Called To Liberty | Galatians 5:13-18

[music] We're going to be looking at Galatians 5:es 13- 18. So I'll read those verses to you, give you, as I normally do, an introduction that takes a bit of time to develop, and then we'll move into a few things that we see here in this passage. So in Galatians chapter 5 beginning at verse 13 we read for you brethren have been called to liberty only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another for all the law is fulfilled in one word even in this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware, lest you be consumed by one another. I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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 that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. And so again, let me review with you those of you who haven't been with us or perhaps those of you who are with us and and might benefit from a review. We need to remember that in the book of Galatians throughout this letter, Paul is emphasizing the blessings of the grace of God. You see, false teachers have infiltrated the churches of Galatia, and they're bringing with them error. They're demanding that the Galatians keep the Jewish law. They're stressing compliance with the law of Moses as a means of salvation. And so when they do this, they're combining the law with grace and and and are undermining the grace of God in salvation. You see, God's grace is essential because it reveals God's unmmerited favor and love. When people say, "What is grace?" Grace is God's unmmerited favor. It's his unmmerited love. We don't do anything to deserve it. He simply gives it. And it's grace that provides a means of salvation. It's grace that opens up the door to reconciliation. We've been in hostile opposition against God. We're hostily opposed to him, his will, and the things that he desires. And so, we've been at war with him. And so, it's that it's the grace of God that opens up the door for us to be reconciled to him. You see, it especially emphasizes that salvation is is not something that is earned. Salvation is actually a gift. It's a free gift of God. It's not something that comes through our own efforts. And this is a theme that the Apostle Paul seems to need to address constantly in his writings because for example in the book of Romans in chapter 3:es 20- 24 he made it very clear. He said by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So it's by grace. It's all by grace. But the Judaizers, these um people who are attempting to bring the Galatians into the bondage of the law, the Judaizers are perverting the gospel. As a result of that, they're drawing people away from God's grace. They're compelling Gentiles to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses. And so Paul has been withstanding the error. And he's been reminding the Galatians that they're saved, but not by their efforts or by keeping Moses's law. They're saved by the grace of God through faith. He had said in Galatians in chapter 2:1 16, "A person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ." So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified. And so what he's been doing is he's been exhorting the Galatians to resist the entanglement of the law of Moses. Instead, they're supposed to stand fast in the liberty by which Jesus Christ has made them free. When he speaks about standing fast in liberty, the word liberty simply means freedom. But the word would be used especially being free from slavery. And slavery in the context of what Paul is writing about would be the slavery to the obligations of the law of Moses. So they're to, as we saw in verse one of chapter 5, they're to stand fast. That means they're to remain firm. They're to persevere in the freedom they have in Jesus from the law of Moses. They're to confidently remain in the freedom they have received. They're not to put on the yoke of bondage to the rules and regulations of the law. So in this chapter, Paul has told the Galatians to reject two things. He said, reject false doctrine, but also reject the influence of the and reject the false teachers themselves. Reject their influence and reject them. Why? Because this persuasion, he said, is not from God. This persuasion to go to the law is from the false teachers who are teaching this false doctrine. And Paul was greatly concerned about this. And we've seen this as we've gone through Galatians. He was actually angered over what the deceivers were doing. And so he had said concerning these false teachers in chapter 1 verse 9, as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be a cursed. Let him be doomed to destruction. Those leading you into error will reap the consequences. In chapter 5 10 he had said I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will have no other mind but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment whoever he is. And so he had an anger over this. He said they're going to reap what they're sowing. They're going to receive judgment for doing so. Why would he be so upset and why would he be so stern? He is because he loves them. And Paul, though he was a great missionary, great evangelist, great great apostle, he was also a great pastor and he had a pastor's heart for these Galatians, concerned for them. He didn't want them to be injured because when they were injured, he would be injured alongside of them. Remember he had said that in 2 Corinthians 11 29. He had said that to the Corinthians who also had false teachers who were infiltrating, bringing them under bondage. And he had said in 2 Corinthians 11:29, "Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray and I do not burn with anger?" You see, this love and this concern was something that he openly revealed. And he had even gone so far as saying to them, listen, if they want to bring you under the law and men, they're demanding that you be circumcised. Well, why don't they why don't they continue further? Why don't they just simply castrate themselves? Why? Why stop at circumcision? Why not reveal your devotion uh by by castration? Go all the way. I mean, he was pretty upset about this. And so, he's speaking concerning this. And as he's doing so, he's now encouraging them to know what liberty is. And that's what he's telling them here in verse 13. You are not under bondage to the law. You've been given freedom in Christ. Let me share with you what that is. Verse 13, he says, for you, brethren, have been called to liberty. only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another. I want you to notice verse 13 how he says you have been called. That word called in the original language know that the that the uh New Testament is written in common Greek and coin Greek and so when he uses the word uh called you brethren have been called to liberty. That word called means you've been invited. You have been summoned to freedom. It's an invitation to freedom. It's an invitation from God that you can be free from the bondage of the law and your sin. You see, the gospel message is an invitation to freedom. In Luke 4:1 17-19, Jesus was uh was ministering here and and it says in Luke 4:17-19 that the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. unrolling it, he found the place where it is written, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Jesus said, "I have come to set you free." Set you free from bondage. And this bondage that I've come to set you free from is is going to include religious bondage also. In John 8:36, he said, "If the son sets you free, you will be free. Indeed, I've come to make you completely free." You see, before Jesus died on the cross, Paul makes it clear, we were in bondage to religious rules, regulations, do this, don't do that. And it's called in Acts 15:10, a yoke of bondage. And it's stated there that no one could bear it. So Jesus's life, his death, his resurrection fulfilled all that the law demanded. That's why Matthew 5:17 tells us when Jesus speaks, "Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them." And that's why Paul in Romans chap 10:4 could say that Christ is the end of the law. When he says Christ is the end of the law, he's saying that the law leads to him and its purpose is fulfilled in him. He says that it grants righteousness to everyone who believes in him as a savior. So by trusting his complete fulfillment of the law, that's how you're justified before God. And that's how we became children of God. In Galatians 3:26, he had said, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." And it's all by grace. The false messages delivered by false teachers will not set you free. Grace sets you free. The law brings you to bondage. That's why in Galatians 4:9, he says, "Now that you know God, or should I say, now that God knows you, why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?" Why do you want to go back to the thou shalts and thou shalt not instead of saying I want everything Christ has for me? I want to follow him by faith. Why is that? Well, he said in verse 13, you brethren have been called to liberty. You have been called to freedom from slavery. So trusting Jesus frees us from the bondage of sin and it results in spiritual freedom or liberty. That's why again in verse one he has said stand fast in the liberty by which Christ made us free. Now I want to develop that for a moment. We're not free to do whatever we want whenever we want to do it. Grace hasn't been given to me so that I might continue in sin. I cannot claim to be a Christian and yet continue living in the flesh constantly habitually. I can't do that because I'm misunderstanding what grace is. It's not permission to sin. It's freedom from sin. And so when Paul first began to teach concerning grace and all of that, there were people who were saying, "Well, what he's preaching is an easy belieism. What he's preaching is something that, you know, oh, you just believe and therefore you're saved." No, you've got to do certain things. And that's what gave rise to the people accepting the teachings of these false teachers because they were saying, "But it sounds too easy. It sounds like like I'm given freedom to continue in sin and all because grace is going to give to me the ability to go to heaven and I don't have to be a changed person. And some were arguing that Paul was giving permission to continue in sin. They argued that grace really amounted to giving them permission. Now he again in Romans he mentioned this in Romans 3:8. He said why not say as some slanderously claim that we say let us do evil that good may result. Then he went on to say their condemnation is deserved. Paul taught that grace is intended to set us free not to sin but to be free from its power and dominion. Grace is intended to set us free from the power of sin so that we can serve God. In Romans 6:1 and2 he said, "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? We died to sin." What does he mean when he said we died to sin? To die to sin is to have nothing to do with it, to be separated from it. And the question is, how can we who have died to sin live live any longer under its domination? If I'm dead to sin, why am I choosing to live as if I haven't died? I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness came from the law, Christ died in vain. He's already said that in Galatians 2:20 and 21. God's grace gave me freedom not to continue in sin, but to be free from its power over my life. At one time I was dead in sin, but now I'm to be dead to the power of sin. Now, Christians have died to sin, at least in two ways. One, believers are to be dead to sin's domination in our lives. Because by faith, we can resist, knowing that we have power to resist. And I do that by faith. In Romans 6:11, he says, "Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Reckon yourselves to be dead. Understand that you're dead. And somebody may have in their lifetime, they have may they may have had a problem with, we'll say, um, with uh with greed. Maybe they just were greedy people. Uh, you know, they they they live to make more money. And then they came to faith in Christ. And they learned to be generous rather than greedy. and they have a funeral and in the funeral they're in that casket. How are they going to respond if somebody walks up to that dead body and has uh you know $1,000 in cash and waves it in front of the dead body? They're not going to respond to it at all. Why not? Because they're dead. And that's the whole point. If I'm dead to these things, then it has no power over me. So I have to reckon myself to be dead in Christ but alive at the same time because of him. So I'm counting myself that way. That's why Romans 12:1 is so important to me. It says, "I I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." So I offer myself to God instead of sin. And I pray like it says in Psalm 19:13 where the psalmist said, "Keep your servant also from willful sins. May they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. Keep your servant also from willful sins. I am crucified in Christ." I need to understand and I need to act on God's promise to provide grace to overcome. That comes through his word and that comes through prayer. In Hebrews 4:16, the writer said, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." You see, the indwelling power of the spirit of God gives us power to resist and to have victory. I was talking to somebody in between services and and he was saying, "How do I do that? How do I do that?" I said, "Uh, you know, every battle that you fight is a difficult one. It's not as if you're you're entering into a battle with without uh, you know, t taking something that's coming towards you, an onslaught of some kind of uh opposition. You have to be aware of the fact that you're in a war. You have to be aware that you're in a battle. It it it is not that easy. it. You know, when somebody my age, you say, "Well, you're so old, you don't sin anymore." No, you just learn how to do it without people catching you. Um, it it doesn't go away. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Paul would say. When does it end? It ends when you see him face to face. There's a battle. It's constant. You know it and I know it. It's constant. And the temptation is always presented to you as if it's very pleasant, something that you'd really like to do. Like the very first temptation that was given to Eve, that that that forbidden fruit was pleasant for the eyes. It would be something that would make you like God. It would be wonderful to have because sin is always presented in a way that makes you want it. And there's something within you, some residual thing that is the old man, the passions that are still there that are drawn by that. So, it's a decision of the will. I have an ability to make a choice. I have the power of the Holy Spirit that can give me the uh a way of escape and therefore I'm going to exercise that. But I have to do that by faith. And it's not something I do just because of my will. It's something you do because you have the ability in the Holy Spirit to do that. In Ezekiel in the Old Testament in chapter 36 27 God said I will I will put or I will pour out literally my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. I will pour out my spirit within you. So the Holy Spirit who dwells within the believer motivates us to walk obediently with joy and gives us the power to do it should we decide in Christ that I want to do those things that are pleasing. And so on the one hand I have been uh set free from sin's domination but on the other hand I am also free from what has been called judicial guilt. Judicial guilt results in judgment and eternal separation. I've been saved by the grace of God. And therefore, I can say with confidence that I'm going to go to heaven. When I first got saved, I went with a friend of mine, two friends of mine to go see uh one of our buddies who had moved up north. I grew up in Norwok, and my friend uh moved up into uh by Monterey, California. He was in Pacific Grove and his name was Paul. And and so I went up with two of my friends just before I went in the military. We went up because I wanted to share with Paul. And and so he said, uh when I got there, he said, Dave, he says, I I've invited a couple friends of mine. I wanted to introduce you to two of my friends. And so we were there. We were just kind of settling in when the friends arrived and and they came into his apartment, sat down, and this is how Paul introduced me. He said, "I want you to meet my friend David. David got me high the very first time I ever got high." That's how would you like to be remembered as the guy who got somebody loaded for the first time? That's how he introduced me. He said, "David got me high the first time I ever got high." Now, he was what we used to call I don't know what it's called anymore. He was what we called a pthead. also called John Mata, but that's a different story. [laughter] And I remember when he said that, he said, "David's the guy who got me high the very first time." And so he has two friends and Paul. And I'm with two of my friends. And I said something like this. I still remember doing this because he hit me so hard. I said, "You know, Paul, that's true." And I told the guys, "That's true." I got him high the first time. That's true. I said, "But Paul, I wanted to come. The reason I'm here right now is to tell you something. I want you to know that I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, that my sins have been forgiven, and I'm a new creation. And I came specifically to talk to you about Christ so that you could be saved." And so, I was talking and one of the guys was uh who came to visit him was a Buddhist. And so, we were speaking. And so at there was at that time there was u there was you know people were were very spiritually hungry and questioning things. It was kind of a unique moment in my life to see such openness and all but but one of the guys finally said to me you're not that good cuz I said I'm going to heaven. They say you're not that good. I said you're right. I'm not. You know my mom told me this. She said when people will tell me that you're bad and you do bad things my mom said this. She said, "I tell him, I don't doubt it, and there are worse things that he's done that you're not aware of." That was my loving mom concerning my testimony with her. But I told him, I said, "You're right. I am not that good, but I worship the one who is Jesus Christ." And I shared with him the gospel of grace. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done. God saved us by his mercy. And so it's by by grace that you're saved through faith. That not of yourself is is a gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. And so that's how you're saved. And that's what Paul is speaking about. Why? Because these people need to know that not only can they be free from the domination of sin, but they can also be free from the judgment that comes upon those who do sin. And Jesus Christ came so we could have life. John 5:24 tells uh says like this. Truly I tell you, whoever hears my word believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has passed from death into life. So grace gives us freedom from sin, not freedom to sin. Again, some interpret grace to mean permission to continue in sin. I I've I've met too many people over the years that I followed the Lord who think that. Well, you know that now that I'm saved, I can do this and I can do that. And it's not that you can't do that. You have a will, a capacity. You can do those things. But do you want to do those things? There's that's a there that's something entirely different because it isn't given to me to continue in sin. You know, I'm above 21 by quite a number of years. I I'm I'm able to go to any store I want now and I can purchase alcohol in California and various places now. I can buy weed. You know, I have I have glaucoma. Oh, I you know, I I could do that pretty easy. I got a prescription. You know, my pharmacist is on the corner there in Halt. [laughter] For those who know, yeah, I can do those things. I remember a guy talking to me one day and he said to me this. He said, "Oh, you're a Christian. You can't drink." I said, "No, I can drink." I don't drink. There's a difference. I can. I'm free, too, but I don't. Well, why not? Because I don't want to. God took away the want to, and he gave me a want to. That's different. I now want to serve him. That comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I believe the church needs to wake up to that today to remember that I never have had a Holy Spirit hangover on the wine of the spirit. I've only had joy. I've never awakened after walking in the spirit feeling bad about what I said or did the night before. I have never done that. Why? With alcohol, I have. With the Holy Spirit, I have not. Why is that? Because the Holy Spirit never leads you into sin. It leads you. He leads you away from sin so that you might please him. And so these people think, well, we have liberty in Christ and I can do what I want. Paul would say, no, you have liberty in Christ to serve God. sin shall no longer have dominion over you. We don't walk according to the law anymore. We walk according to the spirit. And these false teachers who are creeping in among you are bringing you into bondage to do certain things and it's going to take the joy of thy salvation from you. So I don't continue in sin any longer. I now walk in the freedom Christ gives me. And that's why he says that we should stand fast in that liberty and that we should walk in the liberty of God. Do not, he says, use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Now, I should say this, by grace, we live lives that glorify God. And we can have victory over sin. And we have this power through the Holy Spirit. We have this power through obeying the direction of God's word. That's why we read. That's why we study the Bible. The Bible says in 1 John 3:6, "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him because we haven't been set free to sin. We have been set free by the spirit so that we don't practice it as a lifestyle anymore." And I need to say this, this doesn't mean that we are sinlessly perfect and never sin again. And I've had conversations with people who say, "Yeah, I'm sinlessly perfect." And all you need to do at that point, if it's a guy, is say, "Can I talk to your wife?" Because she knows you're not. No. Nobody is sinlessly perfect. But we are given the grace of God to resist and to resist and to resist. We don't live in sin anymore. We deal with it. And sometimes we may fail, but even when we do fail, we're not forsaken. In 1 John 2 vers1, my dear children, my beloved children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous, so we can have victory in Christ. Romans 6:14, sin shall no longer be your master. You are not under the law but under grace. So how do I exercise this liberty? Again verse 13. For you brethren have not you brethren have been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another. We do not use our liberty as an opportunity. That word opportunity is actually a Greek word that speaks of a base of operations. It's a place from which an attack is made. The word flesh speaks of our impulses and cravings that satisfy natural, not spiritual desires. So he's saying, do not let your Christian liberty become a base of operation for sin. Instead of habitually sinning, learn to serve. We're free in Christ. But we're not free to please ourselves. And the liberty we have in Jesus sets us free to love one another and to serve one another. In 1 Corinthians 10:24, no one should seek his own good, but the good of others. So this desire to serve reveals that we've been given a new life in Christ. when we were having women's retreats, which would have been weekends, we've since had conferences and things of that nature, but when we had women's retreats, our men's ministry would go to the women's retreat because they were confused. No, they would go to the women's retreat. It's my birthday. Can say what I want. [laughter] They would go to the women's retreats and uh they would carry the luggage for the ladies. They would walk them back and forth uh to their to the rooms and things. They were there, in other words, keeping an eye on them. And that's what they would do. They did it on their own. I never said you guys, they just did it on their own. And so I remember because I used to go and I would do the opening teaching. I would teach the women's retreat. And so I would do the opening teaching and um and at the end of uh a teaching that I gave. We I had a lady approach me who said to me, I'm not a member of this fellowship. I go to another particular uh church in the area and this and that. And she said, uh I was invited by one of my friends to come and and I wanted you to know that uh it's a blessing to be here. And this is what she said to me. I'll never forget. She said, "I go to a particular fellowship that the men would never do what your men did." As a matter of fact, she said, she said, "If the if the women the women cannot have a a Friday into Sunday retreat, we don't have them." She said, "The reason why we don't is because none of the men would come to church on Sunday to do the work of ministry that needs to be done for the church to operate on a Sunday. So we can only have it a Saturday, a Friday into a Saturday because on Sunday church would not be able to operate. And she was crying. She says, "I want to commend your men in the ministry of your fellowship because we have discovered the truth of the word. The Bible makes it very clear. We don't use our liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, we serve one another." A couple of weeks ago when we had our 45th uh church anniversary, one of the things that was said to the congregation who was here to celebrate that day, one of the things was asked and I was really blessed to see this is the question was asked, "How many of you have served in this church or are serving in this church? If so, would you please stand up?" and like 75% of the church who was there that night stood up and that blessed my heart to know that our church is filled with those who understand what this means. By love you serve one another. That's what the scriptures teach and that's what they do. Now when you think of the apostles when I do I think of them as they are. They're they're what we would refer to as giants of the faith. They were much beyond anything that I will ever become. I already know that. But with that said, the Bible provides insight into the lives of these great men. And we have a record of their amazing lives as well as their weaknesses. And one of the ongoing disputes was who is the greatest in the kingdom. We're familiar with that. It's something that they had on more than one occasion argued amongst themselves about. In Mark 9, I'll give you an example. In Mark 9:31-34, Mark writes, "He taught his disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask him. He came to Capernium, and when he was in the house, he asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. It carried over this argument even into the events of the most solemn of nights when Jesus had his final supper with the men. In Luke 22:24-27, it says, "There was rivalry. There was strife among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. He said to them, "Kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them. Those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, he who governs as he who serves. Who is greater? He who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the one who serves?" On the night he was betrayed, Jesus modeled service. In John 13:4 and5 it says he rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, girded himself, poured a basin of water, and washed the feet of his men. And he went on in verses 13- 15, and he said this, "You call me teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. Have I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet? You also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you." do. And that's the only time Jesus specifically says, "I have given you an example." The only time in scripture that Jesus said, "I'm giving you an example," was the example of service. It's the only time. And his love for his men served as an incentive for them to serve one another. And it's not just the action of service. Waiters will serve tables, but they don't love those whom they're serving. They're just serving it because that's their job. They don't love those who are having the meal. They're simply doing their job. But in the case of Christ, it's an action of love. And it's intended to provoke others to truly love one another. Because when you love one another, it's easier to serve that person. For many, many years, my girl, my wife has made dinners for me many, many years. She's unable to do it like she used to do now. She's unable to So I serve her. I make Poor little thing. She eats a lot of eggs. She says she likes them. And somebody says, "Why do you do that?" And I say, "Because all these years she has served me. Why wouldn't I serve her? Why wouldn't I? Because love serves. For 40ome years, she served me. Love serves. And you don't complain about it. It's your joy because you love that. See, here's the problem people have in service. They don't care for the people they're serving. But when you learn to love those who are in your fellowship, in your family, when you learn to love people, service is not that hard. Service is natural. And you do it because you love. Because love makes the service light. It's not heavy. It's not burdensome. It's a joy. So you don't use your freedom as an opportunity to satisfy the desire of the flesh. We don't give in to sinful practices in the name of liberty. Oh, I'm free in Christ. I can do this. Oh, I'm free in Christ. I can do that. I was out of the army. I was 23 years old. I wasn't going to church. I wasn't going to Bible study. I wasn't even yet teaching the word. of course and I started growing very stale in my walk with the Lord to the point where I was moving towards backsliding and when you backslide it can be a very slow fade. It was Cinco de Mayo and I was with two army buddies and we were in Newport Beach and we drove from Newport to the border to T to Tiju to uh to Tijuana and we were going on in and I gave in to the desire. I was an alcoholic prior to coming to Faith in Christ and we had two cases of beer and between the two of us between Newport and the border we drank both of those cases by the time I got there. We crossed the border. We went in and for two days I was drunk. Two solid days. And finally it was Sunday. I came home and my sister Meline who had come to faith in Christ through me said, "Wow, you were gone for the weekend. Did you have a great time?" And I was sitting there at the table. I still remember it at my mom and dad's kitchen table and my sister sitting across from me. I said, "We had a great time. We did this. We did that. We did this, you know, and that." And I started to cry. I mean, hard crying and I said, "The truth is I'm miserable. I've walked away." I knew I hadn't lost my salvation. I had lost the joy of my salvation. I said, "I'm I'm lost. I have to get right with God." We went to church the evening service. There was an evangelist who gave an invitation and he said, "Some of you have strayed away from the Lord and you're miserable and you need to come home. And if that's you, stand to your feet. Give yourself back to Jesus." And I did. I remember standing up and bowing my head and saying to the Lord, I don't want to ever go back to that life. Within a couple months, I had signed uh up. I went to Biola. And within like from May to late September, in September of 1973, I taught my first Bible study. And I've never gone back to what I was because the truth sets you free. And I've never gone back to the alcohol because I have the wine of the Holy Spirit. And that's how it works. He didn't give us his spirit so that we could walk in sin. He gave us his spirit so from the inside we desire him. And so through love we serve one another. That's your introduction. I better go through the rest. I've only got six minutes. So verse 14, all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware, lest you be consumed by one another. I say then, walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Loving God will always be demonstrated by loving one another. The false teachers are insisting that they keep certain rituals. He's saying the law is fulfilled with the love of God. Notice verse 14. We love our neighbors as ourselves. That is referred to in scripture as the royal law or the great command. It's repeated in Matthew 22 and Romans 13 as well as James chapter 2. So the point is love God. And to love God is revealed through the love you have for other people. Loving God and others is a fruit of the message of the gospel of grace. It's the power of God by his holy spirit. And he gives us the ability to love as well as to serve. And this this is to give up the freedom uh of serving self in order that we might serve other people. And that demonstrates we've been saved. But he says in verse 15, if you bite and devour one another, beware, lest you be consumed by one another. When he says, "If you bite and devour," that means if you wound and destroy each other, be careful that you don't get consumed. Be careful that you're not just totally used up. Liberty is never to be used to give us a freedom to destroy. Our freedom in Christ doesn't extend to hurting other people. And Christians are not to wound or destroy fellow believers. What we do is we love and we serve one another. How can I do that? How can I be in unity? Well, because the false teachers are creating division. What is going to preserve my unity with other believers? Because when people bring in false doctrine, there are going to be fights and problems in the church. What should I do? He says verse 16, walk in the spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walking in the spirit, there are disciplines that we have. We read the word, we pray, we worship, we witness, we have fellowship with other people, we serve. We have a certain lifestyle. Well, people can do those kinds of things and they're still unsaved. They can be carnal. They can be legalistic. Again, it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to produce a life of real righteousness. And so, keeping the law cannot give you a new heart. And keeping the law does not give you power to please God. And the Judaizers are pointing the people to the law. But Paul is pointing them to the Holy Ghost. He's already asked the question in Galatians 3:2. This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? So the answer is no. We heard it. We received by the hearing of faith. We place our faith in Christ. We became the temple of the spirit of God. And that's why in Ephesians 3:16, Paul said, I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being. So walk, he's saying in verse 16, in the spirit. The word walk speaks of a continuous progression. It speaks of moving forward. As we grow in the Lord, we become familiar with the way he works. We read the word of God. We pray. We have godly friends. We learn his leading in our life. We put away sins. We no longer are captivated and captured by lust and and gossip and bitterness and pride. We crucify our flesh. So, he's saying, "Yield our lives fully to the power of God. Follow the guidance of the spirit through his word and through his work in your life. Romans 8:14, all who are led by the spirit are sons of God. So the law of Moses did not produce in them a walk of faith led by the Holy Ghost. And Paul is saying, yield yourself to the guidance of God. When you do so, you have unity and you have love. That reveals that you have a walk. You see, it's the power of the spirit that we need. In the early church, it's been said if the spirit was not present, 90% of the activity would cease. But today, if the spirit is not present, 90% of the activity continues. So the work of God is done through the spirit of God. He says in verse 17, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. That flesh is a part of a believer that functions apart from and against the Holy Ghost. It's an intense and constant battle. So, our most effective tool is to starve the flesh. Avoid anything that prompts a desire for what is sinful. In Romans 13:14, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. What do we do? Verse 18, we walk in the spirit. And if we do so, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Remember this, and we'll close with this. The spirit never leads you to the place of temptation. You were an alcoholic. He never tells you, "Go to the bar and tell him about Jesus. You had problem with lust." He never says, "Go to the strip club and talk to those pole dancers." Never does. He never leads you to the place of temptation. It gives you the power to avoid it, to resist it, to conquer it, and to be victorious over it. Walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. It comes to yielding to the Holy Spirit. And sometimes it's difficult to do that because sometimes there's a war going on. But the victory is yours if you desire it. And Father, we ask that you would work in us and through us and use us to that end. As our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed, there may be some right now who need to get right with the Lord. You're in a battle and you need to get right with Jesus. You may be a backslider. At one time, you were walking with him, but you've walked away. Or you may be a person who's never committed yourself to him, but you know enough about your sinfulness and his being a savior that you need him and you want to yield yourself. You want a new life, you want to be forgiven, whatever the case may be. If you need prayer, you want to be right with God, then I'd ask you to raise your hand. Let me pray for you right where you're at. just raise your hand and say, "Yes, I want to be right with the Lord." Let me pray for you. Father, you see these hands and I bless you, Lord, because you've spoken to hearts of people. And these are people who are saying, "God, I just need you. I need a new life. I need to be forgiven. I need your help. Forgive me a sinner." Lord, I pray your Holy Spirit would touch them right where they're at right now. And as they open up in faith and say, "God, be merciful to me. forgive me that Lord you will invade them by your Holy Ghost and you will fill them with your presence. May they be awake to the fact that if they confess their sin that you are faithful and just to forgive them of their sin and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness and they can be the temple of the spirit of God. You will dwell in them. I pray that this would be so as by faith they are opening themselves and I thank you Lord as they do so. bless you and thank you. You can put your hands down. There may be some in this room who are going through an illness and you would like prayer that God might touch you. I'm not a healer, but I will pray that God will touch you. He's the healer. And if you have a desire for prayer, would you raise your hand? Father, I ask that you would touch each one of us, Lord, who has a need of a touch from you. You are a God who heals. Lord, we're not demanding. We're asking by faith. We would request you are God. We are not, but we need you. And I pray that you would reach down and touch those whose hands are raised. And may your Holy Spirit right now do a work and bring healing to them, Lord. And by faith we we would receive it and we give you praise. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. You can put your hands down. And Jesus, I ask that you keep moving in our lives as we're about to leave. in your name I pray. Amen.