"Walking in the Spirit (Not the Flesh) (Galatians 5:19-25)", Will DuVal | 11/2/25

Galatians 5:19-25 | 11/2/25 | Will DuVal

If my voice is struggling this morning, it is not ONLY due to my lingering respiratory virus, but because I used up what little voice I DID have yesterday yelling directions at both my kindergarten boys’ soccer team, and subsequently, my fourth grade girls’ volleyball team. The most frustrating part of being a coach is seeing exactly what your players need to do to succeed, and trying your hardest to COMMUNICATE it to them - “Clear it toward the sideline!” “Don’t just REACH; move your FEET to the ball!” - but having no power to actually ACTIVATE that change; all I can do is YELL, and then hope for the best. 

Well according to the apostle PAUL, now at the end of chapter FIVE of his wonderful letter to the GALATIANS we’ve been studying together these past TWELVE weeks now, coaching youth sports is an INSUFFICIENT illustration for the way the HOLY SPIRIT leads God’s PEOPLE. Yes, like a coach, the Spirit does bark out ORDERS; that’s the imagery of v25 we looked at last week, where Paul says, “let us keep in STEP with the Spirit”. And we noted the Greek verb there comes from the military; “the Holy Spirit is God’s drill sergeant. He keeps us in line… as we run in step with his commands” (Ryken, 239).

But instead of being stuck on the SIDELINES, passively hoping, the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in our very HEARTS, animating and EMPOWERING us for the work He CALLS us to. Maybe a better metaphor then: we just watched IRONMAN recently; you know the “arc reactor”, the energy source at the core, his HEART, that POWERS Tony Stark’s amazing suit: that’s the Holy Spirit. And what does he EMPOWER, specifically? If the arc reactor can activate repulsor jet propulsion, electromagnetic defense shielding, and laser & unibeam weaponry, (pretty cool! but) I think we could argue that the Holy SPIRIT actually offers us an even GREATER power; the power of LOVE. The power of JOY in the midst of trials, PEACE in the midst of turmoil, PATIENCE in the midst of frustration. 

But just like Ironman, the only way we benefit from the POWER of the Holy Spirit in us, is when we “put on” the “SUIT”; over in Ephesians 4, Paul instructs us to “put off your old self… and be renewed in the spirit… to put on the new self”. Here in Galatians 5, he calls us to “walk BY the Spirit” (v16), to be “LED by the Spirit” (v18), to “CRUCIFY the flesh” (v24) so we can “keep in STEP with the Spirit” because “we LIVE by the Spirit” (v25). 

And we talked about that at length LAST week: how we die to our flesh so we can live to God’s Spirit (actually, Paul’s verbs are much STRONGER than that here: we don’t just “DIE to”; we actively “CRUCIFY” our old sinful nature! And we don’t just “LIVE to”; we must actively WALK IN God’s Spirit). That was last week in vv16-18: Spirit vs. flesh. 

But this morning in vv19-23 now, we’re gonna see what the RESULT of it is; actually, what BOTH results are: you keep walking in the FLESH - HERE is the result (vv19-21; the “WORKS” of the flesh); but if we walk by the SPIRIT, we’ll see the FRUIT of THAT as well, in vv22 & 23. 

And I’m gonna make the case that these are ANTIPODAL lists; they are 100% INVERSELY related. Each of the NINE virtues of the fruit of the Spirit here finds its OPPOSITE vice amongst the 15 “works of the FLESH” Paul lists. He’s already TOLD us in v17 that the DESIRES of the flesh and Spirit are “OPPOSED”, OPPOSITE each other; now he’s gonna show us “so too are their RESULTS, their “fruits”. 

By the way, Paul COULD have called it the “FRUIT of the flesh”; JESUS says in Matthew 7, “You know a TREE by its FRUIT”. And then he contrasts the GOOD fruit (or actions) of good TREES (or, a good HEART, that’s been TRANSFORMED by the Holy Spirit)... he contrasts it with the BAD fruit (works) of BAD trees (a heart still enslaved to the FLESH, the old sinful nature).  

So why does PAUL here in Galatians 5 contrast good fruit with bad WORKS instead? 

Because “fruit” connotes LIFE.  (John Piper, “Look at the Book: Galatians 5”) Fruit comes FROM life (a living tree) and it GIVES life to those who EAT it. Romans 8:2 says “the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus”, whereas the FLESH brings nothing but DEATH to those who indulge it. So Paul doesn’t want ANY confusion here: Jesus came that we might have LIFE to the fullest (Jn 10:10), and only His SPIRIT living IN us can make it POSSIBLE. 

So if anything, we might think of this as the “fruit of the Spirit” in contrast to the WEEDS of the flesh (Ryken, 234). Each of these SLICES, we might say, of the good fruit, has a different “opposing” (v17) WEED that wants to grow up around it, and choke OUT its growth in your life. Paul says, “Don’t LET it! Grab your spiritual Round-Up and KILL that weed of the flesh… so you can LIVE by the Spirit instead”. 

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  (SCRIPTURE:) Alright, let’s read the passage together now; Would you STAND with me as you’re able… Galatians 5:19-25 [Bibles… Info Bar…]:

  “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

  This is the word of God… Seated…

  Now before we examine the fruit and the weeds, I want to point out two insights about what Paul says on either SIDE of both lists here; he subtly includes two ADDITIONAL pairs of contrasts:

  First, consider how the PLURAL nature of the “WORKS” of the flesh compares to the SINGULAR “fruit” of the Spirit. What might we GLEAN from such a juxtaposition? 

  Well, for one thing, there are a whole lot more ways out there to SIN than there are to OBEY the Lord. Paul lists FIFTEEN works of the flesh, and then adds in v21, “and things LIKE these” so we know he could have kept on ADDING to the list! And indeed, other “vice lists” in the New Testament DO add: “evil thoughts… theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit… slander, pride, foolishness” (Mk 7:21-22); “malice…  gossip, hatred of God, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, disobedience to parents… faithless(ness), heartless(ness), ruthless(ness)” (Rom 1:29-31); being “lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure… abusive… ungrateful, unholy, unappeasable… brutal… treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit” (2 Tim 3:2-5 ); “men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,[a] liars, perjurers, and whatever ELSE is contrary to sound[b] doctrine” (1 Tim 1:9-10)!

  Friends, there are LOTS of ways to walk OUT of step with the Spirit, and walk in the FLESH in any given situation, but only ONE way to OBEY, and display the FRUIT (singular) of the Spirit.

  But MORE than that, the singularity of the “fruit” points us to the wholeness and HARMONY of the Spirit-filled life. The INTEGRITY - integrity means “SOUNDNESS all the way THROUGH”; you want structural INTEGRITY in the FOUNDATION of your house, right? Just one CRACK can be CATASTROPHIC. Your foundation is only as STURDY as its weakest POINT. Similarly, JD Greear points out, “You are only as MATURE as your most IMMATURE spiritual fruit… these are not separate virtues you staple onto your life, but the collective evidence of Christ in you. If he’s in you, they will all start to appear!” (“Freed to be Alive” sermon). He says:

   “Sometimes we confuse personality traits for spiritual fruits. For example, we see a Christian more stoic by nature, so we look at them and say, “Now that person has patience.” But they’re not joyful or kind. Or a Christian who is really gentle and kind to others, but they never tell people about Jesus. Or another who is bold [in evangelism], but with no kindness. [Greear notes] That means these are likely just personality traits, not gospel fruit. Where Jesus is, all the fruits grow as one. When he is there, you’ll be bold and kind… patient and joyful… So when you observe an area of your life where you are fruitless, this is an area where you have yet to believe and apply the gospel to your life.”

  Philip Ryken further differentiates the fruit of the Spirit from the GIFTS of the Spirit: “Most Christians have only a handful of [spiritual] gifts. But one does not pick and choose among spiritual fruit… there is only one fruit, which every Christian produces, albeit in varying quantities and with different degrees of sweetness… The fruit of the Spirit is one whole spiritual life that is rooted in the one Spirit of God.”

  So: plural “works” vs singular “fruit”. But the SECOND contrast Paul makes here - before we even dive into his two lists - is in the OUTCOME of each way of life. We can LIVE “one whole spiritual life rooted in the Spirit”... OR we can walk in the FLESH. And Paul is crystal CLEAR with us here about the CONSEQUENCES of each: he concludes his list of FLESHLY works with this word of WARNING in v21: “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Indulging the FLESH leads to DEATH!

  Now I mentioned LAST week that the Greek verb Paul uses here - prassontes - “indicates habitual action,” Ryken notes (231-2):

  “...not an occasional lapse. Paul is not talking about Christians who from time to time commit one of these sins against their better judgment, all the while knowing that they are grieving the Holy Spirit and wishing that they could stop. Rather, he is talking about people whose lives are dominated by sin… But what about Christians who feel that they are dominated by an addictive sin such as pornography or [alcoholism]? They should heed Paul’s warning that people who live this way will not inherit [HEAVEN]. But they should not despair. The very fact that they are concerned about their spiritual condition shows that the Spirit is [still] at work.”

  But friends, if you have CEASED to be “concerned” when you GRIEVE the Holy Spirit, and ALLOWED your life to be “DOMINATED” by a besetting sin all over again: BEWARE! REPENT this morning; return to Christ, and walk by the Spirit.

  Because the outcome of the SPIRIT-filled life is just that: LIFE! V25: “we LIVE by the Spirit”; I suspect Paul, as a good Jew, might have had Deuteronomy 28 in mind here, where God, through Moses, and after He has not only given Israel the Law, but then REMINDED them of it a SECOND time (that’s what Deuteronomy MEANS, “second law”), then He lists for them the “BLESSINGS” for obedience, and the CURSES for DIS-obedience. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (30:15) Obey and live, or DIS-obey and DIE. Remember, the Galatians, under the influence of the Judaizers, had become OBSESSED with the Law. So Paul said back in v14: “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: LOVE”. Now he says in v23, “You wanna follow the law? Walk in the fruit of the Spirit. Because ‘against such things there is no law’.” Moreover, it’ll finally bring you the LIFE that you could NEVER get by trying to follow the old law in your OWN power.  

  Alright, let’s finally turn our attention to the LISTS now. And I wanna do THREE things with each of these NINE virtues (and the contrasting “weeds”) Paul offers us here: I want to first 1) DEFINE them, because in many cases, the English translation doesn’t do justice to the more expansive meaning of the Greek word; then secondly, I’ll 2) CROSS-REFERENCE and pull in a handful of supporting Scriptures from elsewhere in the Bible, to build out a fuller biblical picture of each of these virtues; and then finally, I’m gonna offer you a brief 3) ILLUSTRATION of what each one could look like in practice, in our personal lives, to the extent we are in fact walking by the Spirit. Cuz after all, “WALKING” is ACTION. The fruit isn’t so much about how we FEEL as what we DO. Remember, Paul exhorted us LAST week to “use our freedom as an opportunity… [to] serve one another”, ACTION. NEXT week, he throws in about a DOZEN imperative verbs to OPEN ch6 - “restore”, “bear with”, SHARE with”, “do GOOD to everyone” - it’s all ABOUT love in action. And that’s the context HERE as well. 

  Okay: #1) By God’s Spirit, we walk in LOVE (not ENMITY).

  The opposite of LOVE is ENMITY. And since Paul starts with the FLESH, we will TOO. (Always better to end on a POSITIVE note.)

  So, what is “ENMITY”? In a word, it’s HATRED. Hostility. Ryken notes that (230): “The Greek word (echtra) is closely related to the word for ‘enemy’.” So enmity refers to how you treat an “enemy”: with hatred, hostility. 

  Perhaps someone on the other side of the POLITICAL aisle? Enmity FLOODS our social media feeds and our cable news panels these days. Because hatred SELLS. The best way to rally a base is against a common…? [ENEMY]. 

  But here comes JESUS, commanding us to “LOVE your enemies” (Mt 5:44). And what is LOVE? [Don’t answer, “Baby don’t hurt me…”] No, how did JESUS define love? 

  We discussed it at LENGTH last week, with Paul’s command in v13 to “serve one another THROUGH LOVE”, so I won’t belabor it here. But just to summarize: “Greater LOVE”, Jesus said, “has NO one than this: to lay down your LIFE” for another. Love is more than a feeling; it is action. Specifically, the act of laying down YOUR OWN wants and needs, even your LIFE, for the sake of the other. Love is acting in another’s best interest, even at great personal cost to yourself. And Jesus of course EPITOMIZED love for us on the CROSS: laying down HIS life that we might receive ETERNAL life. 

  Now, as for pulling in other passages where the Bible talks about LOVE, as is the case with ALL these virtues, there’s just too many to mention; 684 hits for “love” in my ESV Concordance. But let’s at least consider the quintessential text: 1 Corinthians 13, the so-called “love chapter”. And we won’t read it ALL, but what I want to at least SHOW you is why so MANY commentators make the argument that “All of the other fruit of the Spirit is actually just an outgrowth of love.” (Warren Wiersbe, NT Commentary, p576). Some will say THAT’s why “fruit” is singular in v21, and why the list STARTS with “LOVE”, because the REST of it really just boils down to LOVE. Paul already TOLD us that “the whole law is fulfilled in (this) one word: “LOVE”.” (v14) And his DESCRIPTION of love in 1 Corinthians 13 seems to corroborate that: 

  -“Love is patient and kind” (v4); there’s TWO of the remaining 8 virtues right off the BAT. 

  -“love does not envy” - on the contrary, it is CONTENT and therefore JOYFUL (we’ll come back to that in a moment…)

  -love does not “boast; it’s not arrogant” - rather, it is MEEK, humble (a better translation of “gentleness”

  -love ”is not irritable or resentful” - instead, it is PEACE-ful

  -”it does not rejoice at wrongdoing” - but rejoices in GOODNESS. 

  - Love ”believes all things, hopes all things. It never ends.” - cuz love is FAITHFULNESS.

  -”Love bears all things… endures all things”: cuz love is SELF-CONTROL.

  So there you HAVE it: you want ALL the fruit of the Spirit? Get LOVE! Because, as Paul concludes that great chapter, “the GREATEST of these (virtues) is LOVE” (13:13). Or as he OPENED it: you can have the WHOLE WORLD, but if you have not LOVE, you have NOTHING (13:3). 

  So what does it look like PRACTICALLY in your daily life, to “lay down your life” for those around you? 

  -It means rolling up your sleeves after dinner and doing the dishes, even though you had a REALLY long day at the office, cuz you know your WIFE had a long day too. So you die to self for her. 

  -It means getting on the ground with your kids, and playing “fairy princesses” even though it’s not really your JAM and there’s a big GAME on, but it’s THEIR jam. So you DIE for them. 

  -It means taking the heat for that mistake at work, even though it was one of your team members’ fault, but you oversee him and could have caught it, or given him clearer instructions, so you take the blame instead of throwing him under the bus.  

  -It means splurging for the PREMIUM candy bars at Halloween, even though chocolate prices are high; you die to self for the neighbor kids. 

  And in a THOUSAND other, mostly TINY ways, we have the chance and the choice, every single day, to live for self, or DIE to self to serve OTHERS instead. Someone asked for the “After the Sermon” podcast last week: “How do we BALANCE love for others while setting appropriate BOUNDARIES for our own well-being?” You know one word you won’t find anywhere in the Bible? BOUNDARIES. (well, technically, it references “land boundaries” 9 times, but…) What was the “boundary” of CHRIST’S love? The CROSS! Not a lot of “balance” with his own personal well-being!

  Now, before you say, “THAT’s the kind of preaching that keeps people in ABUSIVE relationships”, remember the DEFINITION of love: “acting in another’s BEST INTEREST, even at great cost to yourself”. Is it actually BEST even for your ABUSER to keep giving him more opportunities to go on SINNING? No! Is it really “loving” to keep rescuing your addict child from the consequences of their actions, and thereby ENABLING their addiction? No! At some point, boundaries DO come into play, but love means you put ‘em up as much for THE OTHERS’ sake as your OWN. 

  By God’s Spirit, we CRUCIFY ENMITY, and we walk in LOVE.

  1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

  Colossians 3:14 “And above all these (virtues) put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” 

  1 Corinthians 16:14 “​​Let all that you do be done in love.”

  #2- By God’s Spirit, we walk in JOY (not JEALOUSY / ENVY).

  Ryken explains that “jealousy”, or zelos in Greek, refers to “the wrong kind of zeal, such as Paul had before he became a Christian” (233); “as to zeal, y[Paul confessed, I was] a persecutor of the church”. Someone else boils your blood. 

  ENVY, similarly, is “be[ing] unhappy when others succeed.” 

  Some distinguish them by defining “jealousy” as “not wanting others to have what I have”, while “envy” is “when I want what someone else has”. 

  In ANY case, what do they have in common? A horizontal discontentment. They both amount to disgruntlement stemming from toxic interpersonal comparison. I look **THIS** way, and I get UNHAPPY. 

  Joy, on the other hand, is looking **THIS** way, vertically, and being HAPPY; MORE than “happiness”, it is CONTENTMENT. Divine contentment that is rooted in the LORD. 

  Where REGARDLESS of circumstances, we can “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4).

  Because we know, as the psalmist exulted, “in your presence (Lord) there is fullness of joy” (Ps 16:11).

  We can even “Count it all joy… when [we] meet trials of all kinds” (Ja 1:2), because “the joy of the LORD is our strength” (Neh 8:10). 

  Tim Keller defines joy as “delight in God for the intrinsic value of who he is” (“Galatians 5” sermon). See, if our delight, our contentment in life, is truly derived from and grounded IN who GOD is, then it need not change through the ups and downs of life, because GOD never changes. 

  So what does JOY look like, in day to day life? A true Christian can only ever get so negative about life. When you know the God who created and sovereignly rules over EVERYTHING loved a wicked SINNER like YOU so much he sent his own SON to DIE for you - to ADOPT you as his CHILD?! And now every BLESSING that belongs to JESUS is also YOURS… FOREVER?! When you know He’s working ALL things together for your good, and the WORST thing life can throw at you - DEATH - now means you get to go home and be WITH your heavenly Father, in whose presence there is ETERNAL joy. 

  That’s what we REMIND ourselves of in the midst of all the horizontal discontentments of this life: our unshakable, settled, vertical HOPE. That’s what joy is MOST closely related to: HOPE. Paul prayed for the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy… in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Rom 15:13) When God fills us with JOY - joy that comes from BELIEVING; trusting and living all of life in LIGHT of God’s promises - then we necessarily ABOUND in HOPE.  

  #3- By God’s Spirit, we walk in PEACE (not STRIFE or DISUNITY).

  “Strife” means “quarrel or discord”

  And “disunity” is my shorthand for Paul’s “dissentions” and “divisions” here, which Ryken also combines and defines collectively as “taking sides so as to create unnecessary conflict.” 

  So altogether, we’re talking about: “adversarial relationships; being at ODDS” with. 

  …As OPPOSED to, being at PEACE. Which primarily refers to interpersonal harmony, and only secondarily to internal tranquility. Because according to God’s word, the only way we GET true INNER peace, personally, is by first achieving RELATIONAL reconciliation and harmony with GOD. 

  When “in Christ Jesus”, Ephesians 2 celebrates, “(we) who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself IS our peace… that he might mak(e) peace, and might reconcile us… to God… through the cross” (2:13-16). THEN we have peace. 

  Or Romans 5:1: “since we have been justified by faith, we (now) have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

  Once you KNOW that “The Lord bless(es) you and keep(s) you [instead of CURSING you and CASTING you off, in your SIN; that he…] make(s) his face to shine upon you… and give(s) you peace,” only THEN can you TRULY enjoy peace (Num 6:24-25).

  A peace that once again TRANSCENDS our circumstances; because if we’re good with GOD, we can learn to keep the REST of life in PERSPECTIVE. 

  “In this world you will have tribulation,” Jesus assured us, “But take heart… in me you may have peace.”” (Jn 16:33)

  “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” Isaiah promises (26:3).

  So “may the Lord of peace himself”, Paul prays, “give you peace at all times and in every way” (2 Thess 3:16). 

  And He can and WILL, to the extent that we KEEP our minds “stayed”, fixed on Christ, we PLACE our trust, our hope and joy in Him. “Do not be anxious about anything,” Philippians 4 exhorts us, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And [WHAT??] the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7)

  And once you’ve got that INNER peace that comes from a deep assurance of your VERTICAL peace (with God), it becomes much harder to live at ODDS, horizontally, with OTHERS, ESPECIALLY fellow brothers and sisters in CHRIST. You will necessarily, then, “Strive for peace with everyone” (Heb 12:14). You will “so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom 12:18), knowing that “a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (Ja 3:18).

  What does this look like, day to day? For one thing, Christians are LOW DRAMA people. You know those people who just always seem to have DUMPSTER fires raging all around them, and if they DON’T at any given time, they’ll take it upon themselves to START one - they just THRIVE on drama and chaos; the kind of people who ENJOY, derive pleasure, from OTHER peoples’ pain and pandemonium, who made “Jersey Shore” and now “Real Housewives” the #1 shows on TV. Yeah, that’s not CHRISTIAN. We don’t get our KICKS off of CONTENTIOUSNESS. Not our OWN, not OTHERS’. 

  4) By God’s Spirit, we walk in PATIENCE (not FITS OF ANGER).

  Ryken defines “thumoi”, “fits of anger” as: “Rage-filled outbursts that come from having a bad temper. Aristotle compared this term to dogs that ‘bark if there is but a knock at the door, before even looking to see if it is a friend’” (233). Being SHORT-FUSED.

  Which is the literal OPPOSITE of “MAKRO-thumia”, which literally translates as “LONG-suffering”, or simply: patience. Being LONG-fused. Like the LORD, who describes himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger” (Ex 34:6). 

  Is that US, Church? Would others, especially those CLOSEST to us - our SPOUSE, our KIDS, our SIBLINGS and PARENTS and BFF’s - could they honestly describe us as “slow to anger”, “long-fused”? 

  Why don’t you ASK them. I’m gonna give you HOMEWORK this week: Ask the 3 people who know you best, “Which of these fruit of the Spirit are MOST evident in my life… and which are LEAST evident?” Paul says in v19, “the works of the flesh are evident”; they are OBVIOUS, visibly APPARENT to ALL. Jesus said, “You’ll know ‘em by their FRUIT”. Ask those closest to you to inspect and be HONEST with you about your fruit. 

  With SOME of ‘em, like PATIENCE, you might not even NEED the feedback; you know exactly where you stand. If you’re like ME, and you’ve got a THREE-year old who decides to color on the couch AGAIN this week with the SAME crayon, you’re gonna find out INSTANTLY just how short your fuse is. (But go ahead and ask anyway. 🙂)

  5) By God’s Spirit, we walk in KINDNESS (not SELFISHNESS).

  Now “selfishness” is a BETTER translation for the next word in Paul’s vice list - eritheia - which the ESV renders “RIVALRIES”, but more precisely means “(the drive to) get ahead at the expense of others” (Ryken, 233).

  It is the OPPOSITE of KINDNESS, which is “generosity of spirit” (Keller); “being moved by the needs of others, taking on their burdens” (Greear); a “SELFLESS and ACTIONABLE CARE for others”. Whereas eritheia means caring only for oneself. 

  You can see the CONNECTION between “kindness” here and how we defined LOVE earlier (“acting in others’ best interest, even when it costs YOU”); why “love is necessarily patient and KIND”. Here’s the single best verse in the BIBLE that sums up kindness: Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” 

  Practically, it’s mowing the old lady next door’s yard for her. 

  Cooking a meal for someone here at church who just had a baby, or a surgery… who’s NOT in your life group. (I mean, it’s still kindness if they ARE in your group; but it’s MORE kind if you barely even KNOW them!)

  And there are COUNTLESS other tangible examples we could consider, but you get the point: “looking to the interests of OTHERS.”

  #6- By God’s Spirit, we walk in GOODNESS (not IMMORALITY or IMPURITY).

  That’s where Paul OPENS his vice list: with “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality”; “porneia”, “akatharsia”, and “aselgeia”. Porneia is specifically SEXUAL sin, and specifically, sex outside of marriage, whether it be PRE-marital sex, EXTRA-marital sex (adultery); it’s obviously the root of our word “pornography” as well. 

  Akatharsia or “impurity” refers more generally to “ANY kind of uncleanness” (Ryken, 229). 

  And then aselgeia, more than just “sensuality”, is really licentiousness, “not only engaging in wanton behavior, but flaunting it in public; a lack of respect for what is right and good” (Ryken, 233). 

  Their OPPOSITE, then, is GOODNESS - agathosune - which Ryken defines as “a common general term for virtue… it connotes complete moral excellence”. Complete moral EXCELLENCE!!

  It’s a term, therefore, that is understandably used typically in the Bible in reference to GOD: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34:8); Jesus HIMSELF asked, ““Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mk 10:18). Jesus was of course testing that young man who had CALLED him “good teacher”, to see if he really grasped Jesus’ true identity, as God, the One whom the psalmist praises: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness!” (Ps 31:19)

  And yet even the OLD Testament faithful were encouraged that to the extent that they FOLLOWED the Lord, as their “Shepherd”, then “surely goodness and mercy shall follow ME ALL the days of my life” (Ps 23:6). 

  But now we NEW covenant believers are invited to not ONLY have God’s goodness “FOLLOWING” us… but FILLING us. To the extent that we are filled with his SPIRIT… and we WALK BY that Spirit… we too can - and WILL - live lives characterized by “complete moral excellence”. 

  Practically, it means “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable… if there is anything worthy of praise, (we) think about these things” (Phil 4:8). 

  We PURSUE, we DO, these things. 

  We CONSUME - we WATCH and LISTEN to - these things. 

  We TALK about these things. 

  “True, honorable, pure, praise-worthy…” GOOD things.

  Imagine if we ran EVERY thought, every action, every conversation, every TV show… by that litmus test, Philippians 4:8. 

  #7) By God’s Spirit, we walk in FAITHFULNESS (not IDOLATRY or SORCERY).

  Idolatry is worshiping a NON-god, a FALSE god; Sorcery is really FALSE worship of ANY god, even the TRUE god. JD Greear points out that “Word of Faith” false teachers like Kenneth Copeland and Joyce Meyer, who try and MANIPULATE God into doing their own bidding, are really engaging in a form of sorcery. 

  But lest we start casting stones, let’s remember that EVERY time we love something, need something, prioritize something ABOVE GOD - when it takes HIS rightful place in the CENTER of our lives… whatever “IT” may be - money, sex, family, work, CHURCH - when it overshadows God, we’re guilty of IDOLATRY. 

  With which we can contrast FAITHFULNESS. The Greek word Paul uses here is pistis, which most often simply translates as “FAITH” (“it is by grace we are saved through PISTIS”). So if we’re gonna render it “faith-FULNESS”, it really refers to our loyalty to GOD. Our devotion and worship of Him and Him ALONE. 

  To make it practical, and personal, just ASK yourself: what am I devoted to? What do I worship? To “worship” is literally to “assign WORTH”, and you can get a PRETTY good gauge for the relative worth you assign things by how you spend your TIME and your MONEY. Show me your DAY planner, and your BANK statement, and I can tell you what you worship. Where you place your pistis, your FAITH, your TRUST.

  8) By God’s Spirit, we walk in GENTLENESS (not FITS OF ANGER).

  I’ll be SUPER quick here. We’re running out of WEEDS, so we gotta reuse one of them; we could EITHER contrast gentleness with “fits of anger”, if we define “praUtes” more traditionally as “an inward grace that is sometimes called ‘meekness’... not prone to anger, but sweet, and mild” (Ryken, 233); OR we could contrast it with SELFISHNESS, if we understand praUtes like Tim Keller does: “Gentleness is a poor translation”, he says, “it’s humility. Not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. It’s a blessed self-forgetfulness… Humility as opposed to self-absorption, self-consciousness.”

  Take your pick. It’s used in BOTH ways in Scripture. And since we’ve already COVERED both, let’s go ahead and END with…

  #9- SELF-CONTROL (as opposed to IMMODERATION).

  I’m combining our FINAL two vices - “ drunkenness” and “orgies” - to include any worldly excess or addiction. Keller clarifies “orgies are not just sex orgies… but (refers to being) out of control with (ANY kind of) substance abuse”; it COULD be sex… OR drugs… OR social media… OR video games… OR shopping… OR fill in the blank. JD Greear says it’s when “you need that hit or some release of dopamine in order to feel alive… your soul feels dead, empty and bored” without it.

   It’s DEBAUCHERY: “excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance.”

  The OPPOSITE is self-control: “temperance or moderation, especially in sensual matters like eating, drinking, and sex. This sober virtue,” Ryken explains, “prevents liberty from becoming license in the Christian life. A person with self-control has the restraint and self-discipline not to be ruled by passion, and therefore is able to resist temptation.” (233)

  What are we to DO with temptation, passion, sensuality, impurity, idolatry, enmity… ALL the works of the flesh? 

  V24: “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

  Why CRUCIFY? Ryken notes (237): 

  “Crucifixion was a SHAMEFUL way to die… But what is more shameful than the sinful nature, which rebels against God and murders the human soul? Crucifixion was a PAINFUL way to die… Likewise, the mortification of sin is painful… There is something excruciating about putting our sins to death… Crucifixion was a GRADUAL way to die, with its victims often lingering on the cross for days before drawing their last breath… Similarly, ‘True Christians do not succeed in completely destroying [the flesh] while here below.’ When it comes to eliminating sin, there are no shortcuts, only a long, slow, painful death. Lastly, crucifixion was always FINAL. Those who were crucified… always died eventually. The same is true in the Spirit’s war against the flesh. God is not fighting a losing battle… Sin received its death blow on the cross of Christ. And WE find the death of our own sinful nature in the death of Christ.”

  “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

  Let’s ACTUALLY end with THIS: a thorough examination of a list like this ought to leave us with THREE concurrent but competing impulses: 1) CONFIDENCE, 2) COMPULSION, and 3) CONVICTION; “I HAVE changed”; “I WANT to change”; “I MUST change”...

  1) Looking back at this list, if you are TRULY a born-again, “old is gone, new has come”, Spirit-filled child of GOD, you should walk away with a certain degree of CONFIDENCE that “I really HAVE changed; by God’s grace, and by His indwelling SPIRIT, I am NOT the person I was… a YEAR ago; 5… TEN years ago.” 

  2) At the SAME time, we read it with COMPULSION as well: “I WANT to change”; Paul mentioned the “desires of the SPIRIT” back in v17; the Holy Spirit within you YEARNS for you to grow even MORE in godliness (in LOVE, joy, peace, patience…). We never get complacent, or stagnant. 

  3) But lastly, we ought to be filled with CONVICTION as well: “I MUST change; I am NOT always loving, joyful, peaceful, patient…” I’ve still got TONS of room to grow! Hence my need for a FRESH measure of the Spirit’s empowering today, and hence my need for the GOSPEL! A Savior who is PERFECT when I am NOT. Brother, sister - let this list drive you back into the arms of JESUS! Amen? 

  Let’s pray.