5-6-24 Transforming Power; the Work of God on Behalf of Man – stevelampman.com
This week’s devotional 5-6-24 “Walk by the Spirit” is a transcription of Paul Webel’s study of Galatians 5:16-23. It is so loaded with insights of spiritual truth that I thought it good to use it as devotional. (Paul Webel is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church of Peckville, PA).
“Background – The book of Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul to multiple churches in Asia minor (modern day Turkey). The main theme of the Book is “Justification by Faith Alone.” Paul wrote this book because the Gospel itself was being attacked by false teachers called Judaizers. These Judaizers were preaching a gospel of works. They were teaching that in order to be saved, you must be circumcised according to Old Testament Law.
The book of Galatians can be broken up into three sections, with each section having 2 chapters. In chapter 1 and 2, because the Judaizers were trying to undermine his apostolic authority, Paul defends his Apostleship. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with the theology of Justification by faith alone. And chapters 5 & 6 deal with the practical supplication of justification by faith alone, a.k.a. the Gospel of grace applied.
Proposition / From Galatians 5:16-23; ‘16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 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. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
1)How are we to live a holy life? ‘16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’ Paul is saying that if we ‘walk by the Spirit,’ we will not ‘pursue a lifestyle of sin.’ If we ‘walk by the Spirit’ we will be able to glorify God with our life because our deeds, our actions will be Christ like (2nd Corinthians 3:18). Holiness, or Christlikeness comes only from the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). He is the source. He is where the ability ‘to walk’ comes from. Even though the Spirit does use the Bible, prayer, worship, etc. as means of grace to grow the believer, it is the Spirit alone that is the source of our holiness. We are commanded to ‘walk by the Spirit’ but, it is only the Spirit that gives us the ability to do it (1st Corinthians 15:10). In Ephesians 5:18, the phrase being ‘Filled with the Spirit’ means the same things as ‘Walk with the Spirit’ in our text in Galatians. The phrase, ‘Be filled’ is a passive command. It happens to us. Meaning, we are to always and continually let the Spirit fill us.In Colossians 3:16 the phrase, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’, is synonymous with the phrase ‘being fill with the Spirit’, in Ephesians and with the phase ‘Walk by the Spirit,’ in Galatians. And all three produce the same thing in the life of the Believer. They produce ‘psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and giving thanks to God.’ Which simply means living a holy, God centered, obedient life.
Walking by the Spirit is not getting more of the person of the Holy in our lives, but it is getting more of the Word of God in our lives. It is the Word of God that the Spirit uses to direct, empower, and lead us, so that we can give glory to God in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand His Word and it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live His Word out. In Galatians Paul is emphasizing our active obedience to the Word of God. In Ephesians, Paul is emphasizing our passive submission to the Word of God. And in Colossians, Paul is Emphasizing our need to actively saturate ourselves with the Word of God.
2) We must understand the Battle -Verse 17, ‘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.’ The flesh (our old nature) stands against what God’s word teaches us; it stands against the work that the Spirit is doing in the new heart of the believer (Romans 8:23). The Spirit and the flesh (our old nature) are at war within us (Romans 7:18-19; 21-23). Every genuine believer who has been given new spiritual life will begin to bear fruit in keeping with their repentance. Sometimes the change may be slow, but there will be a change. God promises it. Once we know what God’s will is and realize that it is the Spirit who enables us to obey God’s will, we then must actively put to death the deeds of the flesh in our own lives (Romans 13:14).
3) How do we know if we are walking in the Spirit or if we are walking in the flesh? In Galatians 5: Verses 19-21 Paul gives us the fruit of the flesh, the evidence that we are living according to our old nature. ‘19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Those who practice or live unrepentantly in these sins, will not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, they will be vanquished to the Lake of Fire (1st Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:5). If we are saved by grace we will, as a habit, walk in obedience, because we love the Lord and we have the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing us to holiness.
In verses 22-23, Paul gives us the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence that we are living according to our new, redeemed natures. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance: against such there is no law.’ When the Spirit is in control, this is the fruit that is produced in the life of a Christian. Just as the flesh produces a visual crop of carnality and immorality. The Spirit filled life produces a crop of godliness and righteousness. In order to walk by the Spirit we must confess and repent of our sin, change our direction from pursuing that sin and pursue the things of God, stop running away from God and turn run back to God.
Conclusion / First, we looked at how we are to live a holy life as a Christian. We saw that we must walk by the Spirit, which means we are to get more of the Word of God in our lives so the Spirit can direct, empower, and lead us to obey the word of God, so we can give glory to God. Second, we saw that the Christian life is a constant battle. The flesh, that which remains of the old man, sets it desire against the Spirit. The flesh stands against what God’s word teaches us, and against the work that the Spirit is doing in the new heart of the believer. Third, we looked at how we can know if we are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Is the red light of the flesh on or is the green light of the Spirit on? Are we practicing the deeds of the flesh or are we practicing the fruit of the Spirit?
Finally, we saw from 1st John 1:9 that when we b low it and turn the green light of the Spirit off, all we have to do to turn it back on is to confess and repent of the sin, change direction from pursuing that sin and pursue the things of God.” Paul Webel
Steve