In this enlightening episode of Connect with Skip Heitzig, delve into the heart of what it means to live by the Spirit rather than the law. Pastor Skip takes us through an eye-opening exploration of how Jesus’ mission transformed the way we understand our relationship with God. Questioning the static image of Jesus in nativity displays leads to a rich discussion about His purposeful life and atoning sacrifice.
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We’re so glad you’ve tuned in today. At Connect with Skip, our passion is to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid verse-by-verse Bible teaching that’s both clear and practical. Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith and help you live out God’s truth wherever He’s placed you. But did you know that you can stay connected beyond the broadcast? When you sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional, you’ll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content and free resources to help you go deeper in God’s Word, all delivered straight to your inbox. As our thanks for your signing up today, we’ll send you a free digital download of a chapter of Skip’s book, Biography of God. It’s quick, easy, and completely free, and it’s a great way to stay rooted in truth every week. Sign up today at connectwithskip.com. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now, here’s today’s message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
SPEAKER 01 :
There was a family at Christmastime that all piled into their minivan and decided to go drive through town to look at Christmas lights. A favorite thing to do for this family, they did it every year, and they decided to drive to the downtown church which had a beautiful nativity set that they put out every year, well lit. It was always a delight for the townspeople to see it, so they drove in their minivan and drove by the nativity set in front of the church, and Grandma marveled at, commented how beautiful that nativity set always is. But one of the little boys in the family in the back seat looked at the nativity set, and like you would expect a kid to do, said, why doesn’t Jesus ever grow up? He’s the same size this year as he was last year. Well, that’s what a kid would say, probably. It’s Jesus, the same baby Jesus every year. Now what? Don’t babies grow up? Well, he did grow up. He grew up and he announced his mission. Actually, the angel told Mary what the mission would be. You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So this baby did grow up. He had a very short ministry. He died at a very early age of 33. But he came for the purpose of atonement. to pay for the sins of humanity, past, present, future. Paul the Apostle said, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. So he came to atone for sins and then to rise again from the dead, conquering death, making a way for us to conquer death because he proved it could be done. Some years ago, there was a scientist up in Canada named G.B. Hardy, and this scientist said, when it comes to religion, when I approach religion, I have two questions. Has anyone ever conquered death? Second question, if he did, did he make a way for me to conquer death? The answer to both those questions is yes. Yes, somebody came and conquered death. Yes, because he conquered death, he has made a way for you and I to conquer death. So to Paul the Apostle, this was such a monumental thing to happen, that God came in human flesh paid for our sins, rose again from the dead, and because Jesus on the cross said, tetelestai, a single word, tetelestai, paid in full, it is finished, it’s done. He didn’t say, I’m finished. He said, it is finished. He wasn’t finished. He would rise again, and he lives tonight. But it is finished. It’s paid in full. You can’t add to it. Before Jesus died and rose and ascended, he also made a promise. He said, I’m not going to leave you as orphans. I’m going to send my Holy Spirit. He’s going to come in you. He’s going to be with you. He’s going to direct you and guide you into all truth. So you’re gonna have a helper like I was to take my place, to be with all believers from that point on. The Holy Spirit will direct you. So why am I telling you all this? Because Paul will talk about the difference between trusting the law of the Old Testament and living under the New Testament, the new covenant, where we are directed and live by the Holy Spirit. It’s not a set of rules any longer. It is now a relationship. Now we are empowered to do it. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us, enabling us to do what we couldn’t do on our own. So Jeremiah the prophet is the one who predicted this new covenant. We have talked about that. Remember that passage in the Old Testament? He said, Behold, God said through Jeremiah the prophet, Behold, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Not like the covenant I made with their forefathers, the covenant of the law under Moses. But in this new covenant, I will put my law in their minds. I will write it upon their hearts. They will be directed inwardly by the Spirit, not outwardly by the law. You see the huge difference. Now these false prophets that entered the church of Galatia were known as Judaizers. They believed you had to keep the parameters of the Mosaic law in order to be right with God. A matter that had been settled by the Jerusalem church in the 15th chapter of the book of Acts, no matter, even though it was settled, they still had a bee in their bonnet and they were going to go every place Paul planted churches if they could and take that congregation and tell them, well, we’re glad that you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That’s a fine start. Now you must finish it. Even though Jesus said it is finished, they were saying you should finish what he started. And you should add to your faith certain rituals and regulations, including and especially that of circumcision. So that’s what this book is about. And you will notice… When we get to verse 16 of chapter 5, where I’m taking you back to, I know I’m taking you back a little further, but he says, I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts or wars or combats the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. 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. Notice the word order. Notice the wording of verse 16. Walk in the Spirit. He doesn’t say walk in the Spirit and you might not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Or walk in the Spirit and you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh. He said, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. I find this is the solution to dealing with the old nature. Some people fight the old nature, fight the sin nature. There’s a lot to fight. It’s a war. You never had this war until you came to Christ. Now you find yourself in a civil war before you just gave in to the flesh. but now you fight the flesh. And some people are so fixated on fighting the flesh, but the solution, the answer to fighting the flesh is to walk in the spirit. Some people that I have talked to misinterpret Christianity as a bunch of do’s and don’ts. That’s what they think we are into. Oh, I’m not into organized religion because they just give you a list of do’s and don’ts. Here’s the answer. We don’t have to worry about all the don’ts because we’re busy doing the do’s. Walking in the Spirit. Now you can think about what not to do, what not to do, what not to do, but that’s never a good solution to overcome the past, the flesh, the temptation. Rather to walk in the Spirit. See, if I were to tell you… Right now, do not think of pink unicorns. Whatever you do, under any circumstance, pink unicorns are bad. So don’t think of that pink unicorn that I keep mentioning. Well, you’re going to be thinking all night of pink unicorns. So that’s not a good solution to say, don’t do this, don’t do that. Here’s a law, don’t do this. But if I were to put a… hot fudge caramel sundae in front of you. And you see the caramel dripping down hot and the hot fudge swirling in the vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream that is spilling over the glass with nuts sprinkled on top and a cherry that’s just sort of moving back and forth. You’re not thinking about pink unicorns any longer. So if you think of the positive, the benefits, the things of the Spirit, if they occupy your thinking, they grab your attention. That’s a much better solution than worrying about what you can’t do, can’t do, can’t do. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. So this is one of Paul’s whole premises here. is the solution isn’t rule-keeping. The solution is a relationship with God, the Holy Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. You see, the law can only govern the outside of you, but not the inside. Remember, Jeremiah… The prophet recorded what God said. I’m going to write my laws in your heart. I’ll put them in your mind.
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps reach more people with clear, practical Bible teaching, changing lives as they discover who God really is. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource bundle designed to help you know God more deeply and walk in the freedom He offers. It features Skip’s book, Biography of God, a thoughtful, approachable look at God’s character, His attributes, and the hope we gain when we understand who He truly is. You’ll also receive Skip’s six-message CD series, Expound, Galatians, a verse-by-verse journey through Paul’s call to spiritual freedom. freedom from legalism, shame, and striving. We’ll send you both resources as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now let’s return to today’s teaching.
SPEAKER 01 :
The law will just keep your outside from doing certain activities. And when you don’t do those activities, you feel good, like you have done your duty, your religious duty, your religious ritual. But walking in the Spirit is totally different. So a father told his son, sit down. The son didn’t want to sit down. Father said, I said, sit down. Boy still stood up. Dad started taking his belt off. I said, sit down. Boy sat down immediately. And the father kind of had that look like, well, that worked. And the boy said, I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside. That’s the problem with the law. It only makes you sit down on the outside, not on the inside. When you have a relationship of love with God and you are directed by the Holy Spirit, when he says sit down, you say, I’d love to. I’d love to walk in the Spirit. So the law can only do a certain thing, and Paul’s contention in Galatians and Romans, it can’t fix you, it can’t cleanse you, but the Spirit can direct you. Jesus can cleanse you and the Spirit can direct you. Now, in this end of the chapter that we read last week, there’s a list of 17 works of the flesh, 17 sins of the flesh. Sensual sins, spiritual sins, social sins. That’s how I would categorize them. Followed by nine graces of the spirit. Walk in the spirit and you won’t fulfill the lusts or desires of the flesh. These are the things the flesh produced. These are the things the spirit produced. So instead of going through each one, we’ve done that on a different occasion. We’re not going to do that now. We’re going to just go through these sensual, spiritual, and social sins. I think they’re pretty self-explanatory. Verse 19, the works of the flesh are evident, obvious, which are adultery, fornication, Fornication, adultery, you’re married and you have sex out of marriage. Fornication, you have sex before marriage as a single person. That’s pretty often. It’s pretty evident. Now, in today’s culture, it’s not that evident, but in a biblically rooted culture, these things are evident. If you know your Bible, it’s evident. The works of the flesh are obvious. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry. Now the word sorcery is an interesting word in verse 20. Sorcery is the Greek word pharmakeia. We get our word pharmacy from that. It could be literally translated druggings because in ancient pagan temples, drugs were taken, pharmakeia was taken as part of the worship service by the priest and by those entering into worship. So the word pharmakeia at one time was a generic word that simply referred to medicines or substances for medicinal value. But it came to refer to mood-altering, mind-altering drugs because of the practice in the pagan temples. Galatia was in kind of pagan central territory, so that they were familiar with that. And so the idea of the Use of drugs to alter your mind or your mood is in view with this word. Idolatry, druggings, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. So he names 17, and then he just sort of leaves the last one open-ended, and stuff like this, and the like, or et cetera, et cetera, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, based on what we just read, can we agree sin is bad for your health? Sin is bad for your health, bad for your temporal, physical health, and bad for your eternal health. That’s kind of very obvious. These things are obvious or evident, and those who walk in them, that’s bad for you. These things are not good for you. So when the Bible says, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, it’s because God loves you and knows if you do that, it’s bad for you. You used to tell your children, I hope, You can’t have that. You can’t do that. Why? You don’t love me. No, it’s because I love you that I’m giving you this order. So sin is bad for your health. But what’s interesting about this is as you read the statement, it sounds very hopeless. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. I say it sounds hopeless because you go through that list and you go, ooh, well, who hasn’t done these at one time or another? Everyone’s done that. So when you do Bible interpretation, always look at the verbs. The verbs are key. The verbs are important. And the key word here is the word practice. Not fall into, not struggle with, but make it a practice or a lifestyle practice. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now I’m going to take you, just maybe place a marker here, and go with me to 1 John. Just turn right. Go down a few blocks to 1 John 3. Just keep going almost to the book of Revelation, 1 John 3. And let’s read a parallel set of verses to help understand this. Verse 8 of chapter 3 of 1 John. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Whoever has been born of God does not sin. That is put in the original language in the present tense, practicing or continually doing or operating in. So whoever has been born of God does not continually, habitually practice sin would be the full-blown sin. Original translation. That’s the idea. For his, God’s seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. If you’re walking in the spirit, you’re not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, do Christians struggle with sin? Yes. Do Christians fall into sin? Yes. Do Christians deliberately sin? Sometimes we do. But when we do… our response is like a Psalm 51 response. And you may want to mark that in the margin of your Bible and look at it later. Psalm 51, David is crying out, cleanse me, purify me, put a new heart in me. Against you and you only have I sinned. It’s that I struggle with it, I fall in it, I’ve even deliberately done it, but Lord, I don’t want to. I want to give it up and I want to follow you. So Christians may do all these things, including struggling with something for a period of time, but the response is going to be brief and one of repentance. So think of it this way. A Christian is someone to whom sin clings. An unbeliever is someone who clings to sin. Huge difference. Yes, sin still clings to you and to me, to all of us. We still struggle with it. We still fall into it, and sometimes we’ll even deliberately do it. But we hate it. It still clings to us. Why? Because, yes, we have a new nature, but we have an old nature, and they are fighting. The flesh and the spirit are fighting. So the solution, walk in the spirit, but we don’t always do it. And when we don’t always do it, there’s forgiveness. There’s restoration. So back to Galatians 5. After this list, he says, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but, and I’m glad there’s a but there because there’s some good things coming, but the fruit of the Spirit, notice that, the difference between works of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. Fruit means there’s life. Works are things from your old dead past and old dead nature. But fruit speaks of life that is in you. Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such there is no law. Now, these Judaizers who were coming into Galatia when Paul wasn’t there, so Paul had to write a letter because of it, these Judaizers were opposed to Paul’s message. What did Paul preach? He preached grace, God’s riches at Christ’s expense, unmerited, undeserved favor. Paul preached grace. The Judaizers said, well, that’s a dangerous message to preach, Paul. Because if you preach grace like you preach grace, you are basically handing people a permission slip to do whatever they want. They have liberty, like you say. They’re going to go out and do whatever they want, and what they do isn’t good. The law is what will keep you safe. It is like building a fence around the yard so that the dog doesn’t get up. So you’ve got to keep the fence up to keep your old nature contained. And Paul would say, well, no, liberty isn’t the problem. That’s not dangerous. What’s dangerous isn’t liberty. What’s dangerous is legalism. Because when you enter into legalism, you are adding to the finished work of Christ on the cross by adding your own works, and then you pat yourself on the back that you have kept the law. That’s dangerous. And Paul’s saying, besides that, if you’re walking in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If the law is written in your heart and you have a relationship, it’s based on relationship, not on rule keeping. Against such, there is no law.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, here’s a reminder. As our thanks for your gift this month, we’ll send you Skip’s book, Biography of God, along with his Six Message CD series, Expound Galatians. These two resources work together to help you understand God’s character more deeply and experience the freedom that comes from the gospel of grace. Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people with God’s Word. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your March resources. See you next time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Make a connection at the foot of the crossing
SPEAKER 02 :
Connect with Skip Heitzik is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
