Dance Lessons: Crucified Life
Galatians 5:22-25 (Part 4)
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
06-14-2020
Treasure Found
[Slide] Ten years ago, millionaire art dealer Forrest Fenn buried a box of hidden treasure filled with gold coins and precious gems worth at least two million dollars in the Rocky Mountains.
He then wrote a book about the search called “The Thrill of the Chase,” in which he left clues for how to find the treasure chest.
He estimates 250,000 people have tried to find the treasure over the past ten years and four people have died in their quest.
This past week, he announced that the treasure had been found! The person that found it wants to stay anonymous but sent a picture of him holding the box to Fenn.
As I read this story, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ words about the ?Kingdom of God:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)
Over the past four weeks, we have been studying how the Kingdom of God is lived out practically. This morning, I want to review where we have been and prepare us to examine chapter 6, the most practical section of the book of Galatians.
Last week, we finished examining the last three fruit of the Spirit - faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
Remember, that the Galatian Christians were being taught by the Judaizers that in order to become “real” Christians they had to obey the Mosaic law, follow the dietary rules, and, most importantly, enter the covenant community of the Jews through circumcision. In other words, they had to become Jewish to become real Christians.
But Paul wasn’t having any of this. To Paul, Jesus plus nothing equals everything!
Paul has spent these past verses giving his beloved Galatian brothers and sisters new steps so they can dance to the rhythm of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
If you missed last week’s sermon, or any of the sermons in this series, you can find them on our FaceBook page.
Turn with me to Galatians 5 and we will be finishing the chapter today.
Prayer
[Slide] Deeds of the Flesh
In Paul’s time, it wasn’t uncommon to give the readers a list of virtues and vices.
[Slide] “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)
When Paul writes that the deeds of the flesh or “obvious,” he doesn’t mean visible. Most of these sins are not visible, they are sins that can be hidden fairly well in the heart.
Most commentators admit that this list is somewhat chaotic and seems random. From the little tag “and the like” we learn that this list is not meant to be exhaustive.
These list of 15 can be divided into four categories:
Personal sins
Sins in relation to worship of God
Social sins
Lifestyle sins
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive. Elsewhere Paul’s lists of vices also include: murder, stealing, gossip, gluttony, lying, disrespecting parents, cheating, or greed, racism.
Paul ends this list with a warning that should make us soberly consider our lives:
[Slide] “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Does this mean that if you have ever lost your temper or lusted or got jealous that you are going to hell?
Let’s look at at that phrase “those live like this.” This means that people whose lifestyles are defined by these acts. It is a habitual way of life. This is visible proof that the Holy Spirit is not in the person and they are not in Christ and will not inherit the promises of Abraham, eternal life.
But that doesn’t mean that God can’t intervene and save a person like that. I have a friend who will tell you that he was drunk for nearly 20 years but recently got his 20 year sobriety coin. What made the difference? Jesus Christ!
But for those of us who do have the Spirit, when we fall (and we will), when we chose our flesh over submitting to the Spirit, we have a way back:
“If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of our sins, and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
[Slide] The Fruit of the Spirit
The the book of Psalms begins with these words:
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)
Paul gives the reason for this fruit:
“So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (Rom 7:4)
Paul then gives the Galatians, and us, a list of Christian virtues:
[Slide] “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Let’s review what we’ve learned:
What is the fruit of the Spirit? Alistair Begg defines the fruit of the Spirit as “a spontaneous product of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”
[Slide] 1. These fruit aren’t something we try to grow ourselves.
This fruit is the product of the Spirit’s work inside of us and not a product of behavior modification on our part. We don’t try to be more loving. We trust Christ to work the fruit of love in us:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
2 Corinthians 5:17 says that once we are in Christ, we are “new creations.” Part of this process of being a new creation is that God grows in us new character traits that proclaim Jesus to a lost and dying world around us.
[Slide] 2. The fruit of the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit are different things. Each Christian is given gifts of the Spirit but not all Christians have every gift.
The fruit are a package deal. It’s not like a buffet where you pick a little love and joy but leave gentleness and self control to others. God wants to grow well-rounded Christians.
[Slide} 3. The word “fruit” is singular as opposed to the “works” of the flesh. Think of these nine fruits as this bunch of grapes. It’s one bunch but has multiple grapes. Or a bouquet of flowers - one bouquet but multiple flowers. Or a precious gem that has nine facets.
[Slide] 4. This fruit grows gradually. The process happens with a Christian. The growth is subtle, quiet, and sometimes seasonal. We go through times when it doesn’t seem like anything is happening spiritually and then we go through spiritual growth spurts.
[Slide] 5. These fruit are inevitable. Tim Keller has said, “We are saved by faith and not by growing fruit. But our faith is not fruitless faith.” These fruit are simply the product of a normal Christian life.
Christians submitted to the Holy Spirit’s work inside of us will produce these nine character traits more and more as they grow spiritually.
[Slide] 6. These nine fruits are actually what one commentator calls “a character sketch of Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit’s job is to glorify Jesus and mold us and make us into the likeness of our Savior.
If you want to see what love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control look like, we can look to Jesus and to the cross.
He is our example and we are to follow His lead.
I want to tell you that, as your pastor, I was very convicted for my need to grow in all nine of these character traits. As many of you know, I’ve been driving back and forth to Memphis and trying to help my dad, who was diagnosed with dementia, and my stepmom, who is probably already in dementia herself.
I found myself standing outside the door of their house rehearsing these fruit and asking God to help me and then I would lose my temper with Rose or not be as gentle and patient as I wanted to be.
Maybe you understand that struggle. Thank God for grace! Thank God that I could confess that I just didn’t get it right and ask Rose for forgiveness.
Let’s move on to the last verses in this section before we start the last chapter of Galatians.
The Real Fulfillment of the Law
Paul ends the list of the fruit of the Spirit with a little dig at the Judaizers:
[Slide] “Against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:23)
Remember that the Judaizers were teaching that Paul’s “gospel” was dangerous. Without the law, how would people know how to act? How would they know what to do to please God? Wouldn’t that just lead to chaos and a “sin all you want” mentality?
One commentator put it this way, “[To Paul] the way to fulfill the law is not to live under the law like slaves, but to live by the Spirit as children of God.”
Humans are list keepers. We like to know where we stand.
Paul says, “Just let the Spirit lead you and you will be fine…you will fulfill the law.”
But the Judaizers would say, “That’s nice Paul but here are five things that you Galatians can do to keep God happy with you.”
Human nature loves that because then you can measure yourself against others - “Ooooh, I like those five rules! See I keep these five rules and she doesn’t. I’m better than her.”
It’s simpler to keep five rules than to submit oneself to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. But true freedom is only found in the Spirit, not the Law.
Be Killing Sin
Paul then gives us a graphic word picture of our battle against sin:
[Slide]“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24)
First, he identifies his readers as “those who belong to Christ.” This is a wonderful way to think about being a Christian.
All that He has is ours. God doesn’t accept us based on our performance or character, but He accepts us based on Jesus Christ’ righteousness applied to us.
What have these believers done to the old nature with its passions and desires?
We are called to crucified our flesh. Paul has already written something similar in chapter two:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)
Our old sinful nature was crucified with Christ. It was nailed to the cross with Him:
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (Romans 6:6)
But Paul’s thinking is a little different here in chapter five. In 2:20, this crucifixion was passive, something done to us.
But in this morning’s verses, the crucifixion is active. Here it is we who do the crucifying.
John Stott was written that crucifixion is an apt word picture for our dealing with sin. He points out that crucifixion was
Pitiless. The Romans were professionals at this practice. There was no mercy given to the condemned.
Painful. The practice of crucifixion was designed to be as painful as possible. By the end, the person would be so much agony that they would beg for death.
Decisive. Once the nails were driven through, there was no turning back. Death was inevitable.
Stott says this is no a “negotiated peace but a final execution…and once you nail it to the cross don’t mess with the nails.”
In the same way, we are to put to death our sin daily by repenting and consistently saying no to sin:
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14)
Jesus said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
Tim Keller writes that we are to “strangle sin at the motivational level not just the behavioral level…we need to ask why we sin, identify the idols in our hearts, and nail them to the cross.”
Keller gives us this prayer to follow:
“Lord, my heart thinks I must have this thing, otherwise I have no value. It’s a psuedo-savior. But to think, feel, and live this way is to forget what I mean to you, how you see me in Christ. By your Spirit, I will reflect on your love for me until that thing loses the attractive power to my soul.”
It’s not the law but the grace of God that give us this power:
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14)
John Owen, the Puritan writer, famously wrote:
[Slide] “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
Let’s stop right now and confess our sins together:
Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; we have not loved you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, and the good we have left undone. Lord, you are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy; there is always forgiveness with you! Restore to us the joy of your salvation; bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills, and rest to our souls. Speak to each of us, and let your word abide with us until it has wrought in us your holy will. Amen.
Spirit Led
[Slide] “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25)
Paul makes the case that the Christian life comes down to who we are following.
The idea of being led by the Spirit is a picture of
farmers herding cattle
Shepherds leading sheep
Soldiers escorting a prisoner to court or prison
Wind driving a ship
Since we are lead by and live in the Spirit, Paul encourages the Galatians to “keep in step with the Spirit.”
This is a picture of standing in a row, or to be in line with. It’s a picture of following the Holy Spirit’s cadence like a drill sergeant.
It’s a lot like follow the leader. Except our leader marches to a whole different rhythm than this world.
I attended a peaceful protest in Pontiac last weekend and was so proud of how many students were there. One of the things that simply warmed my heart were three girls that held a sign that simply said, “Can we pray for you?”
As we walk in, are led by, and stay in step with the Holy Spirit, we will dance to a rhythm that most people will not understand. Remember, those who dance are thought crazy by those who cannot hear the music.
This is so needed right now. James wrote:
Be slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to become angry.
It seems like most people, even Christ Followers get this mixed up and they are quick to speak, don’t listen at all, and quickly become outraged.
If we truly believe the local church is the hope of the world and that the Gospel is the answer to our world’s problems, we don’t have to be so defensive and angry all the time.
As we allow the Spirit to grow in us the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control, our relationships with our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, people that are different from us, people that disagree with us, and people that don’t look like us, will be living laboratories for the love of God to be expressed in practical ways.
Paul will give us two examples, one negative and one positive, of how this plays out in community. Let’s end today with the negative example and we will look at the positive next week.
How Not to Make Friends
Paul ends this section with a exhortation:
[Slide] “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Gal 5:26)
This is the opposite of walking in the Spirit.
The word conceited is an interesting term. It literally means “to boast where it's is nothing to boast about.” Older translations use the phrase “vain glory.” It’s the idea of empty pride.
I watched a video of Grayson Boucher, a basketball player known as The Professor. He’s one of the best ball handlers in the world, played with the “And 1” tour all over the world, and is an ambassador of hope to his fans.
He was messing around on an outdoor court and there was a guy standing off to the side trash-talking the entire time, telling everyone how bad would be beat him one on one.
The Professor said nothing but threw him the ball. Grayson literally didn’t say a word during the horrifically embarrassing beat down he put on this guy, but he had a big smile on his face the whole time.
That guy’s mouth was writing checks his body couldn’t cash!
This was the attitude of the Judaizers. Remember that they were racists. They considered themselves better than the Gentiles because they were Jews.
Paul writes that this conceit was playing out in two different ways - “provoking and envying each other.”
Provoking is a term that means to challenge someone. It can be used for athletic competitions that compare speed or strength. This is about superiority, showing who was better.
Envying, which was one of the “deeds of the flesh,” is more about inferiority. When we feel insecure about our gifts and talents, we can envy others.
When I first started teaching for Moody Bible Institute, Had to take a class about teaching online. Out of about 20 other prospective professors, I was the only one without a doctorate. Honestly, this was very intimidating for me. I ended up doing fine in the class but I had to fight feelings of not being good enough.
If you want examples of both, even among Christ Followers, you need only to spend ten minutes on social media such as FaceBook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Paul told the Philippians to do neither of these:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil 2:3)
C.S. Lewis wrote that humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
We need to be confident in our position in Christ. We are loved and accepted because of Jesus. We don’t have to puff ourselves but can view ourselves with objectivity:
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Rom 12:3)
We are to neither look down on others or feel inferior to others. Both of these postures of heart are rooted in our desire to gain glory for ourselves, to feel like we matter. We are to rest in God’s extravagant love and boldly proclaim his love to others.
Tim Keller lists some questions for us to consider and I’d like to ask Beth to come and play quietly.
1.Do you I have the tendency to “blow up” or “clam up?”
2. Do I tend to pick arguments with people our do I completely avoid confrontation?
3. Do I tend to get very down on individuals or groups of people or am I am more often embarrassed and intimidated around certain classes or kinds of people?
4. When criticized, do I get very angry and very judgmental - and simply attack right back? Or do I get discouraged and very defensive - make lots of excuses or give right in?
Do I often think: I would never, ever do what this person has done? Or do I loom at people and say, I could never, ever accomplish what that person does?
The only Person we are to compare ourselves to is Jesus and that will result in humility and a desire to be more like our Savior!
