Walking in the Spirit

Introduction

Galatians 5:13–26 NKJV

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, evenin this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.[1]

In some religions, the motivation to live a good, moral life is based on fear. It is fear that drives people to live in a particular way. It is fear that pushes people in certain directions. However, in Christianity, and we are talking about true gospel Christianity, not legalism, the thing that motivates and drives us is love, not fear. We don’t serve God just because of our fear of hell. We serve Him because He loves us, and we love Him. We don’t live moral lives because of the fear of getting caught for doing something wrong. We live morally out of love for God and for our fellow man. We see Paul addressing this in a couple of different places:

Galatians 5:6

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.[2]

Galatians 5:14

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [3]

The big problem in the Galatian church was legalism. Legalism is a type of fear-motivated religion. In legalism, you’re not serving God out of love, you are serving out of fear. You fear that if you don’t keep all the rules and regulations God will get mad at you. However, in gospel Christianity, you rest on the work of Jesus Christ. You are assured of God’s love for you and acceptance of you. You serve God because of His extravagant love for you, and because you love Him. To put it in the Galatian context, it isn’t law on the outside, but love on the inside that makes the difference.

Legalism is an attempt to serve God through means of the flesh. Gospel Christianity is serving God through the power of the Spirit. But here’s the point of tension. There are two natures at work in every Christian: the Spirit and the flesh (sinful nature). And any point in our life, we will “live by the Spirit,” or we will live by the flesh. There’s a constant battle going on between the two. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to enable us to live a God-pleasing life. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome the flesh and live by the Spirit.

Now, you may be thinking, “Wait a minute, Pastor. I thought we received the Holy Spirit at salvation, so why are you saying we need the power of the Holy Spirit?” Yes, you do receive the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life at salvation (Gal. 3:2). It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the assurance of salvation (Gal. 4:6). However, just because the Holy Spirit is in you doesn’t mean you are automatically living in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to walk in the Spirit so that we can effectively live for Christ and glorify Him. As one writer notes, “What God the Father planned for you, and God the Son purchased for you on the cross, God the Spirit personalizes for you and applies to your life as you yield to Him.”

So, this is what we want to explore this morning. We want to understand what it means to walk in the Spirit. We want to see how the Holy Spirit is more than just a “divine influence,” but He is a divine Person living inside you, and He will give you the power to live victoriously for Christ and enjoy the liberty we have in Christ. So, let’s look at our text together.

I. When You Walk in the Spirit, You will Fulfill the Law of Love

Galatians 5:13-15

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, evenin this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another![4]

If you watch the behaviors of Christians, you will find that we are prone to fall into extremes. Paul says we “have been called to liberty.” But what does that mean? Some will equate liberty with license and believe he can do whatever he wants. He thinks he is totally free to live however he wants since he has been “called to liberty.” But is that what Paul means by Christian liberty?

Paul does say we are called to liberty. As a Christian, you are free. You are free from the guiltof sin because you have received God’s forgiveness. You are free from the penalty of sin because Christ died for you on the cross. And, through the Holy Spirit, you are free from the power of sin in your daily life. Paul tells us in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”[5] As we see in this same verse, you are also free from the demands and threats of the Law – “you are not under law but under grace.” Christ bore the curse of the Law and extends to you His grace.

So, we are free. We are called to liberty. However, Paul also issues a warning here: “only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.” In other words, “Don’t allow your liberty to turn into license!” Jude warns of this in verse 4 of his letter: “I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.”[6] Here in Galatians 5:13, Paul instructs us that Christian liberty is not a license to sin, but an opportunity to serve. In fact, this isn’t a suggestion, but a command – “through love serve one another.”

How often do we miss this one! We get so caught up in our own busyness and schedules that we feel we don’t have time to serve one another. In fact, I’m not sure we even think about it very often. Yet, if you love someone, you want to serve them. Think about how often you go out of your way to do something for your kids just because you love them. It isn’t always convenient, but they are your kids, and you love them. So, you’ll inconvenience yourself for their sake. You serve them out of love. Paul says this is how it should be in the Christian life. If you walk in the Spirit, you will fulfill the law of love. If you walk in the Spirit, you will listen to His leading, His tugging at your heart, His reminding you of someone in need so that you might serve them.

Sadly, we miss this, but Jesus said it is so important, so significant, that it fulfills the entire Law! Look again at verse 14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [7]Paul is quoting the words of Jesus here: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Look at how Paul says this in another passage:

Romans 13:8-10

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love isthe fulfillment of the law.[8]

Think about how the entire world would change if we lived like this.

· You don’t steal from people.

· You don’t lie about people you love.

· You don’t envy people you love.

· You don’t hurt people you love.

If everyone loved people because of their love for Christ, there wouldn’t be war between Israel and Hamas right now. There wouldn’t be war between Russia and Ukraine. There wouldn’t be a threat to Taiwan from China. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to fulfill the law of love: “through love serve one another.”

II. When You Walk in the Spirit, You Overcome the Flesh

Galatians 5:16-21, 24

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.[9]

24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.[10]

There is a war going on between our flesh and the Spirit. Now, what does Paul mean by “the flesh?” He isn’t talking about the human body. The body is not sinful; it is neutral. When we walk in the Spirit, we allow the Holy Spirit to control the body. However, when we walk according to the flesh, we are allowing our lusts, our sinful desires, to control us. The Spirit and the flesh have different cravings and inclinations, and this is what creates the conflict.

The Bible illustrates these opposing appetites in different ways. For example, the sheep is a clean animal and avoids that which is dirty, while the pig is an unclean animal and enjoys wallowing in filth. Our old nature is similar to the pig. It is always looking for something unclean on which to feed. Our new nature is like the sheep. It longs for that which is clean and holy. N wonder there is a constant battle within the life of a believer. The unsaved person isn’t aware of this battle because he does not have the Holy Spirit.

And here is something else important: a Christian can’t just simply will to overcome the flesh. Look again at verse 17: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” [11]Listen to this verse in the NLT:

17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. [12]

This is the same thing Paul says in Romans 7:15-19:

Romans 7:15-19 (NLT)

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. [13]

Understand that Paul isn’t saying there is not hope, and we have no way of living victoriously over sin. He is just saying that we can’t win the battle in our own strength and by our own will.

So, what’s the solution? It isn’t in trying to overcome in our own strength, but to surrender to the will of the Holy Spirit. That’s what he tells us in verse 18: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”[14] To be “led by the Spirit” is to walk in the Spirit. And this is the opposite of yielding to the desires of the flesh.

In verses 19-21, Paul gives us a list of some of the vile lusts of the flesh. We could spend a good deal of time explaining each of these, but let’s just do a quick overview.

1. Sexual Sins

· Adultery – illicit sex between married people.

· Fornication – the same sin between unmarried people.

· Uncleanness – a heart that focuses on that which is filthy, and it makes a person defiled.

· Lewdness – speaks of debauchery. Behaviors that knows no shame.

2. Sins Associated with Superstition or Pagan Religion

· Idolatry – putting things ahead of God and people. If you are more devoted to your car, your house, your boat, your hobbies, or your sports than you are to serving Christ you may be in danger of idolatry.

· Sorcery – witchcraft. It comes from the Greek word “pharmakeia,” which means “the use of drugs to bring about their evil effects.” It also means spiritism (attempting to contact the dead), black magic (calling on the devil or evil spirits), worship of demons, and the use of drugs to produce “spiritual experiences.”

3. Sins of the Temper

· Hatred – enmity, the attitude that defies and challenges others.

· Contentions – jealousies or rivalries.

· Jealousies – strong feelings of resentment.

· Outbursts of wrath – intense anger.

· Selfish ambitions – concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself.

· Dissensions and heresies – these two words are similar. The first suggests division, and the second refers to cliques caused by a party or group spirit.

· Envy – carrying a grudge, or a deep desire for what someone has.

· Murders – self-explanatory.

4. Sins of Drunkenness

· Drunkenness – self-explanatory

· Revelries – drinking parties involved in unrestrained alcohol and sex, orgies.

We see this kind of behavior all the time! But what does Paul say about it? He says, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (v. 21b).

Now, we all face temptations. So, how do we handle them? He tells us down in verse 24: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”[15] The believer is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6). Christ not only died for me, but I died with Christ. Christ died for me to remove the penalty of sin, but I died with Christ to break the power of sin over me.

So, we have seen that walking in the Spirit involves fulfilling the law of love, and overcoming the flesh. This brings us to our final point.

III. When You Walk in the Spirit, You Will Produce Fruit

Galatians 5:22-23, 25-26

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. [16]

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.[17]

What we find here is a call to live a life that is evidenced by Christian character. As Christians, we are not only to avoid doing that which is evil, but we are also called to do good. We are to live our lives in such a way that the character of our lives serves as a witness to others.

Notice back in verse 19, when Paul wrote about the flesh, he spoke of the “works of the flesh.” Here, as he writes about the Spirit-filled life, he speaks of the “fruitof the Spirit.” There is an important distinction between works and fruit. One writer explains it like this: “A machine in a factory works, and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life, and, in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit (Gal. 5:25)” (Wiersbe).

Think about it like this, works denote effort or labor. However, when you think of fruit, you think of something of beauty and enjoyable, something that is satisfying. The flesh produces “dead works” (Heb. 9:14), but the Spirit produces living fruit.

In the New Testament, “fruit” can symbolize different things: people won to Christ (Rom. 1:13), holy living (Rom. 6:22), gifts brought to God (Rom. 15:26-28), good works (Col. 1:10), and praise (Heb. 13:15). However, in the passage before us this morning, the “fruit of the Spirit” has to do with character. Now understand the fruit of the Spirit is different from gifts of the Spirit. Gifts have to do with service, while fruit has to do with character. So, let’s quickly look at the fruit of the Spirit, or Christian character, that is evident in the life of a Christian who is genuinely walking in the Spirit. These can be divided into three groups:

1. Our Relationship with God

Love – agape love; divine love, as opposed to eros or sensual love. This is a love that is given to us by God, and we are to cultivate it and pray that it will increase. Paul defines this type of love in 1 Cor. 13.

Joy – inward peace and sufficiency that is not based on outward circumstances. It is a joy that bubbles up in our lives because of the grace of God.

Peace – freedom from inner turmoil and worry, the opposite of dread and terror.

2. Our Relationship with Others

Longsuffering – an emotional calm, you don’t lose your temper when others do you wrong.

Kindness – self-explanatory.

Goodness – preference to right over wrong, generous giving.

3. Our Relationship with Ourselves

Faithfulness – dependable, showing allegiance.

Gentleness – the opposite of harshness.

Self-control – restraint over your impulses.

In the final two verses of our text, Paul warns that this fruit doesn’t come automatically. Just like growing natural fruit, Spiritual fruit must be cultivated. Just as fruit can’t grow in every climate, so the fruit of the Spirit can’t grow in every individual’s life or in every church. You have to nurture and prepare the right environment.

Closing:

As Christians, we are called to walk in the Spirit. We can’t live this life on our own power or self-will. The secret is the Holy Spirit. He alone can enable us to fulfill the law of love, to overcome the flesh, and to bear fruit. You must yield to Him and let Him work in and through you.

[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:13–26. [2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:6. [3] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:14. [4] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:13–15. [5] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ro 6:14. [6]Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Jud 4. [7] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:14. [8] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ro 13:8–10. [9] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:16–21. [10] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:24. [11] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:17. [12]Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ga 5:17. [13]Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ro 7:15–20. [14] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:18. [15] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:24. [16] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:22–23. [17] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ga 5:25–26.