In this episode, Pastor Skip Heitzig explores the profound analogy of the Christian life as a race, drawing inspiration from Paul’s writings. Discover what it means to run with purpose, driven by faith and fueled by grace. Through engaging biblical teaching, Pastor Skip reminds us of the eternal prize and the pitfalls that can hinder our spiritual journey.
00:00:01 Introduction and Sign Up for Weekly Devotional
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God’s Word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement every day. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, an exclusive resource offers straight to your inbox. Plus, when you sign up today, we’ll send you a free digital download of a chapter of Skip’s book, Biography of God. It only takes a minute to sign up. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now let’s dive into today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
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If your root faith is put into the soil of grace, out of your life will come fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, as he will say, first on the list. So the root produces the fruit. Faith working through love. Verse 7. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. Now he’s referring here now to the Olympic race, the foot race. You ran well. You know, one of Paul’s favorite analogies was, for the Christian experience, was running the race. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Don’t you know that all who run in a race, all of them run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain the prize. For he who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. And they do it for a perishable crown. We do it for an imperishable crown. So we would often compare the Christian experience as a race, running the race. I press, in Philippians, toward the mark of the high call in Christ Jesus. Speaking of a runner on the foot race running toward the marble column in the end of the stadium, he’s got his eye on that pillar. In Acts chapter 20, when people are telling them that he’s gonna die when he goes to Jerusalem, he says, none of these things move me. Neither do I count my life dear unto myself that I might finish my race with joy. I’m running a race. My eyes on the prize. I’m stretching forward to do what God wants me to do every day, every hour, every minute. Don’t care if I live or die because I’m gonna die anyway someday. So these things don’t move me. Now, at the end of his life, he’s in Rome. He’s in prison. He’s in the Mamertine prison. He dictates a letter, his last letter, to Timothy, 2 Timothy. And he knows the end is near. And he says, I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I’ve kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing. So his whole life, he’s running the race, running the race, eye on the prize. And he says to them, you ran, past tense, well, who hindered you? What that means is who cut in on you on the track and made you stumble? You’re running a race. Are you living your Christian life like you are or should be running a race? Some of you are not running. You’re strolling. You’re meandering on the track. Your eyes are sort of on the track, but you get distracted quite easily by what’s going on around you. So you’re just sort of meandering on the track. You’re not really running. Then there are people who act like they’re runners. They buy the gym clothes. They got the best shoes. Decked out in Lululemon. They’re running every day. But really, they’re running when the cars are driving by them. They look like they’re running when the car goes around the corner. They just start walking, meandering again. So it’s an act. So you think, wow, it’s a runner. There are some who are not even on the track. They’re just on the sidelines, and they’re the ones that are giving all the advice to those of us who are running the race. That happens as well. What he’s talking about here are people who are cutting in on your race, the Judaizers that have come from Jerusalem, and making you to second guess your belief in Jesus, and you are stumbling on the track. You ran well. Who cut in on you? Who hindered you? from obeying the truth. This persuasion does not come from him who called you. This whole system you’re into, this is not from God. And he sums all that up by saying a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Leaven is yeast. Yeast is put in a batch of dough. And what happens to the dough? It gets puffed up. It gets swollen. It rises. So the leaven is what causes the dough to ferment, and it causes that beautiful, fluffy bread. At Passover, the Jews are very careful to eat unleavened bread because when they were going out of Egypt, they didn’t have time to prepare a meal. They just had to leave quickly in haste. And so they made their bread without leaven so they could do it quickly and get on the road. So every year at Passover, unleavened bread is a staple ingredient in the Passover meal. And a week before, They make sure that the leaven is out of the house, and there’s even a special ritual called the Bedikat Chometz, or the search for the leaven. And a mom will take a little bit of the leavened dough and hide it in a place in the house, and it’s sort of like hide-and-seek. The kids will be told, find the leaven, and let’s throw it out, let’s cast it out, so we can have an unleavened kosher household. So because yeast, leaven… and unleavened bread are part of the whole Jewish system. This became a proverb, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Leaven in the scripture is sometimes seen as sin. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, there is a man who is having an incestuous relationship in the church, and the church is tolerating it. well, you know, you just gotta like let people love who they love and whatever they’re into. And Paul said, he rebuked them and said, kick them out. Because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little sin causes that immorality to spread. So sometimes leaven refers to sin. Sometimes leaven refers to doctrine, false teaching, as it does here. That’s what Paul is referring to. Now, the example for that is in Matthew 16, when Jesus said to his disciples, beware of the leaven of the scribes or the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And later on, they go, we don’t get it. Is it because we don’t have enough bread? Is that why you brought that up? And he said, beware of the doctrine, the teaching of the leaven. Pharisees and the Sadducees, which is hypocrisy. So Paul uses that commonly known proverb, a little love and love is a whole lump, in this situation to say this, a little legalism is enough to ruin a whole congregation. A little legalism, if you let it in, will permeate and influence more and then more and then more. Pretty soon you’ll have a critical group of people who are divided over every little issue. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. And I’ve seen people leave and start churches and they just become very, very narrow and legalistic. And the people are the fruit of it. No grace, angry, always picking a fight, always mad at somebody, always pointing out this and that. And he’ll bring this out. I have confidence in you, in the Lord. I’m glad he said that. Because in the flesh, I don’t have confidence in you because you’ve already fell prey to this false junk. But I have confidence in you in the Lord. That’s optimism. That you will have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. Paul didn’t even know the guy’s name, who is the ringleader of this Judaistic group that has come to Galatia. And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Why? then the offense of the cross has ceased. Do you understand that the gospel of grace is offensive to people? The gospel of a crucified, bloodied Messiah in your place is offensive to people. It’s offensive because what you’re telling the person is you are so bad off, there’s no other way for you to get saved unless he dies for you. So there’s no room for human bragging. There’s no room for human endeavor to add to it. And people don’t like to hear that. When you are consigning all of humanity to everlasting condemnation, apart from believing in Jesus Christ, people hate that. What people love is a gospel of works. Because a gospel of works is a message that exonerates the innate goodness of humanity. And that’s what most people believe in. Most people believe that man is innately good. Oh, everybody’s a good person at heart. They’re so well-meaning in their heart. They’re good people. No, they’re not. There is none righteous. No, not one. So when you preach that message of grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, you’ll get persecuted. Paul was persecuted because that’s the message he preached. The message most palatable is you, by your own works and religiosity, you can earn your way. You can earn a spot for yourself in heaven. Paul said, if I preach the law, then why am I still being persecuted? Now, he’s been forceful up to this point. He takes the gloves off now.
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This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. When you give to this ministry, you help reach thousands of people every day with God’s life-changing truth, encouraging them to know Him, trust Him, and walk in His freedom. And this month, we want to thank you with a special resource package. You’ll receive Skip’s book, Biography of God, which helps you explore God’s nature, His power, the mystery of the Trinity, and the hope that comes from removing the false limitations we sometimes place on Him. Plus, you’ll get Skip’s six-message CD series, Expound Galatians, where Skip unpacks the book of Galatians and the freedom believers have through grace, not works. Your gift today helps bring the life-changing message of Jesus to people around the world through Connect with Skip. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com slash offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here’s more from Pastor Skip.
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And I’m going to warn you, what you’re about to hear might shock you. as being from the lips of Paul, but you’ll at least understand how cantankerous Paul can become. And it is scripture. So I make no apologies for it. Verse 12, I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off. Very strong word, cut themselves off. is a nice New King James Version way of saying castrate themselves. Oh, they’re so into circumcision, and you’re so enamored by this ritual of circumcision, and they’re so enthusiastic about circumcision, they might as well just cut the whole thing off. That’s what he’s saying. That’s a very strong sentence, one of the strongest in the New Testament. There’s a couple very strong sentences that Paul preaches. This is one of them. Now, why would he say that? Why would he say something so strong? Here’s why, perhaps. There was a cult. In Greece and throughout that region of the Greek and Roman world, there was a cult of Cybele, and the priests had themselves castrated as part of the worship system. What Paul may be saying is, you who are relying upon the law for your salvation, you’re no better off than pagans. You’re no better off than those people. Also, by saying you might as well castrate yourselves or they might as well castrate themselves, it’s like saying this belief system cannot reproduce spiritual life. It has no capacity to produce or reproduce spiritual children, spiritual offspring. It’s impotent. So it’s very, very strong. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves up, would even castrate themselves. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Now with that verse is a warning. You have liberty, but don’t let your liberty be a license to justify bad behavior. If you start saying, yeah, man, I got the liberty in Christ. I can do anything I want. Or I’m going to be immoral because I’m free to do whatever I want. I’m in Christ. I’m under grace. Don’t let your liberty become a license to justify bad behavior. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You know the words of Jesus. He talked about the greatest two commandments. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets. You want to keep the law? Love God and love people. If you can do that, you’ve done everything. The law was put in place to govern. But if you bite… and devour one another, beware lest you are consumed by one another. This is what Judaizers produced, a divided group of people. They came in, spouted this legalism, and now the church was divided into pro-Judaizers and anti-Judaizers, pro-Paul. And now they’re divided against one another and they’re biting and devouring one another. And this beautiful show of unity at one time is now a divided, dilapidated group of people. So he continues applying it. I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit or wars 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, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, evil murders, or envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in times past, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So the works of the flesh are obvious, evident. It’s pretty easy. This is not rocket science. Didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this out. People who live that lifestyle, practice these things, are not believers. So if you’re thinking preaching grace is going to let people just live however they want to live, I’ve told you before and I’m telling you again, those who practice these things show evidence that they’ve never had saving faith because they’re practicing a lifestyle that’s contrary. But the fruit of the Spirit, notice the difference between works produced by the flesh and fruit. 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’s have crucified the flesh with its passions, and evil desires. Now he says, walk in the spirit. What does that mean? The word walk is parapateo. Parapateo means to live your life, means to walk about, means to walk in a way that you are covering ground and making progress. And it is typically a metaphor for a lifestyle. So walk in the spirit, let your lifestyle, your manner of living, your conduct be in the spirit. And when you do that, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk, make progress, cover ground, not lay around in the spirit, not lounge about in the spirit, not veg in the spirit, Walk in the spirit, make that continual lifestyle progress, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. I remember as a kid, my parents taking me to Disneyland, and there’s a lot of cool things in Disneyland, even then, even in vintage days. I’m talking after it opened in the late 1950s when I first went. And I was enamored with, of all things, the shooting gallery. And I had my three brothers there and we were, you know, taking turns at shooting the little things that would pop up. And I noticed pretty quickly that you don’t aim for the ones that are moving fast. You aim for the ones that are standing still or moving slowly because you can get more points that way. People who are not making progress in their spiritual walk are much easier for Satan to pick off You’re an easy target. You’re just sitting around, you’re lounging around, you’re getting involved and distracted in these things. You’re an easy target. If you’re making strides spiritually, he’ll have a hard time bringing you down. It’s been said that the Christian life is sort of like riding a bicycle uphill. Once you stop pedaling, you go backwards. So you want to keep, by the power of the Spirit, moving forward, moving forward, moving forward. Walk in the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now the thing about the spiritual life is your spiritual life needs to be cultivated. You’re doing it right now. You’re in Bible study in the middle of the week. Some of you are in church a lot. You read your Bible every day, you pray every day, you fellowship regularly. Those are the things that help cultivate your spiritual life. Your spiritual life is like cultivating a garden. If you don’t tend to it, if you don’t add nutrients to it, if you don’t trim it, et cetera, you won’t grow beautiful flowers. Whereas, have you noticed that weeds take no cultivation? You don’t have to try. You don’t have to look at a little dandelion and go, oh, I’m going to get a whole crop of those little yellow flowers. They’ll just grow on their own. Weeds grow on their own. You have to fight to keep them out of the garden. And you have to be very intentional at cultivating a fine flower garden. So it is in the spirit. You’re saved by grace through faith. You’re kept by grace. But you walk. You are adding. You are cooperating by walking in the spirit. And when you do that, you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. If you’re busy cultivating your spiritual life, you’re moving forward. You don’t have much time for much else. And then there’s the list. The lust of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit. And we’ll finish the chapter, sort of, and then we’ll go back just a little bit next week and then finish the book. He says, and those, verse 24, who are Christ’s 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. You have two natures and so do I. You have your old nature, the one you were born with. You have a new nature, the one you were born again with. The born again you and the natural you, the old you, are always in conflict. Now you didn’t have that conflict before salvation. There was no conflict. You just did what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it. You just lived according to the old nature. But now you sense a struggle, a war, a civil war. So your spirit says, I’m gonna get up and pray. And your flesh says, sleep in a little longer. And your spirit says, go help your wife with that project. And your flesh says, relax, you deserve your own private time. your spirit says, go to church. And your flesh says, why? Is there a crisis in the world? Is it Easter? You know, right? The flesh and the spirit are always fighting with each other. So you’re sort of caught in the middle, walking in the spirit or succumbing to the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh comes naturally to you. The desires of the flesh come naturally to you. The desires of the spirit come supernaturally to you. And Paul said, I find a war within myself. There are certain things I don’t want to do. I find myself doing. There are certain things I want to do. I find myself not doing them. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from the body of this death? Then he writes right after that in the next chapter, but thanks be to God who by his spirit gives us the enablement. So that concludes chapter 5. Next time we’ll be in chapter 6, but we’ll go back a little bit just to show how fruit is developed and what he means by the works versus the fruit. And then a short 18 verses will be done with the book of Galatians.
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Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God’s Word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your support by sending you a special resource bundle, Skip’s book, Biography of God. along with his six message CD series, Expound Galatians. Together, these resources help you explore who God really is and how to live in the spiritual freedom He offers. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip. Make a connection.
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Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never changing truth in ever changing times.
