Live By and Walk By the Spirit

Transcript

GR 1171
2/27/2000
Live By and Walk By the Spirit
Galatians 5:23-26
Gil Rugh

In Galatians chapter 5 we are dealing with the issue of the sanctification of the believer and the doctrine of sanctification primarily focuses on the issue of God's work in the lives of His children to mold and shape them to be more and more like His Son Jesus Christ. The word "sanctified," the word "saint" and the word "holy" all come from the same basic Greek word. It means to be set apart. A person is holy or sanctified when they are set apart from sin to God. God Himself is holy because He is perfectly set apart from all sin and all defilement. In verses 13 to 18 the apostle Paul was developing the fact that we have been made free by the Spirit of God when we believed in Jesus Christ. But that freedom does not mean that we can live and do as we please. In verse 13 he said, "You were called to freedom brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh." Down in verse 16, "But if you walk by the Spirit you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh." Then in verses 19, 20 and 21 he unfolded some of the characteristics of the flesh. The flesh is what we are as fallen sinful human beings, the old person. How do you know if you're doing the work of the flesh or whether you are being led by the Spirit? Well, he gave a list of some of the things that characterize a person who is being controlled by the flesh. Sinful activities. He followed that up in verses 22 and 23 with a list of things that characterize a person who is being led or controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit dwells in every person who has come a believer in Jesus Christ and thus been born into God's family.

If you're going to mark the one distinction between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, it would be that the works of the flesh are self-centered. Self-centeredness is the hallmark of the flesh. Whereas with the fruit of the Spirit, unselfishness is its hallmark or overriding characteristic. So when we are under the control of sin, we are a self-focused, self-centered people. But when the Spirit of God does His work in our lives, then we live willing to serve others, to love others and so on.

The fruit of the Spirit is really the character of Christ being produced in us as God's people. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 5. Just after the book of Galatians. We've noted numerous places through the letters of the New Testament. You have the kind of comparisons and contrasts drawn that Paul is using in Galatians 5. And Ephesians chapter 5 gives one of those parallels. Remember at the end of chapter 4. He's talking about the things that should not be part of a believer's life. In verse 25 of Ephesians 4 he talked about laying aside falsehood and speaking truth. You see the contrast. Verse 26, "Angry yet do not sin." "Don't give the Devil an opportunity," verse 27. Verse 29, "Let no unwholesome word is to proceed from your mouth." Verse 30, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed until the day of redemption." And we grieve the Spirit when we rebel and resist His will and work in our lives and do the works of the flesh. Verse 31, "All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander should be put away from you." So you see those would be works of the flesh. They have no place in the life of a believer. Verse 32, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you." So there would be those things which are consistent with the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence of the Spirit's work in the life.

We flow into chapter 5, "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children." We are the children of God. We are the well-loved children of God. And thus we are to be imitating our Heavenly Father. And that's why in verse 32 of chapter 4, "Forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you." Imitate God. Be a forgiving person. Now note we are not talking about you could be saved by trying to imitate God. You must come to the place where you recognize you are a sinner and there is nothing you can do to save yourself and you place your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God as the One who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, the one who is raised from the dead in victory. Then you are born into God's family when you believe the truth of the Gospel. Now as a beloved child of God who partakes of the divine nature we are to be imitators of God, producing His character in our lives. Verse 2 of Ephesians 5, "Walk in love just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up." "But any immorality," verse 3, "impurity, greed must not even be named among you." So you see we are going through the contrasts--works of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. As we are those who imitate God and through the gracious work of the Spirit of God His character is being developed in us.

Verse 5 is the same thing that he said at the end of his consideration of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5. "No immoral, impure, covetous person who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words." There's teaching today that you can be under the control of the flesh, living a life in the flesh, but you are still going to enter the kingdom of God. Don't let anyone deceive you. That is not true.

Verse 8, "But you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord. You once were darkness, now you are light." The contrast in Galatians 5, you were once in the flesh now you are in the Spirit." The end of verse 8, "Walk as children of light." You've become a child of God. "God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all." Now we have become children of light. We are children of God. We partake of His character. "For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth." The fruit of the light would be the same thing as the fruit of the Spirit. God is light. We have become light in Him. The fruit of the light which is the character of God. The fruit of the Spirit which is the character of God. That becomes the dominate feature of our lives and all that we do.

Verse 10. We're trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness." Verse 12, "It's disgraceful even to speak of the things that are done by them in secret." That contrast of the change that has been brought about by the grace of God in salvation is what we're considering in Galatians 5.

And in Galatians 5 we've looked at the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22 and the first part of verse 23. The first characteristic in verse 23 was gentleness. Then the last characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, the last virtue mentioned, is self-control. Some believe that it's placed last in the list because it summarizes everything. And it is true that self-control pervades everything that he has talked about. What self-control is, is the work of the Spirit producing in the believer the ability to exercise self-discipline or restraint so that he does not practice the works of the flesh. It is the exercising of self-discipline so that the believer does do the things that are the fruit of the Spirit--self-control. That's what we're talking about in Ephesians 5:10 where we read a moment ago that we are trying to do the things that are pleasing to the Lord and that will take self-control.

You know, it's interesting. Here we have the fruit of the Spirit, those things which the Spirit produces in the life, and one of them is self-control. And we're dealing here with our conduct and behavior and the Spirit produces it but obviously I am responsible to exercise my will and submit to the Spirit and to draw upon His sufficiency and His power to exercise the self-control that will enable me to obtain from the works of the flesh and to diligently pursue the development of the fruit of the Spirit in my life.

Turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Paul talks about the matter of self-control. Now we're talking about self-control in the context of the fruit of the Spirit. And we're not talking about the worldly virgin of self-control. Paul will use it as a parallel in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 25, "Everyone who competes in the games." Those were the athlete events of the time and people in this Greek city of Corinth would be well aware of the games that took place there. "Everyone who compete in the games exercises self-control in all things." To be a successful contestant, to excel in these athlete contests would take self-discipline and self-control. Our so-called coach potatoes couldn't compete. You know, I don't feel like exercising. Pass the potato chips, any soda. What's on the next channel. You know, if that's my style, I won't be seriously competing in the athletic contest. Why? I'm not exercising the self-discipline, the self-control. To abstain from certain things and to apply myself to certain other things.

Paul then makes the application. "They then do it to receive a perishable wreath but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave." The subject here was self-control. Back in verse 25. That's our word. And Paul says in verse 27 that means you have to discipline your body. Here Paul the apostle says he has to exercise discipline to keep his body under control. That word "discipline" in verse 27 literally means to beat black and blue. It comes from if you hit somebody under the eye, the eye turns black and blue. That would be the word here. I bruise my body. I beat it black and blue and make my slave so that I won't be disqualified from the price. The point we want to pick up here is the self-discipline he applied. Your body doesn't always want to do what God says is necessary and important for growth. And sometimes we as believers think well, if it's something I should do, I'll be motivated to do it. That's not always true. Paul said there were times his body didn't want to do what needed to be done and so he disciplined his body severely. He made his body his slave. Some people think I don't feel like getting up on Sunday morning. You know, that's a morning I don't have to my job. It's, you know, I get up early on Sunday morning. I like to get up late and read the paper at breakfast, then get to the service when it's about half over, catch the message and get out to lunch. Self-discipline. We don't do it because we feel like because it's just natural. Well, I, you know, I take a nap on Sunday afternoon and then to get everybody ready and come back on Sunday night. It would be good. I can see the benefit of it but that . . . Discipline. And on we could go through our life.

We ought not to think that it just came naturally to the apostle Paul. He couldn't wait until the sun got up and he could get out the tent door and look for another opportunity for conflict and boy I just love making tents on the side and sharing the Gospel and getting dragged up the street to jail and getting beaten. No. At times his body would say Paul don't get off the cot this morning and Paul said Body, get out of bed. That's self-discipline. And the Spirit produces it in the life. But I must draw on the sufficiency and provision of the Spirit so that I will do what needs to be done.

This word "self-discipline," "self-control," was used back in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 9 of control in sexual areas. If you do not have self-control. In other words, your sexual desires are very strong and you may not about to contain them. Then you need to get married because it is sin, it is a work of the flesh, to seek fulfillment of sexual desires outside of marriage. So there you can see. Look, I just won't get married and the Spirit will give me self-control. Well, I have to be careful. If it's God's intention you be married, then you'll be trying to exercise self-control in the energy of the flesh and you'll add to that the temptation and that you'll set up for defeat. So I don't tempt God but His provision of Spirit is always sufficient to enable me to exercise self-control so that I do not need to sin. We also want to realize there are provision He has made. We are not talking an ascetic life were we're proving something. But rather we are functioning as God has called us to function and the provisions he has made.

Come back to Galatians chapter 5. You ought to note this is totally contrary to the approach to the world and we as the church and as believers get influenced by the thinking of the world and the idea that we are victims, that we cannot help ourselves, that we have to face addictions. And all this terminology is to imply that this is something out of our control. But that is not true. That is not biblical. And we find in the church people struggling with sin, struggling with being what God says we ought to be as His children, so we set up counseling programs and in those programs we ought to step back and say first let's talk about it. Let's talk about what it was like when you were a kid at home. How were you raised? How did your parents treat you? What kind of neighborhood were you raised in? What your experiences like when you went off to school? You know all of this is meaningless and worthless. It does nothing to help deal with the issues of sin and the Spirit. You know where the flesh is? In here. You know where the Spirit is if you're a believer? In here. What are we sitting down saying let's talk about how you were raised? Let's talk about how your parents treated you. Let's talk about maybe some of the things that are in your genetic line or what . . . Foolishness. You know what we're saying? It's the outside forces, the environment, the things around me that have made me a sinner, made me what we are. You know what the whole argument of Scripture is? It's what inside you that's making you what you are. Sin comes from the flesh. It's out of the heart Jesus said in Matthew 7 that proceed all kinds of sinful things. What are we doing parading around saying well it's really outside of me?

Now I expect the world to do that. We shouldn't be surprised. That thinking comes into the church and affects us as believers. Well, my real problems are not the flesh. No. My real problem is not my unwillingness to submit to the Spirit. Well, you have a real problem because you have a problem that the Scripture cannot deal with. And you have a problem that you have made up. And then we make a solution to our problem and we have just diluted ourselves.

As God's people the Spirit has given self-control. That means I never have to sin. That also means that there is always sufficient provision for me to manifest the fruit of the Spirit. That's tremendously liberating. I'm not dependent on someone else in that sense because God in His grace has dealt with the issue of sin in my heart and life. He dealt with the flesh and God has provided the indwelling Spirit. Now I'm not talking about that this is going to become easy, that life is now just going to fun and games and joy and happiness in the worldly sense. It may be pain and heartache and suffering and trial, difficulty and struggle. Never any need for the works of the flesh to be produced in my life and always sufficient provision for the abundance of the fruit of the Spirit.

At the end of verse 23 of Galatians 5 Paul says this list of the fruit of the Spirit, against these kinds of things there is no law. And that such things indicate this is just a sample of the kind of things the Spirit produces in the life. "Against such things," against these kinds of things, "there is no law." In other words, we have been set free from our sin and if he deals with the Judaizing issue, we've been set free from all obligation and responsibility to the Mosaic Law. Particularly the Jews who were under the Law. But that doesn't mean that now we go out and do those things that were condemned by the Law because the Spirit is producing those very things that the Law would have produced in the life if it were not for the failure of the flesh. The Law couldn't do it because it was weak through the flesh. Romans 8:3 and 4 talk about these matters. So there's no law against it. Nothing in the Mosaic Law forbid the expression of love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control or any of the others. There's no law against those things. So it's not like oh we're setting ourselves up in that sense opposed to the Law. We are not under the Law, we are submissive to the Law but what the Spirit produces in our life does not violate the Law. It produces the character of God in us. And God's character was not a violation of His Law. The Law was a revelation of His character. So that's the picture.

Verse 24 gives the answer as he summarizes this argument in preparation for moving into chapter 6 which will contain exhortations to specific behavior. Verse 24, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions." Those who belong to Christ Jesus are believers in Christ. Back in chapter 2 verse 16 of Galatians, "Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we Jesus have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the Law; for by works of the Law shall no flesh be justified." Chapter 3 verse 26 says, "For you are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

Now when we believed in Christ Jesus at that moment in time, we were identified by the Spirit of God with Christ in His death on the cross, in His burial and in resurrection and new life. First Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and we were made to drink of one spirit," and that's when the Spirit came to become part of our lives. So in chapter 5 verse 24 when he says, "We have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires," aorist tense, normal past in perspective. That happened when we believed in Christ. We were identified with Him in His death. The flesh was crucified. The flesh is our fallen, sinful nature, the old person we were.

Turn back to Romans chapter 6. This doctrine is not complicated but the tragedy of the evangelical church today it has totally abandoned the biblical teaching on sanctification and totally absorbed the world's practice on dealing with sin. Appalling and that has led to the corruption of the church in every area. In Romans chapter 6 verse 6, "Knowing this that our old self was crucified." The old self literally the old man. Goes back to chapter 5 of Romans. The old man is all that we are as fallen beings in Adam. The old man was crucified. That's the same thing as the flesh or what we sometimes call our old nature. Because Ephesians 2 says we were by nature children of wrath. The old man was crucified with him. So when we believed in Christ we were identified with Christ so that when Christ died I died as a fallen sinful human being. I was buried. I was raised with Christ. Verse 4 said we had been buried with him through baptism into death so that Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father so that we too might walk in newness of life. We were identified with Christ in His death, His burial and His resurrection. That's the key. That's why we no longer live under the denomination and authority of the flesh, of sin. You note in verse 6 of Romans 6. "The old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

(That is the end of the first side. For the conclusion of the message, please turn the cassette over now.)

That expression translated "done away with," Greek word "catargeto," rendered inoperative or powerless. The flesh, the old man, has not been annihilated. It has not ceased to exist but its power has been broken.

You might leave a marker in Romans 6 and turn over to Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. "Therefore since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [talking about Christ] likewise partook of the same." That's why Christ became a man at Bethlehem. He became a human being. "That through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the Devil." The word translated "render powerless" is the same Greek word translated "be done away with" in Romans 6:6. It means to render powerless, inoperative. "That he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the Devil." The Devil has not ceased to exist but his power and authority over me as a child of God has been broken. I am no longer his slave. I am no longer his child. In John chapter 8 Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, "You are of your father, the Devil and you always want to do his will." But for those who have been redeemed we are no longer under his power, under his authority. His power has been broken.

It's the same back in Romans 6 then with our flesh, the old man, the sin nature. It's power and authority over us has been broken. It has not been removed yet. Someday in the future it will be even as Satan will be removed. But presently the flesh is still present within me. But it's power and authority to rule me has been broken. So in Romans 6 we are no longer slaves to sin. Romans 6:7, "For he who has died is free from sin." You see the power has been broken that emphasis. We have no longer any obligation to sin, the old man. Because we have been set free.

Back in Galatians 5 verse 24, "The flesh was crucified with its passions and desires." Now I want you to note here how complete this is. The flesh and everything associated with it, the passions and desires, their power and authority over me has been broken. You say wow. Are you saying I'm not saved? I still have some fleshly passions and desires. So does Marilyn, my wife. So do I. The flesh has not ceased to exist but I no longer have to submit to those passions and desires which express themselves in the works of the flesh, the kinds of things that were described in Galatians as the works of the flesh. I no longer have to do those things.

Now sometimes I find myself wanting to do them. Why? There is pleasure in sin for a time. Romans 11 refers to that in connection with Moses. There is delight and satisfaction and enjoyment in sin for a time. Otherwise none of us would never do it. You take one like losing my temper. You know when I lose my temper what happens? As a believer, I can choose not to. But there is a certain satisfaction, a certain sense of pleasure that comes from that doesn't it. I'm going to give them a peace of my mind. I should do it but I'm going to. Why? I'll get a certain pleasure out of it. Now as a believer what happens when I do give vent to the flesh? I quickly regret it and become frustrated and say why did I do that? You know why you did it. You wanted to. I couldn't help myself. Lie. Add that to the losing the temper now. Because the Spirit produces self-control so you could have chosen not to do it. I don't have to, any sin.

Well, you know, you don't know the people I work with. You don't know the way he enticed me, the way she enticed me. Wait, where does sin come from? Out here? No. In here. Out of the heart, from the flesh, the old man and its power and authority over me has been broken. I have the indwelling Spirit. I can draw upon His sufficiency and His power but I didn't want to. Why? Well, it looked like I would enjoy that.

Our children are a human example. What? We tell them not to do something. They go out with their friends. All their friends are doing it and pretty soon they are talking about how much fun it will be. Come on you can do it. You can do it. It will fun. Your parents probably won't find out. They do it. Why? They couldn't help themselves. So you find out. Didn't I tell you not do it. Well, I couldn't help myself. You say, oh, OK, that's different. Now I realize some parents do accept that excuse today and we've got all kind of turmoil in the country because of it. But we say what? No, you could have helped yourself. You wanted to do it. And you know that's the way we are God's children. I never, not even one time in all the years I have been a believer have sinned because I had to. Every single time it was because I wanted to and I choose to grieve the Spirit and refuse to allow Him to be my sufficiency because I thought I would enjoy that time of sin.

Now that's the way the Scripture presents it. It's just that clear cut. You say, Oh, you don't know what I struggle with. You don't know. I don't need to know. God knows. You don't even know. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it?" Verse 10 says it's the Lord who searches the heart. I don't even know my own heart; it's so deceitful and desperately wicked. But the One who does know has told me and here's the provision He's made. This is the most liberating truth and it would collapse all the Christian counseling programs in the country and put many people out of work. Amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah. Because we abandon the biblical doctrine of sanctification. We end up with all kind of mess and a confusion. And we decide we don't want to believe what the Scripture says about dealing with sin and the provision of God's character for the believer so we invite the world to provide a solution and when you invite the world's solutions and bring them into the church, you bring all the baggage with it and pretty soon the church is totally confused and becomes like the world.

So there are only two things here. Number one, are you a believer? You may be struggling with sin. You may be overwhelmed and overpowered by sin. If you have never truly been born again by faith in Christ, that's the realm in which you live. Everyone who sins is a slave of sin. You are of your father the Devil. You always do what he desires. You are trying moral reformation which is worse than no reformation. So you need to back up and say am I saved? If I am saved that just washes away all the excuses and all the confusion. Now if I have any sin of any kind in my life it is there because I choose to have it there. It is never to too strong, it is never too powerful, for there is greater than God. "Greater is He who is in you then he who is in the world." The Spirit who indwells you is greater than Satan. So don't say that the Spirit cannot deal with the sin that is so difficult for me.

Do you have a problem with what the Puritans call the bosom sins? And we all ready to give away most sins but the bosom sins are the ones we want to keep close to our heart because we do enjoy those. And I'm not sure I want to be finally, completely be rid of them for good because I must say and I hate to say it but I do enjoy them once in a while. There is a problem.

Now I'm not denying the fact as we indulge in sin, the tentacles of sin get around us and our lives become more and more restrained and controlled by our sins where it comes to the point where we despair and say I'm totally enslaved. That's why Christians should not indulge in sin according to Romans 6 because sin has the characteristic of enslaving. You can't play with it. Why would you dabble with it?

You watch these little animal programs and you've got the little mouth and here's the poison snake. And this little mouse is just running around ready . . . And you say why doesn't he run. Run, dumb mouse. Nibble, nibble, nibble. You get this snake here. And what happens? Zap. The mouse said I wonder what happened? Well, Christians dabble around with sin, play around there, don't take it seriously, they get bit. What's wrong with my life? I'm discouraged and all this and that and you know, and now where's the fruit of the Spirit? Because I can't indulge the flesh. I cannot grieve the Spirit. If not, you experience the consequences. Do you see here how clear-cut it is? You need to be set free in Christ. Once you are set free in Christ, you are set free.

So we come to verse 25 of Galatians 5, "If we live by the Spirit," and that is a first class condition. Like if I say to my wife, I'm going to the store and she says, well, if you're going to the store, get bread. What I don't come back and say, what do you mean if I'm going to the store? I just told you I'm going to the store. Why would you say if you're going to the store? Well, the "if" there is a first-class condition as we would call it in Greek. It assumes the reality. This is a first-class condition. If we live by the Spirit, and we do, then let us walk by the Spirit. We live by the Spirit is referring to the life that is to given to us by the Spirit. We have life by virtue of the work of the Spirit. He is the One who identified us in His death, burial and resurrection. He now dwells in us and we have the life of God, the life of Christ, within us. "And the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the Son of God" Galatians 2:20. If we have our life from the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

This word for walk is not the same one he has used earlier. Back in chapter 5 verse 16 he said, Walk by the Spirit. The concept won't be different in a major way, but you ought to note this is a different word. This means to keep in step, to be in harmony. J. I. Packer wrote a book on the Holy Spirit and he calls it "Keeping in Step with the Spirit." That's what this says. If we life by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let's have lives to give evidence of the control of the Spirit. Remember in Romans 6 we died with Christ, we're buried with Christ so that we might be raised and walk in newness of life. That's what we're talking about here. Keeping in step with the Spirit. Walking, living, in the new life we have. It's the result of having been born again by the work of the Spirit of God.

Back in Romans chapter 6 verse 9, "Knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead is never to die again. Death is no longer master over him for the death he died to sin once for all so the life he lives he lives to God. Even so consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin ruin in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts." You see, I have been set free. The Spirit of God does provide the self-control that I can choose not to sin. But to live by the Spirit and to submit to His control, to draw upon His provision.

Verse 18 of Romans 6, "Having been freed from sin you became slaves of righteousness." And just as we served sin as slaves now we serve righteousness as its slave. Back in Galatians chapter 3 verse 3. Remember in the subject in Galatians, do you need to keep the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, in order to be saved? The answer is no. We are saved by faith. Well, now you are saved by faith. Do you need to submit yourself to the Mosaic Law and the moral law of the Mosaic Law in order to live a sanctified life? The answer is no. Verse 3 of Galatians 3, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?" No, you begin by the Spirit, you have your life from the Spirit and now you live by the Spirit. You yield to the Spirit, you walk by the Spirit. You keep in step with the Spirit. That's the point.

In chapter 5 verse 16, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh." Believers have been truly set free. I don't care whether you're immoral. I don't care whether you are a drunkard. I don't care whether you're a drug addict. I don't care whether you can't control your temper. I don't care what the sin in your life is. There is true freedom and liberty in Christ. And you note. There are no special plans set up here. Well, if your sin is drunkenness, here's what you have to do. Well, if your sin is homosexuality, well we've got another . . . You know . . . Since I'm a counselor, I have all this wisdom. You need a different plan. If gossip is your sin, well, here's your plan. Same plan covers it all. You know what? You shoot the sinner, you've dealt with the sin. I've shared with you before. You take a gun. You shoot the drunkard. He doesn't drink anymore. You shoot the immoral person. He doesn't commit immorality anymore. You shoot the liar. He doesn't lie anymore. Don't you love God's solution? Crucify the flesh. It's where the sin comes from. Now you've dealt with the sin wherever it is. We give Christians the idea all right now you've been saved but boy you've got some things that really need to be dealt with and here we've got a counseling program for you and then a support group and then we go through all of this. That's what the world has. We have Christ and the Spirit. And in Christ the old man is executed and the Spirit is provided to enable and enable the new man. That deals with it all. Everything dealt with.

Back in Galatians 5. "If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit." Isn't it amazing how concisely and simply the Scripture can deal with sin. For the believer even. Walk by the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit. Don't grieve the Spirit. That's easy to say. That's what God says and He makes the provision for it.

We walk by the Spirit or keep in step with the Spirit at the end of verse 25 of Galatians 5. At the end of verse 26, "Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another." If we are going to live in harmony with the Spirit, in accord with the Spirit, then we can't become boastful. Remember what he said? The heart of the works of the flesh self-centeredness, boastful, conceit, arrogance. That's the word here. Let's not become arrogance. Why am I not to become arrogant? I become centered back on self again. Self-centered. Let us not become boastful. We have to be careful here. Now we talk about walking about the Spirit. I have to be careful I handle this properly. It's not a cause of arrogance because I realize my freedom from sin is not my doing it's His. It's the result of His grace, not my work. There's no room for conceit or arrogance. Besides conceit or arrogance leads to conflict. Two participles modify "becoming conceited" or boastful. Challenging one another. It's used in an athletic contest where you challenge someone. You race for a you know, a dual or whatever. Or a military conflict where two armies would challenge one another. Challenging one another. What happens when I become self-centered? Now we have conflict. My wife makes dinner. She makes a soup. It's not my favorite soup. I'm thinking why didn't she make my favorite soup. Why didn't she make it the way I like it? No excuse for this. What's the next step to that? Challenge. War. Defeat. I never learn. Doesn't that flow out of self-centeredness, conceit, arrogant? I start thinking about me. When I start thinking about me I'm ready to challenge you. Why? You don't think near enough about me. Can anybody think enough about you? That's the way we are.

So you know, when you are walking with the Spirit, living in harmony with the Spirit, then you don't become conceited and boastful. Then you don't challenge others, lead to conflict. Envying one another. You know, that's contrary. We looked at the fruit of the Spirit. Love and so on. The unselfishness that rejoices with others. Glad for the good that happens to them. But what? When I become arrogant and conceited and self-centered then I'm envious of what you have because I ought to have it. And you don't deserve it as much as me and on it goes. And these were the problems in the Corinthian church. Remember back in verse 13 of chapter 5, "You are called to freedom. Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh." Verse 15, "But if you bite and devour one another, take care you're not consumed by one another." We talked then about churches that self-destruct, not in defending the Gospel, not in defending the truth, but for selfish, self-centered reasons and purposes.

That, verse 26, leads into the transition. The first ten verses of chapter 6 will deal with Paul's exhortations to how we are to conduct ourselves as those who are keeping in step with the Spirit, not living conceited, arrogant, boastful lives.

What a complete provision has been made for us in Christ. You understand everything that disagrees with this is challenging the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of His work on the cross. That's what we've been talking about. What Christ accomplished and provided for all who believe in Him--freedom from sin, the provision of new life, the indwelling Holy Spirit. In Christ we have truly been set free. The church ought to be totally intolerant of any kind of doctrine or influence that says well, that's good but it's not enough. That won't really set people free from the serious problems. We don't call them sins. We like to call them problems implying that the person is not totally responsible and accountable. The Scripture is not dealing with problems. It's dealing with sin and no matter what the sin, it's been dealt with in Christ. Because when you believe in Him your flesh is crucified and that deals with every and all and any sin. And at the same time the Spirit is provided and He now dwells within. He's given us life and he is there to sustain the life and develop and mature us. But we are responsible to keep in step, to walk by the Spirit, to not grieve the Spirit but to submit to Him. And that provision is sufficient and I wish I could say I lived by that and availed myself of it 100 percent of the time. If I did, I would be living a perfect life. There is no excuse for my not living a perfect life because the imperfections are a result of my own choice. The Spirit is sufficient. The work in breaking the power and defeating the flesh is sufficient. There are times when I willingly rebel, grieve the Spirit, mar the work that God has done but I never need to.

Do you know that glorious liberty in Christ? If not, you can have it in Christ. Are you living that liberty in Christ? God not only expects us to, He requires us to. Praise God He's made the provision to enable us to do it. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace. Thank you for a salvation that is overwhelmingly wonderful, that it is complete and full and final, that in Christ we have been given everything necessary for life and godliness. Lord, may we exercise that self-control and self-discipline that would discipline the body, make it our slave, so that the members of our body would be instruments of righteousness, manifesting the beauty of your person and your character and all that we are and all that we do. Lord, I pray for any who are here who have never been set free. May this be a day of salvation for them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.