Galatians 5:16-26

Intro

Hey Y’all! How are y’all doing? Welcome back to Wednesday Nights. How is everyone doing? School going alright? That’s good, that’s good.

How about them Dawgs? It was a great game, close game until pretty much the 4th qt.

Go Braves. Pitchers and Catcher hopefully report soon if they end the lock out.

Anyways, have you ever tried to multi task while studying? Maybe some of you might be able to do this, but for me I can’t do it.

I really like Podcasts, and my favorite podcast is a History Podcast called, Hardcore History. I just one guy and he does these insanely deep dives on different historical events or people. He actually does one that talks about the Ancient Gauls, which is partly who Galatians is written too. But these episode are like 5-6 hours long. Most podcasts are 30-45 mins, Hardcore History is 5-6. Anyways. I love listening to it, he probably only drops 1 to 2 episodes a year. He dropped 2 last year. 12 hours of content. But when they drop, every other podcast or book I’m listening to, or reading, gets paused. But one thing that I can’t do is listen to them while I work. I can’t multitask, i have ADD so the best I can do it music and work. But even that is a stretch. I tried listening while I worked, and I just couldn’t keep up with what and where he was going in the story.

Basically what was happening I was trying to split my mind in half. Trying to focus and get work done, and actively listen to a podcast really just meant i only half heard what the podcast was saying while only doing a halfway good job at what ever I was working on. I can’t do it. At that point I am just wasting time.

This is what i want to be in the back of your mind while we are looking at this passage. That we know we should be doing, but we have desires that that keep us from doing what we know we ought to be doing.

Context

So, we haven’t been in here since last year haha, i can’t wait to make all the dad jokes. Anyways, it really has been a while since we were in Galatians all together. So let me give you some background, let’s do a little refresher.

Galatians, written by Paul to the church at Galatia. These people were mostly Gaulic, they were pagan. This ethnicity of these people comes from what is now modern day France.

And kinda of the under current of this passage is this idea that some Jewish Christians who were there were trying to get the Galatians to follow the law and Jesus. They wanted them to adopted the Jewish traditions in order to properly follow Christ.

But Paul is telling them that this is not the way. Following Christ doesn’t work like that. Christ fulfilled the law so that we are set free form the Law. By following Christ the law isn’t weighing on you. Christ changes your desires. We are going to be thinking in terms of desires tonight. We all have desires, some good, some are indifferent and some are not good. Some are Christ like, some are sinful. How do we handle the desires? What marks the Christian life?

The passage before this talks about our freedom in Christ, basically all things are permitted not all things are wise. We do not live under the law but under the Lordship of Christ.

Okay so let’s get in to this passage. We are in Galatians 5:16-26 Does anyone need a bible? If you need one go ahead and throw a hand up and we will get you one. If you don’t bring a bible on Wednesdays I want to encourage you to do so, it really does help to have a physical bible in front of you. So last call for a bible, anyone need one? Okay cool. Let’s read this whole passage together and then we will break it up in to chunks. But before we do that, let’s pray for our time in the word tonight

Pray

Read this with me.

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

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. 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. 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.

Okay so what do we have going on here? This passage contains one of the more famous passages in the bible, but what is Paul trying to say here? What should we take from this?

Walk in the Spirit v.16-18

Look at verse 16-18. Paul is setting us this battle that goes on in each our minds and hearts. When you read this you should have a reaction to the words. We all know our own sin better than anyone else, think to yourself, what are some of your fleshly desires? but also, think to yourself, what are some of your Christlike desires?

This passage is really easy for preachers to use it to beat up a congregation, and that is not my goal here. I don’t think that is Paul’s goal here. Paul is trying to get them to think.

In verse 16, Paul starts this by saying “But I say,” Which Paul uses a lot in his writings. It is basically his way of saying think about this, here is my advice. Here is how you should think about this.

He is trying to get us to think introspectively, trying to get us to think about what goes on inside our head and our hearts.

So what is his advice? first walk by the spirit.

Have any of you been caving? Where you go and explore a cave? Okay, when I was about 17 I went to Camp Winshape, and the group that I was in basically went backing packing for two weeks in the mountains of north georgia. It was kinda awesome. I was also in much better shape then and much slimmer. But we went caving one day, and it was pretty wild. We had to were hard hats with lights on them and one of the parts of the cave we were going through was a very narrow corridor with a gap in the middle. It was about a 15 foot drop if you mis stepped, and walls only had about 6 inches for you to step on to get to through the corridor. You had to watch the person in front of you’s foot, and basically step exactly where they step, because they were stepping exactly where the guides foot steeped. The guide knew where he was going, he knew where to step, he knew where the rock was strong and where the rock might give way.

That is the what Paul means by walk by the spirit, the word means to presently walk with the spirit. It is something you do everyday, every moment.

Paul is painting a picture here of the Christian life. This is why a lot of the times we refer to the Christian life, people will call it their walk with the Lord, their daily walk with Christ.

This is how it is supposed to be, in the Garden this is how it was, Adam and Eve walked with God, presently, physically. This is how is it also going to be, in Revelation, We will be presently with God.

Paul is saying walk with by the spirit, this will help change your desires. This is how the Christian life is, it is presently like this and preparing you for what is to come in the coming age.

So if you are writing things down, write that down, Walk in the Spirit. Then in verse 17 he sets up the battle, tells you why you need to be walking in the spirit. We still live in a fallen world, we are still susceptible to sin, to the desires of the flesh. These sins, the desires of the flesh are what is going to keep you from truly seeing God for who he is, the flesh is trying to pull you back in to this world, and make this world the end of the means. The Flesh sees this world and says this is all there is, live in the now. But Christ is saying, don’t give in, follow my foot steps. Walk in the spirit.

Flesh v. Spirit v19-23

So let’s keep going, we see that the desires of the flesh and the desires of the flesh are battling against each other.

Paul here gives two views of life. Lots of times when we read this passage we want to read it as this is what you do, this is what you do not do. Flesh does these things, Spirit does these things. lets read these lists really quick.

Flesh - Galatians 5:19-21 “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.”

Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23 “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.”

Two lists that are opposed to each other. Almost polar opposites of one another.

And yes you want to do these things and not do these things but we need to look deeper at this, because if we see this as merely just do’s and don’ts we are missing what Paul is saying.

Both of these things are the out workings of walking in the flesh or walking in the spirit.

For the list dealing with flesh, think about sin. What is sin, how does sin work?

Do you just one day out of the blue wake and say i will now be a sexually immoral angry drunk sorcerer? Are you just one day like, I’m going to do all of these things.

No, i doubt anyone does that. No sin works in the same way rust works, sin takes things and corrupts them, corrodes them. It can even take good things and corrupt it. Friendship is wonderful good thing, a gift from God. But you aren’t walking in the spirit, sin starts to creep in and all the sudden, rivalries, dissension, envy, jealousy, fits of anger can creep in. It comes in over time, you don’t even notice it at first and the next things you know you aren’t talking to your friends and now they may even be enemies you have made. Sin slowly corrupts good things.

Paul calls the things on the flesh list, works of the flesh. It’s not a list of things not to do, but a list of things that will come to happen if you are daily walking in the flesh. The out workings of the flesh are these things Paul says.

Look at the Spirit list, Paul calls them the fruits of the spirit, if you had to daily just through sheer will do all of these things, that would be pretty hard. It is hard to love, it is hard to have joy sometimes, peace sometimes feels like it is not an option, patience is is difficult especially with difficult people and circumstances, kindness might be the most simpleone on here, but even then it’s tough, goodness, what even is goodness? how do you know by your own will that you are being good? faithfulness can be hard in this life, gentleness is probably what you need most when you think you need patience, and self-control may be the hardest of them all.

But Paul is not saying you have to do these things, but that by walking in the Spirit Christ will produce these fruits in you. That is why they are called fruit, that have to be cultivated, they have to be grown. Peaches don’t just appear on a Peach tree, they have to grown. They have to be stewarded. Christ is the one who will produce these things. This isn’t a list you have to do, but a posture your life will take when you start to be lead by the spirit.

It wont happen over night, but it will be produced if you are walking with Christ.

In my own life I have seen this happen, knowing me now most of you would not have guessed that I used to have a hair trigger temper, it didn’t take much for me to explode. And it is not because I have just gotten good at controlling my emotions, I just don’t get angry, you can ask LL, very rarely do I get angry, and if I do it is 9/10 a warranted anger not a fit or temper, but something we should be angry about. And that is not because of anything that I have done other that walking with Christ. Christ produces gentleness, self-control.

So think about it, think about your life, what fruits do you see in your life? If you are having trouble seeing any, ask yourself, are you walking with the lord? Are you being led by the spirit?

The Promise we have in Christ v. 24

Okay so lets keep going, look with me just a verse 24, this is the promise we have in Christ. Galatians 5:24

Galatians 5:24 ESV

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

Christ is the one who comes and changes our desires. Christ is the one who took on flesh and was Crucified, our desires are crucified with him. There is nothing we can do in our own power, but walk by him.

Christ Changes you v. 25-26

Read these last two verses with me Galatians 5:25-26

Galatians 5:25–26 ESV

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.

Christ is the only way we are going to be in right relationship with each other and more importantly right relationship with God. Christ is the one who changes us, the one who produces the fruits of the spirit with in us.

So I want you to think while you’re sitting here tonight. Who are you walking with? Who is leading you in this life? is it Christ? Is Christ the one whose footsteps you are following? Or have you thought you can make your own path up the mountain? Have you put yourself on the throne of your life? Who is King? What fruits are prevalent in your life? are they works of the flesh or are the fruits of the spirit?

If you are a follower of Christ this passage is calling us to examine our relationships with one another. one of the quickest ways to identify fruits in your life, is to see how you treat people? How do you view people? Also, if you see a friend who is showing some of these fruits, tell them, encourage them. Encouragement my not be listed as a fruit, but it is an important part of the Christian life.

If you are not a follower of Christ, this passage is calling you to examine your life, are you letting sin corrupt your life? You may not think it is a problem now, but sin full realized leads to death. Not just physical death, but a spiritual death where you are given over to the full wrath of God in a place called Hell. Christ does not promise an easy life, nor does he promise all your problems will be solved and you will never have suffering. But what he does promise is joy everlasting, he promises to walk with you in suffering, and one day to be with him for eternity. Christ promises life, the flesh promises death. Which are you going to walk with?

If you have any questions about what it means to be a follower of Christ come talk to me, talk to one of the adults, or talk to a friend. Me and the adults aren’t magical, your friends who follwo Jesus are just as capable as we are at showing you how to follow Christ.

Yall pray with me