kent Penitentiary,
[185.96 --> 187.24] and where are we going to place them?
[187.30 --> 188.18] How are they going to flourish?
[188.32 --> 189.92] What are the parameters they need
[189.92 --> 192.60] in order to live well back in society?
[193.66 --> 195.58] The question he had to ask
[195.58 --> 197.36] over and over again is,
[198.18 --> 199.32] what's the risk?
[199.86 --> 201.12] And perhaps even more deeply,
[201.62 --> 204.20] will this person who spent this many years
[204.20 --> 207.10] with prison guards and fences and bars,
[207.30 --> 209.18] will they actually change
[209.18 --> 210.54] and choose a life of freedom,
[210.54 --> 213.56] or will they go back to the old habits,
[214.16 --> 215.64] the old way of life,
[215.64 --> 216.78] and re-offend?
[216.90 --> 217.98] What will they do
[217.98 --> 219.68] with this new found freedom?
[221.88 --> 224.54] That's the question of Galatians 5.
[225.40 --> 226.50] There are these new people
[226.50 --> 227.46] who have come to the church,
[227.66 --> 229.02] they've got a harsh background,
[229.18 --> 229.62] many of them,
[229.68 --> 231.52] a tough growing up.
[231.74 --> 233.00] They've come to faith in Jesus,
[233.12 --> 234.06] they've been set free,
[234.32 --> 235.38] and now the question is,
[235.46 --> 236.32] what are they going to do
[236.32 --> 237.44] with this freedom?
[238.18 --> 239.40] Are they going to go back
[239.40 --> 240.84] to the old lifestyle they had,
[240.88 --> 241.72] are they going to fall back
[241.72 --> 242.58] into the old traps,
[242.64 --> 244.64] or will they finally flourish?
[244.64 --> 247.32] And if so, how?
[249.58 --> 250.42] Important background
[250.42 --> 251.68] to reading Galatians 5.
[252.28 --> 253.44] Up until this point,
[253.52 --> 254.50] as you've probably noticed,
[254.64 --> 256.18] Paul has been sort of in a debate
[256.18 --> 257.84] with these people called the Judaizers,
[258.20 --> 259.14] who have been saying
[259.14 --> 260.24] to the people in the churches,
[260.76 --> 261.58] this Paul guy,
[261.68 --> 263.40] he's not taking your faith serious enough,
[263.46 --> 265.32] he doesn't take the law serious enough,
[265.56 --> 267.12] you need to come under the law,
[267.22 --> 268.72] you need to take the law more seriously,
[268.84 --> 269.80] it needs to be at the center.
[270.58 --> 271.92] And one of their concerns,
[272.12 --> 273.96] I would say a legitimate concern,
[273.96 --> 274.90] was this,
[275.74 --> 277.06] you've got these new Christians
[277.06 --> 278.44] coming into the church,
[278.62 --> 280.40] they have a really rough background,
[280.60 --> 281.10] some of them,
[281.24 --> 282.36] as churches always do,
[282.80 --> 285.30] and how will they know how to live
[285.30 --> 287.20] if they don't have the law?
[287.30 --> 288.32] What's going to curb
[288.32 --> 289.76] the destructive desires,
[290.10 --> 292.14] their old habits from reappearing,
[292.24 --> 293.36] from them going back
[293.36 --> 294.56] to what they were before?
[295.56 --> 296.80] And you know what Paul's answer is?
[297.02 --> 297.90] So powerful.
[297.90 --> 298.54] Number one,
[299.42 --> 300.28] the old nature
[300.28 --> 301.86] has been crucified with Jesus.
[302.32 --> 303.18] I mean, that's what we celebrated
[303.18 --> 304.76] at Jebai's baptism last week.
[305.06 --> 305.84] The old nature
[305.84 --> 307.34] has been dealt with
[307.34 --> 308.32] through the work of Jesus,
[308.48 --> 309.18] but secondly,
[309.92 --> 311.98] what's going to curb their desires,
[312.28 --> 313.32] change their hearts,
[313.82 --> 315.00] shift their ambitions,
[315.00 --> 317.34] is the power of God
[317.34 --> 318.88] through the Holy Spirit.
[321.36 --> 322.82] I want us to notice,
[323.18 --> 324.84] before we move anywhere else
[324.84 --> 325.52] in this passage,
[325.52 --> 326.84] how Paul starts.
[326.96 --> 327.26] In fact,
[327.60 --> 328.76] he makes a repeated point
[328.76 --> 329.78] that I don't want us to miss,
[329.86 --> 330.34] and that is,
[330.94 --> 331.52] ultimately,
[331.84 --> 334.78] Christianity will always be about freedom.
[336.04 --> 338.00] Christianity is about freedom.
[338.96 --> 339.94] It gets misconstrued
[339.94 --> 340.72] in all sorts of ways.
[340.78 --> 341.52] If you watch Netflix
[341.52 --> 342.54] or whatever you watch,
[342.72 --> 343.36] you'll know that,
[343.48 --> 344.28] culturally speaking,