Sermon for HCBC (26 July 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
Introduction
How do we change? It’s a question worth asking because if we are honest with ourselves, there are always things we want to change. We may want to be less critical or angry. Or, we may have a problem that we just can’t control like an addiction.
Christianity teaches that real change is only possible through the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is only available to those who embrace Christ. Today I want to look at Galatians 5 and show you how the Spirit empowers us to change. The beautiful thing about this passage is that it strikes a balance between legalism on one hand—that is, following rules—and libertinism on the other—that is, no rules. There is a better way. It’s not based on management strategies where we try to change through restrictions. Nor is it based on indifference where we embrace our worst impulses. It is based on dependence on the Spirit.
Walk by the Spirit
Let’s take a look at the passage. Verse 16 begins with a single command, and this command governs the whole section. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” “Walk by the Spirit.” Walking is something of a metaphor in Scripture. The idea is to live your life according to the Spirit. Listen to how the NLT translates the verse: “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.” That’s the command.
Here is the outcome. “And you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Flesh in the Bible usually isn’t a reference to the physical body. Typically, especially in the NT, it refers to the sin nature—the part that is naturally opposed to God. Again, the NLT is helpful: “Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” Pay close attention. This is the result not a second command. Paul does not say, “Walk by the Spirit and don’t obey your sinful cravings.” He says, “When you walk by the Spirit, you won’t obey your sinful cravings.” There’s only one command: “Walk by the Spirit.”
So the key to change is submitting to the Holy Spirit—walking by the Spirit, living by the Spirit, letting the Spirit be your guide. Why is this the key to change? What is the relationship between the Spirit and turning from sinful cravings? The Holy Spirit and the sinful nature are opposed. Verse 17: “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
The life of the Christian is a life of warring tensions between the flesh and the indwelling Spirit. Elsewhere, the Bible speaks of the old man versus the new man (2 Cor 5). Or consider Paul’s teaching in Romans 8:13: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Notice the only way to put to death the deeds of the sinful nature is “by the Spirit.” Real change doesn’t happen by following laws. Real change doesn’t happen through management strategies.
Look what Paul says next in Galatians 5:18: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Now he doesn’t mean God’s instruction is irrelevant. But he does mean that the law cannot bring real change. The law is a management strategy based on human effort. It is an attempt to bring about change through our own efforts. Some people call it white-knuckling because we grip as hard as we can striving to make changes. But what happens? We burn out. We lose motivation. We give up. It produces only superficial change.
On this point, there is always the danger of focusing only on rules. We talk about all the things we shouldn’t do. But even if someone is successful in avoiding all the bad stuff has that produced real change? No. This is why many religious people gain a reputation for being terrible people despite all their efforts. They may avoid many things that they have determined are problematic, but there is no real change in their hearts. Management strategies don’t produce positive change. For example, some Christians have identified alcohol as the greatest of evils, and they are tremendously proud of themselves for avoiding it. But the avoidance of alcohol is no indication that one has given themselves over to God. It is no indication that real change has happened. That is why Paul says the Spirit and the law are opposed. The law can’t change you. Even if someone is quite good at following the letter of the law, this will not produce change. This is why vv. 19–21 come next.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
First, notice that this is not a comprehensive list. He concludes with the phrase “and things like these.” Second, don’t forget the context. If you pull this verse out of context and forget what else Paul has said, you will make the mistake that so many have made. You will think it is about managing sin by avoiding the things in this list. That is not Paul’s point. Paul’s point is that real change is evident by what it produces. Third, notice that this list is remarkably broad. You may not struggle with sorcery, but you produce division. That’s a symptom of the flesh being in power.
Now why would Paul say that “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”? Isn’t salvation through faith alone by grace alone? Yes, it is! It’s a point Paul makes absolutely clear in this very book. One example is in 3:11: “So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law.” If that’s the case, what does Paul mean when he says “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”? He means that saving faith in Christ results in the indwelling Spirit who begins a work of transformation. Notice the word “inherit.” This is an important key. Those who inherit the kingdom of God are those who have been adopted as God’s children. They are the heirs. He doesn’t say “they will earn the kingdom of God.”
How do we know we have been adopted? Romans 8:14–15:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit’s work in our hearts is the fundamental evidence of our adoption. Please note, it is not: Did you say a prayer or were you baptized or did you join a church? It is: Has the Spirit warmed your heart to the gospel? Do you worship Jesus? Do you desire to obey him? Do you sense the Spirit of God working in your heart and on your affections? Evidence of adoption is love and affection for God.
The surest sign of the Spirit’s activity is real change even if it is slow. Look what Paul says in Gal 5:22–23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These are the signs that the Spirit is at work. It’s not based on law or rule-following, but genuine change through reliance on the Spirit.
How does the Spirit begin this work? He begins this work when one is united to Christ by faith. Salvation is not merely transactional in the sense that we go to heaven when we die. Salvation is being caught up into life with God—what the Bible calls eternal life. It is participation and union and identification with Christ. That’s why Paul says this in v. 24: “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Change happens through association with Christ not through trying harder or management strategies.
How Do We Walk by the Spirit?
Now that we’ve looked at the whole passage, I want to go back to that first command: “Walk by the Spirit.” And I want to ask: What does that mean? How do we do that?
The command implies cooperation. Why else would Paul say, “Walk by the Spirit”? It is possible not to walk by the Spirit. What is walking? Well it means being guided, following. It is a metaphor the Bible uses for learning from and listening to. Here is what Paul means by “walk by the Spirit.” He means surrendering our lives to the Spirit. Abandoning our self-will. Giving up control. Depending on the Spirit. Consulting the Spirit. Asking for the Spirit’s help. It’s a picture of complete reliance on the Spirit and continually turning over our will.
Dallas Willard once wrote, “So … life as normally understood, where the object is securing myself, promoting myself, indulging myself, is to be set aside.” That is the first principle. John Calvin put it this way: “For as the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom, than to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let this, then be the first step, to abandon ourselves, and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of God.” It’s the same thing Jesus teaches when he says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Not my will but yours.
Let me make two practical suggestions.
1. Walking by the Spirit must be practiced. This is a habit to be cultivated not something to do whenever the need seems to arise. Have you ever watched a professional golfer hit a ball so perfectly and effortlessly? Despite what we might think, that shot didn’t happen in that moment. What you are seeing is hundreds of thousands of hours of practice manifested in a two-second golf swing. Likewise, holiness is the result of countless hours of unseen preparation. One person referred to this as “daily care.” Others talk about spiritual disciplines. The point is the same. Dependence on the Spirit begins with unseen moments of interacting with Scripture, meditation, silence, fasting, and prayer. The fruits of the Spirit are the result of a cumulating daily dependence and cooperation with the Spirit. If we spend little time in concerted practice, then we should not be surprised that we see little change. Put another way, if we don’t spend time in private prayer having our will bent to God’s, it should not surprise us when we lack the wisdom to control our temper.
2. Walking by the Spirit requires community. We would misinterpret this passage if we thought it only concerned individuals. Notice what Paul says back at the end of v. 13: “Use your freedom to serve one another in love. And v. 14: “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Then v. 15: “But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.” Only after saying those things does he say in v. 16: “Walk by the Spirit.” We cannot learn to walk by the Spirit without community.
There are at least two reasons for this. First, the fruits of the Spirit are only visible in community as we love and serve each other. Second, God designed community to be a primary means of shaping us. Confessing our sins to each other, really knowing each other, and embracing each other is one of the most powerful means of shaping who we are. Sadly, most churches do a poor job of this. Churches claim to be places of community but are usually not safe places to be known. When is the last time you confessed your sins to someone else in the church? When is the last time a group met to discuss the evils of their heart and rather than criticism and judgment, there was embrace and prayer? Individual Christianity is not biblical Christianity. It’s that simple.
Change is possible, but it requires daily reliance on the Spirit and commitment to a body of believers.
Conclusion
John Walvoord was a well-known theologian and president at Dallas Theological Seminary. On his deathbed, he was asked for advice. He thought for a moment, and then this learned, well-known theologian said: “‘Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the lusts of the flesh.’ It really does work.” Real change is only possible through the Spirit, but it is possible. We must embrace Christ and identify with him completely if we ever want to see real change. As C. S. Lewis said, “Out of ourselves, into Christ, we must go.” That is what we must do.