Many times, we get guys who are looking for these rules about what it means to walk in the Spirit. The spirit is a place of freedom. It’s a place of freedom. Why? Because I have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even if I fall into sin today, I am still forgiven. And so I’m not accepted by God on that basis. That’s already been dealt with. That’s taken care of. And now I’m free. I don’t have to walk around and do penance. Christians don’t have to wait until the day of atonement to make sure that all their sins have been atoned for. And we have freedom. And now we can use our freedom to be creative and come up with ways to love the brethren and love people in the world.
And if you just come up with some list of rules like you’re going to rigidly try to keep to walk in the Spirit. Often what happens is, “Oh, I need to live in the spirit. I’m going to.” So. So you’re thinking about living in the Spirit. It’s almost like it’s almost like that. That’s the opposite of what you need to be doing. It’s like that become so introspective and so absorbed with yourself. And what you’re really seeing here is it’s like Paul is saying, stop being absorbed with yourself and stuff, because that’s what people who want to be under the law and under the list and under the rules and under the rigidity are always doing. They’re thinking about what am I doing. How am I performing? And I got to do this to please God, and I got it rather than looking at the cross. Because the thing is, you’ll you’ll recognize in Galatians 1 and 3. Both start with Christ Crucified Christ dying. That’s the real focal point of the faith of this gospel that Paul’s setting forth. That’s why he said these guys are pursuing another gospel because they’ve moved away from that reality. They started by the hearing of faith. They started with their eyes set on Christ.
What happened? Judaizers came along and they said, you know, you guys really need to be thinking about other things here. And they pulled their eyes off of it. And the reality is we can pull our eyes off of Christ just as fast trying to come up with some new scheme. You know, you talk to one another. Well, what do we have to do to walk in the spirit? Well, I’ll tell you what to do. You know, you need to read this. This book over here. You know, you really want to do it. You know, you go to go to this conference over here and this is what’s going to really make you holy. And I’m not saying there’s anything necessarily wrong with going to a conference or reading a book, but you can get it in your head. You know, here’s the secret formula for walking in the spirit.
The formula for walking in the spirit is namely this. It is to absorb your life with Christ and have faith in him and trust. I’m accepted by him. You’re trusting there and your eyes are on him. That the Spirit is pleased to come along and in his mysterious way. I mean, how does where’s that channel that that the Spirit of God is here, But some in this room He may be pouring power in to more than others. And the one reality that you just can’t get away from in Scripture is that we receive and we are supplied by the Spirit of the hearing of faith. Right. And it’s faith in Christ That’s always the issue. If somebody is tapping the power of the Spirit more than others, their eyes are glued on Christ. Their hope is set more firmly. They’re embracing. They’re clinging to him, they’re crying to him, they’re looking to him. They’re hoping in him. They’re in the Scriptures, looking for him. They’re digging him out. Their delight is in him. Their thoughts are on him. And that’s where the spirit is pleased. And you see what happened to the Galatians relations. Have these teachers come along and they’re like, you know, they’re trained to they’re trained. They’re saying, look, you know, look over here. Look, look at this. Get your eyes off Christ. They weren’t saying it like that, but that’s what’s happening. It’s like their eyes are on Christ. But then they’re saying, you know, let your eyes follow my fingers over here. And next thing you know, their eyes aren’t on Christ anymore. And Paul’s saying, You foolish Galatians, where are you looking now?
Audience: I think of the Colossians that had all of the regulations they wanted to submit to, and Paul said that they were of no value and stuff in terms of the indulgence of the flesh.
That’s right. You see you have that man-made religion, all these rules and everything, but we know this the religion of God, the religion of the scriptures and the religion that the Spirit of God is most excited to throw his power into, or the only place he’s excited to throw his power into is that which glorifies Christ. And if we’re seeking any other way, any other means of sanctification. But the reality is that in all of this, it’s not just a matter of observing ourselves with Christ. It’s then as free people, we go out and we imitate him. I mean, you can’t just see him and then be passive, see him and be static. It’s see him. And he’s always saying, follow me. And then when you get to the end, it’s the people who did the things Christ did and lived like he lived and sought to love, like he loved, but sought to give of themselves sacrificially and deny themselves like he did. Who in the end, our hearing. Well done. Who are you hearing? I was hungry and you fed me. But I like Galatians 5:13 because it sets flesh over against love. Love isn’t some new legalistic rule in bondage that’s thrown on our shoulders. That’s not what it is. Love is is a freedom and it’s a spirit. A spirit raw fruit. And we bear fruit for God. I mean, that’s what scripture and that’s where Romans seven says, The reality is we had to get away from the law. We’re married to Christ. We belong to another to him who died and was raised from the dead so that we may bear fruit for God. We belong to him. We need to be married to Christ, intimacy with Christ. That’s how we bear fruit for God in John.
