Thomas J Parlette
Guided by the Spirit”
Gal. 5:1, 13-25
06/29/25
I remember when I was in Seminary, the President of Princeton Theological Seminary was a man named Tom Gillespie. He was a former pastor who also enjoyed teaching a course now and again in addition to his administrative duties as President. I remember one of the courses he taught was on Galatians. The title was something along the lines of “Galatians: Paul’s Gospel of Freedom” – or something like that.
Of course, Galatians is not a Gospel, it’s a letter – a letter to the churches in what is now central Turkey. Paul was staying with one of the churches in the area because he was suffering from an illness or an injury of some kind. And while he was there, these other preachers came through town – Paul calls them “agitators, or troublemakers” – apparently teaching that Jewish laws, traditions and customs were still in effect.
We don’t really know who these agitators were, but the best theories revolve around them being Jewish-Christians, probably from Jerusalem, who were supporting the teachings of James that the Jewish ceremonial laws, including circumcision, were still needed to be obeyed by converts to Christianity. (1)
This infuriated Paul. In his opinion, in Christ, we are set free from bondage, or slavery as he sometimes put it, to the Law – including all the customs and ceremonies that went with it. Instead, we now live in a state of grace, brought to us by our faith in Christ – not adherence or bondage to the Law. So, Paul wrote this rather intense, emotional letter to the churches in the area refuting what these agitators were teaching. In Paul’s opening sentence of our passage today, he lays out a very important theme of Galatians – “For freedom, Christ has set us free.” He goes on to refer to “freedom” two more times in verse 13 – four times in all. No wonder my former Seminary Professor Dr. Gillespie titled his course “Galatians: Paul’s Gospel of Freedom.” It’s a good title, for freedom is a major theme in this letter.
“For freedom, Christ has set us free.”
When we hear that word freedom, we usually think in terms of being able to do whatever we want. We point to our freedom of speech as the right to say whatever we want, even if our words are hurtful or demeaning or encourage violence. We think of our constitutional right to bear arms as the freedom to own operate whatever kinds of weapons we want, whether they’re designed for sporting use or military use. Or, there’s not segment of the population that would like to exercise their freedom by living off the grid, free from government influence or corporate domination.
I sometimes worry about this phrase from Galatians. I worry that the Christian Nationalist movement will co-opt what Paul says here and turn it into justification for violence. When Paul says, “For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…” If you were to lift just those two sentences out of what Paul says here, you could justify all sorts of behavior as “standing firm and refusing the yoke of slavery.”
But that is not the kind of freedom Paul is talking about here. In fact, Paul gives a pretty clear warning about the kind freedom he is talking about. He says, “… do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence.” In other words, the kind of freedom Christ gives us is not so we can do whatever we want or cut ourselves off from any kind of relationship by living off the grid of society.
So, for Paul, it boils down to a simple “either – or” choice You can use your freedom to live according to the desires of the flesh – or you can use your freedom to be guided by the Spirit. It’s one or the other.
I’ve never been a big fan of Bob Dylan. I will admit that he has written so pretty good songs – but I just don’t like to listen to him singing them. His voice just doesn’t do it for me. But one of his songs, called, “Gotta serve somebody,” fits well with what Paul says to us today. In part, the lyrics say:
“You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you may like to dance
You may the heavyweight champion of the world
You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” (2)
“Live by the Spirit,” says Paul, “and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” You gotta serve somebody – it may be the Spirit, it may be the Flesh, but you gotta serve somebody. The choice is yours.
Paul includes a long list of what you’re going to run into if you choose to be guided by the flesh – meaningless sex, impurity, putting other things ahead of God, living a life guided by anger, revenge and jealousy, dominated by quarrels, dissensions and factions. Paul is clear, “I’ve warned you before, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
But if you choose to live guided by the Spirit, you receive the gifts of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
There are some preachers that like to try and group these gifts into triads. Some say love, joy and peace deal with our relationship with God. Patience, goodness, and kindness speak to our connection with others. And faithfulness, gentleness and self-control address issues in our own character.
Others disagree and say that the first triad is about self, the second about others and the third is about God. (3)
It’s an interesting way to think about the gifts of the Spirit, but I prefer to look at Paul’s list as gifts that the Spirit bestows upon us so they can be applied to all our relationships in life.
The freedom that Paul speaks about is the freedom we have to choose the gifts of the spirit over the desires of the flesh.
Some of the greatest spiritual thinkers of our time agree.
Peter Marshall, the Presbyterian minister who was once the chaplain to the US Senate, once said: “May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” (4)
Nelson Mandela puts it this way: “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” (5)
And finally, Pope John Paul II said: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” (6)
Paul would agree with them all – “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
For freedom, Christ has set us free – so we may choose to be guided by the Spirit and live our lives guided by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
In the early years of our nation’s history, a young man was ready to start out on his life’s work. He went to an old family friend – a canal boat captain – to ask his advice about what he should do with his life.
The captain responded with a question, “What do you know how to do?”
The young man had experience working in his father’s trade of making soap and candles.
“Then do that, and do it well,” the captain said, “but do one other thing. Take the Lord into partnership with you. Give God at least 1/10 of what you make – and know that it’s God who is in charge of the partnership – not you.”
The young man, named William Colgate, took this advice to heart. He took an apprenticeship at a rival soap-making plant and learned the in’s and out’s of the business. Specifically, he took notice of how he would improve the process of making soaps and candles.
In 1806, he started his own business in New York City. His little storefront eventually grew into the Colgate-Palmolive Corporation. (7)
Now, at this point William Colgate was making millions. He joined the great industrialists and bankers of the day like Carnegie and Rockefeller and Vanderbilt. He could have exercised the freedom that great wealth brings. He could have done anything he wanted.
But William Colgate was a deeply religious man. He had always followed that canal boat captain’s advice about tithing and living in partnership with God. He made the choice to be guided by the Spirit. He became a philanthropist and lived his life guided by the gifts of the Spirit, especially love, generosity, kindness and faithfulness. He would go on to become one of the founders of the American Bible Society, and Colgate University was named for him.
For freedom, Christ has set us free. We are freed from slavery or bondage to the Law so we can make the choice to be guided by the Spirit and receive the fruits of the Spirit.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Charles Cousar, Galatians, Interpretation Series, John Knox Press, 1982, p 4-5.
2. Bob Dylan. “Gotta Serve Somebody,” Musixmatch.com.
3. Homileticsonline.com, retrieved 6/24/25
4. www.brainyquotes.com, retrieved 6/23/25.
5. Ibid…
6. Ibid…
7. Homileticsonline.com, retrieved 6/25/25
