Freedom the Conflict Within Lesson 20 Galatians 5.16-18 100429 1 Two

Freedom The Conflict Within Lesson 20 Galatians 5.16-18 100429

1 Two weeks ago, we looked at the first half of Galatians 5 in which the main theme is spiritual freedom. a It begins with the thunderous phrase … It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). b The context of that sentence is picked up again in verse 13 where Paul says … You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love Galatians 5:13. 2 We discovered that this freedom is the freedom from legalism … trying to be justified before God, made righteous before God, to be accepted by God through obedience to God’s law rather than through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Now we are called to obey God’s law but not to be justified … but rather because we have been freely justified by faith in Christ. a The gospel frees you by declaring that Christ completely paid the penalty of your law breaking for you (therefore, you are completely forgiven) and Christ perfectly obeyed the law for you (therefore, you are declared righteous by God and completely accepted by God). b Paul summarizes this over in 2 Corinthians 5. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV84) 3 Since we have Christ’s righteousness as a gift through faith it means that no matter how much you obey God’s commands you will never be more loved, more accepted or more righteous before God. Conversely, no matter how much you sin you will never be less loved, less accepted or less righteous before God. 4 Why is that again? Because Christ’s righteousness has become your righteousness before God and therefore you are free from trying to earn it through your obedience but rather have it as a gift that Christ earned through his obedience. 5 When you understand this it completely changes the motivation for obeying God.

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a When you were self-justifying through legalism (If I keep the commands God will love/accept/have favor on me) your motivation for obedience was fear. God will “unfriend me” if I disobey. b Now that you are justified by faith and secure in Christ’s righteousness, your motive for obeying God is love for God (5:6b). The pressure of performance-based righteousness is gone. Now you are free to love God without the ulterior motive of getting favor from him. 6 So gospel freedom is not only freedom from trying to earn acceptance and righteousness through law-keeping, it is also freedom to obey God’s law in a new way, out of love for the one who so freely justified you at an infinite cost to himself. 7 So Paul says you are called to be free... but don’t use this gospel freedom as a way to indulge the sinful nature. a Don’t be deceived into thinking that since God will never unfriend you that it really doesn’t matter how you live. b Don’t be deceived into assuming that since no amount of obedience could ever make you more righteous before God that it is no longer important to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Mt 6:33). c Don’t be fooled into believing that since no amount of sin will ever make you less accepted or less righteous before God that sin is no longer a big deal with God. d Paul says don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Galatians 5:13a. 8 So the freedom message of chapter 5 could be summarized like this: a Don’t lose gospel freedom through legalism. On the other hand, don’t abuse gospel freedom through license/permissiveness. b So how do you steer clear of legalism while also avoiding license. Paul says you do it with the help of the Holy Spirit or living by the Holy Spirit.

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 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. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of

Freedom / The Conflict Within / Lesson 20 / Galatians 5.16-18 2 rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

These verses tell us four things. 1) There are two natures in every believer, 2) the two natures are in conflict with each other, 3) the conflict centers around desires and 4) the desires produce behaviors.

(1) There are two natures present within and at work in every Christian (v16-17), the nature of the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature. 1 At every moment in our life we are living by one and not gratifying the other. We are either living by the Spirit and not gratifying the desire of the sinful nature or we are living by the sinful nature and not producing the fruit of the Spirit. 2 So what Paul is doing here is urging the Galatians to live by the Spirit. To get a better grasp on this we need to be reminded of what the sinful nature is and how it works and who the Holy Spirit is and how He works. a The term “sinful nature” is translated from the Greek word sarx, which in most Bible versions is rendered “flesh”. • When used in the New Testament in the sense of opposing the Spirit, sarx does not refer to our physical body but to the sin- desiring aspect of our heart as opposed to the God-desiring aspect of our heart. Thus the NIV translates it sinful nature. b The term “Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit who, from the moment of faith in Christ, indwells our heart and imparts new life and a new nature. The Bible calls that being born again or regeneration. • Prior to faith in Christ our sinful nature occupied our heart, ruling unopposed. • But when we believed the Spirit supernaturally indwelled our heart bringing with Him a new nature. 3 So in one heart you have two natures, the sin nature and the regenerate nature; the nature of the flesh and the nature of the Spirit. This of course means (2) The two natures are in conflict with each other (v17).

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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 (Galatians 5:17). 1 The picture here is basically two sumo wrestlers trying to push each other out of the ring … flesh pushing against spirit, sinful nature grappling with regenerate nature. In Ephesians 4 this war is called the old man battling the new man and in 2 Corinthians 5, the old creation verses the new creation. 2 So there is a conflict and the result of this conflict is that we do not always do what we want to do. a And perhaps there is nothing more bewildering in all the Christian life than this … failing to do what your heart wants to do. b This is why Martin Luther in great consternation called himself a “righteous sinner”. In Romans 7 Paul puts into words what every believer from time to time thinks in their heart. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 24 What a wretched man I am! (Rom. 7:15, 18–19, 24) 3 So in both Galatians and Romans Paul says this conflict between the flesh and the Spirit not only bewilders us but it also hinders our pursuit to obey God and follow his will. As long as we are on this side of heaven our spiritual life will always involve a struggle. a We have been delivered from the penalty of our sin but not yet the presence of sin. We have been made righteous before God but we are not yet perfectly righteous in all our ways. We are redeemed but we are not yet perfected. b Ephesians 5 says one day Christ will present us to himself without spot or wrinkle, a pure, perfect, sinless Bride. The sin nature will be destroyed and mortality will put on immortality. The struggle will be over. 4 But until that day we should realize everyday there is a conflict within us between our sin nature and regenerate nature. And the more you love God the more you are aware of the conflict and troubled by it.

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5 Therefore, temptation and sin should not surprise us nor cause us to doubt our salvation. Paul implies this in verse 17 when he says the flesh and Spirit … are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Did you catch that? … so that you do not do WHAT YOU WANT. a If you are a believer in fellowship with God you want to obey God. You want to love God with all your heart. You want to please God. You want to obey God and when you don’t you want to repent. This is how you know you are saved. b This verse implies that even when you have sinned your heart will say, “this is not what I really wanted Lord. What I really want, what I really desire is to please you and do your will.”

(1) There are two natures present within and at work in every Christian, (2) The two natures are in conflict with each other (v17). (3) The conflict centers around two desires (v16-17a). 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 (Galatians 5:16-17a). 1 The NIV along with a few other translations translate desire in the plural, “desires”. But in the original text, desire is in the singular. The NASB puts it well. 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. Galatians 5:16–17 (NASB95) a The idea is that the sinful nature has a singular desire and the Spirit has a singular desire and these two desires are set against one another. b The desire of the sinful nature produces acts of the sinful nature like immorality, hatred and envy (v19-21) and the desire of the Spirit produces fruit of the Spirit like patience, kindness and self-control (22- 23). 2 So the conflict is not between the acts of the sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit but rather between the two singular desires behind them … the desire of the sinful nature and the desire of the Spirit. a If we depend upon the power of the Spirit the outcome is freedom and fruit of the Spirit.

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b If we don’t depend upon the power of the Spirit and the sin nature gains the upper hand in the conflict the outcome is sinful actions which lead to enslavement. 3 So what are these two desires that are in conflict with each other within us. What is the desire of the sinful nature and what is the desire of the Spirit? a If you condense it to the most basic form … the desire of the sinful nature is always self and self-exaltation which leads to enslavement and the desire of the Spirit is always Christ and Christ exaltation which leads to freedom. • Before Jesus left the earth, he told his disciples I am going away but I will send the Holy Spirit and His primary mission is this: He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you (John 16:14). • This is the desire of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit desires to glorify Christ by showing us Christ in the gospel, conforming us to the image of Christ through the power of the gospel so that we become increasing Christ-like (bear the fruit of the Spirit). b On the other hand, the desire of the sinful nature is self-exaltation which leads to enslavement. • The desire of the sinful nature is anything at the center of your life but Jesus. The desire of the Spirit is everything in your life centered on Jesus. • The desire of the sinful nature is … depend upon anything but Jesus. The desire of the Spirit is … depend only upon Jesus. • The desire of the sinful nature is … look to anything other than Jesus for your happiness. The desire of the Spirit is … look only to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith (Heb 12:1) and your joy will be made full. 4 The sinful nature is simply intent on moving you away from on Christ through any means … not just through sinful behavior of licentiousness but also through moral behavior of legalism. Paul implies this in verse 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law (Galatians 5:18). a You might expect Paul to say if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the sin nature which is basically what he says in v16. But instead he says if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. b This means that the Spirit frees us from the desire of the sinful nature as and frees us from being under the law. Freedom / The Conflict Within / Lesson 20 / Galatians 5.16-18 6

5 As we have learned “under the law” in the book of Galatians refers to legalism. a Legalism is a system of obedience to God’s law in order to earn favor, acceptance and right-standing with God instead receiving that acceptance and right-standing as a free gift through faith in Christ alone. b It is morality that denies the necessity of the cross and the need to be born again through the gospel. It is self-exalting moralism. It is a form of godliness that denies the power of God and therefore it is evil. 6 So the idea here is that both the immorality of licentiousness and the morality of legalism are both products of the sin nature and that the same Spirit who liberates you from licentiousness also liberates you from legalism. a If you live by the Spirit you won’t gratify the desire of the sinful nature. b If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. 7 Let’s once again think about this in the terms of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. a The sin nature prompted the younger son to licentiousness. He left the farm to a distant country and squandered his Father’s inheritance on sinful behavior. b On the other hand the sin nature prompted the older son to legalism. He remained on the farm and tried to earn his Father’s inheritance through moral behavior. c They were both figuratively under the control of the sin nature but in completely different ways. In one the sin nature produced immorality, in the other it produced morality. But both sons were prodigals. Neither of them operated out of love for the father.

(1) There are two natures present within and at work in every Christian. (2) The two natures are in conflict with each other. (3) The conflict centers around two desires. (4 ) The two desires produce two sets of behaviors 1 Again those two sets of behavior are called the acts of the sin nature (works of the flesh) and the fruit of the Spirit. We will look at those next week. But what I want to leave you with this morning is that the key to growing as a Christian, the key to experiencing Christlikeness is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. (17x in Galatians)

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2 It is of utmost importance that we realize the Holy Spirit is a Person not an impersonal force or power. … that He is divine Person co-equal and co- eternal with God the Father and God the Son. And since He is a person, we can have a relationship with him. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 3 I am not a big Message fan but it hits the nail on the head here. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. 2 Cor 13:14 The Message a Just like we have fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son we can have fellowship (intimate friendship) with God the Holy Spirit b Jesus anticipated this when he introduced the disciples to the Holy Spirit. He told them … And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— John 14:16 • The word another (Gr. allos not heteros) means another of the same kind. So Jesus is saying what I have been to you, now the Holy Spirit will be to you. He will be another counselor of the same kind. • Counselor is translated from the Greek word parakletos which means one called alongside to help – comfort, counsel, strengthen, encourage. 3 But in order to be helped by someone you have to acknowledge their presence, relate to them and open to receive their help. You don’t ignore someone trying to help you… you cooperate with them. 4 It’s the same with the Holy Spirit. We need to cognizant of his presence and receptive to His help in order to receive His help to become more like Christ. a I’m convinced that sometimes the Christian life is harder than it ought to be because we are not cognizant of His presence and do not readily receive His help possibly because we kind of ignore Him. b Most Christians relate to God as their Heavenly Father and call on Jesus as their Savior. But many do not have fellowship (intimate friendship) with the Holy Spirit as their helper, comforter, counselor and strengthener.

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5 The Holy Spirit is not only the one to help us become more like Christ, he is the one who shows us our need for Christ. Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions 1 This passage teaches that believers have two natures, the sin nature (flesh) and the regenerate nature (Spirit). These two natures are in conflict with one another. How have you experienced this conflict? What was the outcome? 2 Someone once said the less holy you feel the better. Is that true? Why or why not? 3 As illustrated in the Parable of the Prodigal Son the sin nature (flesh) works in two ways to draw us away from our Heavenly Father. The younger brother way (licentiousness) and the older brother way (legalism). Everyone trends towards one or the other. Which way do you trend? 4 What role does the Holy Spirit play in our becoming more like Christ (sanctification)? What can we can do to cooperate with Him more?

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