Walk By The Spirit

INTRO

Galatians 5:1 gives us our word for Galatians: Christ is the Liberator. Christ has liberated us to be free. Christ has bought us freedom, and for freedom Christ has set us free. The first half of the chapter calls us to walk in freedom, not bondage. The last half calls us to walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh.

TEACHING

Galatians 5:1: The call to “stand firm” (v. 1) in the original language means to stand firm as a lifestyle and a habit; of standing firm and not submitting to the whole yoke of slavery. A tool called the Covenant Triangle, from Mike Breen, helps us understand how to not submit to the yoke of slavery.¹ Using the diagram of a triangle to illustrate his point, God is placed at the top point of the triangle. Our identity in Christ is on the lower right side. Obedience is on the lower left side of the triangle. Our identity is from the Father. We are adopted as His sons and daughters. When we flow in our obedience, from our identity, there is life. When our obedience flows from our identity in Christ, it becomes enlightening, liberating, and we enjoy our relationship with God. But when we go with the law, we use our obedience to gain our identity. We think if we work hard enough and do well enough, then we’ll find our identity. But we can’t earn our identity in our own strength. This leads to bondage. Paul urged the Galatians not to submit again to the yoke of bondage, to the ball and chain of the law.

Galatians 5:2–6: Paul warns that those who chose circumcision as the way to earn salvation would then be obligated to keep the entire law (vv. 2–3). If you are trying to be justified by the law, then you are alienated from Christ (v. 4). You can’t add anything to Christ without subtracting Christ. You can’t say it’s Christ plus something. This element of “fallen from grace” (v. 4) doesn’t mean the loss of eternal salvation but refers to an effective relationship with Christ. Through the Spirit and by faith, we are saved (v. 5). What matters is faith working through love (v. 6). This love is agape love. Hope (v. 5) is an assurance and a certainty that something is going to happen. Faith, activated by love and acting in love, leads to our assured hope in Christ.

Galatians 5:7–12: Running well (v. 7) is a continuous action, not running that was completed in the past (like running a 5K on Saturday). Obeying (v. 7) is also a lifestyle of continual obedience. Paul voiced his confidence that they would not accept any teaching that led them back to circumcision (the law) (v. 10). Paul said those teachers were taking them away from the truth. He warned them not to listen to those teachers so they wouldn’t lose their freedom in Christ.

Galatians 5:13–15: Verses 1–12 say that it’s easy to lose your freedom by slipping back into legalism and works based righteousness. But in verses 13–15, Paul instructed them not to abuse that freedom. Instead, they should serve one another, with “serve” denoting a lifestyle of serving others through love. In other words, love your neighbor as yourself. In no uncertain terms, Paul said, the gospel does not free you to sin. We have more reasons to love God than we ever did before, so that love causes us to want to love our neighbor. Obedience becomes the natural expression of our hearts. J. I. Packer wrote: “What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last Supper when he played the slave’s part and washed the disciples’ feet.”² Paul warned them that if they set aside love to “bite and devour one another” then they would be “consumed by one another” (v. 15).

Galatians 5:16–26: These verses describe the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit” (v. 16) denotes a lifestyle, not just a day or season of life. The Spirit is the daily, sustaining, inspiring, desiring power of the Christian’s life. Why? Because the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other (v. 17). Again, this verse speaks to a lifestyle of wanting to do what God wants. The Spirit indwells every believer and asserts opposition to the flesh. Paul urges us to grow in this lifestyle by walking by the Spirit. Believers emerge triumphant when they allow the Spirit to work in them so they can walk with Him. Paul describes the “works of the flesh” in verses 19–21—sexual immorality, moral impurity—sex. We looked at this earlier in Song of Songs. When sex is done within the context of how God designed it, then it’s beautiful and amazing. But Satan likes to take that and twist it around and make it about our flesh and our pleasure. The Galatians lived in a world where sexual immorality was condoned as normal, but Paul said that was not how God designed it. Promiscuity, or debauchery (NIV), is more than just sexual; it’s being ready for any kind of pleasure—a runaway pleasure. Idolatry is anything that takes the place of God. Sorcery or witchcraft comes from the Greek word from which we get pharmacy. It is drug use because so many who used witchcraft and magic in the ancient world used drugs. The relationship with sin destroys community: hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger (leads to bitterness), selfish ambitions (I want to be first), dissensions and factions (a party spirit that leads to rival ambitions in the church), envy (coveting), drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. If you practice these, you will not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 21).

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (v. 22). The fruit of the Spirit has been described as the under-armor. It comes out from within us when we fight this spiritual battle. This quote has been attributed to Francis Frangipane: “Too many religious folks are angry that the world is not more Christian, yet at ease with the fact that they themselves are not more Christlike.” The fruit of the Spirit is fruit that all comes up together and is produced by the Holy Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. This is the fruit of the Spirit, and it’s got to be real. The only way it can be real in our lives is by the Holy Spirit. If we’re going to walk by the Spirit, we have to incorporate the Spirit 24/7, 365 days of the year, for every year until the Lord returns. Be done with fake fruit, which is the result of trying to do it ourselves outside of a relationship with God. God has called us to walk by His Spirit so that the fruit comes from Him. The fruit all comes from one root, from one tree. We must live out the fruit of the Spirit in today’s world.

Love—sums up all true spiritual life. Love in ministry is described in 1 Corinthians 13.

Joy—empowers us to be Christians. We can’t create it.

Peace—harmony and wellbeing.

Patience—how patient was God with us? How can we live that out?

Kindness—integrate inner character and outward expression of life.

Goodness—goodness that is “good for something.”

Faith—faithfulness and fidelity.

Gentleness—submission to the will of God. Not weakness but strength, like a horse in a bridle.

Self-control—the mastery of self.

CLOSING

When you are in Christ and moved by the Spirit, and the unexpected comes, you will respond in ways you never thought possible, as His fruit is expressed in you. Are you growing in the fruit of the Spirit? Which one are you struggling with? Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.