Liberty Family Center

In Greek mythology there was a man named Sisyphus. He lived a life in defiance of the gods and therefore was cursed to an afterlife of rolling a huge boulder up a hill. Every time he neared the top of the hill, the boulder would roll back down, and he would have to try to roll it up the hill again.
This is the feeling we get when we try to work our way to being better as a Christian. Whenever it feels like we are making progress. That sin rock in our lives starts rolling downhill again.

The fact is that there is a battle going on in our lives. This fight is between the works of our sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit. Flesh vs. Spirit. This is the same battle that Paul describes in Romans 7 where he laments that the good he wants to do he doesn’t and the evil he doesn’t want to do, he does. Sound familiar?

Fortunately for Paul and us there is victory for Christians in the Holy Spirit. In fact, relying on the Spirit is the only way to find victory in our lives. This is because our sinful nature wants instant gratification. This is the impulse to not care about anyone else and do what feels good to us.

Have you ever had that internal battle. Of course you have. Someone says something mean and you desperately want to answer back with meanness while the Holy Spirit struggles within you to rise above and respond with love and kindness.

Notice Paul’s answer here isn’t for us to work harder but to follow the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit living in us! He enables us to defeat the sinful nature in our lives. So we are free from trying to work our way into holiness. This is what Paul is talking about in verse 18. We are free from the Law.

What happens when we lose the battle and give in to our basest desires. Paul says the results of that are very clear (the original word means evident).
These sins have been broken down-by some theologians- into categories:
A. Sexual
B. Spiritual
C. Social

As you can see unchecked sin has the power to wreck every part of our lives.

A word of caution here. Many people who have fallen into sin as a Christian have worried that verse 21 means they are now locked out of the Kingdom of God. On the surface this verse seems to be saying this. Let me tell you what I think it is really saying.

The original Greek word in this verse that is translated living here meant practicing. Now if you practice a skill that means you are determined to get better at it. What this verse is actually saying is not Christians who are struggling with sin, but people who are intentionally living a blatantly sinful life. They are not only practicing sin, they are enjoying sin. Christians who fall into sin by contrast are miserable until they repent of their sin.

Notice who does the work when we follow the Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit. When we are following our sinful nature, we are working to produce evil in our lives.

When we follow the Holy Spirit, love grows in our lives by nature. That is the nature of the Holy Spirit. He is loving, creative and full of life. When we are in fellowship with Him, we create life!

The rest of the fruit of the Spirit follow love.
· Joy is love’s happiness
· Peace is love at rest
· Patience is love forgiving
· Kindness is love at work
· Goodness is love shining in our lives
· Faithfulness is love’s loyalty
· Gentleness is love’s whisper
· Self-Control is love’s safety

We cannot work our way into being more Holy. We can only follow the One who is Holy and be transformed by Him!