We're a church that preaches
that every single part of salvation is by the grace of God alone. There are so many in this world
that claim to be Christian, that claim to represent the one true
God. And yet at the same time, they
preach a salvation that requires some sort of activity dependent
upon men. Now many are bold and obvious,
like the Armenians and their free will, or the Reformed with
their progressive sanctification. And all that preach such things
are clearly in contradiction to the gospel. However, as bad
as this open rejection of the gospel is, there are much more
subtle errors every single one of us are susceptible to. Errors which actually put us
right back in the same place as all those others. Sadly, even
when we detect these errors in ourselves, we see them as minor
and not as bad as the others. What we need to realise is that
these and just as damning as any and
all of the obvious errors. It's so easy when we consider
sin in this world and its consequences for us to look to our own wisdom
and activities. And it's even easier to slip
into thinking that some sort of effort under the guidance
of the law is required by men to bring moral reform. Every true believer knows themselves
to be the chief of sinners. They know their own condition
to be incurable, and they know that only God himself can restrain
sin in the world. Yet such is the subtlety of Satan's
poison, a poison which remains in our own flesh even after conversion. that before we know it, we find
ourselves judging others and their actions through the lens
of the law. Have you ever found yourself
thinking that way? I know I have, and I know it happens often.
Throughout all the scriptures, God presents us with a contrast
between law and grace. And it's a contrast that carries
with it a very strong warning for God's chosen children. The contrast actually begins
in Genesis 2 when God made the Garden of Eden. In verse 9, of
all the trees that the Lord had made to sustain man in his grace,
he only mentions the name of two of them. One's the tree of
life, representing the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The other's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, representing
law and man's responsibility to sustain himself before a holy
God. And then the warning comes in
verse 16 of Genesis 2. And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat,
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die. Now this contrast accompanied
with a warning continues throughout all the scriptures in both types
and illustrations. Here in the book of Galatians,
it's no different. The apostle Paul continues this
same thing, knowing that looking to the law for any reason is
the greatest threat to the church of God. Paul knows that in the
flesh, we still have a predisposition to easily fall back into this
same dangerous error. So here in Galatians 5, Paul
explains how even looking to the law in an attempt to combat
sin in this world, we subject ourselves to the law, and at
that point, we reject the grace of God, just as our father Adam
did. So let's read Galatians 5 first
before we go on. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is
a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever you are justified by the law. Ye are fallen from
grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. You did run well, who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lung. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offence
of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off,
which troubles you. For brethren, you have been called
unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one
another, take heed that you be not consumed of one another.
For this I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary
one to another, so that you cannot do the things that you would.
But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the Lord. For
now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envies,
murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I
tell you before, as I also told you in the time past, that they
which do such But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be
desirous of vain glory, provoking one another My hope today as we consider
this passage is that our gracious God would
show us just how dangerous it is to look to his law for anything. And that he'd show us just how
subtle the poison of Satan is, even in a believer. Galatians
is about using the law to control sin on a personal level, and
on a communal level. As we come to Galatians 5, the
Apostle Paul gives us four ways that the law has influence over
our flesh. And while there's much in this
chapter, I just want us to concentrate on these four influences and
their consequences in both our lives and the life of the church. Our text begins with a contrast
and a warning similar to Genesis 2. Paul says in verse one, To
stand fast, that's to be grounded, isn't it? It's to stand upon
a foundation, upon your place of rest and reliance. And notice it's therefore. This
is a warning that's based on what Paul has already said in
Galatians 4. He says in verse 26, your children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. In verse 27, we've put on Christ. Verse 29, we're all one in Christ. And in verse 30, we're heirs
according to a promise. Here in Christ, by faith, we
have a liberty to enjoy all the goodness of God. To be free in
Christ is to have access to all the promises of God. And it's
just like in Genesis 2. We were free to eat of the garden
of the tree of life. And to be free to eat of that
tree is to have access to all the trees. And note that this liberty doesn't
come because of our own strength, does it? It comes because of
the finished work of Christ, our Saviour. By faith in Christ,
we have a complete freedom from the obligation to produce our
own righteousness. We have a freedom from the bondage
of the law of God. a bondage which we first entered
into in our father Adam. In verses two to six, Paul gives
us the first influence that law has over our flesh. The law is
comprehensive and it necessarily causes a personal separation
from Christ. Verses 2-6, Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that
he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever you are justified by the law. You've fallen from
grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. Throughout the book of Galatians,
to be circumcised is a reference to subjecting ourselves to the
law of God at any point for any reason. Such is the nature of
the law that in Exodus 9, Israel was warned not to even touch
the border of Mount Sinai. James speaks of the same thing
in James 2. He says, for whosoever shall
keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, You see, the law is a complete
package. It represents that perfect holiness without which no man
shall see the Lord. To turn to it at any point, for
any reason, is to actually become obligated to fulfill it at every
point, or to suffer its curse. In Romans 2, Paul warns us saying,
Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the
same things. Do you notice the subtlety of
Satan's poison there? If we look to the law, for any
reason, even to judge sin in society, we actually reject our
only true hope of salvation, the grace of God and the Lord
Jesus Christ. And even at that point, we've
actually condemned ourselves. See, it's about being justified. God. For those who trust in Christ,
we establish the law of God by faith. We trust our Lord's perfect
fulfilment of his law on our behalf. But if you look to the
law for anything, you've already fallen from grace, according
to Paul, and Christ shall profit you nothing. Paul's point here is that you
can't be trusting Christ and trusting the law at the same
time. He makes the same point in Romans
11.6. He says, and if by grace, then
it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is
no more work. Basically, the two are mutually
exclusive. It's either one or it's the other. You can't have both. Brothers
and sisters, it's right for us to hate sin. It's right for us
to be concerned about the impact of sin, both in our lives and
in society. But the problem lies in how we
deal with sin and its consequences. Law was never given to bring
moral reform. We're told the reason why God
introduced this law in Romans 3, verses 19 to 20. He says,
Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, but saith to them
who are under the law, and this is the purpose, that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world might become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. It's also right for us to desire
righteousness in this world, but as we just saw, the law was
never meant to produce it. True righteousness is a work
of God the Holy Spirit, a work that we wait for in faith. Whether a man adheres to the
law or doesn't adhere to the law, True righteousness comes
by faith in the gospel. Faith that produces love in the
hearts of men. Love for God, love for His church,
and love for mankind. And it's this love that constrains
our sin. It's this love that motivates
us in kindness toward others. In verses 7-12 we have the second
influence of law upon the flesh. Law is naturally addictive, it
is highly contagious and it infects others. Verse 7 You did run well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of
him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubles you should bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offence
of the cross ceased. I would that they were even cut
off which trouble you. To run well is to obey the truth.
It's to walk by faith, trusting that righteousness comes by the
grace of God in the gospel and not through law. See, it's actually
our faith that's hindered by the influence of others bringing
law to us. All throughout the scriptures,
we're encouraged by God to simply trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, whenever we look to the Lord, and especially when
we share these thoughts and opinions with others, we easily influence
them to join in our own unbelief. Such is our natural inclination
in our Father Adam to produce our own righteousness for acceptance
with God, that we're easily persuaded to look away from our first love
in underlief. This is what Paul means in Romans
7 when he says he's carnal, he's sold under sin. He goes on in
Romans 8 to say, to be carnally minded is death, because the
carnal mind is enmity against God. For it's not subject to
the law of God, Paul in verse 9 of our text likens
this particular influence of law upon the church to leaven
or yeast. Now yeast starts out small, it
works in the dark, quietly and undetected as it influences subtly
the whole batch of dough that it's been introduced to. In a similar way, when we introduce
law through our own carnal thinking, we subtly influence others away
from their faith that they stand in. Just turn back a couple of pages
to Galatians 2. Paul gives us a great example
here of just how easy we're influenced. And just how subtle this persuasion
actually is. Verse 11, But when Peter was
come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was
to be blamed. Now that word blamed in the Greek
is actually much, much stronger. It means he stood condemned. Verse 12, for before that certain
came from James, these are the false teachers I mentioned earlier
on, those that introduced law to combat sin and to bring morality
to society. When these false teachers came,
Peter did eat with the Gentiles before. These teachers came. Peter did eat with the Gentiles,
but when they would come, he withdrew himself and separated
himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision, those that
brought law. And the other Jews, listen to
how quickly it spread, the other Jews disassembled likewise with
him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with the dissimulation. Now listen to what Paul says
in verse 14. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel. Now Peter
just moved his plate. I said to Peter before them all,
if thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not
as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as
do the Jews? Now that's how easy it is for
us to move away from the gospel in which we stand. That's how
damning it is. Do you notice Peter was obeying
the truth until these other people came, who seemed to have some
authority. People that came proclaiming
the law. Now if it's that easy for an
apostle to fall, and it's that subtle, the influence that we
have on others, what chance do any of us have? Thankfully, to
go back to our text, Paul's confidence is that the Lord will restore
his people to faith in the gospel. But for those that trouble us,
they remain under judgment while ever they trust the law for their
righteousness or their morality. And it's also interesting to
note that Paul in verse 11 mentions the persecution that comes when
we preach the gospel. You see, as he's already told
us in Galatians 4, those who are carnally minded will naturally
persecute those that are spiritually minded. They persecute us because
the cross Brothers and sisters, we need
to see just how dangerous this influence of law is to a body
of believers. We need to reject this carnal
mindedness in ourselves. and into others for the sake
of the church as a whole. And this is what Paul's meaning
here in verse 12, when he says, he wishes that they were even
cut off, which trouble you. It's also a reference to Galatians
four, where we're encouraged to cast out the bond woman and
her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with
the son of the free. And this brings us to the third
influence, actually, in verses 13 to 18. The law brings division
because it causes pride in some and guilt in others. Verse 13, for brethren, you've
been called unto liberty, only use not the liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law
is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth after the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary
the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that
you would. But if you be led of the Spirit,
you are not under the law. Paul begins his section by reminding
us that we've been called unto liberty, but he very quickly
warns us that if we're not careful, even this liberty is an occasion
for the flesh. What he means is the gospel brings
forth fruit in believers, but we can easily fall into thinking
that we need to then maintain that fruit. And how do we do
it? By turning to the law. More than
that, we can easily begin to be proud of that gospel fruit
as if somehow it's come from our own wisdom and our own works. And then in judgment, as we all
so often do, we look at others that don't have as much fruit
as we do, don't we? That's what it is to bite the
veil on another. We by our fallen attitude imply
to others that they need to do more for God. And as we do that,
we actually imply that we're more pleasing to God than they
are. And in all of this, we cause
guilt in our brothers and sisters. A guilt that either drives them
back to the law or it just crushes them. and their faith. And do
you see in both these scenarios what we hope to bring righteousness?
We've just encouraged others in unbelief. And that's why in
verse 15, Paul warns us to take heed that you be not consumed
of one another. How do we consume each other?
We create unbelief in each other, don't we? We turn each other
away from our only hope of true righteousness. We consume each
other by sending each other to the law, which only condemns. Now it's good to desire morality
in both ourselves and in the world. But as Paul tells us in
verse 14, this morality doesn't come It comes through love. It comes,
to go back to verse 6, through faith which works love. It actually comes by preaching
the gospel, not law. It comes as we walk in faith,
trusting our lives and even our morality to the work of the Holy
Spirit. It comes as he constrains the
lust of our flesh, lusts which are actually fuelled by exposure
to law. It comes as he produces the love
of Christ in us. Brothers and sisters, we all
have an inner struggle within us. As our flesh and its desire
for law wrestles with the inner man and his faith in the gospel. You can read more about it in
Romans 7. But in verse 18, Paul reminds
us that if you're led of the Spirit, you're not under the
law. If we're led of the Spirit, the
law can't, it has no dominion over us. It can't condemn us,
it can't separate us from Christ, and it can't cause division in
the Church of God. In verses 19-24 we have the fourth
and probably most surprising influence of the Law upon our
flesh. The Law actually causes sin. rather than subdue it. And this
is completely opposite to what we think, isn't it? Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these? Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. of the which I tell you before,
as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts. What
we now have is a comprehensive description or the characteristics
of two completely different men, the outer man and the inner man. Now, we don't have time to consider
each of these characteristics individually. However, while
they are works which are manifest physically in the world, I'd
really urge you to also consider them in regard to their spiritual
equivalence. And what I mean by that is while
they do represent how we physically interact with men, they also
represent how we spiritually interact with our God. What I do want us to take notice
of here is how each of these sets of characteristics are manifest
and what the outcome of each is. So I want to start with verses
9 to 21 and this description of the flesh. In Romans 7, we're
told that the law is spiritual. It means that it reveals what
we are by nature before our holy God. Now these are characteristics
which are common to all men, believers included. We need to
realise that whether or not we commit them physically, they
still reside in our flesh and are manifested spiritually by
exposure to the Lord. Our Lord in the Sermon on the
Mount, Matthew 5, confirms that we're just as guilty as these
offences, even if we don't openly commit them, because they reside
in our carnal heart. When Paul talks about the works
of the flesh, he's referring to the results of the exposure
of our flesh to the law. In Romans 8, one to walk after
the flesh is to be subject to the law, to be trusting our own
wisdom and our own works for righteousness. As we've already
seen, to look to the law for any reason is to be obligated
to keep the law perfectly, all of the law. The point that Paul's making
here is that when our flesh rather than producing works of
righteousness or morality, it actually reveals and even provokes
sin. And at that point, we stand guilty
of all the sins that Paul's just listed here. Because as James
says, and we've already read it, for whosoever keep the whole
law and yet offend at one point, he's guilty of all. Now this
isn't isolated, this is a point that Paul makes in other passages
of scripture, so I'm just going to read a few of them for you.
In Romans 5.20 he says that the law entered that the offence
might abound. In Romans 7 verse 5 he says,
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were
by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." Romans 7, 8. He says that sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
which means strong desires. In Romans 7.11 he says, for sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it slew me. And in Romans 7.13 he says that
sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. So the end result is that the
law can only expose our flesh. It can condemn our sin. And as Paul tells us here, they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. In verses 22 to 24, we have a
description of the inner man. These are characteristics which
are manifest not by our activities under the guidance of the Lord.
We need to realise that they're the fruit of the Spirit. They're
the characteristics of Christ in us, our hope of glory. They're
characteristics of that new man, that new creature born of God,
which does not commit sin. And if we really desire these
characteristics in both ourselves and in others, then we'll realize that we need
to declare the gospel to one another, not the Lord. The end result of these are that
we're sustained by the Holy Spirit. in union with our God and that
we serve our fellow man in love. And how and why? Because these
are the holy characteristics of our God and against such there
is no law. Because they that are Christ
have crucified the flesh and the affections and lusts. because
believers are just like Paul, who in Galatians 2.19 says, So
Paul ends this chapter in verses 25 and 26 with a final encouragement
for us. Verse 25 and six, if we live
in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be
desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and envying one another. Do you really believe God? I mean,
if we really believe God, and we really rely on his life in
us, then shouldn't we live our lives trusting in the guidance
of the Holy Spirit and not the law? Exposure to law causes pride. That's what vain glory is, it's
pride. Vain means empty. It's like the flower of the grass,
isn't it? As soon as it's exposed to the sun, it's burnt to a crisp. And pride results in provoking
one another to unbelief through envy. How completely opposite is this
to our natural thinking? By something as simple as considering
sin and its consequences through the lens of the law, we separate
ourselves from Christ through unbelief. We infect each other
with that same unbelief. We bring division to the church
of God and we increase sin in ourselves and in the lives of
others. Is there anything wrong with
God's law? Certainly not. We delight in the law after the
inward man, Romans 7. According to Romans 8, the problem's
not with the law, it's with the flesh. Our Lord tells us that
the flesh is weak and it profits nothing. So is there any place for the
law in the world? Of course there is. In 1 Timothy
1, the law was made for the ungodly and for sinners. The law was given, Romans 3,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world might become
guilty before God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Does that mean that the church
should use the law to judge others. Certainly not. Romans 13 tells
us that God's appointed his own ministers to execute wrath on
him that doeth evil. Our God is perfectly sovereign
and he works all things after the counsel of his own will.
And yes, that includes the laws of the land. How then does the church combat
sin in the world? We preach the gospel, don't we?
Our savior commanded us in Mark 16 to go into all the world and
to preach the gospel to every creature. In 2 Corinthians 3,
Paul calls the gospel the ministry of righteousness. And in 1 Corinthians
2, he wishes to know nothing amongst us except Christ Jesus
and him crucified. Now this is what God has said
about his law. Again, do we really believe God? Brothers and sisters, it's easy
to fall back into judging others according to the law. But as
we've seen here, it's a dangerous mistake for ourselves and for
others. There is one lawgiver, James
4 tells us, who's able to save and to destroy. Vengeance is mine, Romans 12.
I will repay, saith the Lord. There is a time of judgment. Hebrews 9 tells us it's appointed
unto men once to die, but after this judgment. So who art thou that judges another
man's servant? Romans 14. To his own master
he stands or he falls. You see, my point here is that
we just don't know who the Lord's children are in this world. And
in our current thinking, we're just as likely to esteem the
Pharisee of Luke 18 and condemn the publican. We're just called
to love our neighbor as ourselves. That's what Paul's been emphasizing
all through this text. In verses 6, 13, 14, 22, It's love that should be a great
motivator. And what better way to show sincere
love than to preach the same gospel to our neighbor as we
claim to trust in ourselves. Now the chapter divisions aren't
helpful here, but Paul goes on in chapter six to show us just
how we do combat sin in others. And he also reminds us of how
easily we can fall. So I just wanna read these last
three verses, or the first three verses in Galatians 6, and we'll
finish. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fall, you which are spiritual, that's those who trust their
righteousness to God, isn't it? You who are spiritual, restore
such a one. Notice it's restore, it's not
condemn, it's restore. Restore such a one in a spirit
of meekness, of humility. Do so remembering that we ourselves
are the chief of sinners. Considering myself, lest thou
also be tempted." Now, I'm not sure, I don't think that Paul's
talking about being tempted by that same sin. I think in the
context, what he's saying is we can be easily tempted to judge
that sin through the lens of the law. I think that's what
he means. Verse 2b, one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ. We fulfill that law by love,
don't we? And we love each other by sharing
the gospel. That's how we restore a brother,
isn't it? To remind them of what Christ
has done for them, not to condemn them of the law. And here's a word to all of us
in verse three, for if a man think himself to be something
when he is not, he deceiveth himself. Every single one of us can fall
just as easily as the Apostle Paul, Peter fell in Galatians
2. May God give us the grace to
stand firmly on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he
keep us from the dangers of turning to the law to combat sin in this
world. And may he cause us to love our
neighbour by preaching the same gospel to our neighbour as we
trust in ourselves. See, when we detect sin, it's
a great opportunity to declare the gospel, isn't it? Let's pray.