Galatians Part 11

Intro:

talked through the doctrine of adoption

We saw first how God comes and fulfills all requirements to pave the way for Him to adopt us as His children

His timing is perfect

His qualifications sufficient

His passions pure

We also spent time talking about now the privileges we have because all of that is true

We are given a new identity

We are clothed with Christ

We belong

And we are now heirs with Christ

We talked about who we’ve been, who we are, and who we are becoming

Paul used the OT story of Isaac and Ishmael to illustrate the difference of being born of the flesh and slaves to our flesh and being born of the Spirit and living by the Spirit.

And last week we talked about how the gospel + nothing = everything

If the gospel is not enough, than Jesus is not enough.

If the gospel is not enough, than you must obey the whole law.

If the gospel is not enough, than grace is not enough

If the gospel is not enough, than you lose hope of future glory

this week we will see what it looks like to walk by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16–26 NIV

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 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.

Pray

Bag of Florida Gator gear

What if I told you I was a big Florida state fan

I go to every game

I know every player

I am actually a booster and pay lots of my hard earned money into their program

Sometimes I get to hang out with the coaches

I am a devoted, passionate, fan!

Now, this looks rather silly right?

To say that I am one thing, but my actions tell a completely different story

To say that I am a huge Florida state fan while I put on my Florida gator gear is a tell tale sign to show you that actually what I am, is a big fat liar

And this is a silly analogy obviously but at some point if this continued, and I kept on doing this charade next Sunday and then the next and every Sunday for the next 10 years this happened, I promise you, you would get sick of it and you would know that I’m a liar and you would probably stop coming here and not even want to be around me.

But if I were to say, I am a gator fan

I’ve gone to games and watch videos on them

I follow who they’re recruiting

And listen to analysts talk about how their season might go

And I had this on, now I’m a little more believable

In the same way, Paul here is saying, when you give your life to Christ you’ve become fanatical about Jesus

But your passion for Jesus must match inwardly and outwardly

We can’t say we are followers of Jesus but still follow the world

We can’t walk around declaring we are fans of one thing while wearing another teams gear

And Paul is going to argue here that we can’t walk around declaring to walk by the Spirit when there is no evidence of it

It causes confusion, conceitedness, and chaos

so Paul says walk by the Spirit

A few things to take note of here

Paul is not talking to the super Christians

He doesn’t say “hey leaders of the church”

He doesn’t say “pastors and elders”

He is speaking to you! Every believer needs to learn how to walk by the Spirit

Also, this is a continuous thing.

to “walk” by the Spirit indicates the need to yield to the Spirit every day.

The greek word here is perry puh tay o

I have a dog named Lucy. And she loves everyone in our house but her bond with me is stronger than anyone else’s. she listens to me the best and she’s always concerned about where I am and a lot of times, especially if I’m just getting home she will get right behind me and just follow me around wherever I go. Like, it doesn’t matter where it is, she’s coming with me

This is Perry puh tay o. It’s to follow someone around so much so that you are trampling the ground behind them

To walk by the Spirit, we do not wait for Sunday morning. It’s not something we put on when it’s convenient and then take off when it’s not.

We always, every moment of every day, walk by the Spirit

Continuously, non stop

And we do this to conquer our flesh

The phrase Paul uses here in vs 16 “and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” is a promise.

Those who surrender to the lead of the Spirit will not carry out the desires of their flesh.

We should notice that there is no neutral ground here

You are doing one or the other

either you are submitting to the leadership of the Spirit or you are gratifying the cravings of your flesh

This also tells us that the way you deal with your sin is not simply saying no to it but by also saying yes to the Spirit.

So often we know our sin is wrong so we fight against it and we say no as long as we can but eventually we give in

We must not just learn the power of saying no to our flesh but also the power of saying yes to the Spirit of God

And we must do this because the battle is intense

Sometimes we fail to defeat our flesh because we fail to see the intensity of it

We walk around like our sin is some casual thing

We have to realize that this is war. A war that rages on constantly!

And it is without escape because the battle is not “out there” it’s in here.

Getting more is not going to help you win the battle

Finding another girl because the one you are with doesn’t make you happy anymore will not help you win

Running to substances to help numb the pain will not help you win because the problem is not out there it’s in here

You can chalk up every problem the world has ever seen to giving into the desires of the flesh

This is why marriages fall apart, this is why families fall apart, this is why churches fall apart, this is why the world is falling apart

Because the problem isn’t out there, it’s in here

And we give into the desires of our flesh and it creates a breeding ground for the enemy to take hold of

And so, we must not be complacent!

We must be active in our walk!

Because this battle for your heart is intense!

And Paul ends this first section by saying, “if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.”

Paul is not saying there are no laws when you walk by the Spirit

He’s saying that when you are led by the Spirit you are walking under the new Covenant of grace that God has for you

You are no longer under the old covenant of redemptive history

Then Paul starts talking about some of the desires we have in our flesh

These are the battles that we will fight

And I would imagine that some of these or maybe even many of these will resonate with us

And he also says they are obvious

To pretend your sin is not a sin, is a sin

Let’s stop playing games with God

Instead of going through each and everyone of these, which I would encourage you to do, we just don’t have the time this morning

But, we can actually categorize them and see them at the larger scale

And there is some overlap here

And also notice that this list is not exhaustive. Paul says “and the like” showing that these are just examples

But you can categorize these into: sex, religion, relationships, and indulgences

Sex: Interestingly enough, usually when a list of sins or fleshly desires are present, it starts off with sexual sins. Paul does it here and also in Eph, 1 cor, and Col. Jesus does it in Mark 7.

the greek word here is “porneia” where we get our word pornography from.

It’s sexual immorality, moral impurity and promiscuity.

Sexual sin is a major problem for many reasons

It grieves the Holy Spirit.

And it effects many others, not just the one sinning.

It dishonors the image of God

It violates God’s pure plan for marriage

And it is completely opposite to the fruit of the Spirit, especially the greatest, which is love

Religion: Now religion is not a bad thing. James speaks of pure and undefiled religion. but here the term is being used negatively

This may look like idolatry or sorcery but it is fruitless religion

Idolatry being the worship of something other than God

Worshipping created things rather than the creator

Sorcery indicates trying to manipulate circumstances or powers to bring a desired goal rather than submitting to and trusting God alone.

These acts are dangerous and demeaning because we are looking to something else to give us what only God can

Then there’s relationships. Paul notes 8 works here, which emphasizes relationships as he’s done throughout this letter.

Hatred: enmity of any kind and is at the root of conflict

Strife: to have a contentious temper

Jealousy: to want what someone else possesses. It’s a sin that often leads to other sins.

Fits of rage: it refers to the eruption of a person with an uncontrollable temper

Selfish ambition: it was primarily used in the political area used to denote “office seeking.” Doing whatever is necessary to gain power and authority

Dissensions: a pulling apart. division. the opposite of unity

Factions: it’s closely related to dissensions but it’s an effort to pull apart to create sides. “party spirit”

Envy: Much like jealousy but it’s a hatred for others success

And then we see indulgences

Those who can not control themselves. Have no restraint demonstrate a life dominated by the flesh and not by the Spirit

Then Paul ends this thought with a warning: those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God

Paul has taken us down a dark path to show us the depravity found in our flesh

it is ugly and it is painful

And those who practice these things should live in fear because you are not living in the kingdom of God and will not enter to coming kingdom

those who put our faith in Christ are new people, now this does not mean that we are perfect because you will still wrestle with your flesh

But one who walks by the Spirit is not dominated by the flesh

They have new desires and new power over their flesh

It is not a works salvation but our salvation does lead to fruitfulness.

Which Paul then speaks to

Paul lists 9 virtues in conjunction with the desires of the flesh

I do not believe this list to be viewed as exhaustive either for there are other spiritual fruits listed elsewhere like hope and godliness that are not listed here

Paul begins with love. Much like sexual sin having a sort of significance to it, love has a significance in the view of the virtues

Much of these other virtues listed are practical expressions of love

A commentator said “love is the heart and soul of the Pauline ethic, for it is love that fulfills the law.”

He moves on to joy

Believers can have joy despite circumstances

This is counter to what the flesh communicates

Our joy is deep seeded

The Spirit produces peace

Peace rules the heart of those who walk by the Spirit

And the Spirit produces us into the role of peacemakers according to Paul in Eph 4:1-6

The spirit produces patience

As we remember how patient God is with us we begin to let that overflow into those around us

The spirit produces kindness

God brought us to repentance through His kindness and we are called to model and reflect that as well

The spirit produces goodness

It’s the idea of doing good deeds and being generous people

We are to have faith

This speaks not just to our faith in God but to be people who can be trusted and relied upon

Keep your word and fulfill your promises

We are to be gentle

Not weak but gentle

Our first reaction should not be to fight but to gently restore, rebuke, rebuild, and relate

We are to have self control

We are to be people who live restrained lives

We are to have power over our passions

Now, most often when I’ve heard this preached what comes next is: look at this list, there are things you probably are strong in and areas that you struggle with.

Focus on those areas that your struggle and fight for those things

Here’s the problem with that. It’s completely against what Paul is saying and urging us to do.

The problem with that approach is, it’s just self-help

it just behavior modification

We do not bear the fruit of the Spirit by behavior modification

We don’t just look at our weak areas and then focusing on them to help yourself get better at them

The point Paul is trying to make is this

You bear the fruit of the Spirit by keeping in step with the Spirit

you must walk in step with the Spirit and then these virtues grow out of that.

You can not do this by your own strength, no matter how badly you want to

The point isn’t behavior modification

The point of it all is union with Christ

When we begin to align ourselves with Christ these things are just a result

I’m not saying to not be aware of areas of weakness

self-awareness is a good thing

But true self-awareness should ultimately show us that we can’t do it on our own

We need the power of the Holy Spirit

And when we surrender our lives to Him that’s exactly what we are given

Paul spends his last few thoughts in this chapter speaking directly to that

He says Gal 5:24

Galatians 5:24 NIV

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

When we put our faith in Jesus and surrender to His Lordship our flesh is crucified with Him

We are given power and authority over our flesh

We are freed from it’s reign over us

And although we have not mastered that power in our daily lives we possess it nonetheless.

It is an already and not yet dichotomy.

We have already been given power over it

We have not yet learned to master it

But there will be a day coming soon that we will.

But just know, that there was something already decisively done on the cross

Christ has already won the ultimate war

We now have to learn to fight the daily battles

And then Paul says

Galatians 5:25–26 NIV

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.

As believers, we have the Spirit

We have God himself living with us and in us

Which means, that although the battle can be gloom and doom at times, we have what we need for victory

So what do we do?

We keep in step with the Spirit.

It’s a picture of following a general into battle

To stand in a row or formation

We are following the leadership of the Spirit in our lives

And he ends with one more exhortation

He ends this thought with a warning about how to treat and relate to one another

Once again showing us that a Christian life is a Spirit led life and a life of christian community.

In order to be the church Christ intends for us to be we must all realize that we are called to be led by the Spirit so that we may not gratify the desires of our flesh.

in the next chapter this will be Paul’s focus

How to rightly care for others by the power of the Spirit.