SLIDES

The Letter to the Galatians -5:17-18

(Part 22)

Introduction

In our last lesson we discussed walking with God. We found that there were those in the Old Testament that walked with God. God appeared to them, and they had fellowship with Him.

Last week did any of you walk with God last week and/or did you have a meal with Him?  Last week we also learned that God has commanded every believer to walk with the Holy Spirit. We also learned that today that walking with God is not something that is literal. When a NT writer discusses walking with God, he is using it as a metaphor:

Galatians 5:16 says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

The verb walk can have the following nuances:

v to live by means of the Spirit

v to behave or conduct oneself in accordance

with the Spirit

v be guided or led by the Spirit

v to give oneself completely to the Spirit

v to be closely associated with the Spirit

v to live according to the Spirit

v to be under the control of the Spirit

v continually live by the Spirit

v be under constant control of the Spirit

A believer who does not live by means of the Holy Spirit is living by means of the flesh, i.e. the old sin nature. It is the old sin nature that we are born with. We do not lose the old sin nature when we are saved, so we have to deal with it until we die, or when the Rapture occurs whichever comes first. Before we discuss verse 17, I want to discuss being filled with the Spirit which is akin to walking with the Spirit. If there is such a thing as synonymous concepts, living by means of the Holy Spirit and being Filled with the Holy Spirit would qualify. They basically mean the same thing. As I said last week walking by the Sprint means living under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the spirit is found in Ephesians 5:18

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit...

First, Paul exhorts believers not to be drunk with wine. Of course, being drunk means being intoxicated. I know that there are some here who have been intoxicated before. Being intoxicated or drunk means being under the control of alcohol and not in the control of oneself. Dissipation means wasteful and reckless abandonment and in this case of one’s facilities.

The “But” here is strong in the Greek and is Paul’s way of contrasting living a life of dissipation under the total control of alcohol to being under the total control of the Holy Spirit. He is contrasting living a life of dissipation to living a life of righteousness. The word fill means to be full or to be filled up. As the body is under the control of and affected by being drunk with alcohol, the believer who is filled with the Spirit is under the control of the Holy Spirit which would be living a life of righteousness. So, Spirit filling may be described as the extensive influence and control of the Spirit in a believer’s life. The key to both being drunk with alcohol and being filled with the Holy Spirit is control. Being filled is not only a command but is also int the present tense and can be translated continually be filled with the Spirit.

Being filled by the Holy Spirit is a moment-by-moment, repeatable action just like a person can be under the influence of alcohol many times. When one is filled with the Spirit and then sins, the believer can be filled again.

But what does a believer have to do to be filled with the Spirit? Does the believer have to ask God to be filled or pray to be filled? The answer is no! All one has to do to be filled by the Holy Spirit is to be yielded to the Spirit. Yieldedness implies adjustment to the providential acts of God, whether it be of the nature of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” or anything else which might prompt rebellion against God’s dealings with a believer. The believer must be willing to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever and however He leads. One can absolutely say that the believer is sometimes led to situations which are contrary to the believer’s own desire.

The supreme illustration of such yieldedness, is, of course, Jesus. This is described in Philippians 2:5–11, and speaks of His humility. Jesus was willing during His whole life to be what the Father wanted Him to be, willing to do what the Father wanted Him to do, and willing to go where the Father wanted Him to go. In a similar measure, believers in the will of God may have unpleasant tasks to perform which require yieldedness of heart and the sustaining divine enablement of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, the believer must say, “not My will, but Yours be done.” (Lk 22:42).

So by this, I hope you can see that living by the Spirit and being under the control of the Spirit are basically synonymous biblical concepts. When a believer is yielded to the Holy Spirit, the believer will not carry out the lust of the old sin nature.

So, every day we have to make the choice to live by means of the Holy Spirit or to live by means of the flesh. We are now about to see in verse 17, that we are pulled in two directions every day.

17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that (result) you may not do the things that you please.

In verse 17, Paul exposes the constant and trench like warfare that rages between our desperately wicked, sinful tendency toward unrighteousness and the Holy Spirit’s work to woo us in the way of obedience and righteousness. The person we used to be without Christ lived 100% under the influence and authority of the old sin nature, still tries to gain a foothold in our new life and lead us to sin, because we do not lose the old sin nature. An unbeliever has no choice in the matter. Even though we receive a new nature when we were saved, which is the Holy Spirit, the old nature tempts us to indulge in the old ways instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to take control. The difference is that after we trust in Christ as our Savior, we are free in Christ, however the flesh constantly challenges that freedom. To grow in Christ, then, we must take deliberate action against the relentless demands of the flesh.

The flesh keeps a person from doing what he should. Every person has experienced the power of the flesh; everyone has craved the things of the flesh and caved in to the flesh, therefore, doing something that you did not want to do. You craved and caved. You fought against doing it—knew it was harmful or hurtful—yet you did not resist the flesh. These are some of the ways we give into the power of the flesh or the sin nature:

• overeat

• become angry

• some begin smoking

• some get drunk

• some lust

• some become prideful and boastful

• some curse

•some act selfishly

• some commit immorality

• some cheat, lie, or steal

• etc.

The all-out war between the Spirit of God and our sinful flesh is unrelenting in this life. It will not end until death or the Rapture. The two are opponents, enemies, unrelenting combatants. So fierce is the battle that the flesh keeps us from doing the things that we genuinely want to do to please God. Many Christians doubt their assurance of their salvation because of this unending struggle with sin. If that’s you, stop doubting! The fact that you even care about the struggle is a sign that the Spirit is working in you “both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). If the Spirit of God was not fighting this battle on your behalf, you probably wouldn’t care a lot about struggling against sin.

We read in Amos 3:3, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?’ The essence of walking with God centers around agreement and alignment with His will. It’s not a one-sided journey; it’s a partnership where we must choose to abide in His ways. We grow closer to Him through prayer, Bible study, and obedience, ensuring our steps are in sync with His divine path for us.

The Spirit and the flesh have opposite likes and dislikes. Therefore, the believer experiences a constant fight within him about his conduct because the flesh (the old nature) and the Spirit (the new nature) are in constant disagreement.

The point is this: the flesh is so strong that it often keeps us from doing what we want to do and should do. The only hope of ever controlling the flesh is to walk in the Spirit of God—in His presence and power. Can you identify with this:

15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

This was the Apostle’s struggle found in Romans 7:15-20.

What is the answer to this struggle with the flesh? The Spirit of God who indwells us is the answer; being led by the Holy Spirit will free us from the flesh and from the condemnation of the law. What does this mean? It means that the Holy Spirit frees us to live as Christ lived. The active energy of life, the dynamic force and being of life—all that is in Christ Jesus—is given to the believer. The believer actually lives in Christ Jesus and He actually lives in us through the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of life which is in Christ frees the believer from the fate of sin and death

In Corinthians 15:57 Paul put in another about the help we need to defeat the sin nature:

but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s go to a field where there are two opposing teams tightly gripping a rope. On one side is a team that could pass for Sumari wrestlers. On the other end of the rope is you; yes, just you. In the middle of the rope is a smelly pit of slime and mud. As you begin to survey the situation, it doesn’t take long to reach this conclusion: You will not be able to resist the pit which lies before you. The opposing team, or the temptation to go it alone, is ready to pull you in. You need help and you need it now. Yielding to the Holy Spirit is the only answer! Hold this rope with me as I hold onto You!

The bottom line is If you’re trying to overcome the flesh in your own energy, you’ll struggle perpetually, regardless of how many resolutions you make on December thirty-first, or how many slogans you paste on your refrigerator. The fact is that you’ll never overcome the pull of the flesh on your own. Even though your spirit may indeed be willing, the flesh is too weak (Matthew 26:41).

Last week I proposed that if I asked you and demanded of you not to think of purple elephants, that’s probably all you would or could think about. You could even write, “Down with purple elephants!” on your mirror. But in reality, whatever your elephant is, whatever your heavyweight fleshly tendency might be, it will never be overcome by your own resolve or fighting it in the flesh. It can only be accomplished by yielding to the Holy Spirit who is God. Finally, let’s read verse 18.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Paul’s words about the war between the Spirit and the flesh are directed against our tendency to slip off balance into license. But he also deals with the other extreme—the Law. Remember the context of Galatians is the Judaizers wanting Gentiles to observe the Law of Moses and by being circumcised to be saved. The Law had no power to save of deal with the flesh and sin. How easy it is to respond to the flesh by retreating into legalism! How often we interpret the Spirit working in us to will and to work as our own conscience pushing us to obey external rules and regulations. Paul reminds us that being led by the Spirit means being transformed from the inside out not from the outside in by keeping the Law of Moses. Paul sets them straight,  “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (Gal. 5:18).

Imagine a dance inside a grand ballroom, where partners move gracefully and synchronously to the music. One partner leads, guiding the other through the movements. Walking with God is like this exquisite dance; He leads us in perfect rhythm, teaching us to follow His steps. Growing in Christ is when we learn to sway to His guidance.

In our next lesson we are going to discuss the characteristics of living by means of the flesh and the characteristics of living by means of the Holy Spirit.