Introduction: Many years ago, I was speaking to someone who had
recently come to understand grace. We were talking about the law of
God and he told me that it had no application. We agreed to disagree
on that subject. It was a year or two later that I ran into him
again. Remembering our conversation, I asked him about his views now.
He had significantly changed his mind. He still believed in grace,
but he also realized the importance of obedience. Our study this week
is about obedience. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. We died (in
Jesus) for our sins when we were baptized. But, being released from
the death penalty does not mean that we disregard obedience. Just how
does this work? Where and how are the lines drawn? Let’s dive into
our study of the Bible and learn more!
- Spirit v. Sinful Nature
- Read Galatians 5:16. After we have been saved by grace, do
we still have sinful desires? (Yes! Paul writes of the
“desires” of the sinful nature that are contrary to the
leading of the Holy Spirit.) - What is our goal? (To not “gratify” the desires of
the sinful nature.) - Doesn’t this seem just like when we were under the
law? The law told us to live in a certain way, and
our sinful nature told us to live in some other way. - Read Galatians 5:17. What do we want to do? (What our
sinful nature desires.) - How can that be? I thought that the Holy Spirit gave
us a new attitude? (I think that we will always feel
the conflict. We will always feel the pull of
temptation.) - Read Romans 7:14-20. Paul is more specific in these
verses. What is the practical problem that we find in our
lives? (We find that we do the things we do not want to
do.) - The first church in which I taught a Bible class had a
great debate among the members about grace. I recall one
member who “got” grace. He was so excited because he said
he suddenly felt free – free of the law. Is that the way
it is supposed to be? (Read Romans 8:1-2. Yes. He was no
longer under the condemnation of the law. But, I think
that he felt that he no longer needed to be concerned
about the “tension” with sin. Grace does not “kill” our
sinful nature. Sin continues to pull on our mind.) - Read Romans 8:3-4. Can we still “live according to … the
Spirit,” and have this struggle that Paul describes? (I
think that is exactly the situation for most serious
Christians.) - Read Romans 8:5-9. What does the Bible tell us to do to
live according to the Spirit? (To set our minds on what
the Spirit desires. We make choices, and this is the
important one.) - Is this legalism? Is this righteousness by works,
except this time works is a choice?(I don’t know how
grace can get more simple than a choice.) - Read Romans 8:10-11. How do our “dead” bodies become
alive? (By the same power that raised Jesus from the
grave, the power of the Holy Spirit.) - Read Romans 8:12-14. How important is this choice of
living by the Spirit or living by our sinful nature? (We
will die if we live by our sinful nature.) - Read Galatians 5:18. We have this tension in our mind
between the leading of the Spirit and the desires of our
sinful nature. How do we know when we are following the
Spirit? - In the old days some cars would have a vacuum gauge
that would turn red when you were using a lot of fuel
and turn green when you were getting good gas
mileage. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a gauge like
that so we could figure out when we are living by the
Spirit and when we are living by our sinful nature? - Notice how Paul states this. He does not say that we
are living in accordance with the temptation created
by Satan or one of his agents. Paul says that it is
our “sinful nature” or our “flesh” that pulls us into
sin. Did you ever think that it was not demons, but
rather your own sinful nature which is your worst
enemy when it comes to obedience? - Re-read Galatians 5:18. In what way are we not “under” the
law when we live by the Spirit? (We are not under the
condemnation of the law. Read again Romans 8:6-7. This
shows that while we are no longer under the condemnation
of the law, the law is still a benchmark (even if a poor
one) for living a life that brings glory to God and to
us.) - This discussion about choice makes me think that we
essentially have three choices. We can live according to
our sinful nature, we can live according to the Spirit, or
we can grit our teeth and try to obey the law. How do you
think this works as a practical matter?(The first thing I
would do to live by the Spirit is to pray that the Holy
Spirit would lead my mind. Let’s assume the temptation
you face is adultery. You could choose the attitude,
“What can I do to please my spouse today?” You could
choose the attitude, “What can I do to lure someone into
an improper relationship with me?” Or, you could choose
the attitude, “I will not even look at a woman other than
my wife, so I will not fall into temptation. I think the
first choice is the Spirit-led choice.) - Self Check
- Read Galatians 5:19-21. Do any of these acts show up in
your life? - If the answer is, “yes,” does this demonstrate that
you live by your sinful nature (as opposed to living
by the Spirit) and thus you are lost? Or, does this
simply demonstrate what Paul confessed, that he does
the things he did not want to do? - Notice the line, “those who live like this will not
inherit the Kingdom of God.” What does this tell us
about the presence of these evil acts in our life?
(We do not want any evil acts in our life, but the
problem is not falling into sin on occasion, the
problem is making these acts our lifestyle. If we
regularly live like this, we have a serious problem
that shows we have not chosen to live by the Spirit.) - Read Galatians 5:22-23. How is this list different than
the prior list? (Obviously, it lists good things as
opposed to bad things. What is critically different is
that it generally lists attitudes, not actions.) - What does the fact that the second list generally
describes attitudes tell you about living by the
Spirit? (This is key: if you choose to live by the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit will change your heart and
your mind. Your attitude toward sin will change. You
will still find the sinful nature competing for your
attention, but your changed attitude makes it less
attractive.) - Read Galatians 5:24. What does it mean to “crucify the
sinful nature?” (To crucify means to put it to a horrible
death.) - If our sinful nature is crucified, how do you account
for Romans 7:15 where Paul tells us that he does the
things he does not want to do? Is our sinful nature
like a the sinister character in a movie who keeps
coming back to frighten us? (I think the best picture
of this is found by reading Romans 7:19-8:4. What we
know for sure is that Jesus set us free from “the law
of sin and death.” Our responsibility is to keep
choosing to live by the Spirit and not our sinful
nature.) - Read Galatians 5:25. We spoke earlier about this idea of
“living” by the Spirit as opposed to by the sinful nature.
The idea is that it represents the direction of our life,
not the actions of a moment. How does Paul build on this
idea by referring to us keeping “in step with the Spirit?”
(Our Christian life is a walk. We are heading in one
direction or the other. Thus, our goal is to keep in step
with the direction of the Holy Spirit.) - Big Picture
- Read Matthew 11:28-30. Perhaps at this point you feel
discouraged because you are still contending with your
sinful nature. What does Jesus say about the burden of
following Him? (Jesus says that when you undertake the
problems of life using His power, your burden is light.
Think about the practical difference between trying to
obey to avoid death, and a partnership with God to bring
glory to Him and make your life better.) - Friend, the bad news is that you still feel tension with
sin even after you are saved by grace alone. You are free
from the death penalty imposed by the law, but you are
still obliged to choose to live by the Holy Spirit. Will
you decide, right now, that you will ask the Holy Spirit
to help you “keep in step” with His program for your life? - Next week: The Gospel and the Church.
