Life in the Spirit

INTRO

Good morning everyone, I want to say a special welcome to all the kids who are with us this Sunday as you guys get to stay in with us during the message instead of going to Kid’s rock. If you have your Bible this morning you can turn to Galatians 5 where we are continuing our series on the book or letter to the churches of Galatia. Kid’s if you want to use one of the Bibles in front of you turn to page 1,749.

To give everyone a quick glance at the last 4 chapters and to get all the kids up to speed, the book of Galatians was written by a guy named Paul to churches in Galatia that he helped start. He is writing to them because some jewish leaders came in and started preaching a distorted Gospel that was creating slavery rather than freedom. So Paul writes about his own testimony in the first 2 chapters, shares some incredible insight of his from the old testement in chapters 3-4 about how the law was not the point, but faith was, and then get’s to chapter 5 where he is telling how we should live in light of having faith in Jesus. The distorted Gospel is all about us, the true Gospel is all about Jesus. We can’t save ourselves, only Jesus can do that. And when we actually have faith in Him, we can live by His Spirit and live differently.

So with that, let’s look at how we do that because that sounds kind of intimidating and hard if you think about it. I can live different than how I am? How?

Let’s pray and we will get started.

BODY

English Standard Version Chapter 5

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Tug of war illustration (Two groups of people. One is the flesh, one is the Spirit. What if we didn’t know we can resist?)

A lot of people think that we are the way we are. There is no changing that person. But that would be anti-Gospel to believe that way when the Bible, God’s word, shows us that there is transformation and change when we actually live by the Spirit.

What does this look like practically? You want to love someone and then a thought or feeling rises up. Why do we yield to that right away? What if war just broke out and you need to oppose that fleshly desire instead of yield to it?

How do we do that? It tells us in verse 18 that we need to be led by the Spirit then we will not be under the law.

The law provokes the flesh, or sin, because the law is holy. It’s the sign in the grass situation. So with the law, we never are perfected, we are shown our need for a savior and deliverence.

But the important word here that we all need to see is this: LED.

LED or LEAD?

To be led means that you and I are following the Spirit. We are in tune with his voice, His desires, his motives. How? Through prayer, worship, reading the word, fellowship. If we are lead, we are stuck. We are not moving to what the Holy Spirit is doing. We are just the way we are, always going to be the way we are going to be. That’s called hardening your heart, seering your concience, and not surrendering to God. It’s dangerous because Christians can go to church, speak the words of Christianity and never be led by the Holy Spirit. Because like Billy Nelson said in his message, we go back to the basic principles, the way that seems right to us. We have power to live differently, are we following the Holy Spirit or just going to be a bunch of lead stuck in our own old ways. How do we know if we are doing this? Paul tells us what will be in our lives if we are in the flesh.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

WORKS OF THE FLESH

So Paul has been pounding the fact that if you believe a distorted, or wrong Gospel, you are going to have distorted/wrong living. And what that looks like is by living in the flesh or in your sinful nature. The things that seem to happen naturally and almost effortless. And all of these works of the flesh are a distortion of something good. Let me explain by going through each category.

Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality = Distorted Sexuality

So, I get that there are little ears in the room, so know that I’m not going to go crazy here. However, I think it is important that we discuss this in church because it is literally everywhere else. Would you rather learn about it through His word or through tick tock? So in order to understand why something is distorted, you need to know what it is in purity. So let’s start with this statement to help us realize the purity of sexuality. God is the creator of sex, relationships, and when it is inside his design it is good and beautiful. When it is between a man and women in a covenant relationship before God and others, there is a heavenly picture of Christ and his church. When sexual immorality which is sleeping around, looking at porn, lusting, seein people as meat rather than seeing them as image bearers of God and living for every desire that we have, is sinful.

Idolatry and sorcery= Distorted worship.

Simply put, idolatry is worshiping creation rather than the creator. and Sorcery, or witchcraft is trying to be the creator and a counterfeit Holy Spirit. Some of us may not feel like this is a temptation, to be pulled into witchcraft. But maybe you do find yourself worshipping (giving your time, attention, affection, and praise) to something more than God. It’s distorted worship because we know that the only one who is the creator is God.

Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy= Distorted relationships

Last week we talked about how it is important to be free and walk in faith so that we can love others. Otherwise we will find ourselves backbiting and destroying each other, because our flesh and our pride will rise up. Here you see how the works of the flesh can kill relationships. Four of these are actions and four of these are motives that can destroy relationships. And remember, this goes back to last week about the baramoter if we are walking in Christ’s righteousness or self righteousness. Fits of anger, strife, and envy show us that we are not standing firm in the righteousness, acceptance, and forgiveness of Jesus. If these are more evidant in our lives that the fruit of the Spirit it would be good to repent and be baptized. Meaning, die to sin, and come alive in Christ.

Drunkenness and orgies= Distorted pleasure and entertainment

The word for orgies here is a a drinking party. And in Paul’s time, just like our day, people got together to drink or would have a glass of wine as a way to have pleasure or entertainment. But when one turns to two and turns to three where we are drunk and everyone is drunk too we have distorted what God had created these things for. THis is what was happening in the Church in Corinth were they were supposed to be having fellowship and communion but people were eating all the food and getting drunk. They were free! According to the world, not according to the kingdom of God.

And this is what Paul says for anyone who is in a continual, habitual, non repentant state of any of these works of the flesh. That they have not been set free, that they have not believed in faith that they are forgiven and the Spirit is in them to wage war against these desires. And if you think Paul is trying to make people question their salvation, he’s not. He’s trying to help people shake out of any kind of complacency and distorted thinking.

So I’ll pause here because I know that is pretty heavy. Especially if you find yourself habitually doing one of, or multiple of these things, that you might wonder “am I saved?” I honestly think for most of us it goes back to this understanding that we have not been told that we can wage war against the flesh. We don’t believe or have never been told that just because you have a lustful thought or desire, or have envy, and anger, that you need to act on it. The Spirit inside of you is able to kill that thing. So what I don’t want is for anyone to walk out of here thinking they are not saved, when you most likely are, you just are not believing the truth that the Holy Spirit is in you to put to death the works of the flesh.

So, how do we do that. Anyone interested in wanting to know how to do that? Let’s keep reading because Paul helps us understand how to do this.

But before we do, I want to point your attention to the notes where I wrote out a more in depth description of each other the fruit of the Spirit and I want to read it as well because I think these are important to distinguish as fruit of the Spirit, not just a part of your personality. Like some people are naturally joyful, that is great. And some of you are naturally faithful in things. But this is a different and more spiritual evidence than what you may have been wired with. So, this could be another sermon in itself but let’s looks at these to understand what the Fruit of the Spirit is. I got all of this information from Tim Keller’s book Galatians for you which I highly recommend to all if you are the reading type of person.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Love= “It means to serve a person for their good and intristic value, not for what the person brings you. It’s opposite is fear, self protection and abusing people. Its counterfeit (a fake version) is selfish affection, where you are attracted to someone and treat them well because of how they make you feel about yourself.”

Joy= A delight in God for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. Its opposite is hopelessness or despai, and its counterfeit is an elation that is based on experiencing blessings, not the Blesser, causing mood swings based on circumstances.

Peace= “A confidence and rest in the wisdom and control of God, rather than in your own. It replaces anxiety and worry. The fake version of peace is indifference, apathy, not caring about something.”

Patience= An ability to face trouble without blowing up. Its opposite is resentment toward God and others, and its counterfeits are cynicism or lack of care.”

Kindness= An ability to serve others practically in a way which makes me vulnerable, which comes from having a deep inner security. Its opposite is envy, which leaves me unable to rejoice in another’s joy. Its fake alternative is manipulative good deeds, doing good for others so I can congratulate myself and feel I am ‘good enough’ for others or God.”

Goodness= “Being the same person in every situation, rather than a phony or hypocrite. Integrity.

Faithfulness= “Loyalty, courage, to be utterly reliable and true to your word. Its opposite is to be an opportunist, a friend only in good times. And its counterfeit is to be loving but not truthful, so that you are never willing to confront or challenge.”

Gentleness= Humility, self-forgetfulness. The opposite is to be superior or self-absorbed. Humility is not the same as inferiority

Self control= The ability to pursue the important over the urgent, rather than to be always impulsive or uncontrolled. The slightly surprising counterfeit is a willpower which is based on pride, the need to feel in control.

Okay, so I would encourage you to just think on these throughout the week. And what I would recommend is when you realize a weak spot in your life with one of these, to ask the the Holy Spirit for help. And know that it will come, like a fruit. It might take time, and some weeding and watering, but when it comes it will be long lasting.

But to wrap this all up and, as I promised, to show us how to not walk in the flesh and to actually walk in a new way, what are we supposed to do? How do we actually wage this war without entering into striving. The answer has been preached through the whole letter, but lets read it again here in the closing verses.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

RESPONSE

To not walk in the flesh and to actually walk in the spirit we need to understand that we belong to Christ. Not that he just lives in our hearts, or prayed a prayer to get to heaven, or that we are here for God to bless us. That we belong, are accepted, we are in covenant with Christ if we are believers and Christians. And when we realize that, the flesh and the passions that we have are crucified, every day, every moment. They are not rulers over us anymore, we have a new king in our life and his name is Jesus.

Once again, along with understanding that we belong to Christ, there is an active, daily, positioning to live by the Spirit and keep in step with the spirit. Otherwise we will start to see the acts of the flesh arise in us and become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Close with the tug of war scene again. We invite him into our lives and then when something pulls, we just give in. Prayer, worship, standing firm in freedom is what will help us live the way we should!

Pray!