Life Group - Galatians Chapter 5

Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join

us in this verse -by -verse study through the

Word of God. In this lesson, we'll be studying

Galatians chapter 5. Now, in light of all that

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

Paul has said, he now challenges the Galatians

to walk in the truth he presented. Let's start

now with verse 1. So, Christ has truly set us

free. We don't make ourselves free, and that

freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us and received

by faith. When we struggle to free ourselves,

we become more entangled in a yoke of bondage.

Continuing in verse 1, Now make sure that you

stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery

to the law. So, Paul is saying that it takes

effort to live in freedom. And people who are

legally made free in Jesus can still live in

bondage. They can be deceived into placing themselves

back into slavery. And if we choose bondage and

try to maintain a legal relationship with God,

we know that it isn't God's will. For God pleads

with us to take hold of His righteousness and

walk in freedom. tell you this, if you are counting

on circumcision to make you right with God, then

Christ will be of no benefit to you. It's important

to understand that circumcision was the initiation

ritual that meant a Gentile was becoming a Jew

and coming under the law. But for a Christian,

it meant that the person no longer trusted in

Jesus as his righteousness. When we embrace the

law as a rule of walking with God, we must let

go of Jesus. The system of grace and the system

of law are incompatible. You can only embrace

one thing. And how tragic is this? Jesus dying

on the cross, pouring out his blood, his life,

his love for us, means nothing if we choose legalism.

I'll say it again. If you are trying to find

favor with God by being circumcised, you must

obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.

The legalists among the Galatians wanted them

to think they could observe some aspects of the

law without coming under the entire law. But

here Paul is saying when you choose to walk by

law, you must walk by the whole law. You can't

just pick and choose. Verse 4. Now, the phrase

does not mean that if a Christian sins, he...

falls from grace and thereby loses his salvation.

To fall from grace in this context is to fall

into legalism. Verse 5, But we who live by the

Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness

God has promised to us. Now, because of our relationship

with the Holy Spirit, who lives in the believer,

we expect with confidence and anticipate with

pleasure. It's their definition of hope, right?

That we are right with God. We live our lives

confidently trusting we are clothed in Jesus's

righteousness. Verse six, for when we place our

faith in Christ Jesus, There is no benefit in

being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What

is important is faith expressing itself in love.

Those walking in the Spirit know that being circumcised

or uncircumcised means nothing. What matters

is faith and faith working through love, both

of which were clearly absent in the legalist's

teaching. So what does this mean? It means that

if your faith does not work, then it's really

not real. It's not real faith. And if faith is

not expressed in love, it is not real faith either.

Both love and faith go together. Love alone isn't

enough. Love must also have faith and abiding

trust in who Jesus is and what he did for us.

Picking up with verse seven, you were running

the race so well. Now, Paul looked back and remembered

that the Galatian believers, they started great

in faith when he shared the gospel with them.

And starting well is very important, but continuing

and finishing well are equally important as starting

well. Continuing verse seven, who has held you

back? From following the truth. The original

language gives us a picture of a road that's

being chopped up or broken up. So Paul is saying

that the truth that they started on, someone

has come in and taught them or gave them new

information that is chopped up and broken up

the road that they started on. And it's making

it impassable now with this new false teaching.

At the root of it all, the Galatians were leaving

Jesus to pursue the false and empty teachings

of a man, of the false teacher. And in this case,

the false teaching was legalism. Verse 8. It

certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called

you to freedom. Paul acknowledged that the false

teaching came from a person. the one who was

holding them back, but he also wanted the Galatians

to realize that the way of legalism did not come

from Jesus and was not endorsed by Jesus. Verse

9. This false teaching is like a little yeast

that spreads through the whole batch of dough.

The corrupting influence of legalism is compared

to yeast in a lump of dough. A little bit of

yeast. goes through the entire batch of dough.

And in Jewish thought, yeast almost always stood

for an evil influence. Paul is saying that their

commitment to trying to be right with God by

following rules and rituals, it may seem like

a small thing, but it's so dangerous that it

can corrupt everything concerning their faith.

Verse 10. On a positive note, Paul was confident

that the Holy Spirit would use his letter to

clear the path for the Galatians to get back

on the right road. He was also confident that

God would deal with the false teacher. Verse

11. Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still

preaching that you must be circumcised, as some

say I do, why am I still being persecuted? Now,

someone might accuse Paul of preaching circumcision

because he asked Timothy, his partner, to be

circumcised. But Paul didn't ask Timothy to be

circumcised so he could be saved or more saved.

Timothy was circumcised so he could share the

gospel with Jews who were taught from childhood

to have nothing to do with Gentiles. Now, Timothy

had a Greek father, but a Jewish mother. Continuing

in verse 11. If I were no longer preaching salvation

through the cross of Christ, no one would be

offended. Here we can understand that legalism

can't handle the offense of the cross. The whole

point of Jesus dying on the cross was to say

this. You can't save yourself. I must die in

your place for you to have any hope at all. See,

when we trust in legalism, we believe that we

can, at least in part, save ourselves. or be

right with God based on our performance. Verse

12. I just wish that those troublemakers who

want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate

themselves. That's a pretty strong statement,

right? In their society, there was a sacred castration

that was known to citizens in the ancient world.

It was frequently practiced by pagan priests.

Paul's idea here is something like this. If cutting

will make you right with God, why don't you do

like the pagan priests and go all the way and

castrate yourself to the teachers that were promoting

this to be right with God. Now, in this dramatic

conclusion, Paul makes one thing very clear.

Legalism is not a little thing or a tolerable

doctrine. It can't be mixed in with the message

of grace. Legalism takes away our freedom, our

liberty, and subjects us to bondage. It makes

Jesus and his work of no effect to us. It puts

us under obligation to the whole law. and it

violates the work of the Spirit of God. Legalism

makes us focus on things that are irrelevant.

It keeps us from running the race Jesus has set

before us. It isn't from Jesus. And remember,

a little bit of legalism will poison an entire

church. Picking up in verse 13. Paul has made

this point over and over again. The Christian

life is a life of freedom. Jesus came to set

the captives free, not to keep them in bondage

or put them under a new type of bondage all over

again. Freedom is one of the foundational essences

of being a Christian. It is the beginning of

living a victorious Christian life. Continuing

in verse 13, The great fear of the legalist is

that liberty will be used as an opportunity for

the flesh. The idea that people will just go

out and sin as they please, then say to a spineless

God, I'm sorry, please forgive me, and then go

on doing whatever they want again. But it's important

to remember that freedom is not the right to

sin. Freedom keeps us from being consumed with

guilt, shame, and condemnation so we can continue

advancing God's kingdom. in the earth through

love and service. Verse 14, for the whole law

can be summed up in this one command, love your

neighbor as yourself. So here Paul's saying it

all boils down to this one thing, loving God

and loving people. Verse 15, but if you are always

biting and devouring one another, watch out.

See, this is how the church can act when it uses

its quote -unquote freedom as a platform to promote

selfishness. If you want to see some action,

all you have to do is put two selfish people

together. Selfish people will eventually consume

one another. It's always their way or the highway,

and it never ends well. Verse 16. So I say, let

the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't

be doing what your sinful nature craves. So here,

what does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Let's

talk about that a second. Well, walking in the

Spirit, being Spirit -led, means that we are

constantly aware, we constantly acknowledge.

that the Holy Spirit lives in us. He indwells

the believer at salvation. It also means that

we are open and sensitive to the impressions

and voice of the Spirit. We know His voice, we

follow His voice, and we're sensitive to His

voice. And we're quick to follow the direction

the Holy Spirit gives because his voice leads

us in the path of righteousness, into the path

of freedom, and into the path of truth. So the

Spirit -filled life is not a life of legalism

or license to sin, you could say, or some sort

of middle way between the two. It is a life of

faith and love. that is above all other ways.

For it is impossible to walk in the Spirit and

fulfill the lust of the flesh at the same time.

The two simply don't go together. Verse 17 The

sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just

the opposite of what the Spirit wants. When Paul

uses the term flesh, or sinful nature here, He

doesn't mean our flesh and blood bodies are the

fallen nature we inherited from Adam, because

that old man was crucified with Jesus and is

now dead and gone, according to Romans 6 .6.

Instead, as Paul uses it here, the flesh or sinful

nature refers to our mind, our will, and emotions.

that were trained and patterned by the influences

of sin and this world before we came to Christ.

Continuing in 17, And the Spirit gives us desires

that are the opposite of what the sinful nature

desires. So this is a part of the Holy Spirit's

work in us. The Holy Spirit works in us through

the word to transform our mind, our will, and

our emotions, transforms our soul as we yield

to him. Further in 17 says this, these two forces

are constantly fighting each other. So you are

not free to carry out your good intentions. But

when you are directed by the Spirit, you are

not under obligation to the law of Moses. So

here Paul is saying that the antidote to the

flesh is not found in the law, but in the Spirit.

We fulfill the will of God through the inner

influence of the Holy Spirit, instead of the

outer influence of the law. And as we know, an

inner influence is far more effective than an

outer influence. Verse 19 When you follow the

desires of your sinful nature, the results are

very clear. Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful

pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling,

jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,

dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild

parties, and other sins like these. Now, this

is not a new legalistic list of don'ts to replace

the mosaic list of rules. This is a picture,

and what Paul is describing here is a flesh -led

life. This is what that flesh -led life looks

like. This is what it amounts to. We could also

view this as a quote -unquote fruit of an unrenewed,

non -transformed mind. Continuing in verse 21,

let me tell you again as I have before. that

anyone living that sort of life will not inherit

the kingdom of God. So what is Paul saying is

at stake here? He's saying that the kingdom of

God is at stake. What is the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is the eternal rule and reign

of God, as well as the benefits of living in

his kingdom, which we know are blessing, victory,

and freedom. Think of it this way. Think of the

picture of the prodigal son. He was always a

son, but he had no access to family benefits

when he was living far away from his father.

The verses that Jeffrey just read that explain

what a flesh -led life looks like, it shows us

something about the nature of people. And we

can find out more information on this in 1 Corinthians

2 and 3. We find out that there's three types

of people. One is a natural person. This is a

person who is not a Christian. They're not born

again, and they're led by their flesh or their

sensual nature. They live by what feels good

or what seems right in their own eyes. But then

there's also a carnal person. A carnal person

is a Christian, but... they still live according

to their flesh they're an immature christian

they stay on a childhood level because they're

not serious about god's word and they don't walk

in the spirit and just by looking on the outside

we can't tell much difference between a natural

person and a carnal christian but then we see

and first corinthians 3 there's also a spiritual

person this is a christian who is led by the

holy spirit and they're serious about the word

of god they're led by the word of god they're

growing and they're regularly receiving the word

of god and they're walking in the spirit in the

next verses we're going to see a picture of what

a holy spirit led life looks like as opposed

to the flesh -led life. Galatians 5 .22 But the

Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our

lives. And the first one is love. It can be translated

love, affection, benevolence, being concerned

about the well -being of someone, also a love

feast. It includes fellowship and the desire

for friendship and fellowship together. The next

one is joy. Now, joy is translated also cheerfulness

and delight. It's not something that's hidden.

As we've looked at before, the joy of the Lord

is our strength and joy is a characteristic.

A person walking in joy is a characteristic of

someone who is being led by the spirit, just

like all of these that we're looking at right

now. So the fruit. of the Holy Spirit in our

lives is love and joy and then peace. That Greek

word is arene. It's translated peace and quietness,

calmness, rest, to set at one. Our minds aren't

just scattered in a hundred different directions.

It's also translated prosperity because prosperity

doesn't exist without peace and calmness and

rest. in our hearts it doesn't matter how much

we have if we don't have the peace of god then

it's not prosperity the holy spirit produces

this kind of fruit in our lives love joy peace

and then here's everyone's favorite patience

patience is being long tempered long suffering

also not quick to give up but not quick to be

angered either Do we have patience? The next

one is kindness. That Greek word is krestates.

And it means kindness. It means usefulness, gentleness.

It means moral excellence in character or demeanor.

Next one is goodness. That's a fruit of the Holy

Spirit. It means goodness. It means good for

use. It means doing or producing good. See, a

Spirit -led person is always doing and producing

good. Next one is faithfulness, and that word

is most often translated just faith, but it means

actually living in faith and being faithful,

right? So it's having a complete confidence in

God and His Word. to the degree that it results

in corresponding action. That's how we show faithfulness

to what God has said, to what He has promised,

and how we live. We have complete confidence

in God. And in verse 23, it picks up with gentleness.

This word is translated meekness, mildness, humility.

And all those are characteristics of a person

who is spirit -led. And then we have self -control.

And that means being strong and being able to

control yourself, to control your emotions, to

control your thoughts. All those things. Self

-control. To control your actions. Those are...

Identifiers of a spirit led life. Is having all

of those things. Now verse 23 goes on to say

this. There is no law against these things. Now

obviously when a person walks in the spirit.

And the fruit of the spirit is evident in their

lives in increasing measure. There's no need

for any rules if we are being Spirit -led. Verse

24 says this, Those who belong to Christ Jesus

have nailed the passions and desires of their

sinful nature to His cross and crucified them

there. When we live Holy Spirit -led lives, we

are symbolically nailing our flesh on the cross

with Jesus. It's impossible to be led by our

flesh while we are yielding to and being led

by the Holy Spirit. Verse 25. Since we are living

by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading

in every part of our lives. So since the Holy

Spirit has given us spiritual life, we should

follow Him. We should walk in step with Him.

Now, to give us an idea of what spirit -led means,

because we hear those words, but we don't always

understand what it means, let's unpack it a little

bit. To be spirit -led means that we're constantly

aware that the Holy Spirit lives in us. As the

Bible says in Corinthians, it says, You know,

don't you know that your body is the temple of

the Holy Spirit? See, when we come into a relationship

with Christ, the Holy Spirit moves in, takes

up residence on the inside of us. But to be spirit

led means that we're constantly aware and we're

constantly acknowledging that he is with us.

And it's more than just being aware and acknowledging.

It's also saying if we're spirit led that we're

open and sensitive to the impressions and the

voice of the spirit because he is always leading

us and guiding us. And we need to be sensitive

to that. Usually it's a still small voice or

an impression or following peace and stopping

when we. get an uneasy feeling we we've got to

recognize that that's the holy spirit telling

us to stop right and it's more than just being

open and sensitive it's more than being aware

and acknowledging it's also being quick to follow

the holy spirit whatever he is leading us to

do or leading us to say we need to be quick to

follow those are descriptions Of what it means

to be spirit led. And then in verse 26. It says

let us not become conceited. So he's telling

us. Don't get prideful when you walk in the spirit.

Don't have an air about you. That you're closer

to God. And better than everyone else. Who's

obviously less spiritual than you are. I mean

we should never get to that point. And it goes

on to say. It says, let us not become conceited,

but then it says, or provoke one another. Spiritual

pride is offensive. It rubs people the wrong

way. It's a source of many unnecessary conflicts

among believers. It goes on to say this. I'll

read the whole verse again. Let us not become

conceited or provoke one another or be jealous

of one another. Now, this is looking at it from

a different angle because sometimes when we look

at people and we think that they're more spiritual

than we are because we're comparing ourselves,

which we're not supposed to do, sometimes we

begin to heap condemnation on ourselves when

we think that they're further along or they're

more spiritual than we are. And he's saying,

don't be jealous. Don't be jealous over someone

being more spiritual than you. Let their relationship

with God, let their walk of faith inspire you,

not condemn you. Let it inspire you to draw closer

to God and be more in step with the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for joining us for Life Group. Allow

God's Word to build your faith and transform

your life.