The Holy Spirit: God’s Power for the New Life

Living the Christian life is impossible. You’ve heard me say that before and I will say it again: Living the Christian life is impossible. Trying to live and love like Jesus is impossible to do on our own. Trying to live like Jesus out of our own strength, desires, or wisdom is always destined to failure. On our own, we simply don’t have the capacity to do it. If we could do it, we wouldn’t have needed God to send a Savior. We wouldn’t have needed grace. We wouldn’t have needed forgiveness, because we’d be perfect. But here’s the problem, if trying harder doesn’t work, what does? If we can’t live and love like Jesus by our own efforts, then how does God’s Word propose we become more and more like Jesus?

Well that’s where God comes in. Because God knows we can’t live this new life out of out of the same flesh that failed us over and over again. So He gave us someone who could: The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift of power for living the new life. The Holy Spirit was given to help us so we might learn to live and love like Jesus. And that’s what we’re going to see today. The Holy Spirit helps us break the power of sin in our lives. The Holy Spirit helps us bear the fruit of Jesus through our lives, and the Holy Spirit helps us declare the grace of God with our lives. And so as we come to God’s Word today, we are going to see how God makes the impossible possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. And the passage where He makes this clear to us is found in the New Testament letter to the Galatians. So if you brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to find Galatians 5:16-25, where God shows us what happens when we learn to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit. So let’s dig in to verses 15 and 16, where we see the first thing the Holy Spirit does for us: When we walk by the Spirit we will break the power of the flesh in our lives

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.   For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.   Galatians 5:16-18

Let me begin by unpacking what he means by “walking by the Spirit.” Walking simply means “living.” When you put your faith in Jesus you were instantly united with Christ. With that spiritual union God gave you a new capacity for living: The power of the Holy Spirit. But since most of us grew up learning to live by our own strength, by our own desires, and our own wisdom, we’ve trained ourselves to live according to our flesh-oriented operating system. So we’ve learned to live by our feelings, go with our gut, follow our heart. But what we’ve also learned is that living this way fails us all the time. Why? Because God’s Word tells us: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 This is how the flesh works. It deceives us into thinking we are good enough to do life on our own. It deceives us into thinking we don’t need anyone’s help, especially God’s. So, our flesh-operating system refuses to trust in God’s goodness, and insists that our way is good enough. Our flesh-operating system insists on us being our own savior and lord, so that we are accountable to no one but ourselves.  That’s why Paul says that our flesh operating system is always at odds with the ways of the Spirit: The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

This is why we get frustrated trying to live and love like Jesus. We try to do live for Jesus by our own wisdom and in our own strength, but we end up making a mess of things. And so Paul is trying to teach us, that it is futile to keep on trying or try harder; because the flesh and the Spirit have conflicting agendas. And in case you have any doubts about these conflicting agendas, Paul tells us that The acts of the flesh 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. 5:19-21

This is why when you come to faith in Jesus, the very first thing God does is give you a new heart, a new nature, His nature by virtue of the Spirit of Christ taking up residence in you. He downloads into you a new operating system for life: He gives you His Spirit. Up till then, all you knew was how to live according to the flesh. The flesh called the shots. The flesh controlled your decisions. And the flesh wants what it wants. And the number one thing the flesh wants is to please itself. And you can see by Paul’s list here: When the flesh has its way every act destroy relationships. But when you look at the fruit of the Spirit, every fruit builds relationships.

So yes, there is a war being waged between the flesh operating-system and the new way of the Spirit. That’s why we are commanded to walk by this new way, by the power of the Spirit. God asks us to turn our back on the sinful nature and allow the Holy Spirit to guides us, correct us, and create new appetites in us that are pleasing to God. And whenever we do this, whenever we allow the Spirit to lead us, the flesh is put in neutral. We basically say no to the flesh by saying yes to the Spirit. And here’s the beauty of allowing the Spirit to lead us: Every time we choose to live by the Spirit, rather than by the flesh, we train ourselves in a new way of living, and the result is this: the flesh gradually looses its power over us.

But let me be the first to say that this is not easy. Our flesh doesn’t want to go down without a fight. The flesh doesn’t surrender. It is we who choose to surrender. This is part of the spiritual battle we face each day. That’s why this is a command that we are to put into practice continually.   Think about it this way. You start your day in God’s Word. God shows you a new way to relate with someone. His Word tells you to be patient with all people. You get this. This is how Jesus lived. He put up with our bad behavior because He loved us. So he didn’t immediately judge us or give up on us. So you pray, and ask God to help you be like this with that one difficult person in your life. So then you start your day. But then this person says or does something that attacks you or is offensive to you, and now you’re rattled. At that moment you have a choice: you can respond by the Spirit, or you can respond according to the flesh. The flesh jumps in there immediately and tells you to tell them where to get off. But the Spirit gently reminds you to be longsuffering, patient. The Spirit reminds you that there is a reason this person is so hurtful. So now you choose. Do you tell her off or do you pray for her. Will you live by the flesh, of will you live by the Spirit? Your choice. You will always have this choice…. That’s why we often mess up.   We get caught off guard, and our flesh immediately jumps in and wants its way. But the person who trains himself to walk by the Spirit, respond with the love of the Spirit and chooses to be patient. And the more you do that, the more you live by the Spirit, you will not gratify the flesh. You render it powerless. This is the new way of life God wants us to live. He wants us to respond to people the way He would. And so He gives us His Spirit to help us. Make sense?

But here’s the point: Learning to walk by the Spirit IS A PROCESS. We don’t become proficient at this overnight.   And this certainly doesn’t happen by osmosis. It takes an active choice of the will. We choose to obey. We choose to follow the way of the Spirit. It’s a moment-by-moment choosing. But the more we TRAIN OURSELVES to walk by the Spirit, the more the Spirit will work in us to transform us so we will begin to live and love like Jesus. That’s what’s supposed to happen when we WALK BY THE SPIRIT!

And this leads directly to our second point: When we walk by the Spirit we will produce the fruit of Jesus through our lives

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.

Against such things there is no law, because all of these fruits are given to us to help us love our neighbor.   So, here’s the truth: If you know Jesus you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And with the Holy Spirit living in you, over time and practice, the Holy Spirit will begin to bear His fruit in your life. But this is a gradual process. Fruit doesn’t appear overnight…. I have four fruit trees. They were planted 2 years ago this month. The first season only the orange tree produced fruit. It produced three oranges. And frankly they weren’t all that tasty. This past year, all four trees produced fruit, with the lemon tree bearing the most fruit. And those lemons were great. Now, with the warmth of this spring, I’ve got tons of blossoms on all four of my trees, and it looks like they will be producing all kinds of good fruit, BUT not until 8 to 9 months from now.

This is why we must continually train ourselves to walk by the Spirit. For the more we walk by the Spirit, the more the Spirit begins to produce the life of Christ in us.   These virtues begin growing out of our union with Christ.

How does this happen? The more we expose ourselves to the Word of truth, the more we put it into practice, the more the Spirit can work in us to grow the character of Christ in us. That’s why we want to encourage you to make a habit to daily spend time in God’s Word. That’s why we want to encourage everyone to be in a journey group. Because together, we can encourage and help each other learn to obey God’s Word… learn to walk by the Spirit. And the more we learn to obey His Word and put it into practice, the more the fruit of the Spirit will be produced in your life.

So let me tell you what you can expect God to produce through you if you make it a habit to walk by the Spirit: God will bring forth the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in your life. And then God’s Word says: Against such things there is no law. Why? Because you will no longer be focused on behaving – but on becoming, becoming will be more and more like Jesus. So, lets take a look at who you can become as you learn to walk by the Spirit: First, you’ll be become a loving person:

Love means serving a person for their good and intrinsic value, not for what the person might do for you. The opposite of love is fear: self-protection and abusing people (walking over them or using them to get your way). In fact, the counterfeit version of love is selfish affection, where you are attracted to someone and treat them well because of how they make you feel about yourself.

Joy is a delight in God for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. It’s knowing God and knowing that you are His beloved and nothing can ever change that or separate you from His love. The opposite of joy is hopelessness or despair, and its counterfeit is an elation that is based on circumstances that go your way, on your blessings, not the Blesser, causing mood swings based on your current state of affairs.

Peace is a confidence and rest in the wisdom and control of God, rather than your own. Peace replaces anxiety and worry. The fake version of peace is indifference, apathy, not caring about something.

Patience is the ability to face trouble without blowing up, especially with people who continually irritate or provoke you. Its opposite is resentment toward God and others, and its counterfeits are cynicism or lack of care. This is too small to care about.

Kindness takes the initiative to graciously respond to the needs of others. Its opposite is envy, which leaves me unable to rejoice in another’s joy. And its fake alternative is manipulative good deeds – doing good for others so I can congratulate myself and feel I am “good enough” for others or for God.

Goodness carries the meaning of integrity – being the same person in every situation, rather than a phony or hypocrite.

Faithfulness is having the courage to be utterly reliable and true to your word. Its opposite is to be an opportunist, a friend only in good times.

Gentleness is humility or self-forgetfulness. The opposite is to be superior or self-absorbed.

Self-control is the ability to pursue the important over the urgent, rather than to be always impulsive or uncontrolled. The slightly surprising counterfeit is to have a willpower which is based on pride, this need to always feel in control.

When we walk by the Spirit, this is what God will produce in us. It’s inevitable.   We will become more and more like Jesus, less and less like our old messed up, selfish and broken selves. And we’ll begin to live the way God’s always wanted us to live: FREE! Free to love, free from the burden of the law, free to be fully human!   But we’ve got a responsibility to see this happen in us. We’ve got to train ourselves to walk by the Spirit, not the flesh. But when as we do, there’s one more result of what the Spirit will do in our lives.

And that’s what we see in the final verses in this passage: When we walk by the Spirit we will declare the power of the gospel God with our lives Look at verses 24 where Paul declares two powerful truths: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

The more you walk by the Spirit the more you will declare the power of the gospel with your life. And the first thing you will declare is this: You will show you belong to Jesus.   People will see your treatment of others and recognize there is something different about you. You treat all people with love and kindness, even people who don’t deserve it. They’ll see the difference in you, but won’t be able to put a finger on it. But you will know. You will know that because you belong to Jesus, you are beginning to live like Jesus.   That’s the first thing you will declare.

And the second is this: You will show that you have a new power in your life. It’s the power of the cross that has set you free to live the way God intended. You are now living a new kind of life – the alternative life of the kingdom of God – a life of joy and peace and love, because you died to the old way of life when you met Jesus.

This is what our world is looking for. This is what people without Jesus wonder when they are alone, hurt, discouraged… when their relationships aren’t working out like they hoped, and they ask the question: Is there a different way to live? And when we learn to live by the Spirit, we tell them, “Yes! It’s the way of Jesus, who set us free, to live and love like Him.”

And that’s why Paul ends with this exclamation: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 Don’t go it alone! Walk with God and let Him lead you in this new life with Him. Lets pray.