Sermon – Galatians 5 – Spirit or Flesh – Which Leads You?

SLIDE 2 … So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you … SLIDE 3 … I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace … SLIDE 4 … But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love … SLIDE 5 … You were running the race so well. Who had held you back from following the truth? it certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom … SLIDE 6 … This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing these false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you … SLIDE 7 … Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised – as some say I do – why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended … SLIDE 8 … I just wish those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love … SLIDE 9 … For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves … SLIDE 10 … The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions … SLIDE 11 … But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures … SLIDE 12 … idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God … SLIDE 13 … But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things … SLIDE 14 … Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

15 … Christ set us free from sin and a long list of rules and regulations – 613 are listed in the OT. We can’t keep all of these commands, our entire lives, without messing up once.

16 … Christ set us free – not to do whatever we want because that would lead us back to slavery and sinful desires. Rather, we are now free and able to live a holy and unselfish life.

17 … Those who appeal to their freedom so that they can have their own way or indulge their own desires are falling back into sin.

18 … It is wrong to put a burden of law-keeping on Christians. We must stand against those who would enslave us with rules, methods, or special conditions for being saved or growing in Christ. We cannot be slaves to sin or the law – we are to be free in Christ.

19 … Galatians 5:2-4 … Trying to be saved by the law and by grace are two entirely different things. If we are trying to save ourselves by following the OT laws or by doing enough good deeds, then “Christ will be of no benefit.”

20 … Obeying the law does not make it easier for God to save us. All we can do is accept His gracious gift through faith. Our deeds must never be used to try to earn God’s love or favor. We can’t do enough or give enough to coerce or force God to give us blessing – so don’t listen to the health/wealth preachers … they are peddling lies.

21 … Circumcision was a sign of the right background. If a person was counting on finding favor with God by being circumcised, then they would also have to obey the rest of the law completely.

22 … Trying to save ourselves by keeping all God’s laws only separates us from God; and forcing other believers to do everything exactly the way we do it will either drive them away or make outsiders think we are legalistic.

23 … Galatians 5:5-6 … We are saved by faith, not by works or deeds – although deeds based out of love should come from our salvation. Love for others and for God is the response of those whom God has forgiven.

24 … Faith expresses itself through love, you can check your love for others as a way to monitor your faith. If you are having a hard time loving and caring for others, then that is a good sign that you need to reevaluate your faith and walk with God. Remember, Paul also wrote the “love” chapter of 1^st Corinthians 13, where he says, “without love, he is nothing.”

25 … Galatians 5:7-10 … This is not the only time Paul speaks of running a race. In 1^st Corinthians 9:24, 27, he says to run to win and will disciple himself, so he will not be disqualified. In Philippians 2:16 and 3:14, he is glad that he did not run in vain and that he presses on to receive the heavenly prize. In 2^nd Timothy 4:7, he says he has fought the good fight, finished the race, and remained faithful. Hebrews 12:1 also tells us to run with endurance the race God has set before us.

26 … Paul calls into question the person that has introduced heresy – and calms them by saying it surely wasn’t God; but that would God would deal with – judge – this person for teaching falsehoods. We need to run our race, but to make sure we are on the right path, we need to study and help each other out by teaching the truth and exposing lies.

27 … Galatians 5:11 … Persecution proved that Paul was preaching the true Good News – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If he had taught what the false teachers were teaching, then no one would have been offended. But because he was teaching the truth, he was persecuted by Jews and Judaizers, (people who said you had to be a Jew and then be a Christian).

28 … Galatians 5:12 … 2 meanings here … Some think that Paul is telling the heretics to remove or separate themselves from the faithful followers of Christ – no more contact.

29 … Others see this as Paul calling out the heretics by saying that if circumcision makes them better or devout or righteous, then by removing everything they would prove how better they are … excessive rules do not save people.

30 … Galatians 5:13-15 … Paul distinguishes between freedom to sin and freedom to serve. Freedom or license to sin is not freedom at all, because it enslaves you to Satan, others, or your own sinful nature. Christians, by contrast, should not be slaves to sin, because they are free to do right and to glorify God through loving service to others.

31 … Galatians 5:16-18 … If your desire is to have the qualities listed in verses 22-23 (The Fruit of the Spirit), then you can be sure that the Holy Spirit is leading you. At the same time, be careful not to confuse your subjective feelings with the Spirit’s leading. Being led by the Holy Spirit involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey God’s word, and the sensitivity to discern between your feeling and His promptings.

32 … Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you control your selfish desires – even if it is just to escape.

33 … Paul describes the forces fighting within us – the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature (our evil desires that stem from our body). The Holy Spirit is stronger, but if we rely on ourselves and not the Spirit we will fail. Our only way to freedom from our evil desires is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, Ephesians 4:23-24, Colossians 3:3-8).

34 … Galatians 5:19-21 … Nowhere in Scripture do we read that sin is dead when we get saved – we still live in a body of flesh and we all have sinful desires that must be refused.

35 … These include obvious sins, such as sexual immorality or demonic activities. They also include less obvious sins, such as hostility, jealously, and selfish ambition. Those who refuse to deal with them reveal that they have not received the filling of the Spirit that leads to a transformed life. Verse 24 tells us to nail our sinful natures to the cross and leave it there.
36 … Our sinful nature desires to take normal bodily needs – such as hunger, thirst, sexual gratification, comfort, pleasure, etc. and can twist them ant tempt you to sin – to pervert our basic needs as humans. These lifestyles lead to destruction, not admittance to Heaven.

37 … Galatian 5:22-23 … Because the God who sent the law also sent the Spirit, the by-products of the Spirit-filled life are in perfect harmony with the intent of God’s law. A person who exhibits the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the law far better than a person who observes the rituals but has little or no love in their heart – remember the Pharisees?

38 … The Fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these characteristics that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control – we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without His help. If we want the Fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our life to His (John 15:4-5). He is the vine and we are the branches – if we remain in Him, we produce fruit; but if we do not produce fruit, then we are cut off, will wither, and will be gathered up and thrown into the fire.

39 … We must know Him, love Him, remember Him, and imitate Him. As a result, we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law – which is to love God and our neighbors.

40 … Galatians 5:24-26 … In order to accept Christ as Savior, we must turn to Him and away from our sins, willingly nailing our sinful nature to the cross. As Christians, we still have the capacity of sin because we are in a fleshy body, but we have been set free from sin’s power over us and no longer have to give in. We must rely on the Spirit to help us overcome sin by refusing it or escaping.

41 … God is interested in every part of our lives. As we live by the Spirit’s power, we need to submit every part of our life to God: emotion, physical, social, intellectual, vocational. Paul says that because we’re saved, we should live like it – kind of sounds like James. The Holy Spirit is the source of your new life, so keep in step with His leading. Don’t let anything or anyone else determine your values and standards in any area of life.

42 … Everyone needs a certain amount of approval, but those that go out of their way to secure honors or win popularity can become conceited and show they are not being led by the Spirit. Those who look to God for approval won’t need to envy others. Because we are God’s children, we have the Spirit as the loving guarantee of His approval. Please God, not man.

43 … Closing Challenge … There is quite a bit in the 5^th chapter of the book of Galatians …
- submit everything in your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ …
- nail your sins to the cross and leave them there …
- do not satisfy your sinful nature …
- follow the Spirit and allow Him to produce Fruit …
- seek the approval of God and not man …