Text: Galatians 5
Theme: If
we Live in the Spirit, let us Walk in the Spirit
- Recognize the danger of spiritual leaven.
- Uphold the offense of the cross.
- Use liberty to serve others
Our study
of Galatians has been one of facing constant objections to the truth of Christ.
In chapter 1 Paul warned the
Galatians straight away about turning away to a “different gospel,” one that
was focused on their own works and not on Christ’s work. In chapter 2 he talked about walking the
difficult path between hypocrisy and Christian freedom. So often, unbelievers
object to the faith because it seems to them that Christians just pick and
choose what to do and not to do when they are diligently trying to follow God’s
will. In chapter 3 the distinction
between the damning message of the Law and the healing forgiveness of
Justification by faith in Christ was on display. There really is no other
teaching from the Bible that is more objectionable to people than complete and
unconditional hope in Christ as Savior. And in chapter 4 we discussed the truth that God knows us and in the midst
of all of life’s uncertainties this is our continual hope. People object to
this because they want to control things, not trust in God’s control of
everything. At each step along the way Paul is answering objections that were
placed before the Galatians and frankly before all people.
Today we
come to chapter 5 where Paul writes at the very beginning, “Stand fast in your liberty, by which Christ has set you free.”
These are words that indicate steadfastness in the face of objections. We see
that the theme continues. And in this chapter, we bring it to full attention
because the topic Paul addresses here is perhaps the most often used objection
against God’s Church. Christians talk a
good game, but they don’t back it up.
In the
words of our text, Paul says, “If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” He is not talking
about some generic spirit of man or some other religion. He is talking about
the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. All believers live in the
Spirit, according to our text literally “in
connection with the Spirit” by faith in Jesus. As Jesus Himself elaborated
upon in His ministry, God the Father promised to send the Holy Spirit as the
special Helper of the Church. The Spirit would be the one to bless the
proclamation of the Word. It is a neat connection because the Spirit is also
the one who inspired the Word.
You’d be
hard-pressed to find a Christian who doesn’t claim to also live and walk in the
Spirit. Here’s where the objection is leveled, though. Christians claim to have
the Holy Spirit but they so often live contrary to Him. Evils and atrocities
have been done throughout history in the name of Christ by His followers,
sometimes even by the most pious of all, the leaders of the church. But,
common, everyday Christians have plenty of faults too. In fact, according to
outward observer, there doesn’t seem to really be much value to the Christian
faith because sometimes even unbelievers are better people. The objection is
easy to detect, and there’s not a whole lot we can say to defend ourselves. The
ugly truth is that we are pretty poor at walking in the Spirit.
Part 1: Recognize the danger of spiritual
leaven
Paul’s
point is not just to remind the Galatians about this. Rather, within chapter 5
he has laid the groundwork for success in living according to the Spirit. The
clues are subtle but once you take time to unfold the text they come out. The
first clue we pick up is in verse 9, “a
little leaven leavens the whole lump.” We’ve already established the certain
fact that we are poor followers of Christ. That’s why the objection of talking
as Christians but not living as Christians is so often leveled against the
Church. Therefore, it should be readily apparent that we need help.
To aid us
in our faith, God continually points us to His Word. He has given us the Bible
to show us the way, what is means to walk in the Spirit. But, more importantly,
He has given us the Bible to restore us when we fail. Having the instructions
for success is definitely necessary, but on our own we have no power to follow
them. What a horrible fate that would be; to know the path to life and salvation
but never to be able to attain it! Many Christians have felt this pain as they
have been fed lies about what it means to be a believer while they have been
starved of the gospel.
With such
a precious gift at our fingertips and upon our hearts, it’s not surprising that
God would caution us to use it carefully and appropriately. Paul’s allusion to
leaven as false teaching should sound familiar because he took it from Jesus. Right
after the feeding of the 4,000 Jesus warned His disciples with the same illustration,
comparing the teachings of the Pharisees to leaven in a lump of dough.
Paul
seeks to bring the same warning into view for the Galatians. Remember what they
were at risk of losing – it was the gospel, the very power of their salvation.
Paul established that foundation yet again at the beginning of chapter 5,
saying, “You are severed from Christ,
you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For
through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.”
The Galatians needed a wakeup call to remind of the precious treasure they had
in the Word of God. They were not taking care of that Word. They were being
wreck less and careless with it. And if they weren’t more careful, they would
pay an awe full price.
Part 2: Uphold the offense of the cross
The price
that already had been paid for them is precisely where Paul brought them next
for their second piece of advice in “walking in the Spirit.” Verse 11: And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision,
why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
Here’s an ironic twist. Paul talks about how the cross of Christ is an offensive thing. We wouldn’t normally
think of an offensive thing as being a blessing in our lives, especially in our
culture. So often today the cry of offensiveness is thrown around by people to
protest whatever they don’t like. The Biblical concept of offense is much
deadlier. Literally, the word means to set a trap with the intent to harm or kill.
As you can imagine, it is most often used of false teachings, the very thing
Paul just warned the Galatians about.
How could
it be appropriate to speak of Christ’s crucifixion in that way? Well, it’s
precisely the effect that the cross has on the stubborn, sinful flesh. God uses
His Son’s ultimate victory to trap our sinful flesh. It’s the reason why the
message of the cross is so often rejected; it’s offensive to the unbelieving
heart. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul quoted Isaiah to remind us that
on our own there’s no way we would want to believe the gospel (1 Corinthians
2:9). He said it’s as if we are blind to it. To our sinful flesh the message of
the cross is not only utter foolishness but it’s dangerous because it threatens
to expose our sinful ways for what they really are.
Paul
wrote in his letter to the Romans, quoting Isaiah once again, of the same
effect, this time with the illustration of Christ as the Cornerstone, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone
and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to
shame." (Rom 9:33 NKJ) For the message of the cross to not be a death trap, we need someone to
enlighten us – to wake our heart to trust and believe the gospel. That’s the
work of the Holy Spirit, the main subject of our chapter. And so Paul goes on
to write, Galatians 5:17-18 For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
To walk
in the Spirit we need to be ready to uphold the offense of the cross; both in
our lives and for others. People will hate us for it. They will persecute us.
They will mock us. They will take our words and actions out of context. They
will publicly and privately malign us. They may even stop being our friends.
All because we seek to uphold the true Word of God and message of Christ
crucified for sinners. Don’t be surprised if these things happen, expect them
to happen. Your Savior suffered the agony of hell for your sins, and for those
of the rest of humanity. Surely, a moment of reproach to honor His name is time
well spent.
Part 3: Use liberty to serve one another.
Which
leads us precisely to Paul’s final piece of advice on walking in the Spirit –
verse 13: “through love serve one
another.” What a hard thing it is to love your enemies. What a challenge to
care for those who mistreat you, to look the other way and truly let it go.
It’s so challenging, in fact, that the world tells us it’s not possible. And
when they see Christians giving in, it reaffirms their objections to the faith
even more. Haven’t we come full circle?
We
struggle because our witness, our walk in the Spirit, is so weak. There are
days when we don’t even feel like Christ’s own because we’re making so many
mistakes. There are moments when we’re so distraught and confused that we even
doubt the Lord who bought us. The chief moral is indeed what verse 14 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
It’s also precisely at the command that our vain hopes of self-righteousness
come crashing down like waves on the rocks.
I’m going
to suggest a novel alternative. Instead of living our lives by our standards.
Instead of setting our hopes in our goals and judging success and failure or
right and wrong based on that, let us humbly follow Paul’s direction here.
Remember what he says, “Use liberty to
serve others.” There’s hope built into that command and Paul has set it up
for our understanding. The verse first verse of the chapter, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by
which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of
bondage.” Use liberty to serve one another.
This is
not personal liberty. This is not “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is not follow your own dreams and it will all work out. Stand fast in the
liberty by Christ has set you free.
This is the freedom of the gospel. The Holy Spirit does not give us faith so
that we can be perfect followers who never make mistakes. Sin is a reality that
no living person on earth can fully escape, and God knows this. The true mark
of a believer, the purpose for faith, is to be free from that sin. We rejoice
in the liberty that only Jesus can and has given us. And it’s through that same
gospel that we serve one another, that we reach the highest pinnacle of walking
in the Spirit where we partake of the garden of His fruits: love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, self-control.
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