Living in Lordship

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

REMINDER: Communion Cups!!

INTRO: You ever look at your life and think, “I just can’t do it”? You feel like you are never going to get it right, and - truth be told- you’re not real sure what right is supposed to look like.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been examining Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We’ve spent a good bit of time talking about how we are saved by grace through faith. Paul has been rebuking the Galatian church because they had been taken in by false teachers known as Judaizers. They had gone from the true gospel to a false gospel where they were trying to earn their righteousness, which as we know, is impossible.

Last week we talked about preserving freedom. Now, perhaps you got home and began to ask yourself, “Am I really free?” Or, as someone pointed out, Paul calls himself a slave to Christ… so is he free? Are we free?

The thing we must recognize is that freedom is when our values are in line with the directives we obey. So, for instance, in America we live free because we value the life and thus are in full agreement with the prohibition to take the life of another. As Christians, we are free because our values, which are led by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, are in line with Gods.

This is that big idea we spoke about a few weeks ago where we discussed being crucified with Christ. When we are convinced of the truth of WHO God is- Powerful, just, holy, good, etc. and we are made aware of our brokenness - that we are sinners who stand in opposition to this God, we are given the unique opportunity to turn away from our rebellion and accept Jesus as our Lord.

BTW- When we say Jesus Christ, we are acknowledging that Jesus is the sovereign lord. Christ is not his last name, but rather the designation that He is the Messiah- the King who reigns forever.

When we repent of our sins and call upon Jesus as Lord, we are crucifying the old, sinful life and taking up the identity as a citizen of God’s Kingdom. As a citizen, we are free so long as our values align with the King. This alignment happens as we surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we know His character and His desire for us, the more perfectly our values align.

ILL: You might picture a narrow path- that’s what Jesus calls Christianity (Matt. 7:13-14). On one side, is the dangerous trappings of the bondage of sin- our natural tendency to rebel against God. On the other, the snares of legalism and self-righteousness as man attempts to earn salvation.

But that path, though narrow, is the path that we are called to as Christians. This is the part that makes us think, “I just can’t do it.” And you know what, you are right. Because to be on this path, you need a guide. That guide is the Holy Spirit, and the path is called “Lordship.”

Now, we’ve alluded to Lordship a few times in our study, but today we come to the climax of this book where we will take a closer look at the narrow path named Lordship. Lordship simply means that we live our lives under the supreme authority of Jesus Christ. We value what He values, and our lives are a reflection of that truth. Through this section of Scripture, my aim is to help you understand exactly what it means to live as a Christian, that is, to Live In Lordship.

I invite you to take your bulletin and open to the sermon guide and follow along as we learn together. The message is entitled “Living in Lordship: 3 truths about the Christian Life”

The first truth that you need to understand about the Christian life is:

Lordship is War (16-18)

Now, you might think this sounds a bit exaggerated, but let’s look at verses together, and you can decide for yourself. (READ)

Verses 16 & 18 let us know that when we are led by the Spirit, that is in surrender to God’s will, we live our life under the authority of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us as believers in Him, if we are led by the Spirit, then we will not carry out the lawless desires of the flesh nor will we be in bondage to the Law. We are on that narrow path.

In between those, we have verse 17, which says that the flesh, that is the sinful, rebellious desire of our fallen humanity is vehemently opposed to the Spirit which lives in us.

Likewise, the Spirit is opposed to the flesh because the Holiness of God cannot tolerate sin.

Paul gives us insight into this in Romans 7, where he confesses his own war. He says, and I’ll paraphrase, “I know what is good, and I agree that it is good. I also know what is bad- that which is in opposition to God’s character and I agree that it is bad. Yet, I find myself abstaining from doing the good that I ought to do and acting out the bad which I know I should abstain from.

Now, let me try and shed a little light on this. Even as we have died to sin, sin no longer rules our lives. Yet, sin remains in this body until the time of Christ’s return when we are given new bodies that will be completely without sin. Our sinful flesh is still stained with the propensity to sin. Paul explains that in Romans 6. Now, because we have sin in us, and the Spirit of God in us, we are literally a walking battle-field.

It is for this reason we can have the desire to do what is right or abstain from sinful actions, yet find ourselves stumbling and looking at ourselves in the mirror in disgust.

ILL: Do you ever have those days where you are doing good— you know, you have enjoyed time in God’s Word, you’ve ministered to another family, and then you come home and before you know it you have this outburst of anger at your kids because they are bickering or you lose your cool with the dog who nearly tripped you as you came in? That ever happen to you? You think, whoa… I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is that war in you.

Constantly your flesh is distracting you from time in prayer… Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain and left them to pray, but their weak flesh led them to sleep instead. Your flesh is constantly deceiving you about your need to get in a small group. “Aw, you don’t need that… that’s for weak Christians...” Constantly, your flesh is tempted by the world and you find yourself pulled into that sin, quenching the Holy Spirit that tugs at your conscience...

At the same time, the Spirit is at war with your flesh, showing you the truth about who God is and who you are in Him. He is reminding you about your new identity in God’s family, reminding you of the cross of Jesus where your sins have been nailed. He reminds you of the promise of God to deliver you from temptation and the victory over sin that you have in Christ.

While this war rages inside of each of us, Paul says that we are to respond in submission to the Spirit, not the flesh. What we obey is what is master over us (Rom. 6:16). That is what Lordship is: giving God supreme authority over all of our life.

Lordship is indeed a war between flesh and Spirit that will rage on in us until we leave this world. Even so, Paul goes on to explain that:

Discuss: How have you experienced this war between flesh and Spirit? In what ways can you choose to “walk by the Spirit?”

Lordship is Transformation (19-24)

In these next verses Paul describes the external manifestations of both flesh and Spirit in our lives. Let’s read about the deeds of the flesh again (READ 19-21)

This is a list that describes the fruit of a life who is not under Christ’s lordship. It’s not a complete list, as Paul adds “and things like these” in v. 21. There are both actions and attitudes described, which affirms Jesus’ teaching that our sin is rooted in our heart and displayed through our hands.

Now, we won’t go into describing or condemning each of these manifestations of sin. Every person in here is pulled into sin from time to time and I believe that some of those sins are listed in these verses... that is that war we were talking about a minute ago.

What we need to recognize is that a life where deeds like these are in practice- that is, they are habitually present, is a life that is not under the Lordship of Christ, and therefore a life that will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

*Now, let me say this: Lordship is a process. The more I get to know my Lord, the more of my life I surrender over to Him. Salvation is an instantaneous event. But Lordship is our progressive surrender as we are being made more like Jesus.

This list is not given so that we might go around and start giving report cards to one another. Instead, it is meant to help us see our own life in relation to the call to walk by the Spirit. Are these present in your life? If they are and you do not abhor them, it is your flesh talking.

These deeds of the flesh are set against what Paul refers to as the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s read 22-23 (READ)

ILL: When my kids were smaller, they learned songs about the Fruit of the Spirit… I asked both of them if they’d sing them for us, but they denied my request. Someone even did a trunk at trunk-n- treat about fruit of the Spirit.

These fruit are all the marks of one who is surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. In fact, Jesus describes something similar in Matthew 5, what we call the Beatitudes. This is what a believer’s life looks like.

And, while we could spend a great deal of time drilling down into each character-fruit, what we need to grasp is that these are not things we can produce on our own.

That is what they are called “Fruit of the Spirit”. We are only fruitful if the Holy Spirit is in us, leading us. Just as a tree can only produce fruit if it has life, we are dead without the Spirit of God in us. Dead trees don’t produce fruit. It’s not about degrees, positions, or talents, but instead it’s about Lordship.

When we are surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, we have put to death the flesh and its desires (READ v.24).

This is the transformation. We were dead and our life was full of sin. BUT, because of Christ, we are alive, and fruit comes forth through our lives!

Discuss: What evidences of Lordship are present in your life? What areas have you not surrendered to Jesus?

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: The Fifth Freedom (Galatians 5:13–26)

We must remember that this fruit is produced to be eaten, not to be admired and put on display. People around us are starving for love, joy, peace, and all the other graces of the Spirit. When they find them in our lives, they know that we have something they lack. We do not bear fruit for our own consumption; we bear fruit that others might be fed and helped, and that Christ might be glorified.

Lordship is a war and a transformation. But finally, Paul teaches that

Lordship is Dependence (25-26)

Let me read these final verses once again (READ 25-26)

Here is what Paul is saying. Since we have trusted in the work if Christ to rescue us, Holy Spirit to convict us, to seal us, to indwell us, then we also must lean on the Holy Spirit to guide us every day of our life.

I know many who call themselves Christians, but do not walk in the Lordship of Jesus. They say that they believe that Jesus died for their sins, but that’s where their faith stops.

The Galatians, as we’ve learned trusted in the Gospel for salvation, but were led by false teachers to try and live according to man’s rules. We do the same thing… we tell ourselves we are checking off the right boxes, but we, much like the church in Ephesus (Rev.2:4), have left our first love.

Everybody wants a savior, but nobody wants a lord. We have faith for our rescue, but enough faith to follow Christ.

ILL: I’m reminded of the Israelites after they were freed from Egypt. They were literal slaves, who literally walked through the the sea that God parted, yet they would be traveling along and start crying, “God brought us out here just to let us starve to death!” They trusted God to deliver them, but not to lead them.

But friends, this is where we need to recognize the call of Jesus.

Luke 9:23 NASB95

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

This call to follow Christ is impossible on our own. We cannot do it. BUT, God poured out His spirit upon us, enabling us to believe in Him and set us on the path of righteousness. If the Spirit of God is living in you, then how could you live in any other way except under His Lordship?

When we deny ourselves, we depend on God. Are you living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ this morning?

Discuss: How do we learn to depend upon the Holy Spirit? What does that look like practically?

This morning, a we prepare to close our time, I want to invite you to prepare your hearts for the observance of the Lord’s Supper. We partake of this ordinance as a testimony to our place in God’s Kingdom- that is, we are proclaiming that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus our king, we are adopted into His family and thus we live in Lordship Surrender to Him.

As the music plays, let us take a moment before we take of the bread and cup to reflect upon our salvation, repent of our sins, and rededicate our lives to the Lordship of Jesus.

Let us pray:

In order to partake, you must be a born-again believer who has been baptized

Who has no un-confessed sin in their lives

Who has no unforgiveness towards another

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