Flesh Versus Spirit
(A sermon preached by the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at True Life BPC on 8 November 2009)
Text: Galatians 5:16-24
Salvation is purely by the grace of God through faith alone in Christ alone. The biblical formula for salvation is Faith = Salvation + Works, and not Faith + Works = Salvation. Although salvation is solely by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9), that does not mean that works are not important in the life of a Christian. In fact, good works that come out of true faith are the evidence of true conversion or regeneration. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Most of you have confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You believe in God’s promise of salvation and eternal life when you placed your faith and trust in Christ, in what He has done for you by His death, burial and resurrection. But have you at any time doubted your salvation? Have you ever thought that you might not be saved because of the sins you still commit in life, or your struggles with the flesh? How can I know that I am truly God’s child, that I am truly saved?
Well, Paul tells us how we can know for sure we are saved in Galatians 5. We have to do a spiritual check-up on our lives, our attitudes, desires and behaviour. What is our life characterised by? How do we feel about the lusts of the flesh? How do we regard God’s commandments?
Characteristics of the Flesh
Know that once we are saved, we become a new man, old things have passed away. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The new man is a man alive in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and will walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16-18). What are the “old things”? The old things were the things we had believed and practised in our former way of life—our worldly philosophies and our fleshly desires and deeds. Now that we are saved, we are no longer pigs, but sheep—washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Christ.
What were our lives characterised by when we were not Christians? Paul says we were filled with the works of the flesh. We were characterised by the following 17 vices, namely, “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings” (Gal 5:19-21), which can be broken down into these three main categories:
(1) Sexual Sins
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness (lustfulness) point to sexual sins. Is our life characterised by extramarital sex, premarital sex, pornography, homosexuality, prostitution, etc? Paul says, “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
(2) Religious Sins
Idolatry and witchcraft are religious sins. A Christian cannot say, “I believe in Christ but I also believe in other gods. The more gods I have the safer I will be.” The Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). If you do not believe in Jesus Christ and Him alone, and forsake all others, you have no part in the kingdom of God. Note that idolatry is not limited to religious gods, it also includes material gods like money. Does money preoccupy our thoughts day in and day out? Even in church, you are not thinking about the Lord and His Word, but about cash, card, condo, and career? Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).
(3) Worldly Sins
Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings are the sins of worldliness. They basically stem from selfish attitudes and acts (it is all about “I, me, myself”). Such a worldly and selfish way of life does not only bring hurt and harm to oneself but also others. It is a life that is characterised by love of self and hatred for others. It is conduct that seeks to gratify self at the expense of others. Is this our philosophy of life and our habitual practice in life? If it is then we are not citizens of God’s kingdom.
Although it is true that as Christians we do at times fall into such sins especially when we do not walk according to the Spirit, our life in general are not characterised by such sins—we do not keep on doing such things as a way of life. We are not a pattern or a model of such things. When we fall into sin now and then, we will feel very sorry, our conscience will prick us, and the Spirit will convict us of our sins, and we will confess and repent of them and seek to obey the commandments of God with the Spirit’s help. A sheep does not look or behave like a pig. But if we find ourselves looking like or behaving like a pig, having no strength to overcome such sins, and pursuing such sins with pleasure, desiring to go deeper and deeper into such sins, then the Bible says we are still unsaved, unregenerate people, and will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Characteristics of the Spirit
How do we know we are saved and living a life that is pleasing to God? We know for sure when we see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If we are born again, the Holy Spirit is residing within us, and He will cause us to bear His fruit which is reflected in a transformed life that will become more and more like Christ. That is why Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).
So, what are the characteristics of the Spirit. They are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal 5:22-23). These nine characteristics can be divided into two groups:
(1) Foundational Graces
Love, joy, and peace are fundamental spiritual qualities all Christians possess. Love is first because God is love. It was because of love that God became man to save us from our sins (John 3:16, Rom 5:8). And if we are children of God, this is the basic characteristic we should all possess—the love of God which is defined for us in 1 Corinthians 13 which we know very well. If we see the love of God in our lives, and manifest His love in how we deal with others, then we know we are Christians. The Apostle John said, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Joy is next. We are very happy in the Lord no matter what the circumstance. Joy here is not just an emotion, it is also a virtue. As a virtue it has power. It has the power to heal. Psalm 57:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” The virtue of joy heals relationships. Joyfulness begets good and happy relationships. The Christian is full of joy because he knows the meaning of life, knows where his eternal destiny is, knows that God is in control of everything, and in knowing all these things exudes that joy of the Lord because He rests secure in the Lord’s loving hands. He is not unduly worried in life. He is confident that God is taking care of him. This was the testimony of Rev An Yo Han, the blind Korean pastor. Blindness without Christ was misery, but blindness with Christ is double happiness.
A Christian will enjoy the peace of God which “passeth all understanding” (Phil 4:7). A happy man is a man who has made peace with God, and when that happens, one will be at peace with others. We easily and quickly forgive those who have wronged us. How do we maintain a peaceful relationship with others? The following virtues tell us how:
(2) Interpersonal Graces
The interpersonal spiritual qualities are longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Longsuffering is patient endurance. It is the super ability to withstand the wrongs done against us. Gentleness here is kindness. When we are wronged, we return the evil with good. Goodness is moral excellence. This virtue compels us to do things in the honest or straight way. We are not crooked in our dealings with others to cheat or take advantage of others. Faith is faithfulness or loyalty. We are loyal to those whom we have made a commitment or with whom we have made an agreement. Meekness here has the idea of submissiveness. We are teachable, humble and courteous. Temperance is self-control, self-discipline, and self-denial. This would enable us to control the flesh and resist temptation.
Do we display the fruit of the Spirit in the way we live? Not all Christians manifest the fruit in all its fullness, but we should be showing signs that we are fruiting. As we mature in our faith, we should be showing more and more of the fruit of the Spirit. And when we see more and more of the spiritual graces that can come only from God, we know we belong to Him and have eternal life.
