Walking Together By The Spirit

Amen. Amen.

Well, good morning, everyone.

If we have not met, my name is Mike Salvati, lead pastor here. Welcome.

And we as a church have been going through a sermon series called 21st Century Disciple,

what it means to be a follower of Jesus in April of 2018.

When Jesus says the words, follow me, those who respond to that, everything changes.

Everything changes.

When you respond to the call to follow me by the living Christ,

you go from being dead in your sin to being alive in Christ Jesus.

Everything changes.

I just recently began a book, This Changes Everything.

It's written by an 18-year-old, Jekyll Crowe, and this is how she talks about it.

The biggest, most crucial, most significant thing I want you to know is that my life's task is to follow Jesus.

To obey Jesus.

To look for joy and satisfaction and peace in Jesus.

Jesus is the one who changed my life.

And then she says, that's what this book is about.

That's what her life is about.

That's what our lives are about.

Our lives are about following Jesus.

A 21st Century Disciple of Jesus lives every area of their life intentionally for Christ.

And this morning, we're going to be talking about what it means to walk by the Holy Spirit in light of that.

So if you'd open up your Bibles to Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

Galatians is right after Corinthians.

If you want to start in the back of your Bible in Revelation, just start going left and you'll eventually bump into Galatians.

And we're going to jump into Galatians in chapter 5.

And I'm just going to read for you right now.

Verses 13 through 26.

But I'm going to start in verse 1.

And then I'm going to skip ahead.

Chapter 5, verse 1.

Verse 13.

Verse 13.

for you were called to freedom brothers

only do not use your freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh

but through love serve one another

for the whole law is fulfilled

in one word

you shall love your neighbor as yourself

but if you bite and devour one another

watch out that you are not consumed

by one another but I say

walk by the spirit

and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh

for the desires of the flesh

are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit

are against the flesh

for these are opposed to each other

to keep you from doing the things you want to do

but if you are led by the spirit

you are not under the law

you are free

that's what he is saying right there

19

now the works of the flesh are evident

sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife

jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries

dissensions, divisions

envy, drunkenness, orgies

and things like these

I warn you as I warned you before

that those who do such things

will not inherit the kingdom of God

but the fruit of the spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience

kindness, goodness, faithfulness

gentleness, self-control

against such things

there is no law

freedom

and those who belong to Christ Jesus

have crucified the flesh

with its passions and desires

if we live by the spirit

let us keep in step with the spirit

let us not become conceited

provoking one another

envying one another

this morning I want to help you to see

that what we must keep in step

with the spirit

in order to live out the freedom

Christ has accomplished for us

we're going to look at two sections

Christ freed us

and the spirit leads us

but before we get there

let me ask you this

did you come into the building discouraged?

are you discouraged by the presence of sin

in your life

and the effect it has on others?

for example

maybe you struggle with sexual lust

whether you're single or you're married

you can often struggle with sexual lust

in a variety of different ways

but it can wreak havoc

internally on you

and it can wreak havoc

on your relationships

spouses can feel betrayed

and then what can happen

if you're trying to cover over

your sexual sin

what ends up happening

is in your hiding

when you get found out

you lose trust

how do you go from struggling

with sexual lust

to living in purity?

or maybe you

struggle with fits of anger

people walk on eggshells around you

because you have a pattern

of blowing up

exploding in anger

how do you go from being

controlled

to some degree by anger

to growing more and more

and exercising patience

with others

maybe you are just

very greedy

you just want to bring in

as much money

as stuff

as you can

maybe because you think

you're entitled to it

you work hard for it

maybe you think that there's

security and safety in it

but what ends up happening

is your greed

can blind you

to the physical

and spiritual needs

of people immediately

around you

and around the world

how do you go from being greedy

to being generous?

maybe you drink too much

you get drunk

more often than you think

than you want to admit

and when you get drunk

you get mean

or you get flirty

or you get arrested

how do you go from being

drunk

to being self-controlled?

you feeling powerless?

you feeling hopeless?

are you discouraged

at the influence

of sin in your life?

you feeling hollowed out

and you see the effect

on others?

I've got good news for you

Christ

has set

you free

and the Holy Spirit

is seeking to lead you

brother and sister

into that freedom

so let's talk about

what it means

that Christ

has freed us

in Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5:1

verse 1

we read

for freedom

Christ has set us free

and then Paul

in 5.13

comes back to it

and says

for you were called

to freedom

brothers

Christ

freed us

if you're

a believer

in the room

if you put your faith

in Jesus alone

Christ has freed you

and if you're not

a Christian

if you've yet

to put your faith

in Jesus

you've not

yet been freed

what has Christ

freed us from?

he's freed us

from slavery

to sin

from trying

to strive

to meet

all the

righteous

requirements

of the law

of Moses

that slavery

of trying

to live

up to

what is

impossible

you know

what that feels

like?

I used to live

there

man my high school

years were just

miserable

here's why

I was

basically

living to

stay

saved

that's what I was

doing

I was just

trying to stay

saved

keep Jesus

in my heart

and I just

thought that

the whole thing

depended upon

my obedience

if I disobeyed

Jesus couldn't

be in me

he left

I gotta ask

him back in

and around

and around

we went

for years

I thought

my salvation

depended upon

my obedience

and I knew

deep down

inside

there was

no way

on any

given day

I could

bat a

thousand

in all

that God

is requiring

of me

have you ever

felt that

before?

but there's

more

when we

come up

short

of what

God

requires

it's not

like there's

no consequences

when we

fall short

of God's

glory

there's

hell to

pay

for the

wages

of sin

is death

what

has

Christ

freed

us

from

he's

freed

us

from

slavery

to the

law

and all

of the

fallout

of not

being able

to live

up to

it

John

Bunyan

wrote a

poem

and he

goes like

this

the first

half

run

John

run

the law

demands

but

gives us

neither

feet

nor

hands

I

try

and try

and try

to live

up to

what God

has called

me to

but I

fall

short

again

and again

and again

I can't

do it

so some

people just

keep on

trying

other people

say I'm

done

done with

that

moving

on

God

gave

the law

not that

we would

obey it

in order

to be

saved

but God

gave the

law

to expose

the utter

sinfulness

of our

sin

to show

how great

of a

sinner

we are

so that

we would

cry out

for the

great

grace

and mercy

that God

freely

gives

so what

did Jesus

free us

from

slavery

to sin

and the

just

consequences

of failing

to measure

up

so how

did he

do it

how

does

Christ

free

us

from

that

he did

what none

of us

could do

Christ

perfectly

fulfilled

all the

requirements

of the

law

of

Moses

every

minute

of

every

hour

of

every

day

he

walked

this

planet

Christ

perfectly

lived

the

law

he

fulfilled

it

in

his

life

he

alone

did

that

there's

no

other

human

being

that

has

walked

the

face

of

the

earth

or

will

walk

the

face

of

the

earth

that

is

able

to

say

yeah

I

bat

a

thousand

I

lived

up

to

God's

law

perfectly

today

and

yesterday

and

tomorrow

no

one

just

Jesus

he

fulfilled

all

the

requirements

of

the

law

he

lived

the

life

none

of

us

could

live

but

that's

just

part

of

it

is

perfect

righteousness

he

did

something

he

didn't

have

to

die

on

the

cross

for

himself

he

was

perfectly

righteous

in

God's

sight

but

he

died

on

a

cross

willingly

he

willingly

sacrificed

his

life

he

died

the

death

our

sin

required

on

the

cross

the

one

of

perfect

righteousness

died

on the

cross

for

those

who

were

woefully

unrighteous

love

oh

God

here's

how

Paul

talks

about

that

in

Galatians

chapter

13

Christ

redeemed

us

freed

us

from

the

curse

of

the

law

by

becoming

a

curse

for

us

if

If you want to flip in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5.21, we read it this way.

This is the Apostle Paul again.

We read this.

For our sake, God made Jesus, who was not a sinner, to be sin,

so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.

So here's how it works out.

Here's how Christ redeems, how he frees us who are under the law and under sin.

Jesus lived a perfect life, and they died in the place of sinners,

and those who believe in that, they are set free.

Think about it this way.

The moment Mike Salvati put his faith in Jesus, the moment he did that,

God made a legal pronouncement.

He made it from his throne, and it's a forever and final declaration that will stand for eternity.

Here's what happened.

I saw what Jesus did for me.

I believed in that.

And then God the Father, he reckoned something.

He decided something.

He reckoned my unrighteousness to be placed on Jesus,

and all of his wrath for my unrighteousness was poured out on the head of Christ,

so that there was no more wrath.

And at that moment, I was forgiven of all my sin, past, present, and future.

It's amazing.

But that's just half of it.

The moment I believed, not only did God consider my unrighteousness on Christ,

and paid for in full through Christ's death,

but he reckoned Christ's righteousness,

his 33 years of perfect living,

and he considered it to my account.

And now I am clothed with the very righteousness of Christ before a holy God,

so when he looks at me, not only am I forgiven of all my sin,

I am completely accepted and welcomed into his presence

because of the very righteousness of Christ.

It's not my doing.

That's how Christ does it.

He forgives us of all of our sins based upon his cross work,

and he makes us acceptable to God because of his perfectly righteous life.

That is good news to you.

It's the only way by which you can be freed from the slavery of sin.

Christ did what none of us could do,

and Christ paid the price all of us deserved.

Let me try to illustrate this one more way.

Let's say you have a billionaire uncle,

and you're $20 million in debt.

This billionaire uncle of yours who loves you,

doesn't wait for you to ask anything,

but he comes to you and he says,

hey, I'm sending my lawyers over to you,

and they're going to make up these contracts,

and I've already signed it.

You just need to sign it.

I am going to take on all your debt and pay it.

But that's not it.

There's more.

I'm having my lawyers include you on all of my bank accounts

so that now you have access to my billions as well.

So not only is your sin forgiven,

your debt paid for,

man, you have now inherited all of my billions.

Christ paid our sin debt,

and we inherited all of his righteousness.

He freed us.

Run, John, run, the law demands,

but gives us neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings.

It bids us fly and gives us wings.

What did Jesus free us from?

Slavery to sin.

How did he do it?

He died in our place.

Perfect life.

Substitutionary death.

And what did Jesus free us for?

He didn't free us so that we would go back to living under the law.

Galatians 5.1 says,

For freedom Christ has set us free.

Stand firm therefore,

and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Once you've become a Christian,

you don't go back to trying to obey God

so that you can stay in good right standing with him.

It's done in Christ.

Jesus didn't free us to go back to a life of slavery to the law.

Nor did Jesus save us so that we can go lawless.

Look at verse 13.

For you were called to freedom, brothers,

only to not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.

It's called licentiousness.

It's this thinking that,

okay, Jesus has freed me from everything.

He's forgiven me.

It's a blank check.

I can go sin all I want now.

We're not freed for that either.

What are we freed for?

In verse 13, he goes on to tell us,

Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,

but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

So when it comes to the law,

Jesus has freed us from its slavery,

and he's freed us from lawlessness,

and he's freed us to fulfill the law in love by serving one another.

You might be thinking,

Well, I thought you were going to talk about the Holy Spirit today, Mike.

We're going to get there.

What you need to be convinced of now is you were called to freedom.

Freedom to fulfill the law and to love one another.

We're not to use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.

In verse 15, he links it.

The flesh bites and devours one another.

Watch out that you're not consumed by one another.

That's not what we've been freed for.

We've been freed to love one another

and fulfill the law of Christ.

And so now the question becomes,

How are we to do that?

How can you do that?

How are we as a church going to love one another,

not bite and devour one another?

And Paul answers that question by saying,

What I say in verse 16,

Walk by the Spirit,

and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

So up to this point,

I've tried to show you from Galatians

that Christ has set us free,

free from the slavery of sin

by giving his perfect life as a ransom for us.

And he did that in order for us

to live in the freedom of fulfilling God's law,

something we could never do beforehand.

And now we turn to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit leads us

into the freedom Christ accomplished for us.

In verses 16 through 26,

Paul shows us

how we are to depend upon the Holy Spirit

moment by moment

in order to fulfill the whole law.

Now I realize that not everybody in the room

comes here this morning

on the same page

when it comes to the Holy Spirit.

So let me just give you a crash course.

Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit

a lot in John 16,

and he talks about the Holy Spirit

as not a what or an it,

but a who and a him.

The Holy Spirit is a person.

The third person of the Trinity.

He has eternally existed in the Godhead

with the Father and Son.

He was never created.

He's always existed.

And you can grieve him.

You can lie against him.

You can hurt him.

In the sense of grieving.

He's a person.

He's God.

So I want,

the first thing you need to know

is the Holy Spirit's not an it.

He's a who.

And the second thing that you need to know

is that when Jesus,

before he left,

told his disciples,

hey, it's to your advantage

that I'm leaving

so I can send to you

the Holy Spirit.

Because he's going to guide you

into all truth.

He's going to indwell you.

He's going to take up residence

in each of you.

1 Corinthians 6, 9.

It's to your advantage

that I leave

so that the Holy Spirit

can come and reside

in each of you

and lead you into truth.

And the last thing

I just want to note is

Jesus says in John 16, 14,

the Holy Spirit,

when he comes,

he will glorify me.

He's going to spotlight Jesus.

He's going to make much of Jesus.

It's not the only thing he does,

but it's the primary thing he does.

So what I want you to know

before we start talking about

walking by the Spirit

is that the Holy Spirit

is a person,

God himself,

who's come to take up residence

in each of us

and he's seeking

to glorify the risen Christ.

The Holy Spirit

resides in us

and is seeking to lead us

into the freedom

Christ accomplished for us.

In light of that,

let me just walk you

through three things.

The leading of the Spirit

is marked by conflict.

The leading of the Spirit

results in contrast.

In the leading of the Spirit,

keeping in step,

it's a command.

If you look at

Galatians chapter 5,

Galatians 5:16

verse 16, 17, and 18,

you're going to pick up

on some conflict language.

But I say walk by the Spirit

and you will not gratify

the desires of the flesh.

There's some conflict there.

17, for the desires of the Spirit,

flesh are against the Spirit.

Against is a conflict word.

And the desires of the Spirit

are against the flesh.

Conflict.

For those are opposed

to each other.

Conflict.

To keep you from doing

the things you want to do.

Conflict.

It's a conflict

between the Spirit

and our flesh.

We've already talked

about the Spirit.

Let me make sure you know

what the flesh is.

J.R. Stott said,

the flesh is

what we are by nature

in inheritance

from Adam and Eve.

Who we are

apart from God's grace.

Self-centered rebels

against God.

That's the flesh.

And it's still

alive in you.

There is this aspect

of you

that is still

moved towards

self-centeredness.

Sin.

I want it my way.

I don't care about God.

That is your flesh.

And what we see here

is that this conflict

is between

the desires of the Spirit

and the desires

of the flesh.

It's a conflict

over what you want.

What you live for.

Ultimately,

this is a conflict

of control.

What controls you?

What governs your life?

You know,

we've got an election

coming up in November

and there's a bunch

of battleground states.

Who are they going

to vote for?

Are they going to

vote for Democrats?

Are they going to

vote for Republicans?

What are these

swing states?

Who are they going

to get behind?

When they make

their choice,

they are saying,

we want this person

to rule us.

When it comes to

walking by the Spirit

or walking by the flesh,

we have a choice

of who we're going

to get behind,

who we're going

to follow after,

who we're going

to live for

and obey.

Today,

Ronald Fong

says,

to walk by the Spirit

means to

be under the constant,

moment by moment,

direct control

and guidance

of the Holy Spirit.

To walk by the Spirit

means to be

controlled by the Spirit.

To be led

by the Spirit.

In verse 16,

Paul talks about

this choice.

He commands it.

But I say,

walk.

It's a command

by the Spirit

and you'll not gratify

the desires of the flesh.

It's a conditional promise.

If we walk

by the power

under the direction,

surrender to

the Holy Spirit,

we will not

gratify the desires

of the flesh.

We're not going

to give in to them.

We're not going

to let them

complete themselves.

The Holy Spirit

will lead us

into the freedom

that Christ

has accomplished

for us.

In verse 18,

we read this,

but if you are led

by the Spirit,

you are not

under the law.

If you're walking

by the Spirit,

you are walking

in the freedom

that Christ

accomplished for you.

You're not under law.

You're not living

under legalism.

It's not lawlessness.

You will be fulfilling

God's will

for your life.

When you choose

to be led

by the Holy Spirit,

He will lead you

into the freedom

that Christ

has already

accomplished.

you will be

loving people.

The leading

of the Holy Spirit

is marked

by conflict.

So I'm not sure

if you realize this.

The moment

you became

a Christian,

it was like

a declaration

of civil war

within you.

God

indwelt you

by His Spirit

and all of a sudden

there was

opposition

to the desires

of your flesh.

the Holy Spirit

wants to lead you

into Christ's

freedom and fullness

and away from

the captivity

of the flesh.

The leading

of the Holy Spirit

is marked

by contrast.

We see this

in verses 19

through 24.

Now the works

of the flesh

are evident

and He talks

about 15 works

of the flesh.

You can break

them into

four categories.

The flesh

unleashed

sexually,

sexual immorality

and purity

sensuality.

The flesh

unleashed

religiously,

idolatry

and sorcery.

That word

sorcery

by the way

is,

we get the word

pharmacology

from it.

It's the use

of drugs

in the worship

of false gods.

At the end

we read

about the flesh

unleashed

in the drinking

sphere,

drunkenness,

orgies,

that orgy

is probably

more like

a drinking party

where it just

goes out of

control,

animal house.

But right

in the middle

in verses

20 and 21

we see

these works

of the flesh,

these manifestations

of the flesh

of that

self-centered

rebellion

manifested

relationally.

We read

enmity,

strife,

jealousy,

fits of anger,

rivalries,

dissensions,

divisions,

envy.

When you are

walking by the flesh

this is what

gets produced.

it's helpful

because it

helps you

to see

when you

are living

by the flesh.

And Paul

is setting up

a contrast

here

of the works

of the flesh

contrasted to

the fruit

of the spirit

but before we

get to the fruit

of the spirit

there is a warning

that you need

to see in

verse 21.

I warn you

as I warned

you before

that those

who do

such things

will not

inherit

the kingdom

of God.

Now if

you're in the

room and you

profess Christ

and you're like

okay man

I just

I lost it

with my kids

this morning

on the way

over here

I raged

against them.

Does that

mean I am

not going

to inherit

the kingdom

of God?

The key

to this

verse

is understanding

I warn

you as I

warned you

that those

who do

such things

will not

inherit

the kingdom

of God.

That word

do in the

original language

means to

practice.

It's a

habitual way

of life.

If this

is your

habitual way

of life

Paul is

saying be

warned

you don't

belong to

Jesus.

What you

need right

now is to

be set

free from

sin.

So if

this is

normal course

that's one

thing.

That's a

character

marked by

the flesh

but if

you're a

believer

and there's

these occasional

lapses where

you're like

oh yeah

I was once

controlled by

this but now

it's just less

and less.

I was hanging

out with a

brother this

week and he

was talking

about how

there was a

time of his

life where

he was just

governed by a

particularly

self-centered

approach to

life.

He wanted

to gain

things.

He became

a Christian

and what

God by the

Spirit did

is he slowly

changed him.

He made

him less

and less

governed by

this particularly

fleshly desire.

It became

more and more

laps than

way of life.

That's what the

Spirit does in

us but the

warning stands.

If this is

what characterizes

your life

life, be

warned, you

need to be

set free by

Jesus.

So on the

one side we

have the

works of the

flesh and on

the other the

fruit of the

Spirit.

This is what

the Spirit does

in us.

If you would

look at verse

22, but the

fruit of the

Spirit is love,

joy, peace,

patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control,

works of the

flesh, 15 things

with a, and

there's more at

the end.

Through the

Spirit he lays

out nine

different

manifestations of

the Spirit's

working in the

life of a

Christian, all

having to do

with our

character.

I'm not going

to go into

detail, I just

want to show you

three things.

They're highly,

first is they're

highly relational.

Love for one

another, joy

together, peace

between us,

patience, long

suffering with

one another,

showing kindness

in goodness,

faithfulness,

bearing up with

each other,

gentleness, a

tenderness towards

one another.

We're told to be

gentle in Galatians

6 too, when we

find a brother or

sister caught in

sin, we're to be

gentle with them.

And then he says

self-control,

reigning in your

passions and desires,

so they don't

adversely affect

those around you.

All of this is

the fulfillment of

the law.

All of this is

what the Spirit

does in us so

that we can love

our neighbor as

ourself.

The aim of it

is to exalt

Christ and to

bless others.

God delivers us

from living for

ourselves and he

delivers us to

being a blessing

to others.

Against such

things there is

no law, Paul

says in verse

23, because it's

the fulfillment of

the law.

This is the

freedom that

Christ purchased

for us to live

in.

And the Holy

Spirit leads us

into it.

one more thing I

want to point out

is if you were

to say that

love, joy,

peace, patience,

kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness,

and self-control was

a profile of

someone,

if that described

someone that you

know,

who would be a

description of?

Jesus.

So the Holy

Spirit leads us

forming Christ's

character in us

to bless one

another and the

Holy Spirit is

spotlighting Jesus

through our very

characters.

This stands in

stark contrast to

the works of the

flesh.

And then in

verse 24, there's

another contrast.

And those who

belong to Christ

Jesus have

crucified the

flesh with its

passions and

desires.

If you're

bearing this

fruit, do you

know what it

evidences?

It evidences that

you've been

converted, that

you've become a

Christian.

J.I.

Packer says that

our past

conversion is

evidenced by

present

convertedness.

And if you

are bearing the

fruit of the

Spirit and

growing measure,

it demonstrates

that you've

been converted.

That you went

from life to

death.

That you

crucified the

flesh with its

passions and

desires.

When we are

led by the

Spirit, the

result is a

contrast with

the works of

this flesh.

We stand

out.

We bear, it

bears witness to

the freedom

Christ accomplished

for us.

the Spirit

really wants to

change us.

And he wants

to change us

in a way that

makes us more

loving to one

another and

unites a

church for the

glory of

Christ's name.

Conflict,

contrast, and

finally, a

command.

If we live by

the Spirit,

verse 25,

we must keep

in step with

the Spirit.

It's a

command.

In 518, we're

to be led by

the Spirit.

It's a different

Greek verb than

keep in step with

the Spirit.

In 516, we're

commanded to walk

by the Spirit.

It's a different

verb here.

The verb here,

to keep in step

with the Spirit,

literally means to

line up behind

your leader and

follow Him.

Every one of us

has been freed

by Christ,

who has been

freed by us.

We must keep in

step with the

Spirit to live

out that

freedom.

We must follow

Him as He

leads us

into becoming

more like Jesus

and loving of

one another,

fulfilling the

whole law.

If we keep in

step with the

Spirit,

verse 26,

we're not going

to become

conceited.

We're not going

to be thinking

too highly of

ourselves,

provoking one

another,

envying another,

biting and

devouring one

another.

The Spirit will

not let that

happen.

He will

unite us

together in

loving one

another,

bearing this

fruit that

glorifies Jesus.

If we get

behind the

Holy Spirit,

we don't need

to fear that

He's going to

lead us outside

of what the

Scriptures have

laid down.

The Spirit who

inspired the

Scriptures will

lead us into

the ways of

God, walk

along the path

of life.

life.

You know what

the bottom

line is?

We must keep

in step with

the Spirit to

live in the

freedom Christ

accomplished.

What Christ

accomplished in

33 AD, the

Spirit brings to

fruition in our

lives in 2018.

13.

So I'm

guessing you're

wondering how

do I walk by

the Spirit?

How do I do

that?

How do I keep in

step with the

Spirit?

Let me give you

three suggestions.

Three prayers to

the Spirit in

order to be led

by the Spirit.

Three ways to

depend.

first is this.

Ask God by

His Spirit to

preach Christ

to you.

To bring to

your mind that

Christ has set

me free.

Could you

imagine waking

up every morning

and you move to

this point where

you're like, oh

Spirit of God,

would you again

remind me that

Christ has set

me free?

would you

spotlight that

in my soul

today?

That's where it

starts.

Remind me of

what God has

done for me in

Christ.

Second,

Spirit,

slay my

flesh.

Kill my

sin.

If you

struggle with

sexual lust,

oh Spirit of

God, would you

kill that today?

Help me to

nail it to the

cross.

It was

crucified the

moment I

believed it

was done.

Help me to

live that way.

Kill it in

me.

Romans 8,

13, we are

to mortify

sin by the

power of the

Holy Spirit.

Finally,

Spirit,

lead me.

Empower me

to love

others.

You can start

praying prayers

like this.

Lord Jesus,

because you

called me to

be free,

I confess my

hatred towards

my brother,

and I nail it

to the cross.

It's done,

and Spirit,

would you empower

me now to love

him?

Jesus, because you

called me to be

free, I confess

my fits of

fleshly anger.

I nail it to the

cross.

I will not live

for that now.

Would you lead me

into long

suffering with

those around me?

Spirit of God,

would you, you've

set me free.

Jesus, you've set

me free.

I confess my

insecurities.

I confess my

envy of the way

my sister looks,

and of my

brother's family,

of my friend's

house, and of

this guy's car.

I confess it.

would you, Spirit,

now empower me to

stop wanting what

others have, and

help me to start

wanting your good

for others.

Jesus, because you

called me to free,

I confess my

harshness to my

children.

I nail that desire

of the flesh to the

cross, and Spirit,

would you now empower

me to be gentle

and tender,

selflessly loving

my children?

these are ways in

which we walk by

the Spirit.

I just thought to

show you two things

this morning.

Christ has freed us

from sin, and the

Spirit empowers us

moment by moment

to live out that

freedom that Christ

accomplished.

Christ has set you

free, and the

Spirit indwells us

to experience that

freedom.

freedom.

And so, brothers

and sisters, keep

in step with the

Spirit.

Go forth today in

power.

Let's pray.

God in heaven,

would you use these

words, these words of

you from Galatians,

and would you set us

free, and would you

help us to live in

that freedom?

In the name of Jesus,

for the glory of God,

amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.