Walk With The Spirit

The Christian Life is impossible… You can’t live it. I can’t live it. I fact, no one can live the Christian life out of their own strength. Oh, you can try. And many people try, try and try. But they keep failing. So, they try harder. But eventually, they will reach the conclusion I’m sharing with you today. The Christian life Is impossible. Now I say that not to discourage you, but to free you. For God never means for any of His children to live out the Christian faith in their own strength.

That is why God gives the Holy Spirit to everyone who believes. God is so good. He gives you the Holy Spirit not just to comfort you, encourage you, and give you a new life. He gives you the Holy Spirit to guide to help you learn how to live this new life. So, give yourself a break. Stop trying so hard and start walking with the Spirit.

How do you do that? How do you walk with the Spirit? Well, that’s what we’re going to unpack in God’s Word today. So, if you brought your Bible with you this morning, let me encourage you to find Galatians 5:16-25, where God’s Word is going to help us learn a new way of walking – that will not only help you bear the fruit of the Spirit. but will help you put an end to sin’s controlling influence in your life, so that you can keep in step with the Spirit in your everyday life. So, if you’ve found Galatians 5, let’s begin by looking at verses 16 through 18, where the first thing God wants us to grasp about walking with the Spirit is this. It’s

A New Way of Walking! Look at verse 16 with me: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18 Now, before we look at this new way of walking, we need to understand why our ‘old nature’ – our flesh, still wants to call the shots. One way of looking at the influence of your old nature is this: your old nature is your old motivational system. Before Jesus, you only knew one way to live: to fulfill the desires of your sin nature. Your old motivational system told you to look out for number one; to be ‘your own’ Master, even your own Savior.

One way your flesh motivated you to be your own Savior was to have you seek after false idols. For example, you may have pursued the idol of self-esteem as a means of salvation, by thinking things like: “I will be valued by others if I have a successful career” or “I will feel validated if my children turn out well.” Or “People will admire me If I’m a good citizen, give to worthy causes, or am kind to them, and so on.” Now, none of these things are bad pursuits at all. In fact, they’re worthy pursuits. But it’s only when we are looking for our worth from those pursuits rather than from God that they become idols.
Here’s the thing: The flesh has a powerful influence on us. Our flesh wants to rule all our actions. But our flesh also wants what is contrary to the Spirit, because the flesh only wants what IT wants. It wants nothing to do with God. It doesn’t want to trust God, obey God, or surrender to God. The flesh wants you to be your own God.

This is also why so many good people have such a hard time coming to faith in Jesus. They have worked so hard to seek their own salvation, that they can’t even imagine the idea that God would save them without their efforts. So, the flesh is a powerful controlling force inside of us. It is so strong in us that it fights against trusting God. If doesn’t want you to believe God has your best interests at heart. It fights against the ways of the Spirit. It doesn’t want you to follow the Spirit. It wants you to follow your desires alone. That’s why even if you finally come to trust in God, you will still struggle with sin; you will still struggle with the flesh.

And that’s also why, Paul begins this passage with a command: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The idea is that you are to live this new life in Christ that God has given you, NOT OUT OF YOUR STRENGTH, but by His Spirit. In other words, God put His Spirit IN YOU, so you ARE NOW ABLE to follow the Spirit’s leading in your life. That’s the new way of walking: Allowing the Spirit to teach, guide and help you live this new life God has given you. And as you learn to walk with the Spirit, the good news is this: you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

This is a promise. Those who yield their hearts and minds to the Spirit daily – have the promise that they will not gratify their old human nature. The idea here is that walking with the Spirit means yielding control of your choices to the Spirit. When you yield to the Spirit you make a conscious choice to stop yielding to your fleshly desires.

Walking with by the Spirit means you are saying, “I want what God wants.” Not “I want what I want.” So, there is no neutral ground here. You are either living in one realm or the other. Either you are choosing to live according to the Spirit’s leading, or you’re choosing to live according to the desires of your flesh. And that means every one of us is living with this constant battle raging within us.

For its here in these verses Paul tells us why good Christians end up doing things they don’t want to do. It’s because the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other. They have competing agendas. And sometimes we lose that battle. David Platt explains it this way, “Part of the problem with fighting the flesh is a casual attitude toward sin that the enemy wants us to have. Living the Christian life is like a war. Therefore, to conquer the flesh, one must see the seriousness of this battle and resolve to walk by the Spirit.”

In other words, even though God has given you a new life in the Spirit, you still live in a world of temptation. You face the world’s temptations, Satan’s temptations and the temptations of the flesh. Don’t think that just because God has given you a new life in the Spirit, that you are now somehow immune to these temptations. Instead, every day, you must make a conscious choice to resist these temptations by yielding to the Spirit. And when you do, you will hinder the flesh from calling the shots in your life. And you will begin living a whole new kind of life.

In fact, that’s what we see next. For next, Paul contrasts the two ways of life: a life spent yielding to the flesh versus life spent yielding to the Spirit. First, we are given a description of what a life yielded to the flesh looks like. I call this, The Ways of the Walking Dead Paul writes: Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 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. Galatians 5:19-21

A life yielded to the flesh actually perverts God’s intentions for life in four areas: In the Sexual, Religious and relational realms and indulgences.

The sexual realm: The first obvious work of the flesh is identified as Sexual immorality. This term was used to refer to any kind of sexual sin, but especially to sexual acts between persons who are not married to one another. This sin was common in the pagan world, as was “impurity” which refers not only to sexual sin, but also to any kind of uncleanliness, which leads to “Sensuality” which can be defined as indecency or a lack of respect for what is right and good. Nothing has changed much since Paul first penned this list. We live in a world that is constantly telling us sex outside of marriage is normal, if not encouraged. And our culture is constantly telling us that there’s nothing wrong with impurity or indecency, that perverse behaviors are normal.

The religious realm: Here the focus is on idolatry. Idolatry demonstrates how everyone worships someone or something. People commit idolatry as they look to something other than God to give them what only God can give them. In our culture, we seek the idol of wealth to replace the security of God; we seek pleasure to replace of the joy of being right with God; we seek satisfaction in the place of the peace God gives, and so on. Sorcery involves the practice of trying to manipulate circumstances or the use of dark powers to bring about a desired goal rather than trusting in God. Today people read horoscopes to find meaning, seek peace by medicating themselves, or embrace actual witchcraft to achieve their desires. The actual Greek word for sorcery is Pharmacia, the word for drugs.

The relational realm: Here are 8 acts of the flesh associated with relational sin: enmity refers to hostility of any kind with people or communities on the basis of political, racial or religious grounds. This includes bitterness, bad blood, loathing, dislike. In the political realm we are witnessing enmity on steroids today and it is tearing our country apart. Strife means to have contentious temper. This describes the person who likes to quarrel and create division.

Jealousy reveals a lack of gratitude to God and a lack of love for others. It often leads to ”fits of anger” the rage-filled outbursts that come from having a bad temper.

Rivalries is the spirit that looks out for #1 and walks over others to get what they want.

Dissention is characteristic of those who cause division. Divisions are closely related to dissention and often stands for false teaching. Envy is similar to jealousy. The envious person is not happy with God’s gifts and cannot stand it when others succeed. These are the works of the flesh that are obvious today and why we need to be praying for revival not only in our lives but in the life of our country.

The realm of indulgences: In this final group of sins, Paul mentions “drunkenness, revelries and the like.” Both of these obviously demonstrate lives dominated by the flesh. Paul ends his catalog with the phrase “things like these” to show that he could keep going. But the point he is making here has less to do with any one particular sin but with the entire lifestyle that these acts represent. A lifestyle is plain for all to see.

But now Paul says something quite alarming. Having listed the deeds of the flesh, he goes on to warn where they naturally lead: “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21

Paul is not talking about Christians who from time to time commit one of these sins against their better judgment. Rather, he is talking about people whose lives are dominated by sin, who are committed heart and soul to immorality, idolatry, sorcery and envy. Paul is referring to the habitual practices of a lifestyle that is dominated by the flesh. They are the walking dead. God’s life is not in them, so they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

This warning therefore, serves as a reminder to us: To not become complacent in the midst of our spiritual battle. We need to be careful that whenever we give power to the flesh, we are giving power to a way of life that is not only opposed to God, but results in eternal separation from God.

Now, by way of contrast with the ways of the walking dead, Paul introduces The Fruit of Walking By the Spirit And so he writes: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 Let’s take a brief look at what God wants to produce in our lives as we learn to walk by the Spirit:

Love: means to serve a person for their good, not from what the person brings to you. This kind of love seeks the best for others regardless of the cost or consequences to yourself. It’s loving them with no strings attached.

Joy: Joy is delighting in God for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. Joy comes from realizing that you are the object of His love and the recipient of His grace. It’s resting in the delight of knowing that God makes you His own in spite of your sinful past. It is not, therefore, a spontaneous response to some temporary pleasure.

With joy comes… Peace: a sense of wholeness and well-being; a confidence and rest in the wisdom and control of God, rather than your own. It replaces anxiety and worry.

Patience: Patience is the fruit that enables you to be long suffering in the face of hardship – to endure through adversity. A patient person has a slow fuse and is willing to suffer aggravation or even persecution without complaint.

Kindness: Kindness is more than a random act of consideration. Kindness is being ready to help, giving grace and mercy to people through practical actions of caring.

Goodness: Goodness is closely related to generosity – being generous in spirit, in welcoming, in helping and in giving of yourself and your resources.

Faith: Faithfulness is the ability to rely on God to do what He says He will do and being a faithful and reliable person who keeps his word and fulfills his promises.

Meekness: Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. It is the fruit that helps us deal gently and humbly with those who fail us or oppose us.

Self-control: The Spirit enables you to have mastery over your passions. Self-control gives you the ability to pursue the important over the urgent, rather than to be always impulsive or uncontrolled.

This is a brief overview of the fruit God wants to produce in you as you learn to walk by the Spirit. When you are walking by the Spirit, these fruits will become obvious in your life and will reveal a life opposite of the walking dead. So, if you’re anything like me, then you’ll want God to produce this kind of fruit in your life. So, here’s the big question: How do we live in such a way that allows God to produce this fruit in us?

Paul gives us the answer: By Keeping In Step With the Spirit And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25 First, we need to remember that we belong to Christ, that our life is secure in Christ.

Why, is it important for us to remember this truth? When we trust that we belong to Christ, we will stop seeking to do things to get God’s approval. We will stop trying to live by the law, and rest in His grace, believing that our approval and acceptance from the Father rests not on our actions, but on Jesus and what He did for us by dying for us.

Second, because we belong to Christ, we need to remember that we “have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” This is the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice: Jesus terminated your old nature with all its passions and desires on the cross. Christ’s death was your death. You were united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection when you believed. So, the moment you trusted in Jesus, God changed your nature. Your sin nature was crucified. God gave you a new nature. A spiritual nature. We learned about that last week. God put His Spirit in you and made you a new person.

But here’s the problem we struggle with, even when we know this truth. Philiip Ryken explains it this way: “The cross of Christ means death to our flesh. The trouble is that our sinful nature has a way of trying to climb back down from that cross. When it does, it is able to make a remarkable speedy recovery, partly because we have a way of helping it. We are sometimes tempted to remove the nails, help our old sinful nature down from the cross, and nurse it back to health. This is why we struggle with so-called besetting sins – sins that we commit so often that they become bad habits. This has to stop. If you belong to Christ, you have crucified your sinful nature, with all its selfish desire. Do not resuscitate it. Do not give it CPR. Do not keep it on life support. Just leave it on the cross and let it die.”

So then, Paul tells us how we are to do that here. How we can let the sin nature die. By, saying: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. But just what does that look like? How do we work it out, so that in our everyday life we are “keeping in step with the Spirit?”

The Greek term for “keeping in step” comes from the military. It means to stay in formation. First, soldiers would line up in ranks and files. Then, in order to maintain good military discipline, they would stay in line as they marched. Soldiers not only march in formation but also run in formation. When they do, there is only one thing to worry about, which is keeping in step. They do not need to worry about where they are going, or how they will get there. The do not need to guess how much further they have to go. Their commanding officer will give them their orders as necessary. The only thing soldiers need to know how to do is step in time. It is the same way in walking by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s drill sergeant. It is His job to keep us in line. As He barks out cadence, as He communicates to us through God’s Word, all we have to do is keep our place in formation, running in step with His commands.

Keeping in step takes discipline, and so does spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit rarely works in extraordinary ways. Instead, He uses the ordinary means of grace given to believers through the centuries. He uses the reading and preaching of God’s Word. He uses the sacraments of baptism and communion. He uses the fellowship of the saints in worship and community. And He uses the discipline of a praying life.

Contrary to what so many Christians seem to believe, true spiritual growth does not come from some special experience of the Holy Spirit. Instead, it comes from walking with the Spirit every day until, finally, keeping in step with Him becomes a holy habit.

And when that happens, as you learn to walk with the Spirit, God will produce His fruit in your life. That’s why God have you His Spirit to live in you. He doesn’t want you to keep trying to live by the law and perform a bunch of religious practices or follow a bunch of rules. No, He gave you His Spirit to be with you and help you live this new life, His way. And the more we learn to walk with Him, to keep in step with Him, to listen to His Word and obey His commands, the more God will produce His life in you, and the more you will resemble Jesus.

So, let’s recognize we are in a battle with our flesh and let’s stop letting our flesh call the shots, and stop trying to do everything out of our own strength, and learn to keep in step with the Spirit and let God produce His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control in our lives. For against such things there is no law.