SERIES: “Galatians: The Gospel For Everyday Life”
TEXT: Galatians 5:16-25
MESSAGE: Gospel Change: The Fruit of the Spirit
“I plan to begin this article in a strange way by saying that I don’t particularly enjoy the novella I am writing this article on. While I understand that it is a brilliant work of literature, something about it never sat right with me. It seems odd that a text I only ever read due to school and didn’t enjoy much is one that I think about so often. When people think of Jekyll and Hyde, they think of the key theme of duality. It is such a bold, ambitious and gripping idea, that ‘man is not truly one, but truly two’. This theme has become so prevalent in pop culture that I think most people are aware of the main idea presented in the novella: Jekyll is the same as Hyde…Duality is, without a doubt, more alive than ever. And after re-reading Jekyll and Hyde, I find how little has changed since those gentleman were thought up by Stevenson…” — Robin Romano
“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” — Galatians 5:17
“You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?” — Galatians 3:1-3
“…where does the believer acquire the resources for…victorious Christian living? Modern religious pedagogy offers many answers: a winsome personality, one’s innate abilities, advanced degrees in theological education, special seminars on the higher Christian life, social activism, spiritual psychotherapy, and others. Paul’s answer is the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God who has made us free from sin and given us new life in regeneration can keep us truly free…” — Timothy George
John 16:14 —“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
• Grieves – Eph. 4:30: “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”
• Loves – Rom. 15:30: “…by the love of the Spirit…”
• Searches – 1 Cor. 1:20: “…the Spirit searches everything…”
• Speaks – Heb. 3:7-8: “…the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts…”
Q: What are signs that the Spirit is working in your life?
TEXT: Galatians 5:16-25
Q: What signs does Paul point out when the Spirit is working in the life of a believer? We will experience a different…(1. Pace 2. Perspective 3. Picture)
1. Pace (v. 16-18; 25)
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law…25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
“Here in Galatians 5 Paul used four distinct verbs to designate the Spirit-controlled life of the believer, all of which are roughly equivalent in meaning: to walk in the Spirit (v. 16), to be led by the Spirit (v. 18), to live by the Spirit (v. 25a), and to keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25b). Each of these verbs suggests a relationship of dynamic interaction, direction, and purpose. The present tense of the imperative…“walk,” also indicates a present activity now in progress. Paul had earlier reminded the Galatians of how they received the Holy Spirit upon hearing him preach the message of Christ and his cross (3:1–3).” — Timothy George
“Live slowly enough to be able to think deeply about God.” — J.I. Packer
2. Perspective (v. 19-23)
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
“We found that recalling personal unethical acts led participants to report increased subjective body weight as compared to recalling ethical acts, unethical acts of others or no recall. We also found that this increased sense of weight was related to participants’ heightened feelings of guilt, and not other negative emotions, such as sadness or disgust….only unethical, guilt-inducing memories led to increased reports of weight.” —Princeton University (Martin Day and Ramona Bobocel)
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” — C.S. Lewis
3. Picture (v. 24)
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
“This victory is within reach of every Christian, for every Christian has ‘crucified the flesh’ (verse 24) and every Christian ‘lives by the Spirit’ (verse 25). Our task is to take time each day to remember these truths about ourselves, and to live accordingly. If we have crucified the flesh, then we must leave it securely nailed to the cross, where it deserves to be…And if we live in the Spirit, then we must walk by the Spirit. So when the tempter comes with evil insinuations, we must round on him savagely, and say to him: ‘I belong to Christ. I have crucified the flesh. It is altogether out of the question that I should even dream of taking it down from the cross.’” — John Stott
TAKEAWAYS: What do we need to remember? That in Christ…
* We experience real change
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” ― Martin Luther
* Our failure doesn’t define us
“Why did we need a Savior in the first place? Because we could never succeed at any self-salvation project. Even our best works were riddled with unrighteousness. Only by admitting defeat could we accept Jesus’s redemption. We’re always fighting pride that, when it defines us, can crush us. When we are proud, our identity is found in what we do, what we’ve achieved, what we’ve become. Our pride is why we can’t handle falling short, and our pride is why we forfeit God’s grace when we do. But we can put that pride to death by remembering the source of our deepest identity…We are defined not by what we do, but who we are—really, whose we are. We are defined by our belonging to the God who purchased us. Even when we fail, in Christ we are not failures.” — Greg Phelan (Help! I feel like a failure)
* God never leaves things unfinished
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6