Fruit of The Spirit: Liberty Not Bondage

There were problems in the Galatian churches, not just the usual human problems of people, but serious problems that were affecting the testimony and the unity of the church. When you read Galatians, you find in Galatians 1:6 the cause of this problem: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel." The Galatian churches had been invaded by a group of legalists, a group of people we call the Judaizers. Their desire was to get the people to mix Old Testament law with New Testament grace. 

Now keep in mind there was grace in the Old Testament; anybody who's ever been saved has been saved by grace. But God's economy for his people under the Old Testament was an economy of law: this do and thou shalt live. With the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we find the expression and the experience of the fullness of God's grace. Well, these teachers had gotten into the Galatian churches and bewitched them. Galatians 3:1, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?" They were moving away from the grace of God and moving away from the truth of God, bewitched by a man-made system of rules and regulations, a man-made religion. 

Galatians 4:9 tells us that they were turning back: "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known by God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" So they were removing from the grace of God to law. Now as a consequence, they didn't know who their enemies were and who their friends were. Notice Galatians 4:16, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" They had now been captured, kidnapped by some legalistic system. 

Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Not only were they opposing Paul, but they were getting entangled with a system that was going to rob them of their freedom. And Paul defines this in Galatians 5:4 as fallen from grace. Doesn't mean you lose your salvation; it means you are no longer living in the atmosphere of grace. You are living in an atmosphere of law. Now, law brings out the worst in us; grace brings out the best in us. 

You see, there's something in us that when you say, "Don't do it," we want to do it. Try it out on your children or your grandchildren. But when someone does a kind thing for you—they bake you a cake, or they bring you a meal, or they take you to the store—someone does some unannounced kindness for you, you know what happens? Deep inside you want to do something nice for them. You see, law brings out the worst in us, but grace brings out the best in us. The law was given as a mirror to show us how wicked we really are. 

Now what was the result of all this? Well, the result of all this was that these people were living by flesh and not by the Spirit. You see, in Galatians 5:13: "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." Galatians 5:15, they weren't serving one another. What were they doing? "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." They must have had some marvelous church services, some wonderful business meetings. 

Then he describes in Galatians 5:19 the works of the flesh, and these were being manifest in the church. We have these in churches today: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness—on and on. You can read this list, it's a long one, seventeen different items are mentioned there. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul gives nineteen items. In 1 Timothy 1, he gives fourteen items. In Romans 1, he gives twenty-four. Our Lord mentions thirteen different things that come from the human heart in Mark 7. And there's a total of eighty-seven different kinds of sin, and if you take away the duplicates, you have about sixty-nine, and that's not the end of the list. That's not the end of the list, because the flesh is so capable of turning out sin. And of course, the result of all this is pride and competition. Galatians 5:26, "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another"—that word means challenging one another, competing with one another. It's an athletic contest. 

You see, the law says to you, "You must achieve, you must achieve," and so we start competing with each other. Who is the most spiritual Christian? Who has prayed the most prayers? Who has read the most verses? You take competition out of some churches and there wouldn't be much left. Now the law says compete; grace says, "I have already given you your position in Christ, now just conform. Be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ." The great need in our churches today is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23: "But"—notice that word but, it's a contrast—"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith"—which leads to faithfulness—"meekness, temperance" or self-control, "against such there is no law." The law cannot produce or control the fruit of the Spirit. The old nature knows no law; the new nature needs no law. And therefore, in Galatians, Paul is saying produce the fruit of the Spirit, enjoy your freedom in Christ. 

Now, what is freedom? What is really meant by this word freedom? Well, freedom is life motivated by love and governed by truth. I want to repeat that. Freedom means life motivated by love and governed by truth. Now, the law cannot give you life; only grace can give you life. Legalism means that we are motivated by fear and we're governed by man's human standards. And we live by rules and regulations instead of by relationships. 

In Galatians 1, 2, the Apostle Paul is personal and he tells about his own experience of grace. How that he who had lived under a legalistic system all of his life discovered that he truly wasn't free and he wasn't alive. Remember, freedom means life that is motivated by love and that is controlled and governed by truth. Now, when Paul the Apostle was Saul of Tarsus, he didn't have any spiritual life; all he had was conformity to law. He was zealous, he was righteous, he measured up to the standards, but his life was not motivated by love and his life was not governed by truth. When he met the Lord Jesus Christ, everything changed. He believed the truth of the Gospel, he received the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so in Galatians 1, 2, he says, "Look, I have experienced God's grace. Don't move away from the Gospel." The word Gospel is a repeated word in Galatians 1, 2, because the word Gospel is important. Ten times it is mentioned in Galatians 1, 2. Grace and the Gospel. But they were moving away from him who had called them into the grace of Christ into another gospel, but there is no other gospel. If anybody comes to your front door and says, "Now it's Jesus Christ plus our system, it's Jesus Christ plus the law of Moses, it's Jesus Christ plus keeping this or that," you say, "I'm sorry, there is no other gospel." 

There are only three possible attitudes you can have toward the law. The law can be your master; that makes you a legalist. Or the law can be your enemy; that makes you an anarchist. Or the law can be your servant; that makes you a dedicated Christian. The law was not given to be my master; the law was not given to be my enemy. The law was given to be my servant. And in these chapters, Paul points out that the purpose of the law was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these two chapters, he says, "Now let's be reasonable. How were you saved? Were you saved by keeping the law or by the hearing of the Gospel and believing in Jesus Christ?"

Well, the answer is obvious: we're saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, "Let's talk about Abraham. How was Abraham saved? He was saved by faith." He goes on to say, "Look, God gave the promise of salvation to Abraham long before he gave the law to Moses. The law that he gave to Moses cannot cancel the promise." Well, that's logical. Then he talks about why the Lord Jesus Christ came. Galatians 4, to deliver us from bondage, to redeem us who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Now, we've been adopted, we're God's children. While you must have rules and regulations and standards in your home, they are merely servants to express your love. God's law is a holy law, and if we break God's holy law, we suffer for it. But God's law is a mirror that reveals the dirt on our face. In these chapters, Paul is emphasizing one thing: God saved us by giving us life. Life produces fruit. Law is not what produces fruit. It's when you get life on the inside, then that life is motivated by love and that love is controlled by God's truth. Then you have freedom, and then you can produce the fruit of the Spirit to the glory of God.

We pray daily, "Oh God, help me to be spiritual." What do we mean by this? Well, to the legalist, being spiritual means conforming to certain codes, certain rules and regulations, purely external. But according to the word of God, being spiritual means your life depends upon the Holy Spirit of God. Galatians 5 and 6 are very practical, and in those two chapters, Paul discusses grace and the Christian life. 

Now he tells us that there are four basic characteristics of a spiritual Christian. Number one: a spiritual Christian enjoys liberty and not bondage. Galatians 5:1-12. There are a lot of people who do not want liberty; they're afraid of freedom. Freedom means they have to make decisions. Then in Galatians 5:13-26, he says he lives by the Spirit and not the flesh. The controlling force of the spiritual Christian's life is the Holy Spirit of God. You say, "Now wait just a minute. Doesn't the law of God enable us to do the will of God?" Well, the problem with the law is this: the law is the thing that gives strength to sin. Now this bothers some people, but it's true. 1 Corinthians 15:56, "the strength of sin is the law." Doesn't say the victory over sin is the law. That was 1 Corinthians 15:56, "the strength of sin is the law." You tell a child he's not to do something and you arouse in him the power to fight you and say, "I'm going to do it anyway." In fact, our world is full of adults like that. 

So the Spirit, not the flesh, controls the life of the spiritual believer. Thirdly, in Galatians 6:1-10, the spiritual Christian lives for others, not for himself. Legalistic people are always competing with others. Paul told them in Galatians 5:15, "if ye bite and devour one another." In Galatians 5:26, "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another." And that word provoking means challenging one another. It's the result of conceit. Are you better than I am or worse than I am? Competition, there's a lot of that going on. And so the spiritual Christian lives for others and not for himself, Galatians 6:1-10. And finally, in the rest of this beautiful letter, Galatians 6:11-18, he lives for God's glory and not for the praise of men. 

Now let's talk about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Galatians 5:11: "And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased." These legalists did not want to have anything to do with the cross. "I would they were even cut off which trouble you," upset you. "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; but use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." 

Now in Galatians 5:11-15, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit enables us to fulfill God's law. You see, we are not called to law, we are called to liberty. Galatians 5:1 told us that: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage." If you and I want to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, it's not going to come through obeying laws, following rules and regulations. That is an artificial kind of piety. The Holy Spirit of God enables us to fulfill God's law. 

Now how does he do this? Well, he does it by producing in our lives this beautiful fruit of the Spirit, the first of which is love. By love serve one another. All of the law is fulfilled in this one word, this one statement: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. If we are walking in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God enables us to fulfill God's law. It's a beautiful thing. The Holy Spirit of God living in you enables you to fulfill God's law. 

Now secondly, in Galatians 5:16-21, the Holy Spirit of God enables us to overcome the flesh. Fulfilling God's law, that's meeting God's standard. Overcoming the flesh, that's quite something else. Galatians 5:16: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit"—and that means walk in harmony with the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit, make progress in the Spirit—"and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." You see, it's one thing to say, "I will be what God wants me to be," it's quite something else to do that. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." In other words, there's a conflict going on. "But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." And that verb led means willingly led. If you are willingly led by the Holy Spirit, then you don't have to worry about the law. The Holy Spirit of God puts within you this new life. 

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these—and here they are, and you'll find them wherever you look: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, wrath, factions, seditions, dissensions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and the like. Now, how do we overcome these things? Walking in the Spirit. The old nature knows no law. Someone says, "Today I will not be jealous," and the more you think about that, the more jealous you become. "Today I will not get involved in losing my temper," and the more you think about that, the more you lose your temper. As we are willingly led by the Spirit and as we are crucified by yielding to Jesus Christ, Galatians 5:24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Now it doesn't mean that my old nature is dead; my old nature is very much alive. It means I am dead to my old nature, just like when you get married, all those other girlfriends just drop away. They're still there, ah, but a new love and a new life has come in, and that makes such a difference. 

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit of God not only helps us to fulfill God's law and to overcome the flesh, but the Holy Spirit enables us to produce Christian character. It's not enough to say no to murder; I have to love my brother. It's not enough to say no to selfishness; I must practice goodness. It's not enough to say no to meanness; I must show gentleness. Many Christians are known only for the things they do not do. Now the fruit of the Spirit is positive. Galatians 5:22: "But"—in contrast to these works of the flesh—"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith"—which leads to faithfulness—"meekness, temperance" or self-control, "against such there is no law." The law cannot produce life, and the law cannot transform my life; only the grace of God can do that. The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law. He's talking about Christian character, not just conduct—character. 

Character that is like fruit. Fruit comes from life; fruit doesn't come from machinery. The works of the flesh are dead, they come from the old flesh, but the fruit of the Spirit is alive. Where there is fruit, there is life. Where there's fruit, there has to be cultivation. Where there's fruit, there has to be seed. As you and I sow the seed of the word of God in our hearts, as we walk in the light and walk in the Spirit, as God rains his grace down upon our hearts, then this fruit is produced. Oh, do you see how beautiful it is? Not my striving, but his working in our lives. Only God can produce fruit. God says to you, "Be fruitful and multiply." It's not a matter of comparing myself with you, or you comparing yourself with me. It's a matter of walking with the Holy Spirit of God and letting him produce his fruit in our lives moment by moment.