Galatians 5:16: A New Interpretation

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. If you have a Bible, open it up to the Book of Galatians, chapter five, verse sixteen. Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen, a very famous verse. If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably been challenged to memorize Galatians. Chapter five, verse sixteen. Let me read it. Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen. This I say, then walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Many people find that verse to be encouraging. It gives them a sense of hope. It gives them an understanding of what is actually possible in the Christian life. They see it as a positive thing.

0:59 They love it. Pastors love to preach it, people love to memorize it. It's a very popular verse. But if I'm going to be brutally honest with you, for me, Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen. Is a migraine. It is an aneurism, it is multiple seizures, it is a stroke, it is high blood pressure, and it's premature death all rolled up into one verse. I know you're like, that's a little dramatic. That may be a little hyperbolic, or maybe it's more real than you think. For me, Galatians five sixteen is a horrible migraine, horrible migraine, an aneurysm, just.

1:44 You know, just go ahead and get get rid of me. Multiple seizures, multiple ones like you know, fifty and fifteen minutes. Okay, about five strokes, blood pressure that is so high that while it's going to be premature death in the next five seconds. That's what Galatians five sixteen is to me, all rolled into one verse, and we're going to be talking about exactly why that's the case right after I say good morning everyone. It is Wednesday, April the second, twenty twenty five. It is currently eleven forty four am Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right.

2:25 Here in Abilene, Texas. And right here in this studio in front of this microphone, I have gone live now a number of times to kind of talk about a sermon that's available on the sermon Audio website in the sermon Audio app. The name of that sermon is the Believer's Victory over Sin. The Believer's Victory over sin. But doctor Peter Math Masters from the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, right, very famous church. He's a very famous preacher. So you know, because of his power, influence, significance, the significance of that church, you're not really supposed to criticize it or offer maybe even a different thought or opinion.

3:13 But I have offered my thoughts and opinions. In fact, in the last broadcast we started reviewing the sermon. We reviewed it and to get a basic idea. Of what said, and let me just say, I. Have found myself extremely frustrated. Now the text itself is on Galatians chapter five, verses fifteen through sixteen. So I'm just going to remind you. Briefly of what doctor Peter Masters had to say about this passage of scripture, kind of how he handled it, what he did in his sermon, and then we're going to start taking this all apart. I'm going to offer my disagreements, my criticisms, my critique, my analysis, and then what we're going to attempt to do today is build an alternative interpretation of Galicians five sixteen that goes against all modern interpretations.

4:09 I'm going to go back to the tradition of if. You want to trace it back to someone, I'm going to go back to Luther, I'm going to go back to Calvin. I'm going to reject even what modern Reformed pastors do. I'm going to reject because I'm in a disagreement with almost ninety nine point nine percent of all of Christianity when it comes to Galatians five sixteen. If I was to visit pretty much any church and they said open your Bibles to Galatians five sixteen, I could write that. If I could, I could call a bookie in Vegas and go, hey, put down nine hundred that I'm going to completely be in disagreement with this. You can count on it, because I know I'm going to be. So that puts me. In a very different play. It's the same thing that happened on Sunday when we offered a new interpretation of Isaiah forty two. So the one thing I love about this podcast is we don't just simply parrot other people's hermautic.

5:03 We don't simply parent other people's theology. We try to do theology, we try to do hermoneutics, and we try to challenge. We create hypotheses and we try to work them out. So are you ready to try to do all of this? Hopefully this episode doesn't go too long, but I have really I want to get to some type of a dramatic conclusion here. Okay, So we started talking about doctor Peter Master's sermon. All right. The text is Galatians five fifteen through sixteen, and the title is the Believer's Victory over Sin. Now, let me just make this very very clear, all right, because some people will misunderstand. If there is anything that. I could wish for, I wish I could have victory over sin.

5:47 I wish that I beg for that. I long for that. It would be the most amazing thing to wake up and go today I will have victory over sin. But anyone who's even really reasonably honest with themselves, well, no, that's not going to happen. Why. Well, I can start with one command, be holy as God is holy. I will not be holy as God is holy today. I will not be as holy as God as holy tomorrow. And if I could live to be nine hundred and ninety nine years old, I'll never be holy as God as holy. That means I'm in perpetual disobedience to that one command, be holy as God is holy. I will never be that. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin. I'm in a perpetual state of disobedience. I'm in a perpetual state of falling short.

6:35 I'm in a perpetual state of transgressing that rule because I am not holy as God is holy in a practical way. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin. Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. I have never done that, never will do that, will never come close to living God that way. I will never do this. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin. Love my neighbor as myself. I'm never truly going to do that, because we all know we love ourselves more than we love anything else. I'm in a perpetual state of sin. I could be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I see, I could go. I could go on and on do all things without complaining and grumbling. Do not even look at a woman with luster. I have you already committed adultery. You can commit murder without actually committing murder. You're supposed to be perfect internally externally.

7:19 I can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. The Bible is filled with scriptures that tell us to do something or not to do things. Those are what we call law, and that law reveals our inability to keep that law, and our constant disobedience and our constant failure. That is the reality. That's a reality. So preachers constantly say you can have victory over sin, and then they have to then kind of make it this very subjective. Well, I mean you can have victory. I mean you can't have complete victory. I mean you're still going to sin. I mean you can have victory over this sin. Well, I mean can I have victory over it simply by the external act? Or do I have victory over it from externally and internally?

8:04 It just is, it's just maddening. So look, when I see a title like that, I want to experience it. I never have. I never will until glorification. Then I'll have victory. Now, I do believe there is a way in which I'm experiencing victory right now, and that's not practically, that's positionally. That's why, as non Catholics, we believe in a salvation based off an imputed righteousness, not an infused righteousness, which is Roman Catholicism. Right, So we'll we'll talk about this in greater detail now. So doctor Peter Master sermon the believer's victory over sin. I truly want that, now, doctor pat Doctor Masters, if I can speak correctly, explores Paul's statement, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. Doctor Masters presented it as a promise, not merely an exhortation. He begins with verse fourteen to warn against the community destroying effects of gossip, slander, and infighting.

9:08 He then identifies verse sixteen as a profound divine assurance. If believers will walk in the spirit, they will not fulfill the sinful desires. Hey, if you'll just walk in the spirit, you won't sin any sinful desire. You're not going to fulfill You're not going to do so basically you can be perfect. But then it gets kind of hot because then he basically makes it clear, well, you got to figure out what it means to walk in the spirit. So he basically sets up this kind of dynamic. If you walk in the spirit, then you obtain the power to basically not sin. But the key is you have to walk in the spirit. Now, it sounds like this is never truly kind of fleshed out. It is made basically almost explicit. If I can walk in the spirit, then I get the power to not sin. But I've got to walk in the spirit. And it sounds like to walk in the spirit.

10:05 I have to do that on my own. So what do I have to do to walk in the spirit so then I can then get the power so that I will not sin. Well, to walk in the spirit, I have to do this. Number One, I've got to read and study my Bible. So it appears the more I read and the more I study, the greater chance I have of walking in the spirit. So then I can obtain the power so that I can stop sinning. But I have to be the one to do it. Now. If we truly, truly believe that if all I have to do is read and study my Bible, I can obtain the power not to sin, well, then you would think churches wouldn't just be having services on Sunday. They would be having services Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday they would be having services at eight in the morning, noon, five pm, and eleven o'clock at night. That would be having the doors open all the time because you need to come and hear the word of God. Because the more we read, the more we study, then we can walk in the spirit.

10:58 Then we get power. Then we won't sin. We wouldn't be canceling services, we wouldn't be wasting time with pot lucks and picnics and. Ridiculous things like that. It would be Bible Bible, Bible Bible, because this will make us walk in the spirit. Then we can be perfect or well, no Christian never wants to say we can be perfect. Christians have this weird like, well, you're a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things are new practically, but I mean you're not perfect. Well that sounds like I'm perfect. Well no it's not. It doesn't really mean I'm perfect. Well what's keeping me from perfection? Well you have the old nature, Well, then all things aren't new. It just drives me crazy the way Christians talk, because everyone forgets the reality of the positional standing versus the practical standing. So basically, number one, I gotta just read and study, read and study, read, and study, read and study.

11:45 Read the more I read and study. But then secondly, that's not even really enough. I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray. The more I pray, the more I read, the more I study, the greater chance I have will finally walking in the spirit. But wait, there's more. Not only do I have to read, Not only do I have to study, Not. Only do I have to pray. I've got to do more than just read and study. I got to do more than just pray. I have to meditate. I got to meditate on God's words, so if I will so, not only do I have to read and study all the time, not only do I have to pray all the time. I got to be meditating all the time. And if I meditate all the time, if I read and study, and if I pray, then maybe, just maybe I can reach this level of walking in the spirit. Boom, Then I get the power. Then I can stop sinning. But I've got to be doing all these other things. I guess on my own strength, it's based on my.

12:33 Own fleshly discipline. Number four. Then I have to heed the spirit, all right, So I've got to. I've got to I've got to basically follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, obey the spirit. If I will obey. The spirit, follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, then dune dun da dah. Now I'm walking in the spirit. So I got to read, read, read, read, and study. I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray, I gotta meda, meditate, meditate, and then I just simply have to obey the spirit, follow the leading of the spirit, listen to the spirit. And if I do that, then I get the power to not sin. But if i'm if I can on my own obey the spirit and heed the spirit, well it knew it, and that means I'm not sinning. So it's really weird like which comes first, I don't know.

13:24 And then I have to plan and aim, setting intentional spiritual goals and strategies to overcome specific sins. Now, I don't know why I need a strategy to overcome specific sin, because if I'm walking in the spirit, I won't sin. So why do I need a strategy to overcome a sin? If walking in the spirit leads me not to sin. I don't even understand that. Why do I need a strategy? The whole thing is crazy so we talked about that, we analyze the sermon, we critique the sermon, and we took everything apart. All right, so this is where this leaves me. All Right, that's trying to. Go through that as quickly as I can. You can go listen to the sermon for yourself.

14:07 Again. We reviewed about we reviewed over half of the sermon. Right, there was only about maybe twelve or thirteen minutes even left in the sermon. And yeah, he was just going to go through those five things. So I know that this whole concept of we can have victory, we can do it. I know it's a common Christian teaching, it's everywhere, but I struggle with the concept in light of reality because I feel the logical conclusion would be we basically can be perfect and we should be. So I have a problem with this whole thing because basically, when Christians start talking about victory over sin or some kind of transferm it inevitably logically would mean, well, we can be perfect.

15:04 For example, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things have become new. That's always presented as being true practically. Well, if that's true practically, then practically we don't sin, because where we sin even be coming from. We're new. Everything is new, We're a new creature. The old is completely gone. If you say, well, if you'll simply walk in the spirit, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, and you interpret that to be referring to us somehow practically, well, then once again, not only are you saying we can be perfect, we should be. In fact, it would be what would be the most, it should be the normal thing. So I have problems. Here, not only that this seems to lead to the idea that victory over sin is accomplished by what I do, by how much I read, how much I study, how much I pray, how much I reflect, how much.

15:59 I he in, how much I plan. So I kind of gave some of these concerns to artificial intelligence, and artificial intelligence says, well, this is exactly how doctor Masters frames it. In his sermon. He gives a list of disciplines, all good in themselves, but positions them as the means by which you ensure you do not fulfill. The loss of the flesh. This logical formula becomes this spiritual performance equals victory over sin. Right, which then this leads directly to well, then my victory is accomplished by keeping the law. That's really where it ends up. I will have victory by keeping the law. Well, my problem is nobody can keep the law. Therefore nobody can have victory because I cannot keep the law. It was never intended for us for something that we can keep.

16:51 It was to demonstrate that we cannot do so. Now. Though doctor likely wouldn't use that kind of language, his method relocates the power to overcome sin into our disciplined obedience, which is law. Not law in the narrow mosaic sense, but in the broader theological sense. Do this and you will live in the sense, do this and you will no longer sin. Now, even though the sermon does mention the Holy Spirit and grace, the practical structure is do these five things, and if you do them rightly, and if you do them sincerely, and if you do them thoroughly, you will not sin. That is the essence of a law based sanctification. It is not a gospel view. It's not a gospel perspective. So let's try to contrast the difference between law driven and gospel driven. Let's call it sanctification, all right, So law driven my doing will produce victory.

18:02 Gospel driven is Christ's victory is all mine by faith alone. Those are two radically different approaches. One is do this and then maybe you'll get victory. Maybe maybe you got to do it more, got to do it enough, You gotta do it, do read more, do more, do more. And basically the idea is, if anyone falls into any kind of sin, it's because they're not reading enough, they're not praying enough, they're not it's it always comes down to that type of thing, where in a gospel driven approach is victory complete. Total victory is mine by faith alone. Why I put my faith in Christ. His obedience, his righteousness is accredited to my account, so I stand in perfect victory. Law driven, more effort equals less sin. The more effort, the less sin. Now, even that is very subjective, because how do you measure less sin? How do you measure less sin? Well, I don't commit that sin, but.

19:07 You're in a perpetual state of sin. If you violate one point of the law, you're guilty of all of it. So I don't know how you can ever say I'm doing less because you're always guilty of all of it because you're always breaking some point of it. And again the be holy as God is holy, You're never going to do that. You're in a perpetual state of sin. How do you say, I'm getting more victory over sin. That's the most subjective measurement in the history of man kind. In fact, it makes literally no logical, philological, or scriptural sense. You're in a perpetual state of sin. From a gospel driven approach, my faith in Christ.

19:48 I'm in Christ, so I have I don't have to put forth any effort. It's all based on the effort Christ did. It's all based off his work, his obedience. It's his obedience. See now now. In a law driven approach, if I fail to overcome sin, it's because I failed the method, I didn't follow the steps, I didn't do enough. And a gospel driven approach, every day I fail, every day I fall short, and every day I run back to Christ and. His imputed righteousness.

20:32 And a law driven approach, holiness is a product of planning, discipline, vigilance, and a gospel driven approach. Holiness is that which is imputed to my account by faith alone, has nothing to do with what I do or don't do. So if you follow this more law driven approach, it's not going to offer any real rest for the sinner. You're always one spiritual misstep away from falling into sin. And if you do sin, it's. Implied that your spiritual practices weren't an It leads towards inward despair or basically outward hypocrisy. The very thing Paul warns about in Galatians happens. People begin to compare their performance. Victory becomes measurable and a spirit it becomes a spiritual success metric, and it becomes about.

21:18 Performance, performance, performance. And you've got to pretend that you're doing better than you actually are, and you can't really be honest. And I think it contradicts the very argument of Galatians. The entire letter is about not returning to the law, even in a spiritual form, as a means of justification or sanctification. Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? That's Galatians three three. The entire point of the thing is we don't go back to the law. We don't return to the law for justification or sanctification. The law does not sanctify. The law condemns. The law condemns, the law reveals, the law exposes. It does not sanctify you.

22:02 You can give people nine hundred laws. It's not going to fix the problem. You're still a sinner, you still have a sinful nature, and you're in a perpetual state of sin. So what does the law do. It breaks you, it humbles you, and it drags you to the foot of the cross, and say, look to Christ. He's your only hope. And by your faith in Him, his death, his obedience, his righteousness, all of. That is imputed to your account. Your sins are forgiven, and you are declared not just to be forgiven, you're now declared to be perfect, righteous, and holy in Him. So when you get to Galatians five sixteen through seventeen, you kind of find yourself at an interpretive crossroads because Galatians five point sixteen kind of forces us to really stop and think, here's the brutal reality.

23:01 When I read Galatians five sixteen, we read it again this, I say, then, walk in the spirit. You should not fulfill the luss of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. This seems everyone thinks that, Okay, here's the key. If I can just figure out what it means to walk in the spirit, I will stop doing everything. So then this puts us out of kind of an interpretive crossroads, and we are face first and first thing this does before I, as soon as I read Galatians five sixteen through seventeen, this is what should happen. Right, So the next time someone preaches Galatians five sixteen through seventeen, what they should do is read the text and then walk up to everyone in the congregation and slap them across the face. Slap them across the face. Slap them across the face, slap them across them.

23:48 That's what they should do. I'm not okay, I'm using obviously as an illustration. I'm not calling for the physical assault of people during church. But in a way, everyone as soon as they hear those words it should punch you in the face. They shouldn't be like, oh, this is comforting it. She'd be like, wait what, because here's the brutal reality we all fulfill the lust of the flesh in some way perpetually. We all fulfill the lust of the flesh in some way perpetually, around the clock, every day, every week, every month, every year. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm not being jaded. I'm being honest.

24:31 I believe that what I'm saying this is biblical realism. We do not love God with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. We do not love our neighbor or our enemies perfectly. We are not holy as God is holy. We do not meditate on God's word day and night. We do not love God's word more than gold, silver, or food. We don't put God above everything else. We have plenty of things we put before God. On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. I could just go on all day. We still experience lust, We still experience anger, envy, selfishness, pride, anxiety, laziness, idolatry, and countless other flesh driven impulses every single day.

25:15 And it shows up every single day. That's why there's not a minute, there's not an hour, there's not a day that you could not stop and go. Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned. It's been three. Seconds since my last confession, and within those three seconds, I have lusted. I am angry, I'm bitter, I did this, I think this, I want this, I desire this. We're in a perpetual state of it. So if we're even remotely honest, every believer fulfills the luss of the flesh and thought, word, desire, or deed continuably. So that creates an interpretive crisis.

25:55 With Galatians five point sixteen, that reality creates an interpretive that's to slap in the face that reality. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself, Be honest with yourself. And you're like, okay, I'm being honest, but wait a minute, you just read Galatians five sixteen through seventeen. So this creates an interpretive crisis. Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh. If we take it at face value, then this becomes a conditional promise that can be measured in visible obedience that's. Based on that, and it's all based on. Our level of faith surrender or spiritual consistency. So then we're left with basically only a couple of options. The verse is just false. If I walk in the spirit as sincere Christians claim to, and we still fulfill the less of the flesh, then this verse can't be trusted because it promise wasn't true. But that would deny Scripture's truthfulness, something a faithful reader rightly rejects.

26:57 So we can't we. Can't go with that approach. But I mean, you may reach the point this just isn't It doesn't work either. I mean, you just come to it's just this verse, it's just not true, or you have to come to another conclusion. No one really walks in the spirit. No one does. No one does, right, So to protect the verse, someone may say, well, if I'm still sinning, then I must not be walking on this in the spirit. So that what does this lead to? What can lead to despair? If I can't get there, maybe I'm not really saved. Maybe it gets to spiritual elitism, dividing Christians into victorious versus failing. Look at them, they're actually walking in the spirit. But anyone you point to that claims to be walking in the spirit and being victorious, you look at their life, sooner or later you see the sin. You're like, wait a minute, I don't think that's it's really working, or it leads to self deception. You've got to pretend you've reached some sinless state and you haven't. It turns walking into the spirit into a subjective achievement instead of a gospel reality, and it forces people to redefine sin downward so that they can claim victory, which is dishonest and not holiness. Now I'm going to read that again because that's from artificial intelligence, because I gave artificial intelligence this problem.

28:15 This is what artificial intelligence says. It turns walking in the spirit into a subjective achievement instead of a gospel reality, and it forces people to redefine sin downward to say. Hey, look I'm victorious. I'm victorious, and AI says this is dishonest and it's not holiness. If you've got to redefine sin in a way that gets you to the point where you can say, look, I'm victorious, then you're not even being honest with. God or Scripture. No, the Bible demands absolute perfection internally and externally, and if you're remotely honest with yourself, you're like I sin, I sin, I sin. So then who walks in this spirit.

29:02 Now you could say maybe Christ did, and well, his walking in the spirit and his obedience is imputed to me by faith. Okay, we can That's the one thing I'm going to keep going back to. Now AI suggested, or there's a third option. So the first option is you come to the conclusion that the versus just false. The second option is that, well, no one really walks in the spirit. A third option, and this is the one that I began to discuss with artificial intelligence, is that we have to read a fine Galatians five point sixteen through maybe a Gospel realism, through a Gospel perspective, and this appears to be the only faithful path. The verse must mean something deeper than behavioral transformation.

29:51 It has to mean something more than behavioral transformation, because there is no true behavioral transformation as far as the way we understand and the scriptures right, because you can't say, oh, I've been transformed in my behavior if the standard is perfection. Now you may say, well, look in this area I was changed. But people in all kinds of religions change claim transformation and certain behaviors. People on alcoholics. Anonymous and narcotics Anonymous talk about massive transformation in their lives. I was addicted to meth, I was addicted to crack. I was an alcoholic for fifteen years. I destroyed this, and I did this, and I did this, But finally I came to the end of myself and I've been transformed.

30:34 I no longer drink, I no longer do crack, and many of them and has nothing to do with Christianity or with God. People of other religions talk about being transformed. The point is from a Biblical standard, transformation then would require perfection, because if I'm guilty at one point in the law, I'm guilty of all of it. You're in a perpetual state of sin. Behold, God is only I can go through all the scriptures. You're in a. Constant state of sin. So how do you measure your transformation? You do it in a subjective way, so you give yourself a sense that look at me, I've been changed, and everyone who knows you for a very length of time going You talk a big game about your transformation, but you are still an arrogant, self conceited jerk who's very selfish. And I know you lie, and I know you've deceived, and I know that you still lust and I know you still haven't forgiven that person, and I hear you gossip and slander.

31:33 I mean, come on, people ultimately. Who know you know the reality is still there and you know deep down. So because of this reality, then the only faithful path is that the verse has to mean something more than behavioral transformation. And I think that's exactly what the. Context of Galatians ultimately supports. So because we still sin continually, then I think we have to approach the verse differently. I think we have to read Galatians five sixteen philologically through the lens of our union with Christ. We have to read it positionally as a statement of what is true in the Gospel.

32:21 And then. I think maybe we have to read it maybe somewhat through the lens of eschatology, that it's not a present moral achievement, but it is something that one day will be completed and that is in glorification. I think we have to read Galatians five sixteen realistically, so philologically, positionally eschatologically, if I can speak correctly and realistically, we have to understand the spirit's work is not to remove sin, but to war against it, maybe restrain it, and keep it from defining us. And even that I'm skeptical of, I think we have to read it realistically. In this sense, I still sin, I still sin. I still sin. So if we interpret Galatians five sixteen as a behavioral based condition for sinlessness, we're either forced to call the verse false, ourselves possibly unsaved, or invent a subjective read definition of walking in the spirit.

33:25 But if we interpret it through a. Gospel realism, it becomes a glorious promise that the Spirit will never let the flesh lead to our being condemned, and that in Christ, while we are, there's something different. And now I'm just going to throw out one more thing here. Galatians five sixteen is a promise, but not a transaction. It does not mean if you obey enough, the spirit will keep you from sin. It means as you live by faith in the spirit, depending not on your flesh, even your religious flesh.

34:09 The spirit. Ultimately, then then I think you then live in the positional reality of what we are in Christ. Not again, I'm I'm just paraphrasing here. I'm not even really paraphrasing. I'm throwing out ideas to build a hypothesis. And this is and I'm taking you through the steps I was taking. So there, I'm still trying to figure it out. So then I was like, okay, I'm onto something here, but we still got. To flesh this out a little bit more. So then I was I was like okay. And then at this I began working with artificial intelligence, and I'm like, okay. What we need is we need to look at Glatians five sixteen in a way that.

34:53 Is textually accurate, that is gospel cinnered, not law driven, and that aligns with this very very real truth that every Christian remains in sin even as they are in Christ. I may be in Christ, but I remain in sin. So I need to be textually accurate, I think gospel centered, and I have to be in line with reality. What can I do with Galatians five. Point sixteen that is textually accurate, gospel centered, and yet holds to the truth that we are all in sin? Do I have any options at this point? Do I have any?

35:38 So let's try to build a new interpretation, as I always do. We'll call this my hypothesis. So I'm not being dogmatic, but I'm trying to challenge how it's typically understood all right, So if we read from the King James version this, I say, then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill. The lust of the flesh. Now, the Greek word for fulfilled means to bring something to completion or full expression, not merely to feel or desire something. Okay, So therefore we can immediately say, Paul, doesn't appear to be promising that walking in the spirit removes all sinful desires. But then you could argue, is that promising that those desires will not be brought to completion, acted upon, are lived out?

36:36 Hmm. Now that seems though, that we're possibly leading to what some kind of a promise of sinlessness, right at least sendlessness and action. Hey, the desire may be there, but if you walk in the spirit you won't fulfill it. Well, that seems to be saying I could be sinless, right, I see, I'm still going to struggle here. Yeah, I still see. That still doesn't work. Right if I just say, well, okay, it's only it's not saying that the desires won't be there, it's just that you won't fulfill them. But if the desires are there, again, even if I don't act upon it, if the desire is inside of me. If that, if that, if I again, if I look at a woman with lust, even if I never touch the woman, the desire for her, the lust for her inside of me, I'm still sinning. That's the whole point Jesus is trying to make. So even if you say Galatians five point sixteen, is the word fulfilled there just means to bring something.

37:39 To completion or full expression. Oh well, well, see, if I walk in the spirit, I'm not going I'm not going to fulfill the. Lust of the flesh. It won't come to full. Full expression. Well, then I'm still in sin. So are you saying that if I walk in the spirit, I just will never act upon what is the sin going on inside? But I'm still sinful on the inside. So then. That doesn't even appear to work for me, all right, So what so that doesn't really help me? So okay, So what if we go with what what does it mean to walk in the spirit? Well, Paul's already made clear in Galatians that we are justified by faith, not by works Galatians two sixteen. That we receive the spirit not by law, but by hearing with faith. Galatians three to two. The Christian life is sustained by the same spirit that began it Galatians three three. And the flesh and the spirit are in conflict Galatians five seventeen.

38:43 And this conflict is normal. So walking in the spirit doesn't appear then to mean doing enough spiritual things to avoid sin. That doesn't seem to be. Hey, if you walk in the spirit, that means you're doing these things and you can avoid sin. Doesn't appear to be going that way. It seems to possibly be that walking in the spirit means living by faith in Christ, which the Spirit empowers and sustains. It empowers and sustains my faith. It empowers and sustains my belief. It empowers mine. I'm going to continue to believe because my faith is a gift from God. So I'm justified by faith, not by works. I receive the spirit, not by law, but by hearing with faith. The Christian life is sustained by that same spirit that began it says, the Spirit sustains my faith.

39:35 I persevere in my believing, and the spirit and the flesh are in conflict, So walking in the spirit cannot mean doing enough spiritual things to avoid sin. That seems not to be the idea. It seems to be living by faith. Now, this seems to harmonize with the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, which is Galatians two twenty. It's walking in the spirit is kind of synonymous with living by faith, with believing, with trusting in God. That seems to be more the idea of what walking in the faith is.

40:18 So the fulfilling thing. We haven't really got a good answer, but walking in the faith this may change it from walking in the faith is doing five things to walking in the faith is believing in Christ. So then we have to. Bring back the reality, though, which is we're in perpetuals. We're in perpetual state of sin. And I don't think it's a defeatist view. I think it's a biblical one. Scripture assumes Christians still sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, for I do not the good I want. In other words, Paul and Romans chapter seven, the things I want to do I don't do. The things I don't want to do I do, And many things we offend all. I mean, I can go on and on. The Christian life is not sinless victory. It's not the presence of this struggle. We could argue our struggle with sin and our reality that we're sin is really kind of like that proves that we understand, We've come to a change of mind, that we understand this is sinful and I'm struggling with it and I'm.

41:17 Acknowledging the reality of it. So how should we maybe teach Galatians five sixteen. Because you are in Christ and the Spirit in you, your life is now defined by a war between the Spirit and the flesh. But this war is itself evidence that you are no longer under the law. The Spirit will not allow you to fully gratify the flesh. He restrains you, he convicts you, he interrupts you. You will sin and you will never stop needing grace. But the Spirit will not allow sin to own you. You belong to Christ and the flesh cannot win.

41:58 That's how one. Attempt to explain it. I don't even agree with that. That doesn't even make any sense to. Me, because listen, the Spirit is not going. To allow you to fully gratify the flesh. That's a subjective measurement. It's not going to allow me to If the spirit's not going to allow me to fully gratify the flesh, then what does that mean. It will only let me gratify it fifty percent, forty percent. Sixty percent, And if the spirit's not going to let me gratify the flesh, and the spirit is really as as this source would say, it's not going to allow me to gratify it. It's going to restrain me, it's going to convict me, it's going.

42:39 To interrupt me. Then for crying out loud, you're just right back to basically saying the Spirit's not going to let you sin. So that doesn't really help it. So so far we still don't have anything. That still doesn't get me anywhere. So if we try maybe to try to compare maybe a law to a gospel based well, walk in the spirit equals perform the disciplines properly, all right, We completely disagree with walking in the spirit means doing certain things. No, walk in the spirit means to live in continual faith, dependence, and repentance. That makes more sense. So walking in the spirit means I have faith, I'm walking in that faith, I'm walking in my dependence. I'm walking in repentance in other words, and a constant change of mind about what sin is and being honest with it. A law based approach says you won't sin if you walk rightly. A gospel based is you will sin.

43:43 Now. Some will say, but the Spirit will not let sin rain. I don't know what that means. See if I throw in, but the spirit will not let sin rain? What do you mean sin will not rain? Sin is raining. If I cannot get to perfection, whatever keeps me from perfection is raining and dominating. Can you be perfect? No? Why not? There's something in you that's reigning, that is dominating. What is that? Your sinful nature? If the Spirit is not letting the sin rain, then you should be able to be perfect. So that all of this just starts falling. Apart from a law based approach, your failure equals your spiritual method broke down, and a gospel based failure you flee to Christ again. The Spirit is still with you, and a law based system victory equals absence of sin, and a gospel based system victory equals well your position in Christ.

44:49 So I still. Struggle with some of the This still doesn't really give me a good answer. Right again, if you tell me that, hey, even in the Gospel of Approach, you're gonna tell me, well, you see the spirits still doing this, or the spirits still doing this, or the spirit still doing this. If the Spirit is. Doing that, then there's gotta be some way to measure what that means. And if walking in the spirit is simply a life by faith, then then that's not indicating. Well, now the Spirit's gonna not allow this to happen, or this to happen, or this to happen. Because you're getting right back to claiming I can basically be perfect.

45:31 I do not. Fulfill the lust of the flesh and only one way. So this is what I'm going to say. I do not fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way. Here are my words. I do not. Fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way in Christ, in my positional standing, any meaningful, honest assessment of us as Christians show we fulfill the lust of the flesh and thought we're desire indeed all the time. That's what I'm going to go to. What whatever I understand about Galatians five sixteen. This I say, then walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The only way I don't fulfill the lust of the flesh is in Christ. In my position, I fulfill it practically every single day. So I'm calling for a more, even more radical approach. I try to kind of walk through some so trying to just again, I'm trying to slowly shape a new interpretation.

46:37 I'm trying to give a hypothesis by by building it. I'm trying to build it in real time. So again I'm gonna state it. This is my statement, these are my words. I do not fulfill the luss of the flesh, and only one way in Christ, in my positional standing, in a meaningful honesty assessment of us as Christians, as me as a person, shows that I fulfill the lust of the flesh and thought word desire indeed twenty four to seven. And you can deny it. All day, but you do. I don't believe that cynicism. I don't believe that's cynical. I don't believe that's being jaded.

47:18 I don't think that's defeatism. I think that's realism. And I think it's the only view that keeps the cross necessary. Every second of the Christian life, I need the cross twenty four to seven. Every day I need to look to the cross. There's my hope, the finished work of Jesus Christ. He paid for my sin, and by his death he not only paid for me. And then there's this great transaction. My sin was placed upon him. He propitiated the wrath of God, and his perfection was imputed to me. So now I stand perfect obedient, and I do not fulfill the lust of the flesh in Christ.

48:01 So now I'm going to try to build this out a little bit more. I do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Positionally. Galatians five twenty four. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Positionally. See it's stated, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions. It's past, tense, already done, it's final. It's not subjective because it's true positionally, Romans chapter eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condinition for those who are in Christ Jesus Colossians two thirteen through fourteen, Having forgiven us all our trespasses, knelling it to the cross and my standing before God. The flesh is defeated, the desires are condemned, and the lust are not fulfilled, because Christ fulfilled the law, bore the punishment and covers me fully. This is my only true victory over sin in this life. It's not practical, it's not behavioral.

49:08 It's positional, and it's substitutionary. That is the gospel. That's the only way to understand this. In Christ, it's all been done, it's finished. In Christ. He is my sanctification, He is my holiness. Here is my righteousness. He is my victory. I can only understand this positionally, my only true victory in this life. It's it's not practical, it's not behavioral, it's it's nothing like that. It's a positional and it's a substitutionary victory. And that is the gospel. That's what I'm I'm calling for. So in practice, we've feel the lust of the flesh all the time. So let's define what Paul means by the lust of the flesh. It includes not only obvious sense sexual and morality, drunkenness, but envy, strife, selfish ambition, fits of anger, jealousy. If you're honest, then we have to say I fulfill the luss of the flesh constantly inwardly and outwardly, and desire thought, tone, attitude, emotion, and action.

50:26 Even our best. Works are all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags Romans seven eighteen. I know that nothing is good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. Because this would include impatience and gratitude, prayerlessness, self justifying, lack of love for others, pride in our spiritual progress, secret resentment, lust, gluttony, laziness, anger, not just acted out but desired. So if Galatians five point sixteen means stop doing all of that, we're all condemned. But if it means in Christ, the flesh has no power to condemn or to define me, that is the gospel.

51:07 If I walk in faith, If I walk in the Spirit, in faith, in believing, in accepting that in repentance, then the flesh has no power to condemn me. It does not define me. That's the gospel. It's not if I walk in the spirit, I just stop doing all the bad things, because we keep doing the bad things. So the walk in the spirit has to be understood differently. Therefore, what I'm arguing is Galatians five sixteen, then must be interpreted through our union with Christ. This I say, then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh.

51:48 Positionally I am in the spirit. Therefore in Christ, I am not fulfilling the flesh, because He bore it, he killed it. And you and I and you us, we we're hidden in Him. Practically, I still fulfill the lust in various ways daily, but those lust. Are no longer my master, and they do not condemn me. They're no longer my master. Positionally, I'm not defined that way. I'm not seen that way. Positionally, I'm a new creature. The old is completely gone. I'm completely new. Positionally, the flesh is gone, the flesh is defeated. I'm not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. It's all been taken care of. It's all been crucified with Christ. So walking in the Spirit is not try harder, do better, be perfect. It's live out what Christ has already done, knowing I'm already righteous in Him.

52:51 It's living. It's walking in the reality that I'm in Christ. That I'm a believer that I'm trusting only when we start here with our perpetual sinfulness and our totally victory in Christ. That Galatians five sixteen becomes good news only until we read Galatians five sixteen and that this is about that I'm acknowledging my perpetual sinfulness and I understand that my total victory is found in Christ. Then Galatians five to sixteen becomes good news. Otherwise it becomes a gospel of failure, where a burden is on your effort. So if we go with my interpretation, if I live in continual dependence on Christ and his Spirit, I will not be left to myself. Though I will fall fail sin daily, i will not fulfill the flesh in a final, condemning, defining way because I'm in Christ and the Spirit keeps dragging me back to Him.

53:56 Now even that I'm not. I don't even like the way that. See, that's not even a good way. I'm still not even happy with that. If I live in continual dependence on Christ and his Spirit, that I'm not left to myself no matter how many times I fail, because I am in Christ and I'm declared to be perfect and righteous. Even though I am not the only true victory over sin. The only true victory over sin in this life is in Christ alone, not in my personal obedience, but in my union with Him.

54:38 In any reading. Of Galatians five point sixteen, that doesn't begin an end, there becomes law, not gospel. So that's the way I'm approaching this. Walk in the spirit, that's walking in faith in Christ, in repentance, in dependence on Him, walking in the reality that I've been crucified. With Christ, I no longer live. The life I now live is in Christ. Jesus he lives. It's his life that's being lived. I'm in him, I'm united to him. I'm in Christ. My life is in Christ.

55:22 So then I don't. Fulfill the luss of the flesh and my position. I don't do the things that I used to do in my position. In my practice I do. That's the only any other way. This falls into a law based due and you're trying to figure out how to pull this off, and then you gotta lie to yourself that you're even doing it. But most Christians today, across evangelical charismatic can even reform circles interpret Galatians five point sixteen. More along these lines, walk in the Spirit and a way of Okay, let me state this again. Most Christians today cross evangelical, charismatic, and even reform circles interpret Galatians five sixteen this way walk in the Spirit as a way of life that if you truly practice, it leads to increasing personal moral victory over sin. In other words, more spirit less sin, more discipline, more victory. Victory equals transformation. Transformation equals proof of salvation. That's how it's typically handled in most churches.

56:25 It's essentially a performance based sanctification model, even if it's dressed in grace language. This turns the verse into a how to manual, not a gospel promise. It makes your ability the basis of your victory. Galatians five sixteen is not about achieving sinlessness or measurable moral victory. It is a gospel promise that because we are in Christ and the Spirit dwells us, the flesh will not rule over us positionally, even though we still sin practically. So my argument, so let me state that again. My argument is that Galatians five point sixteen is not about achieving sinlessness or measurable moral victory. It is a gospel promise that because you are in Christ and the Spirit is inside of you, the flesh will not rule over you positionally, even though you sin practically. So I'm redefining not fulfilling the lust of the flesh as not bringing them me to condemning to a or and not bringing the flesh to a condemning fulfillment, because Christ bore that for me, not living under the under flesh dominion. Although the presence remains, it's not being defined by sin, even though we still sin constantly.

57:44 I'm not defined by sin. I am. I'm not going to be brought to condemnation. There is, therefore now no condemnation. I am in Christ. Christ is in me. I have been crucified with Him again. The life I live I. Live in Christ. I'm a new creature. That's how I'm defined. The old is gone. I'm declared to be perfect and righteous. So I believe my interpretation embraces the reality of ongoing sin, the sufficiency of Christ and the Gospels the only source of victory. But now you may say, well, wait a minute, since everyone in the modern Christianity disagrees with you, what about historically, Well, if you look at Martin Luther. In his lecture on the Galatians. Luther taught the believers are at the very same time righteous and sinful. He's stressed, and I quote, so long as the flesh remains, there is sin, but it is not imputed, for Christ has taken it. For Luther, Galatians five point sixteen did not mean stop sinning. It meant walk by and Christ and the Spirit will oppose the flesh and you continually. Even as you sin, you are not condemned. Luther had a different approach. I'm not even saying I would be in complete agreement with Luther, but he would be one hundred thousand times better than what you see in any church

59:17 or any sermon today. If you look at Calvin's commentary on Galatians, Calvin wrote, although the desires of the flesh do not cease to attack us, yet we are not under their dominion. This is the consolation of the believer, again, not the absence of sin, but the assurance that sin doesn't. Rain because Christ does not. The only problem I would have with Calvin is he tries again make this subjective. Well, it's not going to I mean, you're still going to sin, but it's not going to reign over you. Let me make it very clear. If I cannot get to perfection, if I cannot stop sinning, the thing that's keeping me from perfection, the thing that's keeping me from not sinning, it is reigning and it is dominating. So clearly the sinful nature continues to reign and dominate, or I would be able to be perfect. Now, why has this understanding that I'm trying to put forth has become completely lost? Well, because in modern Christianity, sanctification becomes pragmatic, not philological. The Christian life became about transformation, not imputation. Victory became proof that you're really saved, not a byproduct of union with Christ, and Galatians five point sixteen became a weapon. If you're walking in the spirit, you won't sin. So if you're sinning, well, then maybe

1:00:50 you're not saved. Galatians five point sixteen became law, did not become gospel. The interpretation that I've tried to create is radically different than what most Christians believe today, but I believe it's deeply rooted and the gospel theology of the Reformation and honest biblical realism, realism of believers who know that the Christian life is not about getting better but about living in Christ, who is perfect for us. So then I have a question, and so then I went to artificial intelligence, and I said, this gospel centered interpretation, is it consistent with paulse theology throughout Galatians and the New Testament? Because I wanted to make sure that I'm being consistent, right am I throwing out there something so radical because it's going to be perceived radical. And look, I tried to be I tried to walk through it.

1:01:47 I try to say things that would be more in line with modern Christianity and then tell you immediately that I reject what I just wrote. I tried to go back and forth. I tried to walk through it. I wanted you to see the struggle. Remember, I said, Galatians five sixteen is a migraine, it's an aneurysm, it's fifty seizures, it's a hundred strokes, it's death because it's so hard to try to process. Walk in the spirit, then it equals believing in Christ and its finished work. This is not about this is not about behavior, but about believing.

1:02:28 Why do I believe this? Because throughout Galatians, Paul makes the contrast clear right not. This is basically how Paul does it throughout Galatians. It's not the law, it's faith in Christ. It's not human effort the flesh. It's the Spirit. It's not works based righteousness, it's righteousness by faith. It's not being made perfect by the flesh. It's living by the Spirit. I think Galatians three two through three may be the key. Did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish having begun by the spirit that you're now being perfected.

1:03:10 By the flesh? To me, this tells me walking in the spirit equals continuing in faith, not shifting into self effort or moral performance. So walk in the Spirit means live and conscious, ongoing trust in Christ, finished work, knowing the Spirit has been given to you by faith, and your life is now directed and sustained by that same spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. This follows because of your position in Christ, not because of your performance. Not fulfilled, not carry out, not bring to completion lust of the flesh, sinful desires of the unredeemed nature. I experience those desires, but they don't to find my standing before God. They don't reign over me as far as my positional standing. The spirit and now some again, once again, some would argue, well, this means the Spirit will interrupt them. No, I don't believe that any the Spirit does interrupt them, because if the Spirit interrupts in them, then I.

1:04:21 Would stop sinning. So I should live each day believing in Christ, trusting in His righteousness, not on my own righteousness. I should rest in the spirit given to me by faith. I think if you look at Romans six fourteen, I'll just go through a number of scriptures Roman six fourteen, for sin will have no dominion over you, since you're not under the law but under grace. See, the only way to understand sin is not going to have dominion over me would to be positionally Why because sin has dominion over me. If I continue to sin and I can't get to perfection, what keeps me from perfection? What's as long as I keep sinning, then sin is still have dominion.

1:05:17 Romans eight one. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Galatians two twenty. The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God. To walk in the spirit is not to become sinless through spiritual effort, but to live every moment in faith in Christ finished work. And in that posture, the flesh no longer has final say it, no longer has condemnation or dominion over me. In my position, the Spirit opposes and restrain only makes sense, only makes objective sense if we understand it positionally. The Spirit keeps the flesh from ruling you.

1:06:12 That must mean the Spirit keeps sin from ruling over me and my standing before God, in my identity, in my legal status, in my relationship to the law and judgment. Again, it is Romans six fourteen. Sin shall not have dominion over you. It's the only way to understand it. Roman's eight to one. There's therefore now no condemnation, and Galatians two twenty. I live by faith and the Son of God. This is the only way to preserve the meaning of the spirit is keeping us, keeping sin from being fulfilled without creating subjective chaos. It's the only way to understand it. Whatever the Spirit is doing, it's doing it in a positional way. Because if the minute you say, well, the Spirit's going to stop this, or it's not going to dominate me, or it's not going to be in control. Well, then the only thing you can do is then prove that you can be per because if I can't get to perfection, whatever keeps me from perfection, whatever stops me from not being able to stop sinning, that's the thing that's dominating. If we say, well, the spirit is keeping you from fulfilling the desires of the flesh in real time practically, then we are left asking, well, what counts as fulfilling sin? How much sin means I'm not walking in the spirit? What about sinful thoughts I don't act on?

1:07:30 Did I fulfill or resist? What if I feel sin all day but don't act is that victory or just exhaustion? How would I measure or know when the spirit succeeds or when I have failed? It becomes subjective. Everyone defines fulfillment differently. It becomes incoherent. There's no standard for what really counts as victory. It becomes crushing because you always still sin, so you're never quite sure if the spirit is doing his job or if you're resisting enough. That's not freedom, that's confusion, That's it guilt dressed up in spiritual garb. If sin still persist, then it must be ruling unless we define rule positionally.

1:08:21 If we are in perpetual sin, it can't be perfect. The thing keeping me from perfection and sin is obviously ruling and dominating. That's the only thing. That's the only way to understand it. I mean, you have to acknowledge that. However, if we recognize that ruling and dominating are not referring to frequency, strength of temptation, or degree of outward obedience, they refer to condemnation under the law. It refers to separation from God. It refers to legal status as guilty or unrighteous slavery to sin. As far as my identity is concerned, sin is not ruling me. I'm not fulfilled the lust of the flesh and the sense that now that I walk in faith in Christ, that I'm in Christ, then guess what I'm Sin will not bring me condemnation under the law.

1:09:12 Sin does not separate me from God. Sin has no does not impact my legal status or declare or makes me unrighteous. Because I'm perpetually righteous in Christ. My legal standing is perfect in Christ, and I cannot be defined as a slave of sin as my identity because I'm in Christ Jesus, I have been crucified with Him, and I am free in my position. So spirits. The Spirit's victory over sin is not practical, it's positional. This is the only way to faithfully read the text. The Spirit keeps sin from being fulfilled, not by removing it or helping me suppress it by but by keeping me in Christ. That's why I'm silled by the Spirit.

1:10:00 It keeps me in Christ where sins, guilt, and power has been broken positionally, not behaviorally. I'm in Christ. The Spirit keeps me in Christ. I am sealed, I'm united to Him. I am kept in Christ perpetually. Therefore, the law the flesh, the lust of the flesh cannot be fulfilled. I don't do those things because I've been crucified. I am in Him. That's the only way to understand this, or it all falls apart. So the Spirit keeps sin from being fulfilled, not by removing it or helping me suppress it, by by keeping me in Christ where sins, guilt, and power has been broken. Positionally. The Spirit does not stop me from sinning. It does not guarantee me moral victory.

1:10:51 It does not make me perfect, but it ensures that sin never reclaims dominion over my standing before God. The spirit's opposition to the flesh and Galatians five is not a mystical or moralistic mechanism that helps me behave better. It's his faithful objective work of keeping me positionally free from sin's dominion, condemnation, and identity, even while sin still dwells in me in the sinful nature. Now that is trying to do it to the best of mind.

1:11:39 There's no other way to get around. There's no other option. Any other option becomes you just denying reality. You're pretending to be something you're not. You're lying to yourself, or it becomes a subjectiveness. Well we're not saying it's going to be perfect. Well, then how do you define than any not fulfilling the lust of the flesh? How do you well, I won't fulfill this loss of the flesh, so it only guarantees one. But if I'm walking in the spirit, I'm not going to fulfill any If I mean, if I understand it practically, it all falls apart. All right, I'm at seventy two minutes. I went way longer than I should have.

1:12:23 I don't know what else to do there other than trying to just explain it every way possible. All right, I'm going to stop there. Thanks for listening. I wish I could have done better, but that's the best I can do. Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a great day. God bless Willis