Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: Galatians 5:13 says this, You, my brothers, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature. Rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth that Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth that Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Galatians. Let's listen in as JP gives us part three of Freedom by the Spirit.

JP Jones: Whether it's a nation or a football team or a company or a family or a church, hate, criticism, slander, envy will destroy it. That's the premise the Apostle Paul uses in Galatians chapter 5 when he says uh we were called to freedom, brothers, only don't use your freedom as an opportunity for your fleshly desire. Instead, serve one another in love. If you bite and criticize one another, you're going to be consumed by each other. You know, a church can consume itself. A family can consume itself. A team can consume itself. The Bible says that we have been called to freedom, but we're to use that freedom in the power of the Holy Spirit to serve one another in love.

That's what we're looking at in Galatians chapter 5. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn there. We're going to finish a study that we began last week talking about how does that become a reality for us personally? How does that become a reality for our church? How does that become a paradigm for all my relationships that because I've been set free as a follower of Jesus Christ, I use my freedom to serve others in love. Galatians 5 says this, You, my brothers, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge your sinful nature.

Rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out. You will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit and you'll not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, 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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there's no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. The Apostle Paul is telling us that we've been called to freedom, but freedom is a narrow path of obeying the Holy Spirit. He's warned us in the past that we can move off to the left into the water trap of uh legalism and perfectionism and self-righteousness and religiosity.

Or we can move off to the right into the woods of license and self-indulgence and selfish living. Both directions are far afield from the narrow path and call of Jesus Christ, which is freedom. But freedom is a spirit-empowered life of serving other people in love. And Paul is telling us about that. We saw last week, if you're with us, that there is a a call to be free. The Christians emancipation proclamation has been signed through the death of Jesus Christ. He set us free. And if you're a follower of Jesus this morning, that's your birthright.

That's your inheritance. That's the truest thing about you. You have been set free by Jesus Christ. But there's a warning. Don't use your freedom as uh a means to indulge your sinful nature as an opportunity for your own selfishness. Cuz if you do, you'll end up biting and devouring yourself along with everybody else around you. So there is a command. Serve one another in love. Then in verse 16, the Apostle Paul gives us the promise. But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Paul says there is a promise of hope and a promise of uh empowerment through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

In fact, everything about the Holy Spirit's ministry in our lives is related to this promise. Paul says in Romans chapter 8 that uh if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our bodies through his Spirit who indwells us. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of resurrection. He's the Spirit of life. And if he lives in us, he can produce that resurrection life within us. Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. And Jesus himself gave us a promise to that effect. Paul earlier in this letter said in Galatians chapter 3 that Jesus redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ himself so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. You see, God has given us a great promise. And that promise is this freedom that is ours as part of our birthright. It's part of the the salvation package. It's part of all that we received when we crossed the line and asked Jesus to come into our lives.

That the Holy Spirit is given to empower our freedom, given to change our lives. Uh Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:17 and 18, Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. And we all with unveiled faces behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. And we're being transformed into that same image from glory to glory even by the Lord, the Spirit. So there's a there's a promise for us. Now what does the promise entail? It says, If we live by the Spirit, we won't gratify the desires of the sinful nature. That word live uh I I shared with you last week is from a Greek word If you were to look up in the dictionary the word It means to move to and fro with a rapid motion.

It's a word that in the original language is meant to walk. Walk in the Spirit. Take every step in the Spirit. The New Testament writers use this term to kind of describe the whole lifestyle of the Christian. Our lifestyle, our conduct, the way we live ought to be influenced by the Holy Spirit, directed by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit. And the promise is, cuz he's the Spirit of promise, that when that's true of us, we won't gratify the desires of the sinful nature. We won't carry them out. We won't take them to their logical conclusion.

It doesn't say if we live by the Spirit, we won't have the desires of the sinful nature. Christianity is not stoicism. You know, one of the ancient Greek philosophies was stoicism. Stoics tried to devoid themselves of all emotion, all passion, all desire, and live everything kind of in the realm of intellectual control. Christians aren't Stoics. I mean, having desires and having passions is part of being created in the image of God. We're We're to be passionate worshippers. We're We're to be enthusiastic lovers. We're to be people with great ambition to glorify God. See, the issue with desires is where do we channel them and who's energizing them?

You can have desires for God or desires for selfish fulfillment. What Galatians 5:16 says is if we if we live by the Spirit, if we walk in the Spirit, those selfish desires will be in check. They won't reach their full conclusion. Have you seen this commercial where they're advertising this voice-activated uh stereo system in the car? I think it's Sync, and where you just you say a command in your car and then the the voice activation makes it work. And the point of the commercial is that not everything operates like that. So there's the guy, you know, that comes out of the shower and he says, you know, Shades down.

And he takes off his robe and he stand there, you know, naked, but the shades didn't come down and he's all embarrassed and you know, ducks under underneath the uh the view. And then the gal who's carrying the Starbucks coffee and she's walking up onto the door of the uh the business lobby and she says, Door open. And then she walks right into it and coffee spills everywhere. And then it makes the advertisement that, you know, the voice activation only works on the Sync system. You know, we can have desires like Shades down and Door open.

But the Holy Spirit, when we are in step with him, when we live by his power, he keeps those desires in check so that just because we feel it, we don't act upon it. Can you imagine if if you acted upon every desire, every thought, every feeling that came into your, you know, spectrum? I mean, I'd be in jail right now if I acted on everything I felt or thought. There's a level of self-control that we kind of have hopefully just as human beings, but there's a fruit of the Spirit that is self-control. The promise is if we walk by the Spirit, live by the Spirit, we won't gratify the desires of the sinful nature because, you see, the assumption is this, there is a conflict between what the Holy Spirit desires and produces and what our selfish nature desires and produces.

And Paul describes this conflict in Galatians 5. He says this for 17, For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They're in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want. But if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. And that was just getting the kids to church this morning.

I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there's no law. You see, the spirit and the flesh are in conflict. The NIV version speaks of the sinful nature. It's the Greek word which means flesh. New American Standard King James version just translates it that, the flesh. It's part of that that part of us that is selfish. That part of our humanity that rebels against God and seeks self-pleasure over everything else.

Independence. There's a conflict in the life of the believer, the follower of Jesus Christ. There's a conflict. The flesh sets itself against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh. These are in opposition to one another. So you want You can't do what you please. What you as a new person in Christ want to do, which is love God and love people. There's this spiritual conflict that is a barrier to doing that. I mean, the Apostle Paul, the greatest Christian who ever lived, acknowledged this in Romans chapter 7. He says, Wretched man that I am, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.

Who will set me free from this body of death? Ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like, Gosh, this is just this is a prison. The struggle. What Paul is telling us in Galatians 5 is the Holy Spirit is the means to freedom. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers our freedom. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes it real for us that Christ has actually set us free. Cuz if it's just a theological truth that's abstract and theoretical but doesn't make any difference, what good is it doing us? It's the Holy Spirit who takes that truth and translates it into the real life of relationships within a marriage, within a family, within a church.

So that we don't just bite and devour one another, but we in love serve each other. So there is this obvious difference between a flesh-dominated life and a spirit-dominated life because there's the comparison where you can see black and white right there. The acts of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit and they what they produce is totally different. So I can wax eloquent all day long about you know, the spiritual life and biblical truth. But if in my relationships I'm a critical, angry, reactionary, judgmental person, am I living in the flesh or am I living in the Spirit?

Living in the Spirit is not defined by and demonstrated by how many Bible verses we've memorized. Living in the Spirit is not proven by how much theological information we have. Living in the Spirit is not evidenced by our church pedigree. Living in the Spirit is real simple. People who live in the Spirit increasingly demonstrate in their relationships love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You know how uh in kind of recently in the athletic world, whether it's baseball or our football or track and field, everybody's all kind of looking to drug testing and steroid use.

That's because over the last, you know, whatever years, there's just been an unbelievable increase in athletic performance. There's been an enhanced performance that's so observable people have gone, Man, they're running faster, they're lifting more weights, they're performing at such a unbelievable level. So they test athletes and what do they find? Steroids. If you were to look at somebody you know and you saw love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and do some kind of spiritual drug testing on them, you find the reality of the Holy Spirit in their life because that what he produces.

Paul's argument it is, You've been set free. Don't use your freedom for selfish indulgence. Use your freedom to serve and love one another. If you stay in the flesh, you won't do that. You'll bite, devour, and criticize one another. But if you surrender to the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to control your life and your relationships, then you'll be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there's no law. You like that, Tommy? Is that Boom boom boom. Just that quick. It's a lot easier saying it than it is living it.

Let me tell you that. It is the Holy Spirit who who produces these things and there's a conflict within us. That's his point. There is a a conflict. And like Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, You will know them by their fruits. You know them by their fruits. I think we need to do a little inventory. You know, allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and our words and our attitudes and our relationships and say, Am I fleshly or am I Spirit-filled? Because there's a warning that Paul gives in here. And it's a warning we need to look at because Paul says, If there is no fruit, if there is no transformation, if there is no evidence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and there's only evidence of the acts of the flesh, you're fooling yourself if you think you really know Jesus Christ.

Cuz people who live this way, and it's a present tense verb, people who continually manifest this stuff are not inheriting the kingdom of heaven. Now before you think Paul's saying something different than what he's saying, you've been with us in the study of the book of Galatians. Has Paul said in the book of Galatians anywhere that we are saved by our works? No. I mean, he is hammered so strongly the fact that we are saved by grace. But what Paul is saying is let's be realistic. Grace changes a person's life. When you cross the line because you couldn't do it on your own and you asked Jesus to do it for you and you trusted in him, he comes into your life and he begins to change you.

And if there's never any change, you've never crossed the line.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth that Changes Lives, 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or give us a call at 949 916 0250. That's 949 916 0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book Facing Goliath.

Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. The book of Galatians makes this affirmation. We've been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That's the gospel, by grace through faith in Christ. And what Galatians says is that when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God is real in their lives, then that grace changes them. It changes them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul is discussing in Galatians chapter 5 that the true life in Christ that's transformed by grace is a life of freedom and that freedom is manifested by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

When we are born again spiritually, the Holy Spirit comes into our life and he transforms us from the inside out. So Galatians 5 says that we were called to freedom, but we're warned not to use our freedom as a pretext for the flesh. And the way that we prevent this pretext of the flesh happening in our lives is that we walk in the Spirit. So Galatians 5:16 says, So I say, walk by the Spirit and you'll not carry out the desire of the flesh. There is this spiritual struggle in the life of every believer. It's the flesh against the Spirit, it's the Spirit against the flesh.

And the Bible says that when we give into the flesh, then the flesh produces its deeds in our lives. But when we walk by the Spirit, then the Spirit produces his fruit in our lives. There is a spiritual battle taking place in the life of every person. Freedom isn't being able to do whatever we feel like doing. Freedom is having the power to do what we ought to do. And we experience our freedom in Christ when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul's argument in Galatians 5 is that freedom is our birthright, but freedom is achieved as we obey Jesus Christ.

Freedom is achieved as we surrender to the Holy Spirit. Freedom is achieved as we understand that it's by grace we've been saved. It's by grace we live the Christian life, but grace is applied as we obey moment by moment the leading, empowering, and guiding of the Holy Spirit. That's what it means to walk by the Spirit. To walk by the Spirit means we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our minds with his thoughts. Walking in the Spirit means we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our heart with his fruit. Walking in the Spirit means we obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as he reveals truth to us in Scripture.

Every believer is called to freedom. Every believer is called to obey the Holy Spirit. When we obey the Holy Spirit, we find freedom in Christ. When we disobey the Holy Spirit and we surrender the flesh, then the flesh produces his deeds in our lives. The flesh produces discord, anger, frustration, disharmony, conflict, lust. All of these are the deeds of the flesh. So there is this spiritual struggle between the flesh and the Spirit and there's freedom in the power of the Holy Spirit. The call to freedom is a call to obey Jesus. It's a call to live by grace by surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit.

If your desire is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and to be free in Christ, it will require a total surrender of your life. But it's a surrender that leads to freedom. If that's what you desire, then I invite you to pray with me right now. Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you. I acknowledge I cannot live on my own and that in my flesh I displease you and I disobey you. Holy Spirit, fill me. Take control of my life. Lead me. Produce your spiritual fruit within me and set me free.

And I ask for this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth that Changes Lives, 233 31 Molten Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or call us at 949 916 0250. On the Internet, you'll find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth that Changes Lives.