Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Gal. 5:13-21 March 16, 2025

Message: “Internal Conflict!”          

By Pastor George Gnade

Introduction:

1. As you all should know, we are studying the “Book of Galatians.” Last week we discussed our freedom in Christ. In Gal. 5:1, he wrote: “For freedom Christ has set you free! Don’t let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

a. In those days, two oxen were often yoked together to work together. In the same way, before we come to Christ, we were yoked to God’s law. And while the law was good, being yoked to it only made us feel guilty. It was like a heavy burden crushing us with all its demands.

b. But Jesus said: “Come unto me all who are weak and heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your soul” (Matt. 11:28-29). 

2. So while the law only weighs us down, Jesus helps us carry our load and makes it much lighter.  He set us free by paying the penalty for our sins. And yoked to Him, He helps us do what we could not do before. He gives us all the help we need by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts.

3. But in the passage we are studying today, Paul now gives us a very important warning. In Gal. 5:13, he wrote: “You, brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your free-dom to indulge your sinful nature.”

A. Paul is reminding us of a very important problem that we can’t ignore. 

1. Just because He paid the penalty for our sins and set us free from the burden of our sins does not give us an excuse to sin all the more.

a. To indulge in the good food that your spouse prepares for dinner is normally a good thing. But to indulge in all the wrong foods will certainly get you into trouble. 

b. Satan loves to tempt us with the pleasures of the flesh. Just because you have been saved does not give you the right to indulge in them. With Jesus’ help, we must learn to say “No”. 

2. Listen to verse 16: “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For your sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to your sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other.”

a. This is an internal conflict that will not go away until we die and go to heaven. That is why we often “do not do what (we) want” (Vs. 14). 

b. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (vs. 15). As it says in Rom. 8:13, “If with the help of the Holy Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God.”

3. If you compromise and go back and forth, with one foot in the gutter and the other foot on the right path, you will feel like you are going to fall. 

a. It will often reach a place where it starts to tear you apart. In Rom. 7: 24, Paul wrote: “What a wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?”

b. But he then immediately gives us the answer: In vs. 25, he writes: “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

B. The Holy Spirit not only convicts us when we are doing wrong, he helps us get back on track. 

1. In Gal. 5:19, the Bible says: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.” In plain words, you really don’t need me to tell you. But Paul gives us a list of some of the most obvious. 

a. They include sexual sins like immorality. King David is a good example. It got him into all kinds of trouble and messed up his family as well (II Sam. 11 &12).

b. It includes idolatry and witchcraft. How can you follow the Holy Spirit if you are also talking to the dead  and talking to medians? King Saul made this mistake and lost the blessing of the Lord (II Sam. 28).

2. It includes discord, fits of rage, dissentions, jealousy and factions. Even the 12 disciples got into a fight over who was the greatest.  James and John wanted to sit at Jesus right and left hand when he set up His kingdom. 

a. Jesus replied that was up to His Father in heaven.

b. But “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Jesus wants us to learn to live that way also.

3. Finally, he mentions drunkenness and orgies and things like that. I assume that includes the misuse of drugs. Anything that interferes with your ability to think and control your behavior is often used by Satan to get you to say and do things you shouldn’t do. 

4. But if you keep asking yourself questions like: “What would Jesus do? If I am following Jesus, where would Jesus go? Since the Holy Spirit is in my heart, would He really want me to fill my mind with pornography or R rated movies?” Then my desire to be led by the Holy Spirit helps me get back on track. 

a. I can only speak for myself, but if I happen to hear foul language, it is very hard for me to get those thoughts out of my mind. And the next thing you know, I accident-tally slip and use the wrong language. 

b. But if I deliberately fill my mind with songs or Bible verses or things that please the Lord, then I am far more likely to say or do the right things even in difficult situa-tions.

C. Praise God, we have an advocate speaking in our behalf standing next to our Father in heaven. 

1. Thank God, Jesus knows those who truly love Him. He speaks for us, since He died for us (I John 2:1-2). But at the same time, He knows how to discipline us. And the Holy Spirit knows how to motivate us.

2. In Gal. 5: 16, Paul wrote: “I say then, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.”

a. Then in vs.24-25, he reminds us: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its earthly desires. If we live in the Spirit, then let us walk in the Spirit.”

b. Other translations say: “Keep in step with the Spirit.” Don’t get distracted and fall behind, or to self-confident and go too far ahead. Humbly listen carefully.

In conclusion: 1. To help us win this internal battle, John wrote in I John 2:3: “This is how we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

a. John is especially thinking of the new command-ment that Jesus gave us to love one another the way Jesus loved us.

b. He continues in vs. 3: “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him.”

2.  “By this we know that we are in Him. He who says that he abides in Christ ought to walk the way Jesus walked”

(I John 2:6). 

3. Today we talked about overcoming the sins that so easily beset us, and how the Holy Spirit can help us gain the victory over them. Next week we will discuss the fruits of the Holy Spirit and how Jesus wants us to learn to live for Him.  That is enough for today. Amen!