Galatians 5_15-21 The Conflict of Flesh and Spirit

Rev. David Holwick ZB Galatians sermon series

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

September 10, 2000

Galatians 5:15-21

THE CONFLICT OF FLESH AND SPIRIT

I. A conflicted soul.

A. One of my favorite plays is "Camelot".

1) In this perfect kingdom, July and August cannot be too hot.

It never rains until the evening.

Even the macho knights can't act up. And they hate it!

One of them sings:

I want to burn a little town,

Or slay a dozen men ...

Anything to laugh again ...

Ah, but to spend a tortured evening

Staring at the floor ...

Guilty and alive once more.

Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

2) When was the last time you stared at the floor, overwhelmed

with guilt?

a) Esquire magazine - you're not a real man until you've

done something to a woman you felt ashamed about.

b) Most people no longer feel conflicted in their soul.

c) They have made their peace - with sin.

B. Flesh and Spirit don't mix.

1) Our lower and higher natures.

a) NIV uses "lower nature" for was is literally "flesh."

1> What we are by natural birth.

b) "Spirit" is the Holy Spirit.

1> What we become by new birth through Jesus.

2) Their interaction.

a) As we walk in the Spirit our flesh should be subdued.

b) But both remain in fierce conflict and antagonism.

1> No conflict, you are not a genuine believer.

II. The works of the flesh.

A. They are obvious.

1) Not necessarily public, but evident.

2) Lust of the flesh - not just sexual desire. Much wider.

3) The list is not exhaustive.

a) "And the like" covers the rest of the bases. 5:19

b) Is list random or specific? Four broad areas can be

discerned.

B. Four realms of the flesh:

1) Sexual sins.

a) sexual immorality. 5:19

1> Beyond fornication to any sexual relationship

outside those allowed by Bible.

2> Jews and early Christians saw this as the

most obvious sin of the pagan world.

b) impurity.

1> Dirty.

2> An allusion to unnatural vice (homosexuality)?

c) debauchery.

1> Open and reckless contempt of what's proper.

2> "These three words are sufficient to show that

all sexual offences,

whether public or private,

whether between the married or unmarried,

whether 'natural' or 'unnatural,'

are to be classed as works of the flesh."

John Stott

2) Religious sins.

a) idolatry. 5:20

1> Just as much a sin of the flesh as sex.

2> Worshipping the creation rather than the Creator.

b) witchcraft.

1> Derived from word for "drugs." (pharmacy)

2> The secret tampering with the powers of evil.

A> Even today many use drugs for a religious

experience.

3) Social sins.

a) hatred.

b) discord.

c) jealousy.

d) fits of rage. (Temper tantrums)

e) selfish ambition.

f) dissensions.

g) factions.

h) envy. 5:21

1> Each shows a breakdown in human relationships.

2> (This is the longest section and goes beyond

typical "sin lists." Galatian church probably

had a real problem in this area. Note 5:26.)

3> Most churches do.

A> We snicker over the more "fleshly" sins.

B> But these are the sins we are best at.

4) Pagan (party) sins.

a) drunkenness. (Alcohol is a factor in both sins)

b) orgies or dissipation.

1> Many have goal of removing all inhibitions.

A> (Puerto Rican parade incident, Rave concerts)

2> List begins and ends with wanton sins.

A> God-given pleasures are abused.

C. The warning.

1) Those who do these things will not inherit Kingdom. 5:21

a) Kingdom is common in Jesus' teaching, less in Paul's.

b) The way we express it is, they won't go to heaven.

1> "Inherit" points to earlier verse about Abraham.

2) Our actions may be evidence we are not in Christ.

a) We do not get into Kingdom by avoiding these sins,

but we can be excluded by practicing them.

b) It doesn't mean if a Christian gets drunk they will

lose their salvation.

1> Habitual sin in view.

III. Following the Spirit.

A. This section is full of the Holy Spirit (seven references).

1) He alone can oppose and subdue our flesh. 5:16,17

2) He enables us to fulfill the Law. 5:18

3) He causes our fruit of righteousness to grow. 5:23,23

B. Two expressions are used.

1) Walk in the Spirit. 5:16,25

a) NIV has "live by the Spirit."

2) Be led in the Spirit. 5:18

C. Where they are the same.

1) The word for Spirit comes first in both expressions.

2) In both the verb is in the present continuous tense.

D. Where they are distinct.

1) Being led is passive.

a) Leading is used of herding cattle or sheep.

b) As our leader, the Holy Spirit takes the initiative.

1> He battles the flesh.

2> He forms within us a desire for the things of God.

c) We must yield to his direction and control.

1> Another way to put it is, we must surrender to God.

2) Walking is active.

a) We must do more than passively submit.

b) "Walk" means we go actively and purposefully in the

right path.

1> Different word for walk in 5:25 means to be in

line with, or in step with.

2> We have a standard to follow.

c) Paul says if we walk in the Spirit we won't give in

to the desires of the flesh. 5:16

1> To be conflicted doesn't mean we are defeated.

2> We can gain control over any sin, with the Spirit's

help.

3> (Jesus says for particularly hard struggles you

need to commit yourself to prayer and fasting.)

IV. The power to obey.

Being led by the Holy Spirit means not only exercising our will

in harmony with his, but also DEPENDING ON HIM FOR THE

STRENGTH TO DO SO.

Don't be misled into thinking that sheer discipline alone is

all you need to live by the Spirit.

A certain Christian businessman was a manager in a large firm.

One day a female employee indicated to him that she would be

interested in an affair.

The man, who was married, made it clear that he was not at all

interested.

He then used the opportunity to talk to the woman about both

the gospel and the moral basis given in the Bible for

faithfulness in marriage.

But soon an even stronger temptation for an extramarital affair

presented itself.

A second woman approached the man, and he responded to her in

the same way.

As far as she was concerned, the matter ended there.

But the man began entertaining in his mind the possibility of

such an affair.

Again and again he would mentally relish the temptation, and

then be plagued with the guilt of such contemplation.

What had been a small temptation, outwardly handled correctly,

had grown into a monstrous obsession within.

His imagination was struggling against his will, and winning.

The battle raged unabated in his mind-flesh against Spirit.

Why was he now powerless to experience the Holy Spirit's victory?

The answer came early one morning in his office when he realized

that when the temptation had first arisen, he had not even

bothered to pray!

He had known how to respond outwardly, but he did so in his own

strength.

He failed to remember that we are fighting a spiritual battle

in which the human intellect is not a sufficient weapon.

God had allowed the temptation to return so the man would

eventually learn that only God is "a refuge in times of

trouble" (Nahum 1:7).

Dropping to his knees beside his desk, the businessman confessed

his inadequacy and powerlessness, but confirmed his willing

desire to follow the Holy Spirit's leadership.

Immediately the temptation left, and his thoughts were no longer

troubled by it.

Discipleship Journal #16, July-Aug 1983

"The Holy Spirit - God Within Us"

By Jeff Jernigan

V. What are you doing with the Spirit?

A. The struggle between flesh and spirit is never eliminated.

B. Therefore the Christian is never released from the necessity

of consciously choosing to go in God's way.

C. There is no escape from the need to depend on God's grace.

=========================================================================

Sermon borrows heavily from commentary by John R.W. Stott, "The Message

of Galatians," IVP, 'The Bible Speaks Today' series.

Galatians 5:15-21

I. Liberty can be lost.

A. True liberty expresses itself in self-control, love of neighbor

and obedience to God. 5:13-15

1) How are these possible?

2) By the Holy Spirit.

B. This section is full of the Holy Spirit (seven references).

1) He alone can oppose and subdue our flesh. 5:16,17

2) He enables us to fulfill the Law. 5:18

3) He causes our fruit of righteousness to grow. 5:23,23

II. The fact of Christian conflict.

A. Flesh and Spirit.

1) NIV uses "lower nature" for Flesh.

a) What we are by natural birth.

2) "Spirit" is Holy Spirit.

a) What we become by new birth through Jesus.

B. Their interaction.

1) As we walk in the Spirit our flesh should be subdued.

2) But both remain in fierce conflict and antagonism.

III. The works of the flesh.

A. They are obvious.

1) Not necessarily public, but evident.

2) Lust of the flesh - not just sexual desire. Much wider.

B. The list.

1) Not exhaustive - "and the like." 5:19

a) Random or specific?

2) Four realms seem present:

a) Sexual sins.

1> sexual immorality.

A> Beyond fornication to any sexual relationship

outside those allowed by Bible.

B> Jews and early Christians saw this as the

most obvious sin of the pagan world.

2> impurity.

A> Dirty.

B> An allusion to unnatural vice (homosexuality)?

3> debauchery.

A> Open and reckless contempt of what's proper.

B> "These three words are sufficient to show that

all sexual offences, whether public or private,

whether between the married or unmarried,

whether 'natural' or 'unnatural,' are to be

classed as works of the flesh."

b) Religious sins.

1> idolatry.

A> Just as much a sin of the flesh as sex.

B> Covers sins against God.

2> witchcraft.

A> Derived from word for "drugs."

B> The secret tampering with the powers of evil.

c) Social sins.

1> hatred.

2> discord.

3> jealousy.

4> fits of rage.

A> Temper tantrums.

5> selfish ambition.

6> dissensions.

7> factions.

8> envy.

A> Each shows a breakdown in human relationships.

B> (This is the longest section and goes beyond

typical "sin lists." Galatian church probably

had a real problem in this area. Note 5:26.)

d) Pagan (party) sins.

1> drunkenness. (Alcohol is a factor in both sins)

2> orgies.

C. The warning.

1) Those who do these things will not inherit Kingdom.

a) (Kingdom is common in Jesus' teaching.)

b) (We do not get into Kingdom by avoiding these sins,

but we can be excluded by practicing them.)

c) Such works are evidence we are not in Christ.

1> If we are not in Christ, we are not heirs.

IV. Following the Spirit.

A. Two expressions are used.

1) Walk in the Spirit. 5:16,25

a) NIV has "live by the Spirit."

2) Be led in the Spirit. 5:18

B. Where they are the same.

1) The word for Spirit comes first. (for both expressions)

2) In both the verb is in the present continuous tense.

C. Where they are distinct.