So the law of God has no power to sanctify us. This is very important because the false teachers in the church of Galatia, in the churches of Galatia, they were telling them that the law was a means of justification. And they were putting upon them a burden of rules that would end up destroying, making them self-focused. No sanctification could ever come from those who attempt to live under the external power of the law. It is only the internal working of the Holy Spirit by which God's commands can be fulfilled in us. And so we are looking today at Galatians chapter 5 and verses 16 through 18. Now, I want to draw your attention. Go back to the first slide one more time. If you haven't seen the bulletin board out here, it is taken from this picture here on the freedom of the gospel that's taught in the book of Galatians. Galatians 5.1 is out there, so please have a look at that. are so thankful for Kristen's work in emphasizing that theme for us in an artistic way. Alright, you can go ahead to the next slide. So let's read this passage, Galatians chapter 5 and verses 16 through 18. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law." Well, what an amazing passage that this is. And I want to give you three points here with regard to what The Lord is teaching us in this passage. The first is the principle of holiness. The principle of holiness. Now, in 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, Assyrian king, conquered Jerusalem and the surrounding area there. And in order to provoke the Jews and to try to subjugate them, He defiled the temple. He put up a statue of Zeus in the temple. He took all the gold and silver. He took everything out of the temple that was worth anything for himself. He set up a statue of Zeus, and then he offered a pig on the altar, which virtually rendered the whole temple unclean. And of course, his actions provoked the Maccabees and you probably have read about the Maccabean revolt and how they were able to push back the Syrians and consequently for a hundred years they had a temple that had been transformed and cleansed and prepared and they could worship in it. But he defiled the temple. We see that is what happened to us in Adam. When Adam fell, we all fell. Adam chose as we would choose. And when Adam fell, he lost his original righteousness and he passed on to us a sinful nature. And consequently, we are defiled. We have desires that are sinful and wrong. And when we are born again, when we are saved, when we become Christians, then the Holy Spirit comes in and takes up residence in our bodies. The Holy Spirit inhabits us, dwells in us. And in fact, the Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And consequently, the power of holiness is through the Spirit of God. Let me just say this in case I forget. So we want to think about what holiness is. Holiness is the decision and the doing of what pleases God. It's the decision and the doing of what pleases God. And I draw that from Philippians chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13, where he says that, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. the work of the Holy Spirit. It is God, the Holy Spirit, who is at work in a believer in order to purify your life, your mind, your body, and consecrate you for usefulness to God, to consecrate you as the place of his dwelling and habitation, the cleansing of the temple. And so he works in us both to will and to do, so that Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So as God works in, then we are given both the desire and the decision to do what is pleasing to the Lord, to will and to do His good pleasure. The desire and the decision. So holiness is both the desire and the decision to do the will of God. to do what is pleasing to Him, to obey His commands. And as we read last week from 1 John, His commands are not burdensome. So the Spirit of God, when He comes to live in us, because out of our heart, Jesus told us in Mark chapter 7, Matthew 15, that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. We have the problem of indwelling sin. We are not yet glorified. And out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, all kinds of wickedness arise out of our hearts. And it is the work of the Holy Spirit within you to subdue those corruptions, to mortify, to put to death. And it is the Holy Spirit working in us so that we do put to death our corruptions, and put to death those desires, and to arouse in us the desires for obedience to God, to fill us with the light to do the will of God. If you look at this passage down at verse 25, excuse me, verse 24, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. So the power of holiness is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Now Paul says here, but I say to you, He's saying this because of verse 15. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Those who were trying to bring these Corinthian Christians, these young believers, under the dominion of the law, back under a covenant of works. The result of the law over them, the external pressure, do this, do this, and you shall live. You feel the weight of this, and Jesus described this when he talked about the Pharisees. that they bind burdens on the backs of men, and they're not willing to lift one finger. They bind the law of God. And Peter said, it's a yoke that we could not bear, neither our fathers. And it does not save us. These things are of no value in stopping the flesh. Those sinful desires just about. In fact, we're told in Romans 7, Romans 7 verses 1-4, 2-4, He mentions there that the law arouses in us those desires. As the law comes to us, when the law says, you shall not, our spirit of rebellion, our sinfulness is more inclined to do those things. So the law has no power to sanctify us. Even though it describes, it is an expression of the righteousness of God, God's will revealed in His laws and His commandments. But it cannot sanctify us. In fact, it's a lot like Pharaoh, who demanded that Israel make bricks, but he would not give them any straw. You remember this story from Exodus. And so he said, make bricks. You're idle. You're idle. You need to work harder. And they were gathering stubble. They could not meet the quota, no matter what they did. And so they were beaten by their overseers, and their taskmasters were beating them because they could not produce what was demanded of them. And so it is with the law, just like Pharaoh. The law demands of you righteousness, but it does not give you the ability to live righteously. Those who are under the law feel constantly condemnation, judgment, shame, ruin. That's why the gospel is such good news. And it's through the gospel that the Spirit of God is given to us. In fact, when Paul is talking about what the Christian life is really like, in chapter 2, in verse 20, this is his description. And I'll read verse 19 as well. He says, for through the law, this is 2.19, for through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, if you compare that again to the verse I just read, Verse 24 in chapter 5, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. So the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection is the power of mortification of sin, the power of putting to death sinful desires. But the person who accomplishes this in us so that to will and to do, to both desire and to make the decision to obey God's commands, to do what's pleasing to Him, is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer. In fact, chapter 4 and the first paragraph, verse 4, he mentions, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. Our state, our position. before God was changed, and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, so you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. And so, the Spirit of God has been given to believers as the power of holiness. God is holy. He is separate. He is wholly other. There is no contradiction in the nature and character of God. There is no push and pull in his character. All that God is, is consistent with all that God does. There is no contradiction. You and I, it is not the same, but that's why he is the spirit of holiness. who once he indwells us, helps us by his grace, the gracious spirit of God, to subdue our sinful inclinations so that we might live in holiness. Now you notice he says here, but I say, I don't tell you like those other guys that you've got to obey the law, that you've got to be under the law as a covenant. I don't say this, he says, because that just leads to selfishness. I called it cannibalism, where people bite and devour as they are encouraged in their own selfishness, their self-righteousness, and so consequently pride and comparison and all those things come about that destroys the fellowship of the church. And so he says, but I say to you, walk by the Spirit. Now, you have a metaphor here, walk by the Spirit. And just to show you, if you look at verse 18, which is before us yet, but if you are led by the Spirit, so walking by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, down to verse 25, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. And I take it as the same thing Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18, is it, be filled with the Spirit. and rejoicing before the Lord and so forth. Do not be drunk with wine where it is in excess, but be filled with the Spirit." So in that particular verse, a person who drinks some sort of alcohol so that they lose control of their own faculties, and consequently they do and say things that are, he says, debauchery. Things that they would normally, they lose their inhibition, and they start to do and say things that are sinful. And he says, so don't be controlled by strong drink. Don't be a drunkard controlled by the alcohol, but rather be filled with the spirit, that is, be controlled by the spirit. And here he says, walk by the spirit. And this is a beautiful picture. Nothing could be more simple than walking, right? Walk by the Spirit. The metaphor implies the moment-by-moment commitment to the Spirit of God, submission to the Spirit of God. And though I may mention it later, let's think for a moment about how I can walk by the Spirit, under the leading of the Spirit, if you're led by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, if we live by the Spirit. So how can I do that? How does that happen? Well, in everything that we undertake, we should follow a pattern of submission to the Spirit and this dependence on the Spirit. And this is what I would say. We need to confess our inability. Lord, I'm going to face the day and the people at my job. I'm going to be talking to this person. I'm going to be undertaking my rehearsal, my practice for these instruments, this music. If you want to do everything as unto the Lord under the control and direction of His Spirit, Lord, today I'm going to be solving this problem at work, and I really need your wisdom. I admit that I cannot do it. So the first thing, if I can give you four steps on walking in the Spirit, one is that you admit that you are helpless and unable to do it in yourself. You admit your own inabilities and weaknesses. And then you ask for God's help. You say, Father, help me. Help me to do this. Give me the wisdom to do this. Lead me and give me instruction. Keep me from saying anything that I should not say. Compel me to say what I should say. Show me, give me insights into this problem at work so that I might do this. Give me favor with my boss or with my client or whatever it may be, with my teacher. And so you are admitting that you can do nothing. Without him, we can do nothing, right? John chapter 15. And then asking for His help. And then thirdly, claiming His promises. Oh, here's one right here. Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Here's another, verse 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. So claim His promises, right? And the Bible is full of promises. I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that you might boldly say, the Lord is my helper. What can I be afraid of? Why should I be afraid of humans, of flesh? And so then you ask for his help, you claim his promises. So admit your inabilities, ask for God's help, claim his promises, and then do it. Do it. That's the fourth step. Whatever it is, give it all your energy. Go into it depending on God. Trust Him for the results. You may not know exactly how He's going to work through this situation, but this is how you operate under The leadership of the Spirit of God. And then, if there's a fifth step, we would say, give thanks. Give thanks that the Lord is helping you. So this is the power of the Holy Spirit, so that moment by moment, we can walk. And committing everything unto Him, so that you are under His leadership. Instead of being drawn out by our own sinful tendencies. You know, we want to be angry, we are going to handle something in a sinful way, a wrong way. We are all tempted this way. But if we learn by grace to walk with the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit under His leadership, under His initiation, then what He tells us, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. And he actually uses two words here for not. Oumai, it's a double negative. Ou is a little weaker word for no and mai is a stronger word for no. I talked to a guy, a friend who had gone to Greece and he was listening to a man talking to his dog and the dog was barking. And he could hear him say, ooo, ooo, stop barking, you know. And when the dog kept barking, he was, meh, meh, stop. But here they are together. And I think J.R. Packer has translated this, that if you walk by the Spirit, walk by the Spirit's command, and you will never, never gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, under the leadership, the rule, the lordship of the Spirit. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. If we want freedom from sinfulness, this is it, okay? And so you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. So you do not have to give in to sinful urges. You do not have to bow down before the old master. You do not have to believe the lies that are coming at you from the flesh, that our own minds, our own sinful inclinations that want to adopt a lie about reality. Rather, we want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Word. And of course, the Spirit of God works through the Word of God and that's essential for us to know. Alright, so this is the principle of holiness. Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Let's consider next the problem of holiness. The problem of holiness in verse 17. And as I'm reading this, I want you to notice that word flesh. We already read it once in verse 16, the desires of the flesh. And then he says, verse 17, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. So there it is again. So we had it three times so far. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. So what is the flesh? In this context, it can be used to speak of humanity, all flesh, so to speak, and may even include all animal life as well. But in this context, the flesh is that insidious principle of human depravity. It is that insidious inclination of rebellion against God's law, against God's will. And so we all have this functioning. We have both the flesh and we have the Holy Spirit. And consequently, Paul describes here an ongoing battle in us. So the flesh is that principle of the insidious principle of human depravity that resides in us and it opposes the will of God. It exerts itself in desires, sinful desires, and you and I face this all the time. And so he tells us that there is a war that goes on within us. and the desires of the flesh exert themselves, and the desire of the Holy Spirit, spiritual desires, exert themselves. And even though you may will, and you say, I want to do what is right, you find that you're being taken captive, as Paul says in Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 7, You're being taken captive by this law, this principle of dominion by the flesh that is insisting that you listen and obey its voice, the desires, the sinful desires that are in you. And this is why we are often so miserable because We are experiencing this struggle. Those of you who have no struggle, you might as well just go on to heaven. Because I want to tell you, Bob St. John sure struggles with sin. I am a sinful man. And I have both the desire to do God's will and I also find in myself, in my flesh, as Paul said, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. Let me just read a few verses there from Romans chapter 7 where he says, I think that was verse 12, verse 13, Let me pick up there. Adverse. Eighteen. Yeah, that's that's it. That's one of them anyways. Sixteen. Let me pick up there. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. The law is a revelation of God's will. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Indwelling sin. This is comparable to the flesh as described in Galatians. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. You're right, Dewey. That's the verse I was looking for. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So the partially sanctified believer has this ongoing battle. And let's read just a little further. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with the flesh I serve the law of sin. So you can see this struggle that is there so that in this actual condition, I find myself frustrated and I wonder, is my kind of Christianity substandard? Am I really saved? How can I have power in my life? How can I do the will of God when I constantly face this battle, this struggle within? And the answer is, is that God has given us the principle of holiness. Yes, the struggle is there, but here is how you overcome. And we saw the principle of holiness, and here's the problem of holiness, is this inner battle. So I wanted to tell you, you see Frog and Toad up here. So I really didn't know about Frog and Toad until we had grandchildren. But it is a great book of theology. And so one of my favorites is the story of the cookies. And Toad makes some cookies, and they smell so good. And he eats one, and they are so delicious. And so he's got this bunch of cookies. He carries them over to Frog's house. They're good friends. He says, Frog, you've got to eat these cookies. And so Frog starts eating. He says, these are the best cookies I've ever had in my life. And they're sitting there at the table, and they're eating, just inhaling these cookies one after another. And finally, Frog says, you know, we've got to stop eating these cookies, or we're going to be sick. And Toad says, yes. So she's eating another cookie. And they said, well, let's eat one last cookie, and then we'll stop. And so they eat one last, one last. And then Toad says, let's eat one very last cookie before we stop. And so they eat one very last cookie. And they said, we've got to stop. And Frog says, well, what we need is willpower. Toad says, what is willpower? He says, willpower is doing something or not doing something that you want to do very badly. And so anyway, they have a conversation about willpower. And so Frog says, let's put all the cookies in a box. So they put them in a box. So he says, there, now we won't eat the cookies. But Toad says, hey, we can open the box and eat the cookies. He says, well, we'll tie it with a string. So he ties it with a string. And Toad says, yeah, but we can cut the string and get to the cookies. And so Frog gets a ladder, and he puts it up on the top shelf. He says, there, now we won't eat the cookies. He says, yeah, but we can pull that ladder out and bring the box down, cut the string, open the box, and eat the cookies. And Frog says, you're right. So Frog takes the box outside, and he calls the birds and throws the cookies out to the birds, and the birds eat them up. And Toad says, now we don't have any more cookies. And Frog says, yeah, but we got lots of willpower. And Toad says, you can keep that. I'm going home to bake a cake. And such a great story, but all of our designs to try to stop from sinning, all of our efforts, human efforts, human wisdom applied to this, listen, they will not work. I remember some years ago, many years ago, seeing a person who were giving advice on how to resist temptation. They said, put a picture of Jesus in your wallet, and you're tempted to sin. He's relieved there, you know. Listen, that's what's probably idolatry as well. Or take communion real quick. So quickly go to your kitchen and get some juice and bread and take communion. Listen, these are human inventions that are maybe religious in nature, but they will not stop you from sinning. And the law has no power to stop you from sinning. The law actually will only stir up more So what is the power of holiness? Let's go to the next slide. The power of holiness. Well, this last verse says, and you notice how similar verse 16 is with verse 18. In many ways, they are synonymous. I could have switched the names, the principle and the power of holiness. Verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. So walk by the Spirit is parallel to led by the Spirit and not gratifying the desires of the flesh is parallel with not under the law. And so this last verse here tells us that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit in you, directing, initiating, leading, and you submitting to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit works through the Word. He works through the Word preached. So you are helped by the preaching of the Word. He works through the Word as you meditate on the Word, and as you seek His help. And it is by this means that we are able to repent of sins as well. In other words, believer, your sanctification, the engine that drives your sanctification, is the Spirit of God working through the Word of God, to fill you with desires for the things of God and for what pleases God. We are led by the Spirit, means that the Spirit of God always resists our desire to sin. The Spirit of God always inclines us toward holiness and righteousness. And if we will submit to His leadership, then we will be able to say no to sin. of Titus chapter 2 says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men. Listen, teaching us. He sets up a classroom in our hearts, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live righteously and soberly and godly in this present world. And so the Holy Spirit is instructing you. This is a This is an amazing reality. But you have the presence of the Holy Spirit living in you. God living in you. The life of God in your soul. And as you walk in communion with the Holy Spirit, the more that you commune with the Spirit in the Word, the more that you will be spiritually minded. Romans 8. Paul talks about being spiritually minded. Those who mind the things of the Spirit and those who mind the things of the flesh. Those who mind the things of the Spirit are meditating on spiritual things. They are delighting in spiritual things. They are savoring the sweetness of the gospel truth of Christ's death and resurrection. And as they spend time in fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit, they are empowered to say no to ungodliness. And yes, you will still struggle. And yes, there will still be failure. Now, I don't know if you know who Phoebe Palmer is. But she was the leader of the National Holiness Movement. She was a Methodist. And back in the 19th century, she and her sister were leading a Bible study, and she began to teach holiness principles. As a Methodist, she was familiar with the teachings of John Wesley. She knew that John Wesley taught Christian perfection, where you could live above all known sin. She said, we just haven't believed what Wesley taught us. We haven't carried out what he said. Because, let me just say this, the Methodists had noticed that they could get people to make decisions, as it were, not conversion necessarily, but there were many making decisions and they'd come down the aisle, but they'd go right out the door and they'd never see them again. just as in many churches the way that it is. And so they were saying, look, how can we keep people from coming in the door and falling out the windows? They saw this attrition. And so Phoebe Palmer said, what has to happen is there has to be another step. So there's a two-step process in God's salvation, that we are saved and then we are empowered for victory. This is what became the second blessing. You've heard of second blessing teaching. Out of the holiness movement came the Pentecostal movements and later the charismatic movements, the Church of the Nazarene and so forth. And they were wondering, how can I have power to live? How can I live above sin? And so they began to teach that there is an experience. Yes, you got saved, but you need this other experience if you're going to live with power and if you're going to live a holy life. So then they were craving this other experience to which later was added the experience of tongues. So two steps went to three steps, and that was how they believed that you would gain this power over sin. It is false teaching. It is false teaching. Listen, so the question is, did I receive everything that I need when I received Christ as my Savior, or is there something else that I have to look for? That's the real question. And the answer is that you received in Christ everything that you need. When you believed, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart. And the Spirit of God provides everything that you need to live the Christian life. Yes, we live in the world with its temptations. We live in a world that is directed by the evil one, as we read from Revelation today. And we have the flesh that is inclined to do what is evil. But you have the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, through the death and resurrection of Christ, gives us victory. You do not need to look for the baptism of the Holy Spirit or some second blessing that will take you to a higher plane. And that's really what we want. We want to reach that level where I'm not constantly failing and sinning. And so they developed this holiness doctrine. It did not help anyone. People still, although they would claim that they are living above all known sin, everyone knows the truth about it, right? They are struggling with sin, just like every believer. And the answer is not in some experience that's going to bring me to this plateau, where there I will be able to walk like the angels in this world, That is not going to be the case. I'm going to have to fight every day, every day. I'm going to have to mortify sin every day, and I do so by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit fills me with life, fills me with desire. The Spirit of God empowers me to say no to sin and to obey the commandments of God, even to delight in God's commands. And so let us not be led astray by human methods of sanctification, but rather let us delight in the fact that I have the Spirit of God, that you have the Spirit of God, and what God has given us in His Spirit is sufficient for our holiness. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.