We've been having this series on the Holy Spirit now for quite a while. And so I wanted to finish it today, but I realized the only way it would be finished today is if we did one message in Sunday school and then hopefully the concluding one this afternoon. And so think of it as Sunday school is part one. then this afternoon is part two. And what we're going to be talking about as we wrap up our series on the Holy Spirit is life in the Spirit. And I don't really know any better passage that deals with this than Galatians chapter 5. And so if you want to go ahead and get over there. As we've been studying the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit, We've been looking at a variety of different aspects to the Spirit's person and Spirit's work. But for the apostle Paul, there is a reality for every Christian, everyone who belongs to Christ, and that is the Christian life is life in the Spirit. And when you think about that expression, we all come from different backgrounds, and so there may be different things that come to mind when you think of that expression, life in the spirit. But the way that I understand it biblically, at least the way that I see it is, what we have in Scripture is that the Christian life is somewhat of a paradoxical life. It is a life that's in tension. It's a life that actually is lived at an intersection of two realities, if you will. And what I mean by that is that the Christian life is, on the one hand, natural, but then on the other hand, it's supernatural. And, of course, there's always the danger of, on the one hand, overemphasizing the supernatural so that when you're not experiencing signs, wonders, and miracles and walking, you know, nine feet above the ground, you think something's profoundly wrong. But then there's also the danger of so under-emphasizing the supernatural that there's really no difference between the Christian life and the non-Christian life. And so there is this sense in which it is a both-and. It's both natural and supernatural. The Christian life is actually lived in tension. Remember the imagery that we've already looked at in previous weeks. The Spirit of God has been given to us, what, as a down payment. as a pledge of our inheritance, which means, just as a matter of fact, that we are people who live in the tension between this age and the age to come. We live in the tension between the already and the not yet. The Christian lives, as it were, at the intersection of this age and the age to come. And so the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives actually accentuates more than anything else the paradoxical and tension-filled dimensions of the Christian life. I mean, do you not actually experience that tension virtually every single day between knowing that on the one hand you've been bought with a price, the Spirit of God dwells in you, and yet you live in this world And there is this constant tension, there's a pull, there's a sense in which we know that our life ought to be qualitatively different, and it certainly is in many ways, but then we also realize that our life is incredibly ordinary. And so this is life in the spirit, and I think that Paul addresses such spiritual life or life in the spirit in the book of Galatians probably more than anywhere else, and I think there's a very good reason for that. I think maybe next year we'll be in the book of Galatians, but only God knows that. So as we look at this life in the spirit, a lot of times what we end up doing is we end up making it all about the individual. Gordon Fee, who I've mentioned as my favorite Pentecostal New Testament scholar, he says, the concern from beginning to end is with the Christian life in community, not with the interior life of the individual Christian. In other words, as you start to think about Paul's teaching on life in the Spirit, his primary emphasis is not you and the Holy Spirit. His emphasis is on us and the Holy Spirit. In other words, almost all of the dimensions of life in the Spirit have community implications. All right? And so as we're going to look at this in Galatians chapter 5, I would remind you that the passage is actually set in the community setting. You see this, for instance, in verse 13, where Paul says, you were called to freedom, brothers, although don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. but through love serve one another. And the whole law summed up in this, namely, love your neighbor as yourself. But if you're continually biting and devouring one another, beware that you're not consumed by one another. And so as Paul kind of begins to set out this idea of what that liberty is, and obviously life in the spirit is liberty. That life of liberty has community implications. how we actually live with one another. And so Paul begins in verse 16, which is the beginning of a new thought, although it fits into the larger context. But I say, walk in the spirit, and the lusts of the flesh you will not fulfill. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. for these are in opposition to one another. so that you do not do the things you desire. But if you are led by those who are led by the spirit, these are no longer under law. And so Paul tells us, first of all, that we are to walk in or by the spirit. It's a command. And the idea is, is something that is to be continual, is to be characteristic. And this is definitive for Paul's view of the Christian life. In fact, He emphasizes, of course, walking in love, but in order to walk in love and to actually love one another, what has to happen first? Well, you have to be walking in the Spirit. Now, he uses this imagery of walk, which, of course, is a very vivid metaphor for just day in, day out life. In fact, there's an Old Testament background to the imagery or metaphor of walk, and that has to do with God's way or path of wisdom or godliness, so forth. The Psalms and the Proverbs, the wisdom literature talk about walking in a certain path. When the New Testament uses this imagery of walk, it is always ethical behavior. We are Ephesians 5.2, to walk in love. Ephesians 5.8, to walk as children of light. 5.15, be careful how you walk. Colossians 2.6, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, walk in wisdom, how you ought to walk and please God. And so the whole picture of the Christian life is actually just making this progress that is illustrated by the simple act of just putting one foot in front of the other after each successive step. There's nothing that is profound about walking. It is the ordinary activity that is expected of us. And so go on walking as a way of life, not sporadic spasms of spirituality, but as a consistent, steady way of life. And then Paul says we're to walk, how? In or by the Spirit. Now, I don't think that this is as obscure or ambiguous as it seems. I think that when Paul says to live in, either in the sphere of or by, that is, by the power of the Spirit, that he's basically saying, in essence, that you have to live in conscious dependence on the spirit of God in the ways that God has established for you. In other words, it is supernatural, but it's ordinary. To live life in conscious dependence upon the Spirit is actually to realize the ethical and moral requirements that God has set before you, that you're supposed to live in, and just simply have that conscious dependence that I cannot do this on my own, I need to rely upon the Spirit of God who dwells in me. Yesterday at men's breakfast, we had a very interesting discussion. We talked about spiritual growth and the issue of effort always comes up, right? And for us, those who believe in grace and the gospel of grace, the issue of effort sometimes creates a tension because We think that self-effort, that is me doing something, is somehow contrary to what God calls us to do. And what I want to say, I said it yesterday, probably not as well as I could have, what I want to say is that obviously effort is always involved, but the issue is the attitude and motive of the heart in the effort. Is it an effort that is consciously dependent upon God's Spirit, or is it an effort that is motivated by carnal motives or an attitude of self-sufficiency? Both efforts may actually look exactly the same on the outside. But what matters is that conscious sense of dependence on the Holy Spirit. So, Paul's gonna unfold this. And I won't give you any examples right now, maybe before we close, I will. Gordon Fee says this, this is great. He says, ethical life is still a matter of walking in God's ways. But for Paul, this is empowered for God's new covenant people by God's empowering presence in the person of his Holy Spirit. And so are God's people supposed to walk in a certain way and live according to a certain ethical code and standard of conduct? And the answer is a resounding yes. But we are to do it with a conscious sense of being empowered by the Holy Spirit to do it. And then Paul says in the second part of verse 16, and you will not fulfill or complete the desires of the flesh. Now some Bible translations turn this into an imperative or a command. It's not a command. It actually is, in a sense, a promise. Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill or accomplish the desires of the flesh. And so for Paul, Now, can Paul use the term flesh just to mean your, like, earthly body? Yeah, he uses flesh like that. And in that sense, is flesh bad? No, the Bible does not present the idea that the human body somehow is bad. That, by the way, is a dualistic Greek understanding, but it's not a biblical understanding. And, in fact, the proof is that God will redeem these bodies at the resurrection. But does Paul use the term flesh in a different way other than just human body? The answer is yes. And when Paul uses the term flesh in a negative sense, he's actually talking not about, you know, the stuff that you can feel and squeeze and, you know, some are gushier than others and some are firmer than others. But the fact is, is when he's talking about flesh this way, what he's talking about is that inherent self-centered anti-God principle that we're all born with that actually moves us and inclines us towards sinful behavior. Now flesh can look like all kinds of things Flesh can motivate to the most carnal and sensual behavior, or flesh can motivate to the most moral, externally righteous, but yet self-righteous behavior. In other words, take the woman caught in adultery or the Pharisee. Both of them are under the control of the flesh. Just manifest itself differently. But see, the reason that we have to say it's this inherent self-centered anti-God principle is sometimes that demonstrates itself in self-righteousness. Sometimes it demonstrates itself in rebellion against God's ethical commands. But for Paul, flesh is more than just that, by the way. Flesh actually marks that life in Adam. Flesh is what marks this life in this present evil age, which by the way is passing away. And the antithesis of flesh then is what? Spirit. And so what you have is, and this is the way that we have to think about it, we have to think about it like this. Not just simply flesh, internal principle that drives me towards anti-God behavior, and then spirit that drives me towards walking in God's ways and pleasing God, and these are in opposition. That's true. That's what we experience on a daily basis. But for Paul, it's not just an individual internal conflict and opposition. For Paul, it is an opposition of two ages that have now butted up against each other. The old age, which is the age of Adam and the age of the law and the age of the flesh, has now come into direct collision with the age of the spirit, and both of those are in opposition to each other. And we're actually oftentimes caught in the middle, and so Paul's declaration right in the beginning in Galatians 1.4 is that Christ has actually delivered us from this present evil age. which means all the stuff that is marked by this present evil age, in a sense, law, flesh, Adam, etc., we've been delivered from that, but yet we still find that conflict. And so the desires of the flesh is the desires of the old life, the old age, selfish desires for gratification, that relish for sin, whether it's self-aggrandizement by looking good or whether it is indulging in the lusts of the flesh. And so then Paul says, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. That is, live a life of dependence upon the spirit and you will not, and the word he uses is important, it's teleao, you will not accomplish, complete, fulfill the goals of the flesh. Now, he's not saying walk in the spirit and you'll be sinless. What he's saying is, walk in dependence upon the spirit and your life will not be governed and controlled by the flesh and you will not be fulfilling the goals and the desires of the flesh. And then he turns around and this is the explanatory statement. This is why we have to walk in the spirit and then we won't fulfill the desires of the flesh. Verse 17, for the flesh Wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to each other in order that you might not do the things you desire. Now, this is why it's important to live by the spirit, because there's a conflict. You feel that conflict? Am I the only one that feels this conflict? I mean, it's enough to convince you at times that maybe you're schizophrenic. And so Paul says the reason it's important is because there's, there's an antithesis. We live in the tension of the antithesis and the antithesis lives inside of us. And so is it, um, I think that if somebody would have said now, Paul, is it nature or nurture? Paul would have said yes. Okay. So the flesh desires over and against the spirit, and the spirit desires over and against the flesh, conflict of desires, conflict of goals, conflict of norms and standards, which is actually a true war, a true antithesis, a true opposition. And so we could say that what the flesh by nature passionately wants, the spirit outright rejects, and what the flesh is concerned with the basic drives of...while the flesh is concerned with the basic drives of life, the spirit is concerned with ultimate realities of pleasing God and walking in His ways. And then Paul makes this statement. so that you do not do the things you wish. Now, is that a fairly ambiguous statement? Yeah, because he doesn't tell us which wishing or which desiring he's talking about, is he, does he? He doesn't say the flesh wages war against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These two are in opposition to each other so that you don't do the things of the spirit that you wish or you don't do the things of the flesh that you wish. Now, I wish that Paul would have actually told us explicitly which one he's talking about. And for years and years, I thought that that probably the best way to understand it was in a way that was consistent with Romans 7, 14 to 25, so that the idea is the opposition is that I never ultimately, because of the flesh in me, I never ultimately do the things that I want to do that is motivated and empowered by the Spirit. That's how I used to think about it. I'm actually not exactly sure that that's the right way to think about it. In fact, It may be, it may be that what Paul is saying in that last clause is intentionally ambiguous and as a purpose clause. So in other words, the idea goes something like this. The flesh wages war against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These two are in opposition to each other with the purpose that You do not do the things that you will. In other words, the reason that the flesh is waging war against the spirit is so that you don't do what you will. And the reason the spirit wages war against the flesh is so that you don't do the things that you will. OK, I actually think grammatically that's the best way to understand Paul's statement and thus make sense of the ambiguity. And so in light of what he says in verse 16, walk in the spirit, you won't fulfill the desires of the flesh. I think he's saying that the purpose of the war is either so that the spirit doesn't want you to do the things that the flesh wants you to do and the flesh doesn't want you to do things the spirit wants you to do. Then we get to verse 18. But if you're led by the spirit, You are not under law. Now, when he says, led by the Spirit, I don't think that what he has in mind is the Holy Spirit helping you make daily decisions. That's not even what's in the context here, is it? By the way, some people have a very odd view of being led by the spirit. I mean, so much so that, you know, Lord, should I do this today or should I do that today? And then you wait for some sort of impression. OK, I don't think that's what Paul has in mind. I think that actually being led by the spirit is is simply synonymous with walking by the spirit. In other words, it is the spirit who is leading us. I think that because a little later Paul's going to say, keep in step with the spirit. He uses a military term that means that you're actually staying in lockstep with the spirit as he leads, as if you were a soldier marching along. And so to be led by the Spirit has the idea of living life in a way that you're not fulfilling the goals of the flesh, you're fighting against the flesh. And then Paul says, and if this is your life, if you're being led by the Spirit, you're walking by the Spirit, you're keeping in step with the Spirit, then you're not under law. Now, again, for Paul, remember, Paul thinks in much bigger categories than normally we think in. We read our Bibles as if we're the only ones that have ever read it. And we read our Bibles as if what is said is just this personal, individual letter just to me. And I think that when Paul writes, he has these larger categories in view that look like this. You have two ages. And you have these ages that are clearly distinct, and they are categorized by ultimately Adam and Christ, flesh, spirit, law, spirit, death, life, So for Paul, the idea of being under law means that the law is a part of the old era. Now, by the way, don't think that what this means is that Paul is now pooh-pawing the law of Moses because he's going to turn around, he already said in verse 13, for instance, that love fulfills the law. All right? But what he's talking about, of not being under the law, is you're not under the old era. You're not under the curse of the law, Galatians 3.10. You're no longer under the pedagogue or the pedagogy of the law. You're no longer under the corrections officer role of the law. When he says pedagogues in 3.24, I've told you before, I think that the idea is not A tutor, some of our Bible translations say no longer under the tutor of the law or the law was a tutor until Christ. We think of a tutor as some nice old lady that comes to our house when we're sick and can't go to school and has her hair up in a bun. and has glasses down on her nose and a nice little briefcase with your lesson in it and an apple for you or something. And that's not the picture of pedagogues at all. Think of it as a corrections officer with a nasty disposition. That's the imagery of the law in terms of redemptive history. The law actually laid down, as it were, what you were supposed to do. And so Paul actually has this imagery of what made the law impotent was not that the law was bad, because the law isn't bad, it was righteous, holy, and good. What made the law impotent is that nobody had the ability to obey it. And so under the old covenant, under the old era, where it was just predominantly flesh, all the law could do was what? Was condemn. And so Paul says, I mean, basically, to be under the law is to be under the power of sin, to be consciously under the power of sin, and to be consciously condemned because you're under the power of sin. Paul says, if you're led by the Spirit, you're keeping in step with the Spirit, you're actually no longer under law. That is, you've been redeemed from all of that. Then he says, verse 19, Now, the works of the flesh are obvious. If you think about it, you wonder why Paul actually says this right here, right? So when you read your Bible, you have to ask yourself good questions. Like, why does Paul give us this awful, terrible, ugly list right here? Because the Galatians were just like us. And so, as you hear, walk in the spirit, walk according to the spirit, you're not under law, you don't fulfill the desires of the flesh, what's the question that comes to your mind? Well, what does it look like? What does it look like? Isn't that a question that we always ask what we always ask? Because because we're Americans, how do you do it? That's our first question. Always give me practical steps of application so that I know how to do this. All right. And then which sometimes is a good question and sometimes it misses the point. And then we always want to know, what does it look like? Explain it to me. And Paul says, OK, this is really simple. I'm going to give you the plain indications of those who are actually not being led by the spirit, but who are being led by the flesh. I'm going to give you the obvious descriptive analysis of those who are fulfilling the desires of the flesh and living according to the goals of the flesh. And what he does is he shows In these characteristics, there are 15 works of the flesh, deeds of the flesh. By the way, the other antithesis here will be between deeds or works of the flesh and fruit from the Spirit. Okay? The difference between works and deeds and fruit sourced in the flesh or sourced in the spirit. Now, you know what this list does? Paul actually tells us that this is not an exhaustive category, right? Because he says, and things like these. Right. So what he's doing is he's giving us a representative list of what walking according to the flesh or walking in the flesh or being led by the flesh looks like. And four categories that he gives us of works of the flesh. And let me just tell you what the four categories are. Illicit sex, illicit worship, breakdown in relationships, and excesses. Those are the four categories out of those four categories. Let me tell you them again. Illicit sex, illicit worship, breakdown in relationships and excesses. What do you think? What category do you think Paul actually has the most listed under? What's that? Relationships. See, again, we think sex. OK. And Paul will spend enough time on it to make us all, you know, blush and sick. But it's the breakdown in relationships that is the manifestation of the deeds of the flesh, almost more than anything else. So the illicit sex, he gives us these. He gives us immorality. which would be unlawful sexual relationship, either premarital or extramarital. Then he gives us impurity, which is sexual uncleanness. It's broader than immorality. Somebody told me the other day, because I used Bill Clinton as an example of minimizing sexual sin. because you don't actually have intercourse with somebody, because of Bill Clinton, you know, I did not have sex with that woman. And actually, this guy came up and he said, you know, he says, I look around, you have a lot of younger people, he says, the Bill Clinton illustration kind of dates you. OK, so, you know, here's the thing is I I view myself still is, you know, very young. And but he he suggested actually Anthony Weiner as the the new example of this very thing. And, you know, Congressman Anthony Weiner. OK, and. You don't know how hard this is right now. I have so many. Never mind. Anyway. What he did is he used technology for sexual uncleanness. It may not have been technically unlawful intercourse with somebody other than your spouse, but it was impurity, which is sexual immorality, that is broader than just the anatomical connection between two people that shouldn't be connected. Sensuality is the next category. This would be licentiousness, debauchery, indecent conduct. Okay. And I know Paul had absolutely no way of knowing about pornography on the Internet. But you know what the fact is, is that pornography on the Internet simply falls into the category of impurity and sensuality. In fact, you cannot come up with a sexual sin today. that does not fit into one of these categories. And so Paul says, you want to know what the deeds of the flesh look like? Look at the people who have absolutely no self-control over their own sexuality. Sexual immorality is fulfilling the goals of the flesh. Then he gives us illicit worship. He says idolatry, which, of course, false worship. Worship anything other than God, right? Don't always think of this just as people that would carve out stone or wood gods. You know, the guy that loves his boat is an idolater. He loves his boat more than he loves anything else. And so idolatry is false worship. Then he has sorcery, and some of you probably already know this, the pharmakeia. We think of drug use, but it was drug use that was connected with magic or the occult, okay? Then the next category is breakdown in relationships. Notice this list. Enmities, strife, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions and factions, and envies. Now, some of this is overlapping, but it's actually... Now, here's the thing about us is as American evangelicals, we're all about, yeah, You know, those sexual sins, expose them, preach against them, they're awful, they're terrible, and that's true. And yeah, false worship and all of that, that's awful, and preach against it, it's absolutely destructive, it's destroying our culture, and then yet Paul, in the very same list, puts enmities, that is hostile feelings and actions towards other people, strife, discord, contention, quarrels, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, being divisive, factions, being sectarian. I hang out with this group, not that group. envies. I think that we actually ought to be really sobered by the reality that the largest list in this list has to do with the way that we treat other people. And then excesses, drunkenness, carousing, you know, we would call carousing today, right? We would just call it partying. That's carousing. And Gordon Fee again, he says, most notably, the majority eight out of the 15 sins has to do with discord. Which describes motivations and actions that lead to or express breakdowns in relationships. Think about this. Paul says, walk by the spirit, you won't fulfill the goals, the desires of the flesh. That's what I want you to do, church. That's what I want you to do, body of Christ. And if you're being led by the flesh, this is obviously what it's going to look like. People that are out carousing and partying and doing all kinds of terrible things. Oh, and by the way, the ones who gossip and are divisive and can't get along with other people. Those that have harsh, critical, hearts towards others, those that are envious and jealous of others. That is just as much of a demonstration of the flesh as sexual immorality. Now, Paul says something that should actually be sobering to us, and that is the warning. The warning is, you know, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So those who practice such things, that is those who make this a part of their life, that is, it's their agenda. It's their goals. They're actually fulfilling the goals of the flesh. Hence, they're not led by the spirit. They're not walking by the spirit conclusion. They don't have the spirit. They're going to be judged along with the world. The idea that somehow a person can be a follower of Jesus and yet be an angry, divisive, bitter person or a sexually immoral person or fill in the list. For Paul, these are mutually exclusive categories. It's not to say that we don't struggle with those things because flesh and spirit are in opposition to each other. But it does mean that we're not led by those things. We're not controlled by those things. Those things aren't the goal of our life. And so life in the Spirit means, first and foremost, that we're walking in a way that's being led and empowered by the Spirit so that we're not living according to the goals and the agendas of the flesh. And, you know, brothers and sisters, this is something that we need to take seriously. Paul took it seriously. This afternoon, we'll pick up with the fruit of the spirit and get a little happier, a little more cheerful list for us. But the question before us is, you know, are we walking in the spirit? The way you answer it is by looking at what's coming out. That's the way you answer the question. So let's pray. Father, we thank you for the book of Galatians. We thank you for Paul's instruction to us. We pray, Lord, that even in the hour to come that you would minister to us, deal with us. We pray that we would worship you in spirit and truth and receive from you what you have for us today. And we do pray, Lord, that you would help us to walk in the spirit and not according to the flesh. In Jesus' name, amen.