Walking by This Rule [Galatians]
May 31, 2009
Gal 5.15-6.16
With this message we conclude our look at the Christian and his relationship to the flesh and the world. The thrust of this message is to describe what the Spirit-walk looks like. Essentially, the life lived in the Spirit is a life lived in service to others and in submission to the Word through the teaching of godly teachers. This is contrary to the way the Judaizing false teachers lived, but exactly the way the apostle Paul lived. This rule, Paul’s rule, is our model for Spirit-filled living.
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How Crucifying the Flesh produces the Fruit of the Spirit [Galatians]
May 24, 2009
How do you produce the fruit of the Spirit? Can you produce it by disciplining yourself more in love? Or joy? Or self-control? We look today to see how it is that when we repent of sin and the works of the flesh and turn to God and submit to his will and ways, the result is joy and peace and all the manifold fruit of the Spirit. In other words, when we truly crucify the flesh, we find the fruit of the Spirit in the new walk of the Spirit. It is something that the Spirit produces in our lives by grace through faith.
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Deceitfulness of the Flesh [Galatians]
May 17, 2009
Our study brings us to Gal 5.19-21, the works of the flesh. The message today points out the deceptive character of the flesh. As we look at the sins listed as ‘works of the flesh’ are truly fleshly – the basest expressions of human lusts. Most Christians and professing Christians would agree that these are not something the Christian should pursue nor would they even admit to them. Their deceptive character, however, is seen when people who are commanded and exhorted to walk in the Spirit instead trifle with the ‘fringes’ of the works of the flesh. They are not yet full blown examples of the things on this list, but the desire for these things clearly come from the flesh, not the Spirit. The Christian is warned; the professing Christian is warned to see himself as he truly is, in need of salvation because of his delight in the flesh and its works.
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Walking in the Spirit
April 26, 2009
[Galatians Series: Gal 5.16-18]
We look at the contrast between two walks away from God (the walk of the flesh and the walk under the law) and contrast them with the walk towards God, the walk in the Spirit. We examine the concept of the walk of the Spirit from several Scriptural angles as we work through the end of the message.
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The second threat to Christian Liberty
April 19, 2009
[Galatians Series: (Gal 5.13-15)]
The first threat to Christian Liberty is any attempt to add religious ritual to the gospel in order to be saved. The second threat goes in an opposite direction, to use our liberty in Christ as a pretext for fleshly indulgence. Such excuses fail to appreciate the purpose of Christian liberty and the joys of the new life in Christ.
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4.12.09 PM • Galatians
April 12, 2009
The first threat to Christian Liberty (Gal 5.2-12)
In this message we show exactly what was troubling the Galatians and why they may have been tempted by it. The issue is adding religious works to the gospel so that you must do the work in order to be saved. We show how such an addition to the gospel utterly destroys not only the gospel but also Christian Liberty as well.
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3.29.09 PM • Galatians
March 29, 2009
Perseverance in Christian Liberty (Gal 5.1)
Christian liberty is the purpose of Christ’s liberating work. The Lord did not save us that we should any longer be in bondage, he saved us to live the full liberty of Christian life, the life of a Christian citizen of the Kingdom of God. The imperative of this verse calls us to persevere in our liberty, never again being entangled in bondage.
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3.22.09 PM • Galatians
March 22, 2009
The Concept of Christian Liberty (Gal 5.1)
We continue our look at Christian living as taught by Paul in Galatians. This message is an introductory message intended to aid understanding of the concept of liberty. Men without God are in bondage three ways, according to the scriptures: to sin, to the law, and to death. The work of Christ liberates us from bondage, making us free to live in the Spirit, no longer bound by the flesh but bound to Christ.
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2.8.09 PM • Galatians
February 8, 2009
The Violent Christian in the World (Gal 6.14)
In this message we reprise the teaching concerning the vigour which a Christian needs to live a Spirit filled life – he must crucify the flesh. But even beyond that we find that Paul teaches the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. As we work our way through the passage, we see that the particular aspect of the world in view in this verse is worldly approval and esteem. The Christian, in order to have God’s peace and God’s approval, must live with the approval of the world a dead issue to him. He must glory only in the cross of Christ and let the world think what it will.
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1.18.09 PM • Galatians
January 18, 2009
The Violent Christian (Gal 5.24) Galatians Series
This message has been percolating since before Christmas, but was delayed by our snowstorms.
We are talking about the fruit of the Spirit passage in Galatians. Part of the passage that is often ignored is Gal 5.24, a verse that reveals the human means in the sanctification process: crucifying the flesh. We couple that passage with Mt 11.12, to show that both Jesus and Paul talk in a particularly graphic way about the kind of vigour necessary for a fruitful spiritual life. You cultivate the ground of your heart by a particularly violent process. We attempt to highlight how violent that process is by looking closely at the vocabulary employed.
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