Walking by the Spirit part 2

Ben Trigsted

Stand Firm in Freedom • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

Galatians 5:19–23

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Introduction

Last week, as we looked at Galatians 5:16-18, we saw Paul’s call to the believers in Galatia, and to us as well, to walk by the Spirit.

We saw that if we are to resist the temptations that we will experience, we must walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This requires dependence on Him and obedience to Him, and that it frees us from the bondage of legalism.

In verses 19-23 Paul compares a life that is not guided by the Holy Spirit with a life guided by the Holy Spirit. One he calls the works of the flesh, the other the fruit of the Spirit. That will be out outline as we explore this passage this morning.

Body: Galatians 5:19-23

Verses 19-21: The Works of the Flesh

Paul begins by saying that the works of the flesh are evident, or clearly revealed by one’s actions.

Paul’s point, as we shall see, is that a Spirit-led life is not characterized by these behaviors.

In fact, he is so impassioned about this that he says, “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now, of course a statement like this is challenging for a couple of reasons:

First, didn’t he just say that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone, and not works? Then how could works render us unsaved?

Second, is he saying that if we ever do any of these things we aren’t really saved? If that’s the case, who really can be saved? (As we will see, most of us are susceptible to at least one of these at times.)

We will answer this before looking at the list of the works of the flesh.

To answer these questions, we must bear a few things in mind:

We should never be in a place where we are justifying sin in our lives. Passages like this, while not driving us to question our salvation, ought to make us probe our lives to see if there is sin in our lives.

The modern church has soft-peddled sin for too long. In our desire to not sound “judgmental” the pendulum has swung WAY too far the other direction. Too often we don’t even talk about sin.

During the Super Bowl last week there was this “He Gets Us” campaign commercial that caused a stir...

Again, this passage isn’t designed to make us question our salvation (which would undercut what Paul teaches in the rest of the letter) or to think that we can lose our salvation (you cannot lose through works that which you could not earn through works). But, it should cause us to take a good look at our lives and ask the question, “Are any of the works of the flesh evident in my life?” If so, I need to confess, repent, and receive forgiveness.

The term translated “do” in my version here is what we call a present active verb. It’s something that we make a practice of doing, or are actively involved in.

This is more than simply stumbling, confessing and repenting, then making a concerted effort to resist in the future. That’s what Christians do.

For many of these, they are lifestyle sins, meaning our public and/or private lives are characterized more by these actions than the fruit of the Spirit.

Finally, as we will see with the fruit of the Spirit, these are activities that tell us whether the Holy Spirit is guiding us or not.

When we look at the fruit of the Spirit we will see two things:

They are the fruit (singular) not fruits (plural). Meaning that we are the branches and when we are connected to the vine (Jesus), we will see the resulting evidences in our lives.

Second, these are evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, not something we reproduce on our own. They are the fruit of the Spirit, not of our human effort.

Thus, these serve in some ways as tests so that we can evaluate our walking by the Spirit. “Do I see the works of the flesh, or the fruit of the Spirit evidenced in my life?”

Let’s quickly look at what Paul lists here when it comes to the works of the flesh. They can be loosely grouped into three headings; sexual sins, religious sins, and social sins.

Sexual Sins:

Sexual immorality = the Greek word is the word we get pornography from and points to any sexual act that is not within the confides of a biblical marriage bond. Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and the multitude of sexually immoral practices that we hear about WAY too much today!

Impurity = moral uncleanness, especially with an emphasis on sexually immoral practices.

Ephesians 5:3–4 ESV

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Sensuality = not shockingly, the sexual sins listed her become more and more immoral. Here, this term means unrestrained sexual abandon. The idea is someone who is brazen about their sexual sins. There is no shame in it.

Religious Sins:

Idolatry = the worship of a material representation of a deity, particularly the pagan gods that others worshiped.

Sorcery = this was the use of potions, drugs and other items that were thought to control or overcome evil spirits.

The Greek word here is the word we get the term pharmaceutical from in English.

Social Sins:

Enmity = a deep-seated ill will towards another person.

Strife = bitter conflict with another person; sometimes resulting in violence.

Jealousy = a greedy longing from something that belongs to someone else (materially, relationally, emotionally, or even spiritually)

Fits of Anger = an uncontrolled feeling of intense anger.

Rivalries = selfish ambition. It’s a strong drive for personal success without any moral inhibitions.

Dissensions = creating discord that splits up a group; intentionally or unintentionally.

Divisions = being part of a discord that splits up a group. Remember, we were called to be peace-makers, not faction-makers.

Envy = spite and resentment toward the success or possessions of another person.

Drunkenness = the result of the overuse of alcohol.

Orgies = the term in English often means a sex party, but these were parties where excessive eating or drinking would happen, which typically resulted into a sex party.

Some of the people in Galatia worshiped the god of wine, Bacchus (Dionysus in Greek). Their parties often turned into orgies.

Side Note: Some may ask, “What about people who are struggling with addiction?”

In reality, just about any of these can result in addiction. An addict, by definition, struggles to control the urges of whatever they are addicted to.

To begin, we need to be compassionate with people who are struggling with addiction. An addict will actually use the perceived judgment of others as an excuse for continuing in their addiction.

At the same time, we need to not make excuses either. An addict stays an addict as long as people around them continue to enable their behavior.

The key is “the struggle.” Many addicts aren’t struggling with addiction, they are living in that sin with no real effort or even desire to stop.

Someone who genuinely wants to break his or her addiction should receive our compassion and help.

It’s a horrifically hard battle, but it’s not impossible either.

An addict needs a support system, people to keep them accountable, major life changes, and the personal “want to” that drives them to overcome day-by-day, minute-by-minute, second-by-second.

To simply say, “I asked the Holy Spirit to make me stop,” usually isn’t enough. The Holy Spirit usually doesn’t immediately take the desire away, but He will bring people into our lives to help. Addiction loves darkness. The Holy Spirit shines a light onto that darkness and brings us into the light with other believers.

Verses 22-23: The Fruit of the Spirit

The evidence that we are walking in the Spirit are the fruit of the Spirit.

As fruit is naturally produced by a healthy plant, so these fruit are naturally produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a Spirit-led believer.

William MacDonald: “It is significant that the apostle distinguishes between the works of the flesh, and the fruit of the Spirit. Works are produced by human energy. Fruit is grown as a branch abides in the vine.”

Another way to look at the fruit of the Spirit is that they represent true Christlikeness. Christ displayed all of these throughout His ministry. We will see these more and more evidenced in our lives as we walk by the Spirit.

They are the fruit of the Spirit in that they are produced by the Holy Spirit. For our part, we need to strive for faithful obedience to the Spirit in our daily living. The fruit of the Spirit won’t be produced in our lives if we are being disobedient to the Spirit.

See, it is possible by human effort to display some of the fruit in our lives. The catch is, they aren’t fruit of the Spirit, they are fruit of our efforts. And, they will be temporary and have little to no spiritual impact. As believers, we need to be Spirit-led so the fruit will truly be fruit of the Spirit.

Look at the fruit of the Spirit:

Love = love is really the driving force behind all of these fruit. Love is an action, not simply a feeling. While it often stems from a feeling, it is displayed in action.

This isn’t simply love for our family. It’s love for our family of faith, the church, as well. But, if we are really going to have Christlikeness, we will also see a growing love for others, regardless of our relationship with them.

Love doesn’t mean blanket acceptance of ungodly actions, by the way. Jesus was perfectly loving when He turned over the money-changing tables, called the Pharisees hypocrites, called Peter Satan and told him to get behind him, etc. Some of the most loving teachings of Jesus were some of the hardest teachings and most “in-your-face” sayings. It’s not loving to soft-peddle the truth, it’s self-centered.

Joy = biblical joy is more than happiness. There is a contentment in biblical joy that stems from confidence in God, not our circumstances.

Happiness is often tied to our circumstances. It’s why I will always say that the meaning of life isn’t to find happiness. It’s much better to strive after biblical joy, because joy remains when happiness has waned.

Only the Holy Spirit can give us this type of contentment, as He recalls to our memory what God has done to prove His faithfulness over and over again.

Peace = peace here is not simply the absence of war. It’s living in harmonious relations with other people. It’s doing all we can to be at peace with others, yet not being a people-pleaser.

People-pleasers are not at peace. They may have an absence of conflict with others, but the inner conflict eats us alive!

A person at peace uses Matthew 18 to work through their conflicts and struggles with others.

Patience = a patient person endures pain and unhappiness because they trust that God will ultimately use our suffering for our good and His glory.

I’m a very patient man…when I’m not suffering, upset, or uncomfortable in some way.

Kindness = a person exhibiting kindness is warmhearted, considerate, humane, gentle and sympathetic to the needs of others.

Goodness = goodness is moral excellence in one’s interactions with the world.

Faithfulness = a faithful person shows their faith in the Lord, but also reflects being a faithful person that others can count on. Truly, it is his or her faith in Christ that drives their faithfulness to others.

Gentleness = a gentle person is even tempered and mild in their relations with others.

Self-Control = keeping one’s desires in control. Is not driven by emotions, peer pressure, or sinful desires.

The end of verse 23 takes us back to verse 18:

Galatians 5:18 ESV

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

What will a Spirit-led person see in his or her life which evidence that we are not under the law? The fruit of the Spirit.

So What?

When coming to a text like this, it’s very important to remember that it’s not telling us to do the fruit of the Spirit and not to do the works of the flesh. Those are the results of or the failure of something else.

As we’ve seen this morning, that ‘something else’ is walking by the Spirit. So, how do we do that?

You have to be a follower of Christ Jesus.

Some points are so clear, they don’t take much explanation.

Acts 2:38 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

You cannot receive the Holy Spirit if you have not received forgiveness of your sins in Jesus Christ.

You must not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 ESV

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV

Do not quench the Spirit.

To grieve means to sadden or make someone feel sorrow. To quench means to stifle. It’s connected with the idea of putting out a fire. How would someone sadden or stifle the Holy Spirit? Jesus answers the question for us:

John 14:15–17 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Thus, the final point:

You must obey the Holy Spirit.

The book of Acts in often called the “Acts of the Apostles” but it really should be called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” because throughout the book of Acts we see what God does through His Holy Spirit when believers obey Him.

We live in the 29th chapter of Acts. The same Holy Spirit that was at work in the life of the early church is at work in the life of the church today. The question isn’t whether God is at work. The question is, will we obey?