“Life in the Spirit”

Scripture: Galatians 5:16-26

Did you realize that we have been delving into the Book of Galatians for 8 weeks already? How time flies! And we still have two more weeks to go! I have always enjoyed Galatians, but I’ve never done such an indepth study of the entire book before. While we have seen Paul taking the church to task for putting more trust in “works” than they were in their faith in Christ, he is also giving them encouragement to listen more closely to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
While he has been addressing the fact that this church was beginning to accept the critical importance of circumcision, it is actually about the conflict, even in the church of today, of following the law, or the things we do, versus following the Spirit . And even more so, it is the confusion that sometimes exists in whether we are following the Holy Spirit, or simply the desires of our own hearts. The differences aren’t always crystal clear, unless we lean completely on what scripture is telling us, and not just on a selected verse or two! And even then, we can be lead astray.

Paul was teaching that the law could only hold the church in bondage – that the law was solely about slavery, but that faith in Christ, that following the lead of the Holy Spirit, was a step in freedom. The law leads us into sin, the Spirit leads us out of sin. But how do we truly know which is which?
Today, Paul offers us some thoughts on how to know when we are in the world, and when we are in the Spirit.

Read Galatians 5:16-18

The way that he introduces this passage is very interesting – “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Do you notice that he doesn’t say the Spirit will keep us from ever being tempted? He simply tells us that if we live in the Spirit, we won’t fall for the temptations – we won’t “gratify” those sinful desires.
This is an important point, and Paul is very intentional in pointing it out to the church. But more on this later.

The next thing that he wants us to understand is that we can either live in the Spirit, or we can live in the world, but it is impossible to live in both. It’s about that old chestnut that describes those times when we can’t seem to make a decision – we are said to be “straddling the fence”. It’s an act of presumable safety – it’s so we won’t get into trouble with either side.
But Paul says that this is impossible – the “fence” that divides faith from fiction is so absolute that we can’t be on both sides of the line at the same time. In verse 17 he writes that they are contrary to each other. They stand in direct opposition to each other. For those who are Star Trek fans, it’s comparable to mixing “matter” and “anti-matter” – they would be mutually destructive.

The bottom line that Paul offers is this – Christians must always strive to “gratify” the desires that come from the Holy Spirit, and they must always work to reject the desires that come from the world. Admittedly, we aren’t always successful in this, but the desires of the Spirit must take precedence.

Read Galatians 5:19-21

And now he gets down to the “nitty-gritty”. He begins with the words “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious”. Why does he say that they are obvious? I’m not so sure that they are! If they really were, why would Christians engage in these acts? Sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, selfish ambition, and others – these are stumbling blocks for many today – even some who are in the church. Some, like witchcraft, drunkenness, and orgies may not be so routine for most of us, and only some may fall for their allure. They may not be quite as common as others in his list, but they’re a problem, just the same. But why would he say that they are obvious?
I think the only possible explanation is that they are only obvious to people who have been taught that they are part of our sinful nature and are not of our spiritual nature. Everyone else will be unable, and are unable, to see the folly of these ways. But does this give the people of earth license to do as they wish, and to ignore the leading of the Spirit? Certainly not, but they may never know the call of the Spirit unless someone introduces them in faith to Christ.

This is why the church must be faithful in witnessing and leading. We cannot be tolerant of sinful practices; we cannot compromise in our polity; we cannot overlook the “little sins” and let them slide; we cannot throw up our hands and loudly proclaim “O well, they’re just going to do it anyway, so why bother!”

Consistency in living out the gospel must be our watchword. You’ve probably heard someone say that as long as we live faithfully in whatever lifestyle we choose, we are OK – that one belief structure is just as good as any other one. We know that this isn’t true, and we can never let others go on believing this without at least letting them know that there is another side to the issue. We may never change their minds, but they have to know that there is a decision that has to be made!

And just a few comments on Paul’s list. It begins with sexual offenses, then moves to idolatry and the occult, then to sins that cause divisiveness and brokenness in relationships in families, in friendships, and within the church, and he ends with issues of self indulgence. It’s a pretty inclusive list, and it’s an important distinction to note that Paul says that exclusion from heaven will come to those who live like this. This does not mean that one occurrence, or even several will put us on the outs with God. It means that if our lives seem to center on these acts, and we do nothing to rid ourselves of these “gratifications”, then, unfortunately, we will have chosen to “live like this” and will have to suffer the consequences.

Read Galatians 5:22-26

The first list shows us the things that we must avoid, but Paul knows that we can never just look at the “negatives” of life – that we must also understand the “positives”. And I believe that the biggest difference between the two lists is that the first one is all about our own self indulgence, while the second is about what we can give to others. Think about it –sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, rage, ambition, factions, orgies – are these things intended to give others pleasure? Hardly! It is all about what we can get for ourselves!
But the fruit of the Spirit – this isn’t about what we get – it’s about what we can bring into the lives of someone else! It’s true that these are attributes that we may exhibit, but the intent isn’t that we will gain from them, but rather that others will. Let’s pick a couple to see if this is true.

Let’s compare the fruit of “joy” to the act of “hatred”. The Psalms are filled with references to joy – and each one is either about the joy that comes to us from God’s blessings, or the joy that God receives when we are faithful. Hatred, on the other hand, is all about us – it is our reaction to something that has been done to us. It builds up within us, and can become quite debilitating. It doesn’t benefit anyone, and actually destroys our relationships.
How about “self control” versus “Selfish ambition”? Self control is a self-limiting act that keeps us from tearing someone else down, and may even result in building them up. Selfish ambition, though, is generally about making ourselves greater at the expense of someone else.
Will it be “others first”, or “me first”?

The fruit are God’s blessings to us, and our blessings to others - they are not what we claim for ourselves.

Paul also writes that when we are in Christ Jesus, we not only have moved beyond the sins of the flesh, but that they have been “crucified”! Crucifixion implies that the passions and desires of sin no longer have any hold, any presence, any effect, any place in our lives. This is the Spirit-filled life that Paul is encouraging the Galatians to claim once again, and it is the life that every Christian must strive for, especially today. When we crucify the sin, it is then that we can live in the Spirit!

But remember that claiming this Spirit-centered Life does not mean that we will live within it perfectly. I wish it did, but it doesn’t! The truth is that there are going to be days when we think that some of those old crucified sins of ours have somehow been resurrected into a new life! The old ones are still dead, but new ones will continue to challenge us throughout this life - the onslaught will never end! We must continue to be vigilant in the battle, and continue to seek the leading of the Spirit, and continue to reject the nature of sin, and continue to offer God’s goodness to our world, regardless of what may come against us.

The law can’t do it - Paul tells Galatia that it will only pull the church backward, while the Spirit will always lead us forward. Praise the Lord for his Spirit – life over death, hope over condemnation, freedom over slavery! Which sound better to you?