Ralph Porter

© 2003

    This morning's message is, at the same time, the most important and the most difficult message in this series on Galatians! During the course of the series we have heard repeatedly that this is hard stuff! If you think it's been hard up to this point, just wait until you try to absorb the truth of this message.

    What Paul is trying to tell us in Galatians 5:16-26 relates to all of our experience when we've tried to "grit our teeth" and do what we know we ought to do! Have you experienced the discouragement and frustration that comes from trying to live a good life, but facing the reality that you're still a sinner? Or, have you faced the frustration of trusting other Christians to act like godly people, only to discover that they have let you down and not acted the way you expected Christians to act? If either of these has been your experience then this message is for you! If you've never had one of these two experiences, you'll never understand this message!

    Paul now applies the doctrinal truth concerning our walk with God to the discussion of how we ought to walk daily. This is one of the most important passages dealing with the practical aspects of how to live the Christian life. The Judaizers wanted to earn God's blessing by means of the law, by "living by the rules." Paul responds to that desire by explaining some basic realities about our daily life as God's children.

         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.

    Paul wants us to understand that the spiritual life is the result of the work of the Spirit in our lives. When we are controlled by God's Spirit, we don't try to satisfy our own desires (5:16). The New International Version uses "sinful nature" in an attempt to translate Paul's reference to the "flesh." We miss Paul's point in this passage because we don't understand his concept of the "flesh." An extended study of the term is necessary to fully comprehend his thought. In brief, the significance of Paul's use of "flesh" here, as in many other passages, refers to our efforts to accomplish our own purposes. Our efforts--even our very best efforts--are never good enough to earn salvation, nor to live up to God's standards and glorify Him.

    When we are controlled by God's Spirit, we don't have the struggle of those who try to live by law and by obeying all the rules (5:18). We no longer try to "live by the rules." The challenge is to walk continually by the Spirit's control and to assume the attitude that we will never give in to the control of our own desires. Like all humans. we desire to make a real effort and triumph. However, in the spiritual sphere, we never reach victory this way. Victorious living is a different kind of life, a life controlled by God's Spirit

    That's where the conflict comes in--the conflict between flesh and spirit. We experience a continuous struggle because there's a battle going on inside us (5:17). What "I" am and what I am able to do enters in constant conflict with the Holy Spirit, and what He is trying to accomplish in my life. This conflict will never end during this life. Don't let yourself be deceived. Even as a Christian, my efforts oppose God's work in my life: When I try to do the work, God can't do it. When the Spirit does the work, neither the law, nor my own efforts, have anything to do with the matter.

    Our battle comes from the fact that the flesh produces its fruit and the Holy Spirit produces His fruit in us. Both the Word of God and experience assure us that this constant conflict between the flesh and the Spirit continue throughout our entire life. What evidence of this continuing conflict do you see in your own life? So, if we can't win this battle by our own efforts, how can we win the battle? Before giving the answer to our question, Paul compares the fruit which the two sources produce.

         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.

    The results of my efforts can never be enough to please God. When we try to walk by our own efforts, our human nature produces its own natural fruit. Paul describes the kind of fruit our nature produces, in order to present clearly the negative perspective. What is the fruit that my efforts produce? The results are ugly! His description of the fruit falls into four categories.

1. Sexual sins   5:19

    The first category of fruit that our efforts produce are the sins related to our sexual life (5:19). These sins include things like: adultery, fornication, prostitution, and every kind of sexual impurity. The description sounds like we're dealing with serious offenses in the sight of a holy God!

2. Religious sins   5:20a

    Our best human effort also produces religious sins, such as idolatry and witch craft. These offenses also sound serious before a God Who has prohibited such activities, and Who wants His people to worship Him alone.

3. Social sins   5:20b-21

    Eight out of the fifteen sins mentioned in this list of fruit produced by our efforts deal with personal relationships--the social sins that people usually consider "little sins." How do we distinguish between the "little sins" and the "big sins" people commit. Most of us distinguish them as "the big sins are the ones that other people commit!" It's interesting that these "little sins" are included in the same list with the "biggies" that Paul says keep us out of God's program! These "little sins" are no different than the "big sins" from God's perspective, and are equally capable of preventing our entrance into God's kingdom. These social sins include: dislike for other people, differences of opinion, jealousy, anger, personal ambition, disputes, dissension, factions, and envy.

4. Party sins   5:21b

    Finally Paul notes that our flesh leads to "party sins," such as, drunkenness, orgies and carousing. In case he misses our specific problem, Paul ends with "and things like these."

    In summary, the results of my efforts are the exact opposite of what our life should be. They come up with results that are exactly what the spiritual life shouldn't look like. When practiced constantly, these activities prevent people from entering the kingdom of God. It becomes clear that it's impossible to live a godly life by my efforts. Anyone characterized by such works has no part in God's program. In other words, such a person isn't saved (5:21).

    This warning doesn't mean that if you commit one of these acts sometime, you aren't saved! We all do some of these things once in a while, when we're controlled by our own desires and natural efforts. However, this lifestyle isn't normal for those who are really God's children because God's Spirit lives in us and He produces a different kind of fruit. If our life is characterized by the kinds of things that people produce naturally by their own best efforts, they will never make it into God's program for His people!

         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.

    In contrast with product of the human nature, shown by our efforts, on the positive side of the spectrum, spiritual fruit is produced naturally when the Holy Spirit is present in our life. When we walk by faith, with the power the Spirit provides, He produces His own natural fruit. This is but a partial list of the kinds of things the Holy Spirit produces in the life of God's people. Paul describes nine characteristics of people who are controlled by the Holy Spirit which distinguish us from the world around us.

1. Love

    The first fruit, which some consider the source of the others, is love. This isn't the kind of love that the world promotes. Human love is based on appearance, or on the merit of the one loved. This is love like God demonstrates, without taking into account the merit or lack of merit of the one loved. God's love always seeks the good of the one loved, no matter what it costs me. That's the kind of love the Spirit produces in us.

2. Joy

    This joy isn't the same as happiness, smiles, nor laughter. This joy doesn't depend on external circumstances. It's more evident when the surrounding circumstances aren't so good. Joy flows out of depth of our being, no matter how difficult the external conditions, because we know that God controls the circumstances and we can trust Him.

3. Peace

    The peace the Spirit produces refers to internal peace, when the world around us is in turmoil. This peace comes from God and doesn't depend on external circumstances. It includes our response when faced with attacks of others. Even then, the peace of God doesn't seek vengeance.

4. Patience

    The kind of patience the Spirit produces, in this case is literally introduced as "slow to anger." It is able to put up with others even when they're hard to get along with. It doesn't seek vengeance, in spite of constant provocation. We may be capable of vengeance, but we don't seek it because God enables us to forgive, like when David didn't refused to kill Saul. He trusted God to deal with Saul in His time.

5. Kindness

    The word for kindness combines the ideas of benevolence and mercy, united in one. It seeks opportunities to help people in need, or who face problems.

6. Goodness

    This fruit results in a person who does what is good. We recognize what's correct and do it. We practice the good that we know we ought to do.

7. Faith

    The original word for "faith" is a two-edged sword, or two sides of a coin. It sometimes refers to our trust in someone or something. The Holy Spirit produces faith, the capacity to trust God in the midst of difficult circumstances.

    On the other hand, the word sometimes describes the results of our trust. In that way it describes someone who is worthy of our trust. It's translated as faithfulness or trustworthiness. Personally, I prefer this second meaning in this passage. God's Spirit produces a faithful person, worthy of our trust.

    Maybe we could accept both ideas, recognizing that the Spirit causes us to trust God in difficult circumstances and produces servants who are worthy of our confidence.

8. Gentleness

    The idea of a "gentle" person isn't well received by most people. Even less acceptable is someone described as "meek." The thought is often not understood from a biblical perspective. It doesn't refer to weakness of character, as many have thought--to a "Casper milk-toast" kind of person. It isn't someone who lets everyone walk all over them. It refers to "power under control--a person who is capable of ordering others around, but who submits to others, is willing to be taught by other people, and who doesn't have to have his own way all the time. Christ and Moses are the best Biblical examples. Neither of them is a depicted as a weak person, a pushover, or a "Casper milk toast." They were strong men, but were willing to submit their will for the benefit of others.

9. Temperance, self-control

    This is another of those biblical ideas that is not understood by most people today. It describes the self-discipline exercised by an athlete in training. He disciplines himself in order to function better in his sport. We likewise discipline ourselves for spiritual battle, to learn to control ourselves. We must develop the ability to walk in the world without contaminating ourselves by it.

    Paul concludes with another summary: "Living this kind of lifestyle will never bring us into conflict with any law-with anyone's list of rules!" The list of the fruit of the Spirit describes personal qualities that only God is able to produce!

    By way of summary, we can make four general observations concerning the fruit which the Holy Spirit produces in us.

1. This fruit deals primarily with our attitudes.

    Our attitudes are always the hardest things to change. Only God can bring about change like this in these attitudes in us.

2. This fruit primarily relates to our personal relationships with others.

    God's work in our lives becomes most apparent in our attitudes towards and our relationships with other people. "What do my friends observe in my life, when they take a close look, that can only be explained by God's presence in my life?"

3. This fruit describes the character of Christ

    The sum of all these qualities gives a good description of our Lord's character. While dwelling in Christ, the Holy Spirit revealed God to men. The manifestation of these godly traits in us serves the same purpose. While living in us, the Holy Spirit reveals God to those around us.

4. This fruit describes the nature of a servant.

    These attitudes aren't those observed normally in bosses and dignitaries , but in servants. Do we think like servants? Do we seek the good of other people? Or, do we always look out for our own interests first? Only God can produce this in us!

    Think about it . . . ! Examine your own life on the basis of these two lists of fruit. Which kind of fruit is more like our normal experience? Don't make mistake of evaluating your life and then trying to live this way in our own strength! This isn't a checklist for us to try to make ourselves live by! It's the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in us. Our effort will never produce it!!!

    If you want to be more like Christ, but find yourself more like other people, the problem won't be solved by exerting more personal effort. That kind of effort just produces more natural human fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of submitting our life to His control and allowing Him to produce His fruit in us.

         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. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

    True spiritual life is based on stopping our own human efforts--not on trying to "do it ourselves" (5:24). Those who belong to Christ have stopped trying to struggle to save themselves. We realize that our efforts will never be enough to save us! We received life through the Spirit. Now we need to apply the same principle to daily living. We don't obtain eternal life by our own efforts. We don't walk by our own efforts. We walk by the Spirit (Col. 2:6). Our new lifestyle is given to us as a one time arrangement--given once for all--though the struggle is continual. Our new life comes from the cross.

    We have received our new life by the Spirit of God, therefore we walk the same way, through His strength and control (25). If we live by Him, if that's where our new life comes from, let's walk that way! When we trust Christ we identify ourselves with the cross and we stop struggling to earn something by our own efforts. That same principle ought to characterize our entire life.

    True spiritual life eliminates all boasting--any sense of spiritual superiority (5:25-26). We no longer have any basis to brag about what we accomplish! Paul urges us to choose the way of faith, by the power of the Spirit. Those who walk by the Spirit have no reason to be proud. The ability to walk that way comes from God, not from ourselves.

PAUL'S MAIN THOUGHT SUMMARIZED:

1. By my efforts, I only produce fruit that can never please God (5:19-21)

    My best efforts only manage to shut the door to my entrance into the kingdom of God. They can't save me, nor can they help me walk with God on a daily basis either.

2. Our salvation and daily walk with God are the work of God's Spirit who lives in us (5:22-23).

    He is the only One capable of producing either!

3. Our salvation and daily walk with God are never produced by our efforts in our strength (5:25; Col. 2:6-7).

    So then, what should we do?

HOW SHOULD THIS TRUTH AFFECT MY LIFE?

    If the Holy Spirit doesn't control our life, if we aren't led by Him, we will never satisfy the Lord's requirements for His disciples.

    I've watched churches that genuinely desire to please God but who attempt to pull it off by their efforts. The result is that three hundred or four hundred people start fighting among themselves over disagreements about how to do it. What's the problem? How can we resolve it?

    Paul shares his own struggle with the flesh in Romans 7. Consider his testimony. He summarizes that conflict in 7:18-19. How does his story compare with our life?

    We don't have to look very far to find illustrations of how we try to make it work. An angry person acknowledges: "I know my anger's wrong, from now on I'm not going to let myself get angry with my wife or with the kids!" And so we grit our teeth and do better. We're not going to go there any more!

    But the next night, we come home from work, somebody says the wrong thing, and we fly off the handle again! What went wrong? We're still trying to do it ourselves! Until we realize that we can't pull it off, we'll never cry out to God to change us from the inside--to produce His fruit in us. That's the work of the Spirit. I'll never do it in my own strength!

    Similarly, a self-centered person, living for self, concerned about having my needs met. I come to realize that my attitude is wrong. I'm going to "grit my teeth" and do better! "I'm going to start thinking about my wife and meeting her needs!" "I'm going to pay more attention to my kids and what they need!"

    The next day I come home from work tired. I just want to read the paper and watch Monday Night Football! Leave me alone! Can't a guy have a little peace and quiet in the evening?!! Oops! I'm thinking about myself again! How can I get my mind off myself and my desires? I'll never do it by trying harder. That produces the wrong kind of fruit every time! Only God's Spirit can produce that attitude in me! I'm going to have to ask Him to change me! I'll never do it myself!

    Other temptations--whatever ours may be--work the same way! We never overcome them by gritting our teeth and resolving to do better next time! We'll never solve the problem by "living by the rules!" How can we resolve this problem?