Between Two Worlds | Walking in the Spirit or Living in the Flesh? | Galatians 5:16-26

INTRODUCTION

We’re exploring the subject of the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible reveals the reality of God who is one to be in three persons; Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are going to look at the reality and the work and the person of the Spirit.

Spirit

We have already looked at this word. This is the same word for breath, vitalizing breath as a sign of life, or of wind. Spirit is the New Testament’s way of talking about the very personal presence of God the Father and of the Son of Jesus with his people, in and among his people.

If you are a child of God, the Spirit is in your life. And the Spirit is the person of God who’s with you, in you, animating you and vitalizing you, and so on.

Recap:

• We see the Spirit’s role as creator and as life giver, the one who gives the breath and vitality to all living things.
• Jesus was conceived in the Holy Spirit and Jesus did his ministry by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit is Jesus’s promise and gift to his people.
• The story of what happened at Pentecost in the book of Acts is about the empowering presence of the Spirit to come and take up his dwelling among us, to empower us to live that new creation life.

HF: Today, we’re exploring the Holy Spirit’s role in transforming our hearts and mind and beginning this process of change as believers.

Galatians 5:22-23

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Fruit of the Spirit:

This is a well-known little section in Paul’s letters. If you grew up around church, you probably know it byheart. This is a description of what happens when the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, really gets a hold of someone’s life and begins to change and transform them. And so if you’re a follower of Jesus, this is what our lives should look like.

Notice that it’s singular, it is a fruit. It’s not the fruits. It is not like, “Here is the nine things that could grow in your life because of the Spirit.” No, it is, “Here is the one thing because the Spirit and the one thing has nine different aspects.” Some of us have one or two things going on; like love and gentleness but no patience, but it doesn’t really work.

Growth is a Slow Process.

Growing and changing as a human being is a slow difficult process, right? A child take years to go physically to be an adult. It also takes years for us to grow in our career. You start with your class 1 and it takes 10 years to finish your high school. You get your first job at a company and it takes years for you to be a team lead or a manager or the president of that company.

Some of us have a quick salvation experience. You received the gospel and you give your life to Jesus and there is a sudden turn in your life. There is an absolute turnaround, a new way of life, a new walk. For some of us it is a slow process of knowing Christ. This is especially for the ones who grow up at church and you hear the gospel and then after a couple of years you make the decision to follow Jesus. So some go through the slower process of receiving Christ and then some have this quick decision experience.

But here’s what happens whether you have quickly come to Christ or whether it was a slow process, years go by in our Christian faith, we come to church regularly and maybe even involved in ministry or some volunteering work and we still find deep issues in our life, our character, our thinking which is still a struggle. They just keep coming back and they don’t seem to go away and sometimes that lasts.

I am following Jesus from age 13 and now I have lived in this world more with Jesus than living without Jesus and I am still trying to deal with situations and bring Christlikeness in the areas of my private and public life. How many of you can relate to I’m talking about? It is like I’m a Christian, the Spirit’s in my life, and still I am struggling with some challenges in my life.

So spiritual formation or becoming like Christ is not a fast-paced thing in my life. It is not like I receive Jesus and I wake up the next day and I am able to produce the fruit of the Spirit or be a mature child of God. So we feel like, “I am a child of God but why is it that I am still struggle in my character, my attitudes, my thinking?”

Many of us struggle with the question: “Lord, why am I not able to produce the fruit of the Spirit in its entirety. I am struggling with this and that but I am pretty okay at this and that.”

Paul is wrestling with exactly those issues in this passage. Why is it that real deep character change is such a slow process in our lives and what do you do when it is like this battle of the new you and the old you constantly in conflict with one another. If the new man takes one step forward, the old man takes you two steps back. And that’s exactly what Paul is wrestling with in the whole passage overall.

Paul in this passages mentions that it is Spirit’s role in transforming us to becoming more like Jesus, but this is a long process, sometimes a lifetime of work of the Spirit in my life.

Galatians 5:22 talks about the metaphor of fruit.

ILLUSTRATION 1

We have a few flower pots in our home. One of the pots was a Jasmine plant for a whole part of the last year it was just a stem, no leaves. Glory and I decided to throw it away. But then I decided to do some work on it. I went and brought some manure, pruned the plant, and placed it in a place where it would get adequate sunlight. It took almost 6 months for new stem and leaves to grow back. Now it is 8 months and it is full of leaves and flowers again.

If I had neglected the plant, the plant would have produced one or two flowers here and there, but there would be a lot of weeds and it would have not been as productive as it is now.

Lesson 1: In this case, growing the flower/fruit takes the care of a Gardner: Nourishment, Pruning, De-weeding, Right placement for sunlight.

ILLUSTRATION 2

Then there are other things that hinder the fruit or flower. This happened around 6 years earlier. We had pots and plants at our 1^st floor and we used to take care of them very well. After a month, one day I saw that someone has come in the night and taken out good portion of the mud. I was wondering as to which thief was responsible for taking the sand out and exposing the roots. Some of our plants dried up completely. One night we came back from a night prayer and as I was climbing the stairs I saw two bandicoot rats running down the stairs. I now got the culprit. Now, I had to deal with this rodent to have flower in my pot.

Lesson 2:

If my garden has to be flowery or fruitful, I need to get rid of the external influences that eat the plan from the core.

ILLUSTRATION 3

Now that I have planted the plant, taken out weeds, protected it from rodents, and given water and put manure and took care of this pot. Can I say that I grew this plant? No, I didn’t grow that plant. I put in a lot of effort to provide an environment where fruit could be grown. There are a lot of factors that lead to growth of the plant and fruits and flowers. The soil condition, water content, filtration, manure, the right amount of sunlight, photosynthesis etc and at the right time and season the fruit comes. These are factors beyond my capacity.

So I have my part of work. Then there are this factors beyond me like sunlight and the right kind of soil. Finally, it is God who gives the growth. I cannot make the fruit or flowers grow but I can hinder the growth of the fruit if I do not do my part.

Paul choose this metaphor of a fruit to talk about the work of the Spirit.

It is a process of character change that when the Spirit’s at work in my life to make me more like Jesus. This to come from the Holy Spirit. I cannot change my character without God’s help. But at the same time, I can hinder this growth process of my life. You can grieve the Spirit. You can extinguish the work of the Spirit in your life or in a church community. You can do all kinds of things that will minimize the work of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Walk is another metaphor here. We are all walking in our life. We are all moving from day by day, hour by hour, meeting by meeting, decision by decision in our life. The question is with whom are you walking? The Holy Spirit’s in your life and you have a choice: are you going to walk by or with the Spirit, or are you not?

Ephesians 1:13-14

¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

When you believed and you gave your faith in your allegiance to Jesus, Paul’s saying something very significant happened. The very presence of Jesus actually takes up residence in your life. I opened myself in a new way to the reality of the Spirit in my life. It is like you were stamped or marked with a seal. This is another metaphor.

When I believed in Jesus and decided to follow him and he would guide me and direct my life, Paul says, “You got marked, stamped by the Holy Spirit.”

Paul in another place uses the word called baptized by the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13

For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now that we are marked by the Spirit, or sealed by the Spirit or immersed in the Spirit, the Spirit of God is willing to influence and control our lives. But we can minimize the work of the Spirit. That is why Paul says, “Don’t grieve the Spirit. Don’t minimize the influence of the Spirit. Don’t extinguish the work of the Spirit.” So Paul says, “Walk by the Spirit.” One can be a believer for a long time but not walk by the Spirit in a lot of ways.

We need to both receive the Spirit as something outside of us that we have no control over, but at the same time, I have to become a garden. If you want fruit, you have to become a gardener. You cannot just have the sun on the plan and not do any work to produce the fruit.

Galatians 5:16

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Paul is brining another reality here: Flesh

Flesh in the Bible is not our physical flesh. Flesh is a picture of the anti-God impulse within humanity (within all of us) that transcends humans themselves and is at work in us to effect and affect community and individual lives and enslaves people to live in sin.

The biblical view of our material world according to Genesis 1 is very good. God made everything in the world including man and woman and said, “It is very good; Gen. 1:31” But it is a material and physical world that has become compromised by evil and by human sin. And that’s what Paul means when he uses this word: flesh. It’s not just physical existence, but our physical existence embodied in a world that’s become deeply fractured and compromised by sin.

Galatians 5:16

NIV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

NLT So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

According to Paul, we believers exists in two worlds. If you’ve given your faith to Jesus and your allegiance to him, you are indwelt and the Spirit has taken up residence in your life. You’re marked, you’re immersed, you are baptized. That is a reality. In the same time, we live in physical bodies, and we live in a world order that is deeply compromised by sin and evil.

You and I have this choice:

Which world am I going to choose to live in?

Who is going to influence me as I live in this world, the Spirit or the world?

Will you yield yourselves to the Spirit where you have the person of the Holy Spirit to guide you into right living or are you going to be influence by the world which leads a person to evil and sin?

Galatians 5:17-18

¹⁷For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

So Paul fully recognizes that there’s this battle, this conflict going on inside, inside each one of us.

We now have this outside source, the Holy Spirit influencing our lives and pulling us towards life. Then you have the world or the flesh that influence you to live the old life. But it ends up with a conflict.

Example: You are in a difficult situation. You just got angry at something and a lot of thoughts are coming up in your mind against the person who hurt you. Now that battle begins in your mind and the Spirit says, “Show love, forgive, make peace,” but the world says “No talk your mind out. Tit for tat, give it back as you felt the pain.” Now this battle is going on in our mind and we give in either to the Spirit or the flesh.

Flesh – Dynamics are destructive.

Spirit – Life giving and fruitful.

If you have to grow in operating in the Spirit or being influenced by the Spirit:

Sealed by the Spirit. You are born again. You are sealed by the Spirit or baptized by the Spirit.

Scripture. One needs to have the Scripture buried in one’s heart.

Prayer – Where you have the mind of Christ.

Walking in the Spirit – If I’ve been gardening my life to be an environment that’s conducive for fruit to grow the Spirit can do what needs to be done.

Paul knows that this is challenging. So we just do not go and produce fruit. But it is for me to recognize the nature of the situation and recognize the nature of the foes and the enemies and the realities within and without that are going to destroy us if we let them, and that they don’t have to.

Galatians 5:19

¹⁹The acts of the flesh (deeds that we do, stuffs that we do. Paul brings out 15 sides of human nature here.) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery

Category 1: Sexual Immorality. Sins that Defile the Individual.

Sexual immorality is a category. This term is used by Jesus and most NT authors Peter, Paul, and James. They use this word to describe any sexual act not within the protective boundaries of a lifetime marriage covenant between a man and a woman.

Debauchery is complete lack of self-control with regard to sexual decisions that I make.

So what Paul is saying here is, “How do you know whether or not your life is taken over more by the flesh (old humanity) or the Spirit? Paul says, “The first place to look is your sexuality.

There’s a reason why Paul goes there first. If I want to know if my life is under the leading of the Spirit, then one of the first places you can look is in a person’s history and a person’s choices that they’re making in their sexuality. Sexuality is not something that you spend time with someone and you forget it. These are things that impact a person deeply and makes a lifelong connect. Our bodies matter a lot, and the Spirit is all about the redemption of our bodies and the healing of our mind and soul and body. And so that’s why Paul starts here.

Category 2: Spiritual Realm – Idolatry and witchcraft. Sins that defile the Individual’s relationship to God.

Galatians 5:20

..idolatry and witchcraft..

Idolatry is about worshipping something that is not the one true God. It is giving our allegiance to something other than God.

Witchcraft or sorcery is about viewing spiritual beings or spiritual realities as something that I gain power over.

This is about our spiritual allegiance. Will I trust in the Almighty God and his power in my life or will I go after manmade gods and go after the demonic realm for my betterment and use it to manipulate others?

According to the Bible, we are humans created by God, made to reflect the image of the Creator, have a relationship with God, worship God and receive his power upon our lives. Witchcraft and idolatry takes all that we attribute to God to the natural world.

Third Category: Relationships. Sins that Defile Human Relationships.

Galatians 5:20b-21

..hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy;

Every one of these is about our personal character flaws that leads to unhealthy relationships. Paul is naming eight here. Relationship of the Galatian churches is one of the main reason why Paul is writing this letter. He is writing to a group of churches in Galatia that are divided over theology and cultural practices in the church. And they are believers who are struggling with all these.

Can you think of any these in the church today? Yes. It might be that very successful ministers or leaders at church might not be actually about Jesus; it can be more about selfish ambition.

Paul says, “Look at the health of your relationships, and they will tell you whether you are living in the world of the Spirit or the world of the flesh.” The health of your personal relationships with others will tell you about whether your life is a friendly environment for the Spirit to grow fruit.

Fourth Category: Sins of Indulgence.

Galatians 5:21

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.

Drunkenness and orgies. In Paul’s culture worship of the pagan gods involved a lot of alcohol and a lot of ritual sex and so on.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” We can reach a point where we allow our choices and actions to be completely cut off from Jesus. Paul says such people have chosen not to inherit the kingdom of God. If the kingdom of God is about the realm of the Spirit and of new creation, someone whose life and identity is determined by this. If they are choosing the others things they then are being influenced by the kingdom of this world and they are totally in opposite to one another.

Christians live with a foot in both worlds, and we do give in in the flesh, but Paul says that you have the Spirit’s help to live that transformed lifestyle.

Galatians 5:22-23

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Here’s what just humans do. Here’s what the Spirit wants to grow in our lives if we will partner with the Spirit if we simply declare that we want our lives to be a place where the Spirit can grow these kinds of Jesus-like character traits.

Paul talks about this nine-fold fruit of the Spirit. This is all different facets of one thing.

Love: Love, which is not emotion in the scriptures. It’s action that seeks the well-being of another person, regardless of how they respond to me.

Joy and peace: It’s about a decision that you make. We know that Jesus loves me, died for me, he’s raised for me, he’s given me his presence in the Spirit. Life in this world sometimes can become extremely difficult, but whatever comes my way, I can choose to have joy and the peace for He is with me.

Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. These are all relational terms. And so in relationships, this is about not being that reactive person. Just as Jesus has been kind and generous to me, we reflect that out towards other people.

Faithfulness: This ability to be a source of stability in the lives of other people, constancy in someone’s lies.

Gentleness: Not harsh.

Self-control: This is something that we have to exhibit. When we allow the Spirit to have control over our lives, then we also have our work alongside the Spirit, that is self-control.

The whole point is that the Spirit is trying to pull us into new creation, new humanity in Christ. But the flesh is pulling us back to our old nature, old humanity. So Paul explores these two worlds; the Spirit world and the flesh world.

See how he concludes:

How do you garden yourself?

Ephesians 5:24-25

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

What has happened to your sinful old humanity here, according to verse 24?

You killed the flesh. You have crucified the flesh. My sinful nature is dead. Then why does it still give me so much trouble and come back again and again?

It’s the same question that we ask when we say, “Jesus died for the sins of the world, and then he was risen again as a conqueror and victory over death. So why does death and evil still have so much influence in our world?” Yes, Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death and sin but until he returns to fully reconcile heaven on earth there is going to be evil in this world.

Likewise, our old self has died on the cross with Jesus. Our identity is in Christ but we are living in-between these two worlds: Spirit and flesh. We are to keep in step with the Spirit. So play the role of a gardener and keep in step with the Spirit. Well, that takes a lot of work. But our the fullness of our redemptive life, life without sin will happen in our glorification when Christ returns.

Galatians 2:20-21

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Who died on the cross? Jesus.

Who died with Jesus on the cross? Every single one of us

I live with Christ in my life, and it’s a new person who is speaking good news to me. This is living the gospel to yourself every single day that you wake up

Memorize this verse: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The Spirit will bring this verse to your mind when you battle with the flesh and the Spirit.

When you face the battel of the Spirit Vs Flesh/World/Sin, we must remember, “This sin does not define me. This sin I am about to commit died around 2,000 years ago with Jesus on the cross. Now Christ is in me. I can overcome the flesh because of the grace of Jesus. Holy Spirit, please empower me to make the right decision right now, and you’re with me here.”

That’s how we garden our lives, and we garden our lives first by listening to the gospel, and then we garden our lives by actually making choices in the Spirit.

Romans 8:5-14

⁵Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹And 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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.

¹²Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Example:

If needed keep of wrong company, ask the Spirit to help you.

If you need to keep off screen times when you know that you are bound to sin with it, work on it.

If a weed grows up in your garden, don’t just, like, feed it; kill the thing, yeah? In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, put to death the deeds of the flesh.

How to produce fruit of the Spirit?

Have a relationship with Jesus through the Spirit.

Nurture yourself in the Scripture.

Dewed your life of anything that takes you to the realm of the world.

Walk in the Spirit.

Be a part of a church community that helps you in this.

You will watch the Spirit grow fruit in your life, and it’s not you doing it; it’s you playing the role of a gardener to allow the Spirit to make you more like Jesus.

I do not know what are the weeds that are growing in your life. We have a moment of quiet and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and ask God the self-control to overcome every weed that is growing in our life.

Are we are Spirit, fruit-producing community? Or Are we a works of the flesh-producing community?

LIFE APPLICATION POINTS

1. Cultivate a Spirit-Led Life

• Explanation: Actively seek and maintain a relationship with the Holy Spirit by inviting His presence and guidance in daily decisions and actions. Walking in the Spirit is about choosing to align with God’s will over the impulses of the flesh.
• Reflection Questions:
  • In what areas of my life am I currently resisting the Holy Spirit’s guidance?
  • How can I create more space for the Holy Spirit to work in my daily routine?

2. Practice Spiritual Disciplines

• Explanation: Engage in spiritual disciplines such as prayer, reading Scripture, and worship to nourish your relationship with God and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you. These practices enable you to abide in Christ and produce the fruit of the Spirit.
• Reflection Questions:
  • How consistently am I engaging in spiritual disciplines?
  • What changes can I make to deepen my practice of these disciplines?

3. Address Character Flaws with Intentionality

• Explanation: Recognize areas in your life where the fruit of the Spirit is lacking and take practical steps to address these character flaws. Be proactive in weeding out behaviours and attitudes that hinder spiritual growth.
• Reflection Questions:
  • Which fruit of the Spirit do I struggle to exhibit, and why?
  • What practical steps can I take to develop this fruit more fully?

4. Build Healthy Relationships

• Explanation: Focus on cultivating relationships that reflect the love, kindness, and patience of Christ. Healthy relationships are a reflection of spiritual maturity and evidence of the Spirit’s work in your life.
• Reflection Questions:
  • Are there any relationships in my life that need reconciliation or strengthening?
  • How can I better reflect the fruit of the Spirit in my interactions with others?

5. Guard Against Spiritual Neglect

• Explanation: Be vigilant against influences or habits that can lead to spiritual decline. Prioritize spiritual health by eliminating distractions and temptations that pull you away from walking with the Spirit.
• Reflection Questions:
  • What habits or influences are hindering my spiritual growth?
  • How can I create an environment that supports spiritual health and growth?