WALK FOR LIFE

WALK FOR LIFE!

GALATIANS 5:13-26

The theme of Paul's epistle to the Galatians can be summed up in one word - LIBERTY. He has been telling them to be free from the Law and from the rituals and regulations of men. They were called to freedom and now they are to stand firm in their freedom and not allow themselves to be enslaved in a yoke of legalism.

But there is a danger here. It is that they might use this principle of freedom as an excuse to sin. If they are free from the Law, does this mean that they can now live any way they wish? Does this mean that it is okay to sin? Not at all.

THE WALK OF FREEDOM
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:13-15).

Paul is going to bring an exhortation, a command and a warning. All three of these are outgrowths of the fundamental principle that you were called to freedom. Because you were called to freedom, don't use your freedom to sin, but rather use your freedom to serve.

Freedom Versus License: Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (5:13).

God did not save you in order that you might be free to sin. God is diametrically opposed to sin. It is the very antithesis of what He is.

Do not turn your freedom					serve one another
		¯
	into an opportunity for the flesh		BUT	through love

God did not even save you so that you would be free as an end unto itself. He set you free in order that you might serve. You were saved so that you might do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Love Fulfills the Law: For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (5:14).

This is not a new teaching. Jesus said it first. He was once asked that is the greatest commandment of the Law. He answered that it is love.

And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

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 foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40).

The scribe was asking a question about the LAW. When you say the word "law" and then look for a corresponding verb to go with it, that word is "obedience." We would all agree that obeying God is important. That is not at issue here. What this scribe is asking is this: "What is the number one way of obeying God?"

The answer is love.

When asked about the secret to the Christian life, Augustine replied, "Love God and live as you please." He wasn't advocating sin and he wasn't saying that we can ignore the commandments of God. He was saying that when you love, obedience comes naturally.

Think about it. If you really love God, you don't have to be told not to set up any other gods or idols or not to take His name in vain or to set aside a day to worship Him. If you really love your parents whom God has given to be an authority over you, then you do not have to be told to honor your father and mother. And if you really love your neighbor who is created in God's image, then you don't have to be told not to bear false witness against him. You don't have to be told not to steal from him or murder him or commit adultery with his wife or covet his possessions.

This was the greatest command. Your greatest calling is to be relational. You will never be judged for how many programs you planned or how many sermons you preached or how many fliers you printed up. You will be judged for how much you loved. If there is no greater commandment than this, then it is also true that there is no greater sin than to fail to do this.

Christian Cannibalism: But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another (5:15).

This is a graphic warning. Christians are called to love one another. But Paul knew that all too often there is fighting among Christians. And so he gives a warning. Snapping at one another can result in being gobbled up.

THE WALK OF THE SPIRIT
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:16-18).

How can we as Christians become what we ought to be? What is the secret to spiritual living? A number of different answers have been suggested:

The Sinai system: This is an attempt to be spiritual through legalism. It is the system that was adopted by the Judaizers as they attempted to force the Gentiles to be circumcised and follow Jewish rituals. Today it might be some system where you are required to witness once a day or give a certain amount of money or attend a certain type of church. Invariably it deals with some outward form or ritual.

The Second Blessing Experience: Very popular today is the idea that you must have some type of special experience, whether it involves speaking in tongues or a vision or some emotional reaction. This is described as a "second blessing." The problem with this thinking is that you never get over the first blessing. You have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Single-Step Spirituality: I have heard certain preachers teach that all you need to do to be spiritual is to confess your sins. I agree that this is a good beginning, but this in itself does not bring spirituality.

Static Christianity: Another teaching that has been circulated in the name of grace is that the Christian life involves doing nothing. Just sit where you are and wait for God to move you. People who try consistently to hold to this teaching for any length of time usually get moved, but only by a hand of discipline.

The truth is that none of these is an adequate depiction of true Christianity. The Christian walk is by the Spirit.

What it Means to Walk: Walk by the Spirit (5:16).

A walk starts with one step , but it does not stop there with only one step. It consists of one step after another in a continuous cycle. In the same way, a spiritual walk involves a continuing trust in the Lord and a practice of following Him.

In the Greek text, the command to walk is given in the present tense. This indicates continuing action. It means continue to be walking in the Spirit. It is not a once-and-for-all event. It is a continuous walk.

One step at a time. True spirituality involves progressive growth. When my daughter was only about four years old, she came to me and asked if she could be allowed to drive the family car. I told her that she would have to grow up first. I could see the wheels turning in her little mind and suddenly she brightened up and said, "I want to grow up right now!" Spirituality does not come like that. It comes one step at a time.

The synergistic nature of our walk. Walking by the Spirit means that I depend upon the Spirit for guidance and direction as well as for strength and endurance. But it also means that I must do the walking. It is not JUST the Spirit and it is not JUST self-effort.

This is seen in the imperative mood. This is a command. We are not told to stand still and to wait. We are not told to sit. We are told to walk. This implies movement on our part.

What is this walk? It refers to your life. When Paul speaks of our Christian walk, he is referring to our life in the spiritual realm. To walk by the Spirit means to orient your life so that it is in line with the moving of the Holy Spirit. Instead of being conformed to the world, your life is being conformed to God. This is no easy task. It is a battle.

How do I do this? By looking to the cross and walking in that direction. Being filled with the Spirit is nothing less that just loving the Lord and being filled with that love.

2. The Battle against the Flesh: For these are in opposition to one another (5:17).

The walk of the believer involves a struggle. The struggle is with the flesh. When we speak of the flesh, we are not just referring to the physical body, though the flesh seems to be connected to that physical body. It refers to that part of us that is polluted with sin.

Notice the results of this conflict. It is that you are unable to do the things that you please. The battle involves the human will. There is a battle over your will. Does this passage sound familiar? It should.

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.

So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:15-23).

There is a war going on inside every believer. Anyone who thinks that it is easy to be good has never tried to be good.

How can you succeed in walking by the Spirit? How are you able to orient your life so that it conforms to the Lord?

By being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18).

By being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

By letting the Word of Christ richly dwell within you (Colossians 3:16).

By renewing your mind (Romans 12:2).

3. The Spirit and the Law: If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (5:18).

When you are led by the Spirit, you will naturally find yourself in line with the Law. The Spirit does not lead you to steal or to murder or to commit adultery or to bear false witness against your neighbor. The Spirit leads you to love. And that is a fulfillment of the Law.

THE WALK OF THE FLESH
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. (Galatians 5:19-21).

Paul now gives a representative sample of some of the deeds of the flesh. He states that it is evident that these come, not from God, but from the sinful flesh.

Deeds of the Flesh
Relates to Self	Relates to God	Relates to Other Men
Immorality, impurity, sensuality	Idolatry, sorcery	Disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing

THE RESULTS OF THE SPIRIT
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.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Fruit of the Spirit

Inward state of man

Expressions toward men

Expression toward God

Love, joy, peace

Kindness, goodness, faithfulness

Gentleness, self-control

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26).

In the same way that the deeds of the flesh were grouped together, so also here there is a particular grouping together of the fruit of the Spirit.

There is a contrast here. It is a contrast between what Paul lays out in these verses against what he has set forth in the previous verses. It is a contrast between the deeds of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit.

Deeds of the Flesh	Fruit of the Spirit
A product of the sinful flesh	A product of God's Holy Spirit
Spoken of as "deeds" (plural)	Described as "fruit" (singular)
The man who is in the flesh might only commit some of these deeds	The man who is in the Spirit will exhibit all of this fruit

1. The Singular Aspect of this Fruit.

The word "fruit" is karpos. It is in the singular. It speaks not of fruits, but of a single fruit. This single fruit of the Spirit is made up of all of these attributes. That means you cannot pick out just one or two of these attributes and say that you are manifesting the fruit of the Spirit.

This also tells us the HOW of procuring this fruit. It is not the fruit of self-effort. It is the fruit of the Spirit. You don't have to try to work up a certain level of love and peace (too bad about patience). All you need to do is to walk in the Spirit and He will produce His fruit in you.

2. The Representative Character of the Fruit.

I would suggest that the fruit of the Spirit might include a number of things that don't appear on our lists (like the Beatitudes - like all of the other descriptions of what it means to be a Christian). Instead of the Galatians list being an all-encompassing enumeration of the fruit of the Spirit, it is merely representative.

3. The Organic Nature of the Fruit.

You can take all of the chemicals that make up an apple and you can put them into a box and shake them up, but this will not make an apple. Apples have to be grown. They have to grow on apple trees.

By the same token, the fruit of the Spirit cannot be gotten by reading a list of attributes and then trying to do them through self-effort. It is fruit. It must be grown. This growth is brought about by the energy of the Spirit. It is His work. This is why it is called the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit in our lives is not what we DO, it's how we ARE. Everything listed in Galatians 5:22 is an attribute of one's character. The Spirit changes ME, which in turn changes what I do.

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Fruit of the Spirit
Inward state of man	Expressions toward men	Expression toward God
Love, joy, peace	Kindness, goodness, faithfulness	Gentleness, self-control