Walking in Sin.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Thank you so much for being here. My name is Steve. I am one of the pastors here at the village [0:04] and I just want to say welcome to the village. For some reason I feel like you guys are like further away from me today or something. [0:10] You’re way out there and I’m way up here. [0:13] Welcome to the village. Good to see you guys. The weather outside is finally going from frightful to delightful. [0:19] It’s weird in Virginia, especially in Richmond in March, because it’ll start out like 22 degrees in the morning [0:24] and then by the afternoon you’ll need to put your shorts on.

[0:26] So I don’t really understand why that takes place. It wreaks havoc with my sinuses. [0:31] But go outside today, enjoy it. If you’re like me, you’re tired already because it’s warmer. [0:39] I don’t know what that has to do with anything in my life, but for some reason the warmer it gets, the more I want to be tired all the time. [0:46] And I think I’m just a weirdo, but yesterday I ran five miles outside [0:52] and then I immediately needed oxygen and an IV. [0:58] Because my body just sort of let me know that’s not something you’re supposed to do.

[1:04] That’s not normal. Why would you ever consider doing this? [1:08] And it’s funny, I don’t know why I’m telling you this at all. I didn’t plan it, it’s not in my notes. [1:11] I just kind of started and I’m not going to stop. [1:14] But a couple of, like two months ago I started this running thing. [1:18] And the first day I made it out the front door and up my driveway and then I went back in. [1:25] And so I was really just kind of pacing myself. And after a while I could run a whole mile.

[1:30] And the first time I ran one mile without stopping, there were ducks walking faster than me. [1:36] But that was jogging for me. So I made it one mile without slowing down and without doing that embarrassing thing [1:43] where you’re on the side of the road, hands on your knees, shaking your head, feeling like you’re going to pass out. [1:49] And I made it one mile and I literally, this is me, 6.30 in the morning, hands in the air running down the road. [1:56] I can only imagine what the cars passing by me thought was going on. [2:00] I don’t know what was going on there either, but yesterday I started running and made it almost five miles.

[2:09] And so I really feel like I’m accomplishing something. [2:11] Now what I’m accomplishing, I don’t know. But I know it’s something. [2:17] There’s got to be something there. But what it is, I’m going to need somebody to fill me in [2:21] because all the people that talked me into running, they haven’t given me a prize yet. [2:26] And I’m kind of waiting for that big payoff. And so far the big payoff is I’ve already had to go to physical therapy [2:33] because I messed my foot up. So if this is the big payoff for running, I want my money back.

[2:40] Because I bought shoes and they weren’t cheap. [2:44] And it’s just, there’s a $30 copay involved and you know, it’s health insurance stuff. [2:50] I don’t know, if you have your Bibles, Galatians chapter 5. [2:52] We’re going to be in Galatians 5 today. I am really glad you’re here today. [2:57] We’re going to be jumping off of last week. I’m going to try not to yell this week, but I’m not going to make any promises. [3:04] Because when I start talking about the Bible, I start getting passionate.

[3:08] Not because this is like a mystical book, but rather because this has the keys to how to live life the way that God designed it. [3:18] And it holds the keys to the truth about who I really am. [3:22] And today we’re going to be talking about something that is near and dear to my heart, and that is sin. [3:29] And if we are all, and most preachers aren’t going to get in front of you and say sin is near and dear to my heart. [3:33] But I think if we’re all really honest, and that’s just what I want to be with you, is honest. [3:37] That’s near and dear to all of our hearts, because quite frankly, that is what defines who we are.

[3:44] Is sin. When we are left alone, and when we are left to ourselves to live life our way, sin is going to happen. [3:56] I have a new son, and one thing that I’m positive about, about my son, is that very soon he’s going to really start sinning. [4:06] I haven’t really seen it yet, I’ve smelled it. I haven’t seen the effects of sin take place, and as a fear parent you know what that means. [4:15] 4.30 in the morning, really weird. But I haven’t seen him do it. [4:19] But I know that at some point he’s going to need discipline, because all of us live this life, and we have this natural leaning towards sin. [4:31] That takes place in all of our lives.

[4:32] You don’t have to be married very long to start identifying where you and your spouse are selfish. [4:41] For me, it was like I got a newspaper one day, and there were 17 pages full of what’s wrong with me. [4:49] I didn’t really start seeing my shortcomings until I entered into this relationship with my wife, to where we were just there together all the time.

[5:00] Really quickly though, and it’s funny because a lot of people will tell you they identified problems in their spouse. [5:06] No, it was like a big mirror was held up in front of me, and I’m like, I’m a terrible human being. [5:12] I am so selfish. [5:15] Because all arguments began to be circled around my underwear on the floor, and my dirty clothes piling in the hamper, [5:22] and then all of a sudden I was like, but my mom always did that for me. [5:28] And my wife told me one of the most profound things that I’ve ever learned.

[5:33] She said, I’m not your mother. [5:36] I said, oh.

[5:40] Wow. [5:42] I was mistaken.

[5:45] And very quickly I began to understand that there are a lot of places in my life where I really come up short from being good.

[5:59] And the thing is, most of us spend our entire lives trying to deny that. [6:04] We spend our entire lives trying to prove to others our worth, trying to prove to others there is good in us, [6:11] trying to prove to other people that we’re acceptable, when in all actuality you would experience such freedom if you just looked in the mirror and said, [6:21] there’s nothing good about me. [6:23] And I’m not talking about this self-deprecating thing to where you’re just like weeping every night, [6:28] like oh, there’s nothing good about me.

[6:31] I’m worthless. [6:32] That’s not what I’m talking about. [6:33] What I’m talking about is this understanding that apart from God working in your life, you’re a sinner.

[6:44] You’re just full of sin. [6:47] And here’s the big key. [6:49] So am I. [6:52] And that is a liberating understanding. [6:54] It’s not depressing to me. [6:57] And we’ll learn why today.

[6:58] That’s not depressing to me at all. [7:00] It’s liberating because I’m finally honest with myself because I am faced head on with who I really am. [7:07] And I don’t have to lie to myself anymore.

[7:11] I can stop making excuses for why I do the things I do, why I hurt people’s feelings, why I just break God’s laws and find myself empty, [7:23] because I can finally be honest and say I find emptiness in myself because that’s who I am. [7:31] I am bad. [7:35] I’m not good. [7:38] And you’re going to spend a lot of time in your life lying to yourself and lying to everybody else until you admit that one key element [7:47] that can begin the greatest life that you will ever and can ever know.

[7:56] Realizing that you are a sinner is not something that takes you to the depths of despair. [8:03] Now if you stay that way and you just revel in your sinfulness, like a lot of people do, and you’re just reveling and you’re like, I’m bad, I’m bad. [8:12] Yeah, that’s the depths of despair. [8:14] I mean I’m not going to lie with you there. [8:16] But when you admit that, but then right next to it you see there’s hope outside of myself. [8:24] I don’t have to conjure up this hope from within me because it’s an external thing.

[8:28] When you do that, it liberates you. [8:31] And that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. [8:33] Last week, I want to rewind really quick just to cap for some of you who weren’t here, what we talked about last week. [8:38] Last week we talked about what real faith looks like, what gospel faith looks like. [8:44] And Paul writes at the very beginning of Galatians chapter 5 that if you live for anything other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, life’s not worth living. [8:56] And if you lead other people away from the gospel to a life that’s being lived for anything else,

[9:06] it is better that you would emasculate yourself so that you can’t reproduce into another generation that’s going to be worse than you. [9:12] Than to go on through life reproducing.

[9:16] That’s the language that Paul puts it in. [9:17] That’s how passionate Paul is about the gospel. [9:20] That’s how sure Paul was about the gospel. [9:23] Because that’s the relationship that he had with God the Father. [9:27] Through Jesus Christ. [9:29] He had this sureness in the gospel, and he had this life in the gospel, to where he was willing to risk his very life for the gospel.

[9:38] This is the kind of person Paul was. [9:39] Paul would go into a town and they would look at him and they would say, [9:43] look Paul we’ve heard of you. [9:45] If you start preaching Jesus and telling people they can get saved through Jesus, we’re going to beat you. [9:50] And Paul would look at them and say, I count it all but loss for Christ and I will suffer for the gospel. [9:57] And I’ll be happy about it.

[9:59] And then they would look at him and they would say, well if you preach the gospel we’re going to kill you Paul. [10:06] To live as Christ, but to die as gain. [10:08] Because if you kill me I’ll be in the presence of Jesus.

[10:12] And after a while it’s just like, what do we do with this person? [10:15] He is so saturated and so sure and so encompassed with the gospel, that there’s nothing we can do to shut him up. [10:23] Until finally they beheaded him.

[10:27] This is the life that Paul lived because Paul understood something. [10:31] That the gospel of Jesus, the fact that Jesus died for our sins, [10:36] the fact that he takes our sin onto himself, dies on the cross, and raises again on the third day. [10:44] That God accepts us through that and that we don’t have to do anything of ourselves to earn that acceptance. [10:51] And then we can live life in relationship with God for that very gospel.

[10:58] Paul sees this and he says this is life. [11:03] Anything outside of that is death. [11:05] Anything outside of that is absolutely worthless. [11:08] And so he’s talking to the Galatian church and he says if people come in and people were there, [11:12] trying to lead them away from the gospel, he says don’t listen to them, drive them from your presence. [11:18] It would be better that they emasculate themselves than to live life.

[11:24] Paul is very serious about the gospel, but then right after this he’s going to transition. [11:30] And he’s going to begin to talk about the difference between living a life without the gospel and living a life with the gospel. [11:38] What the difference is and what that looks like. [11:41] And how does the gospel come into us and how does it change us? [11:46] Is it simply something that you believe and then is true and then you just go through your life with it up here believing it, [11:58] but it doesn’t really have any effect on you and then when you die you have hope.

[12:02] But you are condemned to live this life in utter turmoil, in utter sin and in utter despair. [12:09] Is that what the gospel is or is the gospel something that comes into your life [12:14] and has a drastic effect on you that changes the way that you live?

[12:19] It has to be one or the other. [12:21] And Paul is going to tell us that it’s the second. [12:25] That the gospel is not something that you just believe and is just this static reality, [12:30] but rather it is a dynamic force that revolutionizes your life as we’ve already talked about. [12:36] The gospel changes your life and causes movement. [12:40] It causes you to do something.

[12:42] It causes you to move from where you are to moving towards something else, [12:49] but it surely will cause you to live for God, with God, [12:55] and the gospel will begin to work its way out of your life and will change your very actions and the way that you live. [13:02] There is no other kind of gospel that exists. [13:06] And Paul is going to write about that right now. [13:09] Open your Bibles to Galatians chapter 5.

[13:11] We’re going to be reading beginning in verse 13.

[13:19] He says in verse 13, [13:20] For you were called to freedom.

[13:25] In chapters 4 and 5, Paul spends a great deal of time talking about freedom. [13:31] And the fact that in the gospel, we have this amazing freedom that without the gospel we don’t have. [13:37] Because if you remember all the way through from chapters 1 through where we are right now, [13:42] Paul is telling you, you don’t want to live for the law. [13:47] And the law is simply us trying to earn God’s acceptance by comparing our immorality to our morality. [13:55] If we do enough good things, it’s going to outweigh the bad things.

[13:59] And there was a group that had come into Galatia and said, [14:02] Look, it’s not just Jesus that you need. [14:05] You also need the Old Testament law. [14:07] You need to convert to Judaism. [14:08] Once you do that, then you can begin earning your acceptance from God. [14:14] And Paul comes in and says, no, Jesus plus anything is absolute imprisonment.

[14:18] And then he starts this long treatise explaining the purpose of the Old Testament law. [14:23] He says, the Old Testament law was given to us as a sign for our sinfulness. [14:29] To show us how sinful we are. [14:33] No one can follow the moral law of the Old Testament completely. [14:40] No one. [14:41] We all come short in some place.

[14:44] And the book of James tells us, once you’re guilty of one of them, it’s as if you’ve broken them all. [14:50] Because then you have to start asking questions. [14:51] Well, how holy is God? [14:53] What will God accept? [14:55] If I follow everything, but then I find I’ve lied about one thing, [14:58] is God going to just kind of pardon that lie?

[15:02] And Paul’s understanding and his treatment of that is, no.

[15:07] You will have to be held accountable for that one thing that you’ve done wrong in your life. [15:12] But if we all look inside of ourselves, it’s not just one thing. [15:16] It’s many things. [15:18] There’s one thing as a human you’re good at. [15:22] It’s sinning.

[15:25] And if that offends you, or if that bothers you, [15:27] and if you’re like, you don’t know me, I’m not speaking to you, I’m speaking to this guy. [15:33] Because I’m willing to be honest with myself. [15:34] I don’t lie to me. [15:37] I know the things I’ve done. [15:39] And I know that I cannot be good enough for God.

[15:45] Because if you believe in the true God, you understand that God is the ultimate good. [15:50] God is the ultimate in righteousness. [15:52] God is perfect. [15:54] He is holy. [15:56] Sin cannot even be in His presence. [16:00] Isaiah chapter 6 gives us this picture of God where the seraphim are flying around Him and crying out,

[16:06] Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. [16:10] That God is absolutely perfect in everything that He does. [16:15] And that if we cannot be absolutely perfect and we try to come into the presence of God, [16:21] we have to be punished because that’s justice. [16:27] God cannot accept our rebellion against Him. [16:32] You say, well, why is He the author of justice?

[16:36] Understand this. [16:38] God created us.

[16:42] He did. He created us. [16:45] He’s the author of who we are. [16:48] He created the whole earth. [16:49] He created everything that exists. [16:52] Colossians says there’s nothing that exists that did not exist from Him.

[16:58] And so He, being God, has the authority to determine what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. [17:07] And God says, what is acceptable? [17:09] What am I? [17:11] God is perfect. God is holy. God is righteous. [17:14] That’s what’s acceptable. [17:16] And guess what?

[17:16] We run headlong in rebellion against that. [17:21] From the first people that were created. [17:23] What did Adam and Eve do? They rebelled against God. [17:25] God said, don’t. They did.

[17:29] And that’s the plight of your life. That’s the plight of my life. [17:33] And Paul says, to look at the law, the thou shouts and the thou shalt nots, [17:38] and to understand that you are guilty of something in there, [17:42] and then to think that the good that you will do will outweigh the bad, [17:47] and you will go before God, and God will say, [17:49] well, you’ve broken my law here, here, here, here, and here,

[17:51] but that one day you saved a duck’s life, okay, you’re in.

[17:58] Paul writes, that is absolute foolishness. [18:02] Who are you kidding? [18:04] What game are you playing?

[18:07] And so Paul says, but God being rich in mercy, [18:15] being rich in love for us, even while we were in this sinful and rebellious state, [18:24] loved us to the point where he sent his Son to take our sin off of us, [18:30] and put it onto himself, and Jesus died on the cross, [18:34] and then he rose from the dead when he veiled against God, [18:35] and he was given victory over death.

[18:37] That is our hope. [18:39] That is how we can stand before God, [18:42] and God will declare us innocent of all of the sins that we have done and will do, [18:47] because our hope is not based on our morality, rather it’s based on God’s morality. [18:54] It’s based on Jesus Christ, His very Son. [18:57] So the hope that we have of God’s acceptance is not in us, it’s in God.

[19:04] God accepts us because He died for us. [19:09] There is no greater reality. [19:11] That is the Gospel. [19:14] Any other path is foolishness. [19:21] It doesn’t make any sense.

[19:24] And Paul says, for you were called to freedom. [19:31] Who called you? [19:32] God. [19:34] Who made the path? [19:35] God. [19:37] Who did the work?

[19:38] God. [19:40] A lot of us have an understanding of our salvation as if we are partnering with God [19:44] in a joint venture to save ourselves. [19:48] There is no partnership involved. [19:51] God is doing all of the work. [19:54] God did it all on the cross.

[19:57] We add nothing to the Gospel.

[20:03] The Gospel is God saying, you’ve done enough, I’ll take over.

[20:12] And so Paul says, that’s the freedom that you were called to. [20:15] It’s an absolute freedom.

[20:19] Alright, but here’s the key. [20:20] Everybody wants to be free. [20:22] Alright, Matt Chandler is a pastor down in Texas. [20:25] He kind of sums it up really nicely when he says, [20:28] if there’s one common denominator between human beings, [20:30] it’s the fact that we all want to be free.

[20:34] We fight wars about it. [20:36] Look through the history of wars throughout the world. [20:38] Most of them are fought for freedom. [20:40] All of the ones that we’ve fought, we’ve said, are for freedom. [20:44] Starting with the Revolutionary War. [20:46] We wanted to be free from England.

[20:49] Children growing up, they want to be free from their parents. [20:52] Then they go to school. [20:53] They want to be free from school. [20:55] Then they become 16. [20:56] They want to be free from mom and dad so they can drive. [21:00] Then they want to be free from their car insurance that they have to pay for.

[21:03] Then we want to be free from high school so we can go to college, get away. [21:06] Then we want to be free from college so we can get a career. [21:09] Then we want to be free from our careers so we can make enough money to not have to do that anymore. [21:12] Then we want to be free from our depends when we’re really old and about to die.

[21:17] We live our lives obsessed with the next thing that will give us freedom. [21:23] And then we get the next thing, and guess what? [21:25] Oh crap, I want to be free from this. [21:28] So I’ve got to have something else to give me freedom from that. [21:31] We live our entire lives looking for freedom in things that are going to put us more bondage. [21:36] More and more bondage.

[21:39] Think about the movies that we watch. [21:41] Think about the themes and the thread of freedom. [21:44] Braveheart. [21:45] The whole thing is about William Wallace seeking freedom from England. [21:49] Shawshank Redemption. [21:50] Andy Dufresne wants to be free from prison.

[21:52] Home Alone. [21:53] Macaulay Culkin wants to be free from his parents. [21:56] Then he is, and he needs to be freed from his isolation.

[22:01] All of these things that we see out in culture are just the culture and all of us screaming. [22:08] We need to be freed from the bondage that we’re in. [22:11] So we try with this after that. [22:14] If you’re a guy, you want to be freed with that woman that you love. [22:17] If you’re a woman, I want to be freed from that guy that I’m in love with. [22:20] Then you get together and then you call the lawyer because you need to be freed from each other.

[22:27] We are so desperate for freedom that we look for freedom in so many things except for the one place that we can actually find real freedom. [22:46] That’s what Paul is talking about here. [22:47] He says, you have been called to freedom.

[22:55] Understand that God has called us to freedom through the gospel.

[23:03] There is no other source of freedom that is available that’s true.

[23:10] I don’t care how many cars you buy. [23:12] I don’t care how big your bank account gets. [23:14] I don’t care how beautiful your spouse is. [23:16] I don’t care how many kids you have. [23:18] I don’t care what you do in this life.

[23:23] You’re just going to keep getting old.

[23:27] Those things are just going to start fading.

[23:31] And they’re going to wither and they’re going to die.

[23:35] Those relationships are going to be hard.

[23:40] You cannot find freedom in anything apart from the gospel.

[23:44] It’s impossible. [23:46] So let’s start out with an understanding that freedom is only found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. [23:54] Notice that Paul is attributing the work of freedom completely to God.

[24:01] Because we can’t be found in us. [24:04] But that’s what we keep looking for freedom in. [24:06] Me, me, me. [24:07] That’s what we keep trying to find freedom for. [24:09] Me, me, me. [24:10] And God the entire time is screaming in his revelation and through his son he’s saying freedom is only available in me, me.

[24:19] You can’t find it in yourself. [24:21] You can only find it in me. [24:24] Keep reading.

[24:27] We’ve only made it like five words. [24:29] For you were called to freedom, brothers. [24:32] Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. [24:37] But through love serve one another. [24:41] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. [24:45] You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[24:48] But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. [24:56] But I say walk in the spirit or walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [25:06] Understand. [25:08] The direction that Paul is going in right now. [25:11] He’s going to spend the rest of this passage in this week and next week. [25:15] This week we’re talking about walking in the flesh or walking in sin.

[25:18] Next week we’re going to look at what it looks like to walk by the spirit. [25:22] Alright. [25:23] Understand that Paul’s going to spend the rest of chapter five explaining the difference between walking by the spirit. [25:29] And we’re going to talk about what that means. [25:31] Or what it looks like to walk by the flesh. [25:33] And Paul writes with this tension.

[25:38] That even for the follower of Jesus for the rest of your life. [25:42] You are going to have a tension in your life. [25:45] Where you can either walk through the power of God. [25:48] Or you can continue to try to pervert the gospel by walking under your own power. [25:54] And the only way that the gospel will ever be true and will ever be fulfilling. [25:59] And will ever give you the joy and the freedom that you’re looking for.

[26:02] Is if you walk by the spirit. [26:06] And here’s where we’re going to go with this today. [26:09] Is that we’re going to talk about the negative. [26:11] Alright. [26:12] I’m going to make it as positive as I can but it’s going to be negative. [26:15] Because we’re going to be talking about sin.

[26:17] Alright. [26:17] But not just you know we’re not going to give it a do this and don’t do this thing. [26:21] We’re going to I want to talk about why we sin. [26:24] Why we struggle with this. [26:25] Why all of us struggle with wanting things to be our way. [26:28] Why we are so self-centered and so individualistic and why we struggle with guilt.

[26:36] Alright. [26:37] We’re going to talk about that. [26:39] But understand.

[26:42] Paul is setting up a scenario here where he says. [26:45] Do not take your freedom and then pervert it. [26:49] So he’s saying you can look at the gospel. [26:51] And claim that you believe the gospel. [26:53] And claim that you’re living by the gospel. [26:55] And you can name the name of Jesus.

[26:57] And you can take it and you can pervert it. [26:59] You can make it something that it absolutely isn’t. [27:01] And that runs rampant throughout the world today. [27:04] That is something that most all of us are going to struggle with. [27:07] [27:08] And he tells us.

[27:09] He says only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. [27:12] So you can have this freedom and think you’ve obtained this freedom. [27:16] And then pervert it and turn it into something very sinful. [27:19] But then he says. [27:21] But through love serve one another. [27:24] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word.

[27:25] You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [27:29] That’s very interesting. [27:30] Because when we think about sin and not sin.

[27:36] We tend to think on very linear objective things. [27:41] Like don’t do this. [27:44] But do this. [27:46] Typically it’s don’t do this. [27:48] We have a mentality. [27:49] Especially in the United States.

[27:51] Where we have this mentality of what morality looks like. [27:55] We’ll come up with these cliché sayings. [27:57] My favorite one. [27:59] Because I grew up in the Bible Belt. [28:01] This is just my favorite one. [28:03] Don’t drink.

[28:04] Don’t cuss. [28:05] Don’t smoke. [28:06] And don’t run with girls that do. [28:08] And then I love the very end of it. [28:10] Definitely don’t kiss girls that chew.

[28:15] I’m from tobacco country. [28:17] And so everything that we have is about smoking or drinking. [28:20] It’s really weird how we have summed up the whole law in one word. [28:23] Don’t smoke, don’t drink, you’re alright. [28:26] Alright. [28:26] And that is such.

[28:28] But here’s the big key. [28:29] It sounds funny but it’s so terrible. [28:31] It’s awful.

[28:34] Because we have taken something that the God of the universe has given us. [28:38] A life that God has given us. [28:40] A gospel that God has given us. [28:41] And we have absolutely perverted it and said. [28:44] Freedom looks like morality.

[28:47] And if you do anything that is on the list. [28:51] You’re not free any longer. [28:52] Because what are we saying? [28:55] We’re taking it away from God and saying it depends on us. [28:58] Do you see how we can take freedom and pervert it? [29:01] How we can say out of one side of our mouth.

[29:05] Salvation depends completely on the work that Jesus did on the cross. [29:08] And then out of the other side of our mouth we can say. [29:11] But I have to be moral in order to earn it. [29:14] Or in order to keep it. [29:17] Wait a second. [29:19] You see.

[29:20] Those are two totally different philosophies. [29:23] And yet so many of us in this culture are trying to live both of them. [29:28] And I like to run headlong into them. [29:31] And I like to point out where we as Christians or supposed Christians. [29:35] We’re so inconsistent and we are lying. [29:38] And we look at the world and we say.

[29:40] Why don’t you understand the gospel? [29:42] And the world looks back at us and culture says. [29:44] Because you’re giving me two different gospels.

[29:50] Because we’re telling them out of one breath. [29:52] It’s all on Jesus. [29:54] Salvation is free of charge. [29:56] Jesus paid it all. [29:57] And then out of the other side of your mouth. [29:59] You look at them and say.

[30:00] But if you do anything immoral. [30:01] Jesus is going to run away from you.

[30:05] And this is the mentality that many people in my generation have grown up with. [30:09] And that’s why we’re so confused about the gospel. [30:12] And that’s why we don’t find it attractive. [30:14] And we don’t want to live for it. [30:15] Because you have given us two different gospels.

[30:21] And Paul is saying. [30:22] Don’t use your freedom to cause imprisonment. [30:27] That’s what he’s literally saying there. [30:29] He’s saying you can take freedom. [30:31] And then push others down.

[30:34] And imprison them under your hatred. [30:38] And your self-centeredness. [30:39] But he says use your freedom to love one another. [30:44] You can’t love people when you’re lying to them about the gospel.

[30:50] You can’t.

[30:55] So why is freedom wrapped up in other people?

[31:01] Because he says. [31:02] Love one another.

[31:06] Hold that. [31:08] First I want to talk about spirit and the flesh. [31:11] Alright. [31:11] Paul writes here.

[31:36] I mean here’s a big key that a lot of us never get. [31:41] It’s the Holy Spirit. [31:43] Some Christians spend their whole lives obsessed with the Holy Spirit. [31:48] And some Christians spend their lives denying the Holy Spirit basically. [31:53] Alright. [31:53] And here’s the big key.

[31:55] Okay. [31:55] Here’s the big thing. [31:56] If you’ve spent any time in church. [31:58] You’re kind of the one I’m talking to right now. [32:00] If you’re new to this. [32:02] Just put an iPod in or something.

[32:05] [32:05] And I’m just kidding. [32:06] You should listen. [32:07] Really. [32:07] He’ll be rude if you start listening to an iPod. [32:09] Here’s the key.

[32:11] [32:11] The Holy Spirit is something that we have minimalized to a place where if we’re like in a church service or we’re singing. [32:17] And we start feeling really good inside. [32:20] We’re like oh that’s the Holy Spirit.

[32:24] Oh my goodness. [32:25] I’m in the Spirit.

[32:29] And then everything else is not the Holy Spirit. [32:32] So the third person in the Trinity. [32:35] God the Father. [32:35] God the Son. [32:36] And God the Holy Spirit. [32:37] He has been relegated to a guy who likes music.

[32:40] And makes us feel good while we’re listening to music.

[32:45] Here. [32:47] Paul is saying. [32:48] When God comes into our lives through the gospel. [32:51] Okay. [32:52] We have the gospel. [32:53] Jesus has taken our sin away from us.

[32:56] He is saying. [32:58] That the Spirit of God works freedom into our lives. [33:02] He’s saying this is the work of the Holy Spirit into your life. [33:06] The freedom that you experience.

[33:10] Is brought by the Spirit of God. [33:13] And he is working that freedom into our lives.

[33:20] How does that work? [33:23] Think about it this way. [33:24] When Jesus was on earth. [33:26] Throughout the book of John. [33:28] Jesus constantly. [33:30] Makes mention to his disciples.

[33:31] Because if you read through the gospels. [33:34] Jesus looks at his disciples a lot. [33:35] And says I’m going to have to go die now guys. [33:38] It’s recorded a couple of times. [33:40] And the disciples are always like no Jesus don’t go. [33:43] We love you.

[33:45] And Jesus looks back at them. [33:47] And he says if I don’t go. [33:50] Then I cannot send one who is greater than me to you. [33:56] Then when he’s about to go into heaven. [33:59] He says I will send to you a comforter. [34:04] The Holy Spirit.

[34:07] So Jesus ascends into heaven. [34:10] Then in the book of Acts chapter 2. [34:13] Paul preaches. [34:14] Right before he preaches the first sermon. [34:17] And 3000 people get saved. [34:19] The scripture records this event.

[34:21] Where the Holy Spirit was poured down. [34:24] Into the lives of the disciples. [34:26] And they began to preach. [34:28] And do miracles. [34:29] In the name of the Holy Spirit. [34:31] The bible literally says in the Greek.

[34:33] That the Holy Spirit is doing things. [34:36] Through the disciples.

[34:40] Alright. [34:41] And here Paul is writing. [34:43] That the freedom that God is sending into your lives. [34:46] You basically are not going to understand. [34:49] Or know what to do with it.

[34:53] He’s telling you. [34:54] Everything that you need to know and do about freedom. [34:58] The Holy Spirit is going to do through you. [35:02] God is going to work. [35:04] His freedom. [35:05] Into your life.

[35:07] Okay. [35:07] Jesus said he would send the comforter. [35:09] When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives. [35:12] Through our trust and belief in the gospel.

[35:17] God sends us the Spirit. [35:20] Alright. [35:20] Now what does this look like? [35:22] What happens? [35:24] You know. [35:24] Do you all of a sudden turn green for like 2 seconds?

[35:28] Alright. [35:29] No. [35:30] There are some things God just didn’t tell us.

[35:33] But God says. [35:35] When you come to faith in Jesus. [35:37] Boom. [35:38] You have the Holy Spirit. [35:40] He’s in you. [35:41] He’s with you.

[35:42] The Holy Spirit is the one who does the work of transformation in your life. [35:46] He transforms you. [35:49] Through the gospel. [35:51] But what does he do through you? [35:55] I think that’s something that many of us are so confused about. [35:58] Because when we’re good we’re like.

[36:00] Okay. [36:00] Well I’m filled with the Spirit. [36:02] And then we’ll spend like a month. [36:03] I’m not filled with the Spirit. [36:05] I’m not feeling it. [36:08] We’ve relegated the Holy Spirit to this emotional state.

[36:11] Where we feel good about ourselves. [36:13] But when we feel bad about ourselves. [36:14] That’s not the Holy Spirit. [36:16] That’s not the language that Paul is using here. [36:18] Paul says. [36:19] The Spirit of God is working freedom into our lives.

[36:22] And that the gospel. [36:24] Is what the Holy Spirit is going to produce out of our lives. [36:29] Okay. [36:30] Because notice that he said. [36:32] Previously he said. [36:33] The whole law is summed up in one word.

[36:35] Love your neighbor as yourself. [36:36] What did Jesus say the law was about? [36:41] Love God. [36:43] Love others. [36:45] Paul doesn’t mention the love God part. [36:48] Why doesn’t he mention that?

[36:49] He doesn’t mention it because these are people who claim to love God. [36:54] So these are people. [36:55] It would be a waste of time to explain that. [36:57] These are people that understand. [36:58] I’m supposed to love God. [37:01] Here’s what they don’t understand.

[37:03] They don’t understand what loving God is going to cause in their lives. [37:08] And I would say it’s probably something that you don’t understand either. [37:12] You love God. [37:13] I mean who besides an atheist is going to say I hate God. [37:17] Which is a really funny thing about atheists.

[37:20] You hate someone you don’t believe in. [37:22] Really weird. [37:24] I hate Santa Claus. [37:26] That wouldn’t make any sense. [37:27] I don’t believe in the guy. [37:29] Oh there’s no kids in here.

[37:31] Oh she’s sleeping.

[37:35] Man I could have ruined lives. [37:38] What was I thinking? [37:39] Alright here we go. [37:41] Alright. [37:42] When we believe the gospel. [37:44] That brings a love of God into our lives.

[37:47] [37:47] Right? [37:48] Why would you not love someone that takes your sin away from you and dies for your sin? [37:52] So we love God. [37:54] What Paul is talking about here when he says love your neighbor as yourself. [37:58] He’s saying that love of God is going to produce out of your life love for other people.

[38:08] Because the law is fulfilled in serving other people. [38:14] Jesus Christ himself said the law is summed up in loving God, loving other people. [38:19] And then he says something very interesting later. [38:21] He says greater love has no man than he laid down his life for his friend.

[38:30] God is passionately concerned about us. [38:33] Remember I said that God loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us. [38:37] Even while we were in rebellion. [38:39] But here’s the big key. [38:40] He doesn’t just love you.

[38:45] He loves all of us. [38:48] So when the gospel comes into our life. [38:51] God begins to do a work inside of us through the Holy Spirit. [38:55] Where it stops being about us. [38:58] And God begins to build a community of people who love him. [39:03] And the love that he has and the love that we have.

[39:06] That goes back and forth. [39:08] He pours into us while we love him. [39:10] And God uses that through the Holy Spirit. [39:14] To flow out of us and into the lives of other people.

[39:19] Paul is saying the greatest indicator of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life. [39:25] Is not a miracle that you do that manifests itself that looks crazy. [39:30] But rather it’s in the fact that you can truly look someone else in the eyes. [39:35] And say I love you. [39:38] Because you’re going to start serving them. [39:41] You’re going to really love people.

[39:46] God is building a community. [39:49] It’s called his church. [39:51] You can’t do that alone.

[39:55] The Spirit works freedom into our lives.

[40:02] But God wants us to know it’s not dependent on us. [40:06] Remember when we started we said you have been called to freedom. [40:10] And then he says walk by the Spirit. [40:12] In other words none of this is going to come out of our own power. [40:15] This is not about what we do. [40:16] God is saying I am going to take over and the Holy Spirit is going to begin working through your life.

[40:25] The flesh is our attempt to work freedom into our own lives.

[40:35] He’s comparing and contrasting. [40:36] He’s saying walk by the Spirit or walk by the flesh. [40:40] Freedom is something we all desire. [40:43] But the flesh is us attempting to find freedom outside of God without the Holy Spirit.

[40:54] Look back with me in Galatians chapter 5.

[41:00] This is a very popular section of scripture that we’re about to talk about. [41:03] But most people totally do not understand what it’s talking about.

[41:11] In verse 19.

[41:15] Now the works of the flesh are evident. [41:20] Remember go through this list with me with an understanding. [41:24] That the flesh is me trying to work freedom into my own life apart from God working it into my life through the gospel.

[41:34] Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. [41:54] Every time I’ve heard this passage of scripture preached we typically go through it point by point and say don’t let this be true of your life. [42:01] Don’t let this be true of your life. [42:02] Don’t let this be true of your life. [42:04] Don’t let this be true of your life. [42:06] Because if you really love God these things will not be true of your life.

[42:10] And we set these things up as if they are a new law. [42:14] That if we don’t measure up God is not going to accept us.

[42:21] I don’t know about you but when I read that list I find something that I’m guilty of. [42:27] I find absolute guilt.

[42:31] You don’t have to go very far. [42:35] I mean, you know, who hasn’t had a fit of anger this weekend?

[42:39] You know, who hasn’t gotten mad at their dog for getting muddy in the backyard and really considered throwing the dog off the roof?

[42:53] And that’s just the innocent one. That’s like the PG one, alright?

[42:58] We haven’t gotten to the other stuff. [43:01] That as soon as you hit adolescence you’re immediately guilty of.

[43:07] Alright? Jesus himself says in the book of Matthew, if you’ve looked on a woman with lust it’s as if you’ve committed adultery with her already. [43:15] I was 13 when I broke that one.

[43:18] Alright? [43:20] This is not about going through a list and saying we have to clean ourselves up. [43:25] We have to white knuckle, work as hard as we can and clean ourselves up because God’s coming. [43:31] And if he comes and I am mad at that minute and I’m having a fit of anger, he’s going to send me to hell.

[43:38] I think that’s how a lot of us read this passage. [43:41] Guess what?

[43:43] I’m in there.

[43:46] Here’s the key. [43:47] What Paul’s talking about, remember, his whole theme is freedom.

[43:53] What Paul’s talking about is if you don’t have the gospel, the things on this list, at least something, is what you call freedom.

[44:07] Alright?

[44:09] Sexual immorality. [44:11] Sex is not immoral. [44:14] Not at all.

[44:16] God dedicated a whole book of the Old Testament to explaining that husbands and wives should be free from sexual immorality. [44:20] They should have sex. [44:22] Alright? [44:23] Read Song of Solomon. [44:24] They use some pretty graphic language. [44:26] Alright?

[44:26] That’s an R rated book of the Bible.

[44:30] Sexual immorality. [44:32] What makes sex immoral? [44:34] Here’s the key. [44:35] And I’m married. [44:36] I can talk about this. [44:38] When it’s all about you.

[44:42] When it’s all about pleasing yourself. [44:44] When it’s all about how much you can fill yourself up. [44:46] And it’s never about your spouse. [44:48] And it’s never about love.

[44:51] What did Adam and Eve do? [44:54] They took truth that God said and perverted it. [44:57] Because they thought they could get freedom apart from God. [45:00] Satan never said that apple tastes good. [45:03] Satan says if you eat that apple, you’ll be as great and as smart as God. [45:07] You’ll be free from him.

[45:11] This list is a list of things that are bent towards us being our own God. [45:17] When we are sexually immoral. [45:20] And we take sex out of what God defined it as. [45:23] And we turn it into something that we want to define it for ourselves as. [45:26] Because it makes us feel so good. [45:28] We become gods for ourselves.

[45:32] Envy. [45:32] I deserve that more than they do. [45:35] I am God to myself. [45:37] So I want that. [45:39] I am better than them.

[45:43] Source of my anger. [45:45] Is that I think I should be in control of everything. [45:49] I should be God of everything. [45:53] You don’t have to look in this list very long.

[45:57] To find something that you are guilty of. [46:00] And have probably been guilty of most of your life.

[46:06] Rivalries. [46:07] Dissensions. [46:09] You probably are going to have that at 9am tomorrow morning when you walk into work. [46:14] There is somebody there that is your arch enemy.

[46:19] I’ve had jobs through the years. [46:21] And it did not take me but about one or two days to find my arch enemy.

[46:28] Rivalries. [46:29] Dissensions. [46:30] Divisions. [46:32] Envy. [46:33] Drunkenness. [46:34] Orgies.

[46:35] Things like these. [46:36] And most of us are going to read this list and say, well you know. [46:39] I’ve had rivalries and dissensions. [46:41] But I’ve never been in an orgy.

[46:47] Tell me that’s not how sometimes we read the Bible and it’s like. [46:49] I guess I’m measuring up pretty good if I haven’t done that.

[46:55] Paul isn’t qualifying this and saying I put orgies last because it’s just the worst. [47:01] Those are the people that aren’t allowed in church. [47:04] No. [47:05] Paul is giving a list and he’s saying look I’m going to give a list that’s so general. [47:10] You’re going to find yourself on it. [47:13] And he’s not saying these are the people that can’t have Jesus.

[47:17] He’s saying this is all of you because you all need Jesus really bad.

[47:25] You cannot find freedom of yourself. [47:27] And he gives us a list of how we try to become God for ourselves. [47:33] And free ourselves from the bondage that we find ourselves in. [47:37] And Paul’s point is you can’t find it and you never will. [47:44] Freedom is not something you will get. [47:47] Freedom is something that you try to get on your own and you pervert it and you end up in more bondage.

[47:55] And yet most of us are going to go to this list at some point in our lives and say, well I’m measuring up pretty good.

[48:02] Paul’s saying if you screw up one thing, you’re playing God. [48:05] Quit playing God. Let him do that. [48:08] Walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh. [48:11] When we walk by the Spirit, guess what we’re doing? [48:14] We’re saying God I humble myself under you because salvation is only found in you. [48:20] And true life is only found through your gospel.

[48:24] I beg you to take over and work good out of my life. [48:29] Help me to love other people. [48:32] Because Paul uses this very good indicator and this very good analogy. [48:37] Because when it’s about the gospel, guess what? [48:40] It’s not about you. [48:42] When it’s about these things on this list, who’s getting built up?

[48:47] You.

[48:51] And God’s saying that’s not the gospel. [48:55] The gospel is about me taking over.

[49:00] Verse 21.

[49:06] Excuse me, the second half of verse 21 says, [49:09] Things like these I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [49:18] This is a verse that has given me so much trouble and so much grief. [49:23] But finally, a couple years ago I understood what he was saying. [49:29] Because when you’re young and you read through this passage and you’re like, [49:33] Oh my goodness, I punched a guy in the face yesterday.

[49:37] I’m not going to inherit the kingdom of God. [49:40] We have a real tendency to read that. [49:42] But if we think about it that way, we’re all in trouble. [49:46] When Paul says, people who are guilty of these things, or he says, I warn you, as I warned you before, [49:54] those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [49:57] Here’s what he’s talking about.

[49:59] The gospel is about God making for Himself a people. [50:05] He’s making a people for Himself. [50:07] He’s building a kingdom. [50:08] Remember, He’s building a church. [50:10] And He gives us the Holy Spirit. [50:12] The Holy Spirit then creates a love between us and God.

[50:17] And then that love between us and God, the point of it is that it’s going to translate through us. [50:22] And God is going to work through us. [50:24] And He’s going to take the gospel from us into the lives of other people. [50:28] So that more people will come into the community of God that is called the church. [50:33] And through the church, God is going to build His kingdom. [50:37] Because the church is a sign of the kingdom of God on the earth.

[50:41] And God is building His kingdom through the people of the church. [50:46] That we love each other through the power of the Holy Spirit that’s taking place in our life. [50:50] When we’re not living for ourselves, which is walking by the flesh. [50:55] But rather, we’re living for other people. [50:57] Completely selflessly, not to build ourselves up. [51:01] But rather because the Holy Spirit wants other people in the community of God.

[51:06] When we do that, it’s because God is building for Himself a kingdom of people who will worship Him forever and ever. [51:16] And will lift high His name for the salvation that He has given us through His Son Jesus. [51:23] And the sign of the Holy Spirit is love for other people. [51:29] Not love for yourself. [51:33] Because remember, if you live your life by the flesh, something on this list will look like freedom to you.

[51:45] God is not excluding anyone from His kingdom by giving this list. [51:50] Basically, Paul’s point is, if you live for yourself, then you have no desire for God’s kingdom.

[51:59] God’s not saying, if you do this one bad thing, well I’m kicking you out of my kingdom. [52:04] No, God is saying, if you live for yourself, you’ll kick yourself out of God’s kingdom. [52:09] Because God’s kingdom is not appealing to you. [52:13] Love for others is not appealing to you. [52:16] Because you’re so caught up in yourself.

[52:23] God’s building for Himself a people, but He wants to do it through us. [52:26] He wants to do it through His church. [52:31] He wants you to be the people of God. [52:34] He wants you to stop looking for freedom in everything under the sun. [52:40] And He’s saying, get over that and get to God. [52:44] Because He’s calling you to Himself through the gospel.

[52:48] And when you live life for the gospel, it’s so weird. [52:53] I mean, it really is. Because I’m so selfish. [52:58] You begin to look at other people in different ways. [53:01] And you begin to love other people. [53:03] And you begin to say, how can I help other people? [53:06] How can I bring them to the gospel?

[53:11] Because the greatest love that has ever existed is the gospel of Jesus.

[53:16] There’s no greater love in this world. [53:19] And you begin to see your neighbors differently. [53:21] And you begin to look at people out in public differently. [53:24] And you stop. [53:26] Here’s the big key. [53:27] Here’s what’s so different about the village than I’ve seen about any other church.

[53:31] You stop looking at people and saying and identifying them by their sin. [53:35] And you start looking at people and identifying them by they have Jesus or they don’t have Jesus. [53:40] Not that you’re judging. [53:41] But you just simply look at somebody. [53:44] And sometimes you’ll see somebody and you can tell they’re having a bad day. [53:48] And you can’t explain it.

[53:50] You just want to love them. [53:54] And you just want to give them all the Jesus that you have.

[53:58] And say, don’t you know Jesus loves you?

[54:02] The problem with the church today is that we don’t believe Jesus loves people. [54:07] I’m convinced of that.

[54:09] We believe Jesus loves us.

[54:13] But this is where it stops.

[54:16] That’s not the gospel. [54:19] Jesus loves us. [54:21] And He transforms us through His Holy Spirit. [54:24] He gives us His life. [54:25] Galatians 2.20 says that I’ve been crucified with Christ. [54:28] Yet I live, but not I.

[54:32] But it’s Christ now who lives in me. [54:35] And the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. [54:42] No matter how long I live, I can’t get away from the reality that’s so audacious about that verse.

[54:50] It’s not about me anymore. [54:51] It’s about Jesus. [54:53] And Jesus came with a mission to seek and to save the lost. [54:58] And He came to radically love people that the religious right of that day refused to love. [55:07] And He took it hardcore into their lives. [55:11] Prostitutes, publicans, lepers.

[55:13] And then the Pharisees and the religious people of that day, He looked at them and said, [55:16] You’re the brood of vipers. [55:19] Those who would be so much more moral than everyone else, but they were only moral because it built them up. [55:25] He’s saying, You don’t know me. I’m going to hang out with the lepers.

[55:31] This is where the love of Jesus starts.

[55:35] And then it leaves this place and it’s not supposed to stop.

[55:43] If you want to know if you’re walking by the Spirit,

[55:47] just look at your life and say, Do I desire God and do I desire the work of God? [55:52] And do I love other people? And do I love other people unselfishly? [55:57] And is my life more wrapped up in me and what I can get? [56:01] And how deep I can get and how good I can get and how moral I can get? [56:06] Or is it wrapped up in the fact that without Jesus I am a sinner and I’m no better than anybody else. [56:12] I feel like I’m worse than everybody else.

[56:14] But God has given me this revolutionary love that is now moving me and is now filling me with love. [56:21] And I want to unleash it on the world. [56:25] And let everyone know that God does not hate us. [56:29] God loves us and He loves us through His Son Jesus.

[56:35] That’s walking by the Spirit.

[56:41] Or are you walking by the flesh? [56:43] Because He tells us in there, He says that if you walk by the flesh, [56:47] you will bite and you will devour each other.

[56:57] Look at the relationships in your life.

[57:06] Are you loving? Are you devouring?

[57:11] Is it about you? Are you letting God work the gospel out of you into the lives of others?

[57:20] Let’s pray. [57:22] Father, I am a sinner.

[57:24] You have given us such a great love and such a great God and King.

[57:33] We thank You for Jesus.

[57:36] We thank You for the cross.

[57:40] We praise You for Your Son.

[57:43] We beg You right now. [57:46] Work the gospel into our lives and out of our lives and into other people’s lives. [57:51] But never let us forget the love that You loved us with. [57:58] That is our only hope. [58:01] That’s through Your Son Jesus.

[58:05] Right now we are going to have our time of response.

[58:10] When I think about my selfishness and compare it to God’s love, [58:15] I always try to measure up.

[58:20] But the point of the gospel is that I don’t measure up. [58:24] I don’t.

[58:27] But the cross calls me to freedom. [58:33] And God says, You have done enough Steve. I have got this.

[58:38] And right now we are going to celebrate the cross through communion.

[58:43] The bread and the cup, the bread represents the body of Christ that was broken for us. [58:48] The cup represents the blood of Christ that was shed for us.

[58:54] If you are a follower of Jesus, please come.

[58:58] Please partake.

[59:00] This is your table. God says, come into my presence. [59:04] If you are not a follower of Jesus or you don’t know Jesus, [59:07] we ask that you don’t. [59:09] Because God isn’t worshiped because you don’t believe in Him. [59:15] But if you are sitting out there right now and you are like, [59:17] some heavy stuff,

[59:18] I want to walk by the Spirit, but I don’t know that I do. [59:22] I don’t know that if I know Jesus. [59:24] I want to talk to you because the key is today you can begin a revolutionary movement [59:30] through the gospel of Jesus. [59:32] Where God is just going to change your life.

[59:35] And Jesus wants you to come to His table. [59:38] But He wants you to come with Him. [59:41] Because you can’t come apart from Him.

[59:44] I want to be standing in the back. [59:47] And I want to talk to you and I want to pray with you. [59:49] If you want to know Jesus. [59:51] Or if you just got a struggle in your life that you need a shoulder to cry on for.

[59:57] Love one another. [60:00] But it all starts with the cross of Christ. [60:04] So when you are ready, come and reflect on the cross.