The Battle

INTRODUCTION

Who doesn’t like to see a good battle, a good war movie, or a movie that features someone battling the elements to survive?

We can see these battles; they play out right before us.

However, there is a battle that all Christians are engaged in every day, and sometimes we forget it.

When you hear the phrase spiritual battle, what comes to mind?

When we start thinking talking about Satan and what he seeks to do to us, do you think he is some antiquated concept that we are now too sophisticated to entertain?

Make no mistake; there is a battle raging within us; that battle is, “AM I GOING TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT, OR BY THE FLESH?”

When we start talking about being saved by faith and not the law, people worry that that means you can do whatever you want and still be saved.

Technically, sure, God will forgive our sin.

That’s what it means to be saved by faith and not by works.

However, as we will see today, when you are saved, your heart is changed, and your whole life is transformed.

You want to live a different life, not because it will save you but because you are no longer the same person you were before you knew Christ.

When someone says they are saved, but their life looks exactly the same as an unbeliever, it raises concerns about whether they know Jesus.

But just like with the older brother of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 fearing grace because we think it will lead to reckless living also raises some concerns about whether we know Jesus.

Today's text will see the battle we fight laid out before us.

We will also see how one can tell if they live by the Spirit or are being driven by the Satan prompted flesh.

When we do not understand there is a battle between living or walking by the Spirit versus walking by the flesh, we will ultimately lose the battle.

We will see the marked difference between walking by the spirit versus walking by the flesh.

The decision we make will not only affect us; all those in our path will feel the effects.

Let’s begin by turning to Galatians 5:13-15.

Galatians 5:13–15 (NET 2nd ed.)

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.

14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.

SERMON

I. The way faith demonstrates itself in your life.

I have said this before, but it is worth repeating, Jesus does not offer salvation to us, only to send us into another miserable life of slavery.

He does not sentence us to a life in His family that means we can no longer have fun or enjoy life; we were called to freedom!

We receive that freedom from answering the call from the Gospel to follow Jesus!

2 Thessalonians 2:14 (NET 2nd ed.)

14 He called you to this salvation through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In James 1:25 and 2:12, the Gospel of Jesus is called the perfect law of liberty!

We know that Paul is writing to Christians by using the terms BROTHERS, and SISTERS.

They've been urged to keep standing fast in their freedom; the explanation now offered concerns the proper use of that Christian freedom or that Christian liberty.

An issue that accompanies freedom ensures that freedom will not be misused, squandered, wasted o,r used selfishly?

The Judaizers thought external rules should control that man's conduct, as the Law sought to do; controlled from the outside.

Christianity teaches that a person's conduct is to be controlled from the inside by love and the help of the Holy Spirit.

The difference between the Judaizers (and, in principle, other manmade religions) and Christianity is that the Judaizers would urge bondage to the tyranny of their works of the law.

In contrast, Christianity teaches freedom and gives some simple guidelines within which a man is free to act.

Verse 13 encourages one not to use their freedom in Christ as an opportunity to indulge in the flesh.

Our freedom in Christ is a blessing but can become problematic as it is open to abuse if the Christian is not diligent about self-control.

How one exercises their liberty is something over which a Christian has control.

Freedom in Christ does not mean that a person is free to sin or free to tear someone apart so one can get their way.

A few months after writing Galatians, Paul would write the Book of Romans.

In Romans 6 Paul deals with this issue more profoundly, telling us that living under grace is not a license to sin.

In Romans 7:14-28, Paul describes how things were before he became a Christian.

He could not make himself habitually do what was right, and he could not have habitually avoid the wrong.

When he became a Christian, his slavery to sin was broken! (Romans 8:1-3)

In Romans 8:14Paul surmises that he can no longer walk according to the flesh.

Once freed from sin, we can stop sin from taking control of our bodies, and instead, we can present our bodies to God to be used as instruments of righteousness! Romans 6:13!

The word OPPORTUNITY denotes a starting point, a base of operations for an expedition.

We cannot let sin have a base of operations within our life!

In verse 14, Paul tells us the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment!

YOU MUST LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF!

What Paul tellsPaul tells us is that the spirit and intention of the law pertaining to human relationships is obeyed when one loves his neighbor.

Paul mentions the Law here because the Judaizers were making arguments based on the Law, and Paul is trying to refute them.

Paul says here's a simple way to obey the Law, and you don't have to be a Pharisee or Judaizer to do it.

The single command to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF is a quote from Leviticus 19:18.

Jesus uses the same passage in Luke 20:27 when answering the lawyer's question about what is the greatest commandment.

This command is second only to loving the Lord YOUR God!

When Christ broke our slavery to sin, a Christian is free but not to do selfishly what they want, when they want, and where they want, but rather, they are called to fulfill what God wants.

How do you know if you are fulfilling this command in your life?

It is by how you treat others.

The word HOWEVER in verse 15 offers the ugly contrast that happens when brothers and sisters in Christ or anyone fails to love their neighbor.

Instead of loving their neighbor, they will tear into another person in the pursuit of getting what they want.

When this happens, both parties suffer greatly.

Biting and devouring is a figure of speech taken from the jungle in the forest where tooth and claw rein and the inhabitants are exterminated by each other.

In this scenario, church members are pictured rushing at each other like wild beasts.

The verb tense of biting in devouring denotes the act of continuing to bite and devour one another.

The construction of this phrase implies that bickering was already presently going on in the churches in Galatia.

Then Paul finishes this section off by warning us not to be consumed by one another.

The word CONSUMED means to utterly destroy or annihilate.

When people fail to practice love for one another, they destroy one another spiritually and sometimes physically.

The other result is the loss of reputation to the congregation, and its influence and effectiveness are all damaged because people can't love one another.

And its worst fellowship disintegrates, and churches disappear.

Love for one's neighbor is a safeguard to ensure the blessing and using one's liberty. (Gareth Reese commentary on Galatians)

Let’s look at verses 16-23.

Galatians 5:16–23 (NET 2nd ed.)

16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

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

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions,

21 envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice 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, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

II. The battle we will fight.

The desires of the flesh are so destructive.

The way we do not turn our freedom into an opportunity for the flesh is to live by the Spirit!

The battle we fight is for who controls the way we live life.

Do we allow the Spirit within us, or do we let the flesh run our lives like we did before we were baptized into Jesus?

The way we live is our choice; we have to decide who will win the battle.

The Judaizers sought to get people to live by a set of rules; Paul offers a better way to live.

Part of the reason we receive the Spirit is to help us live the life God calls us to live.

When we obey the desires of the flesh, we will be led to misuse our liberty.

The desires of the flesh equal those desires and cravings in our physical bodies that are stirred up or prompted by the devil and therefore are not pleasing to God.

Now that they are free, the Christian must decide which prompting they'll obey, the prompting of the spirit or the prompting stir it up by his body by the devil.

Verse 17 tells us that the Spirit and the flesh oppose to each other.

These two entities will fight against each other.

The construction of this section of the text tells us that sometimes we can do it and sometimes we can't.

“Do what you want” may refer to the evil desires of the flesh that want us to do what we shouldn't do and prevent the Spirit's influence, or it could refer to the good Spirit prompts us to do, but we fail to accomplish because the desires of the flesh hinder it.

Verse 18 tells us that when the Spirit leads us, we are not under the law when the Spirit leads us.

In others words, with the internal control of the Spirit, we will not need external forces to help us stay on the right path.

You're not under the law because there is no need for its restraints but, on the other hand, because it finds nothing in one led by the Spirit and walking by love to forbid or condemn.

We have freedom in which righteousness is done because we desire it, not because the law requires it.

We are told the works of the flesh are obvious.

You can know if you are walking by the Spirit or the flesh by examining your life next to the two lists found in verses 19-23.

Let's move to verses 24-26.

Galatians 5:24–26 (NET 2nd ed.)

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

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.

III. The reason we can win.

The reason we can win the battle, the reason the Spirit can win out over the flesh, is that as a Christian, you have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

What is true of those who belong to Christ is not true of those under the law of Moses or who advocate the works of the law or try to live by any manmade system.

2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that we are new creations in Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NET 2nd ed.)

17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!

The verb tense indicates that this crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and desires pointed to a one-time act in the past.

This one act in the past would have been our Christian baptism, as explained in Romans chapter 6 and verse six. That's when the change was complete and decisive.

Getting the control of the flesh with its passions and desires requires the death and burial of the old person and a rising to walk in a newness of life.

This is precisely what Paul wrote about in the book of Romans 6:1-11.

In our immersion into Christ, the old person was crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be done away with, and we will no longer be slaves of sin.

If we've died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with Him.

If we live by the Spirit, our life will reflect that fact!

We also have to guard against looking down at others struggling with walking by the Spirit.

That is what verse 26.

Also, if we are struggling with walking by the Spirit, we are not to be jealous of those who are successful; we need to look to them for help and encouragement!

CONCLUSION

The book of Galatians is as radical today as it was when Paul wrote it because it is as much a struggle for us today as it was back then to live by faith.

How do we know if we’re “doing a good job” of being a Christian if we aren't following rules?

On our own, we will never do a good job of being a Christian.

That’s why the Good News of Jesus is so good!

Once we recognize the bad news of our true selves, we can turn to Jesus and receive the Good News that we can trust in Him and everything will be all right because of his death.

Our application for this week is, will you strive to live by the Spirit?

Galatians 6:15 (NET 2nd ed.)

15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation!

We are one in Christ; we are new creations in Christ!