Introduction: Treating symptoms vs. disease

Turn in your Bibles if you would to Galatians, chapter 5. Our text this morning in verses 13-26, which if you recall was the same text as last week. This is kind of like “good cop/bad cop.” Paul is making a contrast here between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. Last week was bad cop talking about life in the flesh. This week, I get to be good cop as we come to life in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit. So let’s read our passage, then we’ll pray, and then we’ll get started.

(Read Galatians 5:13-26.)

This past fall, our son started experiencing acute pain in his abdominal area. At first we figured it was just cramps or growing pains or the beginnings of another stomach bug or something. But since it persisted, and given the location of the pain (sort of lower-right), we figured we’d better get it checked out (I think it was my Mom who put two and two together), so we went over to the hospital ED. Now, there could have been two routes of treatment at this point. The symptom that our son was experiencing was pain. So he could have been pumped up with some morphine, given some pain killers, and sent home. That would have effectively treated the symptom—at least temporarily. But our care providers at the hospital are much more responsible and well-trained than that. They ran some tests, and sure enough, his appendix was extremely inflamed, and he was scheduled for surgery to have it removed the next morning. They successfully treated the underlying disease, not just the symptom. Treating only the symptom of the pain would have been disastrous, as the appendix almost certainly would have ruptured soon, resulting in a much more serious and painful condition.

A similar risk confronts us with the passage this morning. This is a very familiar passage, almost certainly the most well-known passage in the entire book of Galatians. And that familiarity can actually present a bit of a challenge for us this morning. Because of its familiarity, there is the temptation to understand and apply this passage in isolation instead of part of the argument Paul has been making throughout the letter; an understanding that can lead us to apply the text in a way that attempts to temporarily treat the symptoms of sin rather than the underlying condition.

We read through these lists of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. “These ones are bad,” we recognize, “and these ones are good. So—since these are bad and these are good—what can I do to get less of the deeds of the flesh in my life and more of the fruit of the Spirit?” And so we resolve to work harder, impose stricter rules on ourselves, read Christian books and blogs to discover the keys to win this battle. I need to be more joyful. I need to be more patient. And that seems right, doesn’t it? Very American—work harder. And yet as sincerely motivated as all that might be, it largely misses the point that Paul is making.

Here’s how we know. If we’ve been following Paul’s argument, then we know that the foundation upon which he has been building his argument is the Gospel, faith, and the Holy Spirit. And those stand in contrast throughout the book to “doing, law, works.” So if we apply this passage by resolving to be better “do-ers” and imposing stricter laws on ourselves, we’ve missed the point.

So what I’m going to be doing a lot this morning is pulling the arguments from previous parts of Galatians into this passage before us to help us see how it fits in. If I’m successful you’ll hear in this familiar passage the exact same message we’ve been hearing for the past dozen weeks or so.

We’re going to use verse 13 as our outline this morning, to make three points:

“You, my brothers, were called to be free”
“Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature”
“Serve one another in love”

“You, my brothers, were called to be free”

First, then, “You, my brothers, were called to be free.” We must recognize and embrace our freedom. One of the key earlier passages that’s going to shed a lot of light on what it means to walk in the Spirit is back in the beginning of chapter 3:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:1–3)

Notice here that Paul is making a contrast. We have a “good side” and “bad side”. On the “bad side”, we have “observing the law” and “human effort”. In contrast to that—on the “good side”—are “Spirit” and “belief”. The key point is in verse 3: “After beginning by the means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” That, Paul says, would be foolish. In our passage today, he makes the same point in 5:25: “Since we live by the Spirit [i.e. we have eternal life by the Spirit] let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Another translation puts it this way: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” The key point that is being made is that the Gospel, Spirit, and faith are not only the means by which we get saved—they are also the means by which we grow.

We often go wrong on this point. We believe—rightly—that our salvation is completely a work of God’s grace through Christ applied to us by the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, then there was an event in time—whether or not you remember it—when you believed the Gospel, put your faith in Christ, and became a child of God. Your sins are forgiven, and you have the promise of heaven when your life on earth is finished.

That’s all good—we must start there—but if we’re not careful, we reduce the Gospel and the work of the Spirit only to that initial moment of conversion. So we believe in the Gospel to “get us into heaven,” and then it is like, “Whew! Glad that’s secure! Now we need to get on with our discipleship programs!”

Here’s the right way to parent as a Christian;
here’s the right way to diet as a Christian;
here’s the right Bible translation to use;
these TV shows are bad/these are good ;
you need to join a committee;
you need to join a small group;
you need to serve in XYZ ministry;
you need to go on a mission trip;
etc.

And we go right back to law. All of these things can be good things when done as the outflow of a life directed by the Spirit in light of union with Christ—we’ll talk about that at the end. But too often—if I’m honest—I find myself motived more by meeting the expectations of others. I don’t think I’m alone in that. This is what I call “cookie cutter Christianity,” in which we have this sort of groupthink approach to spirituality, defined by the issues that happen to matter in our church community or social circles. And every community has different issues that are used as the litmus test to evaluate one’s level of spirituality. I’ve personally been involved with churches where one’s obedience with Christ could be measured by how many children you have and whether or not you eat organic. No joke, I’ve had serious discussions about the spirituality of demand-feeding vs schedule-feeding your baby, or white bread vs. wheat bread vs. making your own bread vs. grinding-your-own-grain-to-make-your-own bread.

And we need to resist the urge to snicker. Those may seem like absurd issues to us, but only because those don’t happen to be our absurd issues. We have our own.

But there are two huge problems with this approach, pointed out in our text today. First, it almost inevitably leads to a destruction of Christian community and we judge one another by the standards we’ve created for ourselves. Notice verse 15, “If you keep on biting and devouring each another, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” You recall Peter in chapter 2, who used to eat with the Gentiles, but then broke fellowship with them when the legalists came from Jerusalem because the crowd mentality now dictated that observing the law was the spiritual thing to do. And we do the same thing: “Oh, we don’t hang out with that family because they don’t XYZ.” Now there could be legitimate reasons for that, but often we’re holding ourselves aloof for reasons that really aren’t important.

Second problem: this is slavery—constantly trying to meet the expectations of others—which directly contradicts Paul assertion that you were called to freedom. Instead of this, Paul argues, we are to live in freedom because the Gospel isn’t just the means by which we obtain salvation—it is the means by which we walk in newness of life. Christ was crucified, breaking the power of the law and the flesh. And “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ Jesus lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Galatians 2:20–21)

“Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature”

But all of this leads us to our second point. Yes, as verse 13 states, “You were called to be free,” but Paul then continues, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.”

And right here is the great tension in New Testament ethics. Galatians is a letter glorying in Christian freedom. As we’ve been reading this letter and hearing it explained to us week after week, the theme that Paul keeps hammering home over and over and over is grace, freedom. So can we just do whatever we want? Sit back, relax, our sins are forgiven—don’t worry be happy. “Let go and let God?”

This just won’t do. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals that the Christian life has a very high moral and ethical standard. There are large sections outlining expectations for Christians on how we treat others, how we respond to those in authority over us, how we spend our time and money, how we speak, etc. Even our passage before us lists actions and character traits that—whatever else we might say about the passage—we are clearly to understand as right and wrong.

So how do we resolve this tension between freedom on the one hand and high moral expectation on the other?

We can be tempted to use a “strike a balance” paradigm. That is, we think, “There’s path A of legalism—that’s not right; and there’s path B of licentiousness—that’s not right either. Well, I need to find a good middle ground—not too religious, but not totally indulgent either.” But this also just won’t do. The Bible doesn’t put qualifications on either side: simultaneously, we are both completely free and we have a high moral ethic. We have to find a way to resolve the tension in a way that affirms 100% both of these truths. And the way to affirm both is called life in the Spirit.

I’m going to read a quote from a commentary on Galatians because the author makes this point far more eloquently than I could ever hope to do. If you get nothing else this morning, please listen to this quote and understand the explanation he is making of our passage this morning.

The Judaizers had undoubtedly argued that only two options existed for Galatian Christians: either (1) a lifestyle governed by Torah [Law], or (2) a lifestyle giving way to license, such as formerly characterized their lives as Gentiles apart from God. The Christian gospel, however, as Paul proclaimed it, has to do with a third way of life that is distinct from both [legalism] and libertinism—not one that takes a middle course between the two, as many try to do in working out a Christian lifestyle on their own, but that is “a highway above them both” (Burton, Galatians, 302). The antidote to license in the Christian life is not laws, as the Judaizers argued, but openness to the Spirit and being guided by the Spirit. For being ‘in Christ’ means neither [legalism] nor libertinism, but a new quality of life based in and directed by the Spirit.

— Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, Word Biblical Commentary, 246.

The Christian life is not a balance between law and license. It is a “highway above them both,” listening to and being guided by the Spirit.

It is very significant that after listing the deeds of the flesh, which we studied last week, Paul does not go on to say, “Now, instead of those things, here’s what you need to do: Be more loving, be joyful, be patient, be kind, be self-controlled, etc.” Rather, these are the fruit of the Spirit. That is, as we listen to and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these are the kinds of things that will be evident in our life.

“Serve one another in love”

Now those who are cynical among us (which includes myself) might be thinking, “Okay fine, but haven’t we just replaced one problem with another? In any given decision, how do I know if I am listening to the Holy Spirit or if I am just being deceived by my flesh, by others, by my culture? If I decide something is right or wrong for me to do, is that the Holy Spirit guiding me, or am I being legalistic?”

These are fair questions and I’m not going to pretend to give a comprehensive answer this morning. But I do want to share some of the conclusions I have come to in my own life. See, I am the opponent Paul is addressing in the book of Galatians. Hopefully, by God’s grace, I’m a lot further along now than I was, but my tendency is to treat everything black-and-white. Give me a topic, and by golly I can devote myself to the Word of God and emerge with a conclusion that is the “right” way—and everything else is compromise. About a dozen years ago, after several years of on-and-off again study of this book of Galatians, God finally lifted the blinders from my eyes and I got the message about New Covenant living. That’s a longer story for another time—we can talk later. I’m still working through all of this—and I imagine it will be a lifelong process, but here are some of my thoughts and I hope they are helpful.

See, I had to come to the place in my life where I could say, in good conscience, “Hmm, I could decide (for example) to attend a house church with my family, and Joe could decide to worship at a megachurch with electric guitars, and it is possible that both of us are being obedient to the Holy Spirit.” That might seem silly to you, but that was a huge revelation in my walk with Christ. Or again, I could choose to home-school my children and the family in the pew in front of us could choose to partner with a Christian or public school, and it is possible that we are both walking in the Spirit. We could also both be ignoring the Spirit and walking in our flesh—the point is that the external decision is not a necessary indication one way or the other.

That’s not to say there are no absolutes, of course. We can’t say, “Joe here thinks it is a sin to look at pornography, but I think it is OK.” There are absolutes, there are certainly things that are right and wrong, wise and unwise. But there are also a whole host of issues where we may have Biblical boundaries and principals, but the Spirit may lead brothers and sisters in different directions within those boundaries for God’s glory.

If there’s any litmus test at all, it is the one found in or passage today. “You … were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” This is the great irony of Christian ethics. You are free. Free to do what? To become servants. Servants of others. How can we tell if we are walking in the Spirit? Are our actions and words indulging our own vanity and pleasure, or are they serving others? And what is the fruit of those actions, words, and decisions? If they are guided by the Holy Spirit, then the fruit will be “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

At the end of the day, I think walking in the Spirit is relatively simple. Not easy, mind you, but simple—those are two very different things. It’s actually very hard. But by “simple” I mean that in Christ we can jettison all the complications of observing the minutiae of observing the law, all the complications of constantly trying to gauge and live up to the groupthink expectations of others. And pour ourselves into, as verse 14 says, “The entire law is fulfilled in this one command, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”.