Sunday Morning Service

Galatians 5:19-24

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“Works And Fruit” • 7.14.13 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Paul has maintained that Christians are free from the dictates of the Mosaic law. We are not called to relate God through days, feasts and Sabbaths. We are called to respond in love to Him.

- This was their personal experience when they received the gospel and their biblically sound, doctrinally explained stance that they were to remain in.

- The legalist, ever looking for the loophole, then contends that the Christian is soft on sin and that people will live any way that they want if they don't have the law!

- On the contrary, a person with a love for God, a passion for Jesus and a heart that is directed by the Holy Spirit will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

- What are those fleshly desires and what are the distinctive characteristics of those who seek to walk in the Spirit? Paul addresses that here in this definitive section of scripture.

Text

• Galatians 5:19a : "Now the works of the flesh are evident," : What follows is what your unredeemeable flesh nature produces when it is allowed to flourish.

- Remind yourself that Paul is talking to the church, not heathens. These are Christians who have given into their flesh by turning away from grace to law keeping.

- These actions and attitudes originate in your flesh. We cannot blame demons or Satan.

- This is our fallen nature on full display and Christians can be susceptible to them, though not to the degree of one who is unregenerate.

- Paul knows what sin is and when the law is your center, there is no power to overcome the nature that is at war with your spirit, no matter how dedicated you are to the law!

- Therefore, these things would be a part of their experience because imitation is not satisfying!

- Before long, a person who is not living in grace, united to Christ by His Holy Spirit, will move toward the traits that we are about to look at.

• Galatians 5:19b : "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness," : The first 4 words on Paul's list refer to sensual experience.

- Adultery, as it is known, is any intimate relationship enjoyed outside of the bounds of marriage by a person who is married.

- Jesus clarified that adultery was not simply an act performed by two consenting adults. Adultery in the mind of God, begins with a look of lust.

- The second word that Paul uses is much more wide in it's scope, the word "fornication."

- This word refers to any arousing sexual relationship experienced outside of heterosexual marriage. "It is a natural urge" someone will retort. Yes, and one that God created for marriage.

- Sexual relationships are meant by God to reinforce commitment between a husband and his wife. Any use outside of marriage distorts it's proper use.

- This is why intimacy is brandished as a weapon of manipulation and abuse when the physical pleasure is the only desired effect.

- Next to fornication is uncleanness. For this person, physical pleasure is the goal. This is the person whose sole desire is to find themselves in sexual pleasure.

- Lewdness or lasciviousness goes a bit further than uncleanness, which seeks sexual pleasure as it's end goals but without any modicum of decency!

- Standards are abandoned, concern for image and an understanding of acceptable boundaries are completely ignored for the sake of pleasure.

• Galatians 5:20a : "idolatry, sorcery," : These next two sins of the flesh fit in the category of religious experience. Idolatry is much more than beholding simple statues.

- Idolatry is any person, thing or event that takes precedence over God. In some respects, even God when represented by a static representation of Himself can be idolized!

- For example, a person in idolatry might name "God" as their god, but when they contradict what their "God" would do with what the "God" of the Bible actually does, this is idolatry!

- Most of the time, a person who is used to giving into their flesh, majors on God forgiveness and mercy regardless of intent to sin. They tend to leave out His holiness and justice.

- In the end, our false idols are simple projections of our own minds meant to assuage our guilt for giving into our flesh!

- Paul lists sorcery next, which is called "witchcraft" in the A.V., but comes from the Greek word which brings us the English word "pharmacy." Sorcery then is recreational drug usage.

- What is the connection? In the ancient days, hallucinogens were used to create an environment for worship to take place.

- Whatever experience a person had however, was not divine, but demonic in nature! Drugs, no matter how natural they are, are gateways for the mind to experience demonic power.

- Why does a person in the flesh want to be altered? Because they have lost their sensitivity to and enjoyment of the Lord! No wonder they want an escape!

• Galatians 5:20b : "hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, " : The next category of sins are relational in nature. Hatred speaks of someone who loves to stir up strife or hostility.

- These are the people who look for ways to ruin days, who seek words to use as weapons!

- Contentions speaks of wrangling without intent to learn or resolve and jealousies refer to heated rivalries between people.

- "Outbursts of wrath" is a single word in Greek and is descriptive of a person who allows his fury to boil and boil until it rises to the surface and destroys.

- This person is angry, knows that they are angry, remains angry, until that anger explodes like a volcano in every direction!

- Selfish ambitions refers to one who is always putting themselves forward, hoping like a politician to curry your favor for their own benefit.

- Aristotle used this word, to refer to a person seeking political office through unfair means.

- This person is electioneering purposely misrepresenting comments, casting aspersion, offering vague arguments and always doing so without the benefit of another's fair response!

- Dissensions refers to divisions and heresies follow soon after, as the word refers to storming a city. One divides the group after some idea and then the group seeks to wrest control of the whole!

- When we encountered the word "envy" in Romans 1, we discovered that it was like jealousy, but more sinister in nature.

- An envious person sees one with a gift or an advantage and instead of aspiring to that or even celebrating that, just wishes that nobody had it!

- Paul moves on to murders, which some manuscripts omit, but it speaks of slaughter. Like adultery, Jesus added further light to what God considers murder.

- Matthew 5:21 tells us that anger at a brother or sister without a cause is the root of murder. What then is "a cause?"

- If a person causes anger with their action or attitude toward you, you would be a super human not to respond with anger. However, if that person seeks your forgiveness, it's over!

- Being angry at that person at that juncture is to be angry at them without a cause! But our flesh does not need a cause does it!?

• Galatians 5:21a : "drunkenness, revelries, and the like;" : This is our final flesh category which speaks to social sins, beginning with drunkenness.

- The Bible does not decry drinking, but always condemns drinking with the express purpose of being drunk. That's what this word is. The intention is to get "wasted" or "smashed!"

- Revelries speak to the celebration of drinking parties in the name of the Roman god "Bacchus." These late night parties descended further and further into debauchery.

- It's not as if Paul is speaking about a night that just goes on and remains descent. The idea behind this is of a night that continues to push the envelope of human degeneracy!

- How low can you go? How bad can you be? Who can be dared into what kind of non-sensical display of foolishness? How far can we get away from our inhibitions? That was the sense of it.

- There are more things to speak of and Paul could have gone on, but instead summarizes with the phrase, "and the like!"

- With the flesh, Paul or anyone, can go on and on, adding eternally the traits that define our flesh, but this is enough of a sampling to show just how bad the flesh can be.

• Galatians 5:21b : "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." : This was not news to the Galatians. Paul had told them this before.

- Any of these things may be experienced by the believer, but the experience will be short lived, as the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts and directs us toward repentance.

- But if you find that these items on the list are not only a regular part of your life, but are celebrated and anticipated, Paul assures you that you have no inheritance in the Kingdom!

- "Wait!" you say. "Don't judge me!" It's true. I can't determine where you will go based on the information that I have before me. My understanding is finite and I don't know your heart!

- Furthermore, I don't know that once armed with a little knowledge now, that you won't simply repent from these actions, recognizing them as sin. But here's the kicker.

- YOU know your heart! You know your practice and your motive. And I can say with confidence that if you practice these things, you are proving that you are not fit for heaven!

- "But I said a prayer!" "But I came to church!" You did so in vain if these are the beloved tenets of your personal life.

- Perhaps you will fool the entire church. That's not difficult! You will never fool God and that's whose judgment will matter. If you have ears to hear, repent now, no matter the degree experienced!

• Galatians 5:22a : "But the fruit of the Spirit..." : The flesh works but fruit is borne.

- Fruit is a result of an abiding relationship and, unlike the works of the flesh, fruit comes from a source that is not you! It's the Holy Spirit's presence that brings about this fruit.

- The flesh can imitate what is seen here, but cannot initiate this fruit with any consistency and certainly not with the proper motive.

• Galatians 5:22,23a : "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." : The fruit of the Spirit is love. The Greek language has multiple words translated "love."

- This love is the word which speaks definitively of God's type of love. It is a love which expresses itself to all, is demonstrated by action and movement, motivated by Himself.

- It is a love for those who love Him and for those who do not love Him! That's the real rub isn't it? God's Spirit produces fruit that begins with love for friends and enemies alike!

- It's the love that sees the best end for the person it is pointed to and seeks to act in a way that is consistent with that best end in mind!

- The second word "joy" is a simple matter in English, mostly expressing what joy looks like, rather than what it is.

- Outwardly, joy resembles happiness or a cheerful disposition. The word itself is "chara."

- It's from the same word family as "grace." One can say that joy then is a deep seated response to grace. The greater the understanding of grace, the greater the change in disposition.

- This is why you can be going through difficult times and still be centered in joy, as God's grace reminds us of the favor that is ours, no matter how things feel in the moment.

- Much of the confusion on this point comes from those who seek to deny any negative feelings or have little patience as we work our way through them.

- Ultimately, no matter how strong the feeling is, the Holy Spirit will produce joy in a Christian's life, even though it might take varied amounts of time.

- Next to joy is peace. When the Greeks used this word, they spoke of a person whose conduct was at ease with all around them.

- These people were not stirring up trouble or seeking an argument. They lived with peace as the rule of their actions. This is peace with man and with God, but also with circumstances.

- These people are not moved because of the trust that they have in God.

- Longsuffering is an apt description of this word, which is also translated "patience." It's endurance of a person and a slowness to respond in kind when they are not so kind!

- "Well, they might be longsuffering but does their dislike eventually becomes aggressive, right?" No, in fact, right next to longsuffering is the word "kind."

- The sense of the word is gentleness towards people. The dictionary even uses the word "benignity." A Christian will be harmless in their encounters with people who seek their harm.

- Kindness is the external way about a Christian. "Goodness" describes the internal upright way of the godly one. The former is the action, the latter is the attitude!

- Faithful corresponds to the Christian belief and living with an eye toward that, expressing itself in faithful acts toward God and men.

- Gentleness is meekness or power under control. They are angry at the right times and at the right things and act redemptively, proportionate to what has been done.

- Finally, Paul lists "self-control" which is the divine strength to curb natural passions.

- Unlike the works of the flesh which might have touched your lives singularly at one time or another, each of the fruits of the Spirit must be a part of your Christian life!

- Love is expressed this way and is the true measure of a maturing Christian life!

• Galatians 5:23b : "Against such there is no law." : How could one impose a law upon such people whose character is godly and in line with superior moral principles!

- What law can touch an individual who consistently expresses these characteristics? Is not such a person the type of person the law was meaning to form? No wonder there is no need for it!

- This is why Paul asserts strongly that a Christian is not under the weight of keeping the law.

• Galatians 5:24 : "And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." : Those who belong to Jesus, in the number of those who have been saved and have been given the Holy Spirit have this attitude.

- The Lord's people have settled the issue once and for all: The flesh is not fit to live!

- Why is the law not given to Christians? Because they see their flesh crucified in Christ! Their ungodly actions and attitudes are counted with that which was covered in Jesus' finished work!

- What was crucifixion? It was judgment, death. The Christian person knows that his carnal nature is always rebellious against the Lord, which is why we deal with it brutally!

- We are not longer slaves to it's dictates of it's affections, seeking to please ourselves. A Christian can stand up and say "No! This desire was crucified! It has no hold over me!

- Even the most intense cravings lie dormant if the Christian takes this attitude into account.

Conclusion
- As we close, you will leave today with a conviction, as we all do when it comes to lists. There are some things that you will feel strongly. Be swift to respond to the Lord! There are two responses.

- Repent in the case of your flesh! That is the only appropriate response. If you see yourself at all in that list, confess it, say it out loud, agree with God that you have done it and be free!

- He is faithful and just to forgive the one who comes humbly and wholeheartedly!

- In the case of the fruit of the Spirit, Recommit! "Lord, I feel that some things are lacking in my life. I know that it's not you, but me! Show me what blocks the healthy flow of fruit from my life."

- As you consider, let the Lord guide and direct you, so that He can reopen the flow of His fruit.