Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–26)

I wrote this sermon for Holy Spirit (TH 753) at Bob Jones University on October 22, 2003.

FCF: All believers still have a tendency to revert to the old way of law-works rather than submitting to the new life in the Spirit.

Proposition: Because the Spirit is the source of your salvation, you must walk by the Spirit.

Outline

1. Because the Spirit enables you to overcome the flesh, you must walk by the Spirit (16–21).
   1. The Spirit enables you to overcome the old ways of life (16–18).
      1. Walking by the Spirit disallows any fulfillment of fleshly desires.
      2. Being led by the Spirit removes you from the realm of the law.
   2. The flesh leads to destruction (19–21).
      1. Sexual sins lead to destruction.
      2. Sins of godlessness lead to destruction.
      3. Sins of personal animosity lead to destruction.
      4. Sins of factions lead to destruction.
      5. Sins of partying lead to destruction.
2. Because you have been given life by the Spirit, you must walk by the Spirit (22–26).
   1. The Spirit produces a changed life (22–23).
      1. The Spirit produces a life of love, joy, and peace.
      2. The Spirit produces a life of harmony with others: patience, kindness, and goodness.
      3. The Spirit produces a life of character: faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
   2. The Spirit united you to Christ (24–26).
      1. The flesh was crucified with Christ.
      2. The Spirit imparted new life.

Scripture Introduction

Turn in your Bibles this evening to Galatians 5:16–26. So far in the book of Galatians, Paul has spent the bulk of chapters 3 and 4 defending a justification by faith apart from law-works against the legalistic view of the Judaizers. Now in chapter 5 (and into chapter 6) Paul seeks to curb the faulty antinomian conclusions that many wrongly draw from the Biblical view of justification. Just because justification is by faith apart from works does not mean that the justified individual can live however he wants to. Yes, the believer is free from the bondage of earning righteousness with God through the obedience to the dictates of the Mosaic Law, but he is free to serve in love (5:13). [The contrast in the Greek is quite significant: ἐλευθερίαν vs. δουλεύετε. Paul says that believers are free slaves.] True faith is a faith that works through love (5:6), and this love is the fulfillment of the law (5:14). But this love of neighbor does not come through fleshly effort to obey an externally imposed law, but through the indwelling Spirit who creates new internal impulses of a spiritual nature. The words of Paul are timely for every generation because every believer has the pull of flesh leading him to pervert the biblical doctrine of justification by the dual extremes of legalism and antinomianism. In order for you to avoid these extremes and live in the bounds of your justification, you need this message that the Holy Spirit gave through Paul. Follow along closely in your Bible as we read our passage together, Galatians 5:16–26:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 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. ²⁴ Now 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 walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Let’s all pray now and ask for God’s help and blessing upon our time in His Word. Our gracious Father….

Sermon Introduction

Paul grew up a very religious individual. He was a Jew and was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. He studied the Scripture and strove to keep the requirements of the law. He thought that by his performance and his fleshly distinctives he could earn the favor of God and secure for himself a righteous standing with Him. Until one day Paul met the crucified Christ and came to realize that all the things he sought to attain by his fleshly efforts could only be realized through the way of the Spirit, the way of faith. Paul was converted by trusting, not in the work which he had performed or could perform, but in the work of Christ. But after Paul’s conversion, did he return to the ways of his previous life? No, because he had been given life by the Spirit and had crucified his flesh—his attempts to earn righteousness through the law—he set aside the old ways of bondage and legalism and followed after the new way of freedom by the Spirit. While most believers will acknowledge that initial salvation is through the Spirit, many will return to the ways of the flesh and of the law in pursuit of their sanctification. In fact, all believers still have a tendency to revert to the old way of law-works rather than submitting to the new life in the Spirit. This is something that you battle on a daily basis. But thankfully Paul gives instruction on how to steer clear of the error. He directs you to the way of the Spirit. Because the Spirit is the source of your salvation, you must walk by the Spirit.

I. Because the Spirit enables you to overcome the flesh, you must walk by the Spirit (16–21).

A. The Spirit enables you to overcome the old ways of life (16–18).

1. Walking by the Spirit disallows any fulfillment of fleshly desires.
2. Being led by the Spirit removes you from the realm of the law.

Illustration: When I was a kid, one of the neatest things to me about the President of the United States was the privilege of freedom that he enjoyed from the law. While he was in the privileged position of President, he did not have to follow many of the laws of the land. But when he stopped being President, he would become just like anyone else. What a glorious privilege belongs to the Christian. His freedom from the law is not just a temporary benefit, but a lifelong one. He lives in the jurisdiction of the Spirit and does not have to seek to keep the laws that are externally imposed upon him. Rather, he is free to serve by the inward enabling of the Spirit. As a believer, you have this same privileged position of freedom from the bondage of the law.

Application: As a result of being under the Spirit, you are free from the burden of earning righteousness through keeping the law. Christ has earned the righteousness for you and the Spirit is inwardly producing Christ-likeness through you. But how often do we return to our pre-conversion attempts to gain God’s favor. Think of the times you go on church visitation or put money in the offering plate. You feel guilty for your sin and want to do something good to help you feel right with God. Maybe this guilt motivates why you read your Bible or come to church. This is a grave error. The believer is free from the bondage of trying to earn God’s favor because the way of the Spirit is a way of freedom because it is a way of union with Christ. Follow the Spirit and stop trying to earn God’s favor by your fleshly works of the law.

B. The flesh leads to destruction (19–21).

1. Sexual sins lead to destruction.
2. Sins of godlessness lead to destruction.
3. Sins of personal animosity lead to destruction.
4. Sins of factions lead to destruction.
5. Sins of partying lead to destruction.

Transition: Not only does the Spirit provide the power for the believer to overcome the flesh, but He also produces in him the evidences of new life.

II. Because you have been given life by the Spirit, you must walk by the Spirit (22–26).

A. The Spirit produces a changed life (22–23).

1. The Spirit produces a life of love, joy, and peace.
2. The Spirit produces a life of harmony with others: patience, kindness, and goodness.
3. The Spirit produces a life of character: faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

B. The Spirit united you to Christ (24–26).

1. The flesh was crucified with Christ.
2. The Spirit imparted new life.

Illustration: Growing up my family lived in the same house for over 20 years. Driving to the house nearly became an instinct. It didn’t require any thought. I could do it without having to decide when and where to turn. I just did it by nature. But, after all that time, and after all the kids were off to school, my parents decided to move. They began building a new home and eventually sold our old house. When I came home from school, it was quite strange to go to a new location. My natural tendency was to go back to our old house. Sometimes I would even begin to head in the wrong direction without even realizing it. I finally had to stop and consider where I was going. I needed to continually remind myself that we didn’t live at our old house any longer. Even though it wasn’t our house anymore, it still had a pull and attraction to me. In many ways, this is the situation that we all face spiritually. The old man was crucified; he was put to death. And we were given new life by the Spirit. But it is often quite difficult to begin to think consistently with reality. Our flesh, though dead, still has a pull on us. The solution to following the way of the Spirit is by continually reminding ourselves of reality: we crucified the flesh and the Spirit gave us new life. Therefore, let us follow after the Spirit.

Application: Right thinking about your union with Christ is vital to walking by the Spirit. You must constantly think of your death with Christ and your new life through the Spirit to fuel your daily walk. If you fail to call these things to your remembrance, it is likely that you will not consistently follow after the Spirit. Maybe you are going through a very busy time of year right now. There is a lot going on at work and at home. You come home from work, hoping to have a nice meal and relax only to find that supper is not ready and your wife was in an accident with your new car. You can respond in one of two ways: either in accordance with the flesh or by following the Spirit. In order to successfully follow the way of the Spirit, you must call to mind the truth about your union with Christ in His death and new resurrection life by the Spirit. This is how God will enable you so that you will certainly not fulfill the desires of your flesh.

Conclusion

This passage is about living life in accordance with the Spirit, who is the source of your life as a Christian. The pull of the flesh is to live under the law and seek to earn God’s favor, but the way of the Spirit is a way of internal obedience to the law and submitting to the favor of God in Christ. You need to continually recognize that your flesh has been crucified so that you no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh and produce the works of the flesh, and you need to recognize that the source of your life is from the resurrecting power of the Spirit so that you will follow after Him and produce His fruit in your lives. Let us follow after the Spirit.

Sources: Bruce; BV (April 1997); Cole; Dunn; Hendricksen; Kent; Lenski; Lightfoot; Stott