Freedoms Two Paths
Pastor Bill Nichols - November 1, 2009Introduction
Often in life, you will come to a place in the road where it splits and goes in two or more directions. You have to make a decision on which road you are going to follow. If you have previously studied a map, you will know which road leads to your destination. If not, you might ask someone directions, or you might then dig out the map and begin checking to make sure you are on the right road. Today we come to just such a junction in our text as Paul contrasts living by the Spirit to living according to the flesh.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul has been arguing that freedom in Christ is superior to trying to live by the law. Paul also understood that there was an inherent problem this new found freedom that He was preaching. The problem was that some would interpret freedom from the law as license to sin.
Galatians 5:13
"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."
In the rest of chapter five, Paul addresses two choices that Christians can exercise in their Christian freedom. One choice leads to slavery, the other choice leads to true freedom.
Galatians 5:13-25
"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. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Life by the Spirit
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
"But the fruit of the Spirit 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. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
I. Freedom to Walk in the Flesh
Galatians 5:16-21
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Have you ever taken part in a tug-of-war competition? At the church camp I used to take the kids to, they liked to make a big mud hole, and then have family groups compete in a tug-of-war with each other. The one who lost got dragged through the mud; and their shoes and clothing usually got soiled pretty badly. Sometimes they were soiled so bad that the items were ruined and would have to be thrown away.
Paul states here that there is a tug-of-war going on between the flesh and the Spirit. The two are in opposition to one another, which sounds more like a pushing match to me, but the principle is still the same. Both the flesh and the Spirit are competing for your loyalty.
When the flesh wins out, we bite and devour one another, and left unchecked, we consume one another. There is a story about two snakes that each grabbed the tail of the other and swallowed the other until both were consumed. Living according to the flesh, not only affects our neighbors, but it has a detrimental effect on our own spiritual lives as well. We become covered with the mud of sin and stand in opposition to the Holy Spirit and God.
The freedom that you find in Jesus Christ creates a desire in you to serve God and to serve others, not out of compulsion, but out of love for God.
The problem is that some people interpret this freedom as a green light to live their lives anyway they want to, without judgment from God. Paul argues just the opposite. He says that freedom in Christ is freedom to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.
Paul tells us that the flesh manifests itself in four basic areas:
- Sexual sin
- Idolatry or Religious sin
- Personal relations
- Drunkenness
Sexual sin can come in a number of different forms according to the Scriptures; prostitution, homosexual relations, pre-marital sex, adultery, and others that I will not even mention. The bottom line according to God's Word, and I want you to hear me correctly concerning this, is that all sexual activity outside the God sanctioned relationship of husband and wife in marriage, is sin. And it says that those who practice these things walk in the flesh and set themselves against God's Spirit.
Idolatry and witchcraft are religious sins. Idolaters worship someone or something other than the true and living God. The word "witchcraft" comes from the Greek word pharmakeia, which means the ministering of a drug. (Pharmacy) It was used in connection with idolatry. Those who worship someone or something, (in this case drugs) walk in the flesh and set themselves against God's Spirit.
The next eight words deal with personal relationships among men. Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy set us in opposition with one another. Instead of fulfilling the commandment of Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves, we turn on one another and destroy one another. This too Paul says is a sign of walking in the flesh and being set against the Spirit.
The last three words, drunkenness, orgies, and the like, again are signs of walking in the flesh and being set against the Spirit of God.
Paul says in verse 21, that those who practice these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The Greek word here means "habitual practice". There is another Greek word which means "occasional doing." That is not the word used here.
What I think Paul is saying is that those who use their freedom in Christ to excuse a lifestyle of sin, will ultimately find that they will be held accountable for those choices, and those who practice such things, who choose to live their lives according to the flesh instead of the Spirit, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Please do not misunderstand. I am not talking about people who occasionally fall into sin, for we all sometimes blow it. If you do not habitually make it a practice to walk according to the flesh, but you truly seek to walk by the Spirit, you will still inherit God's kingdom.
What is the best way to avoid walking in the flesh? Walk in the Spirit!
II. Freedom to walk in the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-25
"But the fruit of the Spirit 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. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
What is the Fruit of the Spirit? First, the word translated "fruit" is singular in the Greek which indicates that all nine of these traits should manifest themselves in the Christian's walk. The triad of three groups are relational to God, to others and to ourselves.
The Greek word love is agape, and is defined in biblical terms as self sacrificing love. It is the kind of love that took Jesus to the cross on our behalf, and the kind of love that God wants us to manifest towards Him and each other.
The word for joy is "always used to refer to joy that is based on spiritual or religious factors". This joy is not grounded in our circumstances, but in our relationship with God.
Peace also comes from our relationship with God. This is the kind of peace described by Paul in Philippians 4:7, the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension. Regardless of what we are dealing with in our human situations, we can be confident that we are at peace with God when we walk according to the Spirit.
Paul tells us in First Corinthians 13 that love is the overriding principle by which all our lives should be governed. All the other fruit, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and any other virtue that manifest itself in our lives, are useless if they are not done in love.
In our relationships with one another, Paul tells us that we are to be patient, which author and minister John F MacArthur defines as a "gentle tolerance of others, no matter how they treat us." The source of this patience is the Holy Spirit in our lives. Colossians 1:11
Second, we are to have kindness toward others. Again, MacArthur defines kindness as "tenderness in view of the weakness of human personality and the depth of human need." James 3:17 says that gentleness accompanies the wisdom that comes from above.
Paul also tells us that we are to have goodness in our lives. "Goodness means moral excellence" and is different than righteousness. The Pharisees were righteous in their own eyes because they followed the standard of the law. Goodness goes beyond the standard to doing what is right in a moral sense. Galatians 6:10 commands us to do good to all men.
The last three traits of Christian fruit deal with the inner self.
Faithfulness means trustworthy or loyal. As Christians we are to be faithful in our walk with God and also in our relationships with one another. We can only do this when we allow the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself in our lives.
Gentleness means "humble or submissive to the divine will." Gentleness however does not mean weakness. Jesus was gentle in Spirit, but was by no means a man of weakness.
Finally, Paul tells us that we are to be self-controlled, which is the ability to keep yourself in check. I think it might better be called "spirit-controlled", because I know that when I try to be controlled in my walk and behavior according to my own attempts, I fail miserably. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control us, then we will be self-controlled.
Conclusion
Considering the contrast that Paul makes between living in the flesh and living by the Spirit, as a Christian, which would you choose to live your life by? There should be no hesitation as to which you should choose.
Galatians 5:24 tells us that
"those who belong to Christ Jesus (Christians) have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."
Still, sometimes I find that even though I desire to walk according to the Spirit, the flesh continues to manifest itself in my life. Why? I believe it is because God has given man the freedom of choice. We have the freedom to reject or accept Him. We have the freedom, even as Christians, to obey or disobey Him. We have the freedom to indulge the desires of the flesh or to walk in the Spirit. W.A. Criswell has said that "God doesn't want robots who are programmed to obey, he wants men and women and children that obey Him and walk according to the Spirit, because they love Him."
I guess the question that you and I need to consider today is simply this, do we love God? If the answer to that is yes, then maybe we should consider more seriously each and every day which path we choose to walk, the path of the flesh, or the path of the Spirit.
Prayer and Invitation