1094. Walk in the Spirit

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today on The Daily Platform, we're continuing a study series entitled Walking in the Spirit, which is a study of Galatians Chapter 5. Let's listen to today's message, where Steve will show us what it is like to walk in the Spirit from Galatians Chapter 5. Take your Bibles this morning and please turn with me to the book of Galatians, Galatians Chapter 5.

And that's what I want us to look at this morning, verses 16 and 17, when Paul says, here's my advice. Here's the way Christian liberty will work in all of our lives. And he says, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Christian liberty only works when believers accept their responsibility to conduct their lives according to the Spirit's control. It's not just a list that we follow, but it is a surrender of our life to the Spirit's control in our life. And walking in the Spirit is the only way to live the Christian life and nothing else works. And the sooner you understand that, the better off everybody will be. That we must all be personally responsible to walk in the Spirit.

So let's look at that this morning. What does Paul mean when he says walk in the Spirit? And the first thing we're going to see is that this is a command of God to all of us, walk in the Spirit. So first of all, what does in the Spirit mean?

And secondly, what is meant by walk? Let's start with the idea of what it means to be in the Spirit. I want you to go back to the book of Galatians chapter 3, if you will, and I want you to note just a couple of key verses with me. In verse 14 of Galatians 3, God makes a promise to Abraham that a blessing would come to the Gentile nations through his family, which was ultimately in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Look at verse 14, he says that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. So question, what is the blessing that comes on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ? And notice Galatians 3 and verse 8, he tells us. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, and you shall all the nations be blessed, so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. What is Paul saying here? He is saying that God's blessing that was promised to Abraham, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of salvation for all the nations. So all people throughout all the world can experience God's grace and justification, God making us right with him. And Paul goes on to say that included in this salvation is the gift of the Spirit.

Look at verse 14. He says that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, so that when you and I are saved, what do we receive as a gift? We receive not only eternal life, but we receive the gift of the Spirit. So what's the significance of receiving the gift of the Spirit?

And two basic things. Number one, that when you receive the Spirit, the Spirit is the one that gives you spiritual life. Do you realize that before you're saved, you're spiritually dead? Dead as a doornail. No life. No relationship with God. You are in this world, you may believe in the existence of God, but you don't have a relationship with God. But when you are saved, the Spirit of God resurrects you from the dead. Paul says you were quickened, you're made alive. But then secondly, the Holy Spirit is given to you and he, the Spirit, makes real your personal relationship with God. Look at Galatians 4 and verse 6. He says we are God's adopted sons and he says because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his son into your hearts crying, Abba Father. What does that mean? It means that the Spirit of God makes our relationship with God genuine.

Real. And how do we know that? Because from our hearts, we cry out to God, Abba. Do you know what Abba is? It's the Hebrew word for daddy. I remember one of the first times I went to the city of Jerusalem and I saw a little Jewish boy grabbing his father's hand and saying, Abba, Abba.

And that's exactly what I thought here. What does the Spirit of God do? He makes us alive spiritually and he makes our relationship with God so special that we talk to him just like we talk to our own Father. And it's the Spirit of God that makes your relationship with God authentic and genuine and real.

Now since we have this relationship with God, then we have a responsibility to that relationship. And what is that? It's found in the word walk. What do we mean by the word walk in the Spirit? Well first of all, it's a command. It's a choice of the will.

It's a decision that you have to make and it's to be made every single day. And I think the best way to understand the concept of walking is basically from two worlds. First of all, the Hebrew world and secondly the Greek world. Let's look at it from the Hebrew world.

Where can we go and discover what the word walk means? And it's one that we all understand and it's Jesus and his disciples. In biblical times, the whole idea of a disciple was someone who lived with the rabbi.

The rabbi or the Jewish form of instruction has never been to sit in a classroom where a teacher teaches for 50 minutes and you get the lesson and that's it. No, it's actually living with the rabbi. So what did the disciples do? They lived with Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They talked with Jesus.

They constantly questioned and asked him questions back and forth and they observed his life. And as they lived with him, as they listened to him, as they learned from him, over time they became like him. So we read in Luke chapter 6 in verse 40 that a disciple is not above his teacher. But when we are fully trained it says we become like our teacher. That is, a disciple is to become like his rabbi.

So walking in the Spirit has to do with listening, with learning, and suddenly our life begins to change. And then there's a second illustration that's really from the Greek world and we see this in the great teacher, Aristotle, and his students. The Greek word for walk here that you read in Galatians 5 16 is the word perapoteto.

Perapoteto. The students of Aristotle in Greek were called perapotetics. What that simply means is that everywhere the teacher went, they went. And they walked with him.

And they would ask him questions and they listened to him and they learned and they obeyed him. So fundamentally to walk means to live with, to listen, to learn, and in time you become like your teacher. So when Paul says walk in the Spirit, how does this for us today practically take place?

On a daily basis, here as a student in Bob Jones University, how can I be walking in the Spirit? And I think Jesus gives us the answer in John chapter 8 and verse 31. Listen to what Jesus said. He said to the Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. What makes a person a disciple of Jesus is one who continues in Jesus' word. And since the Spirit of God is the author of the Word of God, when you and I are walking in the Word, that is, we are listening, we are learning, we are living with the Word so that we become like the Word, when we are walking in the Word, then we are walking in the Spirit. For example, we have two verses I think that backs this up.

These are verses very well known. Ephesians 5 18, it says be filled with the Spirit and then you should speak to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He says be filled with the Spirit. We come to Colossians 3 16, it says let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Paul takes the idea of singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and in Ephesians he says be filled with the Spirit, and in Colossians he says be filled with the Word. And fundamentally, Spirit-filled living is Word-filled living. To walk in the Spirit is to live in the Word. And as we are walking in the Spirit, what are we doing?

We have a passionate pursuit to know God through His Word and to be conformed into the likeness of our teacher, our Rabbi Jesus Christ. So let me just stop here and say this, that if you are not in God's Word, and I'm not talking about sitting in a Bible class, I'm not even talking about coming to chapel. I'm talking about you in your own responsibility pursuing to know God through His Word.

I'm talking about daily devotions, daily meditation, memorization of Scripture, getting into and giving your heart to God's Word. If you're not in the Word, then you're not in the Spirit. And if you're not in the Spirit, then obviously you're in the flesh.

And one of the greatest problems at Bob Jones University is not the absence of God's Word on the presence of this campus, it is the fact that students really are not in the Word. It's not that the Word's not here, it's that you're not really pursuing to know God through His Word. And when you're not in the Word, you're in the flesh, and it comes out in your life. So he says, walk in the Spirit.

And then he gives us this incredible encouraging confirmation. And that is, he says, when you walk in the Spirit, what's gonna happen? He says, you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. That is written to give us an incredible sense of encouragement and confirmation, especially those who understand the nature of the flesh, that if we're walking in the Spirit, we will not be fulfilling the sinful desires of the flesh.

So let's ask a couple questions. First of all, what does he mean by the lust of the flesh? Well, I think it's important that we define the term flesh.

And I think the best definition is actually the biblical definition. And in Romans chapter 7 and verse 17, Paul writes these words, listen to this. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Paul defines for us what the flesh is. It is sin dwelling inside of you.

Do you realize that when you became a believer, God did not remove the presence of sin within your own body. All of us here have the flesh. Now how does the flesh operate?

Well, it works through the creation of strong desires. Paul called it the lust of the flesh. And these desires, first of all, are internal, that's inside of you. Number two, they are evil and corrupting.

And number three, they are extremely powerful and controlling. And your sinful desires are constantly crying out for fulfillment. And how does the desires of the flesh find fulfillment?

It does it through your bodily members. Just like a violinist plays through the violin so the flesh actually plays through your bodily desires and your bodily members. And these desires are deceitful because they make a promise that if you will yield to these desires, it will bring you satisfaction and fulfillment.

And the reason why it's deceitful is because it's telling you a lie, it doesn't bring fulfillment. It brings bondage, it brings guilt, it brings conflict and confusion. And these desires, that is the desires that come out of our flesh, are the basis for what we call temptation. What is temptation? It is when these strong desires that are inside of you test your will to give into or to yield to those desires.

Let me say it again. A temptation is when the lust of your flesh tests your will to give in and to yield to those desires. James 1 14, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Now one thing I know, everybody in this room has the flesh, therefore everybody in this room has the lust of the flesh. Therefore I know this, that there is a conflict that is perpetually raging in the hearts of everybody in this room because everybody in this room has sinful desires. So the flesh creates the desires and the desires cry out for fulfillment. So the question then is this, what happens when your will gives in and obeys these desires? For example, let's say you're in your room and you're happy and content and your roommate comes in and says something that irritates the fire out of you.

How many of you have ever had an irritating roommate? Would you raise your hand? Okay. And at that moment there wells up inside of you some strong emotions. And those emotions are crying out for fulfillment. Now you may feel that in your heart, you may be tempted to respond and react in a negative sinful way, but you may not do it. When you give in to those desires, what actually happens? James 1 15 it tells us, that when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. When you yield to your lustful desires, what are you doing? You are sinning. So it becomes quite clear that the spiritual battle that we all face is that gap between our desires, what we feel, and our decisions. Paul says in Romans 6 14, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Sin reigns when your will obeys your lust. And it is with this reality that the Apostle Paul presents this amazingly encouraging confirmation. Because everybody in this room understands if you're a believer, you understand the lust of your flesh.

You understand the struggle you face. But notice what Paul says, if you walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lusts of your flesh. You know Paul could not have said it any stronger. It is a dogmatic, emphatic assertion.

It's in the Greek in what we call a double negative. It's if you walk in the spirit, you will know not fulfill the lust of the flesh. He is denying the very possibility that when you walk in the spirit, it is not even possible to fulfill the desires of your flesh. Are you saying, Steve, that the human will is strong enough to fight and defeat lust?

Absolutely not. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is what? Weak. And what Paul is saying is that it's not that we do it by the strength of our willpower, it is that we have an inner power that is greater than our inner lust. And what is that? It is when we are walking in the spirit that we will not fulfill the desires of our flesh. Maybe you're saying, wow, man, I'd be thrilled to find out and understand the dynamic of this experience, but to be honest, I've not found this to be true of myself. So how can I truly be confident that what Paul has said is true? Is that really true?

Because that's not true of my own experience. How can I be certain that if I walk in the spirit, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh? And that leads me to the last point I want to make this morning. And that's found in verse 17. For verse 17 is simply a statement of confidence that if you walk in the spirit, you're not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And notice what Paul says. He says, for, that means for this reason. He's explaining his statement. Walk in the spirit, you're not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Here's why. He says, for the flesh is against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. What is Paul saying here? Number one, he is saying that we all have two unchangeable natures within our own hearts. All of us here who are believers. We have the flesh and the spirit. We have, we have indwelling sin and we have the indwelling son.

Christ in you, the hope of glory. And these two natures are mutual opposites. They are inherently different. The desires of these natures are in total contrast to one another.

Furthermore, these natures cannot change nor can change each other. In other words, it's not the goal of the Holy Spirit to change your flesh. And the flesh does not have power to change the spirit of God that is within you.

You have them both living inside of you. And secondly, these natures are unalterably antagonistic. Look at what Paul says. He says, the flesh lusteth against the spirit. The spirit is against the flesh.

These are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. What is he saying? He is saying that there is a civil war of the soul. It's raging in our hearts, all of our hearts.

And these two natures recoil one another when they come into contact just like magnets recoil one another. If you're not from the state of South Carolina, if you didn't grow up here, it'd be hard for you to understand what I'm about to say. But in the state of South Carolina, there are only two football teams. Only two.

You say, no, there's many, many more. Obviously, you're not from South Carolina. There's the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, and there are the Clemson Tigers. And if you grew up in South Carolina and you were raised here, if you pull for one team, you cannot pull for the other.

Otherwise, you're schizophrenic. I grew up in Columbia, the capital city, so I'm a Gamecock fan. I'll never pull for Clemson. I don't even like them. They're rednecks.

They play up there and we play down there. And that's just the way I grew up. The two natures oppose one another. So much so that when one nature would lead you to do something, the other nature's there to oppose you.

And you all understand this. For example, when you feel like you should pray, is there not something on the inside of you say, well, maybe now's not a good time. You got too much to do. When you feel the burden to share the gospel, when the Spirit of God moves you to share the gospel, maybe something on the inside of you says, well, maybe now's not a good time. Or when you have an evil desire, do you ever sense something on the inside of you saying you better not think that or do that? Paul said it this way, I find it a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me.

It's amazing. We have this struggle within our heart. No wonder Paul says, oh wretched man that I am. So here is the compelling question. Can I overcome the strong desires of my sinful nature?

And the answer is absolutely. The desires of the Spirit are stronger than the desires of the flesh. When God saved you, it was a perfect salvation to perfect you. In Romans 8 and verse 2 it says, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

The principle of the Spirit makes you free from the principle of sin and death. It's like the law of gravity and the law of aerodynamics. The law of gravity will always be in effect. What goes up will come down. But we discovered a higher law, the law of aerodynamics, so that a plane can literally overcome the law of gravity if it operates under the laws of aerodynamics and it can fly. By the way, if the plane stops operating under the law of aerodynamics, what happens?

Gravity takes over. And the scripture says, the law of the Spirit is more powerful than the law of sin and death. Salvation does not remove the presence of sin out of my life, but it does give me the power to overcome. You cannot avoid the battle, but you don't have to be a prisoner of war. You may, you cannot avoid temptation, but you can avoid transgression. And that, my friend, is freedom. And the reality of the Spirit within you is greater than the reality of the flesh within you.

Do you believe that? When you are struggling hard with temptation and sin, have you come to the place where you cried out and you said, oh God, deliver me, and you experience that God energizes you with his power to overcome sin? So as we conclude this morning, first of all, let me say that if you're a believer, you understand this conflict. If you're sitting there and you're like totally clueless to what I've said, you probably need to be saved. Because if you're a believer, your own heart is saying this is true. Let me say secondly, that if you're a believer, you do have a strong desire to experience victory over your flesh if you're a believer.

Even if you're backslidden, even if you're away from God, you have a strong desire in your heart if you're a believer to overcome the flesh. So what's the problem? The real problem is this. It is a lack of consistency in your own personal walk. It's actually your fault. And the reason why you are not overcoming the flesh is because you're not walking in the Spirit.

And what do you need? You need to be broken. Some of you need to be broken over your love for the flesh. You love yourself more than you love God. Some of you need to be broken over your negligence of the Word of God. You actually believe you can live without the Word and you can't. And you need to be broken over your own self-effort because many of you have tried hard to live for God, but you've fallen on your face.

Why? Because you're operating by the flesh, self-effort, and not operating by faith and dependence on God's Spirit. But Paul has given us this confirming statement of incredible confidence that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Will you believe that? Take God at His Word and walk in the Spirit. Father, please bless us. Lord, I pray that there will be a great groundswell of brokenness over self and a surrender to walk in the Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless. You've been listening to a sermon from the study series in Galatians Chapter 5 by Dr. Steve Pettit, President of Bob Jones University. Thanks for listening and join us again tomorrow as we study God's Word together on The Daily Platform.