16/11/2023
The works of the flesh against walking in the Spirit
By Raymond McGough
Galatians. 5: 16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. NT
Outline
Introduction
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2
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To Walk In The Spirit
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Works of the flesh
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Galatians 5: 22-26
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The Fruit of God the Holy Spirit
Bibliography
Introduction
Perhaps more so in the west, than any other time in history, there is a huge gulf between God in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and God the Holy Spirit, and the saints of the earthly church, we each being members of the body of Christ His invisible church, than what we would like to think? Some of it is due to a misunderstanding of God the Holy Spirit, and His role in the one triune God, but not all of it, because we like at times to exercise our free will.
The difficulty, we each of us have is our old sinful nature, that from time to time likes to mislead us, because we like having our own way. Of course, we have been born-again, washed in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord. Who came from heavens glory in obedience to His Father, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, laying down His own glory, and power, which He had before the beginning, but still God, Conceived, by the power of God the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, by the name of Mary, whom she gave birth to. He was not born through sexual in*******se with Mary, by a man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 1: 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit). The very same Holy Spirit who enables us to please both God our Father, and God the Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord. (John. 14: 15-18. 18. ‘If you love Me you will keep My commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever-17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.’) The last clause of verse 17 is of crucial importance of how we set about living in the manner God commands us to do, ‘and the Spirit will be in you.’ Without listening, and being obedient to God the Holy Spirit, we will never do anything, until each of us repents, and returns to Him. We cannot reiterate the truth of this enough to show the gravity of the present worldly scene.
I
The most crucial aspect of being born-again from above, by the work of God the Holy Spirit, is to show the fruit of the Spirit. Today, we hear of the gifts of the Spirit, but without the fruit of the Spirit, we can become spiritually proud with the result of being unapproachable, because we think we know it all, and we certainly do not. Not so much about buildings, but seeing God the Holy Spirit being active in the lives of the saints, and bringing sinners to salvation, by His work in them, through the cross work of Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and the obedience of His saints of His body towards Him, the body of Christ with humility, and the sincerity of their prayers, and willing to listen to the voice of God the Holy Spirit.
We will look at a phrase often coined by the great apostle Paul, actively pursuing God, our Father in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, by being in God the Holy Spirit. The phrase he used was ‘walking in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.’ Gal. 5: 16. Mind you,he would never use this title of greatness of himself. In Him, reference John. 14: 17.
An unusual expression, to ‘walk in the Spirit,’ it gives the idea of being in whatever that may be, and the case of Paul, God the Holy Spirit. However, what does it mean, how shall we understand this? Father God in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and your Spirit in us, that you would please enlighten us with your great wisdom on this crucial matter. Walking in the Spirit signifies, that by the new birth done by the work of God the Holy Spirit in our spirit He has reignited our spirit from the captivity of Satan, and the closed darkness that used to surround them, bringing us back into unity with Himself, God our Father, and Jesus Christ His Son, our risen glorified Lord, by His blood work upon the cross, on which He was crucified for our sins, and being cleansed by His precious blood, whom God, our Father raised from the dead from the tomb on the third day, and after a number of resurrection appearances ascended to God, our Father in the heavens. To be in the Spirit, means your spirit, and my spirit is in God the Holy Spirit. He lives in us, as does God, our Father, and God the Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and we live in the one triune God.
It is a must that you, and I walk in the Spirit, and not be influenced by our free will to do what we please? That is the way of the flesh, and there may be no return from it, even to the extent of denying that Jesus Christ existed, or He was only a man. The whole idea is to submit to the authority of God the Holy Spirit daily, allowing His Spirit to tame our sinful desires. A battle that will be waged between our sinful nature, and God the Holy Spirit in each of us until that glorious day when we will be called home to be with Him, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, forever. It is essential that we keep humbling ourselves before God, our Father, and God the Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, by recognizing the authority of God the Holy Spirit over each of us, and doing what He directs us to do, only He can help us overcome our sinful nature, and our enemies according to God, our Father’s will, not our way, His way.
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Exegesis and expository teaching
Galatians 5: 16-26
5: 16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things that you wish. 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
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To Walk In The Spirit
5: 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh is satisfying our own desires for the selfish appetites of our own self centredness. The apostle Paul also warned Timothy to warn his church of the carnality existing in some of them in his second letter to him of the NT. 2 Timothy 2: 22, Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. The very same lust that exists in the earthly church of today, which only God the Holy Spirit can from in us, enable us to overcome our sinful desires.
Therefore, the necessity is to bow before God the Holy Spirit, and let Him take command of you, and I in this life. That way He can control both the flesh, by His power enabling each of us to resist our sinful nature, by being in both yours, and my spirit. One thing for certain is that we certainly cannot do it in our own self sufficiency, and our nature, because it is sinful. To remain in communion with God the Holy Spirit is the challenge for all of us, who have been born- again. Holiness of character is demanded of us because He Himself is holy, with every decision you, and I make should come with the seal of His approval. Think the Holy Spirit, believe the Holy Spirit, live in the Holy Spirit, and let Him live in you, and the same for me, making sure that the decisions that you, and I make reflects Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord. The whole intention of God the Holy Spirit is to focus our minds, our hearts, and our spirits upon Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and to be fully occupied with Him, because He never stops thinking of us. We must reckon ourselves to be dead to our former lives, and stop thinking of the past, regarding what we were before being born- again and baptised in God the Holy Spirt, and being filled by Him daily, the only way forward for a believer/disciple’s life. Reckoning ourselves dead to the world. [We cannot be occupied at the same time with Christ and with sin. Believers Bible Commentary. Page 1892. Charles. R. Erdman. Nelson.]
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish
[The Spirit and the flesh are in constant conflict. God could have removed the fleshly nature from believers at the same time of their conversion, but He did not choose to do so. Why? He wanted to keep them continually reminded of their own weakness; to keep them continually dependent on Christ, their Priest and Advocate; and to cause them to praise unceasingly the One who saved such worms. Instead of removing the old nature, God gave us His own Holy Spirit to indwell us. God’s Spirit and our flesh are perpetually at war. Believer’s Bible Commentary. Page. 1893. Charles. R. Erdman. Nelson.] The apostle Paul in his writings to the saints at Rome of the NT puts it superbly under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit with his clever use of semantics. Rom. 7: 18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Notwithstanding, you and I do not possess the inward ability and strength to overcome our selfish desires for the appetite of our sinful nature, that is why we need to continue walking in the Holy Spirit, who communicates the ministry of God, our Father, and of His Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law, We, who are born-again of the Spirit of God and baptised in Him are led by Him or are meant to be led by Him. To lead consistent committed lives by allowing the Holy Spirit to dominate how we speak, act, and listen to in our human lives, and how we react to any given situation that confronts us, should be controlled by God the Holy Spirit, and not how we react in the flesh is what Paul is focussed upon. Our minds should always be concentrated upon Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord. It takes a change of mind set to do this, but it can be done. Rom. 6: 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.
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The works of the flesh
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, we know what kind of works the fallen nature produces, and we have experienced some of it from our former fallen state. Sexual relationship outside of marriage while being married or unmarried, which implies regarding marriage unfaithfulness. Overlapping we have fornication, which is unlawful in*******se already mentioned. Sensuality which is evil morality uncleanness. Lewdness shameful conduct with the removal of every restraint. 20 The idolatry of the flesh where almost anything can replace the centrality of our worship of God whatever it may be. The thing that occupies the mind before God, which can include Demon worship, obviously should not be God’s people, but in these difficult times anything can happen, and does occur, thinking of apostates, Paul goes on to mention sorcery to them, and remember he is writing to a number of churches in Galatia. A faction was indulging in witchcraft. We have today the Spiritualist Church, who get caught up in having seances trying to contact the dead for the living, and they have no idea, who they are speaking to, usually a fallen angel, pretending to be someone else’s relative. More commonly known as witchcraft from the Greek word, pharmakia. With the likelihood of the use of drugs. This terminology became popular to describe the in*******se between evil spirits, and human beings, as well as the casting of magic spells. Totally forbidden by God. The word hatred signifies strong feelings of malice towards anyone. Contentions speaks of variance, discord, and quarrels, were have we heard of that before? Jealousies is mentioned next, of course it was rampant in the early church, and still is today, disappointingly, distrust, and suspicion. The word wrath demonstrates uncontrollable anger, which is of the flesh. Selfish ambition was always rearing its ugly head in the early church and will continue until the rapture. The apostle Paul enlarged upon this in more detail to the church at Philippi. Phil. 1: 16. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely. A growing list caused by separations from disagreements. There is however a more perilous thing of the flesh, that spells destruction to the spirit of a person and their physicality, which is called heresies. The apostle Simon Peter describes this in more detail in his second letter to the believers in exile. 2. Pet. 2: 1. But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will bring in secretly destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
21 Envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Envy among believers is still a divisive thorn in the earthly church, difficult to eradicate and can only be overcome by walking in the Spirit, by being submissive to Him, and in everything else. You must remember that the apostle Paul’s letter was written to believers in churches across Galatia in the early history of the earthly church, and the same problems exist, unless we have a different mindset radically changed by God the Holy Spirit. The same applies to murders Jesus spoke on this about his disciples being killed in His name. Jn. 16: 2 ‘They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.’ The war between Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages, which continues in some middle eastern countries. Countries believing, they have God on their side, while they go to war against each other, apart from those with extreme views on the religion of Islam thinking that Christianity should be destroyed by the sword. It is not just unlawful killing, but breaks the commandment of God our Father, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Murder follows capital punishment in this life, whatever form, it takes, but the perpetrator can repent, and accept Jesus Christ as Lord, but still must take the responsibility for the life or lives he or she has taken.
Paul warns his readers, as he had told them before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The passage does not teach that a drunkard cannot be saved, but it does say that those whose lives are characterised by the above catalogue of fleshly works are not saved.
[Why should Paul write in this manner to churches of Christians? The reason is that not all who profess to be saved are true children of God. Thus throughout the NT the Holy Spirit often follows the presentation of wonderful spiritual truths with the most solemn warnings to all who profess the name of Christ. Believer’s Bible Commentary Page 1894 Charles R Erdman Nelson.]
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Galatians. 5: 22-26
The Fruit of God the Holy Spirit
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law.24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
5: 22-23. The fruit of the Spirit can only be activated by allowing Him to control our mindsets. These virtues are impossible to copy in the flesh, because it cannot be done in our sinful nature. Notice the fruit of the Spirit is only one. A stark contrast to works. God the Holy Spirit is the only person that can produce the fruit in each bona-fide born-again Christian, baptised in the Spirit, but we need a continual refilling of Him. Unlike the Holy Spirit His fruit is one, which is not dividable whereas the flesh has many works.
When you, and I are controlled by God the Holy Spirit, something each of us must be in pursuit of, if we are born of the Spirit of God, which our lives will demonstrate? He will produce in each of us these characteristics demonstrating in triplets what should be seen in each of us. The first three characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace demonstrating what our temperament, and attitude should be towards God. Secondly, the next three should demonstrate in real life, the same for the first three longsuffering, kindness, and goodness towards the invisible, visible body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the world at large. Because He has come to save it, and not condemn. The last three, but in the same value is faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control the way God sees it, in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, which can only be had by submerging our mindsets, and our spirits into God the Holy Spirit, meaning a radical change of our mindset.
5: 24 [Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh. The verb tense here indicates something that happened decisively in the past. It actually occurred at the time of our conversion. When we repented, there was a sense in which we nailed the old, evil, corrupt nature to the cross with all its affections and lusts. We determined that we would no longer live to cater to our fallen nature, that it would no longer dominate it. Of course, the decision has to be renewed continually in our lives. We must constantly keep the flesh in the place of death. Believer’s Bible Commentary Page 1895 Charles R Erdman Nelson.]
5: 25-26 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. The reason why we have eternal life is because of the work of God the Holy Spirit in each of us, the very same work of God the Holy Spirit in each of us gives us the power to live lives pleasing to God. The last verse of the passage 26 is counterproductive of not walking in the Spirit: Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
My prayer for each of us, after reading this is to bring us closer to God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, our risen glorified Lord, and by the work of God the Holy Spirit in each of us live lives that will bring glory, honour, and praise to our God in Jesus Christ
Bibliography
NKJV SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE BIBLE THOMAS NELSON
Believer’s BIBLE COMMENTARY WILLIAM MACDONALD Edited by Art Farstad Nelson
