THE NEW NORMAL
Galatians 5:16-26
Sermon objective: A holiness sermon from Galatians, preached at a men's retreat, encouraging the hearers to be filled with the Spirit.
INTRO:
The book of Galatians is an exciting and multi-faceted book. There are many different angles or perspectives you can use to study it but eventually they all dovetail together and merge into a focused theme – the power of the Gospel and the Gospel alone to save.
The book shows us quite clearly that there is nothing – NO THING – that we can do to earn or even enrich our salvation.
• You cannot keep the Hebrew Law (religious works) well enough to please God. This is clear in the book.
• You cannot be good enough (simple moral works) to please God. This is clear in the book.
What we discover is that the work of Jesus Christ alone is adequate (even more than adequate) to satisfy (“fulfill”) God’s requirements for salvation. In this sense it is a book of grace. Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection provide everything necessary so that God can declare us righteous and be pleased with us. You are acceptable – fully acceptable to God – via the work of Jesus Christ.
I particularly find Galatians 3:14 to be significant. It reads (NIV) “14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
With this Paul turns a corner in the book. A subtle yet developing shift begins. This shift eventually mushrooms and becomes more and more important as the book moves onwards.
With this simple verse our focus is clarified and our faith is expanded. You see, until this verse “salvation” was a legal thing. Words like “covenant,” “law,” “regulations” are used. We see a series of arguments being offered that show how the Gospel is technically and legally superior (and essential) to any other proposition for salvation.
But with 3:14 a door is opened that we must walk through. As we do we discover that “salvation” is not simply a legal matter of satisfying God’s moral demands for holiness; it is also a relational / experiential encounter. The understanding of salvation shifts / deepens hereafter. We are called “sons” … relationship take precedence over merely satisfying a moral demand. Chapter 4 (verses 4-7) sets the tone for all that follows:
4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
This, my friends, is a key difference of Wesleyan/Arminian theology and Calvinism / Reformed theology. The basis for reform theology is law. It is the satisfying a legal demand. No so Wesleyanism. Yes, we agree that this must be done, but it is not our starting point and we do not believe it is God’s either. The starting point is love. God loved us and so he sent His son. God wanted to restore relationship – not accomplish some legal requirement. The heart of salvation is God’s desire to have fellowship with us again … to remove the barriers to relationship.
Salvation becomes more than a matter of what God in Christ has done FOR us … it is a grace-full overture about what God has done TO us!
We, as humans, were incapable of pleasing God but as Christ-followers we are given everything we need positionally and practically to please God. And it is ALL made possible through the promise and dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Think about this for a moment. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer! That means God himself takes up residence within us. What else could even come close to changing us like this!? With the filling of the Spirit we receive everything we need for life and godliness.
The power, necessity, and reality of the Spirit become very clear as the book reaches an apex with chapter 5. Specifically it reaches an apex in verses 16-26. Here we discover that the real litmus test of conversion and the Spirit’s control is nothing other than the relational evidence of the Spirit’s dwelling within.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
I have a friend who has diabetes. The symptom of his disease that most bothers him is the damage it does to his feet. In fact, I should say the only thing that really bothers him or gets attention is the problems he has with his feet. Why? Because they are the most painful and the most obvious symptoms. My friend is inclined to spend all his energy medicating and tending to the feet. Sometimes they get better but after a while they always worsen again. When this happens he “doubles down” and gives them more attention.
Truth be told -- his feet are not the problem. His diabetes is and if he would work on the real problem and seek to cure his diabetes his feet would heal too. In fact, until he quits giving the lion’s share of his attention to his feet and starts really addressing the real issue he has no hope.
I have, at times, likened the filling of the Spirit to this scenario. We can, if we wish, focus on the outward expressions of our sickness /sin (5:19-21). When we do we will see some improvement but it is all done in the flesh and eventually the sin flares up again. With that we “double down” and try harder … more fleshly attempts. My point is that until we begin to treat the inner sickness we will only make superficial headway. We must stop dealing with outward symptoms and address the sin within the human heart.
How do we address the inner sin? We surrender to the Holy Spirit.
Once we are filled with the Spirit and once begin walking with Him – keeping pace with him – the outward expressions of the inner sickness will disappear. The problem is not your sin … that has been solved on the cross … the problem is our failure to receive God’s gift of Himself so the sin can be forgiven and removed. Everything we need has been done. This brings us full circle in Galatians. He has been railing against those who “began in the Spirit” and are now trying to complete God’s work in their own power. Galatians 3:3 says, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”
Some say I downplay the power and danger of sin when I speak like this. I disagree. I am actually suggesting it is bigger and worse than you think … it cannot be controlled or defeated apart from God alone intervening; apart from His Holy Spirit dwelling within and directing our steps. Until this becomes the focus … the “diabetes” will remain.
But when we choose to surrender to the Holy Spirit the “foot problems” go away! They are replaced with spiritual wholeness and spiritual healing and that healing shows itself from the inside out – we are different (God dwells -- within how could you not be?) so we will naturally act different. You don’t have to “try” and act different (that is the good works spoken of earlier in the book) you will simply become different as “Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
Speaking of Christ being formed in you; Paul makes it clear in this book that this is a journey – it takes time. You will not go from being a person filled with sinful behavior to a person who is pristine in their walk overnight. Please do not get me wrong – there will be obvious and immediate change but there is still a growing process as well. There is no tension or conflict between walking in the Spirit and living a more and more righteous life. You may not be sinless yet – but if the Holy Spirit (God) dwells within you and you are walking in His steps then you will sin less and less!
I am a baseball fan. One of my goals is to attend a game in every MLB ball park. I am a bit over half-way finished with this. If you come to my house during the summer you should not be surprised to see a baseball game on the television. I may not be setting watching the whole thing but I am periodically checking in and watching it when I can.
There are parts of baseball that, for me, help illustrate our faith journey. Take the batter’s swing for example. The swing that seems so natural and fluid is actually the result of years of hard work. What looks like instinct is actually discipline. The batter has hit thousands and thousands of baseballs in batting practice. This is how, in the twinkling of an eye, he can discern between a breaking ball and a fast ball. A ball on the inside corner of the plate and a ball outside (only a matter of inches).
When a batter, for whatever reason, needs to change his swing he has his work cut out for him because he has so ingrained the swing that it is now “natural.” He now has to develop a “new normal” and the only way to do that is by, again, trusting his coach and hitting thousands and thousands of baseballs in batting practice. It can be frustrating too because he instinctively wants to do what feels right and so, while this transition is taking place, and he finds himself in a pressure situation at game time, he will instinctively resort back to his old swing … which brings failure. You know the batter has finally ingrained the new normal (the new muscle memory) into himself when, in pressure situations, he no longer thinks about his swing but just “naturally” uses the new swing.
The same is true in your spiritual walk. For example, for years you have:
• Responded to a conflict by getting angry – maybe even violent.
• Responded to a young lady in a summer dress with sexual fantasies
• Responded to stress by getting drunk.
• Your work/office behavior have governed by the adage “always look out for number one.”
But then something happens, you sense God calling you to a deeper walk and you surrender to His Spirit. He fills you. You can tell you are different – even your desires have changed – but there is still that “old normal” that old “muscle memory” of how you used to respond to things. This causes you a lot of frustration. But God (your new coach), now dwelling within you, begins to help you fundamentally change how you respond (notice that most, if not all, the fruit of the Spirit are relational fruit).
• All of a sudden, there is that old conflict and rather than responding in anger you begin to seek win/win solutions, you try and speak peace into the scene, you respond with understanding, compassion, patience, and love.
• All of a sudden that cute little thing in the summer dress walks by and you bounce your eyes and begin to think on things that are “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8).
• Again, you feel enormous stress coming on and instead of getting drunk you pray without ceasing, you seek out Godly friends, or you exercise.
• You find your motives are changing and the “office dynamics” are not governed for you by using others as a stepping stone. Rather you treat people justly and fair and become honest.
Then the pressure gets intense … and you slip. You slip back to your old muscle memory. But you know what? “The righteous man falls seven times and gets up!” (Proverbs 24:16). So you confess your sin and “he is faithful and just and will forgive your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). THAT MY FRIENDS IN NO SMALL THING. THAT IS A SIGN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT – you are striving to please God with your lifestyle – it is evidence that you desire to live like Jesus and let Christ to be formed in you.
And, as time passes, you respond to the pressures with “the new normal” – the new muscle memory. You may not be sinless yet but you are sinning less and less!
That is the power of the Spirit within you. That is what only God can do. You cannot “try” hard enough (that’s works) it only happens as the Holy Spirit governs and directs you – it only happens when you surrender to the Spirit and are filled.
And even tonight, here at this simple men’s retreat, God can do a work in you that will have impact the rest of you life. God’s Spirit can fill you and HE will transform you. The job is too big for you to do it on your own … sin is too strong. You need God to dwell within in order for sin’s patterns to be broken.
COMMUNION
Galatians 3:14 -- “14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
We are sons! (Galatians 4:4-7) -- 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
RESPONSIVE READING: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
(ROMANS 8, PORTIONS)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;
But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The mind of sinful man is death,
But the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you
If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
