Keep Walking by the Spirit

Hook:

Paul has spent the book of Galatians telling us

Under Grace, Not Under the Law

He told us that we were Justified (declared Righteous) Not by doing the right things (obeying the law - God’s Moral/Civil/Ceremonial law or Humanities laws Civil or Social Media or Manners

we are not under the law - We have been freed through beliving the promise of the messiah; Jesus’ life, death, and resurection, frees us from the law

In the same way we are not Santified (our hearts and minds are not molded into what pleases God) by following the law of God or Humanity

The law cannot Justify or Santify us. instead it can only enslave us, declairing us as guilty and continualy holding us captive to a level we cannot keep

Paul told us to return to the law to atempt to accomplish our Justification or santification would only lead to us being enslaved to the law all over again, this time by our choice.

Then Paul let us know though we are not under the law, there is a standard to live by.

living in sin (not living a prefect life as defined by God) will enslave us just as living by the law does

Romans 6:6 ESV

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

We are not under the standard as law but obey from love

The problem is even when we are redeemed from our old life (we are moved from an eternity of all the worst parts of the worst things crowed by eternal seperation from God; and to an eterity of the best parts of the best things crowned by an eteral connection with God.... We have recived a new nature through the Holy Spirit coming to live within us at the moment of conversion… We dont loose our old nature

Two Natures

We still have the part with in us that wants to run from God - Wants to focus on ourselves - Wants to do what God declaires as evil.

Two forces with in my Breast

One is Foul, One is Blessed

One i Love and One I Hate

The One I Feed will Dominate

Paul said it this way

Galatians 5:16–17 ESV

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

Paul Labels the two natures - The Flesh and the Spirit

The Flesh is the part of you that wants to live for itself, against God’s ways. It is the part that comes out in reality tv, when someone declairs themselves a Christian… and dont live like “that”

The Spirit is the part that pushes you to live for Jesus, not because you have to but because you want to please God. It is the pull you feel for what seems to be no reason to help others, pray, enocrage, tell people about Jesus

then Paul told us last week what it looked like to live by the flesh

The acts are obvious; easy to pick out in a police line up

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

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

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

We are seeing these played out in Minneapolis Minnesota right now - People are not seeking justice. They claim Justice but instead they are destroying the lives of others out of Jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy

These works of the flesh are on full display there. This is not abnormal, these works are always on display in our lives and the lives around us but they are very evindent as we watch the news.

This is unlike the work of the Sprirt

What does living in the spirit look like?

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

Where as the first First 3 are habits of the mind

Love (agape) - 1 Cor 13 Agape kind of Love - Foundation of all the other virtues.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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

It is from this love we sacrifice - we give up what may seem best for us for what is best for others - We proctect ourselves and others - We go through pain, loose time because we love others - Think Operation Warm House

Operation Warm House: We give up Time - never can get life back; give up energy, give up working on our own projcts; give up own desires and pleasure - why? to love those in our body and the community that they might know Jesus loves them!

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?

How do we do this? Are there a set of rules do to or just try really hard?

No! Remember these qualities are what come out in the process of Santificition ( the molding of our heart and mind to what pleases God)

It will take effort, pain and sacrifice but in the end it is not us holding to rules that accomplish it, it is the Holy Spirit working in us that accomplishes these things

Then How? Live by the spirit day by day - Walk by the Spirit

How do we express the fruit of the spirit in these times of stress and uncertainty?

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

don't rest on your laurels

Option 1

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?

Option 2

At the end of WW2 the US was on top of the world. The cold war with the USSR had not set in yet and we were excited to have our service men and women home. However, before to long Russia sent up the first Satellite, Sputnik. We were behind in the Space race. Once we got up to speed Russia was further.

We put up a rocket, they orbit a dog. We put up a chimpanzee, they orbit a man. time after time we push forward and Russia was soon ahead. Finally We had enough. With one final push the USA pushed ahead and put men on the Moon, Amazing accomplishment… but now what?

Now what? We have been patting ourselves on our back for over 30 years… what is next? we did in, we looks like we are no longer pushing...

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!

Where ever we are, What ever the circumstance - Riots of Twin Cities of Minisotta, Reality TV, Every Day life in your home - Keep in step with the spirit. As He moves, you move

How? How do we keep in step with the spirit?

Paul does not say here but he says how not to do it

Galatians 5:26 ESV

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Conceited - Thinking we are better than others. We are not, We like everyone in the world deserve eternal pain and destruction, separated from God forever… only by Jesus, through His life, His death, His resurrection are we declared innocent before God.

Provoking one another - building up anger and divisions with in the body; is this showing the fruit of the Sprit? NO! - It can be fun to debate and challenge one another. We must becareful that others are more improtant than our convicitons and prefrences

“Have a shoot list, and keep your shoot list short” - Have/know the absolutes, keep the absolutes short.

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

We can get to where we think nothing we do is right. That what others do is the good and we do is bad. We envy - think what they have done should be ours. Their “blessings” should be ours

We can get to where we think we deserev what others have.

Maybe we have chosen a path to help pelople but never recive teh monitary benifits, the felsh can come out and think we desere what they have

Maybe we have chosen a path of service but others are getting all the praise and recognition but we think we deserve it, the flesh can come out and try to claim it for ourselves

So what?

Today we saw

Our need to daily submit to the Holy Spirit

Through this constant daily submition the Fruit of the spirit will work themselves out

When we stop submitting to the spirit, the works of the flesh will return with us becoming concited, provoking one another, and envying each other.

Bottom Line:

Walk by the Spirit

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Bulletin

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

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3) F______________________ of the S______________________

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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) Have you ever gotten tired of doing the right thing? Why? Why is doing the right thing exhausting? What kind of toll is it on a person? Physical, mental, emotional? Why did you pick this type?

2) Read Galatians 5:16-25

3) What does Paul mean “if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit”? How do we live by the spirit? How do keep in step with it? can we be living by the Spirit but be out of step with it? How? Why or why not?

4) If we are living by the Spirit how can we become conceited, provoking each other, or envying each other? Why do we see these things so often in places that claim they are living against it (aka churches)? are these things we need to look out for? why or why not? do you think when we think we are immune to these we are in the most danger? why or why not? How can we seek to live by the spirit and not fall into these things? Which of these have you seen crop up the most in your life?

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?