- Do you ever say to yourself ‘why am I such a failure as a Christian?’
- or, ‘I wish I was more filled with the Spirit’ ?
- Gal 5 tells us how we can ‘Walk in the Spirit’ and have victory
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- Do you ever say to yourself “why am I such a failure as a Christian?
- I just seem to keep falling into the same old patterns
- If I could only find the answer!
- Are you with me here?
- The second issue is,
- I don’t want to just be surviving as a Christian, I want to be moving in power! I want to see victory for the kingdom!
Two Questions:
- When we try to live in a way that follows Jesus, why do we keep failing?
- Why am I not growing in the Spirit’s supernatural gifts?
- Turn out to have the same answer:
- Walk in the Spirit!
- I can’t promise to give you a magic bullet
- For 2,000 years people have been trying to give magic bullets for this question
- Christian bookshops are full of them
- The internet is full of them
- All I have for you is a passage from Galatians
Answers
- The New Reality of the Spirit
- Galatians 5 - Walking in the Spirit
- Four steps: A B C D
- which come out of the Scripture passage today
1. The New Reality of the Spirit
- Jesus gave us an extremely important example.
- Even though he is God, he chose to live as a human, depending on the power given to him in the moment
John 5
- So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
- For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater
- Constant communion between them
- Jesus lived in moment-by moment dependence on the Father, with a constant conversation
John 11—Jesus conversation with the Father
- So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
- I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
- When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
- The man who had died came out…
- But Jesus is talking about the Father, not the Spirit—yet we experience them as part of the same indwelling
John 14
- And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
- even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
- In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
- But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
- I’m laying this foundation because we really need to understand it to see what is going on in Galatians.
2. Walking in the Spirit (Gal 5)
- Walk through the story, unfolding the paper
A. The Law of Love
- The Law of Love
- The Law of Love
A. The Law of Love
13 For you, brothers and sisters were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For the whole law is summed up in one command: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”
6:1–2 Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in some sin, you who are spiritual restore the person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay attention to yourself, so you are not also tempted.
Carry one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
6:3–5 [continues this theme]
- If this was all he had written, it would make perfect sense. It follows on.
B. Opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
- The opposite to the law of love
- The opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
B. The opposite to the law of love
15 But if you continually
bite and devour one another,
beware that you are not consumed by one another.
26 Let us not become conceited,
provoking one another,
envying one another.
- That leads to the question: how do we do the first, not the second?
C. Walk in the Spirit
- The Law of Love
- The opposite to the law of love
- Walk in the Spirit
- Walk in the Spirit
- The opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
C. Walk in the Spirit
16 I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
- This is the key!
- Yes, but how come we don’t?
D. War with the desires of the flesh
- The Law of Love
- The opposite to the law of love
- Walk in the Spirit
- War with the desires of the flesh
- War with the desires of the flesh
- Walk in the Spirit
- The opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
D. War with the desires of the flesh
17 For the flesh’s desires are against the Spirit,
and the Spirit’s desires are against the flesh,
for they are opposed to each other, so that you do not do the things you want to do.
24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- Arrgh, I’ve done it again. What a mess I am!
- So why is there a struggle? —because there are two principles inside us
When we die, we’ll be rid of the old, but we don’t want to have to wait till then!
- But then if we look at the second part, it is a bit different!
Up to now, the second half is very similar to the first
what is going on? —the flesh is defeated, and you have the power of the Spirit!
- But first he has to explain about the ineffectiveness of rules
E. Rules doesn’t operate in realm of the Spirit
- The Law of Love
- The opposite to the law of love
- Walk in the Spirit
- War with the desires of the flesh
- Living in the Spirit is not about following rules
- Living in the Spirit is not about following rules
- War with the desires of the flesh
- Walk in the Spirit
- The opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
E. Living in the Spirit is not about following rules
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under rules.
23b regarding such things there is no set of rules.
- Translation problems here in most Bible versions. Makes no sense for Paul to argue there is no law against love
- So what is Paul saying here? —in a moment
F. Works of the flesh & the Spirit
- The Law of Love
- The opposite to the law of love
- Walk in the Spirit
- War with the desires of the flesh
- Living in the Spirit is not about following rules
- The works of the flesh and the Spirit
- The works of the flesh and the Spirit
- Living in the Spirit is not about following rules
- War with the desires of the flesh
- Walk in the Spirit
- The opposite to the law of love
- The Law of Love
F. The works of the flesh and the Spirit
19–21 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, acts of hate, discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalry, dissensions, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22–23a But the fruit of the Spirit is:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control;
- Notice almost all of these are relational, in both flesh and Spirit lists
- So what is Paul saying here?
- He is interacting with a dangerous teaching that came from the Persian religion of Zoroaster 600 years earlier
- But was spreading and infecting Jewish teachers
- “The two ways” two possible sets of rules for life
- You have to choose: Are you going to live by this set of rules, or by this set of rules
- Tragically this error began to seep into the teachings of the church fathers, a few centuries after Paul
- What’s wrong with that? —we will see
- Not a set of rules, but the power of God’s Spirit living in you!
- Do you get the difference?
Acts 9 - Tabitha dies & Peter Prays
- Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”
- So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.
- But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
- Analogies of what this means:
- tuning fork
- resonating guitar strings
3. How we do it
- I’m not going to try and give you a “magic bullet” formula, but I will give you some pointers
How we do it
- Accept Your need for the Spirit, every moment
- Be Mindful Don’t be mindless, but recognize the flesh/Spirit issues quickly
- taking every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5) —where is that thought from?
- I’m noticing that person really irritated me. What is going on?
- Confidently Call in support. Ask for help, and it is there for you. Jesus defeated the enemy
- As soon as you try doing it yourself, that is doing it in the flesh! —he has promised!
- Dependently step out. Acting in love will access the power of the Spirit, tuning in to the Kingdom.
- don’t wait till you feel something
- Which comes first? they come together like the miracle of the man with the withered hand.
- As you do this more and more, you are widening the channel through which the power of the Spirit flows into your life.
- You are tuning in more and more to the realm of the Spirit, the realm of the New Creation
- As you widen this channel and get more in tune, then supernatural gifts will be more and more manifest in your life.
- Doing it in your own strength is doomed to fail
- Receiving more of the Spirit
- This is exactly the same as living in the new dimension of the Spirit
- Walking in the Kingdom
- John 15 uses a really powerful image
John 15 – Abide in the Vine
- I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…
- Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
- I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
- If you keep my commandments [to love one another], you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
How we do it
- Accept Your need for the Spirit, every moment
- Be Mindful Don’t be mindless, but recognize the flesh/Spirit issues quickly
- Confidently Call in support. Ask for help, and it is there for you. Jesus defeated the enemy
- Dependently step out. Acting in love will access the power of the Spirit, tuning in to the Kingdom.
