GALATIANS

Galatians 5:13-25 Page 992 in Pew Bibles

13. For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

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14. For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

15. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

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16. I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

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.

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

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19. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity,

20. idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions,

21. envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar…

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…about which I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,

23. gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

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24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25. If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.

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The Danger of Slavery

• Vs. 1 “Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

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But What About theDanger of Freedom?

• Can’t freedom be a dangerous thing?• People can cast off all moral restraint and call it

freedom

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Freedom isn’t a ProblemProvided It’s the Right Kind of Freedom

• Vs. 13 “For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.”

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Love Drives Everything

• Vs. 13 “…Don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.”

• Flesh is selfish, using and consuming others• Love is self-giving and serving

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Only Love Empowers Anything

• Vs. 6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.”

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Love as the Driving Principle is Consistent with the Law

• Vs. 14 “For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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When It’s LegalismInstead of Love

• Legalism degenerates into scorekeeping• Scorekeeping degenerates into rivalries and

grudges• Vs. 14 “But if you bite and devour one

another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.”

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Two Models for Controlling the Power of Sin in Our Lives

1. Willpower: Keeping the rules in my own strength (flesh) by sheer willpower

2. Relying on the Holy Spirit’s Power…

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By the Spirit

• Vs. 16 “I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

• Vs. 18 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

• Not merely having the direction pointed out by the Spirit (like someone giving you directions)

• Nor being picked up and carried by the Spirit. . . >

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Ongoing Battle; Intense Desires

• Vs. 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.”

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The Best the Flesh Can Do

• Vs. 19 “Now the works of the flesh are obvious…”

• Obvious: Manifest, Seen externally

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Flesh• Flesh: R. Jewett: The flesh was Paul’s term for

everything aside from God in which one placed his final trust (New American Commentary)

• Us, in our natural condition, apart from the supernatural power of God.

• John White: “The beast in the basement”

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Works of the Flesh

• Vs. 19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar…”

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Works of the Flesh: Sensuality

• Sexual immorality— Word from which we get pornography

• Moral impurity– Barclay: “Used of… ceremonial cleanness…. Impurity, makes a man unfit to come before God”

• Promiscuity— Casting off all moral restraint>

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Works of the Flesh: Spiritual

• Idolatry – Worship of man-made gods instead of the true God. The Bible calls materialism idolatry.

• Sorcery– Using magic potions to control life circumstances instead of trusting the sovereign God

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Works of the Flesh: Interpersonal

• Hatreds– Personal animosity• Strife– Debating & quarrelling, contentious• Jealousy– Barclay: “The desire to have what

someone else has, wrong desire for what is not for us.”

• Outbursts of anger– The blow-up kind>

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Works of the Flesh: Organizationally

• Selfish ambitions— Being in it for personal gain and ready to step on another to reach the top

• Dissensions– Splits, everyone taking a side• Factions– Unable to disagree agreeably• Envy– Disappointment at someone else’s

success>

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Works of the Flesh: Organizationally

• Vs. 26 “We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

• This kind of fleshly thing is seen in the lives of false teachers.

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Works of the Flesh: Debauchery

• Drunkenness— plural, drunkenesses• Carousing– Wild parties with drinking and with

unrestrained behavior

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A Strong Warning

• Vs. 21 “about which I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

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The Fruit of the Spirit

• Vs. 19 “But the fruit of the Spirit is…”• Fruit, not works• Is, singular• Of the Spirit, not from your human resources

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The Fruit of the Spirit

• Vs. 22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control…”

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Fruit of the SpiritInward

• Love– Ready to meet the other person’s need at my expense

• Joy— Joy comes from God and not from external circumstances

• Peace– Not the absence of action, but the absence of anxiousness or guilt

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Fruit of the SpiritOutward

• Patience– The ability to put up with the annoyances of others without retaliation

• Kindness– To be pleasantly considerate of others

• Goodness– A righteous generosity, extended whether people deserve it or not

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Fruit of the SpiritUpward

• Faith— Faithfulness; staying true to God and being trustworthy with men

• Gentleness— A submissive and teachable spirit before God

• Self-control— Living a disciplined life with one’s passions and desires under control

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The Spirit Life Better Than Law

• Vs. 23 “…Against such things there is no law.”

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Flesh is the ProblemAnd Must Be Dealt With Decisively

• Vs. 24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Q >

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Sinclair FergusonWhat then is this killing of sin?

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It is the constant battle against sin which we fight daily—the refusal to allow the eye to wander, the mind to contemplate, the affections to run after anything to draw us from Christ. It is the deliberate rejection of any sinful thought, suggestion, desire, aspiration, deed, circumstance or provocation the minute become conscious of its existence.

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Lifestyle

• Vs. 25 “If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.”

• Literally, To march in rank -> To keep in step

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