[Prayer]
Today’s message is from Galatians 5:16-26. This passage is about the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. The works of the flesh are everything evil and destructive. (We’ll see what they are in a minute.) Don’t you want to have the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience—all those things? The apostle Paul is going to tell the Galatians (and us) what we must do to have the fruit of the Spirit. And I’ll tell you right now what it is: Walk by the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit. Follow the Spirit’s leading.
In last week’s passage (right before this week’s passage), the apostle Paul warned the Galatians that if they tried to save themselves by keeping the law of Moses, Christ would be of no value to them at all. But without Christ, we have no hope of salvation at all. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. Our destination is judgment and hell.
The Law of Moses is not bad. It’s good. The summation of the law is for us to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and minds and souls and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s good. But it was never God’s intention that we would be saved by keeping the law. No one has ever been saved by keeping the law. Trying to be saved by keeping the law leads to pride. Pride leads to destruction. “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” (Prov.~16:18) It was always God’s intention that he would save us not through the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is trust. Do you trust Jesus?
The last two verses in last week’s passage say, “For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.” (Gal.~5:14, 15) Those Galatians who had gone away from God salvation through faith in Jesus... Those Galatians who were turning to salvation by their own effort in keeping the Law of Moses—they were starting with circumcision—were no longer loving each other, but biting and devouring each other. Trying to keep the law was producing in them bad stuff—the “works of the flesh”.
As we read today’s passage, remember as always, that we are reading the word of God. The sacred Scriptures “are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:15)
Also, as always, I encourage you to read the word of God day by day. On Sunday we read some small fraction of a percent of all the word of God. When we have Bible study on Wednesday, it’s the same. We need to have the whole word of God and need to have it refreshed in our minds and hearts day by day. Without it, we little-by-little starve to death spiritually. And being dead spiritually is certainly worse than being dead physically.
Now let’s read the passage—Galatians 5:16-26:
16I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar, about which I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. 26We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians~5:16-26)
The first verse in today’s passage, verse 16, says, “I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” First of all, this is a command (or, if you like, an instruction, but definitely not a suggestion): “Walk by the Spirit.” It’s God telling us, through the apostle Paul, to do something—to walk by the Spirit. The way you “walk” refers to the way you live your life. We are being told to live our lives by the Spirit. (The apostle Paul wrote this to the Galatian churches, but it applies to us, also.)
We are being told to walk by the Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. If we believe in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit. When we believed (for those of us who have believed) we were sealed by the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13) (And if you haven’t believed, if you haven’t accepted God’s salvation through Jesus Christ, don’t delay. Do it!) We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and we have the Holy Spirit living in us. We have the choice of walking by the Spirit or carrying out the desires of the flesh. It’s one or the other. If we walk by the Spirit, we won’t carry out the desires of the flesh (which are pretty nasty if you look down at verses 19 through 22). (And I can guarantee you that if you don’t walk by the Spirit, you will carry out the desires of the flesh.)
Verse 17 says, “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.” The flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other. But notice that Paul says that you don’t do what you want. Because the desire of the flesh is contrary to the desire of the Spirit, you don’t do what you want.
Now, I think the way the translators worded it (“you don’t do what you want”) is a little misleading. It sounds like (to me anyway) that “what you want” means “what you feel like”, in other words what the flesh desires. But I believe “what you want” refers to what the Spirit desires, not to what the flesh desires. I think what Paul is talking about is the fact that, because we belong to Jesus, because we have the Holy Spirit, we don’t want to carry out the desires of the flesh and do want to carry out the desires of the Spirit—but we fail a lot of the time because we have stopped walking by the Spirit. Listen to what Paul says about himself in Romans 7. This is from Romans 7:18-25:
18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me. 22For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God's law. 23But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin. (Romans~7:18-25)
“For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.” Doesn’t that fit us? (It does me, anyway.) Paul wanted to do good, but he didn’t always do it. (Some people say that he wrote this before he was a mature Christian. But I’ve yet to hear anyone claim that he’s no longer ever overcome by the desire of the flesh. This is something that takes a lifetime of learning—and we never really reach the point where we have any ability in ourselves to overcome the desire of the flesh. If we do overcome it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to do so. Paul says that he joyfully agreed with God’s law. He really did want to do everything that was right and good in God’s eyes, but was unable to do it. He said, “What a wretched man I am!” There was a war going on inside Paul! He says, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We have no hope in ourselves. But we have absolute assurance in Jesus Christ.
Verse 18 in today’s passage says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” This doesn’t mean that you should stop studying the Bible. If you are led by the Spirit, the Spirit will point out to you what the word of God says (and you will know that it’s from the Spirit). If you try to be under the law, here’s what the result will be (besides all the bad stuff that Paul lists). You will use the law to see how much you can get away with.
Have you ever noticed how with the civil law, lawyers will use the letter of the law to steal large amounts of money (like four million dollars for pain and suffering because someone’s new car was scratched down in Alabama or someplace like that—and I’ll bet the lawyer got a pretty good percentage of that, too). But if the judge and jury agree to the specified amount, no civil laws are broken, right? It’s all perfectly legal.
When it comes to God’s law, if you try to make yourself righteous by keeping it, I can virtually guarantee that you will decide that you want to follow some desire of the flesh and then start looking for loopholes or start to stretch the law or come up with some new interpretation that you can use as an excuse for being led by the flesh instead of the Spirit. It’ll happen. We have to be led by the Spirit.
Now Paul’s going to tell us what the works of the flesh are—and this is just a partial list—but it gives the idea. Let’s look at verses 19 through 21 in today’s passage: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar, about which I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
I’m just going to talk about some of the items from Paul’s list. The first one is sexual immorality. The King James Version translates that word as “fornication”. We all pretty much know what it is. It’s sex outside of marriage. But here’s something interesting. The Law of Moses only forbids certain acts as unlawful—adultery and incest, for example. I don’t believe sex with a prostitute is mentioned as against the law—and even for a married man. Concerning adultery, the only thing the Law of Moses talks about is sex with another man’s wife, not with a prostitute. Do you see all the loopholes? That’s what trying to make yourself righteous by keeping the law leads to, looking for the loopholes. Listen to what Solomon says in Proverbs 7:
7 I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.
8 Crossing the street near her corner, he strolled down the road to her house
9 at twilight, in the evening, in the dark of the night.
10 A woman came to meet him, dressed like a prostitute, having a hidden agenda.
11 She is loud and defiant; her feet do not stay at home.
12 Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
13 She grabs him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him,
14 “I’ve made fellowship offerings; today I’ve fulfilled my vows.
15 So I came out to meet you, to search for you, and I’ve found you.” (Proverbs~7:7-15)
You see? She says it’s OK. She’s made her fellowship offerings and fulfilled her vows. It’s fine. (She’d probably think it was fine to steal four million dollars from him, too.) Sexual immorality, moral impurity and promiscuity are the works of the flesh that are likely to result from trying to make yourself righteous through keeping the law. (Man, you’ve worked hard. You deserve these things.)
Did you notice that “sorcery” is in the list? Sorcery is still practiced today. Of course there’s out-and-out witchcraft with spells and incantations. But there are Christians that go to fortune tellers and psychics, too. And have you ever played the lottery and used some lucky numbers or some kind of charm to improve your chances of winning? That’s sorcery. And there’s something else. Do you know what the word that’s translated “sorcery” means? The word is “phamaceia”. It’s drugs—the use of drugs. (One of the modern translations even translates it that way.) The reason most of the translations translate the word as “sorcery” or “witchcraft” (which is probably the more accurate translation in the context) is that drugs were used in sorcery and witchcraft even back then. But, still, in our present time, “drugs” seems to fit well.
And speaking of drugs, what about drunkenness, we have AA and other anonymouses, but do they really work? They may be helpful, but they are man’s idea. Only the power of the Holy Spirit it really able to make us free.
There are also hatreds, strife, jealousy and envy. These things come from competition, not from love. We complain. We hold grudges. And we frequently think we have a right to do so. We even think that it somehow fulfills righteousness to hold grudges. But the Lord says, “Vengeance belongs to me.” The apostle Paul says, “If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” (Romans~12:18-21) And Jesus says that if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father in heaven won’t forgive you either. (Matt. 6:14, 15) If you are trying to make yourself righteous rather than allowing God to make you righteous, you will be competing with others. There will be hatreds, envy, strife and jealousy. If you try to make yourself righteous by your own effort, you will only succeed in making yourself self-righteous—self-righteous and judgmental besides. When you do something right, do you boast about it? Do you ever say, “So-and-so did X. I would never do that!” If you say that, you’ll find out about “never doing that”. The Lord will show you.
And there’re dissentions and factions. There’s the feeling that I have to be right. (We come up with all kinds of reason why we are right—and maybe we are right. But it’s still, “I have to be right.” Ask yourself where that comes from.
Anyway, Paul says, “I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul’s right. He’s speaking the word of God. People who practice these things won’t inherit the kingdom of God. But if you belong to Jesus, you will not continue to practice these things and you will inherit the kingdom of God.
Let’s look at verses 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit. (And by the way, just what is “fruit”? “Fruit” is what God wants to see in us. He wants to see it grow. When a farmer plants a crop, he wants a harvest. God has planted us and he wants to see fruit. Listen while I read verses 22 and 23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Do you want to have these things? Do you want to have love and joy and peace? Can you make yourself have these things? I have joy generally when something good happens. I don’t have joy when bad things happen. If there’s controversy, I don’t have peace. If I’m worried about something (as I have been lately) I don’t have peace. But Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice.” Can you make yourself do it? It’s only through Jesus that we rejoice.
How about patience? Are you patient when someone holds you up and you are in a hurry to get somewhere or to get something done? How about gentleness? Do you correct a brother or sister in Christ gently? And then there is self-control. Does your life reflect the fruit of the Spirit or the desire of the flesh?
Paul says in the first verse in today’s passage, verse 16, “Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” In verse 25 he says, “If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.” “Live” (“live by the Spirit”) doesn’t mean “conduct you life by the Spirit” (although that’s what we must do). It means that we have life—that we are alive in Christ, not dead in our sins by the Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and draws us to Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit who seals our salvation. And it’s the Holy Spirit that keeps us from going astray. We live by the Spirit.
“If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.” I think a more appropriate translation would be, “Since we live by the Spirit...” That’s the way the NIV translators translated it. “Since we live by the Spirit...” Either way is grammatically correct, but if we belong to Jesus, we do live—we do have life—by the Spirit.
In the past, when I read verses 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit, and when I read that we needed to follow the Spirit, I assumed that the apostle Paul was telling us that we had to make ourselves have love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. All of us want these things—at least all of us who belong to Jesus want them. But how can you just decide that you are going make yourself joyful or make yourself have faith, or any of the other fruit of the Spirit. The answer is, of course, that you can’t. Only the Holy Spirit can do it. That’s why it’s the fruit of the Spirit.
But there’s something, I believe, that we can do. We can be taught by the Holy Spirit. We can be taught by God. We can be taught and trained and disciplined to follow the Holy Spirit. We can definitely pray. We pray about other things. We can pray for God to teach us this, too. And this is something that’s my own belief. I’m not sure I can support it directly from the word of God, but I believe that when the Holy Spirit is directing us in something other than a spur-of-the-moment decision, he is persistent and patient. We have time to think about what he is directing us to do and decide whether we will follow his direction or not. The more we follow his direction, the more we will have the fruit of the Spirit. (And I have to say that even the ability to follow the guidance of the Spirit is God’s gift.)
Verse 24 says, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” I’m not sure what to say about this verse, but the flesh doesn’t seem to be dead yet. It’s definitely an ongoing process for the flesh to become dead.
Verse 26 says, “We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” I say again (along with the word of God), be humble, humble, humble. Don’t try to make yourself great or think that you are great. Let the Lord make you great. God’s purpose is for you to become like Jesus. Jesus loves you and gave his life for you! Amen!
[Prayer]