Walking With Christ By The Spirit (Galatians 5:13-26)

[Read Galatians 5:13-26]

So, last week I opened my sermon by talking about how Rachel and I need to remind our children to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Then, we wrapped up things at church and went home. When we got home the kids noticed that a plate had been left out on the table from breakfast…It was mine. Boy, did they give me a hard time. We’ll see if I live that one down. 

Anyway, as I thought about this incident, I realized that it has continued relevance to this week’s sermon. You see we don’t always do the things we want to do, do we? I mean, I really wanted to do a good job of putting away my dirty dishes, but I didn’t. My children also want to do a good job putting away their dirty dishes, but they don’t. It’s a struggle. There’s a war going on. 

In our passage this morning Paul says the same thing about every aspect of our life. He says, “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, NIV). There is a war going on inside of every Christian—a war between our sinful nature and our renewed nature. Now that we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, and have been adopted into God’s family, we WANT to listen to Him and glorify Him with our lives. Yet, we don’t do it. Why? Because our sinful nature is still there, waging war against us. Our sinful nature is still there, trying to prevent us from glorifying God with our lives or living a life following Him. 

Understanding this should provide us a level of comfort. There are moments when we can become frustrated that we keep making the same mistakes over and over again OR keep struggling with the same sin over and over again. Not only do we get frustrated with this struggle but we can also become defeated. We can find ourselves wondering if we will ever experience freedom in Christ, wondering if we will ever see some success in our fight against sin. Yet, Paul reminds us that this battle is a normal aspect of the Christian life. We should not become frustrated or defeated when we recognize that sin still lingers within us, or when the battle still rages. We should recognize it as a normal part of the Christian life and then resist the temptation to sin.

In order to begin resisting our sinful nature, it’s also important for us to know what we are supposed to resist. So, Paul gives us a list. He says, “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.” (Galatians 5:18–21, NIV). It’s interesting that Paul says these acts of the sinful nature are obvious. He says that deep down inside we KNOW that these things are sinful. Yet, he still goes on to give us a list. 

The list isn’t comprehensive—it doesn’t list every single one—however it provides us with a mirror in which to view our lives. Take a moment to let this list inspect your life. Can you say that your sexual life—your sexual desires—is pure and honoring to God? Can you say that there is no idolatry in your life? How about anger? How about scratching and clawing your way into positions of power and authority? About causing division and strife? How about drinking too much alcohol? How about selfish ambition and pride? Every single one of these is an act of our sinful nature. Every single one of these things are lingering, holding on to you, trying to lead you away from the path of following Christ and place you back into slavery. When you begin to recognize any of these things bubbling up within you, you must recognize it for what it is—a work of the sinful nature—and resist it in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

I also need to take a moment to explain the last line of this verse. After giving his list of the works of the sinful nature, he says, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21, NIV). Yikes! Can anyone be saved? I’m sure that as I went through that list, everyone in this worship center saw something in there that applied to their life. Now, Paul says that anyone who lives like this will not inherit the kingdom of God…But, I thought we weren’t saved by our works but by faith? What’s going on? Paul is not talking about slips and falls of the Christian life, but a WAY OF LIFE. Once we’ve placed our faith in Jesus and been adopted into God’s family, things will change. Our lives WILL be characterized by living a life of faith, rather than living by our sinful nature. So, Paul places this list before us and says, “Is your life characterized by any of these things? Is your life characterized by anger, jealousy, division, pride, sexual impurity? If so, you need to question whether you are a Christian and you need to repent and look to Christ in faith.” He also 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, NIV). 

Yet, like I mentioned at the beginning, for those who have turned to Christ in faith, there is a battle raging within us between our sinful nature and our life of faith. Our lives will not be characterized by these works of the sinful nature, but we will mess up. That’s why it’s difficult to live in community with one another. I love the blunt way that Martin Luther says it: “It cannot be denied that [Christians] will often offend and be offended. You see many things in me that offend you and I see many things in you that I dislike” (269). Paul recognizes this struggle within a congregation as well. That’s why he says, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:14–15, NIV). 

There is a tendency in congregations to bite and devour one another. We have a bunch of people who are wrestling with their sinful nature hanging out with one another. Some people are going to mess up and then other people are going to mess up by “biting” them. People begin to nitpick each other—taking little bites here and there. Someone begins to bite someone because they mess up, and another person begins to bite someone because they are “judgmental.” Then another person bites them because they aren’t patient and another person bites them for being angry. Or the biting starts because someone doesn’t think others in the church are taking their faith seriously. They start “biting” people who aren’t as serious as they are. Yet, then people can easily respond “bitingly” by calling them self-righteous and judgmental. In the end, after all of this “biting” the church has been destroyed.

I want to be very clear on this point. This is the very thing that destroys churches. It’s at the root of every church’s downfall. It’s not that their worship isn’t contemporary enough. It isn’t that their pastor isn’t hip enough. It isn’t that they don’t have enough young families. It isn’t that they don’t have enough programs and activities. Churches are destroyed because people bite and devour one another until the church is destroyed.

We must not bite and devour but serve one another in love.  Martin Luther continues by saying, “Without this bearing and forebearing in love, it is impossible for love and concord to continue among Christians…If we do not bear with one another in love, there will be no end of dissension, discord, envy, hatred, and malice” (269). 

Yet, in order to serve one another in love, we need the power and guidance of the Spirit. We cannot do this in our own strength. We need the guidance and power of the Spirit. Then, when we are walking in step with the Spirit, things start to happen. Fruit begins to grow. Fruit that looks very different from the fruit of our sinful nature.

Paul says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23, NIV). It’s important to notice that the word “fruit” is not plural. It doesn’t say the “fruits of the Spirit” but the “fruit of the Spirit.” That means that this is a collective list. If you have the Spirit, you have the Spirit’s fruit—which includes everything in this list. It is different from the “gifts of the Spirit” where one person has one gift and another has a different gift. You cannot look at this list and say, “Well, I must not have the gifts of patience or self-control. I guess I don’t have to worry about those.” No. If you have the Spirit, His fruit will be growing in your life, which means patience and self-control will be growing in your life as well. 

This is what it looks like to live a life of faith—a life of freedom. Take a minute to imagine the freedom you would experience if we completely exhibited this fruit in our lives. If we could live a life full of love, full of joy, full of peace, full of patience, etc.. Wouldn’t that be amazing?! That’s what freedom looks like. 

Also, take a moment to imagine if this fruit was more fully mature in the life of this congregation. If biting and devouring one another destroys the church, the fruit of the Spirit unites and builds up the church. Imagine if we responded to someone with patience and gentleness rather than biting them. Imagine if we exhibited self-control rather than say and do whatever comes into our mind first? Imagine if we exhibited faithfulness to one another to the point where we never had to worry that we (or anyone else) would be “turned out” for making a mistake? Imagine if people came into this congregation and left saying, “Wow! That congregation is loving and full of joy!” This would be a church where we are increasingly united and increasingly drawing closer to Christ and increasingly displaying the glories of the Christian life to non-believers in the community. 

Yet, as I’ve mentioned throughout, we are still in the midst of a struggle. It’s not so simple. We cannot simply finish listening to this sermon and decide to “do better.” That’s not going to happen. There’s still a war waging within you. Your sinful nature is still trying to pull you toward sinful things—trying to pull you into biting someone. Yet, you also have the Spirit inside you waging war, pulling you into the freedom that Christ has won for you. 

So, Paul says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25, NIV). We need to be continually checking ourselves to make sure we are “in step with the Spirit” and not giving into the sinful nature. We need to be regularly in prayer, asking the Spirit to empower us to more fully walk in step with Him. We need to be continually striving to live into the freedom that Christ has won for us and running away from slavery to our sinful nature. Martin Luther says that in the midst of this battle we must say, “I am a sinner, and I feel sin in me, for I have not yet put off the sinful nature. But I will obey the Spirit and not my sinful nature. I will by faith and hope lay hold upon Christ, and by his Word I will raise myself up and will not do what my sinful nature desires” (270).

We also need to be exhibiting this Fruit of the Spirit in relation to those around us. When tempted to bite and devour one another, we must resist in the power of the Spirit and seek to exhibit peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Rather than biting and complaining about others in the congregation, through the power of the Spirit, we should serve one another in love. Rather than biting or complaining, we should ask HOW can we serve/disciple/build-up this person and help them in their walk with Christ. Biting and complaining about one another does nothing but destroy the church, but the Fruit of the Spirit builds it up.

Let us look to the Spirit to guide us and empower us to resist our sinful nature and walk by the Spirit.