Galatians 5

Welcome/Weekend Intro

Hello everybody and welcome to Prairie Lakes!

Hey: if this is your first weekend with us, let me give you the heads up on what you’re jumping into with us—because for the last 5 weeks now, the rest of us have been walking through Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We started this back when the temps were still in the 90s. Not so much anymore.

But it’s been a great journey so far. In fact—we’ve got something we need to celebrate together that happened along the way.

Last week, Pastor Chip preached out of Galatians chapter 4. After his message, we invited anyone who wanted to step across that line of faith and put their trust in Jesus.

And:

Across Iowa… last weekend alone…

55 people did just that.

We saw entire families come to know Jesus last weekend.

So… praise God. That’s something only He can do.

So let’s keep walking through this letter together this weekend. We’re gonna be in Galatians chapter 5.

SHOW GALATIANS SERIES GRAPHIC - CHAPTER 5

(Nod to Bibles.)

Like a Lighted Tree: Abba

Hey—like I mentioned, when we started this series, it still felt like summer. Now, not so much.

But every change in season brings with it some pretty good things. Every season has an upside.

And in our family, part of that upside (especially as the holidays roll around) is that every other year, we hop on a plane out to Seattle to be with my wife’s family at Christmas.

And we love traveling together. We’ve always done that really well. Car, plane… doesn’t matter. We like going on those adventures together.

And when we make that Seattle trip, we usually drive up 218 to I-35 and fly direct out of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Of course, the bummer about that is the return trip—because you get back in at about 10 or 11pm, and then you’ve got a 3.5-hour drive ahead of you before you can sleep in your own bed again.

But there is a highlight on that drive back | at that time of year | that I always look forward to. And if you’ve driven it, you probably know what I’m talking about.

It’s this:

SHOW LIGHTED TREE PICTURE

I remember seeing this tree for the first time, all lit up at night. It’s right along the interstate, just outside of Medford, MN.

You’re about an hour into your drive back when you first see this white glow on the horizon. Your eyes are all adjusted to the dark—so it feels really strange to see part of the horizon. And as you get closer, it gets brighter—until you come up an over a little hill and see it—all of it—standing in such stark contrast to the dark night sky.

(Pause.)

Earlier in Galatians, we talked about Paul’s gospel—his message of good news about Jesus.

And according to Paul, God did two pretty major things to display how much he loves us.

Like lighted trees in the middle of the night, God pushed his love into our dark world in two major ways:

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God sent his Son to us.

The Son sent his Spirit to us.

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God the Son and God the Spirit. When we look at them, we can see just how much love God has in his heart for us.

And we’ve talked already these last (4) weeks about God the Son—Jesus, and what he did on the cross, and grace, and faith.

But in this part of his letter—chapter 5 in our Bibles—Paul is going to talk a lot more about the Spirit and what he does to help us see just how much God loves us.

Read verse 5 with me:

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Galatians 5:5 “For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.”

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I know this message is already a little too Christmas-y for some of you—but when I read this verse, I can’t help but get that image in my mind of my kids, in our living room, on Christmas morning, with a pile of presents sitting before them, eagerly awaiting the “all clear” and green light to start tearing in.

This is what the Spirit does for us—and in us:

He causes us to feel this anticipation, this eagerness for what God has in store for us.

Earlier in his letter, Paul described it this way:

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Galatians 4:6 Because you are his sons [and daughters], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

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That word, Abba, is a lot like our word, “Dad.” Abba = dad.

(Pause.)

If you ever want to test your ability to keep it together—like, how good are you at not crying—do this:

Watch those videos of a blended family where a kid’s bio dad maybe skipped out on them… but then that kid calls their mom’s new husband “dad” for the first time.

Or watch the ones where the kid wants to be officially adopted and surprises their step-dad with an announcement that they’ve changed their last name to match his.

That word “dad” means something. “Abba” means something.

You call someone that when you know that you’re loved by this guy. That you’re safe with him. You can trust him. You’re his.

That’s what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your heart:

He wants you to eagerly await all that your Heavenly Father has in store for you—because of how much love God has in his heart for you.

(Pause.)

Back in chapter 5 again, let’s zoom out a little bit and see the verse that we already read but now in a little broader context:

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Galatians 5:4–6 “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

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We talked about circumcision and what all of that meant a couple of weeks ago. But for our purposes this weekend, all of that falls under the heading of that first highlighted phrase there—”trying to be justified by the law.”

Paul’s saying that if you think you can get right with God (which is what justified means)—

That you can get right with God by trying your best to do what’s right (which is what “by the law” means)—

He’s saying that if you think that you’ve got it in you or that it’s on you to get in God’s good graces, that…

You’ve actually fallen from grace. That you’ve essentially been alienated from Christ.

(Pause.)

Now when he uses language like that, that can sound pretty alarming—like he’s implying that there’s this unforgivable sin that we might commit that there’s no going back from.

But that’s not at all what Paul’s implying here. And you can see it a lot more clearly when you’re able to read this in the language Paul originally wrote in.

What he is saying, though, is that it’s ridiculous to think that you can do something to put yourself in a better position with God than Jesus and the Holy Spirit already have done for you.

Because here’s what we’ve already said:

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God sent his Son to us.

The Son sent his Spirit to us.

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Like two trees shining God’s love brightly in the darkness…

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God sent his Son to us. Through Jesus, God becomes our Father.

The Son sent his Spirit to us. Through the Spirit, God becomes our Dad.

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(Pause.)

In the world of therapy, for the last several decades there’s been a theory on how humans form emotional bonds—called “attachment theory.”

At the core of attachment theory sits this hypothesis:

The quality of our earliest attachments (and for most of us, it’s usually our parents) becomes the blueprint for how we relate to others in adulthood.

If your earliest attachments were healthy, you’ll feel secure and operate from a more secure place as an adult.

But if your earliest attachments weren’t as secure, some of that carries along with you into adulthood—and you might have more of a tendency to operate from a place of insecurity.

Paul wrote Galatians long before attachment theory was even thought of—but I think if he had heard that theory today, he’d say:

Yeah. That’s kinda how it works with God, too.

(Pause.)

When we’re secure in the love that God has for us—

When we know that he’s not just our Heavenly Father, but our safe, near, and loving Dad,

When we have that kind of faith,

Here’s the outcome (and the only thing that counts, in Paul’s view):

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Galatians 5:6 The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

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Get this now:

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People who know how deeply they are loved by God will love others deeply.

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But when you don’t know that—

Or when something kinda confuses you on that, like...

You kinda still gotta earn God’s love, or…

You can kinda screw it up with him, or even…

Don’t worry about how you’re living at all—

When something messes with the the truth of the foundation of God’s love for you—

Which is 100% grace on his part, and accessed only by faith on our part—

Then your life starts to look a little crooked.

People who know they are loved, love.

People who aren’t as clear on that… struggle.

(Pause.)

Three Temptations

So what do we do about that? If we’re kinda on the struggle bus there…

Not really secure in God’s love for us… wishing we were more secure, felt his love more, wanting to experience more of that Holy Spirit-eagerly-awaiting-Christmas-morning-Abba kind of relationship…

What do we do?

Well, for the rest of this chapter, Paul’s going to lay some things out for the Galatians—because they were struggling with the same thing.

I talk about this in my book a little bit, but there were (3) temptations that were being laid before these new Galatian believers—each of them presenting themselves as pathways to go deeper with God, but in reality, they were messing with that foundation.

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Three Temptations

Legalism: Doing the right things to get into relationship with God. (Anti-grace)

Nomism: Doing the right things to stay in a relationship with God (Anti-faith)

License: Doing whatever you want. (Anti-obedience)

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(Explain.)

Here’s how these three temptations were playing out—verse 13:

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Galatians 5:13–15 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

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So Paul corrects the 3rd temptation in our list | first. He addresses that temptation of license there in verse 13.

Some of those Galatians had concluded that because of this never-ending, bottomless well of God’s grace that you can live however you want. You’ve got license to do whatever you want.

And this temptation runs rampant today. Here’s what it sounds like:

“God is a God of love. He’s not up there worrying about who you’re sleeping with, or how you’re spending your life. He’s not this grumpy old man in the sky.”

And it sounds kinda right. It has a kernel of truth.

And that’s why it’s such an effective temptation. It’s just a few degrees off.

But even a few degrees off eventually leads you in a very different direction.

Here’s this temptation of license unpacked:

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The temptation of license: using my freedom however I choose.

The truth: freedom can be misused.

The gospel: freedom in Christ means freedom from the tyranny of sin and freedom for loving others like God loves us.

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Before we leave the room today, we’re going talk more about some of Paul’s coaching at the end of this chapter on how we live this truth out. I promise you.

But let’s move on to the other two temptations quick, and unpack how those look in Galatia:

In that same passage, vs. 15, Paul tells them to watch out: if you “bite and devour each other, you’ll be destroyed by each other.”

And so there’s how the first two temptations look:

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The temptation of legalism and nomism: when I put myself in the driver’s seat, I’ll inevitably drive over you.

The truth: Jesus is at the wheel of my life.

The gospel: Jesus loved me in a way that I didn’t deserve—so I can and should love you in the same way.

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If you’ve had any experience in church or with church people, you’ve probably seen this:

Churches are often notorious for being places where people argue, and gossip, and backbite, and divide, and…

And when that kind of stuff is present in the church, you can usually trace it back to this temptation running rampant over people’s lives.

When I think that I’m somehow in the driver’s seat—

That it’s kinda up to me to do the right thing;

That either I’ve done something right to get into a relationship with God,

Or that I’m doing the right things to stay in a relationship with God,

Then it usually doesn’t take me long to look over your way and go,

“You know… you’re not really doing it right.”

And then it’s not long after that that I justify my condemnation of you, my judgment of you, my own self righteousness, my own convictions, my own political views, my own preferences—

Becausse, really, I’m living by the standard, and you’re not.

But the reality is this:

The only reason I’m even able to live according to any of God’s standards at all is that he loved me first. And he love me before I cared about any of them.

I’m never more than an object of his grace and mercy. Never more than that.

And when I know that about me, I know that about you—and love you accordingly.

(Pause.)

Fruits of the Spirit

Okay. Let me make good on my promise earlier.

In the last part of the chapter, Paul’s going to spell out how it all works—how do we live in light of the truth of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit?

And before we dive into all of that, let me be honest with you:

I’ve thought a lot about this over the years, and I’ve studied this, and I’ve translated this, and I’ve lived into this, and I’ve pastored into this, and…

Even after all of that, I still, even in this moment, step back and go:

“Am I seeing this right? Am I getting this right?”

And I think that’s just part of it. I think that feeling is part of what it’s like to live in the tension that this chapter actually opens up with.

And we haven’t read it yet this weekend, but here’s what Paul says in verse 1 that kinda serves as a heading for everything he’s about to say:

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Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

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Christ has set us free so stand firm.

Well… that messes with my brain.

Because if I’m free, then why do I still have to stand firm?

I’m I’m free, what do I have to stand against? And what do I have to stand for? And why do I have to stand at all?

Verse 17 captures our current reality and this call to stand well:

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Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit [desires] what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

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For the believer—

For those of us who have stepped across the faith line and have trusted Jesus—

Here’s what we know:

We know that after we die, our spirit will be in heaven with Jesus until he returns and reunites our spirit with a resurrected body. We know that we’ve got heaven immediately and a resurrection eventually.

But until then, here’s what we also know:

Our flesh—

Which is a term that encompasses several different dimensions of who we are, including our physical bodies and our sinful nature; this internal desire we have towards living for ourselves and by our own power on our own terms—

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Until the day we die, for those of us who have trusted Jesus,

We will be locked in a battle between what God’s Spirit desires for us and what our flesh desires for us.

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And that’s an important perspective, because at times it can feel pretty discouraging—because why is it sometimes still so difficult? Shouldn’t it get easier? Why do we still struggle?

But when we have this perspective, here’s where the gospel pushes some good news our way:

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Until the day we die, for those of us who have trusted Jesus,

We will be locked in a battle between what God’s Spirit desires for us and what our flesh desires for us.

The good news: before Jesus, there wasn’t much of a battle.

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We were given over to sin. But now… we’ve got someone fighting for us. Still a fight, though.

(Pause.)

So how do we fight this battle with the Spirit now in our corner? We get (4) verbs that kinda all mean the same thing:

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Fighting the Flesh with the Spirit

Walk (v. 16)

Be led (v. 18)

Live by (v. 25)

Keep in step (v. 25)

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And even though they kind of all mean close to the same thing, it’s that last one, “keep in step,” that might be the most helpful for us to focus on as we close.

(Pause.)

Keep in step is a military term. It literally means “to be drawn up in line” or to “stand in formation.”

When it was used in classical Greek literature, it described what it meant to follow someone’s philosophical principles.

And so when Paul uses it here, it has that meaning as it relates to how we live:

When he tells us to keep in step with the Spirit, he’s telling us to live in conformity to Christ. To live like Jesus. To obey Jesus commands.

Do the things Jesus tells you to do.

Don’t do the things Jesus tells you not to do.

Which feels…

Anticlimactic.

Let me help:

In his book, “The Great Omission,” Dallas Willard says this:

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“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.”

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You still have to choose to love. You’ve gotta try in that direction.

Now, whether you’re successful or you fail, your efforts in that direction change nothing about your relationship with God.

You don’t try to love so that God might love you. You can’t earn something with God that Jesus has already earned for you.

You try to love others because God loved you.

You still have to choose to be sexually pure. You’ve gotta try in that direction.

Now, whether you’re successful or you fail, your efforts in that direction change nothing about your relationship with God.

You don’t try to be sexually pure so that God might love you. You try to be sexually pure because Jesus purified you.

If we had time, I’d spend 10 or 15 more minutes unpacking these two lists Paul has at the end of the chapter—especially the sin list. Because he could’ve written some of these in 2025. It’s like he’s reading our mail.

But here’s what I want to leave you with—it’s this metaphor of fruit that Paul talks about when we’re keeping in step with the Spirit.

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The results of your Spirit-inspired efforts are out of your control, but they are guaranteed.

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When you have put your faith in Jesus and you know there’s nothing you can ever do to make God love you more or less,

You have the freedom to try your best to love others how Jesus loves you.

And out of those first fruits will come a fountain of results that only the Spirit can produce in your life.

You’ll find yourself more joyful.

You’ll find yourself more at peace.

You’ll become more patient and kind.

Commit to obeying this one central command of Jesus, with Jesus—loving your neighbor as yourself; loving one another as Jesus has loved you—

And watch him transform you from the inside out.