Freedom in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25)
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Spiritual warfare is the unseen battle that occurs every moment in the life of every person in the world. It involves angels and demons, Satan and the Holy Spirit, our spirit and the spirit of this world. All of these things battle for our faithfulness to God. They battle not with swords in order to shed blood. They impress upon us, they urge us, they orchestrate events in our lives. But we ultimately have a choice to make.
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal 5:16-25 NIV)
The sinful nature is opposed to anything that the Spirit wants to do in us and through us (v. 17). There is a battle within us between our sinful desires and the Holy Spirit inside us. This battle didn’t exist within us until we trusted in Christ as Savior. Morality was much less about pleasing God and much more about consequences. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question, “Would I cheat in order to get ahead at work?” “Would I lie in order to make myself look better?”
We can all easily point out the sinful acts of the world (v. 19-21). But can you just as easily recognize the sin in your own life? There are not general warnings to the world, but to us specifically: “I warn you” (v. 21). But if we, by nature, live according to the ways of the world, and if those who live this way will not inherit the Kingdom of God, what hope do we have?
The solution is to walk by the Spirit (v. 16). If we are led by the Spirit, then no law condemns us, neither man’s law, nor God’s (v. 18). But how do we do that?
The following verses on the fruit of the Spirit are very well-known to believers (v. 22-23). These things are how we walk by the Spirit. But have you stopped to think about why they are called “fruit”? Does a tree try really hard to produce fruit? They are not things that we strive to do, they are things that the Spirit does in us. The Spirit does this in conjunction with our own will to be faithful to God.
The fruit of the Spirit are named in contrast to the acts of the sinful nature (v. 19, 22). They are not merely inward feelings, they are to be lived. Just as the acts of the sinful nature are obvious, the fruit of the Spirit ought to be obvious in our lives to those around us.
We were not made free from the law in order to indulge in any sinful thing that we may want (v. 23). This would be contrary to the Spirit inside us. We are free from the ultimate consequence of sin, but this is not a license to continue to sin. We didn’t receive eternal life in order to sin as much as we want, but so that we might become more like Christ. We belong to Jesus Christ (v. 24). We therefore have crucified all our sinful desires. We therefore seek to walk by the Spirit of God rather than the spirit of the world (v. 25). We are free in the Spirit because no law can be written against what the Spirit does in and through us.
I want to end with three practical challenges from this passage of Scripture.
1) We must not allow sin to keep us from living according to the Spirit inside us. Flee from sin and allow the Spirit in you to grow you up in Christ. Does your hand cause you to sin? Cut it off and throw it far from you!
2) We must not confuse our freedom in Christ with freedom to sin. That would be completely opposed to the idea that the Spirit lives in us. We are free from the performance cycle. We are free from condemnation. And we are free to truly please God the Father because His Spirit lives in us and through us. When we trust Christ as Savior, we become more vigorous to do God’s will, not less.
3) In order to walk by the Spirit, we must be in tune with the Spirit. Realizing that there are unseen spiritual forces seeking to control us, we must be all the more intentional about Who we follow. We must be people of prayer. We must know God’s Word and set our heart and soul and strength to obey it.
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
