Galatians (22)

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Daniel McCarty

Hillcrest Baptist Church

Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago • Presented 3 years ago • 47:01

Gospel

Holiness

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Introduction: How can a Christian stand firm in the grace of God and true freedom? The letter to the Galatians has been answering that question by defining the pure gospel and explain what true freedom in Christ really is. We should remember that the major problem facing the Galatian churches was the false teaching that in order to be a true Christian a person must depend on their human efforts to keep the Mosaic law. The theme of the is letter has been to correct that false notion and say, No! The law cannot make a person right with God, Only faith alone in Christ alone can justify. Now, a part of this conversation has also been to explain true Christian freedom. In 5:1 we are reminded that, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand therefore and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

Now, its interesting, for those who are in Christ this command is a breath of fresh air. But then again for others, it causes great concern that we might nullify the grace of God and go wondering off into something that is not in line with true freedom. The Holy Spirit inspired apostle Paul to anticipate this concern and so he writes in 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brother, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

And so we ask, “How can we know the difference between fleshly gratification and true freedom? And on the other side, “How can we be sure we are not submitting again to legal law codes but are in fact fulfilling the whole law by our faith working through love? These are some of the questions that are going to be answered in today passage. Follow with me as we read 5:16-18.

Transition: prayer, and draw our attention t three main imperatives from these verses. .

Walk by the Spirit

5:16 observations

So what does this mean? God the Holy Spirit empowers our faith. This means that the power of the Holy Spirit is the best defence against fleshly indulgence. If a Christian will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit we need not worry if we are indulging the flesh. Will will not gratify the self indulgent cravings of the flesh if we are living by the power of the Spirit.

Illustration: We cannot continue to walk depending on the wrong source of strength. It’s like trying running a diesel with gasoline. A Christian is not going to maintain a righteous walk with God by trusting in their own power, we must walk by the power of the Spirit.

Transition: How does this occur? Move to verse 17… “for or because”

Submit to the Spirit

5:17 observations

This means that the Holy Spirit fights against our flesh in order to transform our desires. This is gospel transformation. To cause us to want what God wants. This is the confined in the Lord that Paul alluded to in 5:10 that we will have no other view, because God the Holy Spirit who was responsible to start our justification (3:3) will maintain our standing with God through this blessed hostility against our flesh. This is the glorious truth of the gospel coming to life in a true Christian. This is the work of sanctification in the elect of God when the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is more than just good new to place us into a right relationship with God but is the truth that maintains our relationship with God. This is Christ in me the hope of glory. This is the wonderful truth of the perseverance of the saints, because the Holy Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption is going to maintain that promise by loving us enough to fight against our flesh! The gospel is not an antidoteal formula that presents the four hoops that a person must jump through in order to be right with God, no! It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel is the good news about a triune God who has loved sinners who have rebelled against Him so much that He sent His Son to take on flesh, be born of a woman, live a perfect sinless life, dies a perfect sinless death in the place of sinners, so that when God the Holy Spirit takes this truth and awakens a person to trust in Christ alone for salvation we have an eternal relationship with God where God the Holy Sprit continues to use this truth to complete us for heaven. The gospel not only changes our relationship to God, but also changes our relationship to our old self. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit continues to form Christ within those who He has made into new creations. For the true believer, the Holy Spirit is not fighting against us in order to make us right with God, rather to mature us because of our right relationship with God.

Illustration: ???

Transition: Walk by the Spirit. Accomplish the works of faith through the love that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Submit to the Spirit. God is graciously transforming our desires to His desires so that our flesh will not control us.

Follow the Spirit

5:18 Observations

This is a firm reminder of the main problem that is being confronted in this letter. The false teaching that a person can gain or maintain a right standing with God by human attempts at keeping the law. There is a great warning here, that if the wrestling work of the Holy Spirit is not occuring in the heart of a person then that person remains under the law. Which is to remain as an unbeliever, one who is outside of Christ. However, the encouragement is that for those to whom the Holy Spirit is leading… we are no longer under the condemnation and death produced by the law. Which leads us to an application question…

How can we not resist or quench the Holy Spirit but rather yield and submit to His defending power against our flesh? How can we remain under the control of the Spirit and not under our fleshly attempts to keep the law? How can we truly “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure?” How can we be certain that we are in fact being lead by the Spirit and not by the flesh? How can we be confident that we are doing works of faith and not flesh. How do we know that we are enslaving ourselves to the law nor indulging the flesh? These are the answers we will discover in the following verse of Galatians, so plan to be here next week to walk through that truth together.However, at this point I want to direct your attention to a couple scriptures that have been a major source of edification for me over the years.

I John 4:1-4 (Discern Direction) Where is this spirit leading me? Is this truth that I am believing leading me to life or death? Freedom or condemnation? To glory in the righteousness of Christ or to gloat in self righteousness?

John 16:1-15 The Holy Spirit is God who leads to truth. Is the counsel that I'm listening to, or the advice that I’m receiving, or the entertainment that I’m pursuing, or the podcast that I'm following, or the Social media that I'm absorbing, the news that I'm swallowing, the sports that I’m playing, the school that I'm attending, the conversations that I'm having, the person that I'm dating, the career path I am following, the finical decisions that I’m making..... LEADING TO TRUTH??? And not to individual subjective truth that I maintain is true for me and therefore true.... no Specialty are these things leading us to the truths that the Holy Spirit has breathed that are contained in Holy Scripture. Sadly, many of us gather here today would have to answer, “No” to these questions.

Like the church of Ephesus we are called upon to repent, to have a change of mind that will lead to a change of direction. To be lead by the Spirit of God and not our own fleshly indulgences. By the grace of God, may we as a body of Christ not be found in the day of His return looking more like the world than our Savior.

Conclusion: The wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian is to place us into Christ by causing us to be born again, then He empowers our walk, and transforms our desires, and leads us to heaven!

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