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[344.40 --> 345.44] Christianity gets stereotyped
[345.44 --> 346.50] in many different ways.
[346.74 --> 347.62] It gets mocked
[347.62 --> 348.46] in many different ways,
[348.56 --> 349.72] sort of the Ned Flanders,
[349.98 --> 350.30] you know,
[350.90 --> 351.78] if that's an old reference
[351.78 --> 353.28] for some of us Simpsons watchers.
[354.46 --> 355.50] But Christianity is about
[355.50 --> 355.84] freedom.
[356.04 --> 356.72] And I want to read
[356.72 --> 358.24] verse 1 and verse 13
[358.24 --> 360.10] because Paul repeats this point.
[360.68 --> 361.84] He says in verse 1,
[363.18 --> 364.38] it is for freedom
[364.38 --> 366.98] that Christ has set us free.
[367.16 --> 367.90] Verse 13,
[368.38 --> 369.60] you, my brothers and sisters,
[369.72 --> 371.60] were called to be free.
[372.94 --> 374.04] And here's my conviction.
[375.00 --> 376.74] We're here because we believe that.
[377.38 --> 378.32] Or we're here because
[378.32 --> 379.62] we're trying to explore that.
[379.80 --> 381.10] The reason we go to church,
[381.20 --> 382.36] the reason we want to read the Bible
[382.36 --> 383.64] is because we have some sense
[383.64 --> 384.88] of a life we're living
[384.88 --> 385.92] that is not free.
[386.22 --> 387.28] And we have some sense
[387.28 --> 388.70] of what Jesus has on offer
[388.70 --> 389.52] for His world
[389.52 --> 391.56] is going to bring life.
[392.24 --> 393.22] It's going to bring freedom.
[393.76 --> 394.68] That's why we're here.
[397.48 --> 398.74] Now, there are two things
[398.74 --> 399.54] that we're going to look at
[399.54 --> 400.62] this morning in this passage.
[400.74 --> 401.62] The first is this.
[402.32 --> 403.58] Paul defines freedom
[403.58 --> 405.08] in a very important way.
[406.06 --> 406.88] Freedom is not to do
[406.88 --> 407.44] what you want.
[407.44 --> 408.74] Freedom is to serve
[408.74 --> 410.72] and love and humility.
[411.52 --> 412.06] But secondly,
[412.24 --> 413.38] perhaps even more important,
[413.64 --> 414.86] if we want to be free
[414.86 --> 416.28] and if we want to live free,
[416.36 --> 417.66] the only way we can do it
[417.66 --> 418.24] is through the work
[418.24 --> 418.98] of the Holy Spirit.
[419.12 --> 420.34] This will not come from within us.
[420.56 --> 421.96] It does not come natural to us.
[422.16 --> 423.24] It is a work from without.
[423.40 --> 424.82] It's a work from the power of God
[424.82 --> 425.58] by His Spirit.
[426.34 --> 427.50] So let me read for us again
[427.50 --> 428.72] verse 13 and following,
[429.26 --> 431.04] and we'll get into this logic
[431.04 --> 431.62] of freedom
[431.62 --> 432.84] and how we find it.
[433.64 --> 434.22] He writes,
[434.22 --> 436.02] You, my brothers and sisters,
[436.02 --> 437.50] were called to be free,
[438.20 --> 439.86] but do not use your freedom
[439.86 --> 441.44] to indulge the flesh.
[442.14 --> 443.74] Rather, serve one another
[443.74 --> 445.92] humbly in love.
[446.50 --> 447.12] For the whole,
[447.34 --> 448.22] I'll just continue here,
[448.26 --> 449.30] for the entire law
[449.30 --> 450.42] is fulfilled
[450.42 --> 451.68] in keeping this one command,
[452.24 --> 454.12] love your neighbor as yourself.
[455.14 --> 456.64] But you hear the exhortation, right?
[457.14 --> 458.34] You're free now, church.
[458.92 --> 460.30] Don't use your freedom
[460.30 --> 462.92] to go back to the old sinful nature.
[462.92 --> 464.52] Don't use it to indulge
[464.52 --> 465.38] the old lifestyle
[465.38 --> 467.66] that you got rescued from.
[468.90 --> 469.74] And part of the challenge
[469.74 --> 470.56] with this word freedom
[470.56 --> 472.22] is how we understand it.
[472.24 --> 472.98] And I would say then,
[473.08 --> 474.08] both then and now,
[474.50 --> 475.96] people confuse and misunderstand
[475.96 --> 478.12] and misdefine
[478.12 --> 479.02] what freedom is.
[479.94 --> 480.70] You know, it's attached
[480.70 --> 481.50] to many movements,
[481.94 --> 482.74] many court cases,
[482.92 --> 483.58] many protests.
[483.74 --> 484.72] We all want freedom,
[484.96 --> 486.06] but we don't know what it is.
[486.50 --> 487.58] Let me ask you this question.
[488.34 --> 489.70] If you had to define it,
[490.18 --> 491.36] what would you say freedom is?
[491.84 --> 492.90] Someone sort of elbowed you,
[492.92 --> 493.46] at work,