ANG ATING PAGKATAWAG
BILANG KRISTIYANO, AT ANG
KAHULOGAN NITO SA ATIN
Text: Galacia 5:13-17
Delivered at LCC church, August 29, 2010.
Delivered at Tarlac church, December 12,
2010.
Galacia 5:13-17
Mga kapatid, tinawag kayo
upang maging malaya. Ngunit
huwag ninyong gamitin ang
inyong kalayaan upang masunod
ang pita ng laman, kundi
maglingkod kayo sa isa’t isa
dahil sa pag-ibig.
 13
Sapagkat ang buong
Kautosan ay nauuwi sa isang
pangungusap, ‘Ibigin mo ang
iyong kapwa gaya ng iyong
sarili.’
 14
Ngunit kung kayo-kayo’y
magkakagatan at
magsasakmalang parang mga
hayop, mauubos kayo.
 15
Ito ang sinasabi ko sa inyo:
Ang Espiritu ang gawin ninyong
patnubay sa inyong buhay at
huwag ninyong sundin ang pita
ng laman.
 16
Sapagkat ang mga pita ng
laman ay laban sa mga ninasa ng
Espiritu, at ang mga ninanasa ng
Espiritu ay laban sa mga pita ng
laman. Magkalaban ang
dalawang ito, kaya hindi ninyo
magawa ang ibig ninyong gawin.
 17
OUTLINE
 PAGKATAWAG.
“Tinawag kayo
upang maging malaya” (4:13a).
 PAGLILINGKOD.
“Paglilingkoran
nyo ang bawat isa dahil sa pag-ibig”
(4:13b).
 PAGTUTUPAD.
“Ang buong
Kautosan ay nauuwi sa isang
pangungusap, Ibigin mo ang iyong
kapwa gaya ng iyong sarili” (4:14a).
 PAGLALAKAD.
“Lumakad kayo na
napasa-ilalim ng pagpapatnubay ng
Espiritu” (4:16a).
Una, ANG PAGKATAWAG SA
ATIN.
“Mga kapatid, tinawag kayo upang
maging malaya” (5:13a).
 Ang pagkatawag na ito ay ginawa ng
Diyos noong tayo’y makasalanan pa.
 Sabi ni Pablo, “Tinawag kayo alang sa
kalayaan.”
 Ano ba ang kahulogan ng kalayaan sa
inyo?

Sa iba, ito ay kalayaan sa pagkakautang.
Bakit? Dahil may nagbayad na ng utang
mo sa bahay!
 Dahil may nagbayad na ng utang mo sa
ibang tao!
 Dahil may nagbayad na sa matrikula ng
iyong mga anak!
 Dahil may nagbayad na sa iyong
operasyon!

Sa isang estudyante, ang exemption sa final
exam means freedom from exam worries!
 Sa isang bata, ang suporta ng isang ama ay
kaligtasan sa gutom!
 Sa isang amang bumubuhay ng malaking
pamilya, ang isang negosyo o dagdag na
trabaho ay kalayaan sa problema sa
naglalakihang gastos ng pagsusuporta sa
kanyang pamilya.

Sabi ni Pablo, “Tinawag kayo upang maging
malaya.” Maging malaya sa ano? Base sa
konteksto ng aklat ng Galacia, ito ay kalayaan sa
Kautosan. Anong Kautosan?
 Ang kautosan na nag-oobliga sa atin upang
mag-alay ng alay na hayop taon-taon para sa
ating kasalanan.
 Ang Kautosan na nag-oobliga sa atin upang
gumawa ng pilgrimage sa Jerusalem taon-taon,
sumakay sa eroplano, bumili ng alay na hayop,
gumastos ng malaki upang tubusin ang ating
sarili sa kasalanan.

Freedom from the law means freedom
from observing a ritual that could not
save. The blood of bulls and of goats
could not take away sin (Heb. 9:12-13).
 Paul says in Galatians that the law could
not justify (3:11), that those under the
law needed redemption (4:5).
 He says that we are not the children of
the bondwoman but of the free (4:31).

The Galatians had been taught by false teachers
to be subject to that law again.
 Paul said no! They were now free from that law!
 True Christians were thus not in subjection to
the law of Moses, or the Ten Commandments.
They were free---free from the servitude of sin,
free from subjection to expensive and
burdensome rites and customs.

Second, THE SERVING.

“Only do not use your freedom as an
opportunity for the flesh” (5:13b).
Paul says, “You are free but do not use
that freedom as an occasion for the flesh.”
 The Greek word “aphorme” means “a
starting point” for doing a thing, “an
occasion” for doing it.
 Don’t use that freedom as an opportunity
to indulge in your fleshly desires.

 Christians
are called to liberty, but not
liberty to fulfill their fleshly wants.
 Christians are free, but it is not freedom
from virtuous restraints from God’s
eternal principles.
 It is not freedom from the necessary
restraints of virtue.
Rather it is liberty from serving sin,
because from now on you are not under
obligation to serve sin.
 It is freedom from expensive and
burdensome religious rites and
ceremonies.
 It is freedom that allows you to keep on
doing good.


“But by love be slaves to one
another” (5:13c).
Another reading says: “By love be
servants to one another.”
 This is an admonition to become slaves of
one another and the instrument or basis
for such an action is love.

The meaning is that we must strive to
promote each other's welfare by the
proper manifestation of love one to
another.
 Doing this act is not inconsistent with the
freedom the gospel brings.
 “When there is love, duty is pleasant, and
doing all acts of kindness is agreeable.”


Hear the story of Fernando, who
supported his friend Ferdinand’s family
until his friend was released from prison
ten years after. He had six mouths to feed
from his friend’s family, plus seven of his
own! This true love!

But hear the story of Fermin, who also
supported three of his friend Doro’s family
when Doro went to prison for killing an
American. Fermin was single. When Doro
came back from prison, he would not take
back his wife Dora, because Dora had
become Fermin’s wife! This is not love but
sexual opportunism!
Christians are to serve one another like
slaves. This means you serve him or her
and he or she serves you too.
 The manner of serving is that of pleasing
one’s master, to avoid displeasing one
another, and to repay each other’s
kindness.

Thirdly, THE FULFILLING of the
law.

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one
word, ‘You shall love your neighbor
as yourself” (5:14)
It means that, by fulfilling the law of love,
you are expressing through your action
the substance of the whole law.
 That loving action that you do embraces
and comprises all intents and purposes of
the law.

The apostle Paul here is saying that the law of
love would counteract all the evil workings of the
flesh; and, if this law were fulfilled, all our duty
to others would be discharged.
 If you love your neighbor, you would not sleep
with his wife, for this will hurt him and his
marriage.
 If you love your neighbor, you will not steal his
property for this will leave him and his children
destitute.




If you love your neighbor, you will not gossip
about him for this will destroy his reputation.
If you love your neighbor, you will not force
him to give if he does not have the ability to
do so, and anathematize him if he does not
give.
Masarap pa rin ang kapeng kusang ibinigay,
kaysa kapeng sadyang piniga mula sa wallet!

“But if you bite and devour one another
take heed that you are not consumed by
one another” (5:15).
Paul uses the word “bite” here, and it means
properly to bite or to sting.
 In the context, it is here used in the sense of
contending and striving--a metaphor probably
taken from dogs and wild beasts.
 We bite one another by gossiping about each
other. If we do so, we are like dogs!

“And if you devour one another. As
wild beasts do. The sense is, "if you
contend with each other."
 The reference is, probably, to the strifes
which would arise between the two parties
in the churches-the Jewish and the Gentile
converts.”
 If we contend with each other, we are
devouring one another like wild beasts do!

“Take heed that ye be not consumed,
etc. As wild beasts contend sometimes
until both are slain.
 Thus the idea is:
 In their contentions they would destroy
the spirituality and happiness of each
other.
 Their characters would be ruined.
 And the church would be overthrown!


“The readiest way to destroy the
spirituality of a church, and to annihilate
the influence of religion, is to excite a
spirit of contention” (Barnes' Notes on the
New Testament).
When we gossip and argue with each
other, when we slander and libel each
other, when we backbite each other, we
too will consume each other!
 The way to treat a person who hurts us is
to ignore him, not to answer him, but to
pray for him, and to forgive him.

A Story About Forgiveness
Diabolico and Bonito were walking in a forest.
They were arguing. Suddenly Diabolico picked
up a stone and hit Bonito on the head. Bonito
just looked at his friend, wiped his bloodied face,
and wrote his friend’s sin on the sand.
 They kept on walking. Then Diabolico fell into a
quagmire and shouted for help. Bonito stretched
out his hand and slowly, inch by inch, pulled his
friend.
 Diabolico sat down, scraped the mud on his face
and asked: “Why are you doing all this?”

Bonito said: “I wrote your sin on the sand
because I know the winds will blow it away. If I
wrote it on stone, I might often remember it.
Some years ago I stabbed a man and as he lay
dying there he wrote my sin on the pool of his
blood. And before he breathed his last, he
hugged me.”
 Bonito paused for a moment: “I pulled you out
because I have forgiven you. I pardoned your
little sin because someone pardoned me for my
big sin.”

A LETTER
Dear Ed,
 I am bowled over by your offer. Stunned. The
reason it took me so long to reply is I do not
know what to say. You did something I
never expected in a million years. No one here
in the Philippines has ever displayed such
kindness and generosity to me…
 Your offer is just amazing and I want to thank
you for that. You changed my heart about you
in one instant.


I'm not worthy of your generosity,
brother. Maybe you believe like I do, that
Christian education is important for our
young people. I sense that you do believe
that wholeheartedly and is the only reason
I can think of that you want to do this free
of charge, and because you love the
Lord. I can only say "THANK YOU,
BROTHER."

Once again, I apologize for my shortcomings as
a leader and manager. Thank you for
overlooking them and wishing to continue your
help to us without pay, like the Apostle
Paul preaching the Gospel "without charge." I
know that what you do, you will do it as unto
the Lord. I know your abilities, without question
you will do a wonderful job. May God bless you,
brother. Thank you again.
Lastly, YOUR WALKING in the
Spirit as you go through life.
 “But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and do not gratify the desires of
the flesh” (5:16).

“Walk. The Christian life is often
represented as a journey; and the word
walk, in the Scripture, is often equivalent
to live.” Thus, to walk by the Spirit is to
live by what the Spirit dictates.
 This
means living under the
influences of the Holy Spirit,
 admitting those influences fully into
your hearts,
 not resisting him,
 but yielding to all his suggestions as
found in the Word of God.
If a man would yield his heart to those
influences, he would be able to overcome
all his evil propensities.
 If he resists that Spirit, he is overcome by
the corrupt passions of his nature.
 There was never was a better, safer, or a
more easy rule given to us to overcome
our corrupt and sensual desires than that
here furnished by Paul in Galatians!

He who is being led by the Spirit produces
fruit the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23).

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
This means sacrificial love for God and for
man; the kind of love that holds the object
of its love in high esteem and admiration.
 The love that is expressed to the unlovely,
the unloved and the unloving, seeking the
best for them (Rogers & Rogers, 431).

 “The
fruit of the Spirit is… joy”
is referring to joy that is grounded
on a right relationship with God (Rogers
& Rogers, 431).
 This
 “The
fruit of the Spirit is…
peace”
here is referring to the wholeness
of soul which issues in a tranquil
disposition regardless of the outward
circumstances of life (Rogers & Rogers,
431).
 Peace
 “The
fruit of the Spirit is…
longsuffering”
 “Longsuffering”
describes the
response of Christians towards
circumstances and events, his patient
endurance under injuries inflicted by
others (Rogers & Rogers, 431).
 “The
fruit of the Spirit… is
gentleness”
 This is referring to one’s kindly
disposition, goodness, and concern
toward his neighbors; a kindness
that expresses itself in sympathy
toward others (Rogers & Rogers,
431).
 “The
fruit of the Spirit is …
goodness”
 It refers to a generosity that springs
from the heart that is kind and will
always take care to obtain for others
that which is useful and beneficial
(Rogers & Rogers, 431).
 “The
fruit of the Spirit … is
faith.”
 This
means faithfulness, reliability,
loyalty to God and to His word (Vine’s).
 “The
fruit of the Spirit is …
meekness.”
 Meekness
is referring to gentle
submissiveness, controlled strength, the
ability to bear reproaches and slights
without bitterness and resentment
(Rogers & Rogers, 431).
 “The
fruit of the Spirit is …
temperance.”
 Temperance is self-control, selfrestraint or the holding of passions
and appetites under control (Rogers
& Rogers, 432).
IN CONCLUSION
Calling. Remember that you have been
called to be free.
 Don’t be slaves to the law, to the
doctrines of men, to the rites and
ordinances that replace God’s law, God’s
doctrine, God’s ordinance.

Serving. Christians are to serve one
another as they also serve God. Serving
here means becoming a slave.
 We are to honor and please one another.
Let us avoid displeasing one another.
 There is no master among us; only Jesus
is our Master. When we please one
another, we also please Jesus.

Fulfilling. By loving one another, and
becoming slaves to one another, we are
fulfilling the true intents of the law.
 We fulfill that law when we offer even a
glass of water to the man who is thirsty or
a piece of bread to the hungry boy.

Illustration
There was that little boy I saw at Avenida Veteranos in
Tacloban City early one morning one month ago. His two
hands were outstretched, his arms so thin like he had
not eaten for many days. “Where is your father?” I
asked.
 “He went to Manila.” “Looking for a job?” I ventured.
 “No, he left my mother.”
 “I won’t give you money,” I said. “What I have is enough
for my gasoline.”
 “Just one piece of bread.” His eyes were focused on the
Dunkins I had just bought.
 “Thank you so much, Sir.” His voice was weak but the
two donuts I gave him vanished in a wink. He was really
hungry!

Walking. Our walking should be characterized
by the walk of one who is being led by the
Spirit.
 Our acts must express the spirituality created in
our souls and minds by the Spirit who lives in
us.
 We walk by faith and not by sight. We walk by
thinking about the rewards we will receive from
God in the future, not the benefits we will reap
from men today.


THANK YOU SO MUCH!