← Back to sermon library

May turn in your Bibles to Galatians 
chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5 as we continue 
in Paul's letter to the Galatians. Picking up at verses 16 to 18 
this evening. Specific command is given to 
walk in the Spirit. So we'll look at that command 
and then we'll notice the Spirit wrought struggle that we find 
in verses 17 and 18. So those will be our two observations 
are two headings for our message tonight. The command stated. 
Secondly, the spirit wrought struggle that we find within 
the life of the believer indicated there in verses seventeen and 
eighteen. I'll just pick up reading in 
verse sixteen. We'll read to the end of the 
chapter. I say, then walk in the spirit and you shall not 
fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lusts against the 
spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary 
to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. 
But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now, 
the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, 
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, 
heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Of which 
I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, 
that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom 
of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ have 
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live 
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become 
conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
pray specifically for clarity as we look at this passage tonight. 
We pray that you would give us a proper understanding of the 
biblical doctrine of remaining corruption. God, I pray that 
we would not look at this doctrine as a license to continue in sin. 
God, we would take seriously the apostles' command here that 
we walk in the Spirit. And we just pray this now in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, Paul is transitioning 
from the doctrinal portion of his letter to the practical portion 
of his letter. And very specifically, as I mentioned 
there in verse 16, there is a command stated, I say then, walk in the 
Spirit. F.F. Bruce makes a good observation. He says the Galatian Christians 
have already been reminded that they received the Spirit when 
they believed the Gospel and that His presence with them was 
attested by mighty works. We saw that in Galatians 3. We 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are justified freely by God's 
grace, and we also receive the Holy Spirit. These are two blessed 
privileges of every blood-bought child of God. justification by 
faith alone, and the reception of the Spirit. So, as he says, 
we've already been told, or they have been reminded, that they 
receive the Spirit when they believe the gospel. He goes on 
to say, let his presence, let the Spirit's presence, be attested 
also by their way of life. Here he says, walk in the Spirit. You have received him by God's 
grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus. Now in the manner in which 
you live, walk in him so that it will be obvious and demonstrable 
that you are indeed Christ's people. Walk by the Spirit means 
let your conduct be directed by the Spirit. I think that's 
very helpful, specifically that last portion. Let your conduct 
be directed by the Spirit. Have you ever taken Galatians 
5.16 or some of the statements in Paul's epistle to the Romans 
and wondered, what does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Well, 
if you ask a Pentecostal or a Charismatic, they might say, well, this means 
you need to speak in tongues. If you ask someone else, it might 
mean some mystical experience or some subjective response to 
whatever it is. I don't think it ought to be 
that difficult to determine what the apostle means by walk in 
the spirit. He is already trafficked in. 
He is already expounded upon. He has already made numerous 
statements concerning the Holy Spirit up to this point in the 
epistle to the Galatians. Let's go back to chapter three 
for just a moment as we seek to nail down what it means to 
walk in the Spirit. He says that we receive the Spirit 
when we, by God's grace, believe the gospel. Galatians 3.3. Are you so foolish, having begun 
in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have 
you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? In the context, it's obvious. 
We begin in the Spirit by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We 
receive the Spirit through faith. Notice in verse five. Therefore, 
he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among 
you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing 
of faith? Again, this isn't the entitlement 
of a select few within the Christian Church, the tongue speakers, 
or the miracle workers, or the mystics, or the people that claim 
they have all of these ecstatic experiences. No, the Spirit is 
given to everyone who, by the grace of God, believes the gospel 
of God. You cannot escape that truth. 
As we work our way through this data, we receive the Spirit because 
of God's covenantal promise to Abraham. Notice in Galatians 
3 verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
having become a curse for us for it is written curse. It is 
everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing of Abraham 
might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. Notice that 
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So at this point, it seems that 
to walk in the spirit is to walk as a justified by faith man of 
God, realizing that the spirit dwells in us by God's grace and 
for his glory. The first thing to recognize, 
to realize that the spirit is given to each of God's people. Notice, as we move on in the 
book of Galatians, we have the spirit who makes clear and evident 
our adoption as sons of God. Notice in chapter four, verse 
six. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit 
of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, father. Therefore, 
you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an 
heir of God through Christ. So if you, by God's grace, can 
call him father. That is one of the effects of 
the Spirit who dwells in you. We recognize it is the Spirit 
who is responsible for our spiritual birth. In contrasting the two 
covenants at the end of Galatians chapter 4, he speaks of Hagar, 
he speaks of Sarah, and in verse 29 he says, but as he who was 
born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according 
to the Spirit, even so it is now." In other words, if we've 
been born again, if we are regenerate, it is an evidence, it is a demonstration 
that the Spirit of God is at work in our lives and in our 
hearts. And then in Galatians chapter 
5, he says that we eagerly hope for heaven. through the Spirit, 
chapter 5, verse 5. He says, for we through the Spirit 
eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. So dropping 
down back to verse 16, walk in the Spirit means to walk as a 
justified by faith man. I'm using man inclusively for 
man and woman. justified by faith in Christ 
alone. The Spirit has been given to 
us. We are to live our lives under 
His direction, under His guidance, under His influence, under His 
control, according to the revealed will of God. Remember that. The New Covenant. God gives us 
the Spirit, and He writes the law upon our hearts. And I think 
that Ephesians illustrates or evidences a bit more fully, if 
you will, what it looks like to walk in the spirit. Paul breaks 
it down into three sections in Ephesians five. We are to walk 
in love. Chapter five, beginning in verse 
one, all the way through verse seven. We're to walk in love 
to mean to walk in the spirit. It means to love God and love 
your brethren means to love your family. It means to love your 
wife. Means to love your husband, means 
to love your children. Children love your parents. Walking 
in the Spirit, the first fruit of the Spirit is love. And that's 
how we know that we are in the Spirit when we love one another. He then goes on in Ephesians 
5 to say we are to walk in light. Verses 8 through 14. We're to 
love the light, not the darkness. We're to love the fact that Jesus, 
through the gospel, has dispelled that light or diffused that darkness 
by the light of the gospel. We are to walk in light. And 
then thirdly, Paul says, we're to walk in wisdom. Verses 15 
to 21. So a life lived in the Spirit is not Open for whoever wants to try 
and define it. The apostle defines for us clearly 
what it looks like to walk in the Spirit. And then hone in 
specifically on that last section. Verse 18 of Ephesians 5. He says, And do not be drunk 
with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. 
He's talking to people who've already received the Spirit, 
according to Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, at their belief of the 
gospel, their belief of the truth. They've received the Spirit, 
who is the seal and guarantee of our final inheritance. Nevertheless, 
he says, as Christians, we are to seek His influence. Just as 
alcohol provides an influence, a negative one, an unholy one, 
an ungodly one, but the way alcohol affects a man and produces that 
influence, do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, 
but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit. There's times when 
I'm working in my office and I'll hear somebody wandering 
down the road, and I suspect they're drunk. I suspect they've 
had one too many. I suspect that they are not doing 
well because they're falling all over the place. The evidences 
or the proof or the demonstration of the fact that they are drunk 
is the influence that it provides in their life. And such is the 
case with the spirit. We cannot walk in the Spirit 
without manifesting something of His evidences. And notice 
how Paul describes it specifically. Verse 18, the command is be filled 
with the Spirit. He then fills in with several 
participles to illustrate what being filled with the Spirit 
means. He says in verse 19, speaking 
to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. You realize that when you open 
that hymn book. You are engaged in a very specific 
act, not just worshiping God, that is glorious, but the edification 
of the people of God. We are to speak to one another 
in this particular manner. This is an evidence that God's 
spirit is at work. I read an article recently, and 
the man was just pointing out how a lot of times we pray for 
revival, and we should. We ought to pray for an outpouring 
of the Spirit. But sometimes in our prayer for 
revival, we are led to diminish the glory of the existing church. This man pointed out that if 
you can actually get several people together in one room and 
they're singing hymns of praise or psalms of praise to God, That 
is an evidence, a big evidence, that the Spirit of God genuinely 
is at work. You've got people who all they 
ever do is mutter Eminem tunes or Led Zeppelin or whatever as 
they listen to their iPods, but they gather together for corporate 
worship. And as normal and as ordinary 
as it may seem, do you realize that this is a mark of being 
filled with the Spirit? Don't diminish the ordinary. Don't neglect the normal. Paul defines it here or illustrates 
what it means to be filled with the spirit. He then goes on to 
say, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. What's 
a spirit filled man or woman do? What does it mean to walk 
in the spirit? It means to edify my brothers 
and sisters and it means to glorify my God. You see, there's no guesswork 
here. There's no mystic ramblings here, 
there's no subjective ism here. It isn't. Be filled with the 
spirit and go out and speak in tongues. Be filled with the spirit 
and go out and heal people. Be filled with the spirit and 
go raise the dead. No, be filled with the spirit, 
edify the saints, and glorify God most high. Notice what he 
goes on to say, verse 20. Giving thanks always for all 
things to God the Father. This is a mark of being filled 
with the spirit. Thankfulness. If you never thank 
God, it's suspect whether or not you're saved, because a mark 
of the influence of the Holy Spirit is not staggering and 
falling over and blaspheming the Lord. A mark of the influence 
of the Spirit is giving thanks notice always for all things 
to God the Father. That takes the Spirit, brethren. 
And then the final aspect is verse 21, submitting to one another 
in the fear of God. How do we do that apart from 
the Spirit? We're all proud. We're all arrogant. We're all 
independent spirits. We're all thinking that we're 
the first and the foremost. We all, by nature, are selfish. 
We're just like our first father, Adam. How in the world can we 
ever engage in verse 21 apart from the Holy Spirit? We need him submitting to one 
another in the fear of God, and then he flushes that out even 
further with specific relationships in the home. Wives submit to 
your own husbands as to the Lord. He says, Husbands, love your 
wives. He says, Children, obey your parents. Parents do not 
exasperate your children. All these are marks of the spirit. 
You see, walking in the Spirit is not left for you to figure 
out. It's not left for you to scratch your head and wonder. 
It's right here in the epistles of Paul, throughout the Gospels, 
the Book of Acts, the other general epistles. It's fleshed out. Walk 
in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom. Go back to Galatians 
5, 16 and notice the promise attached to this command. He 
says, I say, then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill 
the lust of the flesh. You want to guard against sin? 
Walk in the Spirit. You want to not fulfill the lust 
of the flesh? Walk in the Spirit. You see, 
while you're walking in the Spirit, you're not pursuing ungodliness. 
While you're walking in the Spirit, you're not looking at things 
you shouldn't be. While you're walking in the Spirit, you are 
seeking to honor and glorify God. There is a promise affixed 
to this command. You walk in the Spirit and you 
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We are justified freely 
by His grace. We are justified by faith alone. And justification always results 
in sanctification. Christ saves us. He gives us 
the Spirit. And then He calls us to walk 
and pursue holiness, to walk in the Spirit. And He gives us 
this blessed promise. Now, let's look at this spirit-wrought 
struggle in verses 17 and 18. Now, if that was tough to digest, 
we're really going to get tough now. This is more of a teaching 
message, because the doctrine here is very important. What 
Paul is dealing with in verses 17 and 18, or specifically in 
verse 17, is what theologians have identified as remaining 
corruption. Remaining corruption is that 
which remains in a Christian. In other words, a justified by 
faith alone believer in Jesus Christ has remaining corruption. Different from reigning corruption, 
right? He breaks the power of reigning 
sin. He sets the prisoner free. His 
blood avails for the foulest. His blood avails for me. Reigning 
sin has been dealt with by Jesus. There is, however, remaining 
sin in the life of God's people. An extended comment, an extended 
treatment of verse 17 is found in Paul's letter to the Romans, 
and you may turn there to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, 
specifically beginning in verse 14. I just want to read this 
section. Again, I'm going to ask you to put on your thinking 
caps, as they used to say to us in second grade. I'm not trying 
to treat you like second graders, but I'm asking you to gird up 
the loins of your mind, because I think that this is most important 
for us to understand. We'll look at the teaching, and 
then we'll make a few concluding observations. But notice in Romans 
7.14. For we know that the law is spiritual, 
but I am carnal. We're not going to look at every 
jot and tittle of this. I just want you to see how it 
does flesh out more fully what Paul says in verse 17 of Galatians. He says, we know that the law 
is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin for what I am 
doing. I do not understand for what 
I will to do that. I do not practice, but what I 
hate that I do. If then I do what I will not 
to do. I agree with the law that it 
is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells 
in me. For I know that in me, that is 
in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, 
but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that 
I will to do I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that 
I practice. I mean, can any of us resonate 
with what Paul is saying here? We have the spirit, we have these 
holy desires, we have these longings, we want to read our Bibles, we 
want to pray, and instead we click on Fox News. We carve out 
a moment or a time so that we can read our Bibles and we pick 
up the province. I'm not condemning Fox News or 
the province. If I had to condemn one more 
than the other, I'd probably condemn the province, but that's what's going on here. 
Paul is, dare I say it, like us, a whole lot holier at it, 
but Paul is showing us about this remaining corruption, this 
tendency, this conflict, how Paul describes it in Galatians 
5.17, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against 
the flesh. Notice what he goes on to say. Verse 20. Now, if 
I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but 
sin that dwells in me. Now, there's a lot of abuse of 
this particular section of Scripture. Someday we'll look at it in more 
detail and more fully. But I just want you to see that 
it fleshes out more fully what he says in Galatians 517. Now, 
notice specifically verse 21. I find then a law that evil is 
present with me, the one who wills to do good. It's always 
intrigued me, and I think that it was John Owen that brought 
this to my attention via Albert N. Martzett. I find then a law 
that evil is present with me when? When I'm willing to do 
good. I don't find this conflict or 
this struggle when I'm out playing basketball. I don't find this 
conflict or this struggle when I'm playing hockey. I don't find 
this conflict or struggle when I'm sitting at my computer doing 
my job. I find this conflict and struggle 
when I engage my mind and I seek to employ my faculties in the 
service of God. It's when I will to do good that 
I am conscious of this fact that there is this principle that 
lies in me, militating against that good. That's what Paul is 
highlighting in Galatians 5, 17. He says the flesh lost against 
the spirit, then the spirit against the flesh. There's this combat. There's this opposition. There's 
two contraries operative in the heart of man. Let me just flush 
this out with our confession of faith, because I think the 
divines explained it, explained the biblical data a lot better 
than I can. In chapter six of the London 
Baptist Confession of the Fall of Man, Sin and Punishment Thereof, 
it says the corruption of nature during this life does remain 
in those that are regenerated. And although it be through Christ 
pardoned and mortified, yet both itself and the first motions 
thereof are truly and properly sin. Remaining sin is still bad. Well, it's just remaining sin. 
All of us have to struggle with it, and that's just the way it 
goes. No, remaining sin is sin. We need to fight against it. We need to militate against it. Paul would say in Romans 8, 13, 
for if by the Spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body, you will 
live. London Baptist Confession, chapter nine, paragraph four 
of free will when God converts a sinner. Now, when they say 
free will, they define it biblically and properly. In this paragraph, 
it says, When God converts a sinner and translates him into the state 
of grace, he frees him from his natural bondage under sin and 
by his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that 
which is spiritually good. Yet, so as that by reason of 
his remaining corruptions, he does not perfectly nor only will 
that which is good, but does also will that which is evil 
on justification. Confession Chapter 11, Chapter 
11, Paragraph 5. God does continue to forgive 
the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall 
from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, 
fall under God's fatherly displeasure. And in that condition, they have 
not usually the light of his countenance restored unto them 
until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon 
and renew their faith and repentance. You see what they observe. You're 
justified. You're justified. God doesn't 
cast you off. There is therefore now no condemnation 
for those who are in Christ Jesus. God does not take it or give 
it and then take it away. But there are those seasons, 
there are those times when we allow our remaining corruption 
to get the better of us. Instead of beseeching the Spirit 
that dwells in us to grant us the grace and the power and the 
strength to mortify those sins, we give in. And what does the 
Confession say? We experience His fatherly displeasure. We experience that distance with 
God. Sometimes our hearts grow cold. 
We accept this chasm. We live our lives. Well, I know 
God is there. I just don't feel a sense presence. 
We'll repent of whatever sin it is that you haven't dealt 
with. It's not magic. It's not hocus pocus. It's not 
a mystery. The thing that separates us from 
our God is our sin. And so, by the Spirit's power, 
we do mortify it. Chapter 17, paragraph, I'm sorry, 
13, paragraphs 2 and 3. Last reference, though there 
are several others. Chapter 13, paragraphs 2 and 
3 of sanctification, says this sanctification is throughout 
the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. See, the framers, 
the divines were not Wesleyans. They were not perfectionists. 
They did not believe that perfection could be achieved on this side 
of heaven. They did not believe that we would be completely sanctified 
on this side of heaven. They understood the biblical 
data properly and accurately. And in this particular instance, 
they quote, or they refer to Galatians 517 says there are 
still some remnants of corruption in every part. Whence arises 
a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against 
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. in which war, although 
the remaining corruption for a time, may much prevail. How else do we describe King 
David? How in the world can you put that in a category without 
Romans 7 and Galatians 5? How do you explain this godly 
man after the Lord's own heart engaged in this sort of a sin? 
Well, the divines nailed it. They go on to say, yet through 
the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying spirit of 
Christ, the regenerate part does overcome. And so the saints grow 
in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing 
after a heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands 
with Christ as head and king in his word has prescribed to 
them. The theology of verse 17. We need to understand this. The 
flesh lost against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. 
Notice that he goes on to say, and these are contrary to one 
another. It's a battle. It's a struggle. It's an opposition. I think there's 
a pastoral application at just this point. Met with people before, 
and they said, I don't know if I'm a Christian. I'm really struggling 
with this sin. I'll generally say, you know, 
that's a good sign, because non-Christians don't struggle. Notice that the 
spirit in us does not remove the conflict. The spirit in us 
is the cause of the conflict. I always maintain that if you're 
struggling, you're fighting, you're battling, that's a good 
indicator that the Spirit of God indwells you. I mean, it 
might be odd to read this and go, well, there's something positive 
that can come from this. Yes. I don't think Paul is just 
highlighting his own experience to tell people what it's like 
in his world. He's trying to reveal onto them 
this doctrine of remaining corruption that as a believer. Yes, you 
should only ever will and do the right thing. But you don't. I mean, you're not saved. Does 
that mean you're a reprobate? Not necessarily. I'm not going 
to tell you necessarily the other way. You cannot conclude that 
you are. Based on Galatians 517, the flesh 
lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. This 
is contrary. Until Jesus returns or we die 
and are translated to heaven, we will have this ongoing struggle. 
Just accept that. Let me just repeat that. Oh, 
it's so hard. Well, until you die or Jesus 
comes for you in glory, you will have this struggle. Whoever said 
the Christian life was going to be easy is what I want to 
know. I mean, it's blessed. It's wonderful. God helps you. 
He sustains you. He grants you the grace, the 
perseverance, all those things. But, you know, there is that 
sense where Jesus wasn't kidding. You want to follow me, take up 
your cross daily and die. You need to pursue. You need 
to fight. You need to battle. The Christian 
life isn't just about lying around, enjoying the benefits. A better 
picture is a warfare, a battle scene, you know, in the full 
gear and the full regalia that the soldiers wear. That's a better 
picture of what Christianity is all about. It's not poking 
around Disneyland and going to Cultus Lake, sitting there with 
a beverage. It's about going to the front 
lines and dealing biblically and earnestly with your sin. 
If by the Spirit you do mortify, you put to death the deeds of 
the body, you will live. That's what the apostle calls 
us as justified by faith in Christ alone. People, too. Notice this 
last clause of verse 17. It says, so that you do not do 
the things that you wish. This could either mean the flesh 
renders you unable to do the good you wish. I don't think 
that's it. It could mean the spirit renders 
you unable to do the evil you wish. I don't think that's what 
it means either. I'd like to say I've never done 
anything evil as a spirit-filled Christian or as a spirit-indwelled 
Christian. I don't think any of you could 
say that either. I think the idea is that the flesh hinders 
you in doing good and the spirit hinders you in doing evil. It's 
a checks and balance sort of a thing. You want to serve God. You want to come and worship. 
You want to give everything to Him. And what happens? You come 
in here and you think about pot roast. You left this morning 
and you said, you know, the lesson that I learned from that sermon 
is that there's a good deal on Maglites at Home Depot. If that's 
the lesson you took from here, I've messed up or you messed 
up. You've come to engage, you've 
come to put your mind to it, you've come to listen and prosper. 
And then what? Your mind just starts a wandering, 
a flash, lust against the spirit. Then you find yourself in a situation 
where, let's say, five, ten, fifteen years ago, you would 
have fallen prey to a sin, a temptation, a lust, and given in wholly and 
fully to it. And yet, by God's grace, by the 
power and presence of the Spirit, you resisted. What's going on 
there? The Spirit lusts against the 
flesh. He's hindered you. He's restrained 
you. He's kept you from plowing headlong into a particular sin. I think Fong describes it well. 
The verse then means that in the spirit flesh conflict, it 
is impossible to remain neutral. You'll either serve the flesh 
or follow the spirit. And what's more is that God has 
provided a way out so that you don't have to give in to the 
temptation. You don't have to give in to 
the loss. You don't have to give in to the flesh because the spirit 
is operative and opposing. That's what the apostle is getting 
at. Now, he says something in verse 
18 that seems to justify a dispensational hermeneutic. He says, but if 
you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Two ways 
we can understand this reference of being under the law. The first 
comes from an understanding of covenant theology, although true 
believers be not under the law as a covenant of works to be 
thereby justified or condemned. That's probably part of it, but 
even more so, I think what he is countering are the Judaizers. Judaizers have come and said, 
look, you need to keep the ceremonies of the Mosaic Covenant. In keeping 
the ceremonies of the Mosaic Covenant, you'll round out your 
faith in Jesus. You'll find acceptance with God 
and everything will be hunky dory. No, he says, if you are 
led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. You're not under 
the Mosaic Covenant. You don't need to listen to these 
Judaizers. If you have the Spirit, you have 
everything promised to you in the New Covenant. Spirit and 
law, moral law in terms of obedience to the Lord God Most High. This 
statement does not invalidate the third use of the law. The 
law is a pattern of good works as the context makes clear. Rather, 
it highlights this truth. If we walk as we ought to and 
pursue holiness, this is an indicator that we have been justified by 
faith alone in Christ alone and have the Holy Spirit who guides 
us in proper He is not eliminating the law. When he gets to verses 
19 to 21, these things are opposed by the law. God's law is operative 
in terms of a pattern of sanctification for the believer. But it's not 
the law that sanctifies, it's the Spirit who sanctifies with 
the law as the guide. That's an attempt at exposition, 
a couple of thoughts, and then we close. The first, the necessity 
of walking in the Spirit. Come to Galatians 5.16 and realize 
that justification by faith alone promotes, produces, and creates 
people who walk in the Spirit. People who want to pursue Christ. People who want to be holy. Justification 
and sanctification are distinct, but inseparable. You don't have 
one without the other. You don't have a justified, unsanctified 
person. You don't have a sanctified, 
unjustified person. Whenever there's justification, 
sanctification is right there as well. Gordon Clark has a good 
comment with reference to works, with reference to sanctification 
in his commentary on Titus. I just want to read that. He 
says, what passes so apparently as good works, this sanctification, 
are not good unless preceded by justification. And if a claimed 
justification does not inevitably produce good works, it simply 
was not justification. Cannot claim to be justified. 
You're not sanctified. Cannot claim to be sanctified 
if you're not justified. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Receive the Holy Spirit and walk in the Spirit according to God's 
will. Secondly, as I've already mentioned, 
there is a positive aspect to this battle. We might read verse 
17. We might read Romans 7, 14 to 
25. We might scratch our heads and 
say, why is it this way? Why isn't it when I just believe 
the gospel, all those lusts are gone? Why isn't it when I believe 
the gospel, all those temptations just stop with their power and 
their fight and their fight against me? Why is that the case? Well, it's God's design that 
there be remaining corruption. I have few ideas as to why that 
might be. We might conclude we don't need 
God. Remaining corruption keeps us 
a prayerful people, doesn't it? You're fighting against lust 
and temptation. I hope you're praying. I hope you're imploring 
God Most High for help. I hope you're asking for great 
filling of the Holy Spirit. Believe that's one of the blessed 
marks that God is doing, dealing graciously with us. But as well, 
the very presence of this struggle is an evidence of faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. People that are not Christians, 
people that have no faith in Jesus, do not struggle. I mean, they might want to quit 
smoking, for instance, because it's bad for their health and 
might give them cancer. They might want to stop drinking 
so much alcohol because their car ends up on telephone poles. I mean, they might have some 
reasons for stopping or ceasing or desisting from various unseemly 
activities. They might reckon, you know, 
this life of adultery really is getting hard to juggle. I'm 
going to stop being an adulterer so that I can give myself fully 
to my wife. I mean, there might be those 
particular vices that certain people want to give up, but because 
they're offending God, Because they're dishonoring Christ, because 
they're bringing shame upon the glory of the Lord Most High, 
unbelievers don't traffic in that mindset. So the fact that 
you struggle, the fact that you fear offending God, the fact 
that you don't want to be found guilty of trampling underfoot 
the Son of God is an evidence, maybe a small one, that the Spirit 
is at work in you. I mean, dare I say it remaining 
corruption in the struggle within is a cause to praise God. That struggle, you ever think 
of it in that way, we're just praying, God, take my struggle, 
take my struggle, take my struggle. Try this. Thank you that I'm 
struggling. Keep me struggling. Keep me fighting. Keep me laboring. Keep me seeking 
the spirit. Praise him that the struggle 
actually exists. Now, there is a negative aspect 
of this battle as well. The Spirit dwells in us. He lusteth 
against the flesh. You have the resources available 
at your disposal to fight sin, to fight temptation. You have 
everything in your arsenal. You've gone to the Holy Armory. 
It's giving you those bandoleros of bullets, and you've got the 
gun, you've got everything you need to fight against sin. You've 
got the spirit of God most high. Resist temptation. Resist sin. Again, Fung says this conditional 
sentence clearly shows that Paul does not regard the believer 
simply as a helpless spectator or an unwilling pawn in the fierce 
battle between the flesh and the spirit. Now, you may be encouraged 
by the existence of the struggle, but beware. Be on guard, take 
caution, don't say, well, I couldn't help it, I just had to say it, 
I just had to give it not according to the Galatians 517, not according 
to first first Corinthians 10. Look at first Corinthians 10 
for just a moment. Probably you'll make a list someday 
of the top 10, one of the top 10 verses commonly misunderstood. First Corinthians chapter ten. Verse 12. Therefore, let him 
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation is 
overtaken. You accept such as is common 
to man. But God is faithful, who will 
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the 
temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be 
able to bear it. Now we go to this passage, and 
I think rightly so, to realize that we're not alone about it. 
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, 
right? You can't say, well, nobody knows 
what it's like to be me. Nobody knows what it's like to 
be in this situation. Nobody knows how hard I have 
to deal with it. Nobody can really enter in to 
my thing. They just don't get me. According 
to Paul, they get you. According to Paul, we're all 
in the same ship together. Then we go on, we say God is 
faithful. Isn't that nice? God is faithful. And that is nice. Who will not 
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. Again, we 
pull this text out, we say, praise God, it's not going to get so 
bad. Look at the responsibility in the passage, it says, but 
with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you 
may be able to bear it. So the temptation comes, but 
there's an exit game. What's the verse calling you 
to take the exit gate? Don't just commiserate with all 
of the like minded, tempted brethren that you have. Don't just cast 
yourself on the faithfulness of God. Do that as you're going 
through the exit gate. You need to think seriously about 
this reality and the fact that you have the Holy Spirit that 
indeed enables, that indeed empowers, that indeed gives us the ability 
to go out that exit gate. We need to remember very often, 
as Paul has noted in Romans 7, 19, the thing that I wish to 
do, I don't do. The evil I don't want to do, 
I do. So what do we do when we sin? We cast ourselves afresh 
on the mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, thanking him for 
the blood of the Savior that cleanses us from all sin. And finally, do not fool yourself. If you are here tonight, what 
you may think is remaining corruption could be raining. Need to ask 
yourself this question. Am I just considering all my 
sin as remaining or have I a saving interest in Christ? The only 
way to get the remaining aspect is by believing the gospel. Maybe 
the case of it's reigning sin. You always give in. You always 
yield. There's never victory. There's never resistance. There's 
never a seeking to put the death, the deeds of the body by the 
power of the spirit. That's not remaining corruption. 
That's reigning corruption. So don't fool yourself, don't 
delude yourself. Those passages that we've read, 
those those texts that we've reflected on, that theology of 
our confession of faith is written to believers on Jesus Christ 
who struggle with remaining corruption. You need to believe the gospel. 
That's first and foremost. That is absolutely imperative. 
Don't categorize what may be reigning sin. as remaining said 
that is devilish, that is horrific, that will only leave you short 
on the day of judgment. Believe the gospel, come to Christ 
and know what it is to be justified and then live the life of sanctification 
as Paul calls you here, realizing we have the spirit and resources 
available, but when we fall, we come back afresh to Christ 
and seek forgiveness in his blood. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for this section of Scripture. We thank you for the 
biblical data concerning this doctrine. God, it may remain 
somewhat mysterious in all of our minds and hearts, but I pray 
that it would be clear to us that we are justified freely 
by your grace, that we receive salvation, we receive pardon, 
we receive righteousness when we believe the gospel, and we 
receive the Holy Spirit as well. Grant us grace to walk in the 
Spirit as new covenant believers. Grant us grace to bring glory 
and honor to you, and we pray through Christ the Lord. Amen.