From Freedom to Victory

Intro

- Illustration- kids sports that don’t keep score- there is no goal- there is no striving for victory- pushing to claim victory gives purpose

- Recap of book

o Story of the Galatians

o Salvation by faith, not works of the law

o Evidence of who we belong to

o So in verse 24 we pick up with that very idea… “Those who belong to Christ Jesus”

§ 3:29- And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs

§ 3:22- …so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.

- Through Faith in Christ, we experience freedom, not for the sake of simply escaping our condemnation, but freedom that leads to victory through the work of the Spirit in our lives.

- We have been freed for a purpose. Not to simply go back to the old way of life where our focus was on living for ourselves, but to live in the reality of our freedom and victory

- You see, the ultimate victory has been secured. Our hope of eternal life and the defeat of sin and death is certain, we know that! But how do we experience victory in this life knowing that our sinful flesh is still alive within us?

- Because it’s one thing to look back at our moment of salvation and ahead to the promise of eternal life, but what about the in between. What about today, and the next day, and the next day, where I am constantly dealing with the pain and frustration, worry and fear, the temptations that come from my sinful nature that is still living within me?

- As Christians we not only have hope for the future but hope and power for each day.

- Read Galatians 5:24-26

- Paul describes the formula for living a victorious Christian life

A Victorious Christian Crucifies the Flesh (v. 24)

A. As Christians, our approach to sin should not only be condemnation, but annihilation

1. It’s not enough to just agree that these works of the flesh are wrong, we must get serious about destroying their hold on our lives!

Illustration- trying to lose weight, but eating food that is bad for you- “Wow, this pint of Ben and Jerry’s has over 1,000 calories… I’ll just eat half… oops, there’s the bottom… I don’t know why I’m not losing weight!”

2. We see this pictured in Baptism- death and new life

a. Symbol of putting to death my old sinful nature

b. A common series of questions that has been historically used in baptism expresses it this way:

(1) Do you turn to Christ? I turn to Christ. Do you repent of your sins? I repent of my sins. Do you renounce evil? I renounce evil.

3. This is why Christ died! To rescue us from sin- not just to keep us from Hell

4. Are we saying a defiant "no!" to sin in our lives, or are we content living in it?

Illustration- Sylvie- learning what no means- she can hear us say it all day, but until she learns to tell herself no, nothing will change

- We are not looking for negotiated peace talks- we’re not looking for a conditional surrender- this is a complete annihilation of our sinful nature

B. It needs to happen every day- crucifying our flesh is not just a one-time thing

1. And here is where we must have a balance of understanding, because in one very real sense the victory is complete, sin and death have been defeated, our hope is secure, but on the other hand, the daily battle is real- this war against the Spirit and our flesh

2. We must understand both our ultimate victory over sin, but also the daily war against it

3. This is neither perfectionism nor defeatism

a. The reality of our ultimate victory in the end should not lead us to complacency in our daily fight against sin

b. We must have the full picture- we can get so focused on one aspect at the expense of the overall truth

4. John Owen- "Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you."

a. If we are not on the offensive, we will become the victim

b. We cannot do this apart from Jesus's sacrifice for us on the cross

C. Nailing our passions and desires to cross

1. An acknowledgement of what Christ has done for us, but also an understanding of our responsibility to act!

2. Passions- impulse- something that comes upon me

a. Rom. 7:5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

3. Desires- longing or craving

a. These desires are rooted in our sinful flesh and lead to a path of destruction

(1) 1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

(2) 1 Tim 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

b. God gives us new desires!

(1) Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

(2) 1 Peter 4:1-2- Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin—2 in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

- If we were to just stop here, Christianity would be like any other religion- “be better! Stop doing bad things!”

- But the reality is that we are sinful people incapable of overcoming sin in our lives, but God in his love and mercy has given us the power for victory!

- 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

A Victorious Christian Keeps in Step with the Spirit (v. 25)

A. Our actions ought to match what we believe

1. “If the Spirit is the source of our life”

a. If the reality of our lives is that we have been set free and are filled with the very Spirit of God who enables us to pursue righteousness, then we ought to live like it! – follow his leading!

2. This is who we are

a. Walking in the Spirit is evidence of What God has already done within us

B. This is a military term

1. Implies discipline

a. This is a word that many people shy away from- but it is essential to our Christian walk.

b. Faith- fueled, Spirit-empowered discipline

c. Otherwise we will slip back into living in our flesh

2. It requires focus

Illustration- phones are a great tool- but if you are like me, they can often destroy our focus- on my phone they even put a setting called focus- it shuts off all notifications so we aren’t distracted from what we view as most important

- some of need to switch on focus mode when it comes to our spiritual walk- we get so distracted!

a. Heb. 12:2 (Running the race with endurance) keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

- So we’ve seen that a victorious Christian crucifies sin and walks in the Spirit. Now Paul gives us practical application of what it looks like to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit

A Victorious Christian Pursues Unity in Love

- This verse leads us into the final chapter of this book that focuses on relationships with others

A. The primary source of our sin is pride- "conceited"- begins with a focus on ourselves-

1. Pursuing our own glory

a. Spurgeon- "Nobody is anybody until he is willing to be nobody."

2. C.S. Lewis "Satan is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride—just as he would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer. For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense”

a. You can’t just say, “I have a handle on it”, “I won’t let it get that bad”

b. You must remove it- crucify it!

B. Provoke

1. To challenge to a contest

a. Have you ever been around an especially prideful person? Their high view of themselves creates in us a desire to either elevate ourselves, or to cut them back down to reality, both wrong

C. Envy

1. When I am so focused on my own glory, I am constantly comparing myself to those around me

2. I become frustrated when others do well. I become discontent with what I have and desire what others have

So What?

- Do you belong to Christ?

- Are you putting to death sin in your life daily?

- Are you keeping in step with the Spirit?

- Are you pursuing unity in love with those around you?