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P a g e | 1 Galatians 5:16-26 – Freedom to live by the Spirit Paul has written this letter to take on a group of teachers, referred to as the Judaizers, who have been telling the Galatian Christians that they must follow the Mosaic law to “complete” their salvation, to be right with God. Their argument is Jesus + law = righteousness Jesus + following the rules/being good = being made right with God Paul says – “No – it is Jesus alone, faith alone, grace alone that saves us and makes us right with God.” This is freedom. Freedom from the curse of the law. Freedom given by Christ. When you speak about grace long enough, when you emphasise freedom from the law, and the fact that we are saved not by the good things that we do, but by faith in Jesus and his death on the cross… the question arises at some point, sooner or later, does this mean we can do whatever we want?! If we are saved by faith, if salvation is a free gift from God that comes to us by believing, if we are free from the law and from rule keeping, are we then free to do whatever we like? What does this freedom mean? If you take away the restraint and the counteracting force of the law, what will stop us sinning! What will stop us doing wrong? Where is the restraint? The Judaizers are saying “you need the law to counteract sin, to oppose your sinful nature, to make you right with God.” P a g e | 2 Paul has said throughout the letter, no, we are no longer under the law. We are free from the law. We now live by faith in the Son of God. But what does this freedom mean? “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.” (5:13) 16-18: Here Paul presents another opposing force to the sinful nature (in place of law) = The Spirit of God. Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Don’t use your freedom from the law to indulge your sinful nature…instead live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature…. The Spirit and the sinful nature are opposites. They are in conflict with each other. It is this opposing force of the Spirit of God that stops us doing whatever we want (5:17), that stops us going wherever our sinful nature would lead us. It is the Holy Spirit in us, not the law imposed on us, that counteracts and fights against and opposes the sinful nature. This is not the same thing as the law. This is not what the Judaizers are proposing. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” (18) So….to recap…to get this straight…. P a g e | 3 How can I be made right with God? How can I have a relationship with God? Is it by being a good person? By trying my best? By following the rules? By following the commandments? Do I need to believe in Jesus and then follow certain rules, commands, ritual, forms of religious observance, to be ok? No. You are made right with God simply by believing in, putting your faith and trust in, Jesus Christ. You accept that Jesus died on the cross for you to take your sin on himself and to make you right with God. He takes your bad stuff and he gives you his good stuff. He takes your debt and he gives you his credit. He becomes sin. You become right with God. So I don’t have to do anything? I just have to believe? Yes, that’s it. It is all by believing. By faith in Jesus alone. This is given to you by grace, you can’t earn it, work for it, deserve it, pay for it. It is a free gift of God. So what about all the rules? The ten commandments? The law in the Bible? What is all that for? Can I just ignore all that stuff and do what I want? You are telling me I am now free from the law? I can just believe and have faith in Jesus and do what I want… Not exactly. When you believe, when you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to make you right with God, you become a brand new person. The Holy Spirit of God comes into you, and P a g e | 4 changes you from the inside out. The Bible calls this a spiritual birth. When this happens, your desires and behaviours begin to change because of your faith in Jesus, because the Spirit of God now lives in you. You do not change your behaviour to become right with God. You are made right with God through Jesus, and then, as a result, as a consequence, through the work and the person of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, you begin to change, your behaviour begins to change, your desires begin to change. This is the consequence of salvation, not the cause of salvation. When you become a Christian, placing your faith in Jesus, the Spirit of God comes and lives in you and a resistance movement against sin in your life begins. The Holy Spirit is the agent of holiness in your life as a believer. Here is the battle. The sinful nature versus the Spirit of God in you. How do you know what is the sinful nature and what is the Spirit? There are symptoms. Works. Fruit. Paul gives us two lists with examples…. The acts of the sinful nature 5:19-21 Sexual immorality – sexual intercourse between unmarried people Impurity – unnatural sexual practices and relationships P a g e | 5 Debauchery – uncontrolled sexuality, unrestrained sexual practices Idolatry/witchcraft/sorcery – Refusal to worship the one true God and turning to other sources rather than trusting in God Then come eight things that destroy relationships Selfish ambition – excessive competitiveness, a self-seeking motive Envy – coveting and desiring what others have Jealousy – zeal and energy coming from trying to feed a hungry ego Hatred – hostility, an adversarial attitude Discord – being argumentative, seeking to pick fights Fits of rage – outbursts of anger Dissensions – divisions between people Factions – permanent parties and warring groups Finally, two words which refer to substance abuse Drunkenness/orgies/carousing – not sex orgies but drinking orgies, wild parties, unrestrained excess Paul gives a stark warning at this point: “Those who live like this….will not inherit the kingdom of God” Paul is referring to habitual practice, rather than infrequent, and repented of lapses. As Tim Keller states: “For someone continually to indulge the sinful nature without battling against it is to show that the Son has not redeemed them, and that the Spirit has not renewed them. Paul is not looking to undermine Christian assurance here, but he is aiming to banish complacency.” P a g e | 6 If these things are regularly present in your life as habitual practices, you are indulging your sinful nature and you are not being led by the Spirit of God. 5:22 The Fruit of the Spirit on the other hand is: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” “Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires” So, Paul admonishes, 16: “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” 18: “But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under law.” 25: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” How can we live by and be led by the Spirit? 25-26 “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” (The Message) (J.I.Packer’s book – Keep in step with the Spirit) P a g e | 7 1) Form godly habits “By the Spirit’s enabling, Christians resolve to do particular things that are right, and actually do them, and thus form habits of doing right things, and out of these habits comes a character that is right.” Sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character. Paul describes the process of character formation by this means as one of being changed into Christ’s likeness from one degree of glory into another (2 Cor 3:18) and calls the character that results the fruit of the Spirit. We need to remember two things here, both of which sometimes get forgotten. A) The Spirit works through means – through objective means of grace, namely biblical truth, prayer, fellowship, worship, the Lord’s Supper and through subjective means of grace, such as thinking, listening, questioning ourselves, examining ourselves, admonishing ourselves, sharing what is in our heart with others… The Spirit uses these means to change us for the better and for the wiser as we go along. “Holiness teaching that skips over disciplined persistence in the well-doing that forms holy habits is thus weak; habit forming is the Spirit’s ordinary way of leading us on in holiness.” B) Holy habits, though formed in this natural manner by selfdiscipline and effort, are not natural products – the discipline and effort must be blessed by the Holy Spirit, or they would P a g e | 8 achieve nothing. So all our attempts to get our lives in shape need to be soaked in constant prayer that acknowledges our inability to change ourselves. “Holiness by habit forming is not self-sanctification by selfeffort, but it is simply a matter of understanding the Spirit’s method and then keeping in step with him.” 2) Expect and don’t be discouraged by conflict “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.” (Gal 5:17) A. Reality of tension. B. Necessity of effort. C. Incompleteness of achievement The believer faces active opposition to being holy from the world, the flesh and the devil. He fights back and wins victories against all three, yet he regularly falls short of perfection. The holy life always involves conflict. “The Christian pushes on against constant opposition without, plus moments and moods of reluctance within that seem to come from nowhere, but which he learns to identify as antiSpirit desires of the flesh.” 3) Remember that God is constantly at work restructuring and reforming your life Building sites (airports, schools, hospitals) that are still in operation, but which are also under construction. The builder knocks down and rebuilds sections as he goes, while other areas continue to function. This is like God’s work in our lives…. “God is constantly at work on that site, demolishing your bad P a g e | 9 habits and forming Christlike habits in their place. The Father has a master plan for this progressive operation. Christ, through the Spirit, is executing this plan on a day-to-day basis. Though it involves frequent disruptions of routine and periodic bewilderments as to what God is up to now, the overall effect of the work as it continues is to increase your capacity to serve God and others.” Christ is being formed in us. It doesn’t come all at once. It takes work and time. So, we are free. But not free just to do whatever we want, whatever we feel like doing, whatever sin dictates. Don’t use your freedom in that way, don’t abuse God’s grace that way. Instead, use your freedom to live by the Spirit, to keep in step with the Spirit. Take an inventory. Acknowledge the conflict. Remember you are still under construction, Expect the Holy Spirit to help you and empower you. Work with the means and ways of the Holy Spirit – keep in step with Him. Form and develop godly habits and character. Expect to be changed and transformed. Expect Christ to be formed in you. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” P a g e | 10 Community group discussion points and questions: 1. What are the two contrasting forces that Paul highlights in this passage (5:16-18)? 2. Paul has been arguing that we are free from the law. What does this freedom mean and what should it be used for? (5:13) 3. How can we tell whether we are living by the Spirit or in accordance with the sinful nature/flesh? (5:19-23) 4. Paul calls us to “live by the Spirit”, to be “led by the Spirit” and to “keep in step with the Spirit”. What do these terms mean and how can we do this? Consider together some of the practical application points towards the end of Geoff’s message… 5:25-26 “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” (The Message) 5. What are the “means” by which life in the Holy Spirit is developed? (The Spirit works through means – through objective means of grace, namely biblical truth, prayer, fellowship, worship, the Lord’s Supper and through subjective means of grace, such as thinking, listening, questioning ourselves, examining ourselves, admonishing ourselves, sharing what is in our heart with others) 6. We should “expect” areas of conflict in our lives in these areas. How can we live with these and grow through them? P a g e | 11 7. What is it important to remember as we grow in our relationship with Jesus and in holiness? (“God is constantly at work on that site, demolishing your bad habits and forming Christlike habits in their place. The Father has a master plan for this progressive operation. Christ, through the Spirit, is executing this plan on a day-to-day basis. Though it involves frequent disruptions of routine and periodic bewilderments as to what God is up to now, the overall effect of the work as it continues is to increase your capacity to serve God and others.” J.I.Packer)