Galatians 5. We just read a very
interesting portion of scripture, didn't we? I want to begin by giving you
the title of this message. It's called, The Experience of
Two Natures. The Experience of Two Natures.
What every child of God experiences after Christ comes to him. reveals himself to him. Now, this book and the portion
that we just read, the way it begins, I believe it's pretty
safe to say that if Paul has established one thing in the
book of Galatians, it's this. The difference between law and
grace. Wouldn't you say that? If there's
one thing that he has absolutely set forth It is the fact that
salvation is not by the deeds of the law. It's by God's free
and sovereign grace. We just read some things that
none of us are exempt from. Not one person in this room. And redemption from the fall. cannot come by the deeds of the
law, right? It's by God's free grace. And he said in verse 1, the way
he started this whole chapter is, Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. How do you describe what Christ
has done for us? How do you really describe what
Christ has done for us? How do you enter into what Christ
has done for us, really and truly? Would you take another sinner's
sin and lay it on yourself? Would you do that? Would you
take another sinner's wickedness and lay it on yourself and then
take the blame for it? And then take the punishment
for it? And die for it? Would you do
that? Oh, what Christ has done for us. He set us free. He set us free. How dare a man
say, after Christ shed his own blood, how dare a man stand up
and say it wasn't good enough? How dare a man say that? It wasn't
good enough and Christ didn't put away your sin and you're
still under the bondage of the law. But men do it every day. They
do it every day. What must I do to be saved? They
got the list. Here's the list. I'll give you
this list. The Apostle Paul said, those men are lying to you. And
he said in verse 12, this is where we pick up tonight, he
said, I would, they were even cut off which trouble you. Don't listen to them anymore.
Don't listen to them anymore. The truth of your salvation is
this. Everything that God has demanded
for you, God has provided for you. Every single thing that
God has demanded of you because of the sin we know we have committed. Everything God has demanded of
you, God has provided for you. Everything. He said, Believe. That's a gift from Him. That's
a gift. God gives a sinner that ability
and without the gift the sinner can't believe. He said repent. That's the gift of God. It's
the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. He said be
baptized. That's a gift. That's God's Holy
Spirit immersed in a sinner into the blood of Christ. Only God
can do that. Only God can do that. Everything that God has
required for salvation, God has provided for salvation. Your
salvation is finished and complete in Him. Absolutely finished and
complete in Him. Verse 13, He said, For brethren,
you have been called unto liberty. Freedom. You're free. Verse 13 says, Only. 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. What a commandment that is. Now,
do we understand what he's saying here? He establishes first, you
are free. You are free. It's not by the
deeds of the law, you're free, but he said only. He's saying but. But, with that
being said, use not the freedom that our Lord has given us for
an occasion to the flesh, But by love serve one another, for
all of the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. What a commandment that is. Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Turn with me over to Leviticus
19. This is where the Lord gave it. Leviticus 19, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus. Leviticus 19 verse 18 says, Thou shalt not avenge nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Don't you love
that? Don't you love that? Don't avenge or bear any grudge
against the children of your people. But thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. I'm the Lord. I'm the Lord. Love each other. I'm the Lord.
That's what I demand in my presence. You have been set free. Now love each other. That's what
he's saying. You have been set free. Now love each other. Turn with me over to Romans 13. Romans 13 verse 9 says, for this
thou shalt not commit adultery. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't leave the commitment of
your spouse. Don't do that. He said you've
been set free. You have liberty. But then it
says, don't commit adultery. Don't do that. Thou shalt not
kill. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't murder anybody. Not even in the heart. Thou shalt
not steal. Don't do that. That's not a good
idea. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt
not covet. Don't do any of those things.
And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in
this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling
of the law. Love. He said love is the fulfilling
of God's law. The things that he has commanded
we have been set free from in order to be saved. But he says
with that freedom don't disregard his law. Don't throw it away. And the Lord himself said the
whole law is fulfilled in this and that's what he just said.
If there be any other thing, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Love is the
fulfilling of the law. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Now go with me back to Galatians
5. Verse 13 says, 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 one of another. If we are critical, And if we
are unforgiving, and if we are unkind, and if we're filled with
bitterness, and filled with hatred, and filled with division, and
all those things, We are going to destroy. We're going to absolutely
destroy not only the unity and the peace and the fellowship
of God's church, God's congregation. Not only are we going to absolutely
destroy that, we're going to destroy ourselves. We are going
to destroy ourselves. We are going to be consumed one
of another. Look with me over at Colossians
chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 verse 12 says, put on therefore as the elect
of God. We are the elect of God. We've
been chosen unto some things. We've been chosen unto salvation. We've been chosen to be like
Christ, to be conformed into the image of Christ. And he says,
put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies. Bowels means heart, heart of
mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering,
forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have
a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. And above all these things put
on charity." That's love. Put on love, which is the bond. The bond, it's the cement. One man put it that way, it's
the cement. God's people are called lively
stones built up. And do you know what cements
all those stones together? Love. It is the greatest thing
that the church of God can possess. It's the greatest thing that
the congregation of God can possess. The bond that absolutely binds
all of His people together, that cement for the stones, is love. And He said in verse 14, ìAbove
all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness
and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also
you are called in one body and be ye thankful. Be thankful. What a wonderful thing to be. Now go with me back to Galatians
5. Galatians 5 verse 16 says, 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 you cannot do the things that
you would. What that's telling us is every
single believer has two natures. That's what he's telling us.
Every believer has two natures. What that means is there are
two different people in here. There are two completely different
separate people in here. There is an old man and there
is a new man. There is an old man and there
is a new man. A person that God's Spirit has
not come to. A person that the Spirit of Christ
Himself has not come to. and revealed himself to and opened
his eyes and quickened him. That person only has one nature. One nature. That person has problems
in the world. That person has financial trouble
and relationship trouble and all kinds of troubles, but he
does not struggle and suffer over spiritual matters. Doesn't
bother him. Has no heart for it. Doesn't
care. He sure does not spend time just grieving over his sin,
just grieving over what he is. He has one nature, but the child
of God has two, two natures. The flesh, that's the old man,
and the spirit, that's the new man. The flesh hates the things
of God. You say, well, that's a strong
word. Yes, it is. The flesh hates the
things of God, And the Spirit loves the things of God. I mean
loves the things of God. And say, well, that's a strong
word. Yes, it is. I mean loves God. The flesh tries to get as far
away from Christ as it can. As far away. Any excuse? Anything? What can I come up with to get
away from that just right now? I'll deal with tomorrow then.
That's the flesh. He tries to get as far away from
Christ as he can. The Spirit wants to be just like
him. Just like him. Both of these
natures are mine. Me. Both of these natures are
mine. That old man is definitely mine.
That one's mine. But in the gift of Christ, that
new man is mine too. That is my nature in the gift
that God gives to a child of His. That new man belongs to
that child. There's a new creation and it's
mine. Sin is all that I am in the flesh. That's all that I am. That's what we stand up and cry.
I am. I am. Sin is all that I am in
the flesh. But that's not all that I am
in the Spirit. As a matter of fact, that's not
what I am at all. Look with me over at 1 John chapter
3. First John chapter 3. First John 3 verse 9 says, Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in
him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Have you
ever struggled with that verse of scripture? You ever read that
and thought, what does that mean? What that means is, there's a
new man. There is a brand new man. The,
the, our Lord told Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must
be born of water and you must be born of the Spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto you, you must be born again. And that
new man that is born of God does not commit sin. And it's so hard for us to understand
that and get our minds around it because We don't feel like
we see him that often, ever. But he's in there and he does
not sin. He does not sin. Those two natures
are completely, completely opposite of each other. Now go with me
back to Galatians 5. Verse 17 says, 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." The new nature is so ready to
be done with sin. So, so ready. He is so tired
of wickedness. He is so tired of rebellion. He just wants to be like Christ
physically in the body. That's what he wants. We know
about that man. We know something of that man,
don't we? He just is ready to be done and
like Christ in the flesh, in the body that he lives in. The
old nature, though, won't let him. The old man will not let him.
Now we are spiritually perfect in Christ. We are spiritually
complete and sinless and holy in Christ. But do you know what
keeps us from being physically perfect in the body right now? That old man. That old nature. That new nature wants to do right
100% of the time. He wants to love perfectly 100%
of the time. But the old nature won't let
him. He will not let him. He cannot do the things he wants
to do. That old nature is so sick of goodness. He is so sick
of forgiveness. He is so sick and tired of hearing
about love and church and God. Sick of it. And he says, I don't
care what eternity brings, I really don't care anymore. All he wants
to do is wad all of this up, throw it away, and run straight
into the pleasures of sin for a season. That's all he wants
to do. But the new nature won't let
him. That new nature that Christ has
brought to his child, that new man, that new creation, will
not let him. That new man says to that old
man, you're lying to yourself. That will not glorify God. Verse 17 says, 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. Because of this war, there is
a war that goes on inside a child of God. And because of this war,
neither one of those two can do what they want to do. Neither
one of them. We come into this place with
a true heart desire to worship God, don't we? It's in there. It's in there. We come begging,
Lord, please let me worship. Please let me worship. And the
whole time we're sitting here and the whole time I'm standing
here, that old man is saying to the new man, I'm so sick of
this. I'm so sick of this. How many
times are we going to sit here? How many times are we going to
do this? Life is short. There's a lot of things we need
to be doing. Go with me to Romans 7. Now this is the same man. who is writing Galatians, who
wrote the book of Galatians. Listen to the same man who wrote
that letter as he speaks right here. He is not speaking to them
in a judgmental way. All of these instructions he's
given to them, he's not speaking to them in a judgmental way.
He's speaking from experience. Romans 7 verse 15 the Apostle
Paul said for that which I do I Allow not I know not. I don't know. I don't know why
For what I would what I want to do That do I not? But what I hate That's what I
do if then I do that which I would not I I consent unto the law
that it's good. I love that law. I love the law
of God. Verse 17, Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to
will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good, I just can't do it. I find not. For the good that
I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that's what I do. Now if I do that, I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. This is what's so confusing to
him. I love the law of God. Verse 23, But I see another law
in my members, warring against the law of my mind And bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death?" One of these days we are going to be delivered
from the body of this death. One of these days. Death is the
ridding of the old man. When you see, the next time you
see a believer laying in a casket, you remember that that death
that you see there is God ridding that child of His of the old
man. The old man finally dies. That's it. He's gone. And until
that happens, the exhortation to us is put on the new man as
much as possible. We give way too easily to the
old man. Paul said, I fought a good warfare,
I fought a good fight, I pressed toward the mark, I this, I that.
And he's saying put on the new man as much as possible. Go over
a few chapters to Romans 12. Romans 12 verse 18 says, If it
be possible, As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. There is a man inside the child
of God who wants to do that. There is a man in there who wants
to do that. And he's saying, if it's possible,
put him on. put him on don't turn but Ephesians
424 says put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness God has created a creation that's righteous and
holy after him put on that new man what the Apostle Paul is
telling the Galatians is this You are not saved by works, but
that does not mean we don't work. That does not mean we don't strive
for everything God has commanded of us. He has written our new
nature. That's what the law is. He has
written what we are going to be like, what the new man is. So he said, stand fast in the
liberty of your freedom, And be an obedient servant of Christ.
Yes, Christ came to save sinners. Yes, He did. He came to save
sinners. But this is what the angel said. Call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. From them. Now go with me back to Galatians. Back to Galatians, verse 18 says, But if you be led of the Spirit,
you are not under the law. The Spirit does not lead men
to the law. The Spirit leads men to Christ,
leads men to His grace, leads men to His love, leads men to
fellowship with Him. That Spirit works a good work,
but it's not a labor of the law, it's a labor of love. Verse 19,
now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, which is lust, idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, which is quarreling and contentions, emulations,
that's jealousy, wrath, strife, Seditions, which is creating
an uproar, stirring up people. Heresies is division. Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like of the which I
tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. First of all, what he's saying
is, in this flesh dwells no good thing. Well, then how can a sinner
be saved? God took every bit of that, that
we all know we have done and do in body, mind, heart, And
he laid it on himself and God dealt with it. And he took his
perfection and he laid it on us. In this flesh dwells no good
thing. That's all we can say about this
flesh. If that is what a sinner is completely given to, I mean
day in, day out, that's all the man is, that is a terrible sign
that God has not given a new nature to that sinner. Now we
are all prone to it because that's the old man in here. That's the old man in here. He is in here. But if that's
all that a person is truly given to, if that's all he wants, if
that's all his conscience will let him do. It's not a good sign
that God has given a new nature. And the reason is because, verse
22 says, the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy, and peace, and
longsuffering, and gentleness, and goodness, and faith, meekness,
temperance, against such there is no law. Everything in our
new nature is in total agreement with God's law. There is something
in a believer that understands, I want to obey God. There is something in there that
says, I can't, not like I fully want to. And I'm not even going
to pretend to act like what I do, he's happy with. But something
in there understands, no, I'm not holding to those things as
the determining factor on whether or not he saves me, but I will
not let them go. I want to be what He's called
me to be. Something in there says, whether
it comes out or not, something in there is screaming, let me
out. Verse 24 says, And they that
are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts. Not fully and not literally. We know that. We know we haven't
crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts. We
still have every bit of that. And that's not going to actually
happen until God kills that old man and he lays down in the ground.
But what he's saying is that is the desire of every person
that belongs to Christ. He wants that old man dead. That man, he has not died yet,
but he's crucified to me. I don't want him. I don't want
him. I just don't want him. All that God has given this new
nature to, they want that old man to just be gone. Gone. They don't want to see him, and
they don't want him to be seen. They don't want him, I don't
want you to see my old man. I just don't. I do not want you
to see my old man. So verse 25 says, if we live
in the Spirit, if God has brought this new creation to us, this
new life, and if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit. The new man, let's put on and
let's walk around in the new man as much as be possible, as
much as it lies within us. Let's walk around in the new
man. Verse 26 says, Let us not be
desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and envying one another. Let's kill all of it. Just right now, today, put a
stop to it as much as it be possible. Kill it. Everything that pertains
to the flesh. And I'm going to close with this.
I'm going to show you the best way to do it. Here's the best
way to do it. Turn with me over to Colossians
3 again. One more time. Colossians 3. Pick up where we left off with
verse 16. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom. As much as possible, get into
His Word. It will spark something. It will bring up something. It
will kindle the new man. Get into this Word and most all
of us have smart phones now or some way, download messages.
There are men, there's a long list of men. Listen, it's not
enough to hear the Gospel three or four times a week. Listen
to the Gospel if you can, twelve times a week. Listen to the gospel,
listen to the gospel, and the way you know if it's the gospel
is that man will be preaching the word. He'll be telling you
the word, okay? So verse 16, let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Sing these. If you only remember one verse,
half a verse, only the chorus, sing them in your mind. I'm not a good singer. You are
in your mind. You're fantastic in your mind.
Sing these in your hearts. Sing them. All right, verse 17. Whatsoever you do in word or
deed, whatever comes out of your mouth, whatever we do, do it
in the name of the Lord Jesus. giving thanks to God and the
Father by him. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your
wives and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents
in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke
not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants,
obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh, not with
eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of
the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for
you serve the Lord Christ Let's put that man on All right as
much as possible Let's walk around in that man All right, let's
stand together