Walking by the Spirit: Power for Bitter Warfare – Part 1 (Galatians Sermon 19)

Next month, my daughter and I, God willing, are going to be in Serbia, ministering to some folks there with the IMB. And that same month, actually, right around the time that we’re there, will mark on June 28th 2014, the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, thus beginning World War I, Which as I’ve said before, I think is one of the greatest tragedies in all of human history. I mean the war, in particular. Obviously, assassination is a grave crime, but all of the nations of Europe had armed themselves to the teeth and were ready to show off what they could do in the battlefields. And these mighty modern economies, these post industrial revolution economies, with all of the technological development and all their weapons, were ready to be unleashed on each other. Each nation convinced the war would be a short one and that the troops would be home by Christmas.

And so, the guns of August were unleashed in 1914 and devastating war resulted in just casualties by the tens of millions. 37 million people killed in World War 1. And perhaps, as finally, when it ended in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 and a generation of young men lay in their graves as a result of just political insanity. And a poet said, “The lights had gone out all over Europe.” The only hope for many in the world at that point, lay in the name that many gave to that war which was ‘the war to end all wars’.

Well, from the perspective of the 21st century, know that was absolutely not true. World War I gave birth to an even greater conflagration in the World War II, which the death toll rose to more than double. 85 million people died as a result of that one. And so, the 20th century was really a century of warfare, of huge warfare, of world cataclysmic shaking warfare that has shaped the world as we know it today.

But as we look at the text that we’re looking at today, Galatians 5:16-18. I would say as a Christian pastor, despite the fact that World War I and World War II and other subsequent wars have captured all of the headlines and given rise to countless books and documentaries, and poems, and essays, and movies and all kinds of things. Massive scale that dominates the landscape of human history and catches the eye. I think that the warfare described in our text today is infinitely more significant. And it is the warfare that goes on inside every true Christian every day.

The spiritual warfare, the warfare that goes on between the Spirit and the flesh, that’s what we’re going to talk about. This battle field is internal, its ebbs and flows are invisible, yet the destiny of the world lies in the balance. As Christians conquer the flesh by the Spirit they move out and do the good works that God has ordained, build the church, including evangelism and missions.

We talked much in this church about two infinite journeys, the internal journey of sanctification and the external journey of worldwide gospel advance. So those two are absolutely interconnected. Today, we’re going to focus on the internal journey and understand it as a warfare, bitter warfare between the Spirit and the flesh.

Allow me to set these three very small but significant verses in context; we’re in the book of Galatians. Galatians to the letter written by the Apostle Paul, he was called the Apostle to the Gentiles. He went out as a church planting, trail blazing missionary, evangelist. He went into the lands of unreached people groups, Gentiles and Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. And he went to a region called Galatia and there were some Gentiles there, and God blessed his preaching of the gospel, many came to faith in Christ. They understood the message of the gospel and they were saved and believed. He organized them into churches and then left to go work in another place. After he left, some false teachers came in who have been called Judaizers. And they preached a poisonous mixture of Christ plus Moses, or Christ plus works, faith plus works, and that believing in Jesus is not enough for the salvation of your souls, you must also obey the laws of Moses, beginning with the law of circumcision.

Paul says that is no gospel at all, it’s a false gospel. I call it poisonous. Paul lifted up and made plain in Galatians 2 the center piece of the gospel, which is justification by faith alone, apart from works of the law. Sinners are made right with the Holy God simply by faith in Jesus. We who are guilty, we who have violated the laws of God, we can be made right, we can be forgiven through faith in Jesus and through faith alone. Paul then says that, that their own experiences with the gospel, how they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and began the Christian life proved it out. And then, the Bible itself, the Old Testament proved it out. Abraham was justified by faith not by works, and there a number of verses he sites in Galatians 3 and 4 that show that this idea has been woven throughout the Bible. Sinners are made right by faith and not by works.

In our chapter now, Galatians 5, he calls them to freedom. He warns these Galatian Christians, concerning these false teachers, that want to wrap chains of legalism around you and tell you that you are made right by God and made right in the sight of God and you continue in that status by your own obedience to the law. Well, that’s a yoke. It’s a chain of slavery. So in Galatians 5:1 he says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not allow yourself again to be burdened by a yoke of slavery.” But as we’ve been saying in the last few weeks, this freedom is not freedom the way the world defines it. To sin with impunity and do whatever you want, doesn’t matter how you live, you can pursue happiness as your own fleshly appetites define and there are no repercussions, once saved always saved, doesn’t matter how you live, go to heaven when you die. <any have understood the doctrine of God’s grace in Christ that way.

In Romans 6:1, Paul brings up this question. He says, “What then, shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? May it never be.” And then, later in that same chapter, Romans 6:15, he says, “What then, shall we sin because we’re not under law,” as it says in our text here 5:18, “Not under law but under grace.” Shall we sin for that reason? By no means. So the true gospel flees the opposite extremes, as we’ve been saying, of legalism on the one hand, that you are forgiven in the sight of God by your obedience to the law, unaided obedience to the law, or license on the other, that it doesn’t matter how you live.

Now, legalism has been the focus of the letter up until now, but now Paul addresses the concerns about license. That the gospel of God’s grace means that you can sin all you want, it doesn’t matter how you live and you’ll still go to heaven when you die. In order to understand this, this teaching, we have to stop and just step back and look at the big picture. Salvation, Christian salvation from sin, comes to us in stages. We don’t get it all at once. None of you has your full salvation from sin yet.

It begins with justification, which is the declaration by God, the Almighty Judge of the universe that you are forever not guilty of all your sins. And that’s on the basis of the gift of righteousness credited to your account by simple faith, the righteousness of Jesus. That’s justification, the beginning of the Christian life, but it flows inevitably into sanctification. And the rules of the game on sanctification are different than that of justification. Whereas, in justification, your works are absolutely unwelcome. You must not seek to bring your works for the forgiveness of your sins. Now, in sanctification, you gradually, little by little, are called on to work out your salvation of fear and trembling [come back to that phrase], and become more and more like Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, step by step. And then finally, it ends in glorification. And glorification is the act of the sovereign God, Almighty God, instantaneously to transform you forever conform to Christ perfectly in every way. And that comes, I believe, for most Christians in two stages. At death, the Spirit is made perfectly righteous and then goes and waits for the resurrection of the body. And at the resurrection of the body then we get glorious resurrection bodies, just like Jesus and that’s it. And we’re heading toward that. Amen, hallelujah.

But we’re not there yet. And all of you who are listening to me today who are Christians, you’re right in the middle of a warfare known as sanctification. And that’s what we’re talking about today. And it begins in our text with a command, a clear command in verse 16. “So I say”, according to the Apostle Paul, he’s giving the commands of an Apostle, “So I say, walk by the Spirit.” So there’s this initial command that comes, walk or live by the Spirit. The word ‘walk’ means live your daily life. It’s a meticulous kind of thing, in detail, how you walk, etcetera, day by day, walk by the Spirit.

“You who are  Christians, you’re right in the middle of a warfare known as sanctification.”

Now, the Holy Spirit has already been introduced to the Galatian readers. He says back in 3:2-3, he said, “Now I want to ask you, did you receive the Spirit by works or by believing what you heard?” So they received the gift of the Spirit, God did miracles among them at that time, the gift of tongues came often in the book of Acts. And there were some other miracles, they knew that the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit had come upon them.

They had received the gift of the Spirit, simply by faith. And they had begun the Christian life by the Spirit but they’re not perfected by the flesh, he said this back in Galatians 3. And then in 3:14, it says that by faith they received the promise of the Spirit. So they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then, in 4:6, “The Spirit is in our hearts crying out of a father.” By that Spirit, we cry out ‘Daddy’, we cry out to God that He is our adoptive father. And then again, in this chapter 5:5, it says, “By faith through the Spirit we wait for righteousness.” That’s the essence of sanctification, I think. So the Spirit’s already been introduced.

I. Obey the Command: Walk by the Spirit

Let’s talk about the Holy Spirit now. The Holy Spirit is the sovereign power of God behind sanctification. The Holy Spirit is as essential to sanctification as Jesus Christ is to justification. Without the work of Christ on the cross, we would have no hope whatsoever of being made right in the side of the Holy God. You would have no hope if it weren’t for Jesus. None. In the same way, without the work of the Holy Spirit within us, we would have no hope whatsoever of growing in holiness. We would have no hope whatsoever putting a single sin to death apart from the Spirit, so the Spirit’s indispensable.

“The Holy Spirit is as essential to sanctification as Jesus Christ is to justification. … Without the work of the Holy Spirit within us, we would have no hope whatsoever of growing in holiness.”

Now, let’s talk about a simple definition of the Christian life. Christian life is a life lived daily under the direction and by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, moment by moment, forgiven completely by the blood of Jesus, that’s the Christian life. We are justified, we are forgiven, we’re adopted, we are secure. Amen? You can’t sin your way out of the family of God, but you have the indwelling Holy Spirit and moment by moment, the Spirit empowers you to live a holy life defined by the moral law as we’ve talked about before. That’s the Christian life.

And so, in this paragraph, we have the power of the Holy Spirit described in the life of the Christian, enabling each Christian to live a life that’s well pleasing to God. Now, who is the Holy Spirit? What do we mean by the Holy Spirit? Well, we believe that the full revelation of God in the Bible, is that of the infinite mystery of the trinity; the infinite mystery of trinity. Now, you’re not going to find the word trinity in the Bible, but it’s basically a summation of some doctrinal insights that do come straight from the Bible.

The first and foremost, is that there is one God and there is only one God. There is one God and there is only one God. Secondly, that this one God has eternally existed in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Eternally existing this one God in three persons. And that these three persons are in some mysterious sense, we could use a language, separates centers of existence while being still perfectly one. It’s very difficult, I would say close to impossible for us to completely conceive of this mysterious unity of three persons in one God head. This is what the Bible teach us and we accept it by faith.

And in the doctrine of the trinity, the Father is fully God, and the Son is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God, but the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not Spirit, and the Spirit’s not the father. So, they can have relationship with each other, communication, conversation with each other, that’s the doctrine of the trinity. So, what we’re saying is, that the trinity is directly eternally involved in human salvation, but they have different roles in that salvation. The Father before the foundation of the world, made a plan by which the elect would be saved from their sins. Before the foundation of the world, that’s what the Bible teach us.

The Son became incarnate by the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate, became a human being, lived a sinless life, did great signs and wonders, died in atoning a substitutionary death on the cross, he died in the place of sinners, rose from the dead on the third day and ascended to heaven. The son executed the Father’s plan, that part of it anyway. He achieved redemption on the cross, and then ascended to heaven. Then the Father and the Son together sent the Holy Spirit into the world to take that finished work of Christ and apply it to individual people all over the world.

And that’s what the Spirit is doing right now. The sovereign Spirit is moving throughout the world and I trust even throughout this sanctuary right now, applying the work of Christ to individual hearts. If you are Christian today, you may thank the Holy Spirit for making you so. The Spirit personally brought Christ to you. And it is the Spirit who made you a Christian. Now, the Holy Spirit is almighty God, and that’s awesome when you think about it. He first is mentioned in the Bible in the second verse of the entire Bible. It’s amazing. There the famous verse, Genesis 1:1, it says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And then it says now, “The earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” So, the Holy Spirit of God is right there hovering over the waters. And in the same way, he is at work inside you, he’s working in your soul. How awesome is it? It’s really almost inconceivable that the third person of the trinity is dwelling within you if you were a genuine Christian, if you’re born again. The Spirit of God is living within you, the same Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation in the ancient world is now moving in our hearts to bring about holiness, to bring about God’s purposes, to bring about his changes that he wants.

This is absolute omnipotence. That’s got to be redundant, but anyway, I’m going to say it anyway. Absolute omnipotence, he has all power, absolutely. And he’s at work in your life, and he is perfectly wise, he’s omniscient and he’s inside you, fully engaged in your life to bring about holiness. Now, the indwelling Spirit, the gift of the Spirit was promised through the prophets in the Old Testament, that this gift would come to us. He is the promised Holy Spirit of the Spirit of promise. And there’s one promise in particular that I never tire of reciting to you folks, and I love it because of all that it says. It’s in Ezekiel 36:25-27, you’ve heard it before, just listen again. This is what the Spirit brings to you. It’s what the Spirit does to you if you’re a Christian. Listen. Ezekiel 36:25-27, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you. And I will remove from you your heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I’ll put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

That is the promise of the Holy Spirit’s work in applying Jesus’s cleansing blood to you, transforming your nature from within and moving you to obey God’s laws and keep his commandments. The Spirit’s also promised in Joel 2, which the Apostle Peter referred to in the day of Pentecost, Joel 2:28-29 says, “In the last days, I’ll pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I’ll pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” Jesus, for his part, made also repeated promises that he would send the Holy Spirit. He said in John 14, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever. The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

So again, the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit Jesus made. And then, after his resurrection he reiterated the promise. He’s very clear about this. He says in Luke 24:49, I’m going to send what my Father has promised but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. And so the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit poured out by the Father and the Son. And then again, in Acts 1:4-5, Jesus commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days,” He said to them at that time, “In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then that great and awesome day came at last, the day of Pentecost came. And they were all together in the upper room and they’re praying and waiting. And suddenly, there came the sound of a violent rushing wind, like the sound of a hurricane but no moving air, just the sound, and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, it says, “And they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” And a crowd gathered for the feast of Pentecost heard the sound of the rushing wind and they gathered, and the church flooded out into the streets and began to change the world, by the power of the Spirit, they began to change the world. And Peter began to preach this awesome Pentecost sermon, he’s explaining what’s going on. And this is what he says, “God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact of the resurrection. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” So he’s explaining the phenomenon they’re seeing, the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then, at the end of his Pentecost message, he extends the promise to everyone. When they heard Peter’s very convicting sermon, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Now, that may be you today I hope. If you have come in here as an unbeliever, you’ve come in here you’ve never trusted in Jesus, you’ve been playing the game. Maybe you’re nominal and not a genuine Christian. Maybe you’ve just been invited today. Maybe you’re here for the dedication. Maybe you’re a family member or a relative, and you just want to take a nice picture of a family that you love and a cute little baby. Hey, they are cute. But can I talk to you about your soul? Someday you’re going to die and you’re going to stand before God in judgement. Are you ready? The only way you can be ready is by repenting and trusting in Jesus. They, on that day of Pentecost, those people were cut to the heart. They knew they were sinners and they weren’t ready to die. And they said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter gave this timeless answer, he said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off.” That’s us, we’re far off, for all whom the Lord, our God, will call.

So the promise of the Holy Spirit has been abiding now for 20 centuries. Everyone who hears the gospel and believes, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the theology of the Spirit. Every single Christian has the indwelling Spirit. If you don’t have the indwelling Spirit, you are not born again, you’re not a Christian. You’re still in your transgressions and sins. Every Christian has the indwelling Spirit. The Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing that we’re going to heaven, guaranteeing the full inheritance of the saints. The Spirit is that guarantee. But he is also the power for ongoing holiness, for the internal journey of holiness, of sanctification. He is also the power for the external journey of evangelism and missions. The Spirit is active and at work, the sovereign Spirit.

Now, on the internal journey having begun by the Spirit, we are now also to be perfected by the same Spirit. Paul cried out earlier against the Galatians, “Are you so foolish?”, Galatians 3:3, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh?” So what that means is, it is the Spirit who began the Christian life in you or began you in the Christian life, say both. It’s the Spirit that did it. You were dead in your transgressions and sins until the Spirit came to you. You were dead. And the Holy Spirit came and raised you to life. You heard the gospel and he raised you to life. Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we’re dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved.”

But now, I want to give you a picture, the Spirit has raised you to life. Now, Ezekiel 36, is that great promise of the gift of Spirit. Ezekiel 37 has the picture of a valley of dry bones. All these dead, these dry bones, everywhere, completely dry, dead, nothing. And Ezekiel was commanded, “Prophesy to the dry bones.” And as he was speaking, as he was predicting, there came this terrible rattling sound, and these bones were assembled but still as yet no life. And then Hhe said, “Prophesy to the wind.” The same word in Hebrew for wind and Spirit. Prophesy. And then, this wind came and they were filled with the Spirit and came to life. And it says in Ezekiel 37:10, “A vast army.”

Now, just pause with me. What’s an army used for? Army is used for war. And as soon as those people come to life, I want to combine it with Ephesians 6, flaming arrows start coming right at them. Now, the flaming arrows can’t kill and we’ll never die but they can hurt us. Those flaming arrows from Satan are temptations, they’re assaults on us. And we are commanded to get ready for battle and to pick up the shield of faith and put on the armor and get ready to fight. And that’s what this text is about.

Now that you’re alive, you are at war. Before you were alive, you were just dead. But now that you’re alive, you’re at war. That’s what this text is all about. And the Spirit empowers you to live, and you cannot ever say to the Spirit, “Okay Spirit, I got it, you’ve done really well up to now, I got it from here on forward. I’ll take over, I can do it now.” You can’t do anything now but sin, alright. That’s what you can do on your own. Remember how Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you’re the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he’ll bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” The Holy Spirit is in, right in there, the Spirit is the connection between the branch and the vine. By the Spirit, we stay abiding in Jesus. Apart from the Spirit you can do nothing. That’s the Spirit filled life.

Now, we come to the issue of law versus grace, or flesh versus Spirit. The whole epistle has been about the contrasting themes of law versus grace. We are always tempted to revert to law, that’s our tendency, we always go back to legalism, that’s our tendency. God means for it to be a salvation by grace from beginning to end. So many Christians, then embattling sin, draw up a list of do’s and don’ts, rules and regulations, new rules for the Christian life. And that’s what it means to try to be perfected by the flesh. Arrogant, independent human effort. See the law, do the law, you’re on your own.

Now, the Spirit-filled Christian life does involve distinct patterns of Bible study, prayer, church involvement, witnessing, giving, etcetera, yes. But these things are written on our hearts by the Spirit. They are lived out in our lives by the Spirit, not in some legalistic way, as though we are slaves in chains or we’re somehow on probation, needing to secure a permanent place in the family, that is not true. Everything God commands you to do, He empowers you to do by His Spirit, you’re not on your own. That’s the essence of sanctification by the Spirit not by law. So we’re commanded right here in verse 16, “Walk by the Spirit.” Now, I want you to know that it is a command. What does that tell you? What does that tell you? You’re commanded to do something. The Lord is telling you how to live, in order to live a life worthy of the Lord, how to please Him. Now, the command here, the verb is “walk.” As I already mentioned, this has to do with daily life patterns, details. It has to do with habit patterns. What you are in the habit of doing, how you live your life, practical daily life. There are habit patterns, a habitual lifestyle of holiness that the Lord is after.

The verb “walk” also speaks of progress, doesn’t it? We’re going to be moving out now. When the Spirit tells you to rise and walk, you’re being told to go somewhere. So we call it in journey, or an internal journey we’re in. We’re not staying where we started, we’re going to move out now. This infinite journey, internal journey, we’re going to move out. There’s a clear parallel verse, in verse 25, it says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Do you see that? Let’s keep in step with it. So, the Greek word behind that keep in step, means to walk in a line like soldiers on a parade ground. Left, right, left, right, left, right. The Spirit is the drum beat of a life of holiness. Left, right, let’s move, keep in step with the Spirit, that’s what he’s giving us. So the Spirit is prompting us, and He’s leading us, and it covers every area of life. There’s no part of life that the Spirit doesn’t cover. How to speak, how to eat, how to sleep, how to pray, how to spend money, how to be in church, how to be married, how to be a parent, how to resist temptation, everything is covered, everything.

“The Spirit is the drum beat of a life of holiness.”

Now, we come to an incomprehensible mystery, and that is the relationship between the Spirit’s power and our effort. The Spirit’s power and our effort. And here, so many people go astray. So many people, so I will do the best I can to explain to you how these go together but it is very difficult to understand. We have to do the best that we can. There are two extremes when it comes to sanctification. We do everything versus we do nothing. These are extremes. We do everything versus we do nothing. Now, we do everything, we’ve already covered… That’s legalism. You’re on your own, here’s the law, do it or die; that’s legalism. That’s we do everything. You’re on your own, you got to do it, that’s the essence of legalism.

Now, let’s talk about we do nothing. There is a strong history of sanctification taught in this pattern. It’s been going on a long time, it’s got lots of different names. There are popular books still being sold that tell you in effect, you do nothing when it comes to sanctification. One of the slogans of this movement has been, ‘Let go and let God.’ Growth and holiness then is as easy as a twig moving down the stream, if you just get the right formula. Just let go and let God take you where he wants to take you. That sounds to me a lot like glorification. I’m going to let go from whatever I’m holding on to in the ICU and I’ll be gone, goodbye. And then, God’s going to take me to perfection, but that’s not sanctification. ‘Let go and let God.’ That’s not what’s going on. Another language title of it is ‘The Surrendered Life.’ A movement around a church camp retreat center is called Keswick Holiness. Keswick Holiness.

Now, this is probably more information than you need. But Keswick Holiness taught that striving in the Christian life is evidence of the flesh. That if you’re striving, you’re off, you’re already off. What you need to do is cease striving and know that he is God. And if you’re sinning, it means that you haven’t paid the price tag for holiness which is total surrender. Oh, wow. This hit me for the first time. I was telling Andy about this. I’ve never put this together. I see now the deadly combination of what Keswick Holiness and all of this is doing. JI Packer wrote about this. You can look up, just Google JI Packer on Keswick Holiness. Keswick is K-E-S-W-I-C-K. But I guess, Google will cover it if you misspell it, I don’t know.

But JI Packer on Keswick Holiness, and he said this, he said, “It’s not much of a recommendation of a pattern of Christian life when the best you can say is this teaching may help you if you don’t take any of its detail seriously.” Wow. It is utterly damning to such a movement to have to say, as in this case, we must say, that if you do take the detail seriously, it will tend not to help you but destroy you. He said it didn’t work, and that was deeply frustrating. It was a depressing thing. “It made me feel like an outsider.” And at the age of 18, that’s a pretty burdensome thing. “In fact, it was straight out driving me insane,” he said.

The reality of Keswick’s theology, the passivity program, let go, let God, cease striving all that. And it’s announced expectations plus its insistence that any failure to find complete victory is entirely your fault, that combination make it destructive. Now just look at what’s being said here, cease striving and let God do it directly contradicts the warfare language in all the holiness passages in which you’re told to arm yourself and put your own sin to death by the power of the Spirit. We’ll talk about all that in minute, but cease striving is not what those passages tell you.

Secondly, total surrender will elude you while you live in this sinful body. You won’t be totally doing anything while you live in this sinful body. You’re always going to be a mixture of light and darkness; you’re going to be a mixture of Spirit and flesh. That’s what the text says, as long as you… So you will never be totally surrendered, and you are not just to cease striving. That’s the problem with all this. Another writer, Hannah Whitall Smith wrote the ‘Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life’ teaches the same kinds of things.

Now, Packer says and other say, many Christians have gone a long way in the Christian life and have done many good things thinking these thoughts but the essence of that type of sanctification is false, that’s not what we teach. We are taught, a strong effort is required to grow in holiness. You must fight. You must run with endurance. Listen to this, First Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul says, “Don’t you know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way that you may get the prize. Those who complete in the games go into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last. We do it to get a crown that will last forever. [Listen to this] Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave; lest after I preach to others, I myself may be disqualified from the prize.” That doesn’t sound like let go and let God to me. That doesn’t sound like cease striving and know that I’m God, which is a Bible verse but misapplied when it comes to this warfare. It sounds to me like, Paul says you want to do well, you’ve got to go into strict training, you need to be an athlete, you need to be a warrior, you need to fight. That’s what he’s saying. Same thing in Hebrews 12, there it says, in verse 1, “Let us throw off everything that hinders us in the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race marked up before us.”

That doesn’t sound like cease striving and know that I’m God. That doesn’t like let go and let God. Sounds like you’ve got a race to run, and it’s going to take every bit of your strength and endurance to run that race. The Spirit is there to empower you to do it. But all of that fighting and all of that running… I love this, 2 Timothy 4:7, you’ve heard this at funerals, here at now while you live, while there’s time to make it happen, “I have fought the good fight. I’ve finished the race. I’ve kept the faith. Now there is laid up in store for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord will award to me, and not only to me but also to those who have long for his appearing.”

Are you fighting the good fight, right now? The good fight I think is sanctification, and also I think it’s the advance the external journey; they’re both good fights. But it’s at least fight the good fight. Finish the race. Keep the faith. I think, I would love that to be said at my funeral, that it were true; that I fought the good fight, that I finished my race, that I kept the faith.

“Are you fighting the good fight, right now? The good fight I think is sanctification, and also I think it’s the advance the external journey.”

Now, all of that is done by the power of the Spirit; all of it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “By the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God that was in me.” Do you see that? Paul says, “God’s grace worked on me, it made me work hard, really hard. And yet it wasn’t me working but it was the grace of God working in me.” That sounds almost confusing but that’s the complexity of Spirit works and we work. Probably the best harmonizing verse on this is Philippians 2:12-13. There he says, “So now dear friends, as you have always obeyed, as you’ve always obeyed, not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose.” That harmonizes everything.

But do you see, “let go and let God” in there? I don’t. Do you see cease striving there? I don’t. Do you see that God’s waiting for you to be totally surrendered, and then he’ll give it to you as a gift? I don’t see that. I see that we’re being told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but God’s at work in us to do it. That’s what I see. So we are commanded to walk by the Spirit, and if we do walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. So the Spirit is leading each one of you, who are true Christians in to war. The Spirit’s leading into war. He says we’re led by the Spirit in verse 18. If you’re led by the Spirit, not under the law.

Romans 8:13-14 says it more plainly. It says there, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live because those who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God.” Okay. So, if you live according to what the flesh wants, you’ll die and go to hell; that’s what he is saying. If you live that kind of life, but if by the Spirit, you are in the process of putting to death the deeds of the body, killing them. If you are in the process of killing them by the Spirit, you’ll live, that means you go to heaven. Because, Romans 8:14, those who are led by the Spirit, those are the children of God.

So let me say again. If you’re not at this kind of warfare, you’re not a Christian. If you’re not at war with the deeds of the flesh, you’re not born again. You’re dead in your transgressions and sins. If you are born again, you’re at war with the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit. Everyday, the Spirit gets you up, I mean, literally and gets you dressed, not literally, and leads you into battle, into warfare against the deeds of the flesh; that’s the Christian life. You’re at war and you need to fight in a way that glorifies God.

Now, what are we at war with? And we’re going to close with this today. The acts of the flesh are what we’re at war with. Look down at verses 19-21. This is what you’re going to fight, this is what you’re fighting. The acts of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality. We’re at war with sexual immorality, at war with it. We hate it, we want it dead. Impurity and debauchery, we’re at war with these wicked things. We’re at war with idolatry and witchcraft. We’re at war with hatred. Isn’t this weird? We hate hatred. And we are at war with discord. We’re against jealousy. We’re at war with the tendency we have to be envious of other people’s blessings; we’re at war with that. I don’t want that in my life; it’s evil. At war with jealousy and we’re at war with fits of rage. We’re angry about anger. I don’t know how that works. But anyway, we’re at war with it. We don’t want it anymore. We want it out. James calls it moral filth. Its radioactive waste. I want sinful anger out of my life. We’re at war with dissension, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions all of these things. We’re at war against drunkenness and orgies and the like. “I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

So, we’re at war with any motion of our heart toward those things. We want to kill them and by the Spirit, we put them to death. So this morning, as I was practicing this incredibly, ridiculously long sermon, there it is, 23 pages. There was clearly no chance, none whatsoever. So, what’s the rest of this? What’s the rest of this sermon which I will not be preaching today? This is how to fight. How do we put to death the deeds of the flesh? What strategy are we going to take? I’m going to try to help you with that. I don’t think we should hurry through this because you guys are going to go from this sermon today into this warfare. You’re at it, right now. It’s going on right now. I want to help you. It’s my yearning to help you. So next week, God willing, I will finish up and I’ll urge how it is that living by the Spirit guarantees that you will not gratify the lust of the flesh. Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the things that we’ve learned today. Really, the simple lesson is this, so many things that I said today but that all Christians are at war, we’re at war with the flesh. And that we’re at war not in the legalistic sense, as though you’re standing back from us with your arms crossed across your chest saying, you better win this one or you’re not going to heaven. No, no, no, you’re living within us, enabling us, empowering us, guaranteeing success. Thank you, oh Lord. I pray that you’d help my brothers and sisters here to fight powerfully and courageously. And I pray one more time that if there are any here that walked in this place not born again, that they would right now trust in Jesus and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus’s name, Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

The Twentieth Century: A Century of Warfare

Next month, June 28, 2014, will mark the century-anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. That single event started an avalanche of political maneuvering and sword-rattling by the nations of Europe leading eventually to “the guns of August” and the start of WWI. It would lead to over four years of the most horrific carnage the world had ever seen… modern economies and industries cranked out modern weapons by the thousands and tens of thousands, which resulted in the deaths of soldiers and civilians by the tens of millions… 37 million in all.

It was one of the greatest tragedies that had occurred in human history. After it was finally over on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, a generation of young men lay in their graves… the lights had gone out all over Europe. The only hope for many lay in the name given to that war… they called it, “The War to End All Wars.” Nothing could have been further than the truth. A far bigger war came on its heels… World War II saw the death toll rise to as high as 85 million estimated.

These wars captured all the headlines and have given rise to countless books, documentaries, movies, songs, and poems… their massive scale dominates the landscape of human history as viewed from the secular eye.

But Galatians 5:16-18 points to a far more significant warfare—as a matter of fact, THE most significant warfare in human history: the internal, invisible battle in the heart of every Christian between the FLESH and the SPIRIT.

Though this battlefield is internal, and its ebbs and flows are invisible, yet the destiny of the world lies in the balance—as Christians conquer the flesh by the Spirit, they advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This battle is the essence of the INTERNAL JOURNEY… understanding it is the key to a fruitful Christian life.

Setting the context:

False teachers and their false gospel

Paul’s authority to preach and to correct false doctrine (Galatians 1-2)

The theological centerpiece of the Epistle (Galatians 2:14-21) The experiential proof of justification by faith (Galatians 3:1-5) The scriptural proof of justification by faith (Galatians 3:6-4:31) The call to freedom (Galatians 5:1-15)

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

BUT… freedom is not understood the way so many non-Christians understand freedom— the ability to pursue your fleshly drives without any external hindrance… to pursue happiness as you define it with no repercussions. No, freedom is not LICENSE TO SIN WITH IMPUNITY, as so many would understand it…

Many have misunderstood the doctrine of God’s grace in Christ that way

Romans 3:8 Why not say– as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say– “Let us do evil that good may result”?

Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?

The true gospel flees the opposite extremes of legalism and license… legalism has been the focus of the letter up till now… now Paul addresses the concerns about license; that the gospel of God’s grace means you can sin all you want and still get a free ride to heaven

Christian salvation comes in stages Justification:

Sanctification:

Glorification:

Today, we will stare into the doctrine of the bitter warfare that every true Christian has with INDWELLING SIN… and in that, we will understand the gospel better than ever

I.   Obey the Command: Walk by the Spirit (vs. 16)

A.  The Holy Spirit: The Sovereign Power Behind Sanctification

1.  The Holy Spirit is as essential to sanctification as Jesus Christ is to justification

2.  Without the work of Christ on the cross, we would have NO HOPE WHATSOEVER of being justified in the sight of God…

3.  So also without the work of the Holy Spirit within us, we would have NO HOPE WHATSOEVER of being sanctified day by day

4.  Simple definition of the Christian life: a life lived DAILY under the direction and by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit

5.  In this paragraph, we have described the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, enabling each Christian to live a life well-pleasing to God

B.  The Holy Spirit: The Third Person of the Trinity

1.  The full revelation of the infinite mystery of the godhead in the Bible leads us to speak of the TRINITY

a.  One God

b.  Eternally existing in THREE PERSONS

c.  These persons are separate centers of being, but they are perfectly united in everything

d.  The Father is God… the Son is God… the Holy Spirit is God; but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father

2.  The Trinity are equally engaged and delighting in the salvation of God’s elect… but they have different roles

a.  The Father made the salvation plan before the foundation of the world

b.  The Son executed the plan by living a holy life, dying an atoning death, and rising from the dead on the third day

c.  The Holy Spirit applies the finished work of Christ to individual Christians

3.  The Holy Spirit is ALMIGHTY GOD… introduced to the human race in the second verse of the Bible!!

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters

4.  How awesome it is to conceive of this… ALMIGHTY GOD DWELLING IN US, inside our very selves!! The same Spirit who hovered over the waters in creation is now moving in our hearts to bring about holiness and God’s purposes… absolute omnipotence… the immeasurable power of the OMNIPOTENT SPIRIT fully engaged in your life to bring about holiness, to bring about fruitfulness!!!

5.  The indwelling Spirit: Gift of the New Covenant, power for sanctification

a.  The Old Testament promise

Ezekiel 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Joel 2:28-29 ‘And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

b.  Jesus’ awesome promise

John 14:16-17 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.

Acts 1:4-5 “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

c.  The Day of Pentecost: awesome fulfillment

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:32-33 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

d.  The promise extended… to EVERYONE!!!

Acts 2:37-39 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

e.  The theology of the Spirit… the great ongoing blessing of salvation

i)  Every Christian has the gift of the indwelling Spirit

ii)  The Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing our final salvation

iii)  But He is also the POWER for our ongoing salvation… moving us powerfully to grow in sanctification

iv)  The Holy Spirit is the POWER for the warfare that this chapter is describing

C.  Having Begun by the Spirit, We Are Perfected Also by the Spirit

1.  Paul’s earlier cry against the Galatians

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

2.  The Spirit raised us from the dead spiritually…

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins

Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved.

3.  We cannot now say to Him, “I’ll take it from here!”

4.  The Spirit is absolutely essential to every moment of the Christian life

5.  The Spirit is the fulfillment of what Christ spoke:

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

D.  Law vs. Grace… Self-effort vs. Spirit’s power

1.  The whole epistle has been about the contrasting themes of LAW vs. GRACE

2.  We are always tempted to revert to LAW when God means all of salvation to be by GRACE… grace from beginning to end

3.  So many Christians draw up a list of “do’s” and “don’ts”… they come under a new set of rules for the Christian life

4.  That’s what it means to try to be perfected by the flesh… by arrogant, independent human effort

5.  See the Law, do the Law

6.  Now, the Spirit-filled Christian life DOES involves distinct patterns of bible- study, prayer, church involvement, witnessing, giving, etc.

7.  But these things are written on our hearts by the Spirit and lived out in our lives by the Spirit… not in legalistic way as though we are slaves on probation, trying to secure a permanent place in the family by our own efforts

E.  The Command: Walk by the Spirit

1.  First, note that it is a COMMAND

2.  The Lord is telling us how to live in order to please Him

3.  “Walk”

a.  live daily life… details

b.  HABIT PATTERNS… a habitual lifestyle of holiness

c.  also implies PROGRESS… the “Internal Journey” or “Infinite Journey”

d.  clear parallel verse:

Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

The Greek word behind “keep in step” means to walk in a line, like soldiers on parade… “left—right—left—right”

e.  idea: the Spirit’s prompting and leadership covers every area of life… how to speak, how to eat, how to sleep, how to pray, how to spend money, how to be in church, how to be married, how to resist temptation… EVERYTHING!!

F.  Incomprehensible Mystery: God’s Power AND Our Effort

1.  Two wrong extremes: We do EVERYTHING vs. We do NOTHING

2.  We do NOTHING: Bad ideas of sanctification

a.  “Let go and let God…”

b.  The “surrendered life”

c.  Keswick Holiness

J.I. Packer:

It is not much of a recommendation when all you can say is that this teaching may help you if you do not take its details too seriously. It is utterly damning to have to say, as in this case I think we must, that if you do take its details seriously, it will tend not to help you but to destroy you.

It didn’t work and that was a deeply frustrating and depressing thing. It made me feel like a pariah, an outsider, and at the age of eighteen that was pretty burdensome. In fact, it was driving me crazy. The reality of its [i.e., Keswick theology’s] passivity program and its announced expectations, plus its insistence that any failure to find complete victory is entirely your fault, makes it very destructive.

Basically… the poor suffering Christian is told that, if you fail to grow in holiness, it’s because you’re failing to pay the “entry fee”: total surrender.

d.  Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911)

The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life

The book presents a sort of passive mysticism… a truncated version of sanctification. She says that one of the eagle’s wings is trust and the other surrender, and goes on to quote Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,” without finishing the passage: “they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” The entire verse shows that while waiting on God is important, so is walking with Him

e.  Quietism… Quakers the best-known advocates… passively waiting for God to sanctify them

Summary: passive surrender to God is taught to the almost total exclusion of the ACTIVE COMMANDS Scripture gives to warfare against sin

Caveat: many amazing Christians have followed this type of teaching to at least a certain level, and God has used them to do great things.

BUT IT IS IMBALANCED

3.  The OTHER SIDE of the spectrum: WE DO EVERYTHING

a.  This is the essence of what it means to try to be perfected by the flesh

b.  Self-effort, unaided by God; you’re on your own, with a list of LAWS,

RULES, DO’S and DON’Ts

c.  Quietism was the last one… this one has been called PIETISM

d.  One aspect in church history was the so-called “holy club” started by John and Charles Wesley in Oxford…the rules for leading a holy life were overwhelming and oppressive—no one could keep them perfectly

e.  It was the essence of WE DO EVERYTHING

4.  The Biblical balance: co-operation in the sanctification… intense effort by Christians, but all of that effort empowered by the Holy Spirit

a.  Extreme effort

1  Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Hebrews 12:1 let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2  Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

b.  BUT all by the power of the Spirit!!

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them– yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

The “hard work” of this warfare is all done by the power of the Spirit… in ACTIVE CONSTANT RELIANCE on the Spirit

c.  Key harmonizing verse

Philippians 2:12-13 continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Complete PARTNERSHIP between the Christian and the Holy Spirit in this issue of holiness…

We are to WALK BY THE SPIRIT… following His leadership, relying on His power, seeking His instruction in the Bible

G.  The Spirit Leads Us to War

Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1.  YOU have a responsibility to PUT TO DEATH SIN

2.  But you must do it BY THE SPIRIT

3.  The Spirit LEADS US INTO BATTLE… or we are not truly Christians

4.  Genuine Christians are AT WAR AGAINST THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH… the “misdeeds of the body”

Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Every motion of these sins in us is a call to ARMS… to WARFARE!! Every time the flesh moves us toward sexual immorality, or toward hatred, or toward discord, or toward rage… we MUST PUT THAT TENDENCY TO DEATH BY THE SPIRIT!! Christians are not passive in this war… we are COMMANDED to put these things to death by the Spirit

II.   Believe the Promise: You Will Not Gratify the Lusts of the Flesh (vs. 16)

ESV Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

A.  The Direct Result of Walking by the Spirit: YOU WILL NOT GRATIFY THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH

1.  These two are diametrically opposed, as we will see

2.  There is a 100% success rate for all who walk by the Spirit

3.  The Spirit is completely effective in enabling us to live holy lives

4.  Of course He is!! He is OMNIPOTENT GOD… think what He did for Samson with a physical lion…

Judges 14:6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat.

So the Spirit promises that, if we walk by Him, we will not gratify the lusts of the flesh!

5.  This is a marvelously SWEET PROMISE

6.  It also is a diagnosis after we sin: if we gratified the desires of the flesh, it means we were not walking by the Spirit

III.   Expect Constant Warfare: Flesh vs. Spirit (vs. 17)

CSB Galatians 5:17 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.

A.  What is the Flesh? And What Are the “Lusts of the Flesh”?

1.  The “flesh” here is not merely the physical body… sometimes the Scripture uses this word for that… Jesus was FLESH and with FLAWLESS… without sin

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Luke 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

It was Jesus’ FLESH dead on the cross that saved us from our sins!

Colossians 1:22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him

2.  The word “flesh” here refers to issues of the HEART… that spirit of arrogance and selfishness that claims God-like rights and privileges to do whatever it wants … it’s the remnant of SIN LIVING IN ME that draws us constantly to violate God’s holy laws and to sin

Romans 7:14-20 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For 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. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now 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.

3.  The use of the word “flesh” so closely related to the body means that there’s a tendency for a normal, good, bodily desire to push beyond boundaries into wickedness

a.  The drive to be loved becomes the drive to be worshiped and esteemed

b.  The drive to eat becomes the drive toward gluttony

c.  The drive for sexual pleasure becomes the drive toward sexual immorality of many kinds—fornication, adultery, homosexuality, promiscuity, pornography

d.  The drive for pleasure of any type—soft clothes, comfortable living arrangements, a well-crafted automobile or wristwatch—becomes materialism and pleasure-seeking, yearning for “only the best” and luxury

e.  The drive for productive labor becomes workaholism, seeking the praise of others for the excellence of the work you do

f.  The love for any created thing becomes idolatry of that created thing— idolizing a spouse, a child, beautiful scenery, etc.

g.  The desire for rest and refreshment becomes self-indulgent laziness, becoming the sluggard of the Book of Proverbs who can never get enough sleep

4.  These are the “lusts of the flesh”… the Greek word “LUSTS” has to do with an overpowering desire… a magnetic pull… consuming your thoughts

5.  These Lusts of the Flesh flow from the Mind of the Flesh that characterized us when we were lost

Romans 8:5-8 For those whose lives are according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those whose lives are according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. 8 Those whose lives are in the flesh are unable to please God.

B.  How Are The Lusts of the Flesh Set Against the Desires of the Spirit?

CSB Galatians 5:17 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.

1.  The same Greek word is used for “desires” in reference to BOTH the flesh and the Spirit

2.  The flesh “lusts” for evil things; the Spirit “yearns” for good things… but it is the same word for both…

3.  The desires of the flesh and the Spirit are polar opposites… they are at WAR with each other

4.  The Spirit desires to produce CHRISTLIKENESS in us… to conform us to Christ in every way… with the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT at the center of the character traits He yearns to see formed in us… meanwhile, the FLESH fights against all of them

5.  Examples

a.  The Spirit wants us to pray… He moves in us to get on our knees in our quiet times and lift up prayers of praise and confession and thanksgiving and intercession: the FLESH wars against that desire at every moment… complaining of boredom and wandering mind; making you think intensely about the physical aches in your lower back as you pray; making you worry about all you have to get done today so you don’t have time to pray… PRAYER IS A WAR BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH!!

b.  The Spirit wants us to go on a short-term mission trip… the FLESH fights against it… making you anxious about the money and time you will spend; making you anxious about your safety and health—what kinds of weird foods you will eat or the dangerous places you’ll be sleeping in. MISSIONS IS A WAR BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH!!

c.  The Spirit wants us to EVANGELIZE… to trust in Him for courage and boldness to share the gospel with a lost co-worker; the FLESH fights against the drive… making you worry about the ramifications if you are bold and clear with the gospel; EVANGELISM IS A WAR BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH!!

d.  The Spirit wants us to attend church every Sunday, to feed your soul on the Word of God in BFL and worship services; to give your heart to corporate worship, and sing praises to God with all your heart; to listen to the preached word with deep interest; the FLESH fights against this at every turn, making you dislike church, finding fault with church leaders and members, making you bored and listless spiritually; CHURCH LIFE IS A WAR BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH!!

e.  The Spirit wants us to be generous with our money to the church, to missions, to the poor and needy; the FLESH is fighting against that at every moment, making you selfish, making you think about how to spend money on yourself; CHRISTIAN GIVING IS A WAR BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH!!

f.  CONVERSELY: the Flesh has a program for you as well… driving you to satisfy your lusts with internet pornography—the Spirit cries out “NO!!! You must be holy as I am holy!!” The Flesh wants you to overeat—to find your significance and pleasure and entertainment in a constant focus on food… the Spirit wants to set you free from living for your stomach; the FLESH wants you to act in pride, gossiping against a fellow church- member, or snubbing someone who was unkind to you in the past; the Spirit wants you to forgive and be gracious and humble

C.  So you May Ask: Is Bitter Warfare Guaranteed the Rest of Our Lives?

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

1.  Simple answer: YES IT IS!!! Get ready to fight at every moment

2.  The rest of your lives you will have indwelling sin—the flesh—battling your every step

3.  You must expect it and get ready to fight by the power of the Spirit

4.  Warfare is of the essence of sanctification…

5.  We WILL someday be freed… but only at death or the Second Coming of Christ… then, we will end our bitter warfare against sin. We will be free from all temptation, and will live in constant peace and holiness… but now, we must FIGHT!!

D.  The Result: While We Live, We Will Always Be Divided… Never Wholehearted in Anything

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

1.  Because of this warfare, this divided self, we are NEVER wholehearted in anything we do!!

2.  We never WHOLEHEARTEDLY SERVE GOD and we never WHOLEHEARTEDLY SERVE SIN

3.  Christians who are faithful to follow God by the Spirit still know that the flesh is holding them back from fullness of joy… like running in waist-high water with a small parachute tied around your waist… slogging it out in worship or evangelism or Christian giving or prayer

4.  Christians who are faithful to follow God by the Spirit never sin wholeheartedly either… while you are watching some movie that is violating your conscience, you are feeling guilty and not totally immersed in sin…

E.  Christians are Schizophrenic, Weird in the Universe… but Thank God It’s Temporary

1.  God is perfectly One… never divided within himself

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

James 1:17 …the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.

2.  Satan is perfectly evil… there’s no schizophrenia in him… he ALWAYS hates God, always sins… his demons are the same! Demons hate God and fight against His loving purposes

3.  Holy angels aren’t deeply conflicted within themselves… they LOVE GOD and LOYALLY SERVE HIM ALL THE TIME, delighting in whatever delights Him

4.  Inanimate objects like wind and water and gravity and rocks and dirt just do what God created them to do

5.  Animals are not divided within themselves… dogs and cows and whales and crickets all do exactly what God created them to do… they are not deeply conflicted within themselves… EXCEPT SQUIRRELS when they are trying to decide what direction to go to escape getting run over!!

6.  Reprobate unbelievers are not deeply conflicted within themselves… Romans 8 says they have the mind of the flesh and HATE GOD ALWAYS…just like their father the devil

7.  Glorified Christians are not deeply conflicted within themselves… they are in heaven constantly praising God; they are radiant and holy and glorious ALWAYS… no evil, no sin

8.  But Spirit-indwelt Christians are DEEPLY DIVIDED… sometimes we serve God, and sometimes we serve sin!! There is a weird war going on inside each of you…

James 3:9-11 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

But they do! Out of the same person flow BOTH holy actions and wicked actions… sometimes in the SAME HOUR!!

9.  BUT PRAISE GOD, that deep division is temporary! Someday, Christ will finish our salvation at glorification, and the indwelling sin will be destroyed

F.  The Best Success Plan Over Sin: Death by Starvation

IV.   Understand Your New Status: Not Under Law (vs. 18)

A.  Christians Have Come Into a Whole New Status

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

“Led by the Spirit” = born again, adopted, justified, under grace, in Christ’s Kingdom… all are true

A whole new status

B.  “Under Law” = Unregenerate

1.  Law is given for the wicked

1 Timothy 1:9-11 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers– and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God

2.  Example: Christians don’t need to be commanded not to HIJACK AIRPLANES… that Law in my case is completely unnecessary! I have NO DESIRE to do that… but I do (apparently) need to be commanded to serve others in love, because I am not yet perfect

3.  We will not need Law in heaven at all… we will be as pure as Jesus Christ Himself

4.  Here on earth, we still need Law because we are not yet glorified…

5.  In heaven, you will not need to be commanded to love God with all your heart or love your brothers and sisters in Christ!! YOU WILL LOVE GOD AND OTHERS PERFECTLY!!! In heaven, you will not need to be commanded to hate evil… you will hate evil as much as God does!!

C.  Discussed “Under Law” Last Time

1.  Law is no longer the FBI, District Attorney, Judge, Jury, and Executioner like it was

2.  Law told you what perfection was, commanded you to be perfect like God is perfect, and then stood back not lifting a finger to help you… when you had violated the smallest principle, it then moved out to condemn you to death and hell

3.  That’s what it means to be “under Law”

4.  Now, we are “under grace”

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

D.  “Led by the Spirit” is a Whole New Way of Life

1.  Instructed by the Spirit, we understand God’s Law

2.  Transformed by the Spirit, we delight in God’s Law

3.  Empowered by the Spirit, we obey God’s law

V.   Wage War God’s Way: Led by the Spirit (vs. 18)

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

A.  “Led by the Spirit” is Active… He Leads, We Follow

B.  Romans 8 makes it plan: we are Led into Warfare

Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1.  Clearly to be “led by the Spirit” in this context means to be led to MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH

2.  It is not speaking of “being led” to marry this person, or “being led” to go on this mission trip, or “being led” to make this or that decision

3.  Specifically, we are led by the Spirit into battle… every single day!!

4.  Every day, the Spirit wakes you and says “Put on your spiritual armor… it’s time to go to war”

5.  Every day, the Spirit warns you to be vigilant against temptations

C.  John Owen’s Observations on Mortification of the Flesh

a duty prescribed: “Mortify the deeds of the body” the persons to whom it is prescribed: “ye”

a promise annexed to that duty: “ye shall live”

the cause or means of the performance of that duty: the Spirit “if ye, through the Spirit…” the conditionality of the whole (duty, means, promise contained): “IF…”

i)    the uncertainty of the event… thus the condition is absolutely necessary to the outcome

ii)    the certainty of the connection…

Illustration: saying to a sick man: “If you will take such a potion (medicine) or such a remedy, you will be well.”

Thus there is an absolutely certain connection between mortifying the deeds of the body and living

Only those who are mortifying the deeds of the body will go to heaven!!!

“The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin.”
Definition: “The mortification of indwelling sin remaining in our mortal bodies, that it may not have life and power to bring forth the works or deeds of the flesh is the constant duty of believers.”

The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depend on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.
“You must mortify! You must make it your daily work. You must be constantly at it while you live. Cease not a day from this work! Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you! Your being dead with Christ virtually, your being quickened with him, will not excuse you from this work”

“When sin leaves us alone, we may leave sin alone.”
Illus. Serpent on the path!!!

D.  Battle Plan in General

1.  Come to Christ by faith (only justified Christians can fight sin)

2.  Understand who you are in Christ

3.  Count yourself dead to sin but alive to God

4.  Do not present your members to sin

5.  Do present yourself to God… and your members to serve Him

6.  Understand that indwelling sin will make you act insanely from time to time

7.  Kill indwelling by starvation!!! Siege warfare!!!

8.  Expect to fight the rest of your lives!!

E.  Battle Plan Applied… to the Sin of Prideful Anger

The sin described: you have a tendency to erupt in anger when your spouse irritates you or some stranger inconveniences you (like out on the road)

You know it’s a sin… how do you mortify it?

1.  Be certain you are a Christian… remind yourself that Jesus Christ is a powerful Savior, who died on the cross to forgive all sin for those who trust in Him; and who rose from the dead, showing victory over sin and death

2.  Speak to yourself that you are a new creation in Christ, alive now by the power of the Spirit

3.  Study the specific sin pattern… see that your anger has caused you much trouble in the past and that God hates it

4.  Study specific Scripture about the problem

James 1:19-21 y dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

5.  Begin your day with a good quiet time; ask Almighty God to fill you and empower you by His Spirit for the whole day

6.  Pray specifically to be patient when wronged today; pray specifically that you will not get sinfully angry today; pray about specific scenarios that have made you angry in the past: when your spouse criticizes your appearance or something you’ve done or not done; when another driver refuses to let you in when your’re trying to make a turn; when coworker is a little rude to you… whatever. Pray over it… humble yourself… acknowledge that the sin is PRIDE… you’re acting like some King or Queen… Ask the Spirit to help you specifically be humble and not angry

7.  Acknowledge that Christ is the key to victory in this are… He is the vine, and you are the branch… if you live in Him and His words live in you, you will bear fruit

8.  Perhaps memorize one of those verses about anger

9.  Get up from your Quiet Time and live in moment-by-moment fellowship with Christ through the Spirit

10.  If you are tempted, pray immediately to be patient, humble, long-suffering… hold your tongue… DO NOT GIVE IN to the anger…

11.  If you WIN and kill that specific temptation, praise God and give Him the credit… but be ready for more temptations to come

12.  If you fail and cave in to the temptation, getting sinfully angry, immediately confess your sin to God and ask forgiveness. As needed, ask the other person for forgiveness; humble yourself and look at the sin… hate it all the more… but KNOW THAT YOU’RE FORGIVEN… then, get up and fight some more

13.  The overall battle plan: death by starvation! The more you resist the temptation, the weaker it will get!! You’re in it for the long haul!! Your goal: to be a truly humble, patient person who, like God, is very slow to anger… TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW!!!

14.  This is the INFINITE JOURNEY… God is greatly glorified by any progress you will make

Galatians 5:16-18 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.