Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join
us in this verse -by -verse study through the
Word of God. In this lesson, we'll be studying
Galatians chapter 5. Now, in light of all that
Paul has said, he now challenges the Galatians
to walk in the truth he presented. Let's start
now with verse 1. So, Christ has truly set us
free. We don't make ourselves free, and that
freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us and received
by faith. When we struggle to free ourselves,
we become more entangled in a yoke of bondage.
Continuing in verse 1, Now make sure that you
stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery
to the law. So, Paul is saying that it takes
effort to live in freedom. And people who are
legally made free in Jesus can still live in
bondage. They can be deceived into placing themselves
back into slavery. And if we choose bondage and
try to maintain a legal relationship with God,
we know that it isn't God's will. For God pleads
with us to take hold of His righteousness and
walk in freedom. tell you this, if you are counting
on circumcision to make you right with God, then
Christ will be of no benefit to you. It's important
to understand that circumcision was the initiation
ritual that meant a Gentile was becoming a Jew
and coming under the law. But for a Christian,
it meant that the person no longer trusted in
Jesus as his righteousness. When we embrace the
law as a rule of walking with God, we must let
go of Jesus. The system of grace and the system
of law are incompatible. You can only embrace
one thing. And how tragic is this? Jesus dying
on the cross, pouring out his blood, his life,
his love for us, means nothing if we choose legalism.
I'll say it again. If you are trying to find
favor with God by being circumcised, you must
obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.
The legalists among the Galatians wanted them
to think they could observe some aspects of the
law without coming under the entire law. But
here Paul is saying when you choose to walk by
law, you must walk by the whole law. You can't
just pick and choose. Verse 4. Now, the phrase
does not mean that if a Christian sins, he...
falls from grace and thereby loses his salvation.
To fall from grace in this context is to fall
into legalism. Verse 5, But we who live by the
Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness
God has promised to us. Now, because of our relationship
with the Holy Spirit, who lives in the believer,
we expect with confidence and anticipate with
pleasure. It's their definition of hope, right?
That we are right with God. We live our lives
confidently trusting we are clothed in Jesus's
righteousness. Verse six, for when we place our
faith in Christ Jesus, There is no benefit in
being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What
is important is faith expressing itself in love.
Those walking in the Spirit know that being circumcised
or uncircumcised means nothing. What matters
is faith and faith working through love, both
of which were clearly absent in the legalist's
teaching. So what does this mean? It means that
if your faith does not work, then it's really
not real. It's not real faith. And if faith is
not expressed in love, it is not real faith either.
Both love and faith go together. Love alone isn't
enough. Love must also have faith and abiding
trust in who Jesus is and what he did for us.
Picking up with verse seven, you were running
the race so well. Now, Paul looked back and remembered
that the Galatian believers, they started great
in faith when he shared the gospel with them.
And starting well is very important, but continuing
and finishing well are equally important as starting
well. Continuing verse seven, who has held you
back? From following the truth. The original
language gives us a picture of a road that's
being chopped up or broken up. So Paul is saying
that the truth that they started on, someone
has come in and taught them or gave them new
information that is chopped up and broken up
the road that they started on. And it's making
it impassable now with this new false teaching.
At the root of it all, the Galatians were leaving
Jesus to pursue the false and empty teachings
of a man, of the false teacher. And in this case,
the false teaching was legalism. Verse 8. It
certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called
you to freedom. Paul acknowledged that the false
teaching came from a person. the one who was
holding them back, but he also wanted the Galatians
to realize that the way of legalism did not come
from Jesus and was not endorsed by Jesus. Verse
9. This false teaching is like a little yeast
that spreads through the whole batch of dough.
The corrupting influence of legalism is compared
to yeast in a lump of dough. A little bit of
yeast. goes through the entire batch of dough.
And in Jewish thought, yeast almost always stood
for an evil influence. Paul is saying that their
commitment to trying to be right with God by
following rules and rituals, it may seem like
a small thing, but it's so dangerous that it
can corrupt everything concerning their faith.
Verse 10. On a positive note, Paul was confident
that the Holy Spirit would use his letter to
clear the path for the Galatians to get back
on the right road. He was also confident that
God would deal with the false teacher. Verse
11. Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still
preaching that you must be circumcised, as some
say I do, why am I still being persecuted? Now,
someone might accuse Paul of preaching circumcision
because he asked Timothy, his partner, to be
circumcised. But Paul didn't ask Timothy to be
circumcised so he could be saved or more saved.
Timothy was circumcised so he could share the
gospel with Jews who were taught from childhood
to have nothing to do with Gentiles. Now, Timothy
had a Greek father, but a Jewish mother. Continuing
in verse 11. If I were no longer preaching salvation
through the cross of Christ, no one would be
offended. Here we can understand that legalism
can't handle the offense of the cross. The whole
point of Jesus dying on the cross was to say
this. You can't save yourself. I must die in
your place for you to have any hope at all. See,
when we trust in legalism, we believe that we
can, at least in part, save ourselves. or be
right with God based on our performance. Verse
12. I just wish that those troublemakers who
want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate
themselves. That's a pretty strong statement,
right? In their society, there was a sacred castration
that was known to citizens in the ancient world.
It was frequently practiced by pagan priests.
Paul's idea here is something like this. If cutting
will make you right with God, why don't you do
like the pagan priests and go all the way and
castrate yourself to the teachers that were promoting
this to be right with God. Now, in this dramatic
conclusion, Paul makes one thing very clear.
Legalism is not a little thing or a tolerable
doctrine. It can't be mixed in with the message
of grace. Legalism takes away our freedom, our
liberty, and subjects us to bondage. It makes
Jesus and his work of no effect to us. It puts
us under obligation to the whole law. and it
violates the work of the Spirit of God. Legalism
makes us focus on things that are irrelevant.
It keeps us from running the race Jesus has set
before us. It isn't from Jesus. And remember,
a little bit of legalism will poison an entire
church. Picking up in verse 13. Paul has made
this point over and over again. The Christian
life is a life of freedom. Jesus came to set
the captives free, not to keep them in bondage
or put them under a new type of bondage all over
again. Freedom is one of the foundational essences
of being a Christian. It is the beginning of
living a victorious Christian life. Continuing
in verse 13, The great fear of the legalist is
that liberty will be used as an opportunity for
the flesh. The idea that people will just go
out and sin as they please, then say to a spineless
God, I'm sorry, please forgive me, and then go
on doing whatever they want again. But it's important
to remember that freedom is not the right to
sin. Freedom keeps us from being consumed with
guilt, shame, and condemnation so we can continue
advancing God's kingdom. in the earth through
love and service. Verse 14, for the whole law
can be summed up in this one command, love your
neighbor as yourself. So here Paul's saying it
all boils down to this one thing, loving God
and loving people. Verse 15, but if you are always
biting and devouring one another, watch out.
See, this is how the church can act when it uses
its quote -unquote freedom as a platform to promote
selfishness. If you want to see some action,
all you have to do is put two selfish people
together. Selfish people will eventually consume
one another. It's always their way or the highway,
and it never ends well. Verse 16. So I say, let
the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't
be doing what your sinful nature craves. So here,
what does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Let's
talk about that a second. Well, walking in the
Spirit, being Spirit -led, means that we are
constantly aware, we constantly acknowledge.
that the Holy Spirit lives in us. He indwells
the believer at salvation. It also means that
we are open and sensitive to the impressions
and voice of the Spirit. We know His voice, we
follow His voice, and we're sensitive to His
voice. And we're quick to follow the direction
the Holy Spirit gives because his voice leads
us in the path of righteousness, into the path
of freedom, and into the path of truth. So the
Spirit -filled life is not a life of legalism
or license to sin, you could say, or some sort
of middle way between the two. It is a life of
faith and love. that is above all other ways.
For it is impossible to walk in the Spirit and
fulfill the lust of the flesh at the same time.
The two simply don't go together. Verse 17 The
sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just
the opposite of what the Spirit wants. When Paul
uses the term flesh, or sinful nature here, He
doesn't mean our flesh and blood bodies are the
fallen nature we inherited from Adam, because
that old man was crucified with Jesus and is
now dead and gone, according to Romans 6 .6.
Instead, as Paul uses it here, the flesh or sinful
nature refers to our mind, our will, and emotions.
that were trained and patterned by the influences
of sin and this world before we came to Christ.
Continuing in 17, And the Spirit gives us desires
that are the opposite of what the sinful nature
desires. So this is a part of the Holy Spirit's
work in us. The Holy Spirit works in us through
the word to transform our mind, our will, and
our emotions, transforms our soul as we yield
to him. Further in 17 says this, these two forces
are constantly fighting each other. So you are
not free to carry out your good intentions. But
when you are directed by the Spirit, you are
not under obligation to the law of Moses. So
here Paul is saying that the antidote to the
flesh is not found in the law, but in the Spirit.
We fulfill the will of God through the inner
influence of the Holy Spirit, instead of the
outer influence of the law. And as we know, an
inner influence is far more effective than an
outer influence. Verse 19 When you follow the
desires of your sinful nature, the results are
very clear. Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful
pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,
dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild
parties, and other sins like these. Now, this
is not a new legalistic list of don'ts to replace
the mosaic list of rules. This is a picture,
and what Paul is describing here is a flesh -led
life. This is what that flesh -led life looks
like. This is what it amounts to. We could also
view this as a quote -unquote fruit of an unrenewed,
non -transformed mind. Continuing in verse 21,
let me tell you again as I have before. that
anyone living that sort of life will not inherit
the kingdom of God. So what is Paul saying is
at stake here? He's saying that the kingdom of
God is at stake. What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is the eternal rule and reign
of God, as well as the benefits of living in
his kingdom, which we know are blessing, victory,
and freedom. Think of it this way. Think of the
picture of the prodigal son. He was always a
son, but he had no access to family benefits
when he was living far away from his father.
The verses that Jeffrey just read that explain
what a flesh -led life looks like, it shows us
something about the nature of people. And we
can find out more information on this in 1 Corinthians
2 and 3. We find out that there's three types
of people. One is a natural person. This is a
person who is not a Christian. They're not born
again, and they're led by their flesh or their
sensual nature. They live by what feels good
or what seems right in their own eyes. But then
there's also a carnal person. A carnal person
is a Christian, but... they still live according
to their flesh they're an immature christian
they stay on a childhood level because they're
not serious about god's word and they don't walk
in the spirit and just by looking on the outside
we can't tell much difference between a natural
person and a carnal christian but then we see
and first corinthians 3 there's also a spiritual
person this is a christian who is led by the
holy spirit and they're serious about the word
of god they're led by the word of god they're
growing and they're regularly receiving the word
of god and they're walking in the spirit in the
next verses we're going to see a picture of what
a holy spirit led life looks like as opposed
to the flesh -led life. Galatians 5 .22 But the
Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our
lives. And the first one is love. It can be translated
love, affection, benevolence, being concerned
about the well -being of someone, also a love
feast. It includes fellowship and the desire
for friendship and fellowship together. The next
one is joy. Now, joy is translated also cheerfulness
and delight. It's not something that's hidden.
As we've looked at before, the joy of the Lord
is our strength and joy is a characteristic.
A person walking in joy is a characteristic of
someone who is being led by the spirit, just
like all of these that we're looking at right
now. So the fruit. of the Holy Spirit in our
lives is love and joy and then peace. That Greek
word is arene. It's translated peace and quietness,
calmness, rest, to set at one. Our minds aren't
just scattered in a hundred different directions.
It's also translated prosperity because prosperity
doesn't exist without peace and calmness and
rest. in our hearts it doesn't matter how much
we have if we don't have the peace of god then
it's not prosperity the holy spirit produces
this kind of fruit in our lives love joy peace
and then here's everyone's favorite patience
patience is being long tempered long suffering
also not quick to give up but not quick to be
angered either Do we have patience? The next
one is kindness. That Greek word is krestates.
And it means kindness. It means usefulness, gentleness.
It means moral excellence in character or demeanor.
Next one is goodness. That's a fruit of the Holy
Spirit. It means goodness. It means good for
use. It means doing or producing good. See, a
Spirit -led person is always doing and producing
good. Next one is faithfulness, and that word
is most often translated just faith, but it means
actually living in faith and being faithful,
right? So it's having a complete confidence in
God and His Word. to the degree that it results
in corresponding action. That's how we show faithfulness
to what God has said, to what He has promised,
and how we live. We have complete confidence
in God. And in verse 23, it picks up with gentleness.
This word is translated meekness, mildness, humility.
And all those are characteristics of a person
who is spirit -led. And then we have self -control.
And that means being strong and being able to
control yourself, to control your emotions, to
control your thoughts. All those things. Self
-control. To control your actions. Those are...
Identifiers of a spirit led life. Is having all
of those things. Now verse 23 goes on to say
this. There is no law against these things. Now
obviously when a person walks in the spirit.
And the fruit of the spirit is evident in their
lives in increasing measure. There's no need
for any rules if we are being Spirit -led. Verse
24 says this, Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have nailed the passions and desires of their
sinful nature to His cross and crucified them
there. When we live Holy Spirit -led lives, we
are symbolically nailing our flesh on the cross
with Jesus. It's impossible to be led by our
flesh while we are yielding to and being led
by the Holy Spirit. Verse 25. Since we are living
by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading
in every part of our lives. So since the Holy
Spirit has given us spiritual life, we should
follow Him. We should walk in step with Him.
Now, to give us an idea of what spirit -led means,
because we hear those words, but we don't always
understand what it means, let's unpack it a little
bit. To be spirit -led means that we're constantly
aware that the Holy Spirit lives in us. As the
Bible says in Corinthians, it says, You know,
don't you know that your body is the temple of
the Holy Spirit? See, when we come into a relationship
with Christ, the Holy Spirit moves in, takes
up residence on the inside of us. But to be spirit
led means that we're constantly aware and we're
constantly acknowledging that he is with us.
And it's more than just being aware and acknowledging.
It's also saying if we're spirit led that we're
open and sensitive to the impressions and the
voice of the spirit because he is always leading
us and guiding us. And we need to be sensitive
to that. Usually it's a still small voice or
an impression or following peace and stopping
when we. get an uneasy feeling we we've got to
recognize that that's the holy spirit telling
us to stop right and it's more than just being
open and sensitive it's more than being aware
and acknowledging it's also being quick to follow
the holy spirit whatever he is leading us to
do or leading us to say we need to be quick to
follow those are descriptions Of what it means
to be spirit led. And then in verse 26. It says
let us not become conceited. So he's telling
us. Don't get prideful when you walk in the spirit.
Don't have an air about you. That you're closer
to God. And better than everyone else. Who's
obviously less spiritual than you are. I mean
we should never get to that point. And it goes
on to say. It says, let us not become conceited,
but then it says, or provoke one another. Spiritual
pride is offensive. It rubs people the wrong
way. It's a source of many unnecessary conflicts
among believers. It goes on to say this. I'll
read the whole verse again. Let us not become
conceited or provoke one another or be jealous
of one another. Now, this is looking at it from
a different angle because sometimes when we look
at people and we think that they're more spiritual
than we are because we're comparing ourselves,
which we're not supposed to do, sometimes we
begin to heap condemnation on ourselves when
we think that they're further along or they're
more spiritual than we are. And he's saying,
don't be jealous. Don't be jealous over someone
being more spiritual than you. Let their relationship
with God, let their walk of faith inspire you,
not condemn you. Let it inspire you to draw closer
to God and be more in step with the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for joining us for Life Group. Allow
God's Word to build your faith and transform
your life.