Galatians 6:11-18

Introduction: This final section of Galatians is a portion written by Paul’s own hand. Paul normally used an ‘amanuensis’ to write his letters. An amanuensis is a person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts. Paul would use the amanuensis to write neatly and coherently what he told him to write. One reason Paul probably needed this service is found in verse 11. Paul probably had to write with large letter characters because of some sort of eye trouble which was also alluded to when he reminded the Galatians of how they would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to him if it could have helped. But now, because of the urgency of this letter and perhaps even the tone of it, Paul picks up the pen himself and writes the final sentences. By doing this he intends to show three things to the Galatian Church. He shows his affection for the Galatians, the importance of this letter, and an emphasis on the truths contained in this closing paragraph. These truths are that the false teachers seek glory in themselves and not in the Cross, they desire to avoid persecution, the cross is our only glory, outward circumcision doesn’t mean a thing, and all who believe are the Israel of God, regardless of circumcision.
I. False Motives From False Teachers

A. They Desire To Have You Circumcised To Make A Good Showing In The Flesh
B. They Desire To Have You Circumcised To Avoid Persecution
C. They Desire To Have You Circumcised So They May Glory In Your Flesh

II. A True Motive From The Apostle

A. The Cross Is Our Glory
B. The World Has Been Crucified To Us
C. We Have Been Crucified To The World

III. Marks That Matter

A. Circumcision Or Uncircumcision? Neither.
B. EXCURSUS: The Circumcision Of The Heart
Galatians 3:16, 29, Rom 2:25-29, Eph. 2:11-22, I Cor. 7:18-19, Col 2:11-14
In Romans 11 we are pictured as having been grafted into Israel.
In Romans 9, Paul tells us that it is not those who are children by the flesh who are regarded as children, but those of promise.
In Leviticus, those who are not circumcised in the heart are excluded from the covenant. Lev 26:40-42
And in Deuteronomy, Moses commands, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” Deu 10:16, Deu 30:1-6
In Jeremiah, the prophet tells Israel, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh– Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” Jer 9:25-26 Israel in these verses are compared with every other pagan, uncircumcised nation because although they are circumcised in the flesh, they are not circumcised in the heart. see also Jer 4:3-4, Eze 44:6-9
Stephen, as he preached to the mob that would stone him, said, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Act 7:51-53
But regarding Christians, Paul says, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh–” Phi 3:2-3

C. The Israel Of God

1. Not the ‘New’ Israel
2. Not the ‘Nation’ of Israel
3. The ‘Only’ Israel of God

D. The Marks Of Persecution, Our Outward Circumcision 2Co 4:8-12, Phi 1:29-30

Conclusion: Paul ends this letter as abruptly as he begins it. He doesn’t send greetings to the Galatians, but instead offers this blessing upon them, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” A fitting end to a letter in which he has utterly destroyed the works of the flesh as the grounds of any kind of standing before God. He leaves them only with grace and nothing more. May we find the courage, peace, and freedom to embrace this life of grace through the power of the Spirit. On behalf of the Apostle and Jesus Christ, Grace be to you.

Depository Preaching

Since I’m lazy and tired I’m going to republish another item from last July.

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” (1 Timothy 6:20 ESV)

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. (2 Timothy 1:13, 14 ESV)

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1, 2 ESV)

There are basically two kinds of preaching, Topical and Expository;

1) Topical Preaching-This is the kind of preaching that the Southeast is most accustomed to. There are two subcategories under this type of preaching, Biblical and unbiblical.
Unbiblical Topical Preaching is characterized by the preacher selecting a topic, studying the topic, breaking out Strong’s to find a prooftext, and imposing his opinion of the topic on that text.
Biblical Topical Preaching is characterized by the preacher studying a topic in light of Biblical Authority, and then explaining the relevant texts.

2) Expository Preaching- This is the kind of preaching that explains the Biblical text, line upon line, precept upon precept. With Expository preaching you get the whole counsel of God, not in one sitting, but over a steady diet of Bible preaching, verse by verse, so that everything gets covered. My favorite texts may have to wait a while as the other texts are explained. This is the favored mode of preaching by myself and most of the Reformed camp.
I would like to continue in explaining, not the different styles of preaching, but the mission of both valid styles of preaching (Biblical Topical and Expository) as Paul describes it to Timothy in these verses. Paul describes his preaching to Timothy as a deposit. And so I call this Depository Preaching. As we get started exploring what this means we should remember that all parties have responsibilities in this ‘Deposit’. Paul entrusts Timothy with truth that he has guarded with his own life and Timothy must continue guarding this truth from error and pass it along to the next generation who are to guard it as well.

First, Paul tells Timothy that he has entrusted Timothy with something. He later in 2 Timothy calls this the ‘pattern of sound words’ and ‘that which you have heard of me’. Timothy no doubt understands that Paul is referring to the Gospel that Paul had preached, not in private, but publicly before many witnesses.

Second, Paul charges Timothy with three tasks concerning this ‘deposit’; Guard it, Follow it, and Entrust it.

When Paul says ‘guard the deposit’ he is speaking of preserving the truth from error. He tells Timothy to guard the truth from irreverent babble, or unholy and vain speech. It is unholy because it makes light of God’s own revelation of Himself. As such it is useless, or vain. He also tells Timothy to guard the truth from ‘false truth’. Or that which claims to be true but in reality is not. He adds in the following verse that some have missed the mark concerning their faith. They have missed the Gospel by following a false gospel.

Paul also tells Timothy to follow the truth. Literally, to hold it fast as a treasure that has been committed to him. Paul then gives an example of those who had deserted him as testimony to the fact that they had let go of truth. May we hold fast to the truth, not let it be torn from our grasp, or turn away from it ourselves.

Paul’s final instruction to Timothy is to entrust the truth to other faithful men. This is the Gospel of God’s salvation. It dare not die with Timothy. And so Paul commands Timothy, that as he grasps the truth firm and pure to pass it along to others who can also hold it firm and pure.

Finally, as the Gospel has been passed down to us through the writings of the Apostles, we are to guard it, follow after it, and train up others after us who will do the same. As Irenaus wrote in his treatise ‘Against Heresies’,

“We have learned the plan of our salvation from no one else other than from those through whom the gospel has come down to us. For they did at one time proclaim the gospel in public. And, at a later period, by the will of God, they handed the gospel down to us in the Scriptures-to be the ‘ground and pillar of our faith.’”

It follows then that we too should be about the preservation and proclamation of this truth of all truths, the Gospel.

Guard the Deposit, and Deposit it in others who follow behind us. Don’t let the truth die. And we have this promise that even when Heaven and Earth pass away, this truth will stand. We also have the Holy Spirit through whom we have the power to guard, follow, stand in, and proclaim this truth, this Gospel, this salvation.

This is the mission of preaching. Guarding the truth, keeping it pure, and passing it along to others who will proclaim it faithfully.

Guard the Deposit.

SOLA SCRIPTURA

Are Entering The Kingdom And Inheriting The Kingdom Different?

Antonio seems to think so. In response to my outline of Galatians 5:16-26 he says,

As far as any Greek lexicon I have ever viewed, notwithstanding all English dictionaries I have consulted, there stands a great gulf of difference between the ideas of “inherit” and “enter”.

It is clear and plain reasoning to see the difference between merely living in a house and owning it or ruling over a city and being a mere citizen there.

He then cites 1 Cor 6:7-11 and interprets it like this,

Notice the verb “do wrong”. This is the Greek verb for unrighteous activity, unrighteousness. The Corinthian Christians were “doing unrighteousness” and this to their Christian brothers! The next part serves as a warning to the Christian readers in Corinth! After charging them with “doing unrighteousness”, Paul says that “unrighteous” (anarthrous construction) will not inherit the kingdom of God, using the same Greek word in its noun for for “unrighteous”.

If inherit = enter in this passage, the warning to the Corinthian Christians who were “doing unrighteousness” would be of no effect, for they are Christians and guaranteed heaven.

It would seem to be so, but really that is not the case. Antonio’s view seems to come from a false belief that everyone who has ever confessed ‘Jesus is Lord’ is saved. But Christ Himself dispels this view when He says,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Mat 7:21-23)

Jesus tells the crowds gathered to hear His teachings at the Sermon on the Flat Place on the Mount:-) that not everyone who calls Him Lord enters the Kingdom. In fact, in these verses we find Him rejecting them entrance to the Kingdom. And these are not just liars who come to Jesus after their deaths saying that they regarded Him as Lord in their lives, because these have also prophesied, cast out demons, and done many mighty works, all of which were attributed to Jesus. The difference we find here is that they were confessors-they confessed Jesus as Lord, but they were not possessors-they had not inherited the Kingdom by faith in Christ alone.

Further, in Revelation, the risen Christ tells John,

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Rev 21:6-8)

And in the next chapter, He tells John again,

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev 22:14-15)

Now it is true that as far as words and ideas go, ‘inherit’ and ‘enter’ mean entirely different things.
‘Inherit’ means to come into the possession of some ‘thing’, ‘attribute’, or ‘idea’. As in a person inherits a house, or, a boy inherits his mother’s blue eyes, or as a scientist is said to be heir to the science developed by some other scientist from the past.
‘Enter’ simply means to go in.

But what about in theology? Are ‘enter’ and ‘inherit’ synonyms? Or are they completely unrelated? What if we throw in another term that Jesus uses-’seeing’?

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Joh 3:3)

And what if these themes of seeing the Kingdom, entering the Kingdom, and inheriting the Kingdom are all synonomous with other theological terms found in the New Testament? Such as, believing the Gospel, entering into life, gaining eternal life, knowing Christ, etc.

Now I am not suggesting that these different ways of speaking about salvation do not represent different aspects of salvation, but only that they all refer to the same salvation. I am also not suggesting that you can believe the Gospel and not inherit the Kingdom at the same time. You cannot know Christ and not have eternal life, you cannot enter the Kingdom and not inherit it. All those who enter the Kingdom are those who have inherited it by faith in Christ.

Looking at Paul’s use of of inheritance, we can ascertain what it is exactly that he means when he says, “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:21)

In chapter three Paul begins by talking about the blessing of Abraham and the promise of the Spirit. Later, referring back to these he uses the word, ‘inheritance’.

For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. (Gal 3:18)

He then tells us that all those who have faith in Christ are the heirs of Abraham,

…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:26-29)

Next, Paul says that all who are sons of God by faith, adoption, etc. are also the heirs of God.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal 4:1-7)

Paul then uses an allegory to present this truth that there are two types of people, sons born through promise, and sons according to the flesh. Only those who are born of the Spirit are heirs, while those who are sons of the flesh are cast aside.

But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. (Gal 4:30-31)

So what does Paul mean when He says in the next chapter,

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:16-21)

I believe he is saying just what he has been saying all along, that receiving the Spirit by faith produces something in us making us heirs, and without faith there is no Spirit to produce it’s fruit and we are left in our natural condition, evidencing the works of the flesh and being destitute of the inheritance promised to all who have faith.

GALATIANS 6:1-10

Introduction: We ended last week with the Paul’s warning against pride. “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal 5:26) In today’s passage, Paul continues that thought by teaching us what is the proper attitude of humility we should have. We are to ‘bear one another’s burdens’, ‘examine our own works’, ‘share in all good things’, and ‘do good to all’. We are to be:

I. A Burden Bearing People

A. The Fallen Brother

1. One who has succumbed to the works of the flesh.
2. Contrasted with those who are spiritual, or exhibit the fruit of the Spirit

B. Restore Him
C. Guard yourself Against

1. Pride
2. Temptation

D. Bearing Others Burdens Fulfills The Law Of Christ (see 5:14)

II. A Work Examining People

A. Self-Pride Is A Lie
B. We Will Be Judged Individually

1. Cultivate your own works
2. Rejoice in your successes
3. Don’t ignore your failures
4. We will stand alone in the judgment

III. A Good Things Sharing People

A. The Duty Of The Congregation To Support The Minister Romans 15:26-27
B. The Right Of The Minister To Compensation Luke 10:7, I Tim 5:18, I Cor 9:11-18
C. The Wisdom Of Investing In A Spiritual Work

1. Sowing to our own desires will result in the rotting of our fruit
2. Sowing in the ministry of the Word will bring eternal life

IV. A Good Doing People

A. The Application Of The Principle To Our Works
B. The Certainty Of A Harvest
C. The Exhortation To Do Good

1. To all
2. Especially other Christians

Conclusion: Instead of provoking and envying one another because of our pride, we are to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our relationships with one another. We are to bear one another’s burdens in love, an fulfill the law of Christ. We are to examine our own works, because it is for our own works that we will stand in the judgment. We are to share all good things with our teachers. We are to do good to everyone, being especially mindful of the household of faith, the body of Christ.

Delighting & Displaying: Then & Now

By Marc Heinrich

Some ideas I’ve been working out since the early day’s of my worship blog that’s not fully developed yet. I’d like your input.

Delighting and Displaying “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” in the age to come: Implications for today

Athanasius has taken heat for his writings concerning the idea of deification. John Piper argues that what Athanasius is actually referring to is what we call glorification. Piper extends the thinking to meditate on Heaven and what this means for our future worship. Following is a lengthy excerpt from Piper’s biographical sketch of Athanasius*.

*The full version on DG website: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/biographies/2005_athanasius.html

“And thus Athanasius raises for me one of the most crucial questions of all: What is the ultimate end of creation-the ultimate goal of God in creation and redemption? Is it being or seeing? Is it our being like Christ or our seeing the glory of Christ? How does Romans 8:29 (“predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”) relate to John 17:24 (“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory”)? Is the beatific vision of the glory of the Son of God the aim of human creation? Or is likeness to that glory the aim of creation?

Athanasius has helped me go deeper here by unsettling me. I am inclined to stress seeing as the goal rather than being. The reason is that it seems to me that putting the stress on seeing the glory of Christ makes him the focus, but putting the stress on being like Christ makes me the focus. But Athanasius will not let me run away from the biblical texts. His language of deification forces me to think more deeply and worship more profoundly.

My present understanding would go like this: the ultimate end of creation is neither being nor seeing, but delighting and displaying. Delighting in and displaying “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). And the displaying happens both in the delighting, since we glorify most what we enjoy most, and in the deeds of the resurrection body that flow from this enjoyment on the new earth in the age to come. The display of God’s glory will be both internal and external. It will be spiritual and physical. We will display the glory of God by the Christ-exalting joy of our heart, and by the Christ-exalting deeds of our resurrection bodies.

How then should we speak of our future being and seeing if they are not the ultimate end? How shall we speak of “sharing God’s nature” and being “conformed to his Son”? The way I would speak of our future being and seeing is this: By the Spirit of God who dwells in us, our final destiny is not self-admiration or self-exaltation, but being able to see the glory of God without disintegrating, and being able to delight in the glory of Christ with the very delight of God the Father for his own Son (John 17:26),48 and being able to do visible Christ-exalting deeds that flow from this delight.

And in this way a wave of revelation of divine glory in the saints is set in motion that goes on and grows for all eternity. As each of us sees Christ and delights in Christ with the delight of the Father, mediated by the Spirit, we will overflow with visible actions of love and creativity on the new earth. In this way we will see the revelation of God’s glory in each other’s lives in ever new ways. New dimensions of the riches of the glory of God in Christ will shine forth every day from new delights and new deeds. And these in turn will become new seeings of Christ which will elicit new delights and new doings. And so the ever-growing wave of the revelation of the riches of the glory of God will role on for ever and ever.

And we will discover that this was possible only because the infinite Son of God took on himself the human nature so that we in our human nature might be united to him and display more and more of his glory. We will find in our eternal experience that his infinite beauty took on human form so that our human form might increasingly display his infinite beauty.”

Accepting the premise that, the ultimate end of creation is neither being nor seeing, but delighting and displaying. Delighting in and displaying “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, we must ask what bearing, if any, does it have on us today, before the age to come? If the Westminster Divines statement the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever,[1] and Piper’s formulation, the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever [2] are correct, then must not this delighting and displaying take place now as well as then? Piper argues successfully for “Christian Hedonism” [3] as the way to live now and then, and I would apply that reasoning to the idea that we should delight and display today, before the age to come, as well as after.

Then delighting and displaying (Piper also refers to this as Seeing, Savoring, and Showing) has radical impact for today in all of life, including but not limited to the following areas: our worship, the body, our sanctification, our love for God, and our future enjoyment of heaven. We should look for evidences of grace in each other’s lives and consider it “visible actions of love and creativity”. Thus encouraging and inspiring us to “elicit new delights and new doings”. Our delighting and displaying will not be perfectly Christ-centered, God exalting and sin free while we are in this present age, nor is our glorifying by enjoying, but we must strive toward the goal of “the ever-growing wave of the revelation of the riches of the glory of God”.

[1] Creeds of Christendom
[2] Desiring God
[3] Desiring God

Posted by Marc

Happy Father’s Day!

My dad is the greatest dad of all time.

As a tribute to him I have decided to list ten things that I learned form him.

These are not the most important things I have learned, and they are not listed in any particular order, but they are ten things.

Ten Things I Learned From My Dad

1. 1955-1957 were very good years for Chevrolet.

2. The same person who brought you into this world can take you out of this world.

3. God gave some people good looks, the rest He gave hair.

4. If you work hard you can eat good.

5. For every action there is an equal and opposite retribution.

6. You can own a television and still go to Heaven.

7. Preaching is expositional.

8. The Church is an organism, not an organization.

9. The world doesn’t revolve around me.

10. A life of service to God is not a wasted life.

How Many Dispensations Are There?

This question goes out to all Dispensationalists everywhere. I really want to know whether there are more or less than seven dispensations in your opinion.

I also want to know the time frame for each dispensation (For Example: Noah to Abraham).

What is unique about each and every one of these dispensations that distinguishes it from the all other dispensations?

Finally, are these dispensations related to the different covenants that are given during each dispensation and in what way?

Answer either in the comments or on your own blog and provide a link back here or leave a link in the comments section of this post.

Thank you!

The Free Offer Of The Gospel

Tell me if this strikes you as odd…

You walk into a typical Independent Baptist ‘Arminian’ Church and listen to the preacher as he goes off on every sin in the book (and the sin of not owning the ‘right book’). He gives the congregation down the road for their sins, as well he should, and he names them all and leaves no doubt who he is talking about.
As he continues preaching he has the entire congregation condemned to hell and he almost seems glad about it. Then comes the long anticipated ‘invitation’ time…the time for relief, the time to cast all your cares upon Christ and trust in Him alone for your salvation.
There is a prolonged invitation, as he goes through his passionate pleas for the lost to come forward, and then he speaks the words (most of you who have ever been in an IFB Church will recognize them), “You can’t get saved unless you’re under conviction.”

Yes, you heard him right! He clarifies what he means, “If you don’t feel the Holy Spirit drawing you, then you can’t be saved now.”
Some may have heard these words or similar words to them this past Sunday. Some of you may wonder what a Calvinist would have against these words, after all, isn’t that what Irresistible Grace is all about?

Well, since you asked I will answer, “No, it’s not.” Irresistible Grace is about how once the Holy Spirit begins to draw you He follows though until you actually come to faith in Christ. But that’s for a different time.

The big problem I have with these words is that they are representative of hyper-calvinism. That’s right. The Arminian preacher has been infected with, not five-point Calvinism, but hyper-calvinism. A hyper-calvinist believes that until someone shows evidence of regeneration in their lives that the Gospel should not be given to them. So in all practicality the ‘Arminian’ has become hyper-calvinist in this instance.

But what is the difference between that and how the Gospel should be presented? The Gospel should always be presented as a command. God does not ask you to come to Jesus, or to invite Jesus into your heart, He demands that you repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Never mind what you feel (would the unregenerate even know what the Holy Spirit feels like? It still gives me trouble sometimes…), never mind being scared of hell, never mind anything other than this Gospel command, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Paul tells the Athenians, “God…commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Act 17:30) He places no prerequisite state of mind or emotion on them, he simply relays the command, “Repent.”

Our job as preachers of the Gospel, ministers of the New Covenant, is to call sinners to repentance and faith. Who are we to tell them whether or not they can come? It is God that has commanded, it is but our job to relay the command. God has not sent us to tell anyone whether or not they can believe.

It is a sad day indeed when we tell sinners that unless they ‘feel’ the Holy Spirit that they cannot come to Christ. Yet we can be sure that when they do believe and repent that it is the Holy Spirit that drew them to faith and repentance.

Let’s just spread the Gospel to every creature, let the Holy Spirit blow where He wills, and trust God for the salvation of souls.

Galatians 5:16-26

Introduction: In these verses Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. He begins by showing a battle that we all must fight, moves on to introduce the armies, shows the battle plan, and finally adds a warning against a deadly trap of the enemy.

I. A Battle Worth Fighting verses 16-18

A. The Goal verse 16

1. Walk by the Spirit…
2. …so as not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

B. The Problem verse 17

1. The flesh and the Spirit are opposed to one another

a. Not as in Gnosticism
b. Desires are different

2. Our internal conflict

C. An Unlikely Incentive verse 18

1. The one who is spiritual…
2. …is not under law.

II. The Works Of The Flesh verses 19-21

A. The Laundry List

1. Adultery
2. Fornication
3. Uncleanness (state of being)
4. Lewdness (active uncleanness)
5. Idolatry
6. Sorcery
7. Hatred
8. Contentions (arguing)
9. Jealousies
10. Outbursts of wrath
11. Selfish ambitions
12. Dissensions (divisions over nothing)
13. Heresies (divisions over doctrine)
14. Envy
15. Murders
16. Drunkenness
17. Revelries

B. Their Condemnation

III. The Fruit Of The Spirit verses 22-23

A. Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness,
Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

B. Their Commendation

IV. A Resolution verses 24-25

A. We Belong To Christ
B. We Are Dead 1 Peter 4:1-6, Romans 8:1-11

1. Fleshly passions
2. Fleshly desires

C. Yet We Live verses 2:19-20

1. Since we live in the Spirit…
2. …we should walk in the Spirit

V. A Final Warning verse 26

A. Against Conceit

B. Against Contention

C. Against Envy

Conclusion: We have died to the law and sin, and now we live by the power of the Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead has raised us from our death, not to live in the flesh, but by the power of the Spirit.
So live like those who are dead…dead to fleshly passions and lusts, and as those who are alive…alive by the Spirit and created for good works. This is our duty and our delight.

Altar Calls

I am not against altar calls as a method of calling for repentance in certain situations. I will admit that sometimes altar calls are good and proper. Likewise, I don’t think that everyone who gives an altar call is necessarily omitting the Gospel call in their preaching.

I am against the thinking that views the altar call as always being necessary in order to have effectively presented the Gospel, a la Ergun Caner. It is the Spirit working through the preached Word that brings life. Life doesn’t happen at the ‘front’, ‘altar’, or ‘mourner’s bench’. Life happens as the Word takes root in a person’s heart. The response then is not a walk to the front to display ourselves to the congregation, but a change in our daily living.

My main problem with the altar call is that we seem to be training people to look at themselves intently as in a mirror, and then sending them on their way to forget about what they have seen. We have very good listeners to the Word, but not many doers. There are two remedies to this;

1) Stop sending the wrong message to them. The altar call gives the perception that all that the Gospel requires of us is a trip to the front to converse with the preacher. This is not a proper response to the Gospel. The Gospel requires a new way of living. The Gospel is message to be believed, but it is also a life to be lived. This demand is upon believers and unbelievers alike.

2) Teach them how to hear and respond to preaching. Preaching is not a fast food meal. It is a seven course meal that must be digested and all of the minerals put to use. We must learn to meditate on the message. We must become Bereans, searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so. Our response to preaching is not so trivial that we can respond without any thoughtful deliberation. We must ask diagnostic questions of the message and ourselves. This cannot be done in a fifteen minute session with the preacher, but must take place throughout the week as the Spirit will call these messages to memory and continually apply them to our lives, creating faith and repentance, and growing us in sanctification.

Here’s a great article that really gets to the heart of the matter.