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Full Speed Ahead One
Step at a Time: How You Can Walk in the Spirit Every Day
Galatians 5:16-18
“I say then, walk by the Spirit and
you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires
what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the
flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what
you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the
law” (Galatians 5:16-18, Holman Christian Standard Bible).
This is one of the most important passages on the Christian life in the
New Testament. It answers a question all of us have asked at one time or
another: Why is it taking me so long to get better? We’ve all
wondered about that, haven’t we?
• “I thought by now I wouldn’t struggle so much with
anger. Why is it taking me so long to get better?”
• “I still get tempted by pornography. Why is it taking me so
long to get better?”
• “I go to church every Sunday but I still have so many
doubts. Why is it taking me so long to get better?”
• “I thought I’d be a better person by now but
I’ve got so many bad habits. Why is it taking me so long to get
better?”
• “I’m a bitter person even though I cover it up most
of the time. Why is it taking me so long to get better?”
Many of us wish we had an answer to that question. We might assume that
upon conversion, we would rapidly sprout wings and fly to heaven. But it
doesn’t happen that way. God has ordained that even though we are
being made like Jesus, it only happens a little bit at a time. And
sometimes that “little bit” seems very little indeed.
When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, God did not allow
them to conquer it all at once. Because there were many entrenched
enemies in the hills of Canaan, the Jews had to fight for every inch of it.
Then they had to fight to keep what they conquered. It took them many
years to possess the entire land. I believe this is a picture of the
Christian life. There is victory to be had but it will not come easily or
quickly. We are in a warfare with spiritual foes who will not easily
yield their ground. Whether we wish to admit it or not, we will struggle
with sin and temptation as long as we live. There is no reprieve from
this struggle. And that’s one major reason why it takes so long for
any of us to get better.
In order to help us grasp this truth, let’s break it down into
three crucial statements based on our text—Galatians 5:16-18.
I. Struggle
is a Normal Part of the Christian Life.
Many Christians prefer
not to hear this truth because they want a Christianity that proclaims
“all victory all the time.” They want a guarantee that all
their problems will be solved if they will follow the right formula. But
that is not realistic nor is it biblical. We are to fight the good fight
of faith, putting on the whole armor of God, standing in the evil day,
and enduring hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Verse 17 is
abundantly clear in this regard. Two principles are at war within us. One
is called “flesh.” The other is called “the
Spirit.” These two principles are in constant, unrelenting,
unremitting antagonism to each other. They are constantly at war with
each other. The flesh is Paul’s term for the depraved nature inside
all of us by virtue of our physical descent from Adam. That depraved
nature is hostile to God, selfish, and utterly evil. When we come to
Christ, we become new creations by virtue of the Holy Spirit who comes to
live within us. Even though the dominating power of the flesh is broken,
the pull of evil remains with us. As one writer put it, evil desires
arise from the flesh like smoke from a chimney. To say it another way,
flesh is what we are by natural birth; the Spirit comes to us by our
spiritual birth.
I draw several conclusions from this:
a) Flesh and the Spirit are fundamentally opposite. They do not and
cannot cooperate.
b) The conflict between our flesh and the Spirit is continual and
inevitable.
c) That conflict produces conflicting desires in the believer.
Thus with the same mouth we curse and we bless. We love and we hate. We
serve and then we steal. We proclaim Christ and then we lie to our
friends. We read the Bible and then we watch dirty movies. We sing in the
choir and then we have an affair. And so it goes. The manifestations
differ, but all of us feel the struggle in one way or the other.
Some people think, “If I come to Christ, all my problems will be
solved. I’ll never struggle again.” Think again, sister! If
you come to Christ, your problems are just starting. As a lost person,
you sin because that’s your nature. As a Christian, you have a new
nature that pulls you toward God while the flesh remains with you until
you die. In one sense, Christians have conflicts the unsaved never know
about. Our rewards are great but so are our struggles.
We ought to praise God for the war within. The deadly feud between flesh
and Spirit is one sign that we are the children of God. Do you desire to
be holy? Do you want to please the Lord? Is there a hunger in your heart
to know Jesus and to love him? Do you desire to live a higher and better
life even though you cannot seem to attain it? If you answer yes, that is
strong evidence you are born again. Despite your personal failings, do
you truly want to do what God wants you to do? Then you may rest in the
knowledge that you are a child of God. Your struggle with sin is proof of
your divine heritage. If sin is a burden, at least it is a burden and not
a joy. If you can swear and hate and steal and mock and lust and think
all sorts of foul thoughts and speak harsh words, if you can do that and
feel nothing, then you are truly without hope in the world.
Our ongoing struggles and temptations are not in themselves sinful. We
are not condemned because we struggle. It’s not the struggle that
matters; it’s how we respond. The sin is in giving in, not in the
fight itself.
No one escapes the conflict.
No one can avoid the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit.
No one gets a Christian life free from outward pressure and inward
turmoil.
And there is no second blessing or spiritual experience that can
magically propel you to a state where you no longer struggle with sin.
That won’t happen until we finally get to heaven. Between now and
then, we walk the hard road to glory, fighting every day to stay on the
right path.
In the end is it impossible to remain neutral. The Holy Spirit can only
help us when we depend on him. We still have a choice to make: Flesh or
Spirit! Right or wrong! Good or evil! My way or God’s way!
II.
That Struggle Produces Many Benefits.
It’s crucial to
remember that God allows the struggle as part of our ongoing spiritual
growth. Strange as it may seem, we need to struggle because that’s the
only way we can grow in grace. Here are a few benefits to consider:
It reveals to us our inherent weakness.
It kills our pride and arrogance.
It humbles us again and again.
It forces us to cry out to God for help.
It reveals the uselessness of human effort apart from God’s
strength.
It teaches us to rely on the Lord alone.
It causes us to love the Savior who delivers us from sin.
It leads us to a life of continual repentance.
It makes us more watchful against the encroachment of sin.
It makes us long for the rest of heaven.
It prods us to use all the means of divine grace.
It encourages us to develop habits of holiness.
It forces us to lean on our brothers and sisters to help us out.
It leads us to look for daily solutions instead of instant miracles.
III. God’s Desire is that We Walk in the Spirit.
Verse 16 tells us to “walk in the Spirit.” That opens up a
vast area of crucial truth.
a) The Holy Spirit is a Person.
b) He resides in us from the moment of conversion.
c) He creates in us a new desire.
d) He gives us the power to obey.
e) He leads us to live like Jesus would live.
Paul’s point is that what the law could not do, the Holy Spirit
does. Our hope is not in rules, but in the Person of the Holy Spirit
indwelling every believer. By his power we can obey God in the midst of
our ongoing struggle with sin.
The Greek word for “walk” is very ordinary. It means to walk
from one place to another. It’s in the present tense, which means
“keep on walking.” To walk means “to take a series of
small steps in the same direction over a long period of time.”
Walking implies steady progress in one direction by means of deliberate
choices over a long period of time. To walk in the Spirit means something
like “let your conduct be directed by the Holy Spirit” or
“make progress in your life by relying on the Holy Spirit.”
It has the idea of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide every part of your
life on a daily basis.
Walking is slow compared with driving a car or flying in a plane.
It’s not flashy at all. And sometimes walking can be tedious, slow,
dull, drab, and downright boring. And yet if you’ve got to get from
Point A to Point B, walking will get you there eventually. All you have
to do is just start walking and don’t stop until you get there.
Let me say it very clearly. Walking in the Spirit is not some mystical
experience reserved for a few special Christians. It’s God’s
design for normal Christian living. It’s nothing more than choosing
(by God’s grace) to take tiny steps toward the light day after day
after day. Those tiny steps do not remove the struggle but they allow you
to walk in the light even while you feel the pull to go in another
direction. The pull of the darkness is always with us in one form or
another. By the Spirit’s power, we can choose to walk in the light
every day.
What should we do in light of the struggle?
1) Stay humble.
2) Watch and pray.
3) Keep your eyes on Jesus.
4) Take little steps in the right direction every day.
5) When you fall, get up and move forward for God.
Remember that our struggle is not sinful. God allows it so that we will
look to him for daily solutions instead of instant miracles. The struggle
itself is evidence that you belong to God. We groan even as we wait for a
better day. And we hope in God because where sin abounded, grace
superabounded. Grace now reigns through righteousness. Through the
struggle with sin your soul is made strong and you are being made fit for
heaven. Stand and fight, child of God. The Lord is on your side. Amen.
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Baptist Sermon page.
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