Well, howdy! Now, I have to tell you that today
we're going to be looking at something that sort
of balances out our sermon from last week. Last
week we were talking quite a bit about how we
are no longer under the law, but this week we're
going to understand how it is that being out
from under the law does not mean that we are
lawless. It does not mean that anything goes.
When I was in high school there was this one
point in time where my mom had to try to drive
both my sister and I to school and after a little
while she realized it was just too difficult
we're in two very different parts of town with
our school and so she asked one of our Friends
that we'd known since I was in elementary school
to go ahead and drive me to school Well, what
I realized is that she was going to have to leave
with my sister before my driver was going to
get there. Oh, man. I was free. I could be by
myself, do whatever I wanted, and I'm thinking,
oh, goodness, what am I going to do with all
this freedom? And I'm thinking to myself, I could
jump back into bed. Oh, man, I could just go
sleep a little bit longer. That'd be great. And
then I'm like, well, we never turn on the TV
in the mornings. I'm going to go turn on cartoons.
And so I was like, oh, I'm going to go watch
some cartoons and everything else. And then I'm
thinking, Oh man, if I wanted a second bowl of
cereal, let's go do that. And so I'm thinking
to myself, all of these things that I could do
now that I was free. And I had the whole morning
to myself. Except then I started kind of realizing,
wait a minute, I'm already up. And I try to go
back to bed, I'm not really sleeping any longer.
That's not really gonna help very much. Maybe
an extra five or 10 minutes. And then I'm thinking,
wait a minute, I've already full. I don't really
want another bowl of cereal. And then even more
than that, wait a minute, I could turn on the
cartoons, but I still gotta get dressed, I've
still gotta do all this other stuff, and I'm
like, if I'm late, oh man, this family is gonna
be upset at me. And so what I realized is that
while I didn't have my mom standing there just
saying, get ready, you've gotta go, push me out
of bed, I was like, oh. I've got to be responsible.
Oh, this is terrible. I mean, I was a high schooler.
Who wants to be responsible at that time? But
what I realized is that while the freedom was
real, I could maybe take my time or relax a little
bit. I didn't have to worry about being ready
when everybody else was ready. I also realized
that I had to be using it responsibly and respectfully.
We see in places like Romans 6, And it says,
what shall we say then are we to continue in
sin that grace may abound by no means? As much
as we may be joyful and glad that we can get
out from underneath the law and everything it
condemns us to and holds us to standards that
may not always be fair, at the same time, that
doesn't mean that anything goes. You see, Christian
freedom It's not about trying to see how far
we can go technically without thinking that we're
sinning. It's about choosing to love others over
indulging ourselves. The thing is, is that in
many ways, being out from the law actually holds
us to a higher standard. Because instead of trying
to look to say, did I do all the things that
something said for me to do, instead is to ask,
What is it that I know that God would actually
want at this time? You see, we're pivoting this
week, where we're looking to see that the warning
doesn't mean about not sinning, but rather is
to realize that we no longer take things lightly.
And in many ways, we take it even more seriously
than before. See, Paul, he warns us that while
we are free, We're not supposed to use freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh, as an opportunity
to whatever just strikes us at the moment, just
do whatever we feel like at that point. But rather
is to ask how it is that we serve one another.
See, loving one another is what fulfills the
law. But you see, going past the rigid rule keeping,
the spirit is actually teaching us how to respect
others. how to love the world and to care for
them, how to do what's right whenever it's not
expected of us. You see, last week we were talking
about how we're trying to get away from letting
the rules end up determining everything for us.
I remember when I was younger and the discussion
would come about the Ten Commandments. And we'd
always get to the part that says, you shall not
bear false witness. You know, it's like, oh,
well, don't lie. Someone would always come up
with, well, what about Nazi Germany? There was
always something. What about if someone came
to the house of Anne Frank and they're supposed
to say, oh, well, do you have any Jewish people
in your home? And if you're telling the truth,
well, then you'd give away who it is that's inside
of there. And every time, someone would always
have trouble. Well, I mean, you really shouldn't.
But maybe you could kind of say it a certain
way to try to not answer them but also not give
them away. No, the answer is lie. Tell them that
they're not in there. Come on, it's not difficult.
But the funny part was that people were trying
so hard to go back and spell it out instead of
just looking and saying, wait a minute, what's
actually the right thing to do right now? And
of course, bearing false witness actually just
really means don't do things that harm someone's
reputation by telling something falsely. But
people were so focused on what they saw written
that they couldn't get past enough just to say,
the answer's pretty clear. Love your neighbor.
See, Christian liberty, it's not about removing
our moral boundaries. It's about re -centering
them in love and in the Spirit's leading rather
than in the laws that we see in front of us.
You see, there is still a struggle that's going
on. But not because of people and the law, but
rather a struggle, a battle between flesh and
the spirit. See, the battle between flesh and
the spirit, that's the place where we really
have the biggest difficulty. See, what we end
up seeing is this internal conflict It actually
shows what's really happening because as much
as we may say, well, just do the right thing
at all times. Yeah. How easy is that? How often
is it that we are sitting there or maybe lying
in bed and we know that there's plenty to do
and out comes the phone and all the scrolling.
and all of the social media or even just wanting
to sit there and text a bunch of people that's
on your mind or you're like I'll just go ahead
and call so and so and talk for a bit and then
it's an hour and a half later and you realize
that everything was getting completely missed
and not done or how we might be looking at someone's
pictures and In our mind we know that we're supposed
to be happy for them, but in our heart we're
saying, oh, I can't believe that so -and -so
is off doing this and I don't get to do it. Or
how many times that we may be seeing someone's
cutting us off in traffic and we know that they
can't hear us. We know we're supposed to stay
calm and those words just come out. Although
I was really grateful that growing up, all that
my dad would come up with was dead gummit and
stupid head. So my cussing was not something
that developed as a child. But you see, as much
as we know how we're supposed to live, but we
still fall into it. We still do it. Because we
live in this body. We aren't just some spirit
floating around in this flesh. This flesh is
a part of us. And we still give in time and time
again, even though we know we shouldn't. And
even at times when we don't want to. Because
the thing is, is that we know that God is speaking
to us not because He's trying to get us to follow
the law, but because He's trying to get us to
follow His Spirit and to reject what our flesh
keeps leading us into. See, walking by the Spirit,
it's meant to lead us away from gratifying all
those desires. See, legalism, getting to a point
of just saying, well, you didn't do what the
rules said you're supposed to do. Yeah, that's
not going to go very far, because then we'll
always find a way to get around them, or a way
to avoid anybody seeing it. But you see, being
led by the Spirit, as we continue to ask God,
what is it that You desire of me? What is Your
Word teaching me? What is it that You are convicting
me of? It actually points us toward where we're
supposed to live, and what we're supposed to
do. See, we're supposed to live in the Kingdom,
seeing that what God has in mind is always what
is best. See, the point is that the law could
never produce the righteousness that the Spirit
can. But now that the Spirit is there, He's actually
calling you to something even higher. See, even
as it speaks in Romans 8 about not living according
to the flesh, or realizing that 1 Corinthians
2 is making sure that we know that living according
to what the natural person would want makes it
harder. to follow after the Spirit. It's remembering
that this is not determining that when you fail
and when you stumble, now all of a sudden you
have no love from God, but rather is saying which
direction is God calling you to. You see, the
presence of that struggle, that tension inside
of us, we know that it's there, but it doesn't
mean that we've now failed. and that there is
now no grace for us. See, that's an easy part
that we may misunderstand when we're looking
at our Galatians passage for today. See, what
we're seeing is that the struggle is actually
a sign that we are alive in the Spirit. Because
if you truly didn't feel any struggle inside
of you, that doesn't mean that you've now conquered
the sin in the world. It means that you've stopped
accepting what a sinner you truly are. If you
no longer feel the struggle inside of you, it
doesn't mean you've conquered the sin. It just
means you're numb to it, and you're no longer
paying attention anymore. See, Martin Luther
one time said, sin boldly, and lots of times
people love to just stop there, put it on the
t -shirt, sin boldly. All right, let's go. But
you see, the rest of the quote, but believe and
rejoice in Christ even more boldly. It's trying
to help us remember how we're supposed to face
the issues of the flesh. It's not to encourage
sinning, but rather being honest about the struggles
that are within. Trusting that God's grace is
even stronger. His forgiveness is not there to
condemn you, but to move you further. To walk
you to where it is that He truly wants. We try
harder in the future to grow in his spirit and
to walk in his ways See being spirit led does
not mean that we are perfect Means being sensitive
to God Especially when we fall and we're willing
to admit it but the question is are we actually
listening or are we resisting and see that's
what we actually need to ask because Let's be
honest, the works of the flesh, they're often
pretty obvious. See, knowing these things, the
works of the flesh, they can be pretty clear
cut. It's just that often we look for ways to
avoid being convicted about what we see. The
issue though is that when we stop listening to
the Spirit, and we let the flesh take over, and
it shows. See, the flesh being unchecked, it
can lead to very visible, very harmful outcomes.
You see, when we see the list that Paul puts
on there, notice all these things that he's saying,
that these are the ones that are not a part of
the kingdom of God. This is not an exhaustive
list. This is not something for now for you to
look in and say, oh good, my sin doesn't fit
there, so I'm okay. This isn't something where
now we've picked apart which ones are the condemning
sins and which ones are the ones that we can
try to just avoid. But rather, it's trying to
point out that the works of the flesh, they're
obvious. There's something for us to look and
say, those who do such things will not inherit
the kingdom. But since you're the one inheriting
the kingdom, don't do them. These sins are things
that are meant to diagnose what's happening in
us. It's not something where now all of a sudden
we're now saying, okay, now this is the sort
of person that I need to make sure knows that
they are condemned. I mean, it's like whenever
you're going to see the doctor and you're letting
them know the symptoms that you have, the thing
is that it's not like the doctor's going to be
coming up there and be like, wow. What kind of
a terrible lifestyle do you have that you've
gotten sick today? Oh My goodness, what sort
of a terrible person are you that you managed
to catch a cold? That you managed to have the
flu. What sort of a terrible person? No They're
supposed to help to diagnose what's really happening
so you can get through it and past it and that's
the same thing that we see here because These
sins, these struggles, what they do is that the
more that we stay within them, the more they
pull us away from the Spirit of God. The more
that we continue to revel in them and to ignore
them, to let them be these unrepentant patterns,
the less likely we are to be convicted and to
listen to the Spirit speaking to us. See, what
we're asking here is not about whether you have
a struggle. It's about whether or not this is
your identity. Do you identify with this list?
Is this where your identity is? Are these the
things where you're saying, this is who I want
to be, this is who I am and nothing's going to
change it? Or is this where you're saying, I
have a struggle and I don't want to be like this?
It's not whether or not you've ever sinned, it's
whether or not you're being defined by the sin
or by the Savior. Are you being defined by the
sins that you can see so obviously in your life?
Or are you being defined by the Savior who knows
them just as well as you do? See, we're asking
about making sure we don't blaspheme the Holy
Spirit, where we reject hearing God who says,
you are a sinner in need of My grace. It means
making sure that we don't resist what that Spirit
is laying on our hearts. See, it's not to excuse
the sin. It's that without the distinction, see,
none of us would actually be able to come into
God's kingdom. If we are being honest, we fit
within all of that. Have you ever sinned? You're
a sinner. Have you ever lied? You're a liar.
Have you ever been jealous? Have you ever been
rageful? Have you ever had something in your
heart? That God would not be pleased with yeah,
guess what we're all in that category Not just
those people that you have in your mind This
doesn't mean that we ignore it doesn't mean that
as we're scrolling through We say well, that's
just my day. I guess I didn't not gonna get anything
else done today find something just break it
up somehow or thinking about the way in which
we are angry at our workplace. Don't just say,
well, that's just how it is, but rather is to
say, no, I want to be different. I mean, I've
been there. I can know the times whenever I've
been impatient. I know the times whenever I want
things on my time schedule. And then I have to
have someone look me in the eye and say, Jason,
we love you. You could be more patient. Because
not that it's somehow going to make me unloved,
but rather because I need to grow. See, the thing
is that as we look at this, we're meant to be
able to stop deceiving ourselves and to realize
the need to pull away from those. Not because
the struggle goes away, but because we want the
struggle. We want to make sure the flesh doesn't
win, because without the struggle, that's always
the winner in our lives. But you see, the end
of it doesn't just stop with, okay, now stop
sinning. It's rather, what is it that you're
having in your life instead? And that's why it
is that the fruit of the Spirit is so important,
even though the fruit of the Spirit is not always
as obvious. Isn't it amazing we can easily look
at the sins, but looking at the fruits? How often
do we just ignore those? And how important they
really are? Do you know though, when you think
about the people that you respect and the ones
that you actually want to be like, aren't they
the ones who sound like this? The ones who have
joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self -control? During
small group, somebody said, yeah, but how technically
do you define goodness? Which I understood what
they meant. They just wanted to understand what
the original Greek word meant But isn't that
funny? That we have to somehow define goodness
In order to decide whether or not we actually
want to follow it See these are not rules to
perform but rather qualities that form in us
because of our relationship with Christ there
They're a test to see when something is wrong,
not something to condemn us. It's not about trying
to look whether or not we have salvation. It's
about looking to say, I want to follow the Spirit,
and if I don't have one of these, then that means
that something in my life is getting in the way.
See, seeing a lack of fruit, it's not about shame.
But every time that we see one of those fruits
is not in our life, it means I need to go closer
to hear God's Word. to pray and ask for His Spirit
to lead me and guide me. It's a chance to diagnose
that there is an issue in order that we may bear
fruit for God. See, that's the thing about this.
You and I both know that you can probably think
of people that don't have all of these fruits.
But what does that mean then? That we sit there
and condemn them and judge them and decide, well
then apparently there's no hope for them. But
does it also mean that we accept it? No. It means
that we look for ways to lead them and guide
them by God's Spirit, that they would change.
The thing is that we don't accept the sin, but
we still go to the Spirit for real change. See,
that's what we look for when we say that it's
time to crucify the flesh and to live. by the
Spirit. Does that flesh pop up again time and
time again? Yeah. Repeatedly. Even sometimes
to a point where people may think of us in light
of the sins. They may think of us and think of
impatience. They may think of us and think of
a lack of self -control. They may think of us
and think of someone who has no joy. But what
that means is that we no longer let that become
our story for ourselves. Because the crucified
of the flesh, that's in the past. It's already
been done. It's already been accomplished. The
fact that we even allow it to still define us
in our minds, the fact that we act as if it may
even still be okay, the idea of reveling in it,
in front of the world, that's not of God. But
God has already conquered it. And He's asking
us to die to it. See, that's what we're called
to today. Not to daily condemn ourselves, but
to daily kill it and come back to the Spirit.
Bless you. So I want you to think about this
right now. What's that sin that you're really
struggling with right now? I don't want to know.
I don't need to know. But you know. And right
now, have you been spending your time trying
to avoid it? Trying to excuse it? And instead,
I'm calling you to say, yep, that is exactly
what I am doing. But it doesn't define me. Because
I have God's Spirit, I don't have to fall into
it the same way I did before. But when I do,
I will come back to God time and time again to
confess and to continue to ask for His strength.
Because His strength is perfect in our weakness.
And He is the only one to make us perfect. Not
because we have conquered sin and death, but
because He has already done it for us. May His
Spirit continue to lead and guide us this morning
and always. Amen.