Live Empowered by the Spirit

Live Empowered by the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-25
September 14, 2025 

Tonight, we’re continuing our study in Galatians 5. Last week we ended off seeing that we walk in freedom when we walk in the love of Christ.

The law puts the focus back on us and our efforts trying to be acceptable through performance. But when we understand that we are loved and our acceptance is not based on our performance, but on the faithfulness of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it changes our perspective.

Then we can love as we were loved and the whole of the law is fulfilled when we love God, love others as ourselves, as love don’t want to hurt others and sin against them.

Now Paul continues showing us how to do this in practice. He says we should walk by the Spirit, then we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Yet many struggle to effectively do this.

And because people struggle, they think that they are not spiritual enough, or do not love God enough, and they are paralyzed because they still experience the draw of the flesh and the things of the flesh.

They then come to the conclusion that, since they still feel the draw of the flesh, they must not truly be saved, or are not good enough Christians which paralyzes them in their spiritual walk and their faith.

This again is a subtle ploy of the enemy to draw one back into works when one looks at oneself and your performance.

Paul gives us very practical directions on how we can walk by the Spirit in the section.

I. Walk by the Spirit

• We are empowered and live in victory when we walk by the Spirit. This can seem like a very abstract concept, but Paul actually makes it very practical.
• Verse 16 – But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 
• The paradigm from which you read this verse determines what message you get from it. If you read it from a performance driven paradigm, it becomes a test which you either fail or pass.
• When you are walking ‘victoriously’ in your Christian life and you do not “sin”, you feel like you’re living in righteousness, close to God, and are real spiritual.
• But the moment you fail, you feel like a failure, a loser, a weak Christian, and unspiritual.
• The reality is that we all fail, as none of us are perfect this side of the grave. All experience temptation. We all still have to contend with the sin nature and we make mistakes from time to time.
• Verse 17 –  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 
• Paul speaks to these conflicting natures in Romans.

Romans 7:21-24, I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am!

A. Be Led by the Spirit

• Before being born again, there was no inner war. Connection with God was severed and you were spiritually dead, walking comfortably on the side of the flesh and sin which is defined and therefore empowered by the law.
• The moment you were born again, your spirit man came alive to Christ with the Holy Spirit taking up residence in you. Now there are two sides of the fence. One side is the old flesh side. The other side is the walking in the Spirit side, directed by the Holy Spirit governed by love.
• So, this verse is not a performance test which you either pass or fail, it is an encouragement to walk on the right side of the fence, then you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
• The amplified version reads like this:

Galatians 5:16, 16 But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

• Live habitually. It is your new normal. Will you sometimes trip up? Most definitely yes. But does it define your walk? No.
• We are called to walk in and be led by the Holy Spirit. Then you are not under the law.
• If you are led by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit leads you towards holiness, godliness, and life. That is the one side of the fence. If we keep using that analogy, the Holy Spirit will lead you deeper into the territory of godliness, life, and holiness, further away from the fence. You are led by the law of the Spirit of life.

B. Flesh Desires against the Spirit

• The flesh on the other hand, wants you to stay as close to the fence as possible, and more than that, is trying to get you to jump the fence and run into the wastelands of sin.
• The warning is that those who habitually practice those things, will not see the kingdom of God.
• Those who habitually practice those things have the fruit in their lives that show that the flesh is still the master and the Holy Spirit is not. They have no conviction that what they are doing is wrong and they enjoy running around in the wasteland.

Matthew 7: 16, By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. 

• This verse has a spiritual implication, but also a temporal implication on this side of the grave. The kingdom of God has a definition of what it looks like here on earth.

Romans 14:17, for the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 6:10, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

• Those who habitually walk in the deeds of the flesh cannot experience the blessing of the kingdom of God. They do not feel righteous, because they know deep down that they are not saved as their guilt of sin is glaringly obvious.
• They do not have godly peace, no matter how much yoga and meditation they do. They do not have true deep joy because it can only be found with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with eternal hope we have as a result of salvation.
• Those who are led by the Spirit immediately feel conviction and cannot stay in the sin-wasteland too long.
• This, by the way is, a great barometer that you are saved. The moment you do something that is wrong, you experience the conviction and tug of the Holy Spirit.
• Since we are not in heaven yet, we still have to contend with the flesh that always wants to draw us away from being directed by the Spirit.

Illus – Let’s say you are a believer and you are walking in the Spirit and under direction of the Spirit. The flesh is not your master. Yet, it is still dormant waiting for a stimulus or opportunity. One day you are scrolling through Facebook, or Instagram , or Tik-Tok. All is well until suddenly there is a click-bait on your screen. It is a girl who seems like she does not have enough money for a wardrobe, because she has very little on. You see it, and immediately the flesh is like a dog smelling a bone. Ears up. Eyes focused. Mouth salivating. Here is an opportunity.  

• Before you had the Spirit guiding you, it would not even be a question. You click without even thinking about it and see where the rabbit trail takes you.
• But now, we have the Holy Spirit in us, and Paul’s encouragement becomes very practical. We hear him whisper through the text: Come on, walk habitually in the Holy Spirit. Be responsive to, and controlled, and guided by the Spirit.
• Because immediately the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit’s direction is speaking in your inner man. “ Don’t do it. It is not who you are. Do not even put one foot over the fence. This is not your identity. You are a man of God. This will not fulfill you. It does not bring life, it ends in death and condemnation.”
• This is where we have a choice: Do I follow the flesh, or do I submit to the Spirit?
• The wonderful thing is that the truth the Spirit brings makes it possible for us to resist. And if you have been walking far from the fence, it is not even a temptation.
• The caution is, do not keep walking so close to the fence that you become comfortable with looking over the fence.

Illus – There are different caution signs whether you are on a safari or in the zoo. One says, “Drive freely and enjoy the wild open planes. Just stay in the car.” The other has electrified danger signs that says, “Do not cross. The lion will kill you.”

• If you are led by the Spirit, you don’t even see the law, because you do not come close enough to the danger sign.
• But when you start asking, is this thing sin or not, it shows you are focused on seeing how close you can get to the fence.

II. The Spirit Bears Fruit in Your Life

• Paul then gives a list of the fruit of the Spirit. God wants you to see this list and say, “I want to be like that. These are good things to have.”
• Fruit is good; it’s sweet and refreshing. Notice he didn’t write, “The broccoli of the Holy Spirit.”
• We have a choice. Paul wrote these words in the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire us, to ignite our desires; to make us hungry.

Illus – The thing about fresh fruit is that it’s tasty, refreshing, and nutritious. In other words, it’s good for you. In contrast, there’s Froot Loops; and though they’re magically delicious, the number one ingredient is sugar. And, there’s no fruit in them at all and in fact they all literally have the same flavor.

A. The Spirit draws you to God

• This list of the fruit of the Spirit describes the nature of God’s character. What is God like? What is His character? What is His nature?
• These things describe God’s heart, God’s character and when the Spirit draws you closer to God, you will see His character in you.

James 4:8, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

• Draw near to love and you will be more loving; draw near to joy and you will have more joy; draw near to peace and you will have more peace, and on and on.
• Notice that Paul begins by writing, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” This is agape love; it’s concern about what’s best for the other person. This is the serving/humbling type of love.
• This is a choice type of love.

Illus – When you see a something that has to be done in the house and the person that normally do it is busy and overwhelmed,  Do you ignore it and say, my husband or wife or mom or dad can do it. It’s not my problem. Or do you just do it yourself as a sign of serving in love? On the flip side, do not be the one who takes advantage of the love of others, letting them do everything. That is not godly character.

• It is a deep godly, serving love conviction that affects from picking up paper to laying down your life and comfort for the ones you love.
• The deeds of the flesh are the opposite; they are selfish.

Philippians 2:3, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

• Notice also that Paul finishes the list, writing, “The fruit of the Spirit of self-control.” In other words, “If you walk by the Spirit, you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” – Verse 16.

Illus – I don’t want to feel sick. I don’t like to feel yucky; not just physically, I mean spiritually.

• We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to have self-control. Before Christ, the soul would just go with the flow of evil. Now we have been set free from bondage and we have the ability to say “NO!”
• Walking by the Spirit means your soul is alive, your spirit is ignited and that is what empowers you to say no to the flesh, to constrain the flesh, because you want something better; something more beautiful, more honorable, you want character and integrity.

B. Crucify the flesh

• Verse 24 – those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
• In other words, the passions and desires of the flesh want to be the master, to control you. It wants what it wants, and it wants it now and expects you to submit to its demands. It wants to be the master.

Romans 7:5, For while you were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of your body to bear fruit for death.

• But how do you crucify the passions and desires of the flesh? Is that even possible?
• It takes a passion to kill a passion. God made you to be alive and passion for something is an expression of life. If a person comes to faith in Christ, but doesn’t have a relationship of love toward God, then the passions of the flesh still have power.
• In other words, you can’t move from the passions of the flesh to boredom in Christ and expect to have victory. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy.
• Consider the extreme case of someone being set free from the power of a demon; the purpose of being set free is so that person could be filled by the Spirit of God.

Matthew 12:43-45, “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came,’ and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied… Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

• You were made to be filled with the life of God. You were made to have passion in how you live.

John 7:37-39. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were to receive.

• A great truth to live by is this: Do not run from something, run to something.

Philippians 3:14, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

• It has to do with your focus. Do not run from fear, focused on fear. Run towards security and peace in faith. Do not run from difficulty, run towards God’s provision and growth He is working through it. Do not run from sin, run towards purpose. Do not run from hurt, run towards acceptance.
• Run to God’s Love. Run to God’s power. Run to God’s purpose. Run to God’s change in your life. Get a vision of where you are going and run towards it. He already sees you as that. Now run towards and grow into that.
• Your failures, shortcomings, and struggles do not define you, it becomes steppingstones to change the Spirit is working in your life.
• Start your day with Spiritual purpose. “ Holy Spirit I surrender to you that you can use me today for your glory. Lead people on my path that I can impact with life and truth. Send the hurting people. Send the broken people. In my work, let me impact others with life. Let my life be more than the sum of its parts for your glory.”
• Living counter to this might be the ordinary way, but do we just wat an ordinary life, or an extra ordinary life.?

Illus – Everyone was shaken this week with the death of Charlie Kirk. The most beautiful sobering answer came from him when asked for what he would want to be remembered. “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith”