Life in the Spirit

Galatians 5:2-6:10

Galatians is a great letter, and so clear on the fundamentals of the faith. We are saved in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. What a wonderful freeing gospel this is. And throughout this book, Paul has used this slavery / freedom theme to highlight for us how the gospel works and what is at stake.

But I wonder when we look at a letter like this, so doctrinally clear about the gospel, what you think are the practical implications of such a teaching? There is of course the practical reality that we should sleep better at night knowing that we can trust Christ fully with our salvation. Trying to get a good nights sleep with the thought of hell looming over your head isn’t easy. There’s a reason people develop addictions to mind altering drugs. Those are thoughts that are easy to deal with.

But other than resting easy, are there other implications to this teaching? Well Paul’s detractors always seemed to think that this was a dangerous message he was teaching. “If you teach freedom, don’t you know people are going to use it as a license to sin?”

If this is all of grace, and all the burden of salvation rests on Jesus, what is there to keep us doing the right thing and not trampling on our salvation!

See the false teachers decided, let’s put a little burden on the shoulders of people, that way they’ll act correctly. And of course Paul fights against that in this book. You’re taking away from the glory of Christ if you do that!

Well this gospel is certainly one that is freeing, but how is this freedom to be used? We’re to use this freedom to walk faithfully in Christ and serve one another.

See this first section here in 5:2-15, I know it sounds strange too us, why this obsession with circumcision? This was the sign of identification with the Abrahamic Covenant in the old testament. Very strange to modern ears, I understand, but the purpose had to do with the promised seed and blessing. The offspring of Abraham would be from this people.

But the argument of Galatians is that this sign was for the old covenant. We’re in Christ now, he’s come. Our identity is inward and spiritual, not outward any longer. The false teachers had taken the outward sign and made it a work that one must do in order to be saved.

And so Paul reminds them, its not outward signs that matter, in Christ it is faith working through love.

Notice here a big part of the way sin works. How much of the false teachers’ message is just purely selfish. Fill your time concerned with making sure you’re good enough. You get the picture that these people, if they believed this would only have time to think about themselves. I think that’s why Paul explains this freedom in verse 13ff. You were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. The whole law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

See this, very important. The gospel free’s us up to love and serve one another as Christ loved us. The sinful self-loving eyes of our fallenness are redeemed and turned outward back to God and his people. We worship him and serve one another.

READ 16-26

This walk by the Spirit is Paul’s way of saying “this is how life in Christ looks and how life apart from Christ looks.” Remember in chapter 4 we heard that the Father sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying Abba Father. Here are the effects of the Spirit of God within the believer.

The desires of the flesh are these, the desires of the spirit are these. Paul tells us in Romans 7 that these competing desires are at war within the believer. Now listen, he is not saying that if you act right, you’ll receive the Spirit. That’s backwards. Believer if you are in Christ, you have the Spirit and his desires are against your fallen fleshly desires.

There’s a promise here to you believer. I wish they translated this more strongly. Verse 16 in the greek says “Walk by the Spirit and it is impossible, even in a fairytale, for you to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Paul won’t even allow room for you to hypothetically gratify the desires of the flesh if you walk by the Spirit.

Now there’s a promise in that because someday your flesh will be made new. But the flesh now is strong. There’s a daily battle to put sin today and submit to Christ, to walk by the Spirit. But this is true freedom.

See people think freedom is getting to do anything. That’s not the way freedom is pictured in scripture. Rather freedom is being able to live according to your desires. Before salvation you were free to follow sinful desires. In that, you did what you want. In fact, you could not submit to Christ and follow him. Sin wouldn’t allow you.

You were not free to live according to his law. This was part of the slavery. The law came up against you and you realized you couldn’t do it.

But believer Christ set us free from the law of sin and death. He made us alive. He indwelt us with the Holy Spirit. He is putting to death the deeds of the flesh. You are free to follow Christ now. And the Spirit gives us new desires so that we can. We actually want to serve Christ and love one another. Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself, we can actually do now, in Christ.

By this, you will never gratify the desires of the flesh, he doesn’t mean that this won’t ever take place in your battle against sin. But it’s a promise that if you allow the Spirit to lead you, he won’t fulfill your fleshly desires. You’re free in him.

Now notice where he takes this, back to the one anothers. You get the picture that real life is really tested when we rub shoulders with each other don’t you?

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. He says in 15, not to bite and devour one another.

Well instead what do these one another’s look like?

READ 6:1-10

We gently point each other to Jesus. When we see someone trapped in sin. Sin can be like a bear trap. Sometimes you step in it and you don’t know how to get out. Maybe you’re stuck in the same sinful patterns. Maybe you have no idea how to get out.

What’s the church to do? Pitch forks and clubs? No we are to gently restore this person. Bear one another’s burdens.

Notice the shift here from the beginning of the book where the false teachers are laying heavy burdens on the backs of these saints, to now being encouraged in Christ to bear each other’s burdens.

The church was designed by Christ as a group effort on this walk of life. He’s the founder and perfector. He ran the race joyfully before us, and now he follow him. By I can’t run alone, you can’t run alone. We weren’t meant to run alone.

We get trapped in sin, we help each other get out. We bear each other’s burdens. We don’t get big heads thinking we’re all that. We go to work, do what we’re supposed to do, take care of our families, serve our countries, take care of our communities, whatever you are called to do as a citizen, and along the way, serve one another.

Understand how this breaks down when we’re all trying to save ourselves. The world around us is falling apart because in one way or another each person is out there working there own self interests in some way trying to bring glory to themselves.

Paul says, Christ’s church doesn’t work like that. We serve Christ, and serving Christ we serve each other. And there’s benefit in this even for you, believer.

He uses a picture of sowing and reaping. Planting and harvesting. He says the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Don’t think of eternal life as something that you are waiting for in the end. The bible constantly pictures the end breaking into the now. You are experiencing eternal life now, believer, in Christ. Hey it gets better! But the life you now live is in Christ now. The things you do now matter for eternity. He’s not saying we earn our salvation. That would go back on everything he’s said.

The church was designed by Christ as a group effort on this walk of life. He’s the founder and perfecter. He ran the race joyfully before us, and now he follow him. By I can’t run alone, you can’t run alone. We weren’t meant to run alone.