Who Will Help Me Change?
Notes
Transcript
When we think of freedom we often think of freedom from slavery, being thankful for those that gave their life for our freedom or something else that is fairly large scale. Very rarely do we ever think about how we need freedom. How we are in need of saving, because that requires us to admit that there are things wrong with us. And right, who likes to admit that they are wrong?
When we think of freedom we often think of freedom from slavery, being thankful for those that gave their life for our freedom or something else that is fairly large scale. Very rarely do we ever think about how we need freedom. How we are in need of saving, because that requires us to admit that there are things wrong with us. And right, who likes to admit that they are wrong?
This morning we are looking at the Holy Spirit's role in our lives. How we have the opportunity in Jesus to go from being enslaved to being adopted, and how they are different. The passages that we will be focusing on are Galatians chapters 4 and 5.
4 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Let’s turn to our first passage of Scripture this morning.
What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
God always intended the law to be temporary. That may seem crazy to some, but it is true. That is why even prior to the law God made a promise to Abraham that was also a propehcy of a Saviour.
The law was preparing us for Jesus.
Religion says the laws are good that they are proven ways to follow God. All of the law can ultimately be summarized by love your neighbour (). The difference however between the gospel and the law is that the law doesn’t give us the power to obey all the rules.
The gospel gives us a promise of eternal abundance. It makes us a son or daughter of God and therefore an heir.
What does that really mean though?
Heir is defined as one who inherits something or who is entitled to a future inheritance; the one who receives the property of a deceased person, particularly on the basis of law and usually by means of a will.
-Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
In the Old Testament however, the only person to receive the inheritance was the first born son. That is what makes the passage so critical. It is changing the narrative of what was always taught. Instead we are all heirs. We rightfully get to receive God’s inheritance, and we don’t have to cheat someone else out of it or demand it. God will freely give it to us because if we have the Spirit then we have been adopted into the family.
Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written:
“Be glad, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”
Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Galatians 4:21-
Hagar and Sarah
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
“Be glad, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”[e]
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[f] 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Here again Paul is using something that is familiar to Jews to paint a picture. You might be wondering why is he doing that? It is because this passage is addressing a number of churches in Galatia. Churches that Paul had a relationship with and they had fallen off the path of following the true gospel and got hung up on a huge list of rules.
There was a group of people called the Judiazers that were enticing people away from the gospel and saying that in order to truly follow God you also had to do all these other things. It was a group of Jewish Christians that said that you had to adopt Jewish customs and practices, especially those found in the Law of Moses, to be saved.
Here’s a video that explains this in detail.
This brings us to our next section of Scripture.
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.
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 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.
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Freedom in Christ
5 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.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
We have been set free to live different. Living differently is not about trying it is about relying. Religion and the law want to put the emphasize on human effort. The good news of the gospel is that it is not about trying harder but relying upon the Holy Spirit. What does a Spirit filled life look like?
How to Recognize the Spirit-Filled
“But be filled with the Spirit” ().
I. They Worship in the Spirit
“Worship him in Spirit and in truth” ().
A. Spirit-filled Christians are not in bondage to a form of godliness; they are not fanatics or daydreamers. They are not bound by social pressures or by the spirit of the age.
B. Spirit-filled Christians worship with the anointing of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
II. They Work Together in Unity
“Continuing daily with one accord” ().
A. Spirit-filled Christians do not work against one another. They are in harmony—no resentments, frictions, or divisions.
B. They are concerned about getting God’s work accomplished. Christians work together in unity when they love God and one another ().
III. They Are Willing to Forgive Others
“Forbearing … and forgiving one another” ().
A. Spirit-filled Christians make mistakes and blunders just like everyone else, but they possess a forgiving spirit. They do not hold resentments. As God forgave them, so they forgive others.
B. Forgiveness lifts burdens, brings joy and peace to our minds and soul ().
IV. They Walk in Divine Love
“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” ().
A. God’s love is implanted in the heart by God Himself and it works its way out to bless others.
B. When Christians surrender themselves to God, they are cleansed of sinful attitudes, hatred, and strife, and are filled with the Holy Spirit of love.
V. They Witness to the Lost
“And you shall be witnesses for me” ().
A. Spirit-filled Christians welcome opportunities to share what Christ means to them with others. Witnessing is a natural consequence of this infilling.
B. They believe they are indebted to give the gospel to others in the same measure they received it ().
So to summarize,
Desire to worship, unity, forgiveness, love and a longing to witness. Those are the things that characterize a Spirit filled life. A life that is living out the adoption that Paul writes about here in this passage. To do the opposite, puts us in the slavery category.
Now, our final section of Scripture for this morning, and quite possibly the most well known.
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.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
The message of Jesus is not just try harder. We have been set free to live free. It doesn’t happen by trying harder. It happens by relying upon the Holy Spirit. How do we do that?
1. We have to ask.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
2. We have to prune
A. While surrendering or living a Spirit filled life isn't about a laundry list of rules it does require change. The hard thing for us to understand is that we think that church has a lot of rules now. There is somet truth about that at times, but the reality is that we do not know what it is like to have to follow all of the Torah. Paul commands in this passage to give up all these things.
3. We have to wait.
B. Be patient...The fruit isn’t automatic. It requires cultivation. We have to learn to prune off our old habits. We have to keep in step with the Spirit.
The fruit of the spirit is what our life naturally produces when we rely upon the Holy Spirit. It is not something that we just have to try harder at.
When we do this, we actually are doubting the ability to have the Holy Spirit change us. When we think the fruit of the Spirit it is tied to our attempts we have already missed the point.
Maybe you have tried to get rid of those things, and the pruning didn’t seem to work. Maybe you have asked, and it seemed to go unanswered. Maybe you have waited, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
To that I will say, are you asking for the right things? Are you pruning the right things, or are they just the most convenient things? Most importantly, are you truly relying upon the Spirit for the change inside of you? Or are you just doing it on your own?
The fruit of the gospel is that we are becoming free from sin.
The truth is not that we are sinless, and none of us will be on this side of life. But the point of having a Spirit filled life is that we begin to sin less and less.
Maybe you come defeated to church because you hear the message just try harder. Maybe sometimes you feel that you hear that message in church. To that I apologize. I am sorry to all of us that have felt that our growth in Jesus is tied to our attempts.
The good news is that Jesus fulfilled the laws on our behalf. He lives in us through the Spirit, and because of that we have the opportunity to truly love others the way that they need it.
I want to leave you with one final picture. It is the picture of the Mafia. In order to join the Mafia you have to be adopted into the family. In the same way we are adopted into God’s family. Minus all of the bad things that come along with the Mafia. Once you are adopted into the Mafia you are known as a made man.
In the American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man.
With Jesus we become of His descent when we accept Him. We are fully sponsored by Him, and that makes us part of His family. With that comes the Holy Spirit.
So live free this week, and be reminded that the Spirit is with you in all things.