When God frees you from guilt, fear, greed, and fills you with the all-satisfying presence of himself,

there's only one motive left.

The joy of sharing your fullness or love.

A lot of people will talk about being free from something, free from guilt, free from fear,

free from all kinds of things.

And that matters.

It really does.

But the question that must follow it is, what are we actually free for?

I'm Dan Kruver.

In this episode of Light and Truth, John Piper presses into Galatians 5 to show that when God fills us with himself, he frees us to give ourselves away in love.

This message was originally delivered at Bethlehem Baptist Church on June 12, 1983.

The logic of these verses is very simple.

Paul begins in verse 13 with laying the foundation of the Christian life.

You were called to freedom, brothers.

The call of God is the foundation of the Christian life. He goes to work,

he does the calling, and that into which he has called us is freedom. Now, on that foundation, he draws out two imperatives, one negative, one positive. Negatively, do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.

Positively, instead, through love, serve one another.

Then, as an inducement and incentive to take that way of life really seriously,

he gives a positive and a negative support

in verses 14 and 15. Positively, he says, live like that because the whole law is fulfilled in one

word, namely love your neighbor as yourself. You fulfill the law.

Fulfill the law when you love.

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