Galatians 5:16-26
Dan Duncan explains that “There are really three
ways to live: under the law, without law, or Paul’s
way, which is with the Author of the Law (THE
HOLY SPIRIT). All three can be illustrated from
three different kinds of dogs….I think anyone who
owns a dog can appreciate the analogy.
One dog lives on a leash. Whenever it goes out, it
must be on the leash. And as he goes out, he pulls
against the leash. He resists it, and doesn’t like it.
My dog doesn’t like it and must be jerked back into
line and put back on the path. Well, that’s a picture
of a person under the Law.
The second dog lives without the leash. He wanders
about freely in the neighborhood without a master,
without guidance, getting into trash, getting into
fights and ending up in the pound or run over by a
car. That’s a picture of a lawless person .
The third is the ideal dog. He comes out of his
house with his master and without a leash. He goes
about freely, but returns at his master’s command.
He is bound by love to his master. That is the
person who walks by the Spirit. He or she obeys
out of love. That’s the position of the believer in
Jesus Christ.
Last week we talked about understanding our freedom in
Christ. Paul warned the Galatians not to use their liberty
as a license to live a lifestyle of sin. Paul’s solution was to
serve others through love.
This morning we are going to finish Galatians 5.
In today’s text he encourages the churches to walk by
the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16-18
In the first 3 verses Paul explains the battle that is going
on between the flesh and the spirit.
Conflict Between Flesh and Spirit
The good news is that God doesn’t expect us to overcome
the desires of the flesh on our own.
Remember that when Paul writes about the flesh he isn’t
talking about our physical body but our sinful nature.
He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the
desires of the flesh. Aren’t you thankful that God has
given us the Holy Spirit so we can walk in the Spirit not
by the flesh?
There is a battle raging in the believer between the two
natures.
The old sin nature wants to keep doing what it has done
in the past. Live for self, pleasure as lord, step on others.
Remember the words of Christ Jesus in John 16:33b “In
the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have
overcome the world.”
Even though the battle rages, Jesus is victorious.
Our new nature will prevail as we walk in the Spirit and
listen to the promptings of the Spirit.
Paul comes back to the point of this whole letter in verse
18.
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Commentator Walter Hansen explains the thought
this way, “The Spirit-led life is not a life against the
law; it is a life that fulfills the law. The way to the
fulfillment of the law is not to live under the law
like slaves, but to live by the Spirit as children of
God.”
Galatians 5:19-21
Works of the Flesh
Sexual Sins
Sexual Immorality – the Greek word is Porneia which is
where our English word pornography comes from. This
includes fornication, adultery and homosexuality.
Impurity – this is the same Greek word for being unclean.
The idea is one of impure lustful living.
Sensuality – this is referring to a brazen shameless
unbridled lust. Not caring anything about what anyone
else thinks. The only focus is fulfilling your own lustful
desires.
Religious Sins
Idolatry – worship of something created rather than the
creator. Anything that replaces God can be considered an
idol. Our modern day idols are no different than Aaron’s
golden calf that he fashioned with the people’s gold
earrings.
Sorcery – the Greek word is Pharmakeia which is where
our word pharmacy comes from. It describes the use of
medicine, drugs, spells, poison claiming to be able to
foretell the future and summon evil spirits.
Social Sins
Enmity
Strife
Jealousy
Fits of Anger
Rivalries
Dissensions
Divisions
Envy
These are self explanatory, but what we should note is
that these attitudes stem from pride rather than humility.
No wonder Paul mentioned them biting and devouring
one another. This is due to them adding to the gospel.
The law brings condemnation, Jesus brings grace.
Alcohol-Related Sins
Drunkenness – intentional and habitual drunkenness
Orgies – often a result of drunkenness. Bacchus is the
god of wine and many people would partake in these
alcohol related sins because of the desires of the flesh.
Alcohol alters the mind and causes people to make
unwise decisions. Many of them are sexual in nature.
Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus,
“And do not get
drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with
the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18
Paul closes the list letting the Galatians know that this list
isn’t exhaustive when he writes “and things like these”.
Then he gives a warning that those who continue to
practice these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Spirit filled Christian is going to sin occasionally, but
the flesh filled unbeliever is going to continue sinning as
a habit. That is who Paul is writing about not inheriting
the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:22-23
Fruit of the Spirit
The fruit of the Spirit are grouped into 3 triplets.
The first three come From God
Love – Agape or unconditional love. God can’t love you
any more and He won’t love you any less.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not put us to shame,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Joy – peace regardless of circumstances. The world only
has happiness which is based on circumstances. Spirit
filled Christians can rejoice because they have God with
them through every circumstance.
Peace – because of Jesus we can have peace with God.
Peace is not merely the absence of violence, it is the
complete rest that we find in Jesus. Because of Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross we are reconciled to God and at
peace with Him.
The second three are To Others
These are social virtues and stand in opposition to the
social sins that we saw moments ago under the works of
the flesh.
Patience – even when people are difficult to love, the
Spirit gives us patience to be able to avoid fits of anger,
divisions and rivalries.
Kindness – being kind and good are difficult in the flesh,
thank God that He gives us the Holy Spirit to offer
kindness and goodness to a world that doesn’t deserve it.
Goodness – being good goes against the grain in the
world that tells us to get even and to look out for number
one.
The final three are For Self
Faithfulness – the Holy Spirit helps us be reliable and
dependable when we want to be flaky. Believers keep
their word and remain faithful to the end.
Gentleness – this can also be called meekness which is
power under control. Jesus embodied this throughout His
life. He wasn’t killed, He gave His life up at the right
time.
Self-control – it’s easy to think we don’t have this
because we fall into sin, but the Holy Spirit is always
there helping us identify sin and to reject it. We can’t
overcome it on our own. Only through the power of the
Holy Spirit are we able to be self-controlled.
Against the fruit of the Spirit there is no law.
Application
Galatians 5:24-26
Christian Victory
The good news is that because of Jesus we will overcome
the desires of the flesh.
Crucify the Flesh
This is slightly different from what Paul writes in
Galatians 2:20 that he has been crucified with Christ.
That crucifixion is passive. It is based on what Christ has
done for us.
What Paul writes in verse 24 is active.
We have to daily take up our cross and die to ourselves
and our natural desires. We have to nail our sin to the
cross and leave it there.
Satan will try to get you to go back and take it off the
cross, but we need to leave it there. God has forgiven it
and He has cleansed us from our unrighteousness.
Walk by the Spirit
Paul mentions this in verses 16,18 and 25.
In verse 18 we are to be led by the Spirit. It’s passive
like we talked about moments ago – being crucified.
Like sheep being led by the shepherd. They follow the
one who is leading.
Verses 16 and 25 mention walking in the spirit.
This is active. We are called to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling. We have to take action to walk in the
Spirit.
We need to come to church to worship.
We need to read our Bible to be able to know God and
obey Him.
We need to walk in the Spirit as we interact with a cruel
and hateful world.
We need to let our light shine before men so they may
see our good works and give glory to our Father in
heaven.