Winning the War Within Pt 1 Galatians 5:13-15 Live Free…Free to Live a Cross Centered Life

There is a great misconception about what living the Christian life is about. –Many think that once they give their life to Christ life will be perfect, everything will align just right and they will no longer have to face struggles of any sort. –God has ordained that even though every believer is being shaped into the image of Jesus Christ, it only happens a little bit at a time.

The secret is in learning to "walk by the Spirit" (v. 16). –If the Christian life looks too hard, we must remember that we are not called to live it by ourselves. We must live it by the Spirit of God. People who try to love without relying on God's Spirit always wind up trying to fill their own emptiness rather than sharing their fullness

1.Walking in the Spirit gives us victory over sin (16a) What Is Walking by the Spirit? –Literal translation = “keep on walking” It is a continuous, regular action A habitual way of life So it implies steady progress in one direction by means of deliberate choices over a long period of time

As a believer submits to the Spirit's control, he moves forward in his spiritual life. –It has the idea of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide every part of your life on a daily basis The Holy Spirit does not operate on auto-pilot…he waits to be depended upon…for us to listen and obey It is an active choice of the will not a passive submission.

Why is it necessary? –To give us victory over the desires of our flesh –Verse 16 promises victory over the desires of the flesh—not that there won't be a war, but that the winner of that war will be the Spirit. –When you allow your flesh to fulfill its desires you are no longer walking in the Spirit. At all times in our Christian lives we are either walking by the Spirit or are functioning in fleshly desire, but never both at the same time.

2.The continual struggle with sin is inevitable (17-18). There is a constant battle between our flesh and the Spirit –Paul often uses the term flesh to describe what remains of the "old man" after a person is saved. –It refers to unredeemed humanness –The “flesh” of Christians is their propensity to sin,

The unsaved person knows nothing of the conflict that believers share. Only believers experience the conflict between the Spirit that wants to do what is right and the flesh that wants to sin. The conflict is that believers do not always do what they wish to do. –There are those moments in every Christian's experience when the wishing is present but the doing is not.

Every believer, young and old has this same conflict of desires raging within them. –Oh what a difference this would make in our marriages and in our parenting if we would simply take the time to understand our spouses and children from this perspective…there is a war raging within their hearts as well as your own…what are we going to do to come alongside that individual instead of combating them.

It is okay to struggle just make sure your choices are pleasing to God. –Our ongoing struggles and temptations are not in themselves sinful. Nowhere in this text or throughout the whole Scripture will you find condemnation because you struggle with sin.

It’s not the struggle that matters; it’s how we respond. –God has given us everything we need to win the battles. –Direct access to Him through His Son…the strength and power of His Spirit and of prayer…equipped by His word…protected by His armor…encouraged by His people. –The choice is ours…use all of God’s resources and win…attempt to use our own resources and fail.

Allow the Spirit to Guide You. –We do not walk along with Him as an equal, but follow His leading as our sovereign, divine Guide. –The believer who is walking in the Spirit is also led by the Holy Spirit and must be willing to go wherever the Spirit guides him and do whatever the Spirit leads him to do.

The surrendered believer who is being led by the Spirit is no longer seeking his own but rather seeks the things which belong to Christ Jesus and are fitting with his character. Believers do not need to pray for the Spirit's leading, because He is already doing that. –What we need to seek for is a willingness and obedience to follow His leading.

Life Step – Take steps in the right direction every day. Walking in the Spirit is not some mystical experience reserved for a few special Christians. It’s God’s design for normal Christian living. –It’s nothing more than choosing (by God’s grace) to take steps toward righteousness day after day after day.

Final Thought Through the struggle with sin your soul is made strong and you are being made fit for heaven. Stand and fight, child of God. The Lord is on your side.