Spirit vs. Flesh [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. You don't do one single thing to make yourself acceptable to God. Jesus did. It doesn't matter if you're the most noble looking person that's ever lived or the most heinous sinner.

There's only one way. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Unspeakable Joy, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. I'd like to know if he preaches in jeans and a t-shirt, then I don't want to come in a coat and tie or vice versa. The reason for that is because in the first place, I want to be sensitive to the culture of that particular environment because I don't want what I'm wearing to be an obstacle to reaching people, but there's something more important than that. Let's say I went into a church where the pastor normally wore a coat and tie, and I came in in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops. Let's say I preached like that, and then the Holy Spirit just fell, and God just moved, and people's lives were touched, and people are saved and delivered, and people are receiving ministry, and a move of God just breaks out in the midst of it. I don't want it to be afterwards that somebody, because somebody would do this, somebody would go up to that home pastor and say, well, pastor, you ought to wear a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops. Obviously, God moves when somebody preaches wearing a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.

Well, that's ridiculous. You don't move God because you've got a Hawaiian shirt on or because you've got a necktie on. You can preach in shorts and sandals, or you can preach in a tuxedo. The move of God and the glories of God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not dependent upon any such external form, but instead is all rooted in the sufficiency of Christ and what He's done, right? We all know that, and so what Paul is saying here is it's not circumcision or circumcision or not.

It doesn't matter. The problem is that you're attaching significance, purpose, and power to something that is actually void of all of it. Galatians 6, 15, Paul says, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything.

What counts is a new creation. As soon as someone suggests that you aren't qualified because you didn't have on the right clothes, because you didn't eat the right food, because you didn't keep the new festival, because you didn't wear your hair correctly, because you didn't do this, because you didn't do that, then you're robbing the gospel of its power. You're qualified by Jesus or you're not qualified at all, and you can't add any additional qualification. He was perfect. He was sinless. He lived a life of perfect obedience unto the Father. He was the Son of God. He's the Son of Man. He died upon a cross so that anyone who trusts in Him would have His sacrifice applied as if you had made it and would have His righteousness applied as if you had lived it. There is no other way.

Why try to add anything to that? The Judaizers were essentially teaching, if you're a Gentile and you become a Christian, you need to get circumcised in order to be fully acceptable to God. This is just making Paul furious because why, he said to the Galatians, would you start out in the Spirit and then return to this kind of external conformity to laws as if there's some kind of power in that. He says we are the true circumcision. That's what he's saying here. He said we already are the ones who worship in Spirit and glory in Christ.

The ones who are filled with the Spirit, worship in the Spirit, and whose boasting and confidence and glory is in Christ and His finished work and not in ourselves. We're just prone, beloved, to look for external indicators that we're on the end crowd. We're susceptible to that and thus the Judaizers and it still goes on in many different ways. When I was in high school, it was so different than it is now.

Teenagers today, it seems like the primary value is on freedom of expression. So it's like the pressure is don't conform to anything. But when I was coming along, the pressure was conform. In fact, you knew if you were going to be cool at Page High School in Greensboro, you knew if you want to be in this cool group, you knew what to wear, you knew people to hang with. And I'll tell you one thing, you knew where to get your hair cut.

That's the truth. What happened was that somebody found out that Ed at the barbershop in Lawndale gave a really good haircut and all of a sudden, all the cool people wanted to get Ed to cut their hair. I had Ed cut my hair. And it was very hard to get in with Ed. You could hardly get an appointment with him. Everybody at Page, everybody at Greensboro, everybody wanted Ed to cut their hair. He got so popular that he opened up his own barbershop because you wouldn't want to be caught with some haircut other than Ed's haircut. We're just like that, desperate to know we're in.

And so if somebody comes sneaking in with a message that sounds like, well, that sounds right. I know circumcision was really important. Abraham, I know Moses was. I know the people were persecuted during Antiochus IV.

I know Moses was. We need to stand up for them. And they want to bring this in and it sounds so saccharine.

It sounds so harmless. Just add this one little thing that you would think, what in the world would be such a big deal to Paul? Do you see it? If you add 1% of personal human fleshly righteousness to what you think you need to do in order to be accepted, you have robbed the gospel of its power and you have introduced unlimited capacity for worry that maybe you didn't do enough. And Paul is saying so much is at stake. These are, he says, mutilators of the flesh, catatonement. This is the Greek word that's used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This is the word that is used in the well-known story in 1 Kings chapter 18, when maybe you remember this story, that Elijah is pitted against the prophets of the pagan god Baal. And they are going to see which gods, the real God, will come down and consume the altar with fire. And so the prophets of Baal go first and they're calling on Baal, Baal. All of them, 450 of them, crying out Baal, Baal. And nothing happens. And Elijah mocks them and says, maybe you need to cry louder.

Maybe he's asleep or using the bathroom. Baal, Baal. So they cry louder. And then in the next scene, they begin to cut themselves, lacerating themselves, mutilating their flesh as if it's going to make Baal move.

The word that is used there for them cutting, lashing themselves is catatomic. Paul says to the Judaizers, you're doing the same thing. You're teaching people that you can move God by cutting some flesh. You don't move God by your acts of circumcision. You don't move God by your acts of righteousness. Listen, beloved, God was moved on your behalf when you didn't even know how to call upon his name. This is the gospel that Christ came and died for the ungodly while they were still in their sin. Why do you think your little bit of righteousness is going to add one single thing to the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ himself?

The battle is for the mind. You see the devil cannot disqualify you from your inheritance in the saints. The devil cannot disqualify you from using your gifts. The devil cannot disqualify you from the fruit of the spirit of love and joy and peace. The devil can't steal your joy. The devil can't put you down. The devil can't rob you of the spiritual blessings that are yours in Christ.

So where's the battleground? The battleground is right here in the mind because you could disqualify yourself if you start believing that the gospel is Jesus plus something else. Don't disqualify yourself from the blessings that have already been bought for you in Christ. Don't cheapen the work of Jesus by trying to add your piddly little circumcision, your little righteousness, your little acts of goodness, thinking you're a religious person. Don't you for a single moment think that you could do something to add to the majesty and wonder and glory and richness and eternal power of what God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is Jesus plus nothing. Jesus plus nothing. So Paul lists all of these fleshly credentials. You know it's interesting in the New Testament sometimes the flesh which is always a reference to the the kind of sinful nature of humanity right he's not talking about the physical flesh and bone he's talking about the flesh meaning the sinful nature of humanity that part of us is just flesh and not the redeemed spirit and sometimes flesh is used to talk about how we're so easily lured into rebellion how he's we're lured into fleshly temptations but in this case Paul refers to the flesh and he's referencing all the wonderful things that he's done is he lists all these credentials of his life he's not saying look at me I was in such miserable estate I was on drugs I was in the gutter I was penniless and then I met Jesus and everything no he's saying I was actually the one that everybody thought had everything and I'm telling you that's just as much flesh as somebody else who is in rebellion you do understand that religious living where you think that somehow you are the one that's bringing about your right standing with God that's just as much flesh as is the utmost rebellion and he's saying I'm telling you it's nothing that's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series have you ever thought that joy is a delight reserved for those who have no problems or have you ever assumed that some people are just born with a joyful personality if so get ready for some good news joy is a fruit of the spirit available to all in Christ no matter the circumstances of life though Paul was in jail when he wrote his epistle to the Philippians he spoke of joy 16 times no matter what you're going through you too can discover the secret to unspeakable joy as pastor Alan Wright leads you through a life-building exploration of Philippians when you make a gift to sharing the light ministries today we'll send you the new CD album the secret of unspeakable joy as our way of saying thank you for your partnership your gifts are the only way we are able to continue broadcasting the message of grace all over the nation happiness may rise and fall with happenstance but joy is ever present in the spirit so become a partner today and discover joy like never before we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastorallen.org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright and he comes down here to this closing section of verse 10 he's saying that here's why it's so important to know that your righteousness is found in Christ from God through faith i love that language i was just i was found this way you see it is something i i made happen and he says this at verse 10 that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible i may attain the resurrection of the dead what's he saying he's saying that the more that you realize the power and purity and sufficiency and finality of what Jesus has done without any addition from you the more you're going to know God and the more you're going to know the power of his resurrection he starts with the power of the resurrection and he ends with the power of the resurrection the resurrection power the same power however we would describe this mysterious glorious power of God this power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you toward you and through you and there's somebody probably on the sound of my voice right now and something is beginning to burn inside of your heart something is beginning to well feel like light that's starting to shine into darkness something that is making a sleeping dormant part of you feel like it's starting to wake up something inside of you that might even begin to go and say and wonder if everything i've believed is wrong one of Jesus is real if you begin experiencing something like i'm telling you what you're experiencing is the power of the resurrection dead people don't give life to themselves and blind people don't give sight to themselves God does this so he starts with the resurrection and he ends with the resurrection he's saying the resurrection power is what saves you and the resurrection power is what will glorify you and in the midst of this he says the more that we know the sufficiency of the gospel and the gift of Jesus Christ he's saying what we'll know is we will have a share in his sufferings and he's not just talking about oh i'm suffering things i'm in prison what he's saying is something more exquisite than that he's saying that as Jesus suffered on my behalf through faith in Christ i'm engrafted into Christ and it is as if i had suffered those things in the same way that Jesus was crucified it is as if my old nature my sin nature my being that was under tyranny to sin and fear of death all of that has been crucified with Jesus as well there's just so much that is at stake that's why Paul is just so insistent over this it is about the power of the gospel in the end what he's saying is i want you beloved to go all in 100 with Jesus alone whether you're circumcised you're not circumcised i don't care you wear a jacket you wear a Hawaiian shirt i don't care these things don't have anything to do with it as long as you can understand this it's not Jesus 99% and you 1% is Jesus 100% you don't pay for any of your own sin you do not pay for any of your own sin you don't do one single thing to make yourself acceptable to God Jesus did it doesn't matter you're the most noble looking person that's ever lived or the most heinous sinner there's only one way Christ himself 100% he paid it all some of you heard me maybe tell this years ago but Ann and I've been married for a couple years at most we were in Atlanta where we were living at the time I was a seminary student she was a kindergarten teacher the budget was not hefty we were shopping at Christmas time and we went to the Brookstone store where they've got all those fun gadgets and those big marvelous chairs that massage you that cost three thousand dollars and you know I always wanted a telescope I don't even have a small one but I was one of those like they had these telescopes in there I was kind of looking at them while we were walking around like five thousand dollar telescopes they had all this stuff and I was looking of course we were just in there to get some little stocking stuffers and my wife saw a a hairbrush had some sort of fancy chrome handle or something and it was I don't remember it was 25 or 30 dollars and she wanted it for Christmas I said honey 25 dollars for a hairbrush we can get it at Walmart for $4.99 no hairbrush she asked me a couple times she really liked the hairbrush I said no hairbrush honey we're on a budget here we get our few gifts here when we walked into the store a lady handed me this card and said this is our promotion said you're gonna get a discount on what you purchased today don't scratch this gray circle until after you buy your stuff and then you scratch it off and it'll have a percentage down here 10 15 20 you'll get off of your total purchase today I put it in my pocket and didn't think about we walked around and we shopped and I looked at the chairs and I looked at the telescopes and she looked at the chrome handled hairbrush and we went up finally with 12 dollars of stocking stuffers to the counter buy them and they said did you get one of those cards I said oh yeah I did I pulled out handed it to her and she scratched it off and she looked at it and she looked at us and she looked at it and she looked at us and she said pardon me just a moment and she went and got the manager and the manager I could hear them talking to each other and the manager said well I guess I heard that there was such a thing I don't know yeah she said all of that yeah I'm looking I'm like what are they talking about handed me the card and she said congratulations and I looked at it and said 100 percent 100 percent of my purchase was paid for that day 12 bucks not only have I not got the massaging chair I didn't even get the hairbrush I I said you mean I could have had anything I wanted in here for free she said yeah I looked down at our stuff sitting on the counter and I was like are you kidding me she handed us the stuff in a bag didn't even charge us tax and we walked out and we should have been happy but we worked I don't want to get to heaven one day and find out that when you scratch it off you look down there and it said Jesus was 100 are you kidding me you mean it was all paid for you mean it was all mine you mean all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus you mean every single thing that he spoke of of my inheritance has been mine you mean I could have had that joy you mean I could have had the power of the holy spirit flowing through you mean I could have had all of that without the fear and the worry you mean Jesus was 100 percent I don't want to get to heaven one day and find out that there was more than I realized because beloved let me tell you the gospel is good news because it's Jesus plus nothing Jesus plus nothing Jesus plus nothing and that's the gospel why don't we thank you so much twelve dollars worth of useless junk oh god did that on purpose I didn't I'm telling you oh lord thank you so much oh we thank you we get heaven one day but we thank you also we are now in this moment already heirs of the righteousness of Christ these are everything Alan Wright and the conclusion of today's teaching living by the spirit rather than the flesh in unspeakable joy we've got Alan back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and today's final word C.S. Lewis said no soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it in other words joy isn't an elusive dream reserved for a select few who have no problems or for those who were born with a joyful disposition actually joy is a fruit of the spirit available to all in Christ no matter what you're facing you can have the joy of the lord in the midst of it the apostle Paul did though he wrote his epistle to the Philippians while imprisoned he spoke of joy 16 times Alan Wright's newest CD album the secret of unspeakable joy takes you chapter by chapter through Paul's explanation of the secret of joy in Philippians when you make a gift today to sharing the light we'll be delighted to send you the new CD album as our way of saying thanks for your partnership become a partner today and discover the secrets of unspeakable joy we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org Alan as we were just talking not long ago about living by rules how that gives an illusion of many things that could be happening there when I'm making a checklist and I'm checking them off on progress being made there would you say that when you live by the law and you live by the rules and that's all you're living by it's possibly giving you an illusion of joy but not true joy well I think we want to convince ourselves that we've done enough and therefore you know we should get blessed and if you feel like you're being blessed and things are working out great then you go oh well look see God's blessing me because I did so well but as soon as something goes wrong what are you left with yeah you're just going to be left with self-condemnation oh I'm not you're either going to say well I just need to do more or you'll say well it doesn't work I'm going to give up and the gospel's neither of those and that's why you know we're just laughing there at the end um about our little uh escapade at the brooks own store in Atlanta but yeah if you know ahead of time it was all free what I'm trying to find a thousand different ways to say Daniel is that you actually would go all in and um we have sometimes the illusion that people aren't going to try they're not going to move forward they're not going to be energized if they find out the gospel is totally free I beg to differ I think that it is the weight of thinking it's not free and that it's up to us is what wears us out worries us and makes us at our worst we're at our best when we're in grace today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries