April 2, 2025

Galatians 5:16: A New Interpretation

Galatians 5:16: A New Interpretation

I spend some time working on a different way to interpret Galatians 5:16

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player icon Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon PocketCasts podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Overcast podcast player icon Audible podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon iHeartRadio podcast player icon Castbox podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon TuneIn podcast player icon Deezer podcast player icon Pandora podcast player icon RadioPublic podcast player icon Podcast Addict podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon YouTube podcast player icon Fountain podcast player icon PlayerFM podcast player icon Goodpods podcast player icon Podverse podcast player icon Podyssey podcast player icon Breaker podcast player icon Podurama podcast player icon Audacy podcast player icon JioSaavn podcast player icon

I spend some time working on a different way to interpret Galatians 5:16

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:06.160
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:12.720
the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. If you have

3
00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.760
a Bible, open it up to the Book of Galatians,

4
00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:23.839
chapter five, verse sixteen. Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen, a

5
00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:26.920
very famous verse. If you've been a Christian for any

6
00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:32.520
length of time, you've probably been challenged to memorize Galatians.

7
00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000
Chapter five, verse sixteen. Let me read it. Galatians chapter five,

8
00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:36.840
verse sixteen.

9
00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:42.399
This I say, then walk in the spirit, and ye

10
00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:47.359
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Many people

11
00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:51.119
find that verse to be encouraging. It gives them a

12
00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:54.560
sense of hope. It gives them an understanding of what

13
00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:58.000
is actually possible in the Christian life. They see it

14
00:00:58.039 --> 00:00:59.320
as a positive thing.

15
00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:00.399
They love it.

16
00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.480
Pastors love to preach it, people love to memorize it.

17
00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.480
It's a very popular verse.

18
00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.680
But if I'm going to be brutally honest with you,

19
00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:12.920
for me, Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen.

20
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.120
Is a migraine.

21
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:20.599
It is an aneurism, it is multiple seizures, it is

22
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:25.519
a stroke, it is high blood pressure, and it's premature

23
00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:29.519
death all rolled up into one verse. I know you're like,

24
00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:33.120
that's a little dramatic. That may be a little hyperbolic,

25
00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.519
or maybe it's more real than you think. For me,

26
00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:44.239
Galatians five sixteen is a horrible migraine, horrible migraine, an aneurysm, just.

27
00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:46.040
You know, just go ahead and get get rid of me.

28
00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:52.480
Multiple seizures, multiple ones like you know, fifty and fifteen minutes. Okay,

29
00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.000
about five strokes, blood pressure that is so high that

30
00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:59.359
while it's going to be premature death in the next

31
00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:03.159
five seconds. That's what Galatians five sixteen is to me,

32
00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:06.879
all rolled into one verse, and we're going to be

33
00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.680
talking about exactly why that's the case right after I

34
00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:14.800
say good morning everyone. It is Wednesday, April the second,

35
00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.960
twenty twenty five. It is currently eleven forty four am

36
00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.520
Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the

37
00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.560
Theology Central Studio located right.

38
00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:27.639
Here in Abilene, Texas.

39
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:32.199
And right here in this studio in front of this microphone,

40
00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:35.719
I have gone live now a number of times to

41
00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.120
kind of talk about a sermon that's available on the

42
00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:44.520
sermon Audio website in the sermon Audio app. The name

43
00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:49.039
of that sermon is the Believer's Victory over Sin. The

44
00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:54.039
Believer's Victory over sin. But doctor Peter Math Masters from

45
00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:59.120
the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, right, very famous church. He's

46
00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:05.639
a very famous preacher. So you know, because of his power, influence, significance,

47
00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:08.759
the significance of that church, you're not really supposed to

48
00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.840
criticize it or offer maybe even a different thought or opinion.

49
00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.479
But I have offered my thoughts and opinions. In fact,

50
00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:21.319
in the last broadcast we started reviewing the sermon. We

51
00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.319
reviewed it and to get a basic idea.

52
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.000
Of what said, and let me just say, I.

53
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:32.280
Have found myself extremely frustrated. Now the text itself is

54
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.159
on Galatians chapter five, verses fifteen through sixteen.

55
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.120
So I'm just going to remind you.

56
00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:41.879
Briefly of what doctor Peter Masters had to say about

57
00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:44.639
this passage of scripture, kind of how he handled it,

58
00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.960
what he did in his sermon, and then we're going

59
00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:51.120
to start taking this all apart. I'm going to offer

60
00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:56.879
my disagreements, my criticisms, my critique, my analysis, and then

61
00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.759
what we're going to attempt to do today is build

62
00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:06.400
an alternative interpretation of Galicians five sixteen that goes against

63
00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.639
all modern interpretations.

64
00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.479
I'm going to go back to the tradition of if.

65
00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:14.719
You want to trace it back to someone, I'm going

66
00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.199
to go back to Luther, I'm going to go back

67
00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:21.399
to Calvin. I'm going to reject even what modern Reformed

68
00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:24.319
pastors do. I'm going to reject because I'm in a

69
00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.959
disagreement with almost ninety nine point nine percent of all

70
00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.879
of Christianity when it comes to Galatians five sixteen. If

71
00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:32.240
I was to visit pretty much any church and they

72
00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.120
said open your Bibles to Galatians five sixteen, I could

73
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:37.920
write that. If I could, I could call a bookie

74
00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.480
in Vegas and go, hey, put down nine hundred that

75
00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.079
I'm going to completely be in disagreement with this.

76
00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:47.199
You can count on it, because I know I'm going

77
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:48.680
to be. So that puts me.

78
00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.040
In a very different play. It's the same thing that

79
00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:54.879
happened on Sunday when we offered a new interpretation of

80
00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:58.600
Isaiah forty two. So the one thing I love about

81
00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.920
this podcast is we don't just simply parrot other people's hermautic.

82
00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.959
We don't simply parent other people's theology. We try to

83
00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.920
do theology, we try to do hermoneutics, and we try

84
00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:13.199
to challenge. We create hypotheses and we try to work

85
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:13.639
them out.

86
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.600
So are you ready to try to do all of this?

87
00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.000
Hopefully this episode doesn't go too long, but I have

88
00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.879
really I want to get to some type of a

89
00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:27.519
dramatic conclusion here. Okay, So we started talking about doctor

90
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:28.920
Peter Master's sermon.

91
00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:29.360
All right.

92
00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.639
The text is Galatians five fifteen through sixteen, and the

93
00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.600
title is the Believer's Victory over Sin. Now, let me

94
00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.439
just make this very very clear, all right, because some

95
00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:39.720
people will misunderstand.

96
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.519
If there is anything that.

97
00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.600
I could wish for, I wish I could have victory

98
00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:47.199
over sin.

99
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.560
I wish that I beg for that. I long for that.

100
00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.279
It would be the most amazing thing to wake up

101
00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.920
and go today I will have victory over sin. But

102
00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:02.600
anyone who's even really reasonably honest with themselves, well, no,

103
00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:03.959
that's not going to happen.

104
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:04.199
Why.

105
00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:06.639
Well, I can start with one command, be holy as

106
00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:09.360
God is holy. I will not be holy as God

107
00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.879
is holy today. I will not be as holy as

108
00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.360
God as holy tomorrow. And if I could live to

109
00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:17.439
be nine hundred and ninety nine years old, I'll never

110
00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.199
be holy as God as holy. That means I'm in

111
00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:26.240
perpetual disobedience to that one command, be holy as God

112
00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.279
is holy. I will never be that. So I'm in

113
00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:31.000
a perpetual state of sin. I'm in a perpetual state

114
00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:35.120
of disobedience. I'm in a perpetual state of falling short.

115
00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:39.040
I'm in a perpetual state of transgressing that rule because

116
00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.680
I am not holy as God is holy in a

117
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.279
practical way. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

118
00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:47.879
Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

119
00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.519
I have never done that, never will do that, will

120
00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.040
never come close to living God that way. I will

121
00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.680
never do this. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

122
00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.879
Love my neighbor as myself. I'm never truly going to

123
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:00.839
do that, because we all know we love ourselves more

124
00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.079
than we love anything else. I'm in a perpetual state

125
00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:05.560
of sin. I could be perfect, as your heavenly Father

126
00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.240
is perfect. I see, I could go. I could go

127
00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:11.040
on and on do all things without complaining and grumbling.

128
00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:12.879
Do not even look at a woman with luster. I

129
00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.079
have you already committed adultery. You can commit murder without

130
00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:19.720
actually committing murder. You're supposed to be perfect internally externally.

131
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:21.199
I can go on and on and on and on

132
00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:22.680
and on and on and on and on and on

133
00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:23.000
and on.

134
00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.959
The Bible is filled with scriptures that tell us to

135
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.040
do something or not to do things. Those are what

136
00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.560
we call law, and that law reveals our inability to

137
00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.439
keep that law, and our constant disobedience and our constant failure.

138
00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.759
That is the reality. That's a reality.

139
00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.199
So preachers constantly say you can have victory over sin,

140
00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.560
and then they have to then kind of make it

141
00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:50.839
this very subjective. Well, I mean you can have victory.

142
00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:53.439
I mean you can't have complete victory. I mean you're

143
00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.279
still going to sin. I mean you can have victory

144
00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:58.680
over this sin. Well, I mean can I have victory

145
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.639
over it simply by the external act? Or do I

146
00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.279
have victory over it from externally and internally?

147
00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:07.079
It just is, it's just maddening.

148
00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.079
So look, when I see a title like that, I

149
00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.439
want to experience it.

150
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.519
I never have. I never will until glorification. Then I'll

151
00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:19.000
have victory.

152
00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.560
Now, I do believe there is a way in which

153
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:25.759
I'm experiencing victory right now, and that's not practically, that's positionally.

154
00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.439
That's why, as non Catholics, we believe in a salvation

155
00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:35.080
based off an imputed righteousness, not an infused righteousness, which

156
00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:39.919
is Roman Catholicism. Right, So we'll we'll talk about this

157
00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.279
in greater detail now. So doctor Peter Master sermon the

158
00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:47.440
believer's victory over sin. I truly want that, now, doctor

159
00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:53.120
pat Doctor Masters, if I can speak correctly, explores Paul's statement,

160
00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:55.360
walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the

161
00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.960
loss of the flesh. Doctor Masters presented it as a promise,

162
00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:04.480
not merely an exhortation. He begins with verse fourteen to

163
00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:08.720
warn against the community destroying effects of gossip, slander, and infighting.

164
00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:13.799
He then identifies verse sixteen as a profound divine assurance.

165
00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.000
If believers will walk in the spirit, they will not

166
00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:21.120
fulfill the sinful desires. Hey, if you'll just walk in

167
00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:24.480
the spirit, you won't sin any sinful desire. You're not

168
00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:27.519
going to fulfill You're not going to do so basically

169
00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.639
you can be perfect. But then it gets kind of

170
00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:34.919
hot because then he basically makes it clear, well, you

171
00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:36.279
got to figure out what it means to walk in

172
00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.039
the spirit. So he basically sets up this kind of dynamic.

173
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.879
If you walk in the spirit, then you obtain the

174
00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.159
power to basically not sin. But the key is you

175
00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.240
have to walk in the spirit. Now, it sounds like

176
00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.519
this is never truly kind of fleshed out. It is

177
00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.960
made basically almost explicit. If I can walk in the spirit,

178
00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.480
then I get the power to not sin. But I've

179
00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.519
got to walk in the spirit. And it sounds like

180
00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:06.159
to walk in the spirit.

181
00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:07.840
I have to do that on my own.

182
00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:09.879
So what do I have to do to walk in

183
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.879
the spirit so then I can then get the power

184
00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.200
so that I will not sin. Well, to walk in

185
00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.759
the spirit, I have to do this. Number One, I've

186
00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:19.320
got to read and study my Bible. So it appears

187
00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:21.679
the more I read and the more I study, the

188
00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.039
greater chance I have of walking in the spirit. So

189
00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.279
then I can obtain the power so that I can

190
00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:28.799
stop sinning. But I have to be the one to

191
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:29.080
do it.

192
00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:29.360
Now.

193
00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.960
If we truly, truly believe that if all I have

194
00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:34.200
to do is read and study my Bible, I can

195
00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.799
obtain the power not to sin, well, then you would

196
00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.440
think churches wouldn't just be having services on Sunday. They

197
00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:44.600
would be having services Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,

198
00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:47.919
Sunday they would be having services at eight in the morning, noon,

199
00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.440
five pm, and eleven o'clock at night. That would be

200
00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.480
having the doors open all the time because you need

201
00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.039
to come and hear the word of God. Because the

202
00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.399
more we read, the more we study, then we can

203
00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:58.200
walk in the spirit.

204
00:10:58.279 --> 00:10:59.919
Then we get power. Then we won't sin.

205
00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.440
We wouldn't be canceling services, we wouldn't be wasting time

206
00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.320
with pot lucks and picnics and.

207
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.159
Ridiculous things like that. It would be Bible Bible, Bible Bible,

208
00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.399
because this will make us walk in the spirit.

209
00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.840
Then we can be perfect or well, no Christian never

210
00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:17.080
wants to say we can be perfect.

211
00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.759
Christians have this weird like, well, you're a new creature.

212
00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:21.960
Old things are passed away, all things are new practically,

213
00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.039
but I mean you're not perfect.

214
00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:24.720
Well that sounds like I'm perfect. Well no it's not.

215
00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:26.879
It doesn't really mean I'm perfect. Well what's keeping me

216
00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.120
from perfection? Well you have the old nature, Well, then

217
00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:32.440
all things aren't new. It just drives me crazy the

218
00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:36.279
way Christians talk, because everyone forgets the reality of the

219
00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:41.320
positional standing versus the practical standing. So basically, number one,

220
00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:44.080
I gotta just read and study, read and study, read,

221
00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:45.360
and study, read and study.

222
00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:47.039
Read the more I read and study.

223
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:51.759
But then secondly, that's not even really enough. I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray.

224
00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.440
The more I pray, the more I read, the more

225
00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.159
I study, the greater chance I have will finally walking

226
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.799
in the spirit. But wait, there's more. Not only do

227
00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:03.279
I have to read, Not only do I have to study, Not.

228
00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:05.200
Only do I have to pray. I've got to do

229
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.200
more than just read and study. I got to do

230
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.360
more than just pray. I have to meditate.

231
00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.240
I got to meditate on God's words, so if I

232
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.080
will so, not only do I have to read and

233
00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.720
study all the time, not only do I have to

234
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.919
pray all the time. I got to be meditating all

235
00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:21.120
the time. And if I meditate all the time, if

236
00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.919
I read and study, and if I pray, then maybe,

237
00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.120
just maybe I can reach this level of walking in

238
00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:28.480
the spirit. Boom, Then I get the power. Then I

239
00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.159
can stop sinning. But I've got to be doing all

240
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.360
these other things. I guess on my own strength, it's

241
00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:33.960
based on my.

242
00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:37.559
Own fleshly discipline. Number four.

243
00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.679
Then I have to heed the spirit, all right, So

244
00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.159
I've got to. I've got to I've got to basically

245
00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:47.759
follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, obey the spirit.

246
00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:49.240
If I will obey.

247
00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:53.200
The spirit, follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, then

248
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.799
dune dun da dah. Now I'm walking in the spirit.

249
00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.960
So I got to read, read, read, read, and study.

250
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.279
I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray, I gotta meda, meditate, meditate,

251
00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.840
and then I just simply have to obey the spirit,

252
00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.440
follow the leading of the spirit, listen to the spirit.

253
00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:09.720
And if I do that, then I get the power

254
00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:12.440
to not sin. But if i'm if I can on

255
00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:16.240
my own obey the spirit and heed the spirit, well

256
00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.919
it knew it, and that means I'm not sinning. So

257
00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.080
it's really weird like which comes first, I don't know.

258
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.279
And then I have to plan and aim, setting intentional

259
00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.840
spiritual goals and strategies to overcome specific sins. Now, I

260
00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.519
don't know why I need a strategy to overcome specific sin,

261
00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:37.639
because if I'm walking in the spirit, I won't sin.

262
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.320
So why do I need a strategy to overcome a sin?

263
00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:42.879
If walking in the spirit leads me not to sin.

264
00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:47.720
I don't even understand that. Why do I need a strategy?

265
00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:51.120
The whole thing is crazy so we talked about that,

266
00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.200
we analyze the sermon, we critique the sermon, and we

267
00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:56.320
took everything apart.

268
00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:02.480
All right, so this is where this leaves me. All Right,

269
00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:03.279
that's trying to.

270
00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.320
Go through that as quickly as I can. You can

271
00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:06.919
go listen to the sermon for yourself.

272
00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:07.279
Again.

273
00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.120
We reviewed about we reviewed over half of the sermon. Right,

274
00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:14.720
there was only about maybe twelve or thirteen minutes even

275
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.039
left in the sermon. And yeah, he was just going

276
00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:24.200
to go through those five things. So I know that

277
00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:28.039
this whole concept of we can have victory, we can

278
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.519
do it. I know it's a common Christian teaching, it's everywhere,

279
00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:43.919
but I struggle with the concept in light of reality

280
00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:49.440
because I feel the logical conclusion would be we basically

281
00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:53.080
can be perfect and we should be. So I have

282
00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.519
a problem with this whole thing because basically, when Christians

283
00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.559
start talking about victory over sin or some kind of

284
00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:04.120
transferm it inevitably logically would mean, well, we can be perfect.

285
00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.799
For example, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature.

286
00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:08.799
Old things are passed away, all things have become new.

287
00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.879
That's always presented as being true practically. Well, if that's

288
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.440
true practically, then practically we don't sin, because where we

289
00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.200
sin even be coming from. We're new. Everything is new,

290
00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:21.240
We're a new creature. The old is completely gone. If

291
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.159
you say, well, if you'll simply walk in the spirit,

292
00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.799
you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, and you

293
00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:28.960
interpret that to be referring to us somehow practically, well,

294
00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.559
then once again, not only are you saying we can

295
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:34.440
be perfect, we should be. In fact, it would be

296
00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.120
what would be the most, it should be the normal thing.

297
00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.519
So I have problems.

298
00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:48.240
Here, not only that this seems to lead to the

299
00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.559
idea that victory over sin is accomplished by what I do,

300
00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:55.840
by how much I read, how much I study, how

301
00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:59.440
much I pray, how much I reflect, how much.

302
00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.320
I he in, how much I plan.

303
00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.840
So I kind of gave some of these concerns to

304
00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.799
artificial intelligence, and artificial intelligence says, well, this is exactly

305
00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:10.320
how doctor Masters frames it.

306
00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:11.039
In his sermon.

307
00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.279
He gives a list of disciplines, all good in themselves,

308
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:17.799
but positions them as the means by which you ensure

309
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:18.960
you do not fulfill.

310
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:19.720
The loss of the flesh.

311
00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:29.559
This logical formula becomes this spiritual performance equals victory over sin. Right,

312
00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:34.360
which then this leads directly to well, then my victory

313
00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.080
is accomplished by keeping the law. That's really where it

314
00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.600
ends up. I will have victory by keeping the law. Well,

315
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.080
my problem is nobody can keep the law. Therefore nobody

316
00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:48.279
can have victory because I cannot keep the law. It

317
00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.799
was never intended for us for something that we can keep.

318
00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.960
It was to demonstrate that we cannot do so.

319
00:16:58.679 --> 00:16:58.840
Now.

320
00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:02.559
Though doctor likely wouldn't use that kind of language, his

321
00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:07.680
method relocates the power to overcome sin into our disciplined obedience,

322
00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:12.480
which is law. Not law in the narrow mosaic sense,

323
00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:16.160
but in the broader theological sense. Do this and you

324
00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.440
will live in the sense, do this and you will

325
00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:25.319
no longer sin. Now, even though the sermon does mention

326
00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:28.640
the Holy Spirit and grace, the practical structure is do

327
00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.519
these five things, and if you do them rightly, and

328
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:36.279
if you do them sincerely, and if you do them thoroughly,

329
00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:40.519
you will not sin. That is the essence of a

330
00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:45.519
law based sanctification. It is not a gospel view. It's

331
00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:50.480
not a gospel perspective. So let's try to contrast the

332
00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:54.559
difference between law driven and gospel driven. Let's call it sanctification,

333
00:17:55.480 --> 00:18:00.640
all right, So law driven my doing will produce victory.

334
00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:08.599
Gospel driven is Christ's victory is all mine by faith alone.

335
00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:13.279
Those are two radically different approaches. One is do this

336
00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.599
and then maybe you'll get victory. Maybe maybe you got

337
00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:18.039
to do it more, got to do it enough, You

338
00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.880
gotta do it, do read more, do more, do more.

339
00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.960
And basically the idea is, if anyone falls into any

340
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.319
kind of sin, it's because they're not reading enough, they're

341
00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.839
not praying enough, they're not it's it always comes down

342
00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:32.960
to that type of thing, where in a gospel driven

343
00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:40.599
approach is victory complete. Total victory is mine by faith alone.

344
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:44.319
Why I put my faith in Christ. His obedience, his

345
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.839
righteousness is accredited to my account, so I stand in

346
00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:57.279
perfect victory. Law driven, more effort equals less sin. The

347
00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.119
more effort, the less sin. Now, even that is very subjective,

348
00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:03.960
because how do you measure less sin? How do you

349
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:07.680
measure less sin? Well, I don't commit that sin, but.

350
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.480
You're in a perpetual state of sin.

351
00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:13.079
If you violate one point of the law, you're guilty

352
00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:14.799
of all of it. So I don't know how you

353
00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.440
can ever say I'm doing less because you're always guilty

354
00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.839
of all of it because you're always breaking some point

355
00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.640
of it. And again the be holy as God is holy,

356
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:25.960
You're never going to do that. You're in a perpetual

357
00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:29.000
state of sin. How do you say, I'm getting more

358
00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:33.599
victory over sin. That's the most subjective measurement in the

359
00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:37.000
history of man kind. In fact, it makes literally no logical, philological,

360
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.960
or scriptural sense. You're in a perpetual state of sin.

361
00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.640
From a gospel driven approach, my faith in Christ.

362
00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.880
I'm in Christ, so I have I don't have to

363
00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:55.599
put forth any effort. It's all based on the effort

364
00:19:55.799 --> 00:20:00.000
Christ did. It's all based off his work, his obedience.

365
00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:10.119
It's his obedience. See now now. In a law driven approach,

366
00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.400
if I fail to overcome sin, it's because I failed

367
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.880
the method, I didn't follow the steps, I didn't do enough.

368
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.279
And a gospel driven approach, every day I fail, every

369
00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:26.559
day I fall short, and every day I run back

370
00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:27.359
to Christ and.

371
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.799
His imputed righteousness.

372
00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:37.519
And a law driven approach, holiness is a product of planning, discipline, vigilance,

373
00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.920
and a gospel driven approach. Holiness is that which is

374
00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:44.160
imputed to my account by faith alone, has nothing to

375
00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:49.079
do with what I do or don't do. So if

376
00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.720
you follow this more law driven approach, it's not going

377
00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.279
to offer any real rest for the sinner. You're always

378
00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.799
one spiritual misstep away from falling into sin.

379
00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:58.160
And if you do sin, it's.

380
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.359
Implied that your spiritual practices weren't an It leads towards

381
00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.880
inward despair or basically outward hypocrisy. The very thing Paul

382
00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:10.480
warns about in Galatians happens. People begin to compare their performance.

383
00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.480
Victory becomes measurable and a spirit it becomes a spiritual

384
00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.240
success metric, and it becomes about.

385
00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.440
Performance, performance, performance.

386
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.119
And you've got to pretend that you're doing better than

387
00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:26.400
you actually are, and you can't really be honest. And

388
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:29.400
I think it contradicts the very argument of Galatians. The

389
00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:33.119
entire letter is about not returning to the law, even

390
00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:37.680
in a spiritual form, as a means of justification or sanctification.

391
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.200
Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected

392
00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:45.079
by the flesh? That's Galatians three three. The entire point

393
00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.599
of the thing is we don't go back to the law.

394
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:51.480
We don't return to the law for justification or sanctification.

395
00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:56.559
The law does not sanctify. The law condemns. The law condemns,

396
00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:02.200
the law reveals, the law exposes. It does not sanctify you.

397
00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:05.720
You can give people nine hundred laws. It's not going

398
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.359
to fix the problem. You're still a sinner, you still

399
00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.680
have a sinful nature, and you're in a perpetual state

400
00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:12.039
of sin.

401
00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:13.359
So what does the law do.

402
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.720
It breaks you, it humbles you, and it drags you

403
00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:20.200
to the foot of the cross, and say, look to Christ.

404
00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.200
He's your only hope. And by your faith in Him,

405
00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:27.440
his death, his obedience, his righteousness, all of.

406
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:28.839
That is imputed to your account.

407
00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:31.680
Your sins are forgiven, and you are declared not just

408
00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:35.119
to be forgiven, you're now declared to be perfect, righteous,

409
00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:43.440
and holy in Him. So when you get to Galatians

410
00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:48.279
five sixteen through seventeen, you kind of find yourself at

411
00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:55.079
an interpretive crossroads because Galatians five point sixteen kind of

412
00:22:55.240 --> 00:23:01.240
forces us to really stop and think, here's the brutal reality.

413
00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:05.640
When I read Galatians five sixteen, we read it again this,

414
00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:07.519
I say, then, walk in the spirit. You should not

415
00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:09.559
fulfill the luss of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth

416
00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:12.119
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and

417
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.319
these are contrary to one to the other, so that

418
00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:16.720
you cannot do the things that you would.

419
00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:19.279
This seems everyone thinks that, Okay, here's the key.

420
00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.039
If I can just figure out what it means to

421
00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:24.559
walk in the spirit, I will stop doing everything. So

422
00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:27.079
then this puts us out of kind of an interpretive crossroads,

423
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.599
and we are face first and first thing this does

424
00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.319
before I, as soon as I read Galatians five sixteen

425
00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:35.039
through seventeen, this is what should happen. Right, So the

426
00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.000
next time someone preaches Galatians five sixteen through seventeen, what

427
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.319
they should do is read the text and then walk

428
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.480
up to everyone in the congregation and slap them across

429
00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:46.559
the face. Slap them across the face. Slap them across

430
00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:48.000
the face, slap them across them.

431
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:48.880
That's what they should do.

432
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.359
I'm not okay, I'm using obviously as an illustration. I'm

433
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.680
not calling for the physical assault of people during church.

434
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:57.160
But in a way, everyone as soon as they hear

435
00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.240
those words it should punch you in the face. They

436
00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.440
shouldn't be like, oh, this is comforting it. She'd be like,

437
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:07.559
wait what, because here's the brutal reality we all fulfill

438
00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:12.960
the lust of the flesh in some way perpetually. We

439
00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:17.680
all fulfill the lust of the flesh in some way perpetually,

440
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:23.640
around the clock, every day, every week, every month, every year.

441
00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:30.519
I'm not being pessimistic, I'm not being jaded. I'm being honest.

442
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.920
I believe that what I'm saying this is biblical realism.

443
00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:38.079
We do not love God with all our hearts, soul, mind,

444
00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:40.759
and strength. We do not love our neighbor or our

445
00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:44.119
enemies perfectly. We are not holy as God is holy.

446
00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:47.000
We do not meditate on God's word day and night.

447
00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:50.519
We do not love God's word more than gold, silver,

448
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.640
or food. We don't put God above everything else. We

449
00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:56.640
have plenty of things we put before God.

450
00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:59.000
On and on and on and on and on and

451
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.640
on and on and on. I could just go on

452
00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:01.319
all day.

453
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:11.079
We still experience lust, We still experience anger, envy, selfishness, pride, anxiety, laziness, idolatry,

454
00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:14.920
and countless other flesh driven impulses every single day.

455
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:17.039
And it shows up every single day.

456
00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:19.559
That's why there's not a minute, there's not an hour,

457
00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:21.960
there's not a day that you could not stop and go.

458
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.720
Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned. It's been three.

459
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:29.000
Seconds since my last confession, and within those three seconds,

460
00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:32.279
I have lusted. I am angry, I'm bitter, I did this,

461
00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:34.880
I think this, I want this, I desire this. We're

462
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:43.799
in a perpetual state of it. So if we're even

463
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.759
remotely honest, every believer fulfills the luss of the flesh

464
00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:50.960
and thought, word, desire, or deed continuably.

465
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.880
So that creates an interpretive crisis.

466
00:25:55.880 --> 00:25:59.960
With Galatians five point sixteen, that reality creates an interpretive

467
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.519
that's to slap in the face that reality. Be honest

468
00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:06.200
with yourself. Be honest with yourself, Be honest with yourself.

469
00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:08.200
And you're like, okay, I'm being honest, but wait a minute,

470
00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:12.559
you just read Galatians five sixteen through seventeen. So this

471
00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:16.799
creates an interpretive crisis. Walk in the spirit, and you

472
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.319
shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. If we

473
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:24.880
take it at face value, then this becomes a conditional

474
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:30.000
promise that can be measured in visible obedience that's.

475
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.880
Based on that, and it's all based on.

476
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.519
Our level of faith surrender or spiritual consistency. So then

477
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.960
we're left with basically only a couple of options. The

478
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:46.039
verse is just false. If I walk in the spirit

479
00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.640
as sincere Christians claim to, and we still fulfill the

480
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:50.920
less of the flesh, then this verse can't be trusted

481
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:55.720
because it promise wasn't true. But that would deny Scripture's truthfulness,

482
00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:57.640
something a faithful reader rightly rejects.

483
00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:58.599
So we can't we.

484
00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.240
Can't go with that approach. But I mean, you may

485
00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:03.319
reach the point this just isn't It doesn't work either.

486
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.039
I mean, you just come to it's just this verse,

487
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.279
it's just not true, or you have to come to

488
00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:12.400
another conclusion. No one really walks in the spirit.

489
00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:13.400
No one does.

490
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:19.440
No one does, right, So to protect the verse, someone

491
00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:21.960
may say, well, if I'm still sinning, then I must

492
00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:24.079
not be walking on this in the spirit. So that

493
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:26.279
what does this lead to? What can lead to despair?

494
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:28.759
If I can't get there, maybe I'm not really saved.

495
00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:33.839
Maybe it gets to spiritual elitism, dividing Christians into victorious

496
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.599
versus failing.

497
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:36.920
Look at them, they're actually walking in the spirit.

498
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.160
But anyone you point to that claims to be walking

499
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:41.960
in the spirit and being victorious, you look at their life,

500
00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:43.960
sooner or later you see the sin. You're like, wait

501
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.880
a minute, I don't think that's it's really working, or

502
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.039
it leads to self deception. You've got to pretend you've

503
00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:54.680
reached some sinless state and you haven't. It turns walking

504
00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:58.319
into the spirit into a subjective achievement instead of a

505
00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:03.359
gospel reality, and it forces people to redefine sin downward

506
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:07.160
so that they can claim victory, which is dishonest and

507
00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:09.880
not holiness. Now I'm going to read that again because

508
00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:15.039
that's from artificial intelligence, because I gave artificial intelligence this problem.

509
00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:19.039
This is what artificial intelligence says. It turns walking in

510
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:24.160
the spirit into a subjective achievement instead of a gospel reality,

511
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:29.480
and it forces people to redefine sin downward to say.

512
00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:31.039
Hey, look I'm victorious.

513
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:37.720
I'm victorious, and AI says this is dishonest and it's

514
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:43.799
not holiness. If you've got to redefine sin in a

515
00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:46.079
way that gets you to the point where you can say, look,

516
00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:48.799
I'm victorious, then you're not even being honest with.

517
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:53.759
God or Scripture. No, the Bible demands absolute perfection internally

518
00:28:53.799 --> 00:28:56.839
and externally, and if you're remotely honest with yourself, you're

519
00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:59.279
like I sin, I sin, I sin. So then who

520
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:00.759
walks in this spirit.

521
00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.039
Now you could say maybe Christ did, and well, his

522
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.799
walking in the spirit and his obedience is imputed to

523
00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:08.920
me by faith.

524
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.160
Okay, we can That's the one thing I'm going to

525
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:12.079
keep going back to.

526
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:20.119
Now AI suggested, or there's a third option. So the

527
00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:22.440
first option is you come to the conclusion that the

528
00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:25.319
versus just false. The second option is that, well, no

529
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:29.240
one really walks in the spirit. A third option, and

530
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.039
this is the one that I began to discuss with

531
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:35.079
artificial intelligence, is that we have to read a fine

532
00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:41.599
Galatians five point sixteen through maybe a Gospel realism, through

533
00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.480
a Gospel perspective, and this appears to be the only

534
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:51.079
faithful path. The verse must mean something deeper than behavioral transformation.

535
00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:54.400
It has to mean something more than behavioral transformation, because

536
00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:58.519
there is no true behavioral transformation as far as the

537
00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:02.599
way we understand and the scriptures right, because you can't say, oh,

538
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:07.640
I've been transformed in my behavior if the standard is perfection.

539
00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:10.319
Now you may say, well, look in this area I

540
00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:14.039
was changed. But people in all kinds of religions change

541
00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:16.480
claim transformation and certain behaviors.

542
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:18.319
People on alcoholics.

543
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:22.559
Anonymous and narcotics Anonymous talk about massive transformation in their lives.

544
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.480
I was addicted to meth, I was addicted to crack.

545
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:28.759
I was an alcoholic for fifteen years. I destroyed this,

546
00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.359
and I did this, and I did this, But finally

547
00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:34.400
I came to the end of myself and I've been transformed.

548
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:38.000
I no longer drink, I no longer do crack, and

549
00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.680
many of them and has nothing to do with Christianity

550
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.480
or with God. People of other religions talk about being transformed.

551
00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.880
The point is from a Biblical standard, transformation then would

552
00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:56.599
require perfection, because if I'm guilty at one point in

553
00:30:56.599 --> 00:30:58.079
the law, I'm guilty of all of it. You're in

554
00:30:58.119 --> 00:31:01.119
a perpetual state of sin. Behold, God is only I

555
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:02.319
can go through all the scriptures.

556
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.039
You're in a.

557
00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:06.240
Constant state of sin. So how do you measure your transformation?

558
00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:08.799
You do it in a subjective way, so you give

559
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:11.440
yourself a sense that look at me, I've been changed,

560
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:14.599
and everyone who knows you for a very length of

561
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.640
time going You talk a big game about your transformation,

562
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.480
but you are still an arrogant, self conceited jerk who's

563
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.480
very selfish. And I know you lie, and I know

564
00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:28.599
you've deceived, and I know that you still lust and

565
00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:31.200
I know you still haven't forgiven that person, and I

566
00:31:31.240 --> 00:31:32.799
hear you gossip and slander.

567
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:35.119
I mean, come on, people ultimately.

568
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:37.599
Who know you know the reality is still there and

569
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:44.920
you know deep down. So because of this reality, then

570
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.000
the only faithful path is that the verse has to

571
00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:50.680
mean something more than behavioral transformation.

572
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:53.000
And I think that's exactly what the.

573
00:31:52.960 --> 00:32:01.599
Context of Galatians ultimately supports. So because we still sin continually,

574
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:05.039
then I think we have to approach the verse differently.

575
00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:10.319
I think we have to read Galatians five sixteen philologically

576
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:14.279
through the lens of our union with Christ. We have

577
00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:18.440
to read it positionally as a statement of what is

578
00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:20.079
true in the Gospel.

579
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:22.160
And then.

580
00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:26.400
I think maybe we have to read it maybe somewhat

581
00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:30.279
through the lens of eschatology, that it's not a present

582
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:34.799
moral achievement, but it is something that one day will

583
00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:38.799
be completed and that is in glorification. I think we

584
00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:45.759
have to read Galatians five sixteen realistically, so philologically, positionally eschatologically,

585
00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:49.480
if I can speak correctly and realistically, we have to

586
00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:52.799
understand the spirit's work is not to remove sin, but

587
00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:55.799
to war against it, maybe restrain it, and keep it

588
00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:00.400
from defining us. And even that I'm skeptical of, I

589
00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.759
think we have to read it realistically. In this sense,

590
00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:08.519
I still sin, I still sin. I still sin. So

591
00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:13.319
if we interpret Galatians five sixteen as a behavioral based

592
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:18.160
condition for sinlessness, we're either forced to call the verse false,

593
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:24.079
ourselves possibly unsaved, or invent a subjective read definition of

594
00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:25.079
walking in the spirit.

595
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:26.839
But if we interpret it through a.

596
00:33:26.759 --> 00:33:31.440
Gospel realism, it becomes a glorious promise that the Spirit

597
00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:36.720
will never let the flesh lead to our being condemned,

598
00:33:37.079 --> 00:33:42.200
and that in Christ, while we are, there's something different.

599
00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:50.759
And now I'm just going to throw out one more

600
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:57.759
thing here. Galatians five sixteen is a promise, but not

601
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:01.400
a transaction. It does not mean if you obey enough,

602
00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:03.319
the spirit will keep you from sin. It means as

603
00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:06.799
you live by faith in the spirit, depending not on

604
00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.679
your flesh, even your religious flesh.

605
00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:10.320
The spirit.

606
00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:15.000
Ultimately, then then I think you then live in the

607
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.400
positional reality of what we are in Christ. Not again,

608
00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:22.920
I'm I'm just paraphrasing here. I'm not even really paraphrasing.

609
00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:28.880
I'm throwing out ideas to build a hypothesis. And this

610
00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:31.320
is and I'm taking you through the steps I was taking.

611
00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:34.440
So there, I'm still trying to figure it out. So

612
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:38.519
then I was like, okay, I'm onto something here, but

613
00:34:38.599 --> 00:34:39.360
we still got.

614
00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:43.440
To flesh this out a little bit more. So then

615
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:44.840
I was I was like okay.

616
00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:47.639
And then at this I began working with artificial intelligence,

617
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:48.639
and I'm like, okay.

618
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:51.639
What we need is we need to look at Glatians

619
00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:53.760
five sixteen in a way that.

620
00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:59.840
Is textually accurate, that is gospel cinnered, not law driven,

621
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:06.559
and that aligns with this very very real truth that

622
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:11.840
every Christian remains in sin even as they are in Christ.

623
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:14.639
I may be in Christ, but I remain in sin.

624
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:18.679
So I need to be textually accurate, I think gospel centered,

625
00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:21.159
and I have to be in line with reality.

626
00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:22.960
What can I do with Galatians five.

627
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:27.920
Point sixteen that is textually accurate, gospel centered, and yet

628
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:31.360
holds to the truth that we are all in sin?

629
00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:35.199
Do I have any options at this point? Do I

630
00:35:35.239 --> 00:35:35.800
have any?

631
00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:43.119
So let's try to build a new interpretation, as I

632
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:48.239
always do. We'll call this my hypothesis. So I'm not

633
00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:53.000
being dogmatic, but I'm trying to challenge how it's typically

634
00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:56.320
understood all right, So if we read from the King

635
00:35:56.440 --> 00:36:03.000
James version this, I say, then walk in the spirit

636
00:36:03.159 --> 00:36:04.800
and you shall not fulfill.

637
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:06.280
The lust of the flesh.

638
00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:10.199
Now, the Greek word for fulfilled means to bring something

639
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.599
to completion or full expression, not merely to feel or

640
00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:20.599
desire something. Okay, So therefore we can immediately say, Paul,

641
00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:22.800
doesn't appear to be promising that walking in the spirit

642
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:27.159
removes all sinful desires. But then you could argue, is

643
00:36:27.159 --> 00:36:30.679
that promising that those desires will not be brought to completion,

644
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:36.119
acted upon, are lived out?

645
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:36.960
Hmm.

646
00:36:37.880 --> 00:36:40.840
Now that seems though, that we're possibly leading to what

647
00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:44.800
some kind of a promise of sinlessness, right at least

648
00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:48.079
sendlessness and action. Hey, the desire may be there, but

649
00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:50.280
if you walk in the spirit you won't fulfill it. Well,

650
00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:53.639
that seems to be saying I could be sinless, right,

651
00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:57.440
I see, I'm still going to struggle here.

652
00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:06.199
Yeah, I still see. That still doesn't work.

653
00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:09.000
Right if I just say, well, okay, it's only it's

654
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:11.199
not saying that the desires won't be there, it's just

655
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:15.239
that you won't fulfill them. But if the desires are there, again,

656
00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:18.239
even if I don't act upon it, if the desire

657
00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:21.519
is inside of me. If that, if that, if I again,

658
00:37:21.559 --> 00:37:23.559
if I look at a woman with lust, even if

659
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:26.599
I never touch the woman, the desire for her, the

660
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:31.119
lust for her inside of me, I'm still sinning. That's

661
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:33.639
the whole point Jesus is trying to make. So even

662
00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:37.159
if you say Galatians five point sixteen, is the word

663
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:40.159
fulfilled there just means to bring something.

664
00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:41.599
To completion or full expression.

665
00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:44.679
Oh well, well, see, if I walk in the spirit,

666
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:48.199
I'm not going I'm not going to fulfill the.

667
00:37:48.199 --> 00:37:50.480
Lust of the flesh. It won't come to full.

668
00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:56.159
Full expression. Well, then I'm still in sin. So are

669
00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:58.199
you saying that if I walk in the spirit, I

670
00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:02.239
just will never act upon what is the sin going

671
00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:03.320
on inside?

672
00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:06.199
But I'm still sinful on the inside. So then.

673
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:09.960
That doesn't even appear to work for me, all right,

674
00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:15.480
So what so that doesn't really help me? So okay,

675
00:38:15.559 --> 00:38:17.360
So what if we go with what what does it

676
00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:20.559
mean to walk in the spirit? Well, Paul's already made

677
00:38:20.679 --> 00:38:24.119
clear in Galatians that we are justified by faith, not

678
00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:28.400
by works Galatians two sixteen. That we receive the spirit

679
00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:31.920
not by law, but by hearing with faith. Galatians three

680
00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:35.280
to two. The Christian life is sustained by the same

681
00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:39.400
spirit that began it Galatians three three. And the flesh

682
00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:42.920
and the spirit are in conflict Galatians five seventeen.

683
00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:45.199
And this conflict is normal.

684
00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:49.800
So walking in the spirit doesn't appear then to mean

685
00:38:50.639 --> 00:38:53.039
doing enough spiritual things to avoid sin.

686
00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:53.960
That doesn't seem to be.

687
00:38:54.119 --> 00:38:56.000
Hey, if you walk in the spirit, that means you're

688
00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.719
doing these things and you can avoid sin.

689
00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:00.119
Doesn't appear to be going that way.

690
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:03.480
It seems to possibly be that walking in the spirit

691
00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:07.320
means living by faith in Christ, which the Spirit empowers

692
00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:11.639
and sustains. It empowers and sustains my faith. It empowers

693
00:39:11.639 --> 00:39:15.280
and sustains my belief. It empowers mine. I'm going to

694
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.599
continue to believe because my faith is a gift from God.

695
00:39:19.719 --> 00:39:22.159
So I'm justified by faith, not by works.

696
00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:26.079
I receive the spirit, not by law, but by hearing

697
00:39:26.159 --> 00:39:30.000
with faith. The Christian life is sustained by that same

698
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:34.079
spirit that began it says, the Spirit sustains my faith.

699
00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:40.519
I persevere in my believing, and the spirit and the

700
00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:46.320
flesh are in conflict, So walking in the spirit cannot

701
00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:49.440
mean doing enough spiritual things to avoid sin. That seems

702
00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:52.559
not to be the idea. It seems to be living

703
00:39:52.679 --> 00:39:56.800
by faith. Now, this seems to harmonize with the life

704
00:39:56.840 --> 00:39:59.159
I now live in the flesh. I live by faith

705
00:39:59.159 --> 00:40:01.360
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave

706
00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:06.280
himself for me, which is Galatians two twenty. It's walking

707
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:08.679
in the spirit is kind of synonymous with living by faith,

708
00:40:08.719 --> 00:40:16.599
with believing, with trusting in God. That seems to be

709
00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:18.480
more the idea of what walking in the faith is.

710
00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:21.480
So the fulfilling thing. We haven't really got a good answer,

711
00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:24.320
but walking in the faith this may change it from

712
00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:26.880
walking in the faith is doing five things to walking

713
00:40:26.920 --> 00:40:28.519
in the faith is believing in Christ.

714
00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:30.440
So then we have to.

715
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:34.079
Bring back the reality, though, which is we're in perpetuals.

716
00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:38.199
We're in perpetual state of sin. And I don't think

717
00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:40.800
it's a defeatist view. I think it's a biblical one.

718
00:40:40.920 --> 00:40:43.360
Scripture assumes Christians still sin. If we say we have

719
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:48.039
no sin, we deceive ourselves, for I do not the

720
00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:51.000
good I want. In other words, Paul and Romans chapter seven,

721
00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:52.320
the things I want to do I don't do. The

722
00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:54.519
things I don't want to do I do, And many

723
00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:57.159
things we offend all. I mean, I can go on

724
00:40:57.239 --> 00:41:01.000
and on. The Christian life is not sinless victory. It's

725
00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:06.599
not the presence of this struggle. We could argue our

726
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:09.519
struggle with sin and our reality that we're sin is

727
00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:13.239
really kind of like that proves that we understand, We've

728
00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:15.599
come to a change of mind, that we understand this

729
00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:17.559
is sinful and I'm struggling with it and I'm.

730
00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:19.159
Acknowledging the reality of it.

731
00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:28.159
So how should we maybe teach Galatians five sixteen. Because

732
00:41:28.199 --> 00:41:33.079
you are in Christ and the Spirit in you, your

733
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.880
life is now defined by a war between the Spirit

734
00:41:35.920 --> 00:41:39.679
and the flesh. But this war is itself evidence that

735
00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:42.480
you are no longer under the law. The Spirit will

736
00:41:42.519 --> 00:41:46.360
not allow you to fully gratify the flesh. He restrains you,

737
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:50.880
he convicts you, he interrupts you. You will sin and

738
00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:53.840
you will never stop needing grace. But the Spirit will

739
00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:56.800
not allow sin to own you. You belong to Christ

740
00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:57.960
and the flesh cannot win.

741
00:41:58.239 --> 00:41:59.079
That's how one.

742
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:03.840
Attempt to explain it. I don't even agree with that.

743
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:05.360
That doesn't even make any sense to.

744
00:42:05.320 --> 00:42:08.159
Me, because listen, the Spirit is not going.

745
00:42:08.039 --> 00:42:10.679
To allow you to fully gratify the flesh. That's a

746
00:42:10.760 --> 00:42:14.920
subjective measurement. It's not going to allow me to If

747
00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:17.880
the spirit's not going to allow me to fully gratify

748
00:42:17.920 --> 00:42:19.679
the flesh, then what does that mean.

749
00:42:20.599 --> 00:42:24.719
It will only let me gratify it fifty percent, forty percent.

750
00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:27.119
Sixty percent, And if the spirit's not going to let

751
00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:30.519
me gratify the flesh, and the spirit is really as

752
00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:33.320
as this source would say, it's not going to allow

753
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:37.360
me to gratify it. It's going to restrain me, it's

754
00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:39.400
going to convict me, it's going.

755
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:40.039
To interrupt me.

756
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:42.320
Then for crying out loud, you're just right back to

757
00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:44.599
basically saying the Spirit's not going to let you sin.

758
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:48.719
So that doesn't really help it. So so far we

759
00:42:48.760 --> 00:42:53.360
still don't have anything. That still doesn't get me anywhere.

760
00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:01.719
So if we try maybe to try to compare maybe

761
00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:04.719
a law to a gospel based well, walk in the

762
00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:08.719
spirit equals perform the disciplines properly, all right, We completely

763
00:43:08.760 --> 00:43:13.000
disagree with walking in the spirit means doing certain things. No,

764
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:17.320
walk in the spirit means to live in continual faith, dependence,

765
00:43:17.440 --> 00:43:20.760
and repentance. That makes more sense. So walking in the

766
00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:24.880
spirit means I have faith, I'm walking in that faith,

767
00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:27.679
I'm walking in my dependence. I'm walking in repentance in

768
00:43:27.719 --> 00:43:30.440
other words, and a constant change of mind about what

769
00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:36.000
sin is and being honest with it. A law based

770
00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:39.960
approach says you won't sin if you walk rightly. A

771
00:43:40.039 --> 00:43:42.079
gospel based is you will sin.

772
00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:45.360
Now. Some will say, but the Spirit will not let

773
00:43:45.480 --> 00:43:47.159
sin rain. I don't know what that means.

774
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:50.199
See if I throw in, but the spirit will not

775
00:43:50.280 --> 00:43:52.880
let sin rain? What do you mean sin will not rain?

776
00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:57.760
Sin is raining. If I cannot get to perfection, whatever

777
00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:01.079
keeps me from perfection is raining and dominating.

778
00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:02.559
Can you be perfect?

779
00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:02.760
No?

780
00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:07.880
Why not? There's something in you that's reigning, that is dominating.

781
00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:08.559
What is that?

782
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:12.039
Your sinful nature? If the Spirit is not letting the

783
00:44:12.079 --> 00:44:15.079
sin rain, then you should be able to be perfect.

784
00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:21.159
So that all of this just starts falling. Apart from

785
00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:25.440
a law based approach, your failure equals your spiritual method

786
00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:29.679
broke down, and a gospel based failure you flee to

787
00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:34.079
Christ again. The Spirit is still with you, and a

788
00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:38.280
law based system victory equals absence of sin, and a

789
00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:44.239
gospel based system victory equals well your position in Christ.

790
00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:52.760
So I still.

791
00:44:52.519 --> 00:44:54.840
Struggle with some of the This still doesn't really give

792
00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:59.920
me a good answer. Right again, if you tell me that, hey,

793
00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:04.119
even in the Gospel of Approach, you're gonna tell me, well,

794
00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:06.840
you see the spirits still doing this, or the spirits

795
00:45:06.880 --> 00:45:08.679
still doing this, or the spirit still doing this.

796
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:10.440
If the Spirit is.

797
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:13.800
Doing that, then there's gotta be some way to measure

798
00:45:13.880 --> 00:45:16.440
what that means. And if walking in the spirit is

799
00:45:16.480 --> 00:45:20.599
simply a life by faith, then then that's not indicating. Well,

800
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:23.079
now the Spirit's gonna not allow this to happen, or

801
00:45:23.079 --> 00:45:24.920
this to happen, or this to happen. Because you're getting

802
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:27.719
right back to claiming I can basically be perfect.

803
00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:31.639
I do not.

804
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:34.719
Fulfill the lust of the flesh and only one way.

805
00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:37.599
So this is what I'm going to say. I do

806
00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:40.079
not fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way.

807
00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:41.159
Here are my words.

808
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:42.360
I do not.

809
00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:46.280
Fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way

810
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:54.960
in Christ, in my positional standing, any meaningful, honest assessment

811
00:45:55.239 --> 00:45:58.639
of us as Christians show we fulfill the lust of

812
00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:02.559
the flesh and thought we're desire indeed all the time.

813
00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:04.119
That's what I'm going to go to.

814
00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:10.519
What whatever I understand about Galatians five sixteen. This I say,

815
00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:12.480
then walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill

816
00:46:12.519 --> 00:46:15.159
the lust of the flesh. The only way I don't

817
00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:19.119
fulfill the lust of the flesh is in Christ. In

818
00:46:19.199 --> 00:46:25.360
my position, I fulfill it practically every single day. So

819
00:46:26.079 --> 00:46:29.840
I'm calling for a more, even more radical approach. I

820
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:31.880
try to kind of walk through some so trying to

821
00:46:31.920 --> 00:46:36.679
just again, I'm trying to slowly shape a new interpretation.

822
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:40.519
I'm trying to give a hypothesis by by building it.

823
00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:45.559
I'm trying to build it in real time. So again

824
00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:46.360
I'm gonna state it.

825
00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:51.119
This is my statement, these are my words. I do

826
00:46:51.159 --> 00:46:53.960
not fulfill the luss of the flesh, and only one

827
00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:59.400
way in Christ, in my positional standing, in a meaningful

828
00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:03.559
honesty assessment of us as Christians, as me as a person,

829
00:47:03.880 --> 00:47:05.880
shows that I fulfill the lust of the flesh and

830
00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:09.199
thought word desire indeed twenty four to seven.

831
00:47:09.360 --> 00:47:10.199
And you can deny it.

832
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:14.480
All day, but you do. I don't believe that cynicism.

833
00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:17.360
I don't believe that's cynical. I don't believe that's being jaded.

834
00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:23.559
I don't think that's defeatism. I think that's realism. And

835
00:47:23.639 --> 00:47:26.679
I think it's the only view that keeps the cross necessary.

836
00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:31.079
Every second of the Christian life, I need the cross

837
00:47:31.480 --> 00:47:33.360
twenty four to seven. Every day I need to look

838
00:47:33.400 --> 00:47:35.519
to the cross. There's my hope, the finished work of

839
00:47:35.599 --> 00:47:38.440
Jesus Christ. He paid for my sin, and by his

840
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.480
death he not only paid for me. And then there's

841
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:46.079
this great transaction. My sin was placed upon him. He

842
00:47:46.599 --> 00:47:50.480
propitiated the wrath of God, and his perfection was imputed

843
00:47:50.519 --> 00:47:53.719
to me. So now I stand perfect obedient, and I

844
00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:58.920
do not fulfill the lust of the flesh in Christ.

845
00:48:01.800 --> 00:48:03.280
So now I'm going to try to build this out

846
00:48:03.320 --> 00:48:05.599
a little bit more. I do not fulfill the lust

847
00:48:05.599 --> 00:48:10.320
of the flesh. Positionally. Galatians five twenty four. Those who

848
00:48:10.360 --> 00:48:14.199
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its

849
00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:15.920
passions and desires.

850
00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:17.960
Positionally.

851
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:22.519
See it's stated, those who belong to Christ Jesus have

852
00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:27.679
crucified the flesh with its passions. It's past, tense, already done,

853
00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:33.199
it's final. It's not subjective because it's true positionally, Romans

854
00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:36.199
chapter eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condinition

855
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:39.280
for those who are in Christ Jesus Colossians two thirteen

856
00:48:39.320 --> 00:48:44.280
through fourteen, Having forgiven us all our trespasses, knelling it

857
00:48:44.400 --> 00:48:49.199
to the cross and my standing before God. The flesh

858
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:54.519
is defeated, the desires are condemned, and the lust are

859
00:48:54.559 --> 00:48:59.000
not fulfilled, because Christ fulfilled the law, bore the punishment

860
00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:03.519
and covers me fully. This is my only true victory

861
00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:08.119
over sin in this life. It's not practical, it's not behavioral.

862
00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:13.880
It's positional, and it's substitutionary. That is the gospel. That's

863
00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:19.960
the only way to understand this. In Christ, it's all

864
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:21.760
been done, it's finished.

865
00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:22.519
In Christ.

866
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:26.039
He is my sanctification, He is my holiness. Here is

867
00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:29.719
my righteousness. He is my victory. I can only understand

868
00:49:29.760 --> 00:49:36.639
this positionally, my only true victory in this life. It's

869
00:49:36.679 --> 00:49:42.199
it's not practical, it's not behavioral, it's it's nothing like that.

870
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:48.239
It's a positional and it's a substitutionary victory. And that

871
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:57.760
is the gospel. That's what I'm I'm calling for. So

872
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:01.400
in practice, we've feel the lust of the flesh all

873
00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:03.880
the time. So let's define what Paul means by the

874
00:50:03.960 --> 00:50:07.119
lust of the flesh. It includes not only obvious sense

875
00:50:07.440 --> 00:50:13.920
sexual and morality, drunkenness, but envy, strife, selfish ambition, fits

876
00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:19.679
of anger, jealousy. If you're honest, then we have to

877
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:22.440
say I fulfill the luss of the flesh constantly inwardly

878
00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:25.880
and outwardly, and desire thought, tone, attitude, emotion, and action.

879
00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:27.360
Even our best.

880
00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.800
Works are all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags

881
00:50:31.719 --> 00:50:35.719
Romans seven eighteen. I know that nothing is good dwells

882
00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:39.760
in me, that is in my flesh. Because this would

883
00:50:39.760 --> 00:50:44.960
include impatience and gratitude, prayerlessness, self justifying, lack of love

884
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:50.559
for others, pride in our spiritual progress, secret resentment, lust, gluttony, laziness, anger,

885
00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:54.679
not just acted out but desired. So if Galatians five

886
00:50:54.679 --> 00:50:58.199
point sixteen means stop doing all of that, we're all condemned.

887
00:50:58.760 --> 00:51:02.480
But if it means in Christ, the flesh has no

888
00:51:02.639 --> 00:51:07.000
power to condemn or to define me, that is the gospel.

889
00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:11.199
If I walk in faith, If I walk in the Spirit,

890
00:51:11.639 --> 00:51:17.519
in faith, in believing, in accepting that in repentance, then

891
00:51:17.559 --> 00:51:19.519
the flesh has no power to condemn me.

892
00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:23.400
It does not define me. That's the gospel. It's not

893
00:51:23.719 --> 00:51:26.079
if I walk in the spirit, I just stop doing

894
00:51:26.079 --> 00:51:29.079
all the bad things, because we keep doing the bad things.

895
00:51:29.079 --> 00:51:32.119
So the walk in the spirit has to be understood differently.

896
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:40.039
Therefore, what I'm arguing is Galatians five sixteen, then must

897
00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:43.880
be interpreted through our union with Christ. This I say, then,

898
00:51:44.320 --> 00:51:46.679
walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the

899
00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:48.360
loss of the flesh.

900
00:51:48.760 --> 00:51:51.199
Positionally I am in the spirit.

901
00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:56.239
Therefore in Christ, I am not fulfilling the flesh, because

902
00:51:56.280 --> 00:52:00.199
He bore it, he killed it. And you and I

903
00:52:00.519 --> 00:52:06.559
and you us, we we're hidden in Him. Practically, I

904
00:52:06.599 --> 00:52:10.760
still fulfill the lust in various ways daily, but those lust.

905
00:52:10.559 --> 00:52:13.639
Are no longer my master, and they do not condemn me.

906
00:52:13.639 --> 00:52:14.880
They're no longer my master.

907
00:52:15.119 --> 00:52:18.639
Positionally, I'm not defined that way.

908
00:52:18.880 --> 00:52:22.599
I'm not seen that way. Positionally, I'm a new creature.

909
00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:26.159
The old is completely gone. I'm completely new.

910
00:52:26.519 --> 00:52:30.880
Positionally, the flesh is gone, the flesh is defeated. I'm

911
00:52:30.920 --> 00:52:33.639
not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. It's all been

912
00:52:33.760 --> 00:52:42.920
taken care of. It's all been crucified with Christ. So

913
00:52:43.079 --> 00:52:45.960
walking in the Spirit is not try harder, do better,

914
00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:50.119
be perfect. It's live out what Christ has already done,

915
00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:51.960
knowing I'm already righteous in Him.

916
00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:52.599
It's living.

917
00:52:52.800 --> 00:52:56.679
It's walking in the reality that I'm in Christ. That

918
00:52:56.760 --> 00:53:03.760
I'm a believer that I'm trusting only when we start

919
00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:09.280
here with our perpetual sinfulness and our totally victory in Christ.

920
00:53:09.760 --> 00:53:13.000
That Galatians five sixteen becomes good news only until we

921
00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:16.760
read Galatians five sixteen and that this is about that

922
00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:20.960
I'm acknowledging my perpetual sinfulness and I understand that my

923
00:53:21.000 --> 00:53:23.400
total victory is found in Christ. Then Galatians five to

924
00:53:23.480 --> 00:53:27.440
sixteen becomes good news. Otherwise it becomes a gospel of failure,

925
00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:32.079
where a burden is on your effort. So if we

926
00:53:32.119 --> 00:53:37.119
go with my interpretation, if I live in continual dependence

927
00:53:37.199 --> 00:53:41.239
on Christ and his Spirit, I will not be left

928
00:53:41.320 --> 00:53:48.679
to myself. Though I will fall fail sin daily, i

929
00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:52.519
will not fulfill the flesh in a final, condemning, defining

930
00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.880
way because I'm in Christ and the Spirit keeps dragging

931
00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:56.559
me back to Him.

932
00:53:56.599 --> 00:53:57.960
Now even that I'm not.

933
00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:01.280
I don't even like the way that. See, that's not

934
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:04.039
even a good way. I'm still not even happy with that.

935
00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:09.159
If I live in continual dependence on Christ and his Spirit,

936
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:12.960
that I'm not left to myself no matter how many

937
00:54:13.039 --> 00:54:17.320
times I fail, because I am in Christ and I'm

938
00:54:17.400 --> 00:54:21.079
declared to be perfect and righteous. Even though I am

939
00:54:21.360 --> 00:54:31.119
not the only true victory over sin. The only true

940
00:54:31.199 --> 00:54:33.960
victory over sin in this life is in Christ alone,

941
00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:37.679
not in my personal obedience, but in my union with Him.

942
00:54:38.760 --> 00:54:40.199
In any reading.

943
00:54:39.880 --> 00:54:42.880
Of Galatians five point sixteen, that doesn't begin an end,

944
00:54:42.960 --> 00:54:45.760
there becomes law, not gospel.

945
00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:54.199
So that's the way I'm approaching this.

946
00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:59.519
Walk in the spirit, that's walking in faith in Christ,

947
00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:05.840
in repentance, in dependence on Him, walking in the reality

948
00:55:05.880 --> 00:55:08.559
that I've been crucified. With Christ, I no longer live.

949
00:55:08.920 --> 00:55:12.400
The life I now live is in Christ. Jesus he lives.

950
00:55:13.280 --> 00:55:16.079
It's his life that's being lived. I'm in him, I'm

951
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:21.159
united to him. I'm in Christ. My life is in Christ.

952
00:55:22.280 --> 00:55:23.039
So then I don't.

953
00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:28.519
Fulfill the luss of the flesh and my position. I

954
00:55:28.559 --> 00:55:30.800
don't do the things that I used to do in

955
00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:33.920
my position. In my practice I do. That's the only

956
00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.760
any other way. This falls into a law based due

957
00:55:37.719 --> 00:55:39.480
and you're trying to figure out how to pull this off,

958
00:55:39.480 --> 00:55:41.159
and then you gotta lie to yourself that you're even

959
00:55:41.199 --> 00:55:48.360
doing it. But most Christians today, across evangelical charismatic can

960
00:55:48.400 --> 00:55:52.159
even reform circles interpret Galatians five point sixteen. More along

961
00:55:52.239 --> 00:55:56.559
these lines, walk in the Spirit and a way of Okay,

962
00:55:56.960 --> 00:56:01.639
let me state this again. Most Christians today cross evangelical, charismatic,

963
00:56:01.679 --> 00:56:05.079
and even reform circles interpret Galatians five sixteen this way

964
00:56:05.480 --> 00:56:07.599
walk in the Spirit as a way of life that

965
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:11.360
if you truly practice, it leads to increasing personal moral

966
00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:14.559
victory over sin. In other words, more spirit less sin,

967
00:56:14.880 --> 00:56:19.039
more discipline, more victory. Victory equals transformation. Transformation equals proof

968
00:56:19.079 --> 00:56:22.400
of salvation. That's how it's typically handled in most churches.

969
00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:30.079
It's essentially a performance based sanctification model, even if it's

970
00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:33.360
dressed in grace language. This turns the verse into a

971
00:56:33.400 --> 00:56:36.199
how to manual, not a gospel promise. It makes your

972
00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:45.679
ability the basis of your victory. Galatians five sixteen is

973
00:56:45.719 --> 00:56:49.719
not about achieving sinlessness or measurable moral victory. It is

974
00:56:49.760 --> 00:56:52.480
a gospel promise that because we are in Christ and

975
00:56:52.519 --> 00:56:56.440
the Spirit dwells us, the flesh will not rule over

976
00:56:56.559 --> 00:57:04.039
us positionally, even though we still sin practically. So my argument,

977
00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:06.159
so let me state that again. My argument is that

978
00:57:06.159 --> 00:57:09.800
Galatians five point sixteen is not about achieving sinlessness or

979
00:57:09.920 --> 00:57:13.840
measurable moral victory. It is a gospel promise that because

980
00:57:13.880 --> 00:57:16.639
you are in Christ and the Spirit is inside of you,

981
00:57:17.239 --> 00:57:21.360
the flesh will not rule over you positionally, even though

982
00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:25.320
you sin practically. So I'm redefining not fulfilling the lust

983
00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:28.000
of the flesh as not bringing them me to condemning

984
00:57:28.320 --> 00:57:31.760
to a or and not bringing the flesh to a

985
00:57:31.840 --> 00:57:36.199
condemning fulfillment, because Christ bore that for me, not living

986
00:57:36.280 --> 00:57:40.880
under the under flesh dominion. Although the presence remains, it's

987
00:57:40.960 --> 00:57:44.599
not being defined by sin, even though we still sin constantly.

988
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:47.480
I'm not defined by sin. I am.

989
00:57:47.679 --> 00:57:49.679
I'm not going to be brought to condemnation. There is,

990
00:57:49.719 --> 00:57:53.480
therefore now no condemnation. I am in Christ. Christ is

991
00:57:53.519 --> 00:57:53.760
in me.

992
00:57:53.960 --> 00:57:56.159
I have been crucified with Him again. The life I

993
00:57:56.199 --> 00:57:56.760
live I.

994
00:57:56.719 --> 00:58:02.199
Live in Christ. I'm a new creature. That's how I'm defined.

995
00:58:03.719 --> 00:58:07.000
The old is gone. I'm declared to be perfect and righteous.

996
00:58:10.800 --> 00:58:14.639
So I believe my interpretation embraces the reality of ongoing sin,

997
00:58:14.880 --> 00:58:17.960
the sufficiency of Christ and the Gospels the only source

998
00:58:17.960 --> 00:58:22.239
of victory. But now you may say, well, wait a minute,

999
00:58:22.760 --> 00:58:26.519
since everyone in the modern Christianity disagrees with you, what

1000
00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:29.800
about historically, Well, if you look at Martin Luther. In

1001
00:58:29.840 --> 00:58:33.280
his lecture on the Galatians. Luther taught the believers are

1002
00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:40.159
at the very same time righteous and sinful. He's stressed,

1003
00:58:40.280 --> 00:58:44.800
and I quote, so long as the flesh remains, there

1004
00:58:44.920 --> 00:58:49.559
is sin, but it is not imputed, for Christ has

1005
00:58:50.199 --> 00:58:55.880
taken it. For Luther, Galatians five point sixteen did not

1006
00:58:56.000 --> 00:59:01.679
mean stop sinning. It meant walk by and Christ and

1007
00:59:01.760 --> 00:59:05.119
the Spirit will oppose the flesh and you continually. Even

1008
00:59:05.159 --> 00:59:09.719
as you sin, you are not condemned. Luther had a

1009
00:59:09.719 --> 00:59:11.840
different approach. I'm not even saying I would be in

1010
00:59:11.880 --> 00:59:14.599
complete agreement with Luther, but he would be one hundred

1011
00:59:14.679 --> 00:59:17.800
thousand times better than what you see in any church

1012
00:59:17.880 --> 00:59:21.960
or any sermon today. If you look at Calvin's commentary

1013
00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:25.440
on Galatians, Calvin wrote, although the desires of the flesh

1014
00:59:25.519 --> 00:59:28.480
do not cease to attack us, yet we are not

1015
00:59:28.639 --> 00:59:32.840
under their dominion. This is the consolation of the believer, again,

1016
00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:36.760
not the absence of sin, but the assurance that sin doesn't.

1017
00:59:36.559 --> 00:59:38.159
Rain because Christ does not.

1018
00:59:38.280 --> 00:59:40.320
The only problem I would have with Calvin is he

1019
00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:41.920
tries again make this subjective.

1020
00:59:42.039 --> 00:59:43.800
Well, it's not going to I mean, you're still going

1021
00:59:43.840 --> 00:59:45.719
to sin, but it's not going to reign over you.

1022
00:59:45.840 --> 00:59:46.960
Let me make it very clear.

1023
00:59:48.119 --> 00:59:53.880
If I cannot get to perfection, if I cannot stop sinning,

1024
00:59:54.559 --> 00:59:58.159
the thing that's keeping me from perfection, the thing that's

1025
00:59:58.239 --> 01:00:01.519
keeping me from not sinning, it is reigning and it

1026
01:00:01.599 --> 01:00:06.280
is dominating. So clearly the sinful nature continues to reign

1027
01:00:06.440 --> 01:00:15.960
and dominate, or I would be able to be perfect. Now,

1028
01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:19.519
why has this understanding that I'm trying to put forth

1029
01:00:19.559 --> 01:00:25.159
has become completely lost? Well, because in modern Christianity, sanctification

1030
01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:30.599
becomes pragmatic, not philological. The Christian life became about transformation,

1031
01:00:31.079 --> 01:00:35.920
not imputation. Victory became proof that you're really saved, not

1032
01:00:36.039 --> 01:00:40.159
a byproduct of union with Christ, and Galatians five point

1033
01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:45.079
sixteen became a weapon. If you're walking in the spirit,

1034
01:00:45.400 --> 01:00:50.400
you won't sin. So if you're sinning, well, then maybe

1035
01:00:50.400 --> 01:00:56.119
you're not saved. Galatians five point sixteen became law, did

1036
01:00:56.119 --> 01:01:03.039
not become gospel. The interpretation that I've tried to create

1037
01:01:03.800 --> 01:01:07.360
is radically different than what most Christians believe today, but

1038
01:01:07.480 --> 01:01:10.760
I believe it's deeply rooted and the gospel theology of

1039
01:01:10.800 --> 01:01:15.880
the Reformation and honest biblical realism, realism of believers who

1040
01:01:15.960 --> 01:01:18.280
know that the Christian life is not about getting better

1041
01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:21.960
but about living in Christ, who is perfect for us.

1042
01:01:25.239 --> 01:01:27.679
So then I have a question, and so then I

1043
01:01:27.719 --> 01:01:31.679
went to artificial intelligence, and I said, this gospel centered interpretation,

1044
01:01:32.639 --> 01:01:36.800
is it consistent with paulse theology throughout Galatians and the

1045
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:38.599
New Testament? Because I wanted to make sure that I'm

1046
01:01:38.639 --> 01:01:41.599
being consistent, right am I throwing out there something so

1047
01:01:41.840 --> 01:01:44.639
radical because it's going to be perceived radical. And look,

1048
01:01:44.679 --> 01:01:46.599
I tried to be I tried to walk through it.

1049
01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:48.880
I try to say things that would be more in

1050
01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:52.039
line with modern Christianity and then tell you immediately that

1051
01:01:52.119 --> 01:01:54.760
I reject what I just wrote. I tried to go

1052
01:01:54.880 --> 01:01:57.280
back and forth. I tried to walk through it. I

1053
01:01:57.320 --> 01:02:01.400
wanted you to see the struggle. Remember, I said, Galatians

1054
01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:07.039
five sixteen is a migraine, it's an aneurysm, it's fifty seizures,

1055
01:02:06.840 --> 01:02:12.119
it's a hundred strokes, it's death because it's so hard

1056
01:02:12.159 --> 01:02:20.599
to try to process. Walk in the spirit, then it

1057
01:02:20.719 --> 01:02:24.480
equals believing in Christ and its finished work. This is

1058
01:02:24.519 --> 01:02:27.800
not about this is not about behavior, but about believing.

1059
01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:32.599
Why do I believe this? Because throughout Galatians, Paul makes

1060
01:02:32.639 --> 01:02:37.960
the contrast clear right not. This is basically how Paul

1061
01:02:38.039 --> 01:02:41.039
does it throughout Galatians. It's not the law, it's faith

1062
01:02:41.039 --> 01:02:44.079
in Christ. It's not human effort the flesh.

1063
01:02:44.280 --> 01:02:45.159
It's the Spirit.

1064
01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:49.920
It's not works based righteousness, it's righteousness by faith. It's

1065
01:02:49.960 --> 01:02:53.360
not being made perfect by the flesh. It's living by

1066
01:02:53.440 --> 01:02:57.119
the Spirit. I think Galatians three two through three may

1067
01:02:57.119 --> 01:03:00.719
be the key. Did you receive the spirit by works

1068
01:03:00.760 --> 01:03:04.559
of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you

1069
01:03:04.719 --> 01:03:09.079
so foolish having begun by the spirit that you're now

1070
01:03:09.119 --> 01:03:10.559
being perfected.

1071
01:03:10.039 --> 01:03:11.239
By the flesh?

1072
01:03:12.400 --> 01:03:15.519
To me, this tells me walking in the spirit equals

1073
01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:20.639
continuing in faith, not shifting into self effort or moral performance.

1074
01:03:21.320 --> 01:03:26.599
So walk in the Spirit means live and conscious, ongoing

1075
01:03:26.800 --> 01:03:30.360
trust in Christ, finished work, knowing the Spirit has been

1076
01:03:30.360 --> 01:03:33.159
given to you by faith, and your life is now

1077
01:03:33.199 --> 01:03:36.719
directed and sustained by that same spirit.

1078
01:03:39.039 --> 01:03:41.639
You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

1079
01:03:43.039 --> 01:03:46.159
This follows because of your position in Christ, not because

1080
01:03:46.239 --> 01:03:50.920
of your performance. Not fulfilled, not carry out, not bring

1081
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:54.079
to completion lust of the flesh, sinful desires of the

1082
01:03:54.239 --> 01:04:00.159
unredeemed nature. I experience those desires, but they don't to

1083
01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:04.320
find my standing before God. They don't reign over me

1084
01:04:04.800 --> 01:04:09.679
as far as my positional standing. The spirit and now

1085
01:04:09.719 --> 01:04:13.360
some again, once again, some would argue, well, this means

1086
01:04:13.360 --> 01:04:16.239
the Spirit will interrupt them. No, I don't believe that

1087
01:04:16.320 --> 01:04:19.639
any the Spirit does interrupt them, because if the Spirit

1088
01:04:19.719 --> 01:04:21.440
interrupts in them, then I.

1089
01:04:21.400 --> 01:04:22.440
Would stop sinning.

1090
01:04:30.239 --> 01:04:33.239
So I should live each day believing in Christ, trusting

1091
01:04:33.280 --> 01:04:36.719
in His righteousness, not on my own righteousness. I should

1092
01:04:36.800 --> 01:04:46.360
rest in the spirit given to me by faith. I

1093
01:04:46.400 --> 01:04:49.280
think if you look at Romans six fourteen, I'll just

1094
01:04:49.320 --> 01:04:51.760
go through a number of scriptures Roman six fourteen, for

1095
01:04:51.880 --> 01:04:54.719
sin will have no dominion over you, since you're not

1096
01:04:54.840 --> 01:04:57.159
under the law but under grace. See, the only way

1097
01:04:57.159 --> 01:04:59.280
to understand sin is not going to have dominion over

1098
01:04:59.320 --> 01:05:03.840
me would to be positionally Why because sin has dominion

1099
01:05:03.880 --> 01:05:07.920
over me. If I continue to sin and I can't

1100
01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:12.400
get to perfection, what keeps me from perfection? What's as

1101
01:05:12.440 --> 01:05:15.960
long as I keep sinning, then sin is still have dominion.

1102
01:05:17.559 --> 01:05:18.280
Romans eight one.

1103
01:05:18.320 --> 01:05:20.840
There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in

1104
01:05:20.960 --> 01:05:24.800
Christ Jesus Galatians two twenty. The life I now live

1105
01:05:24.880 --> 01:05:34.199
I live by faith in the Son of God. To

1106
01:05:34.280 --> 01:05:36.599
walk in the spirit is not to become sinless through

1107
01:05:36.639 --> 01:05:39.440
spiritual effort, but to live every moment in faith in

1108
01:05:39.519 --> 01:05:43.159
Christ finished work. And in that posture, the flesh no

1109
01:05:43.239 --> 01:05:46.280
longer has final say it, no longer has condemnation or

1110
01:05:46.280 --> 01:05:59.199
dominion over me. In my position, the Spirit opposes and

1111
01:05:59.320 --> 01:06:06.480
restrain only makes sense, only makes objective sense if we

1112
01:06:06.679 --> 01:06:11.880
understand it positionally. The Spirit keeps the flesh from ruling you.

1113
01:06:12.159 --> 01:06:15.039
That must mean the Spirit keeps sin from ruling over

1114
01:06:15.079 --> 01:06:19.480
me and my standing before God, in my identity, in

1115
01:06:19.519 --> 01:06:24.599
my legal status, in my relationship to the law and judgment. Again,

1116
01:06:24.760 --> 01:06:27.239
it is Romans six fourteen. Sin shall not have dominion

1117
01:06:27.280 --> 01:06:29.400
over you. It's the only way to understand it. Roman's

1118
01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:32.480
eight to one. There's therefore now no condemnation, and Galatians

1119
01:06:32.519 --> 01:06:35.960
two twenty. I live by faith and the Son of God.

1120
01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:40.199
This is the only way to preserve the meaning of

1121
01:06:40.239 --> 01:06:43.440
the spirit is keeping us, keeping sin from being fulfilled

1122
01:06:43.599 --> 01:06:45.519
without creating subjective chaos.

1123
01:06:45.519 --> 01:06:46.920
It's the only way to understand it.

1124
01:06:47.519 --> 01:06:50.320
Whatever the Spirit is doing, it's doing it in a

1125
01:06:50.360 --> 01:06:53.119
positional way. Because if the minute you say, well, the

1126
01:06:53.159 --> 01:06:54.920
Spirit's going to stop this, or it's not going to

1127
01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:57.360
dominate me, or it's not going to be in control. Well,

1128
01:06:57.440 --> 01:06:59.280
then the only thing you can do is then prove

1129
01:06:59.320 --> 01:07:01.400
that you can be per because if I can't get

1130
01:07:01.440 --> 01:07:05.400
to perfection, whatever keeps me from perfection, whatever stops me

1131
01:07:05.519 --> 01:07:08.840
from not being able to stop sinning, that's the thing

1132
01:07:08.920 --> 01:07:18.119
that's dominating. If we say, well, the spirit is keeping

1133
01:07:18.159 --> 01:07:20.599
you from fulfilling the desires of the flesh in real

1134
01:07:20.639 --> 01:07:24.360
time practically, then we are left asking, well, what counts

1135
01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:27.400
as fulfilling sin? How much sin means I'm not walking

1136
01:07:27.440 --> 01:07:30.480
in the spirit? What about sinful thoughts I don't act on?

1137
01:07:30.840 --> 01:07:33.679
Did I fulfill or resist? What if I feel sin

1138
01:07:33.800 --> 01:07:36.880
all day but don't act is that victory or just exhaustion?

1139
01:07:37.519 --> 01:07:40.159
How would I measure or know when the spirit succeeds

1140
01:07:40.239 --> 01:07:41.280
or when I have failed?

1141
01:07:42.000 --> 01:07:47.000
It becomes subjective. Everyone defines fulfillment differently. It becomes incoherent.

1142
01:07:47.199 --> 01:07:49.920
There's no standard for what really counts as victory. It

1143
01:07:49.920 --> 01:07:53.119
becomes crushing because you always still sin, so you're never

1144
01:07:53.199 --> 01:07:55.280
quite sure if the spirit is doing his job or

1145
01:07:55.320 --> 01:07:59.960
if you're resisting enough. That's not freedom, that's confusion, That's

1146
01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:12.079
it guilt dressed up in spiritual garb. If sin still persist,

1147
01:08:13.400 --> 01:08:20.000
then it must be ruling unless we define rule positionally.

1148
01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:24.079
If we are in perpetual sin, it can't be perfect.

1149
01:08:24.399 --> 01:08:28.439
The thing keeping me from perfection and sin is obviously

1150
01:08:28.560 --> 01:08:30.039
ruling and dominating.

1151
01:08:30.199 --> 01:08:33.199
That's the only thing. That's the only way to understand it.

1152
01:08:33.319 --> 01:08:34.960
I mean, you have to acknowledge that.

1153
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:39.640
However, if we recognize that ruling and dominating are not

1154
01:08:39.720 --> 01:08:44.359
referring to frequency, strength of temptation, or degree of outward obedience,

1155
01:08:44.640 --> 01:08:47.239
they refer to condemnation under the law.

1156
01:08:47.520 --> 01:08:50.239
It refers to separation from God.

1157
01:08:50.439 --> 01:08:54.159
It refers to legal status as guilty or unrighteous slavery

1158
01:08:54.199 --> 01:08:57.920
to sin. As far as my identity is concerned, sin

1159
01:08:58.039 --> 01:09:00.600
is not ruling me. I'm not fulfilled the lust of

1160
01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:03.520
the flesh and the sense that now that I walk

1161
01:09:03.680 --> 01:09:07.359
in faith in Christ, that I'm in Christ, then guess

1162
01:09:07.439 --> 01:09:11.880
what I'm Sin will not bring me condemnation under the law.

1163
01:09:12.199 --> 01:09:15.359
Sin does not separate me from God. Sin has no

1164
01:09:15.640 --> 01:09:19.000
does not impact my legal status or declare or makes

1165
01:09:19.000 --> 01:09:23.079
me unrighteous. Because I'm perpetually righteous in Christ. My legal

1166
01:09:23.159 --> 01:09:27.319
standing is perfect in Christ, and I cannot be defined

1167
01:09:27.319 --> 01:09:30.359
as a slave of sin as my identity because I'm

1168
01:09:30.399 --> 01:09:33.800
in Christ Jesus, I have been crucified with Him, and

1169
01:09:33.840 --> 01:09:36.359
I am free in my position.

1170
01:09:39.920 --> 01:09:40.760
So spirits.

1171
01:09:41.119 --> 01:09:47.399
The Spirit's victory over sin is not practical, it's positional.

1172
01:09:47.720 --> 01:09:49.800
This is the only way to faithfully read the text.

1173
01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:53.279
The Spirit keeps sin from being fulfilled, not by removing

1174
01:09:53.319 --> 01:09:56.399
it or helping me suppress it by but by keeping

1175
01:09:56.439 --> 01:10:00.640
me in Christ. That's why I'm silled by the Spirit.

1176
01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:05.279
It keeps me in Christ where sins, guilt, and power

1177
01:10:05.520 --> 01:10:11.079
has been broken positionally, not behaviorally. I'm in Christ. The

1178
01:10:11.159 --> 01:10:14.560
Spirit keeps me in Christ. I am sealed, I'm united

1179
01:10:14.600 --> 01:10:19.439
to Him. I am kept in Christ perpetually. Therefore, the

1180
01:10:20.239 --> 01:10:23.640
law the flesh, the lust of the flesh cannot be fulfilled.

1181
01:10:24.199 --> 01:10:26.880
I don't do those things because I've been crucified. I

1182
01:10:26.920 --> 01:10:29.560
am in Him. That's the only way to understand this,

1183
01:10:29.880 --> 01:10:36.840
or it all falls apart. So the Spirit keeps sin

1184
01:10:36.880 --> 01:10:39.640
from being fulfilled, not by removing it or helping me

1185
01:10:39.680 --> 01:10:42.840
suppress it, by by keeping me in Christ where sins, guilt,

1186
01:10:42.880 --> 01:10:47.039
and power has been broken. Positionally. The Spirit does not

1187
01:10:47.239 --> 01:10:51.000
stop me from sinning. It does not guarantee me moral victory.

1188
01:10:51.159 --> 01:10:54.279
It does not make me perfect, but it ensures that

1189
01:10:54.399 --> 01:11:02.640
sin never reclaims dominion over my standing before God. The

1190
01:11:02.680 --> 01:11:06.119
spirit's opposition to the flesh and Galatians five is not

1191
01:11:06.359 --> 01:11:11.560
a mystical or moralistic mechanism that helps me behave better.

1192
01:11:12.119 --> 01:11:19.520
It's his faithful objective work of keeping me positionally free

1193
01:11:19.560 --> 01:11:25.640
from sin's dominion, condemnation, and identity, even while sin still

1194
01:11:26.039 --> 01:11:36.720
dwells in me in the sinful nature. Now that is

1195
01:11:37.159 --> 01:11:39.479
trying to do it to the best of mind.

1196
01:11:39.479 --> 01:11:42.600
There's no other way to get around. There's no other option.

1197
01:11:43.439 --> 01:11:48.800
Any other option becomes you just denying reality. You're pretending

1198
01:11:48.840 --> 01:11:52.000
to be something you're not. You're lying to yourself, or

1199
01:11:52.000 --> 01:11:53.399
it becomes a subjectiveness.

1200
01:11:53.439 --> 01:11:56.800
Well we're not saying it's going to be perfect.

1201
01:11:57.920 --> 01:12:00.640
Well, then how do you define than any not fulfilling

1202
01:12:00.640 --> 01:12:02.560
the lust of the flesh? How do you well, I

1203
01:12:02.600 --> 01:12:05.760
won't fulfill this loss of the flesh, so it only

1204
01:12:05.800 --> 01:12:08.880
guarantees one. But if I'm walking in the spirit, I'm

1205
01:12:08.920 --> 01:12:10.960
not going to fulfill any If I mean, if I

1206
01:12:11.000 --> 01:12:16.720
understand it practically, it all falls apart.

1207
01:12:18.560 --> 01:12:22.279
All right, I'm at seventy two minutes. I went way

1208
01:12:22.319 --> 01:12:23.279
longer than I should have.

1209
01:12:23.319 --> 01:12:25.600
I don't know what else to do there other than

1210
01:12:26.119 --> 01:12:32.239
trying to just explain it every way possible. All right,

1211
01:12:33.920 --> 01:12:36.840
I'm going to stop there. Thanks for listening. I wish

1212
01:12:36.880 --> 01:12:38.520
I could have done better, but that's the best I

1213
01:12:38.560 --> 01:12:38.840
can do.

1214
01:12:38.920 --> 01:12:41.760
Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a great day. God bless

1215
01:12:43.520 --> 01:12:44.000
Willis