In Step With the Spirit

Introduction

How would you define a spiritual person? Sometimes we will say that a person is spiritually minded. What does that mean? It falls into the same category as saying a person is a faithful Christian. It’s almost as if we have an unstated understanding of what we mean by that phrase. In fact, it seems that such statements are made in terms of how a person fulfills certain criteria that we either verbally or mentally lay out for that person. We attribute certain actions to spiritual mindedness. Regular attendance at worship, Bible reading, praying, active participation in a program can often be used to measure a person’s spiritual level. Is that what it means to be spiritual?

We have to make sure that our way of thinking of spirituality aligns with what God says. In our passage this morning, Paul is going to define spirituality for us. He is going to reveal the secret to a spiritual life. It may surprise you what he says are the marks of a spiritual person. What may even be more sobering is that Paul connects a spiritual person to attitudes rather than actions. At the heart of Paul’s teaching is that the spiritual person is led by the Spirit. Spirit-led people are spiritual people. Paul will reveal to us what a spiritual person looks like in these verses.

Listen to a reading from Galatians 3:10-14. If we try to prove our worth to God by keeping the commands, then we will utterly fail. We misplace our faith. There is only trusting ourselves to do everything right. Jesus died on the cross so that we would not have to try to earn our position with God. He also died so that we would receive God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit is ours because we place faith in what Jesus did as being sufficient to take care of our sins. Let’s begin with a period of praise in which we celebrate our forgiveness.

Colossians 1:21-23. It is hard for us to imagine being God’s enemy. But our actions verified that we were not spiritual people. While we needed to change our actions, we know that actions cannot bring us to God. Only Jesus through his death on the cross could bring us to God. Only Jesus could make peace between us and God. As Paul says in verse 23 as we continue to hold on to our faith in what Christ has done, then God sees us as holy, faultless and free from any accusation. There is no condemnation for us because our faith is in the work of Jesus on the cross. Let’s sing about the peace which comes because of what Jesus has done.

Spirit Versus Flesh

In verses 16 and 17, Paul uses two terms to describe the conflict which takes place in the life of the Christian. The first term is Spirit. This refers to the Holy Spirit. To live by the Spirit means to name Jesus as Lord and Savior. It means to put God at the center of your life. The second term is translated in the NIV as “sinful nature” and is literally “flesh.” Flesh means to set one’s sights on sin. It describes a breaking of relationship with God. It is to put self at the center of your life. These two attitudes then are at conflict with each other as Paul says in verse 17. Paul encourages the Galatians to live by the Spirit and thus they will not give in to the flesh. If we put God at the center of our lives then we will not have room for self. If Jesus is Lord then our relationship with God is not broken and there is no room for sin.

Paul quickly adds verse 18 in which he equates flesh and law. For Paul there is no difference. If we are led by the Spirit then we are not obligated to keep the law as a means of our salvation. If we try to keep the law as the means to meriting our salvation with God then we are living according to the flesh. For Paul the law represents an appeal to self. The Spirit is an appeal to God. Flesh makes us look at human effort. Spirit makes us look at God’s effort. Remember back in chapter 3:3, Paul asked the Galatians having begun with the Spirit how are they now trying to reach their goal by human effort. The word for “human effort” is flesh. We walk with the Spirit or we can do it on our own. It is our choice.

What Paul means in verse 18 is that the Spirit will empower us to live right. Living by the Spirit doesn’t mean that we are lawless, but that the Spirit alone is sufficient to resist the flesh. The more we give ourselves over to the leading of the Spirit the more we will honor God with our lives. Paul makes this point in verses 19-23 by listing the acts of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The first list demonstrates the actions that people will have who are trying to live by the flesh. Neither list is exhaustive, but both give the general idea of what is so obvious. Flesh living leads to obvious sins against God. Spirit living leads to attitudes which honor God.

Living by the flesh produces sexual immorality, worshiping other gods, relationship problems, and excesses. These Paul says are obvious. You don’t have to have laws to know these things are wrong. In contrast to living by the flesh is being led by the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit while not exhaustive are not intended to be picked over and decided which ones you want. All nine are produced in the life of the Christian who is keeping in step with the Spirit. Paul’s conclusion about these items is that there is no law against them. We could understand it to mean that the law doesn’t condemn a person who lives this way.

Application

So what should we learn from all of this. First, what are obvious deeds of the flesh need to be looked at very carefully. Sin, when living by the flesh and placed on a questionnaire, would be easy to spot. But they are not so easy when they are a part of our lives. We would never be sexually immoral, but maybe we might flirt a bit. We would never build an idol, but we will allow pursuit of some goal to take God’s place. We would never consider ourselves selfish but would dig our heels in to get our way. Sin is never easy to see in our own lives.

Second, the Holy Spirit produces the fruit. They are not human accomplishments. Nor can they be attained by human effort. If that were the case, then we would be back to living by the flesh. The Spirit given to us by promise (3:14) produces these things within our lives; thus, all glory goes to God. The fruit of the Spirit reveals the transformation which takes place because of the Spirit’s presence. What we too often try to do is talk about the fruit of the Spirit as if we accomplish something. The truth is that we choose to allow the Spirit to lead us but only he can produce the kind of character that honors God. It is not within us to love the way God loves. Only the Spirit can produce a love which resembles God’s. Only the Spirit can produce a joy which sees beyond circumstances. Only the Spirit can give us peace which passes all understanding. Only the Spirit can produce patience which endures through difficulties. The fruit of the Spirit produces these qualities.

Third, this text gives us Paul’s definition of a spiritual person. One who exhibits the fruit of the Spirit is spiritual. When one is living by the Spirit then one is spiritual. How can we tell when someone is living by the Spirit? We examine his life in terms of the fruit. We don’t look at his accomplishments. When we do we have reverted back to the law and to the flesh. This doesn’t mean that we are lawless but that we don’t decide a person’s spiritual condition by a checklist which consists of human effort.

Fourth, according to verse 24 we have a role to play in this matter. Verse 24 says that those who belong to Jesus have crucified the flesh along with its desires. Paul is not living in a vacuum. He understands the tension between flesh and Spirit. His point is that those who belong to Jesus have done what they could to turn away from the flesh. They do not go back to living by the flesh. We must choose whether to live by the Spirit or to live by the flesh. But we cannot do both. Which will you choose?

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