Galatians wk 9 - Walk by the Spirit

Hook:

Paul has been writing to the Church Bodies in Galatia

He has made strong arguments telling us the Law cannot declare us innocent before God

What law? Any law

Gods law: Moral (10 comandments); Cerimonial (Circumcision, preists, sacrifices); Civil (disputes between humanity)

Our laws: civil/society/internet/pharisies

No law can

Justify - Declare innocent

Sanctify - Mold our heart, mind, actions into those pleasing God

Paul argued that Grace

has set us free through promise

Justification and Sanctification are found in Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone

Today our talk is going to be Not Safe for Work

Even though we are not under the law there is a standard we hold to - What and How we hold to it are different but...

If you have young kids, you might have to explain things, but these are things we need to interact about

The things we will talk about later are often misunderstood - culture and history impacts our view - extra rules made

Lets pick up where we left off

Galatians 5:16 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Walk by the Spirit

What does that mean? sounds good but what does it mean?

Walk

common Hebrew expression meaning to live

in this particular word is written as a present imperative: Present - Right now; Imperative - Command - it is written as a command to do right now

Literaly this is “keep on walking” or “keep on living”… by the sprit

How do we do this - not cut and dry

the beliver walks through life depending on the Holy Spirit that endewlls them - guidance/power/ability

the Holy Sprit does not force the beliver to act or “oporate automaticlly” - He waits to be depended upon

When yeilded to the beliver will not gratify (complete, fufill- in outward action) the desires of the flesh

when we fall or run into sin we are choosing not to listen/follow/yeild/walk or live in the Spirit

we will never be entirely free on this side of heaven - Through faith alone in Christ alone we are free of the consequence/penalty of sin - through continued walking in the spirit we further separates us from the power of sin - some day we will be in eternity with God; glorified with Him and free from the presence of sin.

Until then we fight against the sinful nature inside of us

Galatians 5:17–18 ESV

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

Two natures

We have two fundamental natures waging war in us

“Two natures beat within my breast The one is foul, the one is blessed The one I love, the one I hate. The one I feed will dominate. -Anonymous”

one of of the flesh - to follow the law; one is of the Spirit - to follow God

When we yield control to the Spirit we will not do the things of the flesh but if we do not we are bound to do the things God hates

I thought we were not under the law?

true - the law cannot justify or stantify us; this includes God’s moral law… however, Just as the Law enslaves, so does Sin.

What is sin? Sin - missing the mark/ living a perfect life. Sin is defined by God - we look to God’s moral law. The Civil law passed when Isreal as a country became no more the 1st time. The ceremonial law passed with the destruction of the temple 1st and 2nd time. God’s moral law never passes, because it is based on who God is but it cannot justify or sanctify us either. it can keep us from being enslave to sin though

if we are not under the law, but we have a standard to follow… are we not actually under the law?

We are not under the law - True; God has a standard - True (both true at the same time) What God wants and what we naturally want (the flesh) are not the same - True

No, it is not the standard but the methodology

Its is the question of who is in control/who is acting

When we are under the law - we are in control/ we are acting - the law enslaves; it cannot free us

The Sprit Justifies/Sanctifies not the law

The Sprit leads us away from evil, by leading away from indulging the desires of the flesh

The sprit develops heart attitudes and mind discilpse that expresses it self as good things

We participate but the spirit acts - the spirit frees us

It is less about obedience and more about giving up control to the spirit - less about do the right thing and more why are you doing it - doing the right thing for the wrong reason is following the law

How do we do that?

Slow down and think - Is this wise? Does this glorify God? Does this go against who God is and what He says? Am I being led by spirit?

analyze our heart and motives

yield to what God

be patient - slow and steady is better then fast and exasperated

What are the works of the flesh?

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 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.

Works of the Flesh

Why are the the works of the flesh so bad? They break God’s moral law - what sets the Moral law from the other law types? God’s moral law flows directly from who God is, his attributes. - ex God says not to lie - why? God cannot lie - perfection is based on Him

Will we be able to know if it is a work of the flesh? Paul says they are obvious and then give us a few examples

5 are pleasure based sin - seeking pleasure over God/ seeking escape (functional savior) through pleasure

Sexual immorality (porn-eia) we get the word porn from - actually: any and all form of unlawful (based on God’s moral law) sexual relationships

Impurity (akatharsia) - broad term for moral uncleanness in thought, word, deed - usually thought of as sexual but much broader than than. dreaming of killing, robbing, harming, goarging/eating, and more.

Debauchery (aselgeia) - open, shameless, brazen displays of evil. What evil? The impurity seen before of general uncleanness - we see this all the time online, TV, Movies, how we are told we have to talk and interact with people. The act of not being ashamed enough to even hide it, but flaunt it before friends or the world is a problem

Drunkenness (methai) - the excessive use of alcohol by individuals; notice not a reprieve on alcohol at all but a continual practice of abuse

Orgies (komoi) - excessive indulgence, generally in groups like “partying”. excessive alcohol and drug consumption, excessive sex outside of marriage. focus on excess and groups.

This passage is not pointing out to others their problems though- it is about us following the spirit and not doing the acts of the flesh

2 are religious sins - seeking other Gods/ seeking escape (functional savior) through other power/gods

Idolatry - worshiping pagan gods/ bowing to idols; this was common then, many of our idols are not physically bowed to but our hearts, minds, and actions bow to them anyway

witchcraft (pharmakeia) - this doesn't mean we cannot use drugs to heal or treat/ it does indicate the misuses of drugs and substances. there is also many uses of these types of things in witchcraft/native american/ other religious ceremonies; inducing trances

8 are societal/Self-Centered sins - expressing evil to others/ expressions from life being unfair or not getting what one wants

Hatred (echthrai) - open or concealed hostility/enmity between groups

Discord (eris) - the result of hatred

Jealousy (zelos) - not God’s version but sinful and self-centered

Fits of Rage (thymoi) - Hulk Smash; outburst of temper, eruption of anger/jealousy

Selfish Ambition (eritheiai) - Working to get ahead at others expense

Dissensions (dichostasiai)/Fations (haireseis) - what happens when people quarrel causing hurt and divisions

Envy (phthonoi) - desire to posses what belongs to someone else

1 universal - Thinks like this; its a catch all. This list is not exhaustive, it is conceptual

What does all of this have in common?

finding escape/a savior outside of Jesus the true savior

Putting ourselves before God

excess, self centeredness, all the things in ourselves we already hate, Enslavement

This is not what God brings as we live in the Sprit

Paul ends with a warning here - one i would like to skip but...

Galatians 5:21 ESV

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.

Paul warns the Galatians of what? Those who continually practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God aka will not be with God in Heaven. Why? did they lose their justification?

No - It is a question of evidence - The person who continually lives in moral corruption is not giving evidence of being a child of God. Let this not be us, let our evidence be strong that it we are children of the one True God, creator of the universe and mastermind of the rescue plan for us!

Not only is there evidence of being God’s child, there are also good outcomes of living by the spirit

What is the outcome of living in the sprit?

Galatians 5:22–24 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Fruit of the Spirit

Notice something - this is the FRUIT of the spirit, singular unlike the WORKS of the flesh plural. is it important? IDK but it is interesting. It seems as if there are lots of ways the flesh works itself out but there is one fruit of the spirit expressed multiple ways. Not a huge theological point, just interesting.

also itresting, this is the fruit of the spirit, it is not produced by the beliver but of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Neil i know people with these elelments who have not given their today or eternity to Jesus. God works. Lets thank Him that we nor the world is as bad as it could be

lets take a look at the contrast of the fruit of the spirit vs the works of the flesh

First 3 are habits of the mind

Love (agape) - 1 Cor 13 Agape kind of Love - Foundation of all the other virtues. God is love and loves the world. God’s love sent Jesus to become our Messiah. This is the self sacrificing Love believers are to produce as well

Joy (chara) - Deep abiding inner rejoicing not dependent on circumstances because it rests on God’s sovereign ruling over everything. Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes based on circumstance - White bread; Joy is like that deep hunger satisfaction of a chunk of homemade whole grain bread

Peace (eirene) - This is a quietness and calm even in the face of what we would consider bad circumstances; it defies normal understanding.

The second 3 focus on interaction with others - these are bolstered by the first 3

Patience (makrothymia) - Delaying of justice under provocation. Think of a protester yelling in the face of a police officer. I don't know how but that the protester is not beaten right then and there is an act of patience. Patience does not allow thoughts of retaliation to hang around even when wrongfully treated

Kindness (chrestotes) - kindness in action just as God demonstrated kindness toward humanity. God is kind to sinful humanity, we should do tho same.

Goodness (agathosyne) - both static and active - static in our character: an upright moral character - actively doing good to others even when it is not deserved

The last 3 guide the general conduct of believers lead by the Sprirt

Faithfulness (pistis) - the quality of a person Trustworthy and Reliable. once heard to hold down a job you just needed to be trustworthy, show up on time, and work hard. This is one of the keys

Gentleness (prautes) - being considerate of others, especially when discipline is needed. being able to discipline and be gentle is massively important in today's cancel culture that want chop you off at the knees if they don't like what you say or do.

Self-Control (enkrateia) - Self mastery; curbing fleshy impulses describe before. attaining this apart from God’s power is impossible

The best thing Paul shares is there will never be a law against these things - that would be ridiculous

What would happen if the believer did not submit to the Holy Spirit and thus not have the fruit of the spirit?

Galatians 5:25–26 ESV

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

don't rest on your laurels

Nintendo ruled the video game world, Sony come in with the PlayStation 1 and destroyed Microsoft. Nintendo finally came back with the Wii but got lazy. surpassed by Sony and Microsoft. Sony PlayStation 2 destroyed Microsoft Xbox: got lazy; Microsoft Xbox 360 became number 1 over Sony PlayStation 3: got lazy; Sony PlayStation 4 beat out Microsoft Xbox one: got lazy?

just because you did good doesn't mean you will; just because you are doing good doesn't mean you will continue.

Keep living by the spirit!

If believers do not submit to the Sprit and thus do not have the fruit of the spirit we can be as if we were back under the law

conceited - thinking we are better than others; are we? no!

Provoking one another - building up anger and divisions with in the body; is this showing the fruit of the Sprit? NO!

Envying one another - Thinking others are better than us and wanting what they have: is this work of the flesh or fruit of the spirit? Flesh!

So what? Today we saw

Our need to daily submit to the Holy Spirit

What occurs when we don't and instead do works of the Flesh

the fruit the Holy Spirit produces in the life of a person who submits regularly to Him

BL:

Walk by the Spirit

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Bulletin

Sermon Series: Galatians: Living under Grace not under the Law

1) W______________________ by the S______________________

2) T______________________ N______________________

3) W______________________ of the F______________________

4) F______________________ of the S______________________

Small Group Questions

We grow best in the community. When we gather and discuss God’s word in a safe environment we grow more like Him. If you are here at Crossroads we encourage you to join a Small Group and talk over the Questions below. The Questions in Bold, are great places for your group to start. The other questions are for further study. May God Bless you in your pursuit of Him - Pastor Neil

1) What do you know about the navy seal teams? if you don't know very much take a break and look them up on wikipedia.com. How does someone become a SEAL? What kind of life style and discipline would it take to be a SEAL?

2) Read Galatians 5:16-25

3) What kind of lifestyle is Paul calling the believer to live? What does Paul mean to walk by the Spirit? How does one do that? what is the difference in lifestyle for one doing the works of the flesh vs the fruit of the spirit?

4) Paul said earlier that we are not under the law and that the law enslaves us, are these rules to keep? if the are how is this different than keeping the law? if it is not, why is it not? what is the difference? How can we tell if we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit? Is it obvious like the works of the flesh? Why or why not? can someone live by the spirit but become conceited, provoking others, or envying others? does it happen often? why or why not?

5) What is one aspect of life the Holy Spirit has been nudging you about? What specifically will you start to do about it this week? Is this good news? Who can you share this with this week?