And we'll commence reading at
verse 1 down to verse 17. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together. Well, may God instruct us from
those precious words in the eighth chapter of the Romans. And now
we'll continue our meditation in the epistle of Paul to the
Galatians and Chapter 5, and this evening we'll read from
verses 16, 17, and 18. So the Epistle of Paul to the
Galatians, Chapter 5, and reading 16, 17, and 18. 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, the one to the other, so that ye cannot
do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the spirit,
ye are not under the law." These three verses really tell
us that to the people of God there is a conflict. There is a battle, there is a
war between our new nature and our old nature. And it is surely
a very good evidence in our spiritual life, if we know something of
this conflict, that we don't just carry on aimlessly as it
were in this world, and just accepting the situation which
exists with no consciousness that we have a new nature which
the Word of God directs us what to do and how to speak and how
to act and so we're thankful that we do have the Word of God
to speak to us and direct us and the Apostle commences this
little section by saying This I say then, walk in the Spirit
and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Well that's
a very great statement really and how wonderful it is if God
enables us therefore to walk in the Spirit. And walking in
the Spirit is really walking that blessed right and way which
we are influenced in, in our new nature by the Holy Spirit
itself. And also, of course, we have
the Word of God, which, as we know, the Spirit of God did direct
those of old to write as they did. And so we should, therefore,
walk in the ways set before us in the Word of God. We should
not think that there's anything in the Word of God which is something
we can forget about and not worry about it. I know of course the
Old Testament laws as such, the ceremonial laws, are now done
away with. But there are those things in
the Word of God which direct us in our daily life. And what a blessing it is if
we then are able, by the grace of God, to walk in the Spirit. Because if we do walk in the
Spirit, the result is we shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. And the opposite is of course
true. If we are not walking in the
Spirit, we are more likely to fulfil the lusts of the flesh. We will do those things then
which are not in accordance with the Word of God. Those things
that the Word of God speaks against. And so we should be very thankful
if we have the evidence of that life of God in our souls. Just to refer to the first epistle
of Corinthians and the sixth chapter, and the last verses
in that chapter tells us, verse 19 and 20 in the sixth chapter,
what? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost? which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's." Well, that was very important words to the Corinthians,
and my friends, they're no less important words to us tonight. And so to realise, and it's a
very humbling thought to think that our bodies are the temple
of the Holy Ghost. That means the Spirit of God
dwells within us. The Spirit of God does dwell
within his people. And that Spirit of God therefore
is an unctuous light to all that's right and a bar to all that's
wrong. May we therefore be concerned
to be found hearing word of the Lord and listening to it and
walk and obeying it and so walk in the spirit and you shall not
fulfill the lusts of the flesh and the Apostle goes on to tell
us a very plain truth for the flesh lusteth against 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. That verse spells out to us really
very clearly the conflict and the battle that we have. And
I read together that part of the Eighth of Romans which really
is a very good commentary on these words and it commences
really in the very first verse when we read, there is therefore
now no condemnation Then it tells us who that applies to. To them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit. So when the Apostle writes to
the Galatians, he's not really writing any differently from
that which he wrote to the Romans. And in the same way as he speaks
to us today, through the Spirit of God. And then he says, for
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death. And the last verse, this
verse 18 that we're taking this evening, tells us, but if ye
be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. That means,
of course, the ceremonial law, and it also means the works of
the flesh, to keep the law, just to justify ourselves, and to
try and gain some acclaim and some merit for it. Now, if we
are born of the Spirit, we shall desire to keep the law of God. That means we should desire to
do the things that the Word of God admonishes us to do. we should not turn away from,
we should not think they are irrelevant. And so we're told
then, for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Well, how true
that is. Sin that dwells within, and that
sin which comes without. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. Well here is a testimony relating
to the children of God and what a blessing it is if you and I
have that grace to follow this wonderful direction and to realize
that because we are that they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
do mind the things of the Spirit, to know that we have the evidence
of the work of God in our hearts which produces that desire to
turn away from the things of the flesh and to follow those
things which are of the Spirit. There is of course the continual
conflict. And then the Apostle goes on
to say, for to be carnally minded, that really means fleshly minded,
is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. If the Lord enables us to desire
truly to be spiritually minded, and that means to follow the
Spirit's leading and direction, that means to follow the Word
of God, then you see it brings with it life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. Naturally, you see, our sinful mind is at enmity with
God. And it is not subject to the
law of God, nor indeed can be, so then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now the Church of God are in
the Spirit, by the Spirit, and what a mercy that is. And therefore
we have this statement here, so then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. So if we remain in the flesh,
doing the things of the flesh, following our flesh, then the
truth is that we cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
So it's really very dividing, isn't it? These statements that
we have here in these verses that we've read together this
evening and how important it is to have the evidence therefore
that we are not in the flesh. but in the Spirit. I'm sure none
of us want to be those who are not of Christ, those who are
cast out, those who have no life. It matters not how much we may
perhaps pretend and perhaps sometimes think we do. possess the life
of God. If we walk in this way, then
really we are not doing that which the Scriptures speak to
us about, and also we give evidence that we are not one of the Lords. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. So if we are walking in the Spirit,
it is because the life of God is within us. And therefore,
we are being led by the Spirit of God. And let us not therefore
live after the flesh. The Apostle says, for if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye, through the Spirit,
do mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live. And that means,
of course, mortify means to put to death. We might be might remember
that it's not easy, it's painful. It's spelled out to us, like
we already said, crucifying our flesh, crucifying our flesh. And the crucifixion was the most
painful death. And it is painful, therefore,
to crucify our flesh. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Well, if we are led by
the Spirit of God, this will be the result, we shall walk
in the Spirit. And we shall recognize the battle
between the flesh and the Spirit, but also we come to this, but
if you be led of the Spirit, you're not under the law, because
we are under the Gospel, we are under Christ, and we walk in
newness of life, and we do those things realizing the cost of
our salvation, Realising what the Saviour endured in order
to satisfy the law on our behalf, the holy righteous law which
we could not keep. What a blessing to know then
the Lord Jesus Christ is our Saviour. And to think that he
was so willing to save our souls that he went to the cross. He
suffered that excruciating death on our behalf. so that through
him we might indeed walk in the Spirit. So let these things be
before our eyes to recognise the importance of them and to
realise the great cost of our salvation and therefore always
desire and pray to turn away from the lust of the flesh, the
things of the flesh, the things of the world which do not profit
but will take us away from that peace of God which passeth all
understanding. Well, may God bless his word
to us.