Walking Away From the Flesh, Walking in the Spirit.
Part 1
Galatians 5:1,13-25
1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and those are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness, 20. idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentious, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, 21. envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
V. 1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty,” Stand fast in your confession of faith, for it brings with it spiritual liberty. Legalists in the church taught that certain aspects of the law also pertained to Christians. They tried to get the church to believe that faith in Christ was not enough, that they were to also observe the law for salvation. In the previous lesson I taught that the law led to Christ, and that faith is what saved us. The Galatians for whatever reason began to believe this teaching, be it they felt that they were not good enough, and therefore wanted to add something to their salvation, or another reason.
I stress again and again that grace is enough. 2Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” When we come to the realization that our ability to save ourselves is based upon the grace of God, we realize our own weakness. Weakness is a hard thing for most of us to admit, but it is in that weakness that we find strength. For it is in the realization we can not save ourselves and have the strength to lean on another, being God, that our weakness in perfected in His strength. Often times I try and do it myself, thinking that I can do it all myself, only to have to call another to fix the mess that I just made. A friend called me late at night and asked if I could come over and help him dig a ditch to keep the rain water from coming in his basement. He survived the situation and realized that, without help he would never be able to keep the water from entering his basement. It is pride that kept me from calling on another; my friend knowing his strength was not enough made him pick up the phone.
It is God who began our journey through salvation; it is God who will see it through to completion, not works. To think that we can add anything to what Christ did for us on the cross, is to take away from what He did for us on the cross. God is the author and finisher of our faith. He called you, or is calling you, out of the muck and mire, to the solid rock which is Jesus Christ. It is He who will prefect your faith through grace. Martin Luther had a prayer I thought I would include in this message.
"Establish in us 0 God, that which thou hast wrought, and perfect the work which Thou hast begun in us to Thy glory, Amen."
V.13 We have been called to liberty from the law and the ceremonies that bind us to the law. Our liberty does not, on the other hand, give us freedom to walk in the flesh, but freedom to walk in the spirit. For we may not be bound by the Mosaic law, but we are bound by moral law. Our liberty also gives us the freedom to choose to serve another, not out of obligation to them but simply out of love. It is Christ like to serve another as a slave would serve a master, but without the restraints of slavery. Yet we are bound to Christ and it is that bondage that compels us to act as Christ would. Remember the bracelet from a few years ago, WWJD.
V.14,15 We have to remember this is not the world that Paul is writing to, it is the church. It should be an obvious thing for the members of any church to love one another, but alas, the Galatian church overlooked the obvious. They sought to discredit Paul as an inferior apostle, as well challenge his authority. When we bicker and fight over what seems to be important to us, but to an outsider seems trivial, we destroy our witness to the love of God. Imagine a new convert walking into a board meeting where all seems a total chaos. It wouldn’t take much for this convert to question their place in that church, but perhaps question their Christianity as well. As I taught in an earlier lesson, the world judges Christ buy the actions of His followers. When we devour each other we are not walking in the Spirit of God, but have replaced Him with a spirit that is from Satan himself, and allowed him a foothold in the church. It is his desire to pollute the gospel any way he can, to many times we act more as his aide, them disciples of Christ.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Would you slander yourself in order to get your way? Would you steal from yourself, cut with words, hate the very sight of yourself, or go out of your way, just because you would rather not talk to yourself? Sound silly? Then why do we do it to each other? Personally, I don’t know, but I do. I shake my head week after week as my neighbor insists on cutting over the property line, and making a crooked line. I should rejoice that I don’t have to cut that extra pass on the mower. What kind of witness do I leave by cutting over the grass that was just cut the other day? Trivial, yes, a poor witness, indeed, but a foothold for Satan? It could be, if I allowed it to fester, and grow into something larger, for if we bite and devour someone long enough, they may bite back. In the end both will be consumed by hatred, only to forget what started it all in the first place. Till hatred is the only thing we know, and the love of Christ is no longer in us. No matter what the Spirit of God says to us, we can not hear Him because of the anger that consumes us. Satan’s goal is death and destruction, by this he ruins our witness, and our ability to be used of God. Only after destruction, in our grief, do we again hear that still small voice of the Spirit of God, reminding us of God’s love. It is at this point we again are left with a choice, allow God to heal us, or refuse to hear His voice. Your choice, no one can make it for you. Display the true mission of the church and forgive and let God heal you, and perhaps you too will have a good testimony to give.
(Refer to testimony on page.)