The Christian life is not to be lived out in isolation. Dr. Tony Evans says God designed us to grow best in connection with other believers. The way God wants to attack our selfishness is in community. To get help when you need it and to give help when somebody else needs it.
This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Spiritual fruit doesn't grow by accident. It's the result of a life rooted in the Spirit and lived in community. Today, we'll explore how grace not only transforms us, but equips us to restore others with humility and love.
Let's join Dr. Evans in Galatians chapter 5 as he takes a look at what it means to carry each other's burdens while being led by the Holy Spirit. The sin nature has trained the flesh. To want to satisfy itself independently of God. That's what flesh is.
It's self-satisfaction independently of God. That is. I want something that God does not want.
Okay, that's the flesh, and the flesh is driven by its desires, it wants something. He says Do not try to start by fixing the flesh. That's called flesh management. Flesh management is where you try to restrict the flesh from expressing its desires. Nothing has really changed.
But you can appear different for a while. Because you're managing it. But God is after spiritual transformation, not Flesh management. Spiritual transformation. He says, walk in the spirit.
First of all, to walk in the Spirit, you must discover God's view on the matter. What does God say? What has God said about the matter that the flesh?
Now you say, well, I already know what God says.
Okay, but review it. Review the scriptures that talk about whatever that is that you're dealing with. this should take you back to the word of god so you discover what god says Once you discover it or remind yourself of it, then you decide. You decide. What do you decide to do?
You decide to act on what God says. Your will has now been engaged. Your desire is in another direction because the flesh wants to go another way. But you want to walk in the spirit. Because you want spiritual transformation.
So. You now begin to move in light of what God says, because walking is movement.
Okay, you can't walk standing still.
So, the question you must ask is: What action have I taken in light of what God has said? to prove that I've made a real decision.
So when you discover what God wants, that's spiritual information. When you begin walking based on that information, Now you're walking in the Spirit.
So, first of all, there is the discovery, then there's the decision, and then there is the dependency. I'm walking right now. I'm taking these steps to move in your direction. But because of the desires of my flesh, I am very weak. I am weak because my flesh wants to go another direction.
So I'm weak.
So I am depending on you. In light of my walking, Based on my discovery and the decision I'm walking to carry me. In victory.
So I'm now depending on the Holy Spirit.
Now here's the key that I want to bring out here. And that is The time to walk in the Spirit. is when the flesh is driving you to walk In it. In other words, What the flesh wants to do is it wants to block The spirit. That's what he goes on to say in the next verse.
For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. That means you're in a battle. The flesh wants you to go this way, but the spirit wants you to go this way, and you're in this spiritual tug of war. Verse 17 says, For these are in opposition to one another.
So you're never going to that, can the flesh and spirit get along? No. We can't all get along.
so that you may not do the things that you please. In other words, the things that you want to do. I want to please God. But the flesh keeps pulling me back away from pleasing God because the desire is so strong. And depending on how long the desire has been fed.
If the desire has been fed a long time, it's grown in its appetite.
So now the flesh's appetite has grown.
So you start out with a little and the flesh has an insatiable appetite. to please itself.
So it grows and grows and grows.
So, based on how big the blob has become, It's now pulling you away from God. It's got a lot of power because it's been growing, okay?
So When the flesh raises its hair, that is the time to walk in the spirit. But because God knows you're going to be weak. He says, I'm going to be like that moving sidewalk. I'm going to carry you. I'm going to carry you.
So you taking your steps, but I'm putting a power underneath you. to do what your own strength cannot do. Walking in the Spirit You will not fulfill the desire of the flesh, not that you won't have it. It may not go away. But the great victory is.
I didn't obey it. Not that I didn't have it.
Now. Once the flesh learns that you're not obligated to it anymore. The blob will shrink. The blob will shrink. But if it's fed, it's going to keep growing.
And whatever the area of the flesh is, and we all wrestle with it in different areas or attitudes.
Now, how do you know? Oh, by the way, let me review verse 16. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. No. This is a very important verse.
Here it is. When you walk on a moving sidewalk at an airport, That moving sidewalk is going in a specific direction.
Okay, depending on where the gate is you're going to or the terminal you're going to.
So you're walking on this moving sidewalk. And this moving sidewalk is taking you somewhere. There's a goal, a place it's going to let you exit from. In other words, it's leading you in a direction.
So, this verse is very critical because. You get led by the Spirit when you're walking in the Spirit.
So, here is a motivation to walk in the Spirit. See, people want the Spirit to guide them. But the Spirit will only guide you if you're on his sidewalk. On his moving sidewalk.
So when you are walking in the spirit, You don't have to worry about whether you're being led. If you're walking on a moving sidewalk, you don't have to worry about the sidewalk taking you somewhere. It's built into the sidewalk.
So he says, if you're walking in the Spirit, you are being led by the Spirit. And so you're not under. A performance set of rules because the sidewalk already knows where it's going. And because you've decided to walk in the spirit and you're on the sidewalk. You don't have to worry about the Spirit leading you.
He automatically leads you. in this process of walking in the Spirit. And we concluded with the differentiation between The work, the deeds, verse 19 of the flesh. Here's how you know you're not walking in the spirit. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger.
So if you can't control your anger, your anger controls you, that means you're not walking in the spirit.
Now I know you may blame it on your personality. But no, he said you're not walking in the spirit. Disputes. dissensions, factions, you know, all manner of conflicts. You're not walking in the Spirit.
Envying, drunkenness, carousing, things like these.
So this is not a exhaustive category but but things like these the when these are controlling you, then you know the spirit is not in control of you. because he wouldn't be leading you deeper into those areas. But verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is. Fruits, let's review the three aspects of fruit. Fruit always reflects the character of the tree of which it is a part.
An apple tree only produces apples. An orange tree only produces oranges.
So the character of a tree will determine the character of the fruit.
So you will become more Christ-like. Secondly. Fruit is always visible. You've never seen invisible fruit. Fruit is always visible.
So it will become evident. It will be obvious that something is different now than it used to be. Because you'll be functioning differently. And thirdly, fruit always benefits somebody else. The only fruit to eat itself is rotten fruit.
So in other words, you become beneficial rather than hurtful. toward others. He says, this is the fruit of the Spirit.
Now, the fruit of the Spirit. Coming from this fruit tree is love. Peace. patience, kindness.
So it's going to be the opposite of the flesh, basically. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. In other words, You have now the power to overrule the flesh. The flesh that used to overrule you, you have now, if you belong to Christ. You have the power to overrule the flesh.
If we live by the Spirit, if this becomes how you operate, how you roll. Let us also walk by the Spirit.
Okay? If you're saved, you're alive by the Spirit. What he says. but then walk that way. Walk in accordance with the one who has given you life.
Spiritual life, which is the spirit.
So start walking in light of who you are. One of the problems we all have is in misclassifying ourselves. We classify ourselves by the flesh. And we give it sophisticated name. Like, you know, this is my personality, this is my background.
That, you know, I am an alcoholic. I am a see. when you go to those 12-step programs, most of them start in the wrong place. because they misclassify you. You say, my name is Bob.
And I am an alcoholic. That is to invite defeat. Because that's not who you are once you become saved. It is what you do. But it's not who you are.
because your identity has changed. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. It's Christ who lives in me. The life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
That's who I am. even though it's not what I'm doing. You are your parents' child. That's who you are.
Now, you may not be acting like it. But that does not change your fundamental identity.
So you start off with, no, I am a blood bought. Forgiven Non-condemned. child of God.
So now you're thinking heavenly. as you deal with earthly.
So he wants you to now live in light of that. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Because he wants us to live out. The walking in the spirit in community. The Christian life is not to be lived out in isolation.
is to be lived out in community. The way God wants to attack our selfishness is in community. And Dr. Evans will share how community plays a vital role in overcoming struggle. when he returns in just a moment.
We are nearing the conclusion of Tony's eleven-part series on Galatians, the New Testament book that extensively explores the subject of religious rules versus God's grace. If you're ready to break free from performance-based faith and discover what it means to live in true spiritual freedom, This is a study you'll want to hear in its entirety. And right now, you can get all 11 messages from this series on digital download as well as on either C D or USB flash drive. We'll send the full collection to you as our way of saying thanks when you make a donation to help support the Alternative Broadcast Ministry. And there's more when you contact us today.
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Well, let's get back now to more from Dr. Evans, talking about the Apostle Paul's words for us in the book of Galatians. He comes to chapter six. and he deals with a real reality. This answers the question, what do you do when You're struggling with the sin that you really are seeking forgiveness for and victory over.
But you're too weak. Brethren, okay, so he's talking to Christians. Even if anyone is caught in a trespass. They're stuck. They're caught in an addiction, they're caught in a relationship, they're caught in something that they can't get out of, they are trapped.
So, this is dealing with somebody who is. Stop. But who doesn't want to be stuck, but they are stuck. You who are spiritual, restore such a one. in a spirit of gentleness.
When you get caught on something, you know, your clothes get caught or something. And you can't get it out. Then you ask somebody to help you. That's what you do. You ask somebody to help you.
You've been pulling and tugging and jerking and everything, and it won't, you can't get unstuck, but you want to be unstuck. Then you get help. But you don't get help from anybody. The reason why some of us are stuck is we just talk to other stuck folk. who are as stuck as we are.
He says, You who are spiritual. You who are spiritual, restore such a one. The Greek word for restore is to Reset a broken bone. That was a One of the uses of the word restore. I can relate to that.
I have a steel plate in my right leg. from football. I was playing linebacker. I intercepted a pass, was going back the other way. The guy hit me with a crossbody block.
My cleat didn't come up out of the muddy ground. PAW tomatiblia and fiblia.
Okay, they ready to come on the field, get a stretcher, put me in the ambulance, take me to the hospital. They opened up my leg. and they reset the bone and put in a steel plate. to keep the bone together. When my bone broke, I was unable to help myself.
Not because I wanted to be there, but I was. That was broken. But my teammates picked me up Put me in the care of the ambulance or put me in the care of the doctor. to reset what was broken. The reason that every Christian should, one, belong to a body, a local body, because he's writing a local church here.
And the reason that a Christian should be engaged with that body. It's for one or two reasons. Apart from hearing the word for yourself, but One or two reasons. To get help when you need it and to give help when somebody else needs it. That's one of the reasons.
This is not about isolated lone ranger. Christianity. The Bible knows nothing of that. That's why it's got all these one-another's in scripture, the one-anothers. Because you're not in isolation.
And so He says, you who are spiritual.
Now, who is the spiritual person? The spiritual person is the person who brings the mind of Christ. to the issue. First Corinthians 2 Says that you are spiritual, you have the mind of Christ who brings you. A God-centered Response.
God-centered assistance. Not Secular thought. Not Popular thought. If you are caught in a sin, that's a spiritual issue. No matter what the physical expression of it is, it's a spiritual cause.
And so you need a spiritual cure. It's what many members want. Is they don't want their church to be a hospital, they want their church to be a hospice. Hospitals make you better, hospices make you comfortable while you die. They just want a comfortable place to be.
They don't want to be made better. The job of the church is to make us better.
Some things you can do on your own, but some things when you are caught, stuck, trapped. You don't want to be, but you are. He says You need to be surrounded by some spiritual people, people who approach life from God's point of view. You need to be one of those people, and you need to access. have access to those people when you need them.
So, the Bible knows nothing about coming to church in that sense where you're not. Part of the solution, or part of the problem that gets the solution. by the people of God. He says, and when you do this, when you seek to be a restorer. Do so in the spirit of gentleness.
The spirit of gentleness means This could be you. And maybe it was you at one time. This could be you.
So don't get. this I'm better than the person I'm helping. Pride cometh before the fall.
So the moment you think you're better than them, Satan can say, I got him next. Because you're not better, you're just not in it right now. When you're setting a bone, you're not jerking it and twisting it. You're not trying to hurt it worse. You're trying to set it as easily as possible.
And even that may be painful. But you're not trying to inflict more pain. You're trying to Senate. With as much TLC and kindness. as possible.
as though you were the one hurting.
So Bear one another's burdens. And therefore, fulfill the law of Christ.
Now this is a little different. This is burden bearing. Burden bearing. Verse one is restoring. Due to a trespass, which is a sin.
This is lightening a load. This is when life has gotten too heavy. When you're lifting weights, And you get to that one that it just won't go up any further. It's just too heavy. But you have somebody spotting you who comes and helps lift it up.
They're helping you to bear the burden. Life gets Heavy. It gets heavy with sickness. It gets heavy with relational. flashes.
It gets heavy. with children, it gets heavy with finances, it gets weighty and you just get. I'm tired. It's when life is waiting. It's not necessarily that there's sin.
It's just that it's heavy. This can't be. He says, bear ye one another's Bird.
Okay. In other words, Help make the load lighter if you can. Help make the load lighter when you can, if you can, as you can. And thus fulfill the law of Christ. What is that law?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's the law. Of Christ. In other words, If you were in that predicament, what would you want somebody to do for you if they could? And fulfill the law of Christ.
That's the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. You're not that great, that good, that you can't help somebody else. Just as we move about our day, our work, our life, our neighborhood. When we see a burden, And we can help bear it.
to lighten the moat. You are fulfilling the law of Christ. Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us that the fruitful, spirit-led life shows itself when we step in to help carry the burdens of others.
Now don't forget to take advantage of that special offer I mentioned earlier. All 11 messages from Tony's powerful Galatians series, along with his book, Kingdom Prayer. It's our way of saying thanks when you support the ministry of the alternative. Get the details and make your request online at tonyevans.org. Or call 1-800-800-3222, where one of our helpful team members is ready to assist with your resource request.
Again, that's tonyevans.org. or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. We often celebrate what makes us look good. But Scripture points us to a different source of confidence. Tomorrow, Dr.
Evans explains why the cross is our only true source of identity. and how it can reshape the way we see ourselves and others. I hope you'll join us for that.
