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It’s good to see everybody this morning. Um, it is, uh, always a pleasure to be able to, uh, worship with you guys through song and everything. Um, I’ve been, uh, been a part of a lot of different churches in my life. Uh, growed up, growed up. I growed up in a done did growed up. And when I did that, um, I was going to a lot of different churches. I’ve been in church my whole life. I’ve grown up in it. Um, but, uh, there’s something special about Alpine Bible Church that just, uh, um, it it’s home. Um. It’s family. Uh, it’s the church of my entire life that I’ve been involved with the least, um, as far as amount of time. But it’s the church that I’ve probably felt more connected to, um, than any other church that I’ve been to. And so it’s always a pleasure to be able to, to come on Sunday morning and worship with you guys, um, and to open God’s Word and look at it together. Um, but today we are going to cover a pretty big chunk, um, of Scripture. Uh, so we’re going to I don’t want to waste a whole lot of time. We’re going to kind of dive right in. But to give you a quick recap of where we’ve been, but where we’ve been. Um, Galatians, uh, Paul wrote to the church in, uh, Galatia, uh, it was written to counter a false teaching and false doctrine that had crept into the church.
A group called the Judaizers had come in and told, uh, these converts that not only do you need Jesus and his work on the cross, but you also need these things. And, uh, gave them a list of Jewish, uh, laws and regulations from the Old Testament that they needed to follow. Um, mainly circumcision. Paul says, no, that’s not true. Um, and all the men praised God because it wasn’t required and everybody was happy. Um, I mean, even just from like, we were just talking about the budget and from a financial standpoint, um, the amount our insurance would increase if we had to keep a doctor on staff and an operating room in the back for anybody that wanted to follow Jesus. Um, would be would be a little overwhelming. Um, and so we thank God that that is not required and it is not mandatory for salvation. And so, Paul, um, Paul, throughout the book is countering this, this idea and this, this teaching that works are required and works are necessary. Um, and last week we looked at where our identity was, whether our identity was, um, with, uh, with slavery to the law or with freedom in Christ. Um, and which camp? Uh, you fall in and are you choosing to go back to slavery of the law, or if you’re choosing to live in freedom? Um, and that brings us to, um, kind of the theme verse of Galatians five.
It’s really a theme verse here at Alpine Bible Church. Um, it’s Galatians five one says, for freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Um, this is like I said, it’s kind of a theme verse here. I don’t know if anybody has ever even noticed it, but it’s printed on the front of your bulletin every week for the last 4 or 5 years. Um, that verse is on the front of your bulletin. Um, it was actually on the front door of our old facility. Um, when we, um, renovate the outside of this facility in the spring, it’s going to be on the front door here. Um, but it’s it’s a big deal. Um, here at ABC, because of what it really means. Um, and the freedom that we have in Christ, we’re no longer held under bondage of a strict law and legalistic system, but we’re free. Um, and the problem with being under the law is the law has no means to save. It only has means to to condemn. Um, it’s really a diagnostic tool. And what these Judaizers were doing is they were taking this diagnostic tool to show us the problem that, yes, we are sinners and yes, we fall short. And they were saying that can also save you. Um, it would be like if you’re not feeling well.
So you decide, okay, I’m not feeling good. I should go to the doctor and find out. You know what’s going on. It’s been going on for a while. So you go to the doctor and he runs some tests and he draws some blood, and they’re doing all these tests. And he looks at what healthy numbers are supposed to look like. And he looks at what your numbers are, and he says, sorry, but you have cancer. Um, your first response is going to be probably of of shock and of of oh, crap. What now? Um, but eventually when you kind of process it, you’re going to think, okay, what’s the next step? How do we treat this? How can we beat this? Um, and if your doctor tells you that your treatment is going to be to continue to run tests that will continue to show you that you have cancer, you’re probably going to question his ability as a doctor because you already know that you have cancer. So why do you need to keep running tests to show you that you have cancer? How is that going to help get you anywhere? But that’s what we do with the law. The law shows us, yes, you’re a sinner. You fall short. Now, to fix that, we’re going to continue to follow the law and fall short and see that we don’t live up, and that eventually, in your attempts to to be good enough, eventually you can tell God, look, I wasn’t good enough for long enough.
So now you can let me into heaven. Um, but that’s not the way the law works. It’s a diagnostic. It’s just used to show us in chapter four. Um, it says that the law was the tutor that trained us and showed us our shortcomings, so that in the fullness of time Christ came and we are now under Christ. And the law points us to Christ. It doesn’t give us the solution in itself. And so Paul says in five one that we’re free for freedom. Christ has set us free from this, this circle of trying to be good enough and not being good enough and trying to be good enough, but still not being good enough and continuing to try and do. And Paul sets us free from the rat race that is legalism. Um, and Jesus sets us free. Sorry. Paul tells us that, um, the law brings slavery and oppression and Jesus brings brings freedom. And some of you are here today and you’re probably thinking, Praise God, I am. I can be free from that. That legalistic system. I felt the burden of it. I felt the guilt for so long. Um, I just want to be free from that. Um, and to you, I would say, um, Jesus came to live the law. Um, so because you couldn’t.
And so he came to live the law so that you can be saved. Uh, and there’s probably another camp of people that is thinking, yes, Hallelujah, I am free. And believe me, brother, I am living it up in my freedom. Um. And I have no regard for the law whatsoever. Um, and to you I would say, um. Yes, you are free. Um, no, you’re not that free. Um, and, um, in your in what you think is freedom, you’re actually becoming a slave. And we’re going to look at that a little bit later. So stay with me. Um, but, but Christ has set us free from slavery and from bondage. Um, and he goes on in verse two, um, and he says, he says, look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision, that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. For through the spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of the righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. And so what Paul says is, look, you’re free from the law. And if you’re going to try and live by the law, it’s the whole thing that you have to live up to.
You can’t just say, okay, well, I’m going to I’m going to pick like these Judaizers, okay. You have to, to, to be circumcised. And that’s what you have to do. No. If you’re going to choose circumcision, you have to take everything else that comes with it. You can’t just pick and choose. James 210 tells us that whoever keeps the whole law but falls in one point has become accountable for all of it. It’s the entire law that if you’re if you’re basis of of goodness on whether you get to heaven or not is based on the law, you have to keep the whole thing. And when you think about the whole thing, um, even just the Ten Commandments, um, are impossible. Um, but then you add all of the additional laws and regulations that were given to the Jewish people in the Old Testament. Um, it’s impossible. Paul tells us in verse 216 that no person is justified by the works of the law. By the works of the law no one will be justified. And again, in 311 it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law. Trying to live the law is impossible, and you cannot be justified by it. But praise God, Jesus came that you’re free from that impossibility because it’s not. It’s not an a la carte menu. Um, it’s not Burger King, um, where you can go through the drive through and say, okay, I’ll take the law, live the law.
Um, but hold the lying and coveting. Um, and add extra not murdering because I can do that one really well, but I’m not good at the other two. So we’ll skip those, and I’ll do the extra on the other one, and then we’ll count it. Good. That’s not the way the law works. If you’re going to take one of them, you’re taking the whole thing. Um, if you’re going to say this is what must be done for you to be saved, then you have to work the whole law, and it’s impossible. And the law is our diagnostic tool to show us that it’s impossible to live that life. It’s impossible to achieve that. It’s impossible to make that. And Paul says, that’s not what we’re under. You have to keep the whole thing, and we’re not under that anymore. Living the law doesn’t bring about righteousness in us. Paul tells us that we eagerly await for the hope of righteousness. What he’s talking about is the process of sanctification. Um, so many times in my life, I know, and I think in our lives as Christians, we think, um, that okay, I’m going to do good things. And by doing good things, um, then then that will save me more and that will, that will ensure and give me extra insurance on top of what Jesus has done. Um, but but Paul says that he’s waiting for the righteousness to come.
He’s not living a legalistic law to gain this righteousness, but he’s waiting for it to come. And, uh, kind of the big $10 theological term that’s, that’s used to, to describe this is called sanctification. Um, Christ saved us with his work on the cross, but the sanctification, salvation happened in that moment. But sanctification is a process. Um, that we have to go through. Sanctification is the transformation from our sinful self into our new self. Uh, in Ephesians chapter four, verses 20 through 22 through 24, um, Paul says it like this. He says to put off your old self, which belongs in your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So we see that Christ saves us and we’re freed from the law. Um, and it’s a process of taking off our old selfish, sinful desires and putting on the new desires that God’s given us. Um, is our sanctification, and that’s what we are to walk in. And that’s what Paul’s, um, calling them to do, is, is to to wait for that righteousness and not try and earn it on yourself, but to rely on the spirit. And we’re again, um, he kind of, um, expounds on all that at the end of the chapter, and we’re going to get into it more there.
Um, but if you would have been, uh, on the road with me on Friday. Um, you would have known that righteousness is a process because, um, I was not walking in the spirit. I was not, uh, not being sanctified in that moment. My car. Um, we had taken it in, uh, to do the safety and emissions. It didn’t pass because my blower motor for my heater and air conditioner wasn’t working. Um, so we took it in the next day to get that replaced. They replaced it and said they had it all set up. They bled the lines and everything, and it’s good to go. Um, well, on my way to work the next morning, I was like, that’s weird. I don’t have any heat. It’s blowing, but it’s not hot air. Oh, well, I’ll take it in when I get back. Well, on my way back from work, on my way to the mechanic shop, it overheats. I broke down on the side of the interstate, and I stuck there for, um, a couple hours till the tow truck finally came and got me to the mechanic place. And then by the time I got there, they didn’t have time to look at it that day. Um, and so Friday, if you would have been with me, you would have seen that I have not achieved righteousness yet.
Um, I had select words that I was using in my head. Um, and, uh, finally, um, I got the car to the mechanic, and I was like, well, I’m in the middle of Lehigh, Greg, and doesn’t get off work till five. I’ll just walk down to the church and see if I can do something productive. Um, because I wasn’t really happy about it. And so I come in and I’m like, all right, what can I do to be productive? I’ll go ahead and start getting my PowerPoint ready for Sunday. Um, and then, um, it was kind of one of those moments where it’s like, are you reading this yet? Because you need to be paying attention to what you’re typing here. And I was like, oh, man. Um, and but but righteousness is a process. Um, and it takes time. Um, but the beauty is that when I have setbacks like that and when I live in the flesh, and I become angry and I become upset and impatient and all those things, um, God’s grace covers that, and I’m not required to now do something else to make up for my shortcomings. God’s grace and God’s mercy has covered my selfishness and my my anger, um, and my disappointment, um, in that, in that moment. Uh, and righteousness comes through a process of Christ working in me, not me working for anything. It’s Christ working in me. Um, and righteousness doesn’t happen right away.
Um. Paul goes on to say that in Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. It’s kind of unclear what he’s talking about on uncircumcision. Um, some people, uh, with the wording in the Greek, some people think that it literally means people were getting their circumcision reversed, um, which I don’t even know medically how that works. Um, but you’re taking it from one extreme to the other here. Um, regardless, the point Paul is making is that none of that matters whether you’re circumcised or uncircumcised, whether you’re living the law or not, living the law. What matters is your faith. Working through love. Faith is what matters. Faith is what drives us. And as long as you have faith, it doesn’t matter. If you decide that I’m going to submit myself to a legalistic set of rules. They’re not dependent on my salvation. My salvation has nothing to do with this. But because I love God, I’m going to submit to these rules and I’m going to follow all these rules. Um, or if you’re saying I am saved by grace, my works mean nothing. So I am not living under a legalistic system at all. Whatever camp you fall in, or if you fall somewhere in the middle, which is the healthier place to be? Um, if you fall somewhere in the middle, Paul says it doesn’t matter where you’re at, it’s your faith. We say a lot, uh, here at, uh, at Alpine Bible, that the object of your faith is just as important as the sincerity of your faith.
Um, and the object of our faith isn’t in a legalistic system, and it’s not in freedom. The object of our faith is Jesus Christ and his finished, completed work on the cross that saves us. And as long as that’s where your faith is, nothing else matters. I tell people all the time when they ask, you know, um, whenever I get a new job, I feel like I have the same conversation a dozen times or whenever I meet new people. Um, so what brought you out to Utah? I came to be a youth pastor at a Bible church. Oh, what’s a Bible church? Well, it’s a nondenominational, nondenominational church. Well, it’s nondenominational. Well, as long as you believe that Jesus Christ finished work on the cross is enough to save you, then the rest of the technicalities that divide and create all these different denominations don’t matter. I don’t care what you call yourself. Call yourself a Baptist or a methodist, Presbyterian or whatever, as long as you believe in Christ. Saving grace on the cross, that’s what matters. I have that conversation all the time, and that’s what Paul is saying here. It doesn’t matter. It’s Christ and it’s grace and it’s faith in that that saves. And as long as you have that, the rest of your theology, some of it is very important.
But for the most part, the way you choose to live your life, whether legalistic or free, is inconsequential. It’s grace that matters. So Paul, throughout the book has kind of followed this pattern of of harsh criticism and rebuke, followed by the gospel and loving back to harsh criticism, back to gospel and loving. He kind of follows this, this ebb and flow through the book. And so he gives them, gives them the gospel. And remember, Christ has set you free for freedom. Christ has set you free. Stand firm therefore, okay, you’re not saved by the law. The law requires everything from you and you can’t do that. So then he goes on in verse 12 and gets back to some, um, some rebuke, uh, and he says, you were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. And so Paul kind of takes a minute and he steps back and he’s like, what happened? I was there and you were you.
You accepted the gospel and you believed with all faith, and you were excited and you were grounded and you were standing firm, and I leave. And now I’m hearing all these reports about this false doctrine that’s coming in, what happened? It’s like a parent when you leave the room and you know, all the siblings are on there playing, they’re happy and they’re good. And you go to get a glass of water and you turn around and you come back and you’re like, what in the world happened? Your brother’s hanging by his diaper from the ceiling fan. The dog is on the TV, your sister’s in the couch. I don’t even know how you get in the couch. But she got in the couch. The fish is in your bottle. Why is the fish in the bottle? You don’t know what happened. It’s like you walk away for a second and all of a sudden it just explodes with chaos. And Paul says, what happened? I walked away for a minute, and now I’m hearing all these crazy things that you’re believing and what you’re doing to yourselves and what you’re doing to your bodies. What are you doing? And so the question for us today is what are you doing? Have you? Have you seen the gospel and the truth of grace in your life that Christ has saved you, not of works of righteousness which we have done, but by faith in Christ and His work on the cross.
Have you have you gone from that to now? You’ve set up this list of I must do these things in order to maintain or to to earn extra salvation. What are you doing? Live in that grace that Christ has given you. Paul hadn’t completely given up on, on, on the church because he knew, um, that God is faithful and God is in control. Um, and he says that, uh, um. That I have confidence in the Lord, that you will take no other view, meaning that that you you will see the error of this false teaching that’s coming in. And you will you will hold to the view that is the gospel that I preach to you. Um, and it’s kind of the same idea. Uh, Jude talks about it in his book. Um, in verse 24 of his book, he says that him who is able to keep you. Um, and Jude is talking about, uh, God’s ability to keep and preserve, uh, the believer and the Christian. Um, and Paul uses similar language in Romans 1625. He says, him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. Paul knows that that the church in Galatia isn’t too far gone. They haven’t they haven’t gone too far. They haven’t fallen away too far to the point where they can’t come back. Um, and he tells them that, that he has confidence that God will bring them and sustain them.
Like Jude talks about God having the ability to keep a believer. And it’s kind of this, this force that we don’t know what it is that holds us up. But we know that it’s there and it’s it’s faith working in us, and it’s God able to to keep us and preserve us. And Jude and Paul both realized and understood that a Christian’s ability to remain faithful, um, to the truth of God’s Word isn’t, uh, dependent on them. Um, but through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit working in them. If it were up to me, um, I, you know, I would be who knows where doing who knows what? Um, because I, I have sinful, selfish desires. Um, but through the Holy Spirit working in me, he he’s he’s kept me faithful to God’s word, and he’s kept me faithful to the gospel. And. Yeah, like on Friday when my car broke down, I might slip and I might mess up. Um, but he’s faithful to work in me through that. So then the next time I open his word, he convicts me and tells me, see, this is what you were doing. This is what I said you should have done. And I say, okay, I’m my bad. And we, you know, I correct the behavior and we move on. But it’s the Holy Spirit working in me.
And Paul reminds them of that and says that, that he has confidence that God will continue to do that. And then he he reminds them in chapter five. Chapter four. Sorry. He says that, um, he reminds the Galatians of their their relationship with him and how he was friends. And he says, am I? Am I now your enemy because I’m reminding you of the gospel? And here in chapter five, um, he says, if I’m still preaching circumcision and works by the law, why am I being persecuted? Um, if that were the case, if that’s what I was teaching, he says the offense of the law or the offense of the cross has been removed. I mean, he reminds them that the cross is offensive to a lot of people. Uh, he says in first Corinthians 118 that the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. And Paul tells them that if I could preach circumcision and get out of this persecution, and not be persecuted and tormented and tortured the way that I have been, then I would do it. But that’s not what the gospel is. So I’m preaching the cross. Even though the cross is offensive to a lot of people. See, there’s basically two. Two different religions. Um, and you might say, well, no, there’s a bunch. I took a world religions class in college and there are like 150 bajillion of them, and we learned about all of them.
And so I can tell you, there are not two. But it boils down to there are two religions in the world. Um, there’s biblical Christianity that says that salvation or heaven, whatever you would like to call it, is attained through Christ and His work on the cross. And then there’s every other religion which falls under the same category of I can and will earn my way to whatever term you might use heaven. Um, eternity to Nirvana, to enlightenment, whatever it is, it’s works based. I can do this and I will get to here on my own. And Paul says that these are the two choices. And if I could preach what everybody else is preaching so no one would be mad at me, then I would do that. But the cross is the truth, and the cross is what I cling to. Um, and the cross is what needs to be taught. And he says that that is the real truth, and that is true religion, and that is, um, the gospel. And I can’t give in and teach. What all these other teaching teachings say, because it’s not by works. Ephesians two eight and nine we looked at. We’ve looked at all of these verses throughout the book of Galatians that tell us that that is not of our works, but it’s of Christ. Ephesians 289 like I said, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
And Paul says, that’s the gospel. So if I could teach you that, yes, you can work and earn your salvation like everybody else, I would, but I can’t. So you need to remember. The gospel is grace. It is not works. It is not a law. Remember, circumcision means nothing. And Paul is so adamant about his stance between, uh, between this, this living of the law and this legalism and grace that he goes on to say, uh, in the next verse. And I got to tell you of all the verses that I’ve ever taught and preached on, this is probably one of the most, um, difficult to figure out how to work through it. But he says that I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. Um, and if Paul were around today, um, he would be, like one of the must follow people on Twitter. Um, because, uh, he would he would say things and he would be like, oh, my gosh, he just said that. No way. Um, and so I think if if you were to put, um, verse 12, uh, into today’s context, it might look something like this. Um, so, so, uh, I didn’t put it in there. I knew I left something off my to do list this morning, but. So if he if he was on in today, Paul probably would have said, um, you would be scrolling through your Twitter feed and you’d see, uh, Pastor Paul, 116 if your teacher teaching people they need circumcision to go to heaven, show them how serious you are and take your circumcision to the next level.
Hashtag hashtag emasculation. Um, I think that’s how we probably would have put it. And you’d be scrolling through your Twitter feed and you’d be like, wait, what? Hold on. Um, and that’s the kind of guy Paul was. Um, he he he throws out bold statements like that throughout. Um, but however, however you look at this, if you read the King James Version, they translate the word um, uh, as, uh, he wishes they were cut off. Um, the new American standard says that he wishes they would mutilate themselves. Um, the English Standard Version, which is what we’re looking at today on the screen. What I have here in my notes, um, uh, takes the word the Greek word means to amputate. And so they take the context of the book, um, uh, dealing with circumcision and that and that. That’s the word that they came up with to use. But whatever word or translation you want to go with, the principle is the same. And that is that false teaching has no place among you. False teaching is a serious crime with serious consequences. Um, and Paul has no tolerance for false teaching and false doctrine.
Uh, and he, he says in that passage that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Um, meaning that it only takes a little bit. Um, to, to permeate through. Um, so you might think, well, I’m not accepting a false doctrine. I’m just, you know, I like this idea of karma. Um, and how that works. So I’m going to kind of take a little bit of that and put it in with my Christianity. But I’m still Christian. I still believe in the gospel and everything. I’m just going to take a little bit of this. Paul says it just takes a little bit of false teaching, a little bit of leaven, and it’ll ruin everything. Um, you let a little bit of false teaching into the church, uh, and it spreads. Um, in some passages he refers to it as gangrene. Um, and it just spreads and causes disease and sickness. Um, but false teaching is a serious offense, no matter what way you want to look at it. And those who teach false teaching, uh, is not pretty. What? Paul says that what should happen to you? Um, but he goes on, um, and continues this pattern of gospel and then harsh rebuke and he finishes his harsh rebuke and then brings him back and he says, um, in verses 13 through 15, he says that, uh, you, um, you were called to Freedom Brothers, but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another, for the whole.
Law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. So he’s saying, don’t be made a slave to legalism. Instead, be free in Christ. But don’t let your freedom be a cause for dissension. He says that, um uh, you can bite and devour one another. Watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Um, it’s the same argument that Paul brought up in earlier letters, and in some of his other letters, he says the same thing in Romans 14 and in first Corinthians chapter eight. Uh, and in those chapters he says that if his freedom is going to cause a stumbling block and cause a split and a dissension or an issue for another brother, then out of love for that. Uh, then then he can put his freedom aside, um, to, to save the argument and to save the fight. Um, the example that he gives in first Corinthians, um, is, uh, food offered to idols. He says some, some people thought that since the meat had been offered to idols, they weren’t they weren’t allowed to eat it. And other people were saying, who cares? We’re free in Christ, let’s eat it. Um, and so there was a kind of a split in the church, and some were living well, you know, we can’t eat that.
And others are saying, yes, we can, we’re free. Don’t worry about it. Just do it. Um, and it was causing a fight. And Paul saying, look, if your freedom over an inconsequential issue like this is causing a fight and it’s causing dissension, put your freedom aside and live in unity. Love is the key. Um, and today, we don’t really have to worry about the issue of meat offered to idols. Um, but, uh, it’s something similar. Might be the idea of tattoos and having a tattoo. Um, some people believe that tattoos are are innately evil and can only be used to worship, um, evil. And they they’re bad and you can’t get them. Other people are saying, get a tattoo. That’s fine. It’s cool, it’s awesome. You know, show off, show off. You can you can do all kinds of cool stuff with it. And it’s not a problem. We’re free in Christ. And Paul saying, whether you think that it’s okay to get a tattoo or whether you don’t think it’s okay to get a tattoo, find common ground and love one another and and and sacrifice some of that freedom that you have. Um, personally, I don’t have an issue with tattoos. Um, at church here. We’re pretty. We’re pretty free on that. Um, but if if you do struggle with the fact that people might have tattoos, the person with a tattoo shouldn’t consistently walk up to you and be like, check it out, look at this and rub it in your face and, you know, make it a stumbling block or an offense to you because that causes dissension.
And Paul’s saying, yes, you’re free, but don’t let your freedom be a cause for arguing and fighting and disputes. Um, and he goes on and he kind of he says, um, says that there’s two, two sides. There’s the spirit and the flesh. Um, and he’s going to show us that, um, even though you think you might be free, um, you’re really living in slavery. And he says in verses 16 through 18 he says, 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 things you want to do. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. So he says you have two options. You’re either led by the spirit or you’re led by the flesh. Um, and which one you choose to follow is going to determine whether you’re causing dissension and you choose to bite and devour, like he said in the previous verse. Um. Or not? Uh, and these two are opposing forces that they’re constantly fighting inside you.
If you’ve been a believer for any amount of time, you know, this war that wages on inside. Um, I think probably one of the, um, as clearer picture as you can get of it. Um, is another, um, uh, passage that Paul wrote in Romans chapter seven, verses 15 through 19. Um, he says, I do not understand my own actions. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. It’s no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I have the desire to do what is right, but the ability to carry it out, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do want, do not want is what I keep doing. Um, and I think if you kind of take the time to digest, he kind of does a lot of back and forth. Um, with it. But if you read it and you study it for yourself, you can see the battle that Paul talks about. And he says, I want to do good. I want to serve Christ. I want to to obey him. Um, and I don’t want to sin, and I don’t want to be selfish, and I don’t want to follow my selfish desires. But this war, I want to do these things. But because of these, I can’t.
Um. And though I might move closer to this side, I’m continually pulled back. And it’s a constant tug of war and a fight inside. Um, and that’s what he’s talking about here again in Galatians that there’s, there’s two, two sides. There’s the spirit and the flesh, and they’re constantly fighting, uh, between each other. Um, and there’s a clear, clear cut line between what the desires of the flesh are and what the desires of the spirit are. Um, and he says that if we’re walking in the spirit and being led by the spirit, um, then it’s going to be easier to avoid doing the sinful desires of the flesh. Uh, and he gives us he breaks them down and shows us what, uh, what the sinful desires of the flesh are. Um, and he says, uh, that now the works of the flesh are evident 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. And a lot of you’re like, whoa, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, we’re free. You just gave me a list of don’ts. You’re not making me free anymore. So which one is it? Are we free or what? Um. And yes, we are free. Um, but there’s still a guideline.
Paul says Paul doesn’t give this as a list of don’ts. And you don’t judge your life by. Okay, um, I didn’t get drunk today, so I’m doing good. Um. You don’t you don’t live it as a checklist. Um, but he’s he’s showing us a comparison and a contrast, and he’s going to contrast these desires of the flesh with the desire of the spirit. Um, here in a second. And what what he does is he shows us that if your life is identified by these things, you might think you’re living in freedom. Um, from the law. Uh, but you become a slave to something different, and now you’re not living in slavery to a legalistic system. You’re living in slavery to your sinful desires. Um. And you’re trapped. And by those and you can say, oh, no, no, no, I’m not, I’m not enslaved by those things. Um, I just just do them because they’re fun and they’re enjoyable. Um, but then you can go without them for a while, and you’re like, man, I really miss getting drunk sometimes. And and that’s what Paul’s talking about is if your life is identified and marked by these things, odds are you think you’re free, but you’re really not. Um, so he goes through this list. Um, and he says, uh, he starts off, um. And he says that, uh, uh, sexual immorality, the Greek word here for sexual immorality as identifying you living a life through the through the flesh and not through the spirit.
The Greek word is porneia. Um, it’s usually translated as fornication in most translations. It’s the same word that we get our English word for pornographic. Um, it’s a blanket term that kind of covers, uh, covers any and all sexual sin. You say, well, what is sexual sin? Because it’s kind of a gray line. We can, uh, we can kind of blur the line, but really, God sets it as a pretty clear line, and it’s any sexual sin, um, is, uh, um, any sexual act, um, that isn’t between a man and a woman after they’re married. Um, so that would include things like premarital sex, adultery, pornography, um, anything like that. Um, is sexual sin. And that would fall under the first list that. Paul. Um, first item in the list that Paul says is sexual immorality. Um, in today’s society, those things are typically things that we’ve tended to, um, to glorify more now than, uh, in the past. We used to, to look down on those things. Um, and now they’re kind of just like, yeah, whatever. Um, but and some, some people, um, and I’ve talked to people like this. Uh, they look at these things and they say, okay, well, this is, you know, it’s done in private. Um, and it doesn’t really affect other people that much. So it doesn’t really matter that I do these things.
Um, but just to kind of shed some light on one aspect of sexual immorality. Um, I was reading some facts and some statistics about porn and porn use and men that view pornography. Um, and, uh, a medical study was recently done that shows a connection, um, in the brain between pornography being similar on the human brain as heroin or cocaine. Um, so you can think that my sexual sin is is not a big deal, and it’s not that bad. Um, but there’s a similar effect in your sexual sin on your brain as heroin or cocaine. Um, if I were to tell you that, um, heroin or cocaine is bad, then you would probably most of you would agree and say, yes. Yes, it is bad. Um, your sexual sin is the same way. Um, it’s just a matter of whether you view it that way. Um, what happens is there’s an electronic pathway. A neural pathway is created in your brain. Um, and the more you view, um, view pornography or involved in sexual immorality and impurity, um, the pathway widens and the pathway grows and the more is needed to fulfill it. Just like an addiction to a drug, the more is needed, the more frequent, the more extreme, uh, all of these things. And so you might think that the problem you have is just between you and your computer when the doors are closed. But really, um, it’s going to affect you long term.
Um, some other stats. The average age in the US to first be exposed to pornography is age 11. So at age 11, we’re going people are going ahead and and exposing themselves to what is similar to a drug like heroin or cocaine. Um, more porn is consumed by boys ages 12 to 17 than any other age group. Um, men who view porn, um, young boys who view porn and grow into men are significantly more likely to commit sexual assault, and 1 in 4 women, um, have been or will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Uh, and this all is triggered because of sexual immorality and choices that we make that we think don’t affect other people. But there’s a significant change going on in our mind. And because we’re fulfilling the desires of our flesh, these are the results. Um, parents, I don’t want to, um. I don’t want to take this lightly, but I don’t want to take it too far. But parents, if you haven’t talked to your, um, your kids, especially if you have, uh, boys, um, you need to, um. And don’t think. Well, I’ll wait till he’s till he’s 16, because statistics say by that point, it’s already too late to talk to him about making the right kind of decisions. Um. It needs to happen. Uh, just some kind of basic rules of thumb that I would suggest to you as parents, if you’d like to, to keep your kids from falling into this and yourself.
Uh, is if you have Wi-Fi at your home, um, don’t let your kids have it connected, because once they go in your room, you don’t know what they’re looking at. If you have a teenage boy and you have Wi-Fi and you let them have Wi-Fi in your room, you might as well just give them a loaded gun. Um, and, and tell them to have fun, because that’s basically what you’re doing with that. Um, but it’s a serious issue that affects all aspects of, of a person’s life and the relationships that they have. Um, and so if you think your sexual immorality is not a big deal because not a lot of people know about it, you’re wrong because it is a big deal. And if you can continue down that path, it can lead to some, um, more tragic, uh, sins and more tragic, um, evidences. Um, I don’t want to dwell on that, like I said, but, um, he goes on and he says that idolatry is also a sign of the flesh. And it’s interesting if you read most of Paul’s letters when he connects, um, when he, he gives lists like this quite often. And whenever he, he typically starts with sexual sin, um, and the next thing that he’ll list is idolatry, um, because they’re closely related. If you read Romans one, um, uh, particularly the last half of Romans one, you see the connection between idolatry and, and sexual sin, but idolatry would be putting anything or anyone above God in importance.
Uh, um, idolatry isn’t just I carved a little wooden block into it, the shape of a duck with, like, moose antlers and made this god. And now I’m going to worship this god. Idolatry can be anything from work to money, um, to to hobbies, um, relationships, whatever it might be, could be idolatry. He says. Sorcery would be witchcraft, like Ouija boards or, um, trying to to be involved in the paranormal activities and going to to the all the haunted places, you know. Oh, there’s this graveyard is haunted. We can go check it out. Um, any of that kind of stuff. Um, he says enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissension, um, divisions and envy. All these are are talking about your relationship with other people and you’re fighting, um, it would be marked by a life of bickering and, uh, um, and fighting, uh, in, in high school, I had a really crappy relationship with my younger sister. Um, we were, um, the book of Galatians was like. It was our our relationship. Um, I or the prodigal son? The story of the prodigal son is probably a better connection. Um, I was the older brother, um, who always obeyed mom and dad and followed the rules and, you know, um, and she was the prodigal son that said, I’m going out.
And so I would get mad, um, and I thought I was living a life by the spirit because. Look at what I’m doing. I’m going to church. I’m obeying mom and dad. I’m doing the right things. Look at her. She is obviously not living in the spirit. Um, but in reality, I wasn’t living in the spirit because my relationship with her was marked by all of these things that Paul says, um, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissension, um, divisions and envy were all a perfect description of of my relationship with her. And so I thought I was living by the spirit because I was following a checklist. Um, but really, um, I was living according to the flesh because I was just not looking at the right checklist. Um, now, by the mercy and grace of God, our relationship is, um, is much better. We get along great. Um, she has two little kids that are awesome. Um, and, uh, um, uh, glory to God that, uh, we’re no longer, um, in that, uh, in that, uh, tension, but we both, uh, um, have grown, um, in our walk with the Lord and have come to a great relationship with each other. But Paul goes on after he, he lists the, the, um, dissensions and the quarreling and stuff, and he says drunkenness and orgies, um, which this would be referring to any kind of partying, getting drunk, um, or intoxicated, whether it be by drugs or alcohol orgies would refer to kind of loud, obnoxious, out of control parties.
Um, if these are things that mark your life, odds are you’re not living by the spirit. It doesn’t matter if you show up on Sunday morning and Wednesday night and you do these things, do other things. If your life is marked by a continual need for that kind of lifestyle, drunkenness and and loud parties and just being out of control, um, then that is not a life marked by, um, by living according to the spirit. And he adds, just to kind of. Give you an all inclusive statement, he says at the end. Um, and things like these. So he’s kind of saying, if you’re thinking in the back of your head, oh, good. He didn’t mention the sin that I’m particularly thinking of that I know is wrong, but I don’t want to give up. Um, if you’re thinking that he’s saying, yeah, that too is a mark of the flesh that’s not, um, excluded from the list. I just didn’t want to take the time to write 47 pages of all of the bad things that we can come up with. Um, and so, so he says that two is on a list of things that would be considered living according to the flesh and following the flesh. Um, so he contrasts the flesh, then.
Um, on on a brighter note, we kind of kind of sunk down there and kind of got a little heavy, which is good sometimes because I think we need it. And that’s a lot of times when the Holy Spirit can convict. But now he kind of brings it back up and he shows us, um, shows us the other side. So we looked at the flesh. And this is the spirit. This is the other side of the battle that wages inside of us. And this is very familiar. Most of us probably know this. Um, it says in verse 22, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. So again, um, you might have seen the list and you’re in your your religious legalistic thinking might have already said, okay, wait a minute, I’m free. But now I’m back under a list here. What are we doing? Am I really free or what? Uh, and yes, yes, you are free. This is not a list of do’s. Um, he didn’t give a list of don’ts. And then followed by a list of rules. Um, he. This is more of a road map for us. Um, it’s kind of a map to see where we’re at in that process of sanctification that he talks about, about gaining the righteousness. Is your life marked by these things? If it is, then then you’re then you’re you’re being you’re being sanctified and you’re working in those things.
If it’s not marked by these things, but it’s marked by the previous list, then you’re not living according to the spirit and you’re filling your selfish desires. And even though you think you’re free, you’re really becoming a slave. Um, and, um, so in this list, uh, it’s called the fruit of the spirit. And throughout the New Testament, fruit is often used as a, um, as an analogy to to what is the result of your life. Um, it’s the sowing and reaping principle. Um, you know what? You sow, you will reap. Um, Jesus talks about, uh, in Matthew he says, and Mark and Luke and in the Gospels he says that I am the vine. You are the branches. Um, he abides in me. He will bear much fruit. Um, he also talks about, uh, in the Gospels, the fruit of repentance. Um, Paul, um, in his writing, uh, uses, um, fruit. Um, in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Um, just about every book that Paul wrote, he uses fruit as some form. Um, in some form, as an analogy of the result of your life. And so what Paul is saying here is that if you’re a Christian and you’re being led by the spirit, this is the type of fruit you should see growing in your garden. If you’re not seeing this in your garden, then you’re not being led by the spirit and your life isn’t producing what you think.
Um. It’s producing. Um, but in contrast to the flesh, we see that, uh, it the fruit of the spirit, um, walking in the spirit produces a lot more attractive, um, qualities. Uh, he says it’s love. Um, this is a sacrificial, selfless love. Um. It’s unconditional. It doesn’t require anything in return, but it’s unconditional love. Uh, it’s the same type of love that God shows us. Um. Uh, joy. Um, it would be a cheerfulness or a delight. Um, people want to be around you because you’re you’re you’re nice to be around. You’re pleasant. Um, peace. It’s it’s kind of a calm, um, that you carry. Um, following the spirit. There’s not really a need for a panic, um, or a despair in light of situations. Um, but there’s a calm assurance. Um, trusting in God, um, that that marks the life of a person living by the spirit. Um. You have patience or long suffering is what some translations will say. Um, which is just being slow to anger. You’re not a hothead. You’re not, uh, quick to fly off the handle. Um, which is something that I naturally tend to, um, um, kindness or gentleness is a quality of having a gentle spirit. You’re not overbearing or pushing or or, uh, you don’t you don’t kind of try and take charge and and, uh, um, rule over people, but you’re you’re gentle and you’re kind.
Um, faithfulness. Uh, it’s a virtue. Some translations will say goodness. Um, but you have you have a high moral virtue. You have a high a good, um, standing, uh, gentleness would be, uh, sometimes is translated meekness. It’s humility. Um, you’re not a proud person. You’re humble. Um, these are all things that are going to mark the life of someone following the spirit. And he says that, uh, self-control, um, is kind of the last, um. And he says that, uh, you know, self-control is going to mark the site of this flesh because you have these two waging war inside you, the flesh and the spirit, and. And if you’re if you’re going to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, you’re going to have to have some form of self control, because these desires are going to continue to be there to walk in the flesh, and the sexual immorality and the idolatry and the drunkenness and the orgies and the fighting and the grumbling are natural tendencies that we’re going to want to and you’re going to want you’re going to need self control to avoid those things, to be able to walk in the spirit. And so he kind of caps off all of the, the things, um, listed as fruit of the spirit, uh, um, with self control. Uh, and if you look at these two, I mean, it’s pretty obvious which one, um, is, is better than the other.
Which one would be more attractive? Which one you would want to be around? Uh, I mean, if a guy, uh, came to my door, um, when Kaylee is old enough to date, which will probably be in another 30, 35 years from now, um, Lord willing, um, when that time comes and a guy comes to the door and he knocks on the door and he says, hi, I’m here to take Kaylee out on a date. But before we go out, I think you need to know a little bit about me. Just so you know. You know, my name is Tim. Um. Uh, I I’m sexually immoral. I’m impure. I’m very sensual. I’m an idol worshipper. I get drunk a lot. I’m into witchcraft. And I really like to cause fights and arguments. So I’m here to take your daughter out. Um, if that guy shows up to my door, um, I will take everything that I’ve learned watching CSI about how to hide a body and dispose of evidence. And it will be put to use. Right. Because that is not the kind of guy for my daughter, all right? That’s not the kind of guy for anybody’s daughter. Um, but but the contrast between the two, even if you take the. Okay, this one’s following God, and this one is not following God, and you just look at what kind of person do I want to be? I want to be the person that people tend to want to be around, and not the kind of person that everybody’s like, oh crap, he’s here like your life.
You you should want to be marked by the fruit of the spirit. Um, it’s a much more attractive life. Um, and if Jesus says, as he says in Matthew, that we’re, um, we’re the light of the world where the salt of the earth, if we want to be light and salt, we need to live a life that is attractive. Um, you can’t go out and say, yeah, I’m a Christian. Um, while you’re getting throw up drunk to the point where the person that you’re trying to tell about Jesus has to give you a ride home. Um, that probably isn’t the best witnessing opportunity. Um, but if you’re exercising self control while talking to this person about Jesus, they’re a lot more likely to listen to you. Um, and that’s the life of a believer. It’s not a list of, okay, now I have a list of the fruit of the spirit. And now, okay, I love, love, love love love love love. I’ve got to be loving God, to be loving God to be loving. And you’re so focused on being loving. And somebody comes up and tries to talk to you and you’re like, look, I know you want to talk to me right now, but I’m really trying to be loving over here.
Um, hang on. And they keep bugging you like, oh, leave me alone. I’m trying to be loving. And then you’re like, oh, man, now I’m not patient. Okay? Patience, patience, patience, patience. Now I’ve got to be patient. Now, that’s not the way the fruit of the spirit works. The fruit of the spirit is being led by the spirit and seeking him. You. You don’t set up a checklist. Paul didn’t give you a checklist of do’s and don’ts. He says, walk by the spirit. Gradually, as you grow in Christ, let the spirit change and transform your life so that you can bear this type of fruit. Abide in me. Um, the word abide that he uses in Matthew and Jesus says, abide in me. I’m the vine, you are the branches. Abide in me, and you will bear much fruit. The word abide. It’s to live, to live in Jesus, to, to to know Jesus, to grow in Jesus. Okay. Um, we we moved back in in March. I think it was March or April somewhere in there. And at first, whenever you’re in a new place, you know, you’re still kind of, um, figuring it out. But as you live, you live in it, you know the tendencies, you know, the little noises that you’ll hear at night, you know, um, you know, okay, it’s pitch black. And I got to get from bed to the bathroom without breaking my toe.
And so, you know about how many steps it is to the dress, you know? And you know how to maneuver around as you live in that house. And as you live in Christ, you grow and you understand and, you know, um, you know, the tendencies and you know, the things that you need to look out for and you know the things to do. But if you’re not living in Christ, if you’re not abiding in him and spending time with him, then then how are you going to know how to walk by the spirit? How are you going to know to walk by the spirit? How are you going to do these things if you’re not abiding in him? Um, walking by the spirit is by this, by allowing the Spirit in Christ to work in our lives so that we can bear that fruit. Um, Paul says in Galatians 220, he says, the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith through the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Living life. In order to bear fruit, you need to live it through faith in Jesus Christ and through him. It’s not a following, a list of do’s and don’ts and a checklist. It’s by submitting yourself and humbling yourself and and giving up. A selfish desires that you have and living a life for God.
Uh. Freedom that Christ brought us on Calvary. Isn’t freedom to live as we please? It’s not freedom to to do whatever we want to do. It’s freedom from doing whatever we want to do and the sin that easily ensnares us. It’s freedom from those things. It’s freedom from a legalistic law, and it’s freedom to live in the light of grace and mercy. That’s what Christ did for us on the cross. We’re not freed from legalism into slavery to sin. We’re not out of the frying pan and into the fire. We’re freed to live a life led by the spirit. Jesus says that he came, that we might have life to the full. And you might think that in order to have life to the full, I need to fulfill these desires, and I need to I need to to fulfill my fleshly desires, and that satisfies, and that will give me a full life. But we just went through the book of Ecclesiastes, and you should know that in the end, all of that leads to it’s vanity. It’s vanity of vanities. It’s worthless. Um, and Jesus says that if you want to have a full life, it’s through me. It’s through my freedom that I offer you on the cross. It’s freedom from a legalistic, religious burdening system. It’s freedom from. Yourself. And the sin that that you enslave yourself to. For freedom. Christ has set you free. Live in that freedom because against the fruit of the spirit and living in the fruit, in the fruit of the spirit, there is no law.