Watch Out for Counterfeits!

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Galatians 5:15–24 (ESV)

15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

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.

Opening Prayer

Last week, I said that I want us to look more deeply at...

The Stark Contrast

Between the Works of the Flesh vs. Fruit of the HS.

Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV)

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.

In Contrast...

Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV)

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.

The 1st Contrast is Counterfeit Fulfillment Produces Emptiness

As an example of this type of counterfeit, I’ll use love.

Do you notice that love is not a work of the flesh?

Do you notice that love is a fruit of the Spirit?

But, the works of the flesh promise love.

Some works of the flesh are behaviors that are promised to produce love, if pursued.

Or they’re supposedly expressions of love.

Some of the works of the flesh are behaviors expressed when the end result doesn’t meet the promised result.

BTW, the works of the flesh never obtain the promises that are offered.

And, the promises that are offered are always a baited hook.

They never deliver what they promise...

They merely ensnare you to being a captive.

The works of the flesh always let down...

And, are always in pursuit of counterfeits.

Counterfeit love.

Counterfeit peace.

Counterfeit happiness.

Counterfeit acceptance.

Counterfeit value.

The Bible says that the only way to truly love others...

Is by first, loving God...

Then, loving your neighbor as your self, follows...

And, is fueled by loving God.

The Bible teaches, that loving others is motivated for a desire for their good.

We cannot understand, nor care about what is best for our neighbor, truly...

Unless we first love God.

Loving God causes us to properly respect Him...

And, hence, heed His instruction regarding self & others.

The command, you shall love your neighbor as your self...

Can only be truly understood/practiced in a right relationship with God...

In which God instructs us on what that truly means.

Worldly love, love that is opposite of biblical love...

Does not care about neighbor in the biblical, righteous sense.

It falls short of what God intends regarding love.

It fails proper motive.

It fails proper direction.

Worldly love is only, and can only, be motivated by self-centered motives.

The Bible says that true, righteous love is a fruit of the Spirit.

And, only those who are alive in Christ have the Spirit of God.

True, biblical love is expressed within the parameters of God’s design and purpose for love.

Love is being covenantal, not uncommitted.

Love is being faithful, not unreliable.

Love is resilient, not shallow.

Love is self-control, not self-indulgent.

Love is patient, not easily annoyed.

Love is sacrificing of oneself for the other, not sacrificing the other for oneself.

Without the Spirit of God, we cannot love this way.

We’re in bondage to counterfeits.

In Christ, we have freedom from the counterfeits.

One can only experience true freedom in Christ.

Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

A Second Contrast is Counterfeit Freedom Produces Bondage

Within freedom there is always a wrong way to use it.

This is in opposition to the world’s idea of freedom.

The world says that freedom is expressing yourself in whatever way you choose...

Without responsibility.

The Bible says, “No.”

True Freedom always has responsibility.

If you try and use your freedom in ways that freedom is not designed...

Then it’s not freedom you’re pursuing...

It’s bondage.

The world and it’s ideologies promises freedom to find fulfillment...

And proclaims that Christ is a road block to freedom and fulfillment.

But, the reality is Christ sets us in the only context for fulfillment...

And, by the HS, enables us to actually lay hold of pleasure, love, joy, peace, happiness...

All the things we’ve been designed for and crave...

Which are all only obtainable in the Spirit.

Now, I want to put this back into...

The Context of Relationships

Paul stated in v.15 as a launching point for the passage at hand...

Galatians 5:15 (ESV)

15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Neither “Works of the Flesh” or “Fruits of the Spirit” are being committed or expressed outside of relationship.

Since works of the flesh are motivated by self..

If we are not in Christ, and walking by the Spirit...

We cannot interact in a relationship in the way God calls us to...

Which is to love them as much as we love our self.

Remember, we can’t even truly love ourself outside of abiding in Christ.

So, are our relationships being established and maintained by the power of the Spirit...

Or the works of the flesh?

So, the litmus test is...

Are our relationships being “Built Up” or “Used Up”?

Are you emptying yourself into the relationship?

Or are you just receiving from the relationship?

Is the giving and receiving within the relationship according to God’s design, purposes, and commands?

Is the relationship pursuing what God delights in?

Are the fruits of the Spirit evident, on your part, within the relationship?

And, when you fail to contribute to the relationship in the way God has designed and commands...

What is your response?

Part of the War Against Sin is Your Thoughts

This is two-fold:

What you think about the opportunity in the moments of temptation is what will motivate your behavior.

What do I mean by that statement?

In the moment of temptation, you will either believe God knows what is best about the opportunity...

And, His commands are best for you...

And, will bring you sustained joy.

Or you will believe that God does not really know what is best for you...

And, for true joy you need to take things into your own hands...

And, that disobedience to God is actually what will bring you joy.

You have a choice to make:

Worship God through faith and obedience.

Worship self/world through disbelief and disobedience to God.

What you think about sin after you lose or win the battle against the temptation will motivate you reaction.

If we are under a Law mindset...

We will conceal the sin from God by convincing our self it’s not really sin...

This is motivated by pride.

It’s the very mindset that motivated Adam & Eve to hide in the Garden after they fell.

It’s the very mindest that keeps people from running to Christ...

And, finding forgiveness and reconciliation in His arms.

This is a tragic response and leads to misery.

If we are under a gospel mindset...

For Christians, we may spend some time under a Law Mindset...

But Spirit leads us to godly sorrow and repentance.

Which is back to a gospel mindset.

Running to God...

Understanding our full & forever standing in Christ...

Understanding God has granted us full access to His grace and mercy in Christ...

Longing to feel/experience what we have positionally...

Is being under a Gospel mindset.

Another truth that aids us in our walking by the Spirit is...

We Need to Learn How to Properly Repent of Sin

Repentance is not just confessing, asking forgiveness, and then NEXT.

And, we don’t dwell on the guilt of it, either.

Like groaning our self into asceticism.

We confess our sin to the Lord.

We ask that we might know and feel the forgiveness that we already have in Christ.

We praise the Lord for the gospel.

We praise the Lord for the New Covenant, which we cannot fall out of.

We praise the Lord for the HS that seals us and leads us in our confession and repentance.

We pray that God would grant us repentance.

But, I think we forget about something too often.

Were good at bringing our outward behavior to the table...

But, a missing element in our repentance of sin is the examination of our inward motives.

What I mean by that is examining what the underlying idol is that we were chasing...

The idol that caused the expression of sinful behavior.

Sin is behavior, but there is always a false belief that drives sinful behavior.

When we are short-sighted in our repentance...

We think the answer is isolation from the temptation.

And, with certain sins, that may be a good short-term solution.

But, there’s no true isolation from temptation unless you move to a mountain top, isolated from all people and relationships...

And, that is not biblical, either.

And, in that context, you’re trapped alone with your biggest problem.

You.

The goal of sanctification is not to remove yourself from all temptations...

The goal of sanctification is to love Jesus more than the temptation to sin.

The way to get there is to know what the tempting, sinful idol is.

What is the idol that is enticing us to sin?

Is the idol control, pleasure, comfort, prestige/how you’re perceived by others.

Why did I lose my temper?

Because I had expectations on the situation...

And the situation didn’t go according to my expectations...

And, I was let down by my expectations...

And, I lashed out at those who influenced the situation to not go according to my expectations.

So, the outward behavior that we’re good at bringing to the table of forgiveness...

Is actually deeper.

And, in this case is being motivated by a desire to control the outcome of the situation.

So, the idol is control.

The Biblical truth is that God is the only one in control...

And that His plan for my life is being revealed before my very eyes...

And, situations that are not according to my will...

Are opportunities for me to worship Him by submitting to His revealed will...

And worship Him in that situation through obedience.

And, so the real object of repentance, in this specific scenario...

Should be my sinful desire to be God and control life.

I’ll speak more to this as we progress into Chapter 6.

But, let us not give into counterfeits offered by the World.

Let us pursue walking by the Spirit.

Let us pursue repentance from idols of the heart.

Let us rest in Christ for what we truly need.

Closing Prayer