April 2, 2025

Galatians 5:16: A New Interpretation

Galatians 5:16: A New Interpretation

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

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

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. If you have

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a Bible, open it up to the Book of Galatians,

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chapter five, verse sixteen. Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen, a

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very famous verse. If you've been a Christian for any

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length of time, you've probably been challenged to memorize Galatians.

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Chapter five, verse sixteen. Let me read it. Galatians chapter five,

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verse sixteen.

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This I say, then walk in the spirit, and ye

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shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Many people

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find that verse to be encouraging. It gives them a

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sense of hope. It gives them an understanding of what

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is actually possible in the Christian life. They see it

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as a positive thing.

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They love it.

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Pastors love to preach it, people love to memorize it.

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It's a very popular verse.

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But if I'm going to be brutally honest with you,

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for me, Galatians chapter five, verse sixteen.

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Is a migraine.

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It is an aneurism, it is multiple seizures, it is

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a stroke, it is high blood pressure, and it's premature

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death all rolled up into one verse. I know you're like,

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that's a little dramatic. That may be a little hyperbolic,

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or maybe it's more real than you think. For me,

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Galatians five sixteen is a horrible migraine, horrible migraine, an aneurysm, just.

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You know, just go ahead and get get rid of me.

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Multiple seizures, multiple ones like you know, fifty and fifteen minutes. Okay,

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about five strokes, blood pressure that is so high that

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while it's going to be premature death in the next

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five seconds. That's what Galatians five sixteen is to me,

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all rolled into one verse, and we're going to be

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talking about exactly why that's the case right after I

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say good morning everyone. It is Wednesday, April the second,

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twenty twenty five. It is currently eleven forty four am

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Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the

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Theology Central Studio located right.

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Here in Abilene, Texas.

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And right here in this studio in front of this microphone,

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I have gone live now a number of times to

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kind of talk about a sermon that's available on the

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sermon Audio website in the sermon Audio app. The name

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of that sermon is the Believer's Victory over Sin. The

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Believer's Victory over sin. But doctor Peter Math Masters from

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the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, right, very famous church. He's

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a very famous preacher. So you know, because of his power, influence, significance,

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the significance of that church, you're not really supposed to

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criticize it or offer maybe even a different thought or opinion.

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But I have offered my thoughts and opinions. In fact,

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in the last broadcast we started reviewing the sermon. We

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reviewed it and to get a basic idea.

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Of what said, and let me just say, I.

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Have found myself extremely frustrated. Now the text itself is

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on Galatians chapter five, verses fifteen through sixteen.

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So I'm just going to remind you.

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Briefly of what doctor Peter Masters had to say about

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this passage of scripture, kind of how he handled it,

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what he did in his sermon, and then we're going

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to start taking this all apart. I'm going to offer

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my disagreements, my criticisms, my critique, my analysis, and then

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what we're going to attempt to do today is build

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an alternative interpretation of Galicians five sixteen that goes against

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all modern interpretations.

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I'm going to go back to the tradition of if.

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You want to trace it back to someone, I'm going

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to go back to Luther, I'm going to go back

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to Calvin. I'm going to reject even what modern Reformed

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pastors do. I'm going to reject because I'm in a

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disagreement with almost ninety nine point nine percent of all

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of Christianity when it comes to Galatians five sixteen. If

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I was to visit pretty much any church and they

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said open your Bibles to Galatians five sixteen, I could

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write that. If I could, I could call a bookie

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in Vegas and go, hey, put down nine hundred that

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I'm going to completely be in disagreement with this.

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You can count on it, because I know I'm going

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to be. So that puts me.

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In a very different play. It's the same thing that

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happened on Sunday when we offered a new interpretation of

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Isaiah forty two. So the one thing I love about

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this podcast is we don't just simply parrot other people's hermautic.

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We don't simply parent other people's theology. We try to

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do theology, we try to do hermoneutics, and we try

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to challenge. We create hypotheses and we try to work

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them out.

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So are you ready to try to do all of this?

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Hopefully this episode doesn't go too long, but I have

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really I want to get to some type of a

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dramatic conclusion here. Okay, So we started talking about doctor

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Peter Master's sermon.

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All right.

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The text is Galatians five fifteen through sixteen, and the

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title is the Believer's Victory over Sin. Now, let me

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just make this very very clear, all right, because some

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people will misunderstand.

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If there is anything that.

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I could wish for, I wish I could have victory

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over sin.

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I wish that I beg for that. I long for that.

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It would be the most amazing thing to wake up

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and go today I will have victory over sin. But

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anyone who's even really reasonably honest with themselves, well, no,

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that's not going to happen.

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Why.

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Well, I can start with one command, be holy as

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God is holy. I will not be holy as God

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is holy today. I will not be as holy as

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God as holy tomorrow. And if I could live to

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be nine hundred and ninety nine years old, I'll never

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be holy as God as holy. That means I'm in

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perpetual disobedience to that one command, be holy as God

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is holy. I will never be that. So I'm in

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a perpetual state of sin. I'm in a perpetual state

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of disobedience. I'm in a perpetual state of falling short.

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I'm in a perpetual state of transgressing that rule because

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I am not holy as God is holy in a

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practical way. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

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Love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

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I have never done that, never will do that, will

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never come close to living God that way. I will

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never do this. So I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

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Love my neighbor as myself. I'm never truly going to

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do that, because we all know we love ourselves more

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than we love anything else. I'm in a perpetual state

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of sin. I could be perfect, as your heavenly Father

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is perfect. I see, I could go. I could go

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on and on do all things without complaining and grumbling.

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Do not even look at a woman with luster. I

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have you already committed adultery. You can commit murder without

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actually committing murder. You're supposed to be perfect internally externally.

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I can go on and on and on and on

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and on and on and on and on and on

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and on.

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The Bible is filled with scriptures that tell us to

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do something or not to do things. Those are what

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we call law, and that law reveals our inability to

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keep that law, and our constant disobedience and our constant failure.

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That is the reality. That's a reality.

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So preachers constantly say you can have victory over sin,

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and then they have to then kind of make it

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this very subjective. Well, I mean you can have victory.

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I mean you can't have complete victory. I mean you're

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still going to sin. I mean you can have victory

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over this sin. Well, I mean can I have victory

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over it simply by the external act? Or do I

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have victory over it from externally and internally?

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It just is, it's just maddening.

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So look, when I see a title like that, I

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want to experience it.

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I never have. I never will until glorification. Then I'll

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have victory.

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Now, I do believe there is a way in which

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I'm experiencing victory right now, and that's not practically, that's positionally.

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That's why, as non Catholics, we believe in a salvation

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based off an imputed righteousness, not an infused righteousness, which

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is Roman Catholicism. Right, So we'll we'll talk about this

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in greater detail now. So doctor Peter Master sermon the

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believer's victory over sin. I truly want that, now, doctor

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pat Doctor Masters, if I can speak correctly, explores Paul's statement,

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walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the

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loss of the flesh. Doctor Masters presented it as a promise,

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not merely an exhortation. He begins with verse fourteen to

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warn against the community destroying effects of gossip, slander, and infighting.

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He then identifies verse sixteen as a profound divine assurance.

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If believers will walk in the spirit, they will not

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fulfill the sinful desires. Hey, if you'll just walk in

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the spirit, you won't sin any sinful desire. You're not

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going to fulfill You're not going to do so basically

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you can be perfect. But then it gets kind of

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hot because then he basically makes it clear, well, you

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got to figure out what it means to walk in

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the spirit. So he basically sets up this kind of dynamic.

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If you walk in the spirit, then you obtain the

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power to basically not sin. But the key is you

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have to walk in the spirit. Now, it sounds like

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this is never truly kind of fleshed out. It is

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made basically almost explicit. If I can walk in the spirit,

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then I get the power to not sin. But I've

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got to walk in the spirit. And it sounds like

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to walk in the spirit.

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I have to do that on my own.

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So what do I have to do to walk in

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the spirit so then I can then get the power

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so that I will not sin. Well, to walk in

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the spirit, I have to do this. Number One, I've

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got to read and study my Bible. So it appears

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the more I read and the more I study, the

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greater chance I have of walking in the spirit. So

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then I can obtain the power so that I can

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stop sinning. But I have to be the one to

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do it.

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Now.

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If we truly, truly believe that if all I have

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to do is read and study my Bible, I can

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obtain the power not to sin, well, then you would

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think churches wouldn't just be having services on Sunday. They

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would be having services Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,

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Sunday they would be having services at eight in the morning, noon,

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five pm, and eleven o'clock at night. That would be

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having the doors open all the time because you need

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to come and hear the word of God. Because the

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more we read, the more we study, then we can

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walk in the spirit.

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Then we get power. Then we won't sin.

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We wouldn't be canceling services, we wouldn't be wasting time

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with pot lucks and picnics and.

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Ridiculous things like that. It would be Bible Bible, Bible Bible,

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because this will make us walk in the spirit.

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Then we can be perfect or well, no Christian never

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wants to say we can be perfect.

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Christians have this weird like, well, you're a new creature.

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Old things are passed away, all things are new practically,

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but I mean you're not perfect.

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Well that sounds like I'm perfect. Well no it's not.

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It doesn't really mean I'm perfect. Well what's keeping me

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from perfection? Well you have the old nature, Well, then

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all things aren't new. It just drives me crazy the

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way Christians talk, because everyone forgets the reality of the

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positional standing versus the practical standing. So basically, number one,

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I gotta just read and study, read and study, read,

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and study, read and study.

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Read the more I read and study.

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But then secondly, that's not even really enough. I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray.

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The more I pray, the more I read, the more

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I study, the greater chance I have will finally walking

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in the spirit. But wait, there's more. Not only do

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I have to read, Not only do I have to study, Not.

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Only do I have to pray. I've got to do

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more than just read and study. I got to do

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more than just pray. I have to meditate.

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I got to meditate on God's words, so if I

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will so, not only do I have to read and

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study all the time, not only do I have to

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pray all the time. I got to be meditating all

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the time. And if I meditate all the time, if

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I read and study, and if I pray, then maybe,

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just maybe I can reach this level of walking in

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the spirit. Boom, Then I get the power. Then I

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can stop sinning. But I've got to be doing all

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these other things. I guess on my own strength, it's

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based on my.

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Own fleshly discipline. Number four.

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Then I have to heed the spirit, all right, So

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I've got to. I've got to I've got to basically

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follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, obey the spirit.

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If I will obey.

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The spirit, follow the spirit, listen to the spirit, then

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dune dun da dah. Now I'm walking in the spirit.

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So I got to read, read, read, read, and study.

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I gotta pray, pray, pray, pray, I gotta meda, meditate, meditate,

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and then I just simply have to obey the spirit,

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follow the leading of the spirit, listen to the spirit.

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And if I do that, then I get the power

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to not sin. But if i'm if I can on

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my own obey the spirit and heed the spirit, well

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it knew it, and that means I'm not sinning. So

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it's really weird like which comes first, I don't know.

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And then I have to plan and aim, setting intentional

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spiritual goals and strategies to overcome specific sins. Now, I

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don't know why I need a strategy to overcome specific sin,

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because if I'm walking in the spirit, I won't sin.

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So why do I need a strategy to overcome a sin?

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If walking in the spirit leads me not to sin.

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I don't even understand that. Why do I need a strategy?

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The whole thing is crazy so we talked about that,

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we analyze the sermon, we critique the sermon, and we

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took everything apart.

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All right, so this is where this leaves me. All Right,

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that's trying to.

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Go through that as quickly as I can. You can

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go listen to the sermon for yourself.

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Again.

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We reviewed about we reviewed over half of the sermon. Right,

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there was only about maybe twelve or thirteen minutes even

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left in the sermon. And yeah, he was just going

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to go through those five things. So I know that

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this whole concept of we can have victory, we can

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do it. I know it's a common Christian teaching, it's everywhere,

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but I struggle with the concept in light of reality

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because I feel the logical conclusion would be we basically

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can be perfect and we should be. So I have

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a problem with this whole thing because basically, when Christians

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start talking about victory over sin or some kind of

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transferm it inevitably logically would mean, well, we can be perfect.

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For example, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature.

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Old things are passed away, all things have become new.

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That's always presented as being true practically. Well, if that's

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true practically, then practically we don't sin, because where we

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sin even be coming from. We're new. Everything is new,

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We're a new creature. The old is completely gone. If

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you say, well, if you'll simply walk in the spirit,

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you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, and you

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interpret that to be referring to us somehow practically, well,

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then once again, not only are you saying we can

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be perfect, we should be. In fact, it would be

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what would be the most, it should be the normal thing.

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So I have problems.

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Here, not only that this seems to lead to the

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idea that victory over sin is accomplished by what I do,

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by how much I read, how much I study, how

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much I pray, how much I reflect, how much.

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I he in, how much I plan.

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So I kind of gave some of these concerns to

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artificial intelligence, and artificial intelligence says, well, this is exactly

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how doctor Masters frames it.

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In his sermon.

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He gives a list of disciplines, all good in themselves,

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but positions them as the means by which you ensure

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you do not fulfill.

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The loss of the flesh.

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This logical formula becomes this spiritual performance equals victory over sin. Right,

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which then this leads directly to well, then my victory

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is accomplished by keeping the law. That's really where it

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ends up. I will have victory by keeping the law. Well,

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my problem is nobody can keep the law. Therefore nobody

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can have victory because I cannot keep the law. It

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was never intended for us for something that we can keep.

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It was to demonstrate that we cannot do so.

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Now.

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Though doctor likely wouldn't use that kind of language, his

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method relocates the power to overcome sin into our disciplined obedience,

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which is law. Not law in the narrow mosaic sense,

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but in the broader theological sense. Do this and you

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will live in the sense, do this and you will

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no longer sin. Now, even though the sermon does mention

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the Holy Spirit and grace, the practical structure is do

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these five things, and if you do them rightly, and

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if you do them sincerely, and if you do them thoroughly,

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you will not sin. That is the essence of a

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law based sanctification. It is not a gospel view. It's

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not a gospel perspective. So let's try to contrast the

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difference between law driven and gospel driven. Let's call it sanctification,

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all right, So law driven my doing will produce victory.

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Gospel driven is Christ's victory is all mine by faith alone.

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Those are two radically different approaches. One is do this

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and then maybe you'll get victory. Maybe maybe you got

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to do it more, got to do it enough, You

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gotta do it, do read more, do more, do more.

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And basically the idea is, if anyone falls into any

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kind of sin, it's because they're not reading enough, they're

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not praying enough, they're not it's it always comes down

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to that type of thing, where in a gospel driven

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approach is victory complete. Total victory is mine by faith alone.

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Why I put my faith in Christ. His obedience, his

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righteousness is accredited to my account, so I stand in

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perfect victory. Law driven, more effort equals less sin. The

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more effort, the less sin. Now, even that is very subjective,

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because how do you measure less sin? How do you

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measure less sin? Well, I don't commit that sin, but.

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You're in a perpetual state of sin.

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If you violate one point of the law, you're guilty

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of all of it. So I don't know how you

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can ever say I'm doing less because you're always guilty

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of all of it because you're always breaking some point

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of it. And again the be holy as God is holy,

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You're never going to do that. You're in a perpetual

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state of sin. How do you say, I'm getting more

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victory over sin. That's the most subjective measurement in the

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history of man kind. In fact, it makes literally no logical, philological,

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or scriptural sense. You're in a perpetual state of sin.

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From a gospel driven approach, my faith in Christ.

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I'm in Christ, so I have I don't have to

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put forth any effort. It's all based on the effort

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Christ did. It's all based off his work, his obedience.

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It's his obedience. See now now. In a law driven approach,

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if I fail to overcome sin, it's because I failed

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the method, I didn't follow the steps, I didn't do enough.

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And a gospel driven approach, every day I fail, every

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day I fall short, and every day I run back

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to Christ and.

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His imputed righteousness.

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And a law driven approach, holiness is a product of planning, discipline, vigilance,

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and a gospel driven approach. Holiness is that which is

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imputed to my account by faith alone, has nothing to

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do with what I do or don't do. So if

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you follow this more law driven approach, it's not going

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to offer any real rest for the sinner. You're always

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one spiritual misstep away from falling into sin.

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And if you do sin, it's.

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Implied that your spiritual practices weren't an It leads towards

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inward despair or basically outward hypocrisy. The very thing Paul

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warns about in Galatians happens. People begin to compare their performance.

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Victory becomes measurable and a spirit it becomes a spiritual

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success metric, and it becomes about.

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Performance, performance, performance.

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And you've got to pretend that you're doing better than

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you actually are, and you can't really be honest. And

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I think it contradicts the very argument of Galatians. The

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entire letter is about not returning to the law, even

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in a spiritual form, as a means of justification or sanctification.

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Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected

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by the flesh? That's Galatians three three. The entire point

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of the thing is we don't go back to the law.

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We don't return to the law for justification or sanctification.

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The law does not sanctify. The law condemns. The law condemns,

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the law reveals, the law exposes. It does not sanctify you.

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You can give people nine hundred laws. It's not going

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to fix the problem. You're still a sinner, you still

399
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have a sinful nature, and you're in a perpetual state

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of sin.

401
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So what does the law do.

402
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It breaks you, it humbles you, and it drags you

403
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to the foot of the cross, and say, look to Christ.

404
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He's your only hope. And by your faith in Him,

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his death, his obedience, his righteousness, all of.

406
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That is imputed to your account.

407
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Your sins are forgiven, and you are declared not just

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to be forgiven, you're now declared to be perfect, righteous,

409
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and holy in Him. So when you get to Galatians

410
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five sixteen through seventeen, you kind of find yourself at

411
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an interpretive crossroads because Galatians five point sixteen kind of

412
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forces us to really stop and think, here's the brutal reality.

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When I read Galatians five sixteen, we read it again this,

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I say, then, walk in the spirit. You should not

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fulfill the luss of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth

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against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and

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these are contrary to one to the other, so that

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you cannot do the things that you would.

419
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This seems everyone thinks that, Okay, here's the key.

420
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If I can just figure out what it means to

421
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walk in the spirit, I will stop doing everything. So

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

423
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and we are face first and first thing this does

424
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before I, as soon as I read Galatians five sixteen

425
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through seventeen, this is what should happen. Right, So the

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

427
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they should do is read the text and then walk

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

429
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the face. Slap them across the face. Slap them across

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

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

432
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I'm not okay, I'm using obviously as an illustration. I'm

433
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not calling for the physical assault of people during church.

434
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But in a way, everyone as soon as they hear

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

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

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

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

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

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

441
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I'm not being pessimistic, I'm not being jaded. I'm being honest.

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

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

444
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and strength. We do not love our neighbor or our

445
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enemies perfectly. We are not holy as God is holy.

446
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We do not meditate on God's word day and night.

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

448
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or food. We don't put God above everything else. We

449
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have plenty of things we put before God.

450
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On and on and on and on and on and

451
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on and on and on. I could just go on

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

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

454
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and countless other flesh driven impulses every single day.

455
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And it shows up every single day.

456
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That's why there's not a minute, there's not an hour,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

465
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So that creates an interpretive crisis.

466
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With Galatians five point sixteen, that reality creates an interpretive

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

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

469
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And you're like, okay, I'm being honest, but wait a minute,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

798
00:45:13.880 --> 00:45:16.440
what that means. And if walking in the spirit is

799
00:45:16.480 --> 00:45:20.599
simply a life by faith, then then that's not indicating. Well,

800
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:23.079
now the Spirit's gonna not allow this to happen, or

801
00:45:23.079 --> 00:45:24.920
this to happen, or this to happen. Because you're getting

802
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:27.719
right back to claiming I can basically be perfect.

803
00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:31.639
I do not.

804
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:34.719
Fulfill the lust of the flesh and only one way.

805
00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:37.599
So this is what I'm going to say. I do

806
00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:40.079
not fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way.

807
00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:41.159
Here are my words.

808
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:42.360
I do not.

809
00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:46.280
Fulfill the lust of the flesh in only one way

810
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:54.960
in Christ, in my positional standing, any meaningful, honest assessment

811
00:45:55.239 --> 00:45:58.639
of us as Christians show we fulfill the lust of

812
00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:02.559
the flesh and thought we're desire indeed all the time.

813
00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:04.119
That's what I'm going to go to.

814
00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:10.519
What whatever I understand about Galatians five sixteen. This I say,

815
00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:12.480
then walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill

816
00:46:12.519 --> 00:46:15.159
the lust of the flesh. The only way I don't

817
00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:19.119
fulfill the lust of the flesh is in Christ. In

818
00:46:19.199 --> 00:46:25.360
my position, I fulfill it practically every single day. So

819
00:46:26.079 --> 00:46:29.840
I'm calling for a more, even more radical approach. I

820
00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:31.880
try to kind of walk through some so trying to

821
00:46:31.920 --> 00:46:36.679
just again, I'm trying to slowly shape a new interpretation.

822
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:40.519
I'm trying to give a hypothesis by by building it.

823
00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:45.559
I'm trying to build it in real time. So again

824
00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:46.360
I'm gonna state it.

825
00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:51.119
This is my statement, these are my words. I do

826
00:46:51.159 --> 00:46:53.960
not fulfill the luss of the flesh, and only one

827
00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:59.400
way in Christ, in my positional standing, in a meaningful

828
00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:03.559
honesty assessment of us as Christians, as me as a person,

829
00:47:03.880 --> 00:47:05.880
shows that I fulfill the lust of the flesh and

830
00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:09.199
thought word desire indeed twenty four to seven.

831
00:47:09.360 --> 00:47:10.199
And you can deny it.

832
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:14.480
All day, but you do. I don't believe that cynicism.

833
00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:17.360
I don't believe that's cynical. I don't believe that's being jaded.

834
00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:23.559
I don't think that's defeatism. I think that's realism. And

835
00:47:23.639 --> 00:47:26.679
I think it's the only view that keeps the cross necessary.

836
00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:31.079
Every second of the Christian life, I need the cross

837
00:47:31.480 --> 00:47:33.360
twenty four to seven. Every day I need to look

838
00:47:33.400 --> 00:47:35.519
to the cross. There's my hope, the finished work of

839
00:47:35.599 --> 00:47:38.440
Jesus Christ. He paid for my sin, and by his

840
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.480
death he not only paid for me. And then there's

841
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:46.079
this great transaction. My sin was placed upon him. He

842
00:47:46.599 --> 00:47:50.480
propitiated the wrath of God, and his perfection was imputed

843
00:47:50.519 --> 00:47:53.719
to me. So now I stand perfect obedient, and I

844
00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:58.920
do not fulfill the lust of the flesh in Christ.

845
00:48:01.800 --> 00:48:03.280
So now I'm going to try to build this out

846
00:48:03.320 --> 00:48:05.599
a little bit more. I do not fulfill the lust

847
00:48:05.599 --> 00:48:10.320
of the flesh. Positionally. Galatians five twenty four. Those who

848
00:48:10.360 --> 00:48:14.199
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its

849
00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:15.920
passions and desires.

850
00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:17.960
Positionally.

851
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:22.519
See it's stated, those who belong to Christ Jesus have

852
00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:27.679
crucified the flesh with its passions. It's past, tense, already done,

853
00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:33.199
it's final. It's not subjective because it's true positionally, Romans

854
00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:36.199
chapter eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condinition

855
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:39.280
for those who are in Christ Jesus Colossians two thirteen

856
00:48:39.320 --> 00:48:44.280
through fourteen, Having forgiven us all our trespasses, knelling it

857
00:48:44.400 --> 00:48:49.199
to the cross and my standing before God. The flesh

858
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:54.519
is defeated, the desires are condemned, and the lust are

859
00:48:54.559 --> 00:48:59.000
not fulfilled, because Christ fulfilled the law, bore the punishment

860
00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:03.519
and covers me fully. This is my only true victory

861
00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:08.119
over sin in this life. It's not practical, it's not behavioral.

862
00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:13.880
It's positional, and it's substitutionary. That is the gospel. That's

863
00:49:13.920 --> 00:49:19.960
the only way to understand this. In Christ, it's all

864
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:21.760
been done, it's finished.

865
00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:22.519
In Christ.

866
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:26.039
He is my sanctification, He is my holiness. Here is

867
00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:29.719
my righteousness. He is my victory. I can only understand

868
00:49:29.760 --> 00:49:36.639
this positionally, my only true victory in this life. It's

869
00:49:36.679 --> 00:49:42.199
it's not practical, it's not behavioral, it's it's nothing like that.

870
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:48.239
It's a positional and it's a substitutionary victory. And that

871
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:57.760
is the gospel. That's what I'm I'm calling for. So

872
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:01.400
in practice, we've feel the lust of the flesh all

873
00:50:01.440 --> 00:50:03.880
the time. So let's define what Paul means by the

874
00:50:03.960 --> 00:50:07.119
lust of the flesh. It includes not only obvious sense

875
00:50:07.440 --> 00:50:13.920
sexual and morality, drunkenness, but envy, strife, selfish ambition, fits

876
00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:19.679
of anger, jealousy. If you're honest, then we have to

877
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:22.440
say I fulfill the luss of the flesh constantly inwardly

878
00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:25.880
and outwardly, and desire thought, tone, attitude, emotion, and action.

879
00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:27.360
Even our best.

880
00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.800
Works are all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags

881
00:50:31.719 --> 00:50:35.719
Romans seven eighteen. I know that nothing is good dwells

882
00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:39.760
in me, that is in my flesh. Because this would

883
00:50:39.760 --> 00:50:44.960
include impatience and gratitude, prayerlessness, self justifying, lack of love

884
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:50.559
for others, pride in our spiritual progress, secret resentment, lust, gluttony, laziness, anger,

885
00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:54.679
not just acted out but desired. So if Galatians five

886
00:50:54.679 --> 00:50:58.199
point sixteen means stop doing all of that, we're all condemned.

887
00:50:58.760 --> 00:51:02.480
But if it means in Christ, the flesh has no

888
00:51:02.639 --> 00:51:07.000
power to condemn or to define me, that is the gospel.

889
00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:11.199
If I walk in faith, If I walk in the Spirit,

890
00:51:11.639 --> 00:51:17.519
in faith, in believing, in accepting that in repentance, then

891
00:51:17.559 --> 00:51:19.519
the flesh has no power to condemn me.

892
00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:23.400
It does not define me. That's the gospel. It's not

893
00:51:23.719 --> 00:51:26.079
if I walk in the spirit, I just stop doing

894
00:51:26.079 --> 00:51:29.079
all the bad things, because we keep doing the bad things.

895
00:51:29.079 --> 00:51:32.119
So the walk in the spirit has to be understood differently.

896
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:40.039
Therefore, what I'm arguing is Galatians five sixteen, then must

897
00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:43.880
be interpreted through our union with Christ. This I say, then,

898
00:51:44.320 --> 00:51:46.679
walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the

899
00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:48.360
loss of the flesh.

900
00:51:48.760 --> 00:51:51.199
Positionally I am in the spirit.

901
00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:56.239
Therefore in Christ, I am not fulfilling the flesh, because

902
00:51:56.280 --> 00:52:00.199
He bore it, he killed it. And you and I

903
00:52:00.519 --> 00:52:06.559
and you us, we we're hidden in Him. Practically, I

904
00:52:06.599 --> 00:52:10.760
still fulfill the lust in various ways daily, but those lust.

905
00:52:10.559 --> 00:52:13.639
Are no longer my master, and they do not condemn me.

906
00:52:13.639 --> 00:52:14.880
They're no longer my master.

907
00:52:15.119 --> 00:52:18.639
Positionally, I'm not defined that way.

908
00:52:18.880 --> 00:52:22.599
I'm not seen that way. Positionally, I'm a new creature.

909
00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:26.159
The old is completely gone. I'm completely new.

910
00:52:26.519 --> 00:52:30.880
Positionally, the flesh is gone, the flesh is defeated. I'm

911
00:52:30.920 --> 00:52:33.639
not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. It's all been

912
00:52:33.760 --> 00:52:42.920
taken care of. It's all been crucified with Christ. So

913
00:52:43.079 --> 00:52:45.960
walking in the Spirit is not try harder, do better,

914
00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:50.119
be perfect. It's live out what Christ has already done,

915
00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:51.960
knowing I'm already righteous in Him.

916
00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:52.599
It's living.

917
00:52:52.800 --> 00:52:56.679
It's walking in the reality that I'm in Christ. That

918
00:52:56.760 --> 00:53:03.760
I'm a believer that I'm trusting only when we start

919
00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:09.280
here with our perpetual sinfulness and our totally victory in Christ.

920
00:53:09.760 --> 00:53:13.000
That Galatians five sixteen becomes good news only until we

921
00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:16.760
read Galatians five sixteen and that this is about that

922
00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:20.960
I'm acknowledging my perpetual sinfulness and I understand that my

923
00:53:21.000 --> 00:53:23.400
total victory is found in Christ. Then Galatians five to

924
00:53:23.480 --> 00:53:27.440
sixteen becomes good news. Otherwise it becomes a gospel of failure,

925
00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:32.079
where a burden is on your effort. So if we

926
00:53:32.119 --> 00:53:37.119
go with my interpretation, if I live in continual dependence

927
00:53:37.199 --> 00:53:41.239
on Christ and his Spirit, I will not be left

928
00:53:41.320 --> 00:53:48.679
to myself. Though I will fall fail sin daily, i

929
00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:52.519
will not fulfill the flesh in a final, condemning, defining

930
00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.880
way because I'm in Christ and the Spirit keeps dragging

931
00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:56.559
me back to Him.

932
00:53:56.599 --> 00:53:57.960
Now even that I'm not.

933
00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:01.280
I don't even like the way that. See, that's not

934
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:04.039
even a good way. I'm still not even happy with that.

935
00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:09.159
If I live in continual dependence on Christ and his Spirit,

936
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:12.960
that I'm not left to myself no matter how many

937
00:54:13.039 --> 00:54:17.320
times I fail, because I am in Christ and I'm

938
00:54:17.400 --> 00:54:21.079
declared to be perfect and righteous. Even though I am

939
00:54:21.360 --> 00:54:31.119
not the only true victory over sin. The only true

940
00:54:31.199 --> 00:54:33.960
victory over sin in this life is in Christ alone,

941
00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:37.679
not in my personal obedience, but in my union with Him.

942
00:54:38.760 --> 00:54:40.199
In any reading.

943
00:54:39.880 --> 00:54:42.880
Of Galatians five point sixteen, that doesn't begin an end,

944
00:54:42.960 --> 00:54:45.760
there becomes law, not gospel.

945
00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:54.199
So that's the way I'm approaching this.

946
00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:59.519
Walk in the spirit, that's walking in faith in Christ,

947
00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:05.840
in repentance, in dependence on Him, walking in the reality

948
00:55:05.880 --> 00:55:08.559
that I've been crucified. With Christ, I no longer live.

949
00:55:08.920 --> 00:55:12.400
The life I now live is in Christ. Jesus he lives.

950
00:55:13.280 --> 00:55:16.079
It's his life that's being lived. I'm in him, I'm

951
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:21.159
united to him. I'm in Christ. My life is in Christ.

952
00:55:22.280 --> 00:55:23.039
So then I don't.

953
00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:28.519
Fulfill the luss of the flesh and my position. I

954
00:55:28.559 --> 00:55:30.800
don't do the things that I used to do in

955
00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:33.920
my position. In my practice I do. That's the only

956
00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.760
any other way. This falls into a law based due

957
00:55:37.719 --> 00:55:39.480
and you're trying to figure out how to pull this off,

958
00:55:39.480 --> 00:55:41.159
and then you gotta lie to yourself that you're even

959
00:55:41.199 --> 00:55:48.360
doing it. But most Christians today, across evangelical charismatic can

960
00:55:48.400 --> 00:55:52.159
even reform circles interpret Galatians five point sixteen. More along

961
00:55:52.239 --> 00:55:56.559
these lines, walk in the Spirit and a way of Okay,

962
00:55:56.960 --> 00:56:01.639
let me state this again. Most Christians today cross evangelical, charismatic,

963
00:56:01.679 --> 00:56:05.079
and even reform circles interpret Galatians five sixteen this way

964
00:56:05.480 --> 00:56:07.599
walk in the Spirit as a way of life that

965
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:11.360
if you truly practice, it leads to increasing personal moral

966
00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:14.559
victory over sin. In other words, more spirit less sin,

967
00:56:14.880 --> 00:56:19.039
more discipline, more victory. Victory equals transformation. Transformation equals proof

968
00:56:19.079 --> 00:56:22.400
of salvation. That's how it's typically handled in most churches.

969
00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:30.079
It's essentially a performance based sanctification model, even if it's

970
00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:33.360
dressed in grace language. This turns the verse into a

971
00:56:33.400 --> 00:56:36.199
how to manual, not a gospel promise. It makes your

972
00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:45.679
ability the basis of your victory. Galatians five sixteen is

973
00:56:45.719 --> 00:56:49.719
not about achieving sinlessness or measurable moral victory. It is

974
00:56:49.760 --> 00:56:52.480
a gospel promise that because we are in Christ and

975
00:56:52.519 --> 00:56:56.440
the Spirit dwells us, the flesh will not rule over

976
00:56:56.559 --> 00:57:04.039
us positionally, even though we still sin practically. So my argument,

977
00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:06.159
so let me state that again. My argument is that

978
00:57:06.159 --> 00:57:09.800
Galatians five point sixteen is not about achieving sinlessness or

979
00:57:09.920 --> 00:57:13.840
measurable moral victory. It is a gospel promise that because

980
00:57:13.880 --> 00:57:16.639
you are in Christ and the Spirit is inside of you,

981
00:57:17.239 --> 00:57:21.360
the flesh will not rule over you positionally, even though

982
00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:25.320
you sin practically. So I'm redefining not fulfilling the lust

983
00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:28.000
of the flesh as not bringing them me to condemning

984
00:57:28.320 --> 00:57:31.760
to a or and not bringing the flesh to a

985
00:57:31.840 --> 00:57:36.199
condemning fulfillment, because Christ bore that for me, not living

986
00:57:36.280 --> 00:57:40.880
under the under flesh dominion. Although the presence remains, it's

987
00:57:40.960 --> 00:57:44.599
not being defined by sin, even though we still sin constantly.

988
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:47.480
I'm not defined by sin. I am.

989
00:57:47.679 --> 00:57:49.679
I'm not going to be brought to condemnation. There is,

990
00:57:49.719 --> 00:57:53.480
therefore now no condemnation. I am in Christ. Christ is

991
00:57:53.519 --> 00:57:53.760
in me.

992
00:57:53.960 --> 00:57:56.159
I have been crucified with Him again. The life I

993
00:57:56.199 --> 00:57:56.760
live I.

994
00:57:56.719 --> 00:58:02.199
Live in Christ. I'm a new creature. That's how I'm defined.

995
00:58:03.719 --> 00:58:07.000
The old is gone. I'm declared to be perfect and righteous.

996
00:58:10.800 --> 00:58:14.639
So I believe my interpretation embraces the reality of ongoing sin,

997
00:58:14.880 --> 00:58:17.960
the sufficiency of Christ and the Gospels the only source

998
00:58:17.960 --> 00:58:22.239
of victory. But now you may say, well, wait a minute,

999
00:58:22.760 --> 00:58:26.519
since everyone in the modern Christianity disagrees with you, what

1000
00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:29.800
about historically, Well, if you look at Martin Luther. In

1001
00:58:29.840 --> 00:58:33.280
his lecture on the Galatians. Luther taught the believers are

1002
00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:40.159
at the very same time righteous and sinful. He's stressed,

1003
00:58:40.280 --> 00:58:44.800
and I quote, so long as the flesh remains, there

1004
00:58:44.920 --> 00:58:49.559
is sin, but it is not imputed, for Christ has

1005
00:58:50.199 --> 00:58:55.880
taken it. For Luther, Galatians five point sixteen did not

1006
00:58:56.000 --> 00:59:01.679
mean stop sinning. It meant walk by and Christ and

1007
00:59:01.760 --> 00:59:05.119
the Spirit will oppose the flesh and you continually. Even

1008
00:59:05.159 --> 00:59:09.719
as you sin, you are not condemned. Luther had a

1009
00:59:09.719 --> 00:59:11.840
different approach. I'm not even saying I would be in

1010
00:59:11.880 --> 00:59:14.599
complete agreement with Luther, but he would be one hundred

1011
00:59:14.679 --> 00:59:17.800
thousand times better than what you see in any church

1012
00:59:17.880 --> 00:59:21.960
or any sermon today. If you look at Calvin's commentary

1013
00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:25.440
on Galatians, Calvin wrote, although the desires of the flesh

1014
00:59:25.519 --> 00:59:28.480
do not cease to attack us, yet we are not

1015
00:59:28.639 --> 00:59:32.840
under their dominion. This is the consolation of the believer, again,

1016
00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:36.760
not the absence of sin, but the assurance that sin doesn't.

1017
00:59:36.559 --> 00:59:38.159
Rain because Christ does not.

1018
00:59:38.280 --> 00:59:40.320
The only problem I would have with Calvin is he

1019
00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:41.920
tries again make this subjective.

1020
00:59:42.039 --> 00:59:43.800
Well, it's not going to I mean, you're still going

1021
00:59:43.840 --> 00:59:45.719
to sin, but it's not going to reign over you.

1022
00:59:45.840 --> 00:59:46.960
Let me make it very clear.

1023
00:59:48.119 --> 00:59:53.880
If I cannot get to perfection, if I cannot stop sinning,

1024
00:59:54.559 --> 00:59:58.159
the thing that's keeping me from perfection, the thing that's

1025
00:59:58.239 --> 01:00:01.519
keeping me from not sinning, it is reigning and it

1026
01:00:01.599 --> 01:00:06.280
is dominating. So clearly the sinful nature continues to reign

1027
01:00:06.440 --> 01:00:15.960
and dominate, or I would be able to be perfect. Now,

1028
01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:19.519
why has this understanding that I'm trying to put forth

1029
01:00:19.559 --> 01:00:25.159
has become completely lost? Well, because in modern Christianity, sanctification

1030
01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:30.599
becomes pragmatic, not philological. The Christian life became about transformation,

1031
01:00:31.079 --> 01:00:35.920
not imputation. Victory became proof that you're really saved, not

1032
01:00:36.039 --> 01:00:40.159
a byproduct of union with Christ, and Galatians five point

1033
01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:45.079
sixteen became a weapon. If you're walking in the spirit,

1034
01:00:45.400 --> 01:00:50.400
you won't sin. So if you're sinning, well, then maybe

1035
01:00:50.400 --> 01:00:56.119
you're not saved. Galatians five point sixteen became law, did

1036
01:00:56.119 --> 01:01:03.039
not become gospel. The interpretation that I've tried to create

1037
01:01:03.800 --> 01:01:07.360
is radically different than what most Christians believe today, but

1038
01:01:07.480 --> 01:01:10.760
I believe it's deeply rooted and the gospel theology of

1039
01:01:10.800 --> 01:01:15.880
the Reformation and honest biblical realism, realism of believers who

1040
01:01:15.960 --> 01:01:18.280
know that the Christian life is not about getting better

1041
01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:21.960
but about living in Christ, who is perfect for us.

1042
01:01:25.239 --> 01:01:27.679
So then I have a question, and so then I

1043
01:01:27.719 --> 01:01:31.679
went to artificial intelligence, and I said, this gospel centered interpretation,

1044
01:01:32.639 --> 01:01:36.800
is it consistent with paulse theology throughout Galatians and the

1045
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:38.599
New Testament? Because I wanted to make sure that I'm

1046
01:01:38.639 --> 01:01:41.599
being consistent, right am I throwing out there something so

1047
01:01:41.840 --> 01:01:44.639
radical because it's going to be perceived radical. And look,

1048
01:01:44.679 --> 01:01:46.599
I tried to be I tried to walk through it.

1049
01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:48.880
I try to say things that would be more in

1050
01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:52.039
line with modern Christianity and then tell you immediately that

1051
01:01:52.119 --> 01:01:54.760
I reject what I just wrote. I tried to go

1052
01:01:54.880 --> 01:01:57.280
back and forth. I tried to walk through it. I

1053
01:01:57.320 --> 01:02:01.400
wanted you to see the struggle. Remember, I said, Galatians

1054
01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:07.039
five sixteen is a migraine, it's an aneurysm, it's fifty seizures,

1055
01:02:06.840 --> 01:02:12.119
it's a hundred strokes, it's death because it's so hard

1056
01:02:12.159 --> 01:02:20.599
to try to process. Walk in the spirit, then it

1057
01:02:20.719 --> 01:02:24.480
equals believing in Christ and its finished work. This is

1058
01:02:24.519 --> 01:02:27.800
not about this is not about behavior, but about believing.

1059
01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:32.599
Why do I believe this? Because throughout Galatians, Paul makes

1060
01:02:32.639 --> 01:02:37.960
the contrast clear right not. This is basically how Paul

1061
01:02:38.039 --> 01:02:41.039
does it throughout Galatians. It's not the law, it's faith

1062
01:02:41.039 --> 01:02:44.079
in Christ. It's not human effort the flesh.

1063
01:02:44.280 --> 01:02:45.159
It's the Spirit.

1064
01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:49.920
It's not works based righteousness, it's righteousness by faith. It's

1065
01:02:49.960 --> 01:02:53.360
not being made perfect by the flesh. It's living by

1066
01:02:53.440 --> 01:02:57.119
the Spirit. I think Galatians three two through three may

1067
01:02:57.119 --> 01:03:00.719
be the key. Did you receive the spirit by works

1068
01:03:00.760 --> 01:03:04.559
of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you

1069
01:03:04.719 --> 01:03:09.079
so foolish having begun by the spirit that you're now

1070
01:03:09.119 --> 01:03:10.559
being perfected.

1071
01:03:10.039 --> 01:03:11.239
By the flesh?

1072
01:03:12.400 --> 01:03:15.519
To me, this tells me walking in the spirit equals

1073
01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:20.639
continuing in faith, not shifting into self effort or moral performance.

1074
01:03:21.320 --> 01:03:26.599
So walk in the Spirit means live and conscious, ongoing

1075
01:03:26.800 --> 01:03:30.360
trust in Christ, finished work, knowing the Spirit has been

1076
01:03:30.360 --> 01:03:33.159
given to you by faith, and your life is now

1077
01:03:33.199 --> 01:03:36.719
directed and sustained by that same spirit.

1078
01:03:39.039 --> 01:03:41.639
You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

1079
01:03:43.039 --> 01:03:46.159
This follows because of your position in Christ, not because

1080
01:03:46.239 --> 01:03:50.920
of your performance. Not fulfilled, not carry out, not bring

1081
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:54.079
to completion lust of the flesh, sinful desires of the

1082
01:03:54.239 --> 01:04:00.159
unredeemed nature. I experience those desires, but they don't to

1083
01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:04.320
find my standing before God. They don't reign over me

1084
01:04:04.800 --> 01:04:09.679
as far as my positional standing. The spirit and now

1085
01:04:09.719 --> 01:04:13.360
some again, once again, some would argue, well, this means

1086
01:04:13.360 --> 01:04:16.239
the Spirit will interrupt them. No, I don't believe that

1087
01:04:16.320 --> 01:04:19.639
any the Spirit does interrupt them, because if the Spirit

1088
01:04:19.719 --> 01:04:21.440
interrupts in them, then I.

1089
01:04:21.400 --> 01:04:22.440
Would stop sinning.

1090
01:04:30.239 --> 01:04:33.239
So I should live each day believing in Christ, trusting

1091
01:04:33.280 --> 01:04:36.719
in His righteousness, not on my own righteousness. I should

1092
01:04:36.800 --> 01:04:46.360
rest in the spirit given to me by faith. I

1093
01:04:46.400 --> 01:04:49.280
think if you look at Romans six fourteen, I'll just

1094
01:04:49.320 --> 01:04:51.760
go through a number of scriptures Roman six fourteen, for

1095
01:04:51.880 --> 01:04:54.719
sin will have no dominion over you, since you're not

1096
01:04:54.840 --> 01:04:57.159
under the law but under grace. See, the only way

1097
01:04:57.159 --> 01:04:59.280
to understand sin is not going to have dominion over

1098
01:04:59.320 --> 01:05:03.840
me would to be positionally Why because sin has dominion

1099
01:05:03.880 --> 01:05:07.920
over me. If I continue to sin and I can't

1100
01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:12.400
get to perfection, what keeps me from perfection? What's as

1101
01:05:12.440 --> 01:05:15.960
long as I keep sinning, then sin is still have dominion.

1102
01:05:17.559 --> 01:05:18.280
Romans eight one.

1103
01:05:18.320 --> 01:05:20.840
There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in

1104
01:05:20.960 --> 01:05:24.800
Christ Jesus Galatians two twenty. The life I now live

1105
01:05:24.880 --> 01:05:34.199
I live by faith in the Son of God. To

1106
01:05:34.280 --> 01:05:36.599
walk in the spirit is not to become sinless through

1107
01:05:36.639 --> 01:05:39.440
spiritual effort, but to live every moment in faith in

1108
01:05:39.519 --> 01:05:43.159
Christ finished work. And in that posture, the flesh no

1109
01:05:43.239 --> 01:05:46.280
longer has final say it, no longer has condemnation or

1110
01:05:46.280 --> 01:05:59.199
dominion over me. In my position, the Spirit opposes and

1111
01:05:59.320 --> 01:06:06.480
restrain only makes sense, only makes objective sense if we

1112
01:06:06.679 --> 01:06:11.880
understand it positionally. The Spirit keeps the flesh from ruling you.

1113
01:06:12.159 --> 01:06:15.039
That must mean the Spirit keeps sin from ruling over

1114
01:06:15.079 --> 01:06:19.480
me and my standing before God, in my identity, in

1115
01:06:19.519 --> 01:06:24.599
my legal status, in my relationship to the law and judgment. Again,

1116
01:06:24.760 --> 01:06:27.239
it is Romans six fourteen. Sin shall not have dominion

1117
01:06:27.280 --> 01:06:29.400
over you. It's the only way to understand it. Roman's

1118
01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:32.480
eight to one. There's therefore now no condemnation, and Galatians

1119
01:06:32.519 --> 01:06:35.960
two twenty. I live by faith and the Son of God.

1120
01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:40.199
This is the only way to preserve the meaning of

1121
01:06:40.239 --> 01:06:43.440
the spirit is keeping us, keeping sin from being fulfilled

1122
01:06:43.599 --> 01:06:45.519
without creating subjective chaos.

1123
01:06:45.519 --> 01:06:46.920
It's the only way to understand it.

1124
01:06:47.519 --> 01:06:50.320
Whatever the Spirit is doing, it's doing it in a

1125
01:06:50.360 --> 01:06:53.119
positional way. Because if the minute you say, well, the

1126
01:06:53.159 --> 01:06:54.920
Spirit's going to stop this, or it's not going to

1127
01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:57.360
dominate me, or it's not going to be in control. Well,

1128
01:06:57.440 --> 01:06:59.280
then the only thing you can do is then prove

1129
01:06:59.320 --> 01:07:01.400
that you can be per because if I can't get

1130
01:07:01.440 --> 01:07:05.400
to perfection, whatever keeps me from perfection, whatever stops me

1131
01:07:05.519 --> 01:07:08.840
from not being able to stop sinning, that's the thing

1132
01:07:08.920 --> 01:07:18.119
that's dominating. If we say, well, the spirit is keeping

1133
01:07:18.159 --> 01:07:20.599
you from fulfilling the desires of the flesh in real

1134
01:07:20.639 --> 01:07:24.360
time practically, then we are left asking, well, what counts

1135
01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:27.400
as fulfilling sin? How much sin means I'm not walking

1136
01:07:27.440 --> 01:07:30.480
in the spirit? What about sinful thoughts I don't act on?

1137
01:07:30.840 --> 01:07:33.679
Did I fulfill or resist? What if I feel sin

1138
01:07:33.800 --> 01:07:36.880
all day but don't act is that victory or just exhaustion?

1139
01:07:37.519 --> 01:07:40.159
How would I measure or know when the spirit succeeds

1140
01:07:40.239 --> 01:07:41.280
or when I have failed?

1141
01:07:42.000 --> 01:07:47.000
It becomes subjective. Everyone defines fulfillment differently. It becomes incoherent.

1142
01:07:47.199 --> 01:07:49.920
There's no standard for what really counts as victory. It

1143
01:07:49.920 --> 01:07:53.119
becomes crushing because you always still sin, so you're never

1144
01:07:53.199 --> 01:07:55.280
quite sure if the spirit is doing his job or

1145
01:07:55.320 --> 01:07:59.960
if you're resisting enough. That's not freedom, that's confusion, That's

1146
01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:12.079
it guilt dressed up in spiritual garb. If sin still persist,

1147
01:08:13.400 --> 01:08:20.000
then it must be ruling unless we define rule positionally.

1148
01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:24.079
If we are in perpetual sin, it can't be perfect.

1149
01:08:24.399 --> 01:08:28.439
The thing keeping me from perfection and sin is obviously

1150
01:08:28.560 --> 01:08:30.039
ruling and dominating.

1151
01:08:30.199 --> 01:08:33.199
That's the only thing. That's the only way to understand it.

1152
01:08:33.319 --> 01:08:34.960
I mean, you have to acknowledge that.

1153
01:08:35.760 --> 01:08:39.640
However, if we recognize that ruling and dominating are not

1154
01:08:39.720 --> 01:08:44.359
referring to frequency, strength of temptation, or degree of outward obedience,

1155
01:08:44.640 --> 01:08:47.239
they refer to condemnation under the law.

1156
01:08:47.520 --> 01:08:50.239
It refers to separation from God.

1157
01:08:50.439 --> 01:08:54.159
It refers to legal status as guilty or unrighteous slavery

1158
01:08:54.199 --> 01:08:57.920
to sin. As far as my identity is concerned, sin

1159
01:08:58.039 --> 01:09:00.600
is not ruling me. I'm not fulfilled the lust of

1160
01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:03.520
the flesh and the sense that now that I walk

1161
01:09:03.680 --> 01:09:07.359
in faith in Christ, that I'm in Christ, then guess

1162
01:09:07.439 --> 01:09:11.880
what I'm Sin will not bring me condemnation under the law.

1163
01:09:12.199 --> 01:09:15.359
Sin does not separate me from God. Sin has no

1164
01:09:15.640 --> 01:09:19.000
does not impact my legal status or declare or makes

1165
01:09:19.000 --> 01:09:23.079
me unrighteous. Because I'm perpetually righteous in Christ. My legal

1166
01:09:23.159 --> 01:09:27.319
standing is perfect in Christ, and I cannot be defined

1167
01:09:27.319 --> 01:09:30.359
as a slave of sin as my identity because I'm

1168
01:09:30.399 --> 01:09:33.800
in Christ Jesus, I have been crucified with Him, and

1169
01:09:33.840 --> 01:09:36.359
I am free in my position.

1170
01:09:39.920 --> 01:09:40.760
So spirits.

1171
01:09:41.119 --> 01:09:47.399
The Spirit's victory over sin is not practical, it's positional.

1172
01:09:47.720 --> 01:09:49.800
This is the only way to faithfully read the text.

1173
01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:53.279
The Spirit keeps sin from being fulfilled, not by removing

1174
01:09:53.319 --> 01:09:56.399
it or helping me suppress it by but by keeping

1175
01:09:56.439 --> 01:10:00.640
me in Christ. That's why I'm silled by the Spirit.

1176
01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:05.279
It keeps me in Christ where sins, guilt, and power

1177
01:10:05.520 --> 01:10:11.079
has been broken positionally, not behaviorally. I'm in Christ. The

1178
01:10:11.159 --> 01:10:14.560
Spirit keeps me in Christ. I am sealed, I'm united

1179
01:10:14.600 --> 01:10:19.439
to Him. I am kept in Christ perpetually. Therefore, the

1180
01:10:20.239 --> 01:10:23.640
law the flesh, the lust of the flesh cannot be fulfilled.

1181
01:10:24.199 --> 01:10:26.880
I don't do those things because I've been crucified. I

1182
01:10:26.920 --> 01:10:29.560
am in Him. That's the only way to understand this,

1183
01:10:29.880 --> 01:10:36.840
or it all falls apart. So the Spirit keeps sin

1184
01:10:36.880 --> 01:10:39.640
from being fulfilled, not by removing it or helping me

1185
01:10:39.680 --> 01:10:42.840
suppress it, by by keeping me in Christ where sins, guilt,

1186
01:10:42.880 --> 01:10:47.039
and power has been broken. Positionally. The Spirit does not

1187
01:10:47.239 --> 01:10:51.000
stop me from sinning. It does not guarantee me moral victory.

1188
01:10:51.159 --> 01:10:54.279
It does not make me perfect, but it ensures that

1189
01:10:54.399 --> 01:11:02.640
sin never reclaims dominion over my standing before God. The

1190
01:11:02.680 --> 01:11:06.119
spirit's opposition to the flesh and Galatians five is not

1191
01:11:06.359 --> 01:11:11.560
a mystical or moralistic mechanism that helps me behave better.

1192
01:11:12.119 --> 01:11:19.520
It's his faithful objective work of keeping me positionally free

1193
01:11:19.560 --> 01:11:25.640
from sin's dominion, condemnation, and identity, even while sin still

1194
01:11:26.039 --> 01:11:36.720
dwells in me in the sinful nature. Now that is

1195
01:11:37.159 --> 01:11:39.479
trying to do it to the best of mind.

1196
01:11:39.479 --> 01:11:42.600
There's no other way to get around. There's no other option.

1197
01:11:43.439 --> 01:11:48.800
Any other option becomes you just denying reality. You're pretending

1198
01:11:48.840 --> 01:11:52.000
to be something you're not. You're lying to yourself, or

1199
01:11:52.000 --> 01:11:53.399
it becomes a subjectiveness.

1200
01:11:53.439 --> 01:11:56.800
Well we're not saying it's going to be perfect.

1201
01:11:57.920 --> 01:12:00.640
Well, then how do you define than any not fulfilling

1202
01:12:00.640 --> 01:12:02.560
the lust of the flesh? How do you well, I

1203
01:12:02.600 --> 01:12:05.760
won't fulfill this loss of the flesh, so it only

1204
01:12:05.800 --> 01:12:08.880
guarantees one. But if I'm walking in the spirit, I'm

1205
01:12:08.920 --> 01:12:10.960
not going to fulfill any If I mean, if I

1206
01:12:11.000 --> 01:12:16.720
understand it practically, it all falls apart.

1207
01:12:18.560 --> 01:12:22.279
All right, I'm at seventy two minutes. I went way

1208
01:12:22.319 --> 01:12:23.279
longer than I should have.

1209
01:12:23.319 --> 01:12:25.600
I don't know what else to do there other than

1210
01:12:26.119 --> 01:12:32.239
trying to just explain it every way possible. All right,

1211
01:12:33.920 --> 01:12:36.840
I'm going to stop there. Thanks for listening. I wish

1212
01:12:36.880 --> 01:12:38.520
I could have done better, but that's the best I

1213
01:12:38.560 --> 01:12:38.840
can do.

1214
01:12:38.920 --> 01:12:41.760
Thanks for listening. Everyone, have a great day. God bless

1215
01:12:43.520 --> 01:12:44.000
Willis