Keeping in Step with
the Spirit Who Enables Us
Galatians 5:16-26
Zechariah
4:6 says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of
Hosts.” We do not accomplish God’s will by human might or power but by the
working of the Holy Spirit in us & through us. In Galatians 5:16-26 we see
how to overcome our flesh & produce fruit that honors God.
Verses
16-21, 24: The Spirit Enables Us to Overcome the Flesh
If
we walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. We who
have been redeemed & transformed by Jesus still have an old nature in us
that is sinful & opposes the new nature of Jesus that is in us through the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The old nature opposes the new nature &
tries to get us to not do what God desires & what is really best for us.
The law is no help because it can only show us what we have done wrong &
has no power to help us do what God desires. The Holy Spirit enables us to
overcome the old nature & let the new nature of Jesus be manifested. Paul
lists the works of the flesh so that when we see them manifested in our lives,
we recognize them. When we recognize the works of the flesh, we are to crucify
them so that the passions & desires of the old nature are killed. Those who
belong to Jesus have died to selfish & ungodly desires just as Jesus tells
us to do in Luke 9:23 which says that if we want to follow Him, we must deny
ourselves & take up our cross daily.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about allowing the Holy Spirit to crucify
our old sinful nature & overcome its ungodly desires & passions.
Verses
22-23, 25-26: The Spirit Enables Us to Produce Fruit
Paul
then shares with us the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives.
Notice that it is works of the flesh, but it is the fruit of the Spirit. We
produce the works of the flesh but it is fruit or what the Spirit produces in
our lives that pleases God & that the law cannot produce. Also notice it is
fruit not fruits. The Holy Spirit produces one fruit with nine different
flavors. The Holy Spirit produces all these character traits at the same time
in our lives. These character traits reflect the nature of Jesus in us &
through us. Paul then tells how to allow the Holy Spirit to enable us to
produce this godly fruit. We live by the Spirit & keep in step with the
Spirit. We live everyday knowing that we are filled with Spirit & then obey
what the Spirit is directing us to do. But we also need to be careful that, in
the process of walking by the Spirit, we don’t become conceited & that we
don’t provoke others & that we don’t envy how the Spirit is working in
others.
Raise
the Roof & Remove the Walls is about being enabled by the Holy Spirit to
produce in us the character of Jesus.
We
as disciples & followers of Jesus are to be dramatically different than
those who are not disciples & followers of Jesus. This difference is to not
make us prideful or conceited, thinking we are better than others. It is to
enable us to live righteous & holy lives so that others will see our lives
& be drawn to what makes us different, a love relationship with Jesus.
By
the Holy Spirit Raising the Roof & Removing the Walls,
Joe
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