Life in the Spirit

Tis morning we begin a new series of sermons. In the coming weeks we are going to consider the fruit of the Spirit. I thought it necessary to introduce this series of sermons with an introduction. Baptists are often confused when it comes to the Holy Spirit so the purpose of this message is to explain to you how the Holy Spirit operates.

Illustration: When I was saved, I began visiting a lot of charismatic churches. I came to believe that being filled with the Spirit meant:

Taking a lap around the church

Speaking in an unknown tongue

Violently jerking

Passing out on the floor

Laughing uncontrollably

From studying Scripture, I came to understand the purpose of the Spirit is to empower us to live a life of victory over sin. That is the point Paul makes in this text. We’re going to see three things that will be true if we possess life in the Spirit.

1. If we possess life in the Spirit our flesh will be crucified (24).

A. We will die to the flesh deliberately.

“crucified themselves”- intentional, personal

When did the Spirit of Christ come into this world?

After His crucifixion.

He promised to send the Spirit after He was crucified.

When will the Spirit of God come into your life? After you are crucified with Christ. The phrase “crucified with Christ” means to be saved.

Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live...

The proof that you belong to Christ is the Spirit of God in your life.

Romans 8:9 says :

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Charles Spurgeon said A crucified Christ is the leader of a crucified people.

The Spirit of God led you to an altar of repentance.

The Spirit of God lead you to the crucified Christ.

The Spirit of God led you to confess Jesus is Lord.

You saw the value of Christ and said:

I will identify with him!

The Spirit of God working with your own will, led you to deliberately die to an old way of life.

B. We will die to the sinful passions & desires of our flesh.

The flesh is the part of us that is weak. It is easily convinced to sin.

We all battle with sinful passions and desires. When you got saved you crucified those passions and desires.

What does that mean?

It means you put them to death.

You might ask “Why am I still tempted then?”

Those who are crucified often die slowly. You nailed your sin to the cross and it is slowly dying there. Note:

Crucified people cannot do as much as they once could. When you get saved you aren’t perfect, but you can’t do what you once could.

I can’t talk the way I once could folks.

I can’t look at things I once could.

I can’t treat people the way I once could.

The Spirit of God has greatly limited my desire to sin.

Our sinful desires should be like a crucified person, getting closer and closer to complete death.

Have you crucified your sinful desires? Have you nailed your sinful desires to a cross?

Salvation is a separation from your sins.

C. We will die daily.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Romans 5:11 says consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Every day the flesh tries to resurrect the old me.

Every day I have to die again.

We can’t do this in our own power. The Spirit of God gives us the power to live for the Lord.

The Spirit who gives us the power to overcome the flesh. But the Spirt has also made us the executioner of our own flesh.

We can’t listen to its pleas.

We can’t pity it.

Every day we must crucify our old selves.

We cannot live life in Spirit without crucifying the flesh.

2. If we possess life in the Spirit sin will be identified (19-21).

A. The works of the flesh are easily identified.

“evident”

Before he talks about the fruit of the Spirit he talks about the fruit of the flesh. It’s important to note he is saying one person is lost and the other is saved. He’s saying it’s not too hard to tell if a person is saved or not. You just look at their life.

He's the Holy Spirit. Holy. He hates sin. He battles sin. He identifies sin.

Here is how you know the Holy Spirit lives in you: He is constantly pointing out what is sinful.

Let’s look at the list.

Sexual immorality- Generic word meaning all types of sexual things like fornication, adultery

Impurity- general word for sexual sin

Sensuality- unbridled sexual indulgence

Idolatry-worship of a false god.

Sorcery- witchcraft

Enmity- hatred

Strife- constant conflict

Jealousy- resentment and a desire for others to suffer

Fits of anger- people who yell, cuss and abuse others verbally or physically

Rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy- These are people who argue and cause problems in relationships.

Drunkenness

Orgies- common among Romans and Greeks

He doesn’t list every sin. Notice verse 21 “those who do such things”. Things like this. But everything he lists is sin. It has no place in the life of a believer.

We don’t like to get specific about sin. The Spirit of God does. There are several sin lists like this one in the New Testament.

B. Those who practice sins like these should not be deceived into thinking they are saved.

Look at verse 21. Paul says I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, these folks aren’t going to heaven.

Thew point of these passages is to show us the proof that the Holy Spirit lives in us. Fruit means proof.

Before we see the fruit of The Spirit Paul shows us the proof a person is not saved. This is the fruit of the flesh, an unredeemed person.

And he says it’s a no brainer (evident) (19).

If the Spirit lives in, you He will identify sin in your life.

He will convict you.

He will grieve you.

He will burden you.

You won’t try and justify it.

The Spirit of God is like a flood light in your soul. When you are saved you see things you never saw. He shows you your sin. A room with no electricity is always clean. Once the lights are turned on you can see how dirty it is.

Has the Spirit of God led you to the cross?

Has the Spirit of God led you to break a deliberate break from your sin?

If He has then you can move on to the next point.

3. If we possess life in the Spirit the Spirit will be our Guide (16-18).

A. Life in the Spirit explained.

Look at verse 19. Paul says there are two options for the Galatians:

Under the law

Led by the Spirit

What does it mean to be under the Law?

Trying to be justified by keeping the OT Law.

You are condemned.

You are powerless against sin.

The Law was given to make the people despair. It was to show them their sin and point them to Christ.

There aren’t many unsaved people in our culture trying to keep the OT Law. But there are many who are seeking to be made righteous by some standard they look to.

Maybe it is another religion.

Maybe it is morality.

Maybe it is acts of charity.

Maybe it is social justice.

Maybe it is acts of service.

There is no law, no system that will make you righteous or enable you to have the power to live for God.

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit?

It means that the Holy Spirit has come to live inside of you.

He makes you holy. He removes the works of the flesh and replaces them with the fruit of the Spirit.

Salvation is not “I’m going to start trying to be good.” Salvation is the impartation of a new nature. How does that happen? You are given the Holy Spirit of God.

What are the results?

When the Holy Spirit of God comes into your life obedience to God is joyful.

When the Holy Spirit comes into your life you receive the very power of God.

He is more powerful than anything else in your life. He is the dominant force in your life.

When you wake up He will say “Trust Christ!’

When you get up He will say “Follow Christ!”

When you mess up He will say “Get right with Christ.”

Life in the Spirit means the Spirit of God lives inside of you.

B. Life in the Spirit experienced.

Back up to verse 16.

The saved person still has “desires of the flesh”.

These are temptations to sin.

It says the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh (17).

There is a war going on inside every Christian.

It says the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to one another (17).

The flesh is the sinful desire that we will battle until we meet the Lord.

God has ordained it this way. In the same way He ordained Israel fight battles before they reached the Promised Land, God has ordained that we battle the flesh until we reach heaven. He has a purpose in it.

When you seek to live for God the flesh will revolt against the Holy Spirit.

When you seek to live in the flesh the Spirit will revolt against the flesh.

How do we live in victory?

Paul tells us:

Walk by the Spirit (16)

Be led by the Spirit (18)

1) To be led by the Spirit we must refuse to be led by the flesh.

You can’t be led by the flesh & the Spirit at the same time. If we are living in sin, we are not walking by the Spirit.

Some people think they can be spiritual people while living carnal lives.

Make your mind up. Are you going to live in sin or in the Spirit? Am I going to let my sinful desires control me or the Spirit of God?

2) To be led by the Spirit means we are progressing in our walk with God.

It doesn’t say sit in the Spirit. It says walk. When you are walking you are getting somewhere. You’re moving from one place to the other.

Remember the flesh is always pulling you back.

Illustration: Fishing I go upriver. Against the current That way I can float back if I need to. The current will pull me back to where I started from.

The Christian life is like going upriver. If you stop the desires of the flesh will pull you back to where you began.

We must walk in the Spirit. We must make progress in the Spirit.

How do we do that?

We obey God.

We resist the flesh.

Being led by The Spirit means more than the Spirit saved you. It means the Spirit is sanctifying you.

What is the evidence of faith? What is the proof that we really believe God?

Obedience. How does sanctification occur?

Obedience.

Therefore, sanctification is the proof of our salvation. It’s proof the Spirit of God lives in us.

Sanctification is revealed by character.

Do you know what precedes this section. Look at verse 15.

“But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

It was fussing and fighting in the church.

It was believers taking bites out of one another.

They were being led by the flesh.

Sanctification certainly involves learning what the Bible says. But learning what the Bible says doesn’t mean you are being sanctified. Doing what the Bible says is sanctification. Living like Jesus is sanctification.

The Spirit led life is one of intent. Do you want to live for Christ? If you do, you can. Through the power of the Holy Spirit you can live for Jesus.

Know this, your sanctification depends on the Holy Spirit. You must possess Him and He must possess you.

Jesus promised that all who believe in Him would receive the Spirit. In John 16 He said the Spirit would:

Convict us of sin

Guide us into all truth

Are you being convicted of your sin?

Are you being guided into all truth?

Do you need to be saved?

He has made the way plain. Come to Him in faith and repentance.

Are you a Christian that has been resisting the Holty Spirit?

Have you allowed the flesh to be your guide?

Turn from that today and be led by the Spirit.