“Freedom To Live For God” Galatians 5:13-25

Grace Abounds

A Sermon Series Through the Book of Galatians

“Freedom To Live For God”

Galatians 5:13-25

Introduction

“The Christian life is a life lived under the direction and by the power of the Spirit.”

Freedom to Live For God (vv. 13-15)

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

Old Testament followers of God believed that mankind was given the law because, without it, humanity would seek to fulfill every desire of his corrupt heart. Mankind would run fully toward destruction so there needed to be guard rails and boundaries put in place and the consequences so severe that in fear they kept these laws. The law was to keep people from fully exploring the evil of their hearts – to restrain sin.

So when Paul says you can be free from the law, the Jewish world resists that because they know how corrupt the human heart is. But, “they did not realize that becoming a Christian involves having Christ’s own nature and the Spirit in personal residence and that motivation to obey the commands and restrictions of the New Testament is therefore not external. The Christian has the glorious privilege of living under the internal guidance, restraint, and power of the Holy Spirit, who energizes him to obey the will of God.”[1]

We have within us two things that war against each other. One is the Spirit of God that now lives within you and your transformed heart that should desire to pursue godly things. Then on the other side, is that part of your heart that seeks only to fulfill the desires of that part of your heart (the flesh). “Christ does not give freedom to believers so that they can do what they want but so they can. Instead, for the first time, Christians can do what God wants, because of love for Him.”[2]

 We are free to live for God in a way that pleases Him.

You have been freed from ceremonies, rituals, dietary restrictions, etc. now that those things have been removed, what then fills the empty space? Ephesians 4:22-24 “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”[3] If we take off the law, then what do we put on? You put on Freedom expressed in selfless love.

Matthew 22:34-40 “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Resist the desire to turn from godly things (loving and serving your neighbor), to the desires of your flesh (including devouring “one another.”) “Our liberty in Christ is freedom to do right, not freedom to do what our old nature desires and dictates. Liberty in the Lord is not license to sin.”[4] The new nature within us hates sin and loves the righteousness of God.[5]

Jesus and Paul both teach that we don’t do away with the moral law, but now you are free to choose to seek after the law (honor your parents, do not covet, put God first in all things, love your neighbor, etc.) The grace we have received from God will lead us to love others.

“The Galatians were not saved to be a group of isolated individuals. And neither are we. We are brought out of bondage to live in community.”[6] Christ saved us so that we can be committed to others, to love and serve others.

Christians are set free – free from using people (sexually, needing them to make us feel better about ourselves), free from needing their approval. We are set free from needing to self-promote ourselves – We know who we are, we know our value, and we know why we have been set free – all of these things are found in Christ. (v. 15) There is no need to devour and consume each other in a climb to the top – Christ gives us our worth, not a comparison to other people.

 How Do We Live in the Freedom Given? (vv. 16-26)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

(v. 16) “walk by the Spirit,” – (v. 25) “keep in step with the Spirit” this is a regular action, a habitual way of life, and it is a command – there is no option for the Christian. Walking implies progress, going from where one is to where he ought to be. As a believer submits to the Spirit’s control, he moves forward in his spiritual life.[7]

We have two natures that wage war within us; The Spirit and the sinful nature. And at any moment we “walk by” one and “not gratify” the other. The sinful nature, the flesh, the part of our heart that the Holy Spirit has not renewed yet fights against the part of us that desires to do the will of God.

Ephesians 4:22-24 describes this as “the old self” (pre-Christian) and “the new self” (post-Christian), “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

There is an all-controlling drive and longing. Paul says this in Romans 7:22-23 “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” The Spirit wants to show us Christ and to make us into the image of Christ. And ultimately, because we are Christians this is what our heart wants as well. We want to be like Jesus. Yet the flesh within us continues to present competing desires which we can give in to.

(v. 18) “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” When a person has the Holy Spirit living within them, seeking to make them into the image of Christ, and guiding them away from sin, they will reject seeking to live by their own righteousness moving them away from the law. “Our motivation for our disobedience is a lack of trust in God’s grace and goodness, and a desire to protect and guard our lives through self-salvation.” [8]

The old part of us has a motivation to attain the sinful things that the untransformed heart desires. It is focused on something (that may even be good in itself,) but it turns it into an idol to seek its’ salvation. “If I have this _____, then this will complete my brokenness.”

A Picture of an Untransformed Heart (vv. 19-21)

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul groups works of the flesh into four areas: These are things that originate within a person (not from Satan, or the outside world). These are things that a person wrongly desires and habitually does/practices. The unregenerate person occasionally does humanly good things, and the regenerate person occasionally falls into sin. But the basic character of the unregenerate is to practice the evil deeds of the flesh and the regenerate person to bear the good fruit of the Spirit.

“sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,” – these first three words deal with areas of sexuality. Sexual intercourse between unmarried people, unnatural sexual practices and relationships, and uncontrolled sexuality.

“idolatry, sorcery,” – These are very specific occult and pagan religious practices. They are an inadequate substitutes for God, and they are works that fake the work of the Spirit.

“strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,” – The next set of words describe how the flesh destroys relationships. The first words are bad attitudes (selfish ambition, self-seeking, envy, coveting, jealousy and hatred). The other words describe the results (discord, picking fights, fits of rage, outbursts of anger, dissentions, parties warring eachother).

“drunkenness, orgies,” – The last two words deal with substance abuse. Orgies are not sexual orgies, but drinking orgies, “One of the works of the flesh is addiction to pleasure-creating substances and behavior.”[9]

“those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” – Paul is referring to habitual practice, rather than infrequent, and repented of, lapses. If a person continually indulges in the sinful nature without battling against it is to show that the Son has not redeemed them, and that the Spirit as not renewed them.

The things listed are “are evident” for all to see, and have less to do with the individual sins listed, (there are other lists Paul gives such as Romans 1:29-31; 2 Timothy 3:2-5 that have different items mentioned), he even says, “and things like these” but its more about a life that is unchaste, unholy, uncharitable, and undisciplined.

It is a picture of a heart that has not been regenerated and is not walking with the Spirit of God. Those that walk with God and are led by His Spirit will shed sin over time. “People who make a regular practice of vice need to repent of their sins and leave their old lifestyle behind, lest they fall into eternal judgement.”[10]

The person who professes Christ will have a transformed life – The Holy Spirit promises it.

A Picture of a Transformed Heart (vv. 22-23)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If you are a Christian, then you desire to be more like Christ. To be “led by the Spirit,” is to be changed, it is to be brought closer and closer to be the person we want to be (Christ-like). But this growth, the change is slow and gradual. Think of a man picking fruit on a ladder in an orchard. From the ladder he drops the fruit to a person below – the person with the basket must desire to catch the fruit. A Christian will grow in the fruit of the Spirit if they walk close to God and desire to change.

If you compare the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to a person at salvation,[11] they are plural. One person may receive the gift of giving, and another the gift of leadership. Here the “fruit of the Spirit” is singular. All of the fruit of the spirit is made manifest in the life of the believer.

And all of the fruit grows together. Jesus described those who were pretending to be Christian, verses those who were genuine in their walk with the Lord, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Matt. 7:16.” Again, the idea is not to give an exhaustive list, but to paint a picture of what a person, led by the Spirit would look like.

The evidence that a person is saved is the growing of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.

How Can A Person Grow In the Fruit of the Spirit?

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

“crucified the flesh,” – There are idols in our lives that need to be taken apart, strangling sin at the motivational level. It is a cooperation between a person and the Spirit, together wanting to drive sin out of our lives.

Its more than saying, “I won’t do this anymore.” Instead, we understand that the sinful behavior is where we are not trusting God to keep His Word, or to have faith in His Word. Why must we have this sinful thing in our lives? Because it is our attempt to fix our own brokenness, instead of trusting God to do it.

The most effective way for a Christian to oppose the desires and deeds of the flesh is to starve them to death, to “make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:14). The surest way to fall into a sin is to allow oneself to be in situations where there is temptation to it. On the other hand, the safest way to avoid a sin is to avoid situations that are likely to pose temptations to it.

We Grow Spiritually by Walking With the Spirit and Crucifying Sin In Our lives.

 Conclusion

One spring a family was driving from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida. As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit. When they stopped for breakfast, and ordered orange juice with their eggs. “I’m sorry,” the waitress said. “I can’t bring you orange juice. Our machine is broken.” At first they were dumbfounded. They were surrounded by millions of oranges, and they had oranges in the kitchen–orange slices garnished our plates. What was the problem? No juice? Hardly.

They were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice. The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it. Christians are sometimes like that. They may be surrounded by Bibles in their homes, but if something should happen to the Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls. The problem is not a lack of spiritual food–but that many Christians haven’t grown enough to know how to get it for themselves.

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[1] MacArthur, 145.

[2] MacArthur, 146.

[3] See also Matt. 12:44-45

[4] Lehman Strauss, Devotional Studies in Galatians and Ephesians (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers Publishing, 1974) 80. See also Romans 6.

[5] See Romans 7:14-25.

[6] David Platt and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition, Exalting Jesus IN Galatians (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 2014) 105.

[7] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Galatians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Publishing, 1987) 152.

[8] Timothy Keller, Galatians For You (United States; The Good Book Company, 2013) 148.

[9] Keller, 149.

[10] Philip Graham Ryken, Reformed Expository Commentary, Galatians (Phillipsburg, New Jersey; P&R Publishing, 2005) 232.

[11] See 1 Corinthians 12.