Freedom from the Deeds of the Flesh
(Morning Service)
Text: Galatians 5:16-26
As we continue our study of Galatians Paul spells out to the churches in Galatia what attributes ought to mark out the lives of the believer if we have really embraced the freedom that Christ has purchased with his own sacrifice. This evening we will take a look at those attributes and behaviours but we will also consider how it is that we can succeed in putting to death the ‘works of the flesh’ and instead be those who ‘bear good fruit’.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
(Galatians 5:16–26 ESV)”