Victory Over Sin

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Tuesday, April the first, twenty twenty five. It is currently five eight pm Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, a little while ago, I walked over to all of my stereo equipment. I placed on my headphones and I opened up the Serious XM app and I just looked under the library tab and it shows all the different stations I have saved in my library, but it'll show you what's actually playing on any given station at any time. And when you see what's playing, you hit play and it will start where the song begins. Right, it'll start the song over. If it's the song's just three seconds left, it'll still start it over. So it's just kind of a cool way.

0:59 You get just kind of scroll through all the stations you have saved and you're like, ooh, look at that song, and I'll just start it right from the beginning. So I was looking looking and I'm like, oh wow, that brings back memories. So I tapped on the screen and I heard these words, A little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids growing up in the Heartland. Oh, come on, everybody knows that song, right, Jack and Diane. I mean, come on, it's a classic. It's a classic from the nineteen eighties, right, everyone knows that A little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids growing up in the Heartland.

1:41 I mean, that song is so catchy you can't help but sing along to it, right. And I remember some of the lines in the song that was somewhat controversial at the time, But overall I missed, especially because of my age at the time, I didn't catch the meaning of the song. I really did not catch the meaning of the song. But if you really pay attention to the chorus, there's a lot going on there, right, because it says, long after the thrill of living is gone, life goes on. Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. I want you to just think about that, life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Does that resonate with you? Life is going to continue long after the thrill of living is gone.

2:37 And the whole idea of the song is, Hey, they're young, and it talks about all the things that maybe young people will be feeling, experiencing, and doing. But one day, the young boy and the young girl turns into a woman, into a man, and then they're gonna look around one day and life is going to go on, even after the thrill of living is gone. Even after that thrill of living has long departed, you still left with I don't know, ten years, fifteen, twenty years, you still got to live even though the thrill of living is gone. You know that thrill of living. When you're young, you have all these hopes, you have all these dreams, you have all these expectations, and you're going to do this, and you want to do this, and you can't wait.

3:18 Today you can do this, and you can't wait that you don't have to go to school and people are telling you what to do, and you just have all of these ideas and it's all filled with passion and emotion and excitement and zill that thrill of living. But when the thrill of living is gone, life goes on. Life continues. And I was thinking about that in a number of ways. The first thing it hit me is it just hit me when I was hearing the song that life goes on long after the thrill is living? I'm like, I so missed the point of that song. When I was young. Usually I was very good at analyzing lyrics and breaking it down and having notebooks filled with, you know, my song analysis. But for some weird reason, I missed the point of this song because I was young.

4:05 I was in the midst of you know, I couldn't imagine life without the thrill of living being somewhat a part of it, right, the thrill of living is there. I can't imagine what do you mean the thrill of living is gone? How can that happen? Who can take away the thrill of living? Right? I couldn't imagine what it. You know that that's talking about. When you get older and all of that excitement and all of that passion and all of that zeal, maybe all of that idealism, it just it goes away and it leaves you with what maybe regret, maybe you know, sitting around telling boring stories of the glory days. Now I'm quoting Bruce Springsteen. I mean, maybe maybe that's what you're left. I couldn't imagine it, right, but it was.

4:50 It was a kind of a warning. It was kind of, hey, one day, this period of your life is going to be over and that thrill is going to be gone, but life is going to continue you. So the first thing I kind of realized I kind of missed the point of this song, and it kind of made me angry at myself. I'm like, I usually do better than that. What was I thinking? Can I go back and slap me in the face and go pay attention learn the lesson? But I didn't really learn the lesson at the time. But then I started thinking about the Christian life. The Christian life goes on long after the thrill of it is gone. See. I can remember being a Christian. When you first become a Christian. You have that thrill, you have that passion, you have that zell, you have that excitement, and everything is new and you and you have this kind of again idealism, this idea that oh, we're all Christians and we all agree and everything is wonderful and this is amazing, and we're all on the same team.

5:56 And hey, as Christians, we're better than what we were. Right, We've all been transformed, we're all new, We basically no longer sent we're honest, and we this, and we're that, and we're better than and those people out there are bad, but now we're we're basically like, we're perfect, because that's kind of the idea that you are told. And then the longer you are a Christian, well, not only is the thrill gone, sometimes that idealism has been taken out back and put down, but you still left with your Christianity. You've got to continue on even though the thrill is gone. Maybe the idealism is gone. Maybe that entire fraudulent idea that you were sold burns to the ground. How do you move on? I also so I kind of started thinking about it in relation to Christianity, and then I started thinking about a relationship to this podcast. If you listen to this podcast, The last broadcast ended with me saying that's it. I'm done. I retire. I'm going to delete everything. I give up, because that's sometimes where I end up. In fact, in twenty twenty four, all of those listening to all of the sermons, and even in twenty twenty five, the more sermons I listen to, the more I kind of reach this point of, well, I guess I'm supposed to continue on but you know, long after the thrill is gone, because these sermons kill the thrill of anything related to Christianity, because I just get so tired. So not only does it impact my Christianity, then when it comes to broadcasting, I sometimes the thrill of broadcasting is gone. But do I continue on? And what kills the thrill of broadcasting? It? Sometimes what kills

7:30 the thrill of broadcasting is you talk about philological issues and you just never You're just bombarded with all the stuff out there that just seems to have no concern with the text, with reality, with truth. It's like it just like the more you care about theology and the more you care about the text, you're confronted with almost this fraudulent form of Christianity. Now what am I speaking directly to? Right? I know it's a long ways from a little ditty about Jack and Diane to America kids growing up in the heartland. Life goes on long after the thrill is gone. I know that that's a long ways from that song. But in some ways it's not. Because we are going to be reviewing a sermon called the Believer's Victory over Sin.

8:22 The Believer's Victory over Sin, This hot idea of the believers. Victory over sin is an idea that has almost you talk about the thrill is gone. This thing has so this concept has so absolutely led me to the point of despair, frustration, irritation, want to give up, want to just just it basically makes me want to scream at everyone. Look, Christianity has sold you a lie. Everyone stopped believing it because it is it is just built into the Christian worldview. You become a Christian. Dun dun, dunnah, you are a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things have become new. Okay, Well that's you mean I can be perfect?

9:08 Well no no, no, no, no, no no no no, you can be perfect. Well if I can't be perfect, then not all things are new? Old things are not gone, because what's keeping me from being perfect? Well, your sinful nature. Well then that doesn't mean the oldest gone and everything is new. So why do you keep telling me that? And then you talk out the other side of your mouth and tell me it's not that. Either I'm a new creature, old things are gone and all things have become new, or I'm not. Which is it? And Christianity seems incapable of saying, wait a minute, Wait a minute, that is true of us. Positionally, in Christ, we are a new creature. Old is gone, All is new in our position because by faith, Christ's perfection and righteousness is imputed, imputed, or accredited to my account. But practically, I'm a sinful nature and I live in perpetual sin. Because the Bible tells me to be holy as God is holy, I will never do that on perpetual sin. The Bible tells me to if I violate one long going of all of it. I'm in a perpetual state of sin. The Bible tells me to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. I'm in a perpetual state of sin. The Bible tells me to love God with all my heart, my body, and soul. I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

10:10 The Bible tells me to love my neighbor as myself. I'm in a perpetual state of sin. The Bible tells me to love my enemy, turn the other cheek, resist not evil. I'm in a perpetual state of sin. There's no other conclusion you can come to. But yeah, Christians will talk about victory over sin victory. No. So now, on one end it's so weird, right because it'll say you're a new creature, the old is gone and everything is new. And then the other it will try, here's a sermon and how to have victory over sin? What do you mean have victory over sin? I don't need to learn how to have victory over sin. I'm a new creature. Old is gone, everything is new. There's nothing to have victory over. I'm now new. The old is gone. Right, But no, no, no, no no, you still need to have victory over sin. Well, how do I get victory over sin?

10:51 Well? God gives you the victory over sin. Well, how do I get God to give me the victory over sin? Because God has given me the victory over sin, then I should be perfect. Why am I not perfect? If God is the one giving me the victory of o sin? Well, for God to give you the power and the strength to have victory over sin, you have to do things. Well, what things do I have to do? It's usually something like read your Bible, go to church, join a small group, pray more, meditate on scripture. They give me like five things to do. So wait a minute, so I have to do these five things in my own strength. But if I do these five things in my own strength, then God will give me the strength to overcome sin. But if I can do these things without God's help, then why do I need God's help. It's just like it's maddening, and it leads you to the point where, man, Okay, my Christian life may go on, but the thrill of living is gone. So we talked. I don't know how long ago it was, we did a broadcast about Galatians five sixteen. I think in reality, Galatians five sixteen reality, and I talked about the importance of as Christians of interpreting scripture and light of reality. We can't just ignore.

12:01 We can't go to the Bible and says, well, hey, it says if anyone's a crisis and new creatural things are passed away, all things have become new, and just interpret that is that's true in a practical way, because reality says it's obviously not true in a real way. So then we have to go, well, maybe it's saying something different. We can't forget reality, and while we're interpreting scripture. I also talked about the fact that there are some pastors and some ministries that are so well respected and well known, they have power, they have relevance that you're not supposed to offer any criticism of them. But I don't necessarily hold to that the scriptures are the authority, not just because a ministry is well respected. So I have a sermon here from doctor Peters, Peter Masters, the pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle and London, very very very famous church, and he did a sermon on the believer's victory over sin.

12:59 So we talk talke aout scripture and reality and how we have to look at the Bible and can't ignore reality. Well, today we're going to get to the sermon and we're just going to start reviewing it. We already kind of took it apart a little bit. We mentioned a little bit of it, but I want you to at least hear some of it now. The goal here is not to review all of it. It's only thirty something minutes long, which is fascinating to me that in thirty something minutes you can tell Christians how to have victory over sin. Should be pretty simple, you know, because the way Christians tell it is, well, the minute you become saved you're transformed, You're a new creature, the oldest gone and everything is new. Well, now you're going to live in a perpetual state of victory, right, Or they'll say, well, God is the one who does it through you. Well, if God's doing it the one through me, then I should be perfect. Well you're not perfect, Okay, it's just Oh, Christians drive me crazy when they talk about these things. So but you know, on one hand, because two thousand years nobody's been able to yet truly find victory over sin, you would think it would take you a little bit longer than thirty something minutes. But okay, or maybe it's only takes you thirty minutes, because it's just as simple as well, God just gives you victory over sin, and well you'll never sin again. And if I continue to sin and God is the one who gives me the victory over sin, then this God get the blame for me not having victory over sin. Oh man, I'm telling you, it's almost to the point of just you want to give up, but I want to hear.

14:17 So the goal here is not to review all, it's just to kind of get us a basic idea, A basic idea and once we kind of get that basic idea that we'll break away. I did give artificial intelligence this sermon. I did give it the transcript, and I have here. Hang on, let me get past all of my notes here. These are notes we did in the previous AI did give me a summary of doctor Peter Master sermon the Texas Galatians five fifteen through sixteen. The title the Believer's Victory over Sin, and then it says doctor Masters explorers Paul's statement, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, presenting it as a promise, not merely as an exhortation. All right, so we're gonna we're gonna listen to this and then we're gonna take it apart. AI had a lot to say about this sermon, as it typically does, and well, well, I will rely somewhat. So this is what I'll be doing.

15:17 I'm gonna be reviewing and and just interrupting and offering my own thoughts. Sometimes I will immediately turn to what AI had to say about the sermon. And then after AI broke the sermon down like he did, it's analysis and broke it down into like four or five things then me and artificial intelligence picked up a conversation about this whole idea of victory over sin. Christians keep saying victory over sin. And then me and a me and artificial intelligence went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, probably for about an hour an hour and a half total, not all in one sitting, but over time. And uh, and so I will share some of that. So that's kind of where we're going to go. So you know, life goes on even when the thrill of living is gone. Well, sometimes I keep broadcasting after the thrill is gone because man, it becomes so discouraging and depressing that not only all the issues we've been trying to resolve with the Book of Isaiah, the whole storm of storms of life metaphor, and then all the talk we've had about law and gospel, and now well we've talked about this idea of the believer's victory ever said just never stops, and I guess it never will. But here we go.

16:39 Now. Remember I'm just gonna go ahead and look, let's just be honest. This is doctor Peter Masters, far more influential, has accomplished more than I ever will accomplish, and is far more respected than I will ever be. So by all means, if you want to go with his interpretation and his understanding, feel free to do so. I will be offering something completely opposite of it. But here we go. I'm turning today to pause. Letters to the Galicians, chapter five and verse fifteen. Galatians Chapter five, verse fifteen. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. This I say, then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And our subject is very simply the believer's victory over sin. And really I'd like to come to the sixteenth verse, walk in the spirit this astonishing promise. Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh of the fallen human nature.

18:03 But we must consider the fifteenth verse first before we come into the subject. If he bite and devour one another, take heed that you'd be not consumed one of another. And the question arises, why does the apostle make this particular exhortation, As it were in verse fifteen, He's been dealing with the judaizing heresy. The Judaizers, you remember, were following the Apostle around and when churches in Gentile territory were founded, many people were converted. As the Apostle the preachers moved on. So the Judaizing heretics would come and they would try to convince the young church, in this case the churches of South Galutia, that Christ wasn't enough that they would need to be bosses Jewish poselytes, to be circumcised, and to seek to obey comply with the Jewish ceremonial law.

19:17 I do find this interesting. So the juda Aizers came and said, Christ is not enough. You've got to do something. Christ is not enough, you have to do something. That's the Judaizers, all right, let's see if fitness sermon, I'm going to be told if I have to do something, or if Christ is enough? What do you think? What do you think? Do you think? Are we going to be kind of told to do something? Are we going to be told Christ is enough? What do you think? Let's find out? In other words, the atoning death of Christ was insufficient for salvation. Salvation was not by faith in that after all, And He's dealt with this and has refuted the judaizing heretics, and he's made various appeals and has expressed his confidence that the people of Galicia the South Galatian churches will respond and will separate themselves from that heretical teaching. But then this comment suddenly leaps in. But if he bite and devour one another, take heed that he be not consumed one of another. I think we may assume that the unrest that the heresy was causing in the churches, and loosening the hold of the people from Christ and

20:50 dependence upon Him and love for Him, was leading to this situation of people being highly critical of each other and accusing each other. If you bite and devour one another, but will look at it in passing, it is important for us in our day. This would certainly refer to any tendency to gossip and to bite behind the back, as it were, if he bites interesting language. In other words, gossip or anything like that is intended to hurt, like a bite. My dogs bite and cats bites. Whoever heard of human beings biting? Suddenly becoming savages and biting each other when it's use figuracyly, of course, But the bite is intended to hurt, so comments about one another behind the back, they bites intended to hurt, and it gets worse.

22:10 It leads to the devouring one of another, which is figuratively presumably means making nothing of each other, taking away the reputation and the standing of the other person, so that that person becomes nothing, devoured, disappeared. If he bites and devour one another, take heed, your fellowship will disappear, that you be not consumed one of another, your community, your spiritual community will be destroyed. Certainly, the Holy Spirit will withdraw, and there be much hypocrisy. You can't gossip and serve the Lord. You can't like derogatory comments behind one another's beeps. You've got a problem, deal with it openly.

23:10 Just funny because the text talks about, hey, don't bite and devour one another. Take heed, you'd be not consumed one for another. Hey, And it's kind of weird he saying there's gossip and slander happening. The Holy Spirit will withdraw. Isn't the Holy Spirit in every believer who's biting and devouring one another? So are the Holy Spirit still going to be there? Right? If I'm a Christian and you're a Christian and we're gossiping against one another. The Holy Spirit doesn't leave us. So the Holy Spirit is still present. Do you mean he will withdraw himself in what some kind of special way he packs up and leaves the church? Why he can't leave the church? If everyone and the church is a Christian, they're only do what with the Holy Spirit? So that already there just seems confusing. But I just find it funny because he's talking about this in two thousand years of church history, has there ever been I mean, the church is constantly filled with backbiting and gossip and slander. Christians do it all the time.

23:59 I mean, and it's a very very very very very common sin. So all right, but okay, all right, but but but but we're gonna get to We're gonna get it to verse sixteen, which seems to say, hey, you don't need to bite and devour one another because it's really simple. If you do this, you basically won't sin, or no, you won't sind. Okay, but let's see where this is going to go. In the scriptural manner, as you can't do things like this and bite and hurts each other and still serve the Lord and please him. You can only put on the pretense. So it leads to hypocrisy, and it leads to the withdrawing of the spirit, and it leads to the diminution of all good things and the loss of a fellowship.

24:51 Once again, he said it the second time, the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit, withdrawing away Holy Spirit just leaves the church. But if everyone is in dwelt with the Holy Spirit, then all doesn't leave the church, because we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit was he's inside of you me, but he's not no longer in the church. I go okay once again, and lots of questions, but but that's not what we're here about. We're gon we're gonna get to verse sixteen because we're gonna see how this is handled, right. That's the intention of verse fifteen. So the Galatians are warned, and we're all warned of the need for great carefulness and the duty of maintaining all Christian affection and care one to another. Then the Apostle passes on in verse sixteen to the great promise, and it is a promise.

25:48 All translators render it in a similar way. Please note verse sixteen is a promise, all right, So this is being understood as a promise. The promise is if you, if me, if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We will not fulfill it. So whatever the flesh desires, we won't fulfill that desire because we're walking in the spirit. This would mean sinlessness. Now you can sit there and try to mess with it. Well, it's not sinlessness. It just means you won't constantly you can play all the games you want. The text reads as if I will simply walk in the spirit, I will stop sinning. And he's saying it's a promise. It's a promise to you and me. Have you ever experienced the promise? Now what some people say, Well, it's like if I, if I'm walking in the spirit and this situation, I won't fulfill the lust at that moment. That doesn't mean five seconds later I may no longer be walking in the spirit, so then I will fulfill it. That's how it's typically explained.

26:53 What means Like on you know, tonight's Tuesday, April the first, maybe at about eleven o'clock tonight, I'll be walking in the spirit and I won't fulfill the lust of the flesh at eleven o'clock tonight on Tuesday, April the first, But on Wednesday, April the second, at three pm, I won't be walking in the spirit, and boom, then I'll sin. But if I can walk in the spirit, So walking in the spirit is like, well, you may be doing it, you may not be doing it, So it could be like, well, yeah, I mean, I mean it's a promise that if you do it, then you won't. Well just consider how much time. So if I walk in the spirit, then I can be holy as God is holy. That means I can be perfect. Well, it means you can only be perfect when you're walking in the spirit. But you're still saying it's possible to be perfect. All I gotta do is figure out how to walk in the spirit, and then I can be perfect. Well if that's the case, then how come nobody in two thousand and years has figured out how to be perfect by walking in the spirit.

27:51 So we play all kinds of games with how to make this work. Let's see how he's gonna make it work? One or two? Who differ? Tyndale makes the second part of verse sixteen an exhortation rather than a promise. That's very unusual. All are decided that this is intended as a promise. This I say, then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust the desires of the fallen heart. That word fulfill is interesting. It translates the Greek for complete. In other words, the promise isn't that you won't feel sinful desires, that you won't have temptations.

28:41 The promise isn't that you'll be immune from having wrong desires rising up within your own heart and coming to you from the world outside, temptations from within, temptations from without. The promises is walk in the spirits and you shall not fulfill complete. Now, this is one of another thing that drives me crazy about Christianity, right because you'll get one sermon that'll say, if you are in Christ, you're a new creature. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. You are new, You've been transformed, And then five seconds later they'll say, hey, if you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Well, where's the why do I have any lust of the flesh If I'm a new creature and all things are passed away and all things have become new. There shouldn't be any lust in the flesh because I've been made completely new.

29:32 Well well, yeah, I know, yes, no, no, and it's dull. Oh man, it can be maddening. So this would at least indicate no, no, no, we still have a sinful nature. We still have a sinflammation we hate. But everyone quotes Ezekiel that we have a brand new heart, that we've been completely transformed on the inside. Now we can say notice in and yes to God. No, this seems to say that I still have an old nature. So do I have a new nature and an old nature? Okay? That we can get into this. Remember we've talked about trying to map this out. It's insane when you listen to everything Christianity has to say. You don't even know how to map it out. You can't even make a chart. It's just insane. Right. So, but so at least it's acknowledging you still have a sinful nature, but you can overcome that sinful nature. All you have to do is walk in the spirit. Now, do I walk in the spirit based off what I do? Or do I walk in the spirit and based off what God does. God is God the one who makes me walk in the spirit?

30:26 Or do I have to walk in the spirit so then I am able to no longer sin? So is it up to me to do what is necessary so I no longer sin? Or is God the one doing? Now? If God is the one causing me to walk in the spirit, well then I should walk in the spirit perfectly just as you, because God is the one who causing it. But if God is not the one causing me to walk in the spirit, then I have to walk in the spirit. And then when I walk in the spirit, then I'll stop sinning. But I have to do the I've got to do. I got to get myself to the walking stage on my own, I guess. I. Let's see how if we get any clarification. They from bisire, but you won't implement them. You won't have the taste or desire to implement them. You're already well equipped to resist them, all right.

31:18 So if you're walking in the spirit, you're going to have the desire, but you're not going to have the desire to implement that. The desire may be there for it, but you're not going to have the desire to actually do it. See, if you'll walk in the spirit, you're not going to do it because you're not going to have the desire. To do it. So you've got what you need. You've been equipped with what you need to basically never to be perfect. All you gonna do is walk in the spirit. If you can just walk in the spirit, dunta da da, You're perfect. I'm perfect, They're perfect. The Christianity should be perfect people. That's the idea. Walk in the spirit, and you shall not complete or fulfill or carry out the lust the desires of the fallen human heart, which is what the apostle means here by the fresh Well. The key thing is to understand what it means to walk in the spirits.

32:23 Now, I do agree here right obviously, if walking in the spirit gives me now the supernatural ability to no longer sin, then I need to figure out what it means to walk in the spirit. Now. Just remember, I reject basically all of Christianity's teaching on this because it just does not correspond with reality. It doesn't correspond with reality, and only that I get sick and tired of Christianity teaching. Galatians five sixteen at the same time teaching in Second Corinthians that if anyone's in christis a new creature, old things have passed away, all things have become new, because both can't be true. If I'm a new creature practically and the oldest gun and all is new, then there's no less the flesh because everything is new. Where's the loss of the flesh coming from. So either I'm a new creature, I'm not a new creature, so then you would have to go to second cranking. No, that just means you're new positionally. Okay, So if I'm new positionally, but I'm still a sinner, now what you're telling me is I still have an old nature, so I haven't been transformed in my nature. I haven't been transformed that way, but I've now been given the key. All you gotta do is walk in the spirit and done dun da dah.

33:25 You don't even have to sin ever again. You can do it all right. So then what should be the standard in every church? Nobody sins because nobody has to because everyone all they have to do is walk in the spirit. This church should be sinless, so you don't have to worry about gossip and slender because everyone else can walk in the spirit. So what do I have to do? What do you think we're gonna have to do to walk in the spirit? Come on, what do you think? What do you think? What do you think? Go ahead and write them down? What do you think you have to do to walk in the spirit? Because you're gonna have to do something. I guarantee you you're gonna have to do something. What do you have to do to walk in the spirit? Come on, I bet you can go ahead and write them down. It's the same things taught in every sermon a million times a year. Okay, so we'll get we'll get to them. Here we go.

34:21 If we walk in the spirits, then half the battle is accomplished. If we walk in the spirit, half the battle is accomplished. Sounds like if I walk in the spirit, all of the battle is accomplished because I'm no longer going to sin. What does he mean by only half the battle? If you're filled with the spirit, there is no room for the world, as the old saying goes, But what does it mean to walk in the spirit? Now? There is a different way to markedly different ways of looking at this. These days, it's the charismatic way to walk in the spirit, in the view of most charismatics, are to be careful in generalizing, because there are people of charismatic persuasion. I think they're still mistaken, but they are very sincere and very earnest, and they wouldn't necessarily subscribe to what I'm about to say. But the majority of charismatics seem to have these vague ideas that walking in the spirit simply means getting very excited speaking in tongues, not that anybody speaks in tongues in a biblical way today, Biblical tongues with real languages. The remarkable, miraculous gift of

35:57 speaking a language, a real language you had never learned, and it had special purposes, and that was a gift for the foundation stage of the church before the scriptures were complete. However, you don't have that today. But some people think this can be worked up, and you can have exciting sensational type of manifestations and gifts and dinglings down your spine and visions and all words of knowledge and all sorts of strange and mystical things. And that is what it means to walk in the spirits.

36:40 That's now him and I would be in perfect agreement I think anything. I mean, look, you know what I feel. Charismatic movement is absolute cancer corruption. I wish it did not exist. If I could wipe one system of theology off the face of the planet, it would be anything related to the charismatic theology. So we're a complete agreement that the charismatic approach here is just wrong because basically walking in the spirit means of some experience, some mystical thing. Okay, well, I completely disagree with that. So we're in agreement there. We're an agreement there, not. What it means to walk in the spirit. That's a massive diversion. If someone's mind, even a sincere person, is taken up by those kind of objectives and aims and aspirations, they can't easily walk in the spirits. Walking in the spirit is defined in the scripture most carefully and repeatedly.

37:41 So we need to remind ourselves what is it to walk in the spirit, because if only we walk in the spirits, then we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. All our inclinations and tastes and desires on our side now and against fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. This, I say, then walk in the spirit. So what is it to walk in the spirits? Well, I'm going to give a number of headings very briefly, which are scriptural elements of walking in the spirits.

38:30 Okay, so here's what it's going to mean to walk in the spirit. He's going to give us number one, number two, number three, number four, number five, And let me tell you to what in the spirit means? You do something? You do something, you do something, So if you do I guess all five of these things. This is where I think he's going. Now I could be wrong, Remember I do sermon reviews going in blind. The only thing is I have a little bit of idea here because I did have AI break this down, so I at least have some idea where we're going. So I'm going to be a little bit more or usually I would try to be very hesitant here to say anything, but I have a feeling that if what I have broken down here and it's accurate, and this is the part of the sermon where he's going to introduce it, and considering has only got about twenty minutes left, I'm assuming he's gonna have to go through these things relatively quick that he's about to give us five things. And remember he just said that Judaizer said Christ isn't enough.

39:21 You have to do something. Well, now it's going to be like, wait, so you have Christ, but up up, up. But that's great, that's wonderful. But you don't want to sin. And the way you don't sin is by walking in the spirit. And the way you walk in the spirit is by are you ready? Let's find out? And if we do this, we're muchily strengthened. Did you hear that? If we do this, we are mightily strengthened. So we have to do this in order to get the strength. That would mean we're doing it without the strength. So these are things you can do without the strength, meaning you're doing it on your own because you have to do it in order to get the strength. This is just from a thiological perspective. This is absolutely maddening to me. Right, okay, So all right, so I'm a Christian? Right, what's the goal? Not to sin? Great? Okay, how do I do it? Okay? Well, there's all this strength that will get that is available to you so that you will not sin. Great, how do I get that strength? You've got to do something, So I've got to do it without the strength. I've got to do things in order to get the strength. It's not the strength that's going to allow me to do these things.

40:37 It's doing these things that gets me the strength. All right, So I'm going to do these things. What in my flesh on my own? Or does God give me a little bit of strength so that I can do these things? So then I can get the real strength? Is it kind of like a do part A and then you get part B. Let's see what happens. Thing clearly is to study. The woods here we Oh man, we're going right down the path where we always go. Hey, you want to stop sinning? Study the Bible. Study the Bible. Study the Bible more read more read more. The more you read the more so is there is there a level? Okay, I read an hour a day, Well that'll only get you to forty percent of not sinning. That only What if I read three hours a day, Well that will only get you to sixty percent. But wait a minute.

41:40 I have a job, and I have this, and I'm a caretaker for someone who's dying of a What if I can only read the Bible thirty minutes, I say, well, I'm sorry, you're not going to get the same strength as as Bob over there, who gets to read five hours a day. So maybe I should sell everything I own and go move into a monastery, because then I should be like done, done, Dune, I now have superpowers. So is it now my strength comes from my time spent in the word? And so do we measure this out? If you spend four hours you get forty percent strength, If you spend seven hours you get seventy percent strength. Do you have to read one hundred hours to get one hundred percent strength? And it's just reading? Or is that actual study?

42:32 And be people of the words Christians who rely on the word and feed on the word day by day. Let me tell you briefly, without turning to many texts, a simple truth. In the New Testaments, particularly in the epistles of Paul, the spirits and the word are almost interchangeable terms. For example, in the Letters of the Ephesians, you'll get a long list of instructions the things that you are to do in the spirit. In Colossians you get exactly the same instructions repeated, only this time you're told to do them by the Word, which it's almost interchangeable.

43:25 In the spirit equals by the Word. So this is one important aspect that to walk in the spirit is to be a believer who is welded to the Word of God and takes from it and feeds on it and loves it, and learns from it and asks questions whenever he reads the Word of God. We often mention these things. You can have them in the back of the Bible until they're in your minds. What has this passage to say to me? Is there a view of Christ?

44:05 Is there a view of some attribute of God? Is there a doctrine in the passage that I'm reading and I didn't notice in my hurried reading, Pause and read again. Is there a teaching a doctrine? Is there a duty to believers that I'm neglecting that I'm missing? Is there a reproof perhaps for me in this passage? Is there an encouragement and a consolation I feed on the Word of God. I look for the things which the Word of God provides to me. Is there a statement about God's plans and purposes that will give me perspective as to how I look at this life and my life in the world, and we ask these question in our mind.

45:02 Whatever we read, and we take that matter and subject and we send God for in place him for it. And if it's a juicy or a reproof, apply it to our hearts. As you interact and feed upon the word of God to nourish and uplift your soul, you are walking in the spirits. So you read and study, ask questions, go through some basic, you know, observational questions. Does this text have a demand? Does this text have something about the attributes of God? The basic kind of you know, generic Bible study method. And if I do that, boom, I'm walking in the spirit.

45:47 I won't send well. As someone who has now what, I don't even know how many ultimate degrees. I think I have seven. I have an associates, have multiple bachelors, multiple masters degrees. Okay, all of these are in theological education, theology, biblical studies, religious education. I mean I've got so. I have studied and studied and studied and studied the Bible. I have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I don't even know thirty forty times, fifty times, I don't even know. I have preached it over and I mean I've been preaching almost there's almost a very few times I've not preached on a weekend, on a Sunday. I mean, basically, for twenty something years, I've preached every Sunday school hour, every Sunday school or every Sunday school hour, Sunday morning, worship, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, every week, week after week after week, eftery week. It didn't take vacations, didn't take sabbaticals, week after week after week after week. That's three hours on Sunday, one hour on weidsdas's four hours a week, and all of my teachings are about an hour long. Yeah.

46:53 So I've taught taught verse by verse, exegetical studies. I've gone to school for this, gone to school for that, writing paper on this, writing this, doing this, writing this. I have done who knows how many hours of broadcast. I have probably easily surpassed over ten thousand hours of broadcasting, if not much more than that, probably maybe even twenty thousand hours of broad some crazy number of hours of broadcasting. Just this podcast alone, I'm well over four thousand hours of broadcasting, well over if you put everything together, maybe even more so. I mean, I've been studying, studying, studying, studying, reading, reading, reading, reading, studying, studying, reading, reading, reading, studying, reading, taking test writing papers, and guess what has never occurred.

47:36 I have never won stopped sinning. I've been reading and reading and reading, and have never stopped sinning, not one time. I've yet to love God with all my heart, my body, and soul. I yet to love my neighbor as myself. I'm yet to be holy as God is holy. I'm yet to be perfect as God is perfect. I'm yet to love my enemy and turn the other cheek and resist not evil. Give me a break. I know someone's gonna say, well, it's not about being perfect. Wait no, it says if I walk in the spirit, I will not fulfill the loss of the flesh. You just then turned around and said what it means to walk in the spirit. It's to be immersing the word. If I spend all my time in the Word, I won't sin.

48:22 So all you gotta do is study and you will stop sinning. That's just factual, not true, man, Okay. And your tastes are so formed, and your memory bank of Christian duties and responsibilities so built up. Why somebody who's under the governance and the guidance and the coaching and the rule of the Word of God, that's walking by the spirits, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Do you hear about a Christian who has a great fall? Something's been missing.

49:19 Because you hear about a Christian who had a great fault. It doesn't have to be a great fall. All it has to be is be holy as God is holy. Have you done that? No, you're in sin. If you break one point of the law, you're guilty of all. Have you loved God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Have you loved your neighbor as yourself? You're guilty of every point of the law. Have you coveted? Have you done this? Have you done that? Have you looked at a woman with lust? You're an adulterer. Have you done this? You're a murderer. Have you done this you're at You're a coveter. Have you done this, You're an idolator. In fact, if you break one of it, you're guilty of all of them. So you're all of those things. It's not say I love that. If it's a are we gonna go Catholic here, Well, see, if you walk in the spirit, you won't commit a mortal sin.

50:09 You'll commit all the venial sins all day long. And we're good with the venial sins. If you hear about someone who had a grate fault, no, if you hear anyone about sin, then the only logical conclusion you can drive is, well, they don't read and study the Bible. But what if they show you clearly they pull up their Bible app and go, look, I've got seventy five hours of Bible reading on the last three days. Okay, what are you talking about. I've read this, I've studied here's fifteen notebooks. Yet I think and continue to sin. Oh man, this tough drives me crazy.

50:49 The promise of God. If that believer was feeding on the words of God, walking by the spirits in that sense, which have been guarded against any inclination to you, so that's extreme sin. Now is he gonna Is he really gonna do this? Hey? So if they said it's because they didn't read their Bible, but he said, you notice the words great fall, extreme sin. So you're only saying it only works for extreme sins? Is that the way we're gonna play the game here. Hey, hey, it will keep you from an extreme sin. You won't murder someone, you won't get an abortion. I mean, you won't go to Vegas and sleep with three prostitutes. It only it will only protect you from the extreme sins, you know, those extreme sins that even lost people may not commit. So is that the game we're gonna play here?

51:56 So discount us gone a hasty rush through the scripture to get my duty done, my reading done. No, I try to find sometime, someplace when I can settle down with the Word, my greatest companion. You know, if this is true, ladies and gentlemen, if this is true, if the key to not sinning is simply spending time and the word, then you don't try to find time. You know what you do. You don't get stinking married, You don't have stinking a wife or a husband and kids to take care of. Forget that garbage, right, forget that because you needed to be spending time in the word. Because you can't be a good father, or a good husband or a good wife unless you can spend time in the word, because then you won't sin.

52:55 Can you imagine a sinless husband and a sindless wife. Well, you've got to spend time in the word. Well, what's the one that's gonna take you away from spending time in the word? All the responsibilities of a job and a wife and the kids. Just sell everything and go join the monastery. Then you'll spend a life without sin. If you spend a life without sin, you won't have any guilt, you won't have any regret, you won't have any shame, you won't have any scandal, and then life will be a whole lot better. But no, we got to get married. Why do you got to get married? You can't. That's going to take away from spending time in the Word. And why do churches say, oh, we're gonna we're gonna have a pot luck, and we're gonna have a fellowship, and we're gonna have a picnic, and we're gonna cancel services. No, no, chu. If the key to having a sinless church is more time in the Word than churches would be having church Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

53:47 You'd have services at eight in the morning, at noon, at five in the evening, and at ten o'clock at night. You would be having service after service after service, and it would just be preaching, preaching, preaching, reading the Word of God, preaching preaching reading the Word of God, because that's the only way to get sinless congregation, because loss the way to get the people in the church to stop sinning and spending time in the Word. But then churches cancel Wednesday night services and Sunday night services and we don't have this class, and we don't have this class, and we're gonna do this because it's this time and we got to do this activity in this activity, Well, then you don't really believe it. I'm not speaking about that church because I haven't looked at their schedule. I'm just speaking in general. All Christians would do would be read and studying their Bible, because that's the only way to keep them from sin. So guess what, it's not God keeping you from sin, it's you keeping yourself from sin by reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and studying and studying and reading and reading and reading and studying. So the way you stop from sinning is by spending all of your time reading. So the way to stop sinning is by you being the law. It's by works. You overcome sin, by your own fleshly work, because it's your work.

55:11 You're it's your discipline, it's your you doing it. The word of God. So that's the first thing. Walk in the spirit is to make proper use of the word of God. The Savior said, sanctify them through thy truth and his great so called high priestly prayer. Sanctify them the disciples, the people of God, through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Same thought. So to walk in the spirit is to walk in the word. Secondly, and this is obvious, it is to be a man or a woman of prayer, of meaningful daily prayer.

56:08 Okay, so if you if so, not just reading and reading the scriptures and studying the scriptures is not enough. No no, no, no, no no no no no no no no no no. Say you thought all I got to do now is just read and study it or no no, no, no, that doesn't work. You got to now add in you're going to have to pray, pray, pray. So between all of the reading and studying and all the praying, I don't know how you have a job. I don't know how you have a family. I don't know how you do anything. And why aren't churches open twenty four to seven for prayer. Churches should be filled with people every day and they're reading and studying and prayer reading. Because this is the answer. We could have perfection, real interaction through Christ with the Father on High. All the things we have to do in prayer. And I used to have list for years in the back of my Bible of the chief categories of prayer, and then it becomes printed into your prayer.

57:13 First category, what do I do when I pray? I adore Him and praise Him. I adoration. Why wouldn't you start with confession? But okay, all right, just thought, you know, because you probably got a lot to confess. Well, maybe you don't have anything to confess, because if you're walking in the spirit, you don't have anything to confess because you're not fulilling the loss of the flesh. So you can just get rid of confession right. First thing, in any service of worship, what do we do when we open the service? We don't say, thank you Lord for saving my soul, thank you Lord for being there for me. We're so God mighty and ever lost in God Supreme, sovereign God on High, and we adore him, and we think of his attributes, and we humble ourselves in His mighty holy presence. And that should be in our prayer every day, to adore the Lord, then to praise him for what he's done and what he goes on to. And then we've got to confess our sin.

58:40 You only have to confess if you're not walking in the spirit. There walking in the spirit, you don't have to confess, because you don't have any sins, okay. And that's done very weakly sometimes because we haven't examined our hearts. We don't even pause sometimes think what have I done today to come before the Lord and repentance. A repentance isn't complete until it's accompanied by a pledge to make every effort to avoid that sin in the future.

59:22 It makes no sense. I don't have to make every effort to avoid that sin in the future. All I have to do is walk in the spirit, and then I will not fulfill the loss of the flesh. So is it I had I just walk in the spirit and I don't fulfill the loss of the flesh, Or do I walk in the spirit not filling the lost of the flesh, but I still have to confess, and then I still have to ensure and make a pledge that I'm going to do everything to avoid that sin. Either it's just walk in the spirit and I don't fulfill the loss of the flesh, or it just makes no sense. I don't understand. Christianity is just man, it's like a broken It's like it's like someone took logic, took a a puzzle and it says logic and Christians just take it, throw it on the floor. There's a million pieces and we're like, look, it makes perfect sense. Okay, let him finish this. He's gonna go through five things.

1:00:13 But you see how it's good. You gotta do this. You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this, you got to do this. All right, I'll let him finish this, and I'll show you what AI did immediately after AI reviewed this. Boy's a help of God. That must be the well. If I'm gonna overcome sin or avoid sin by the help of God, then God's help should be able to get me to perfection. So If God's help's going to get me to perfection, then I don't need to confess anything. So does God help you get to perfection or God just help you to get the I? Man, can you just speak clearly? Do I walk in the spirit and then I don't fulfill the loss of the flesh? Or I walk in the spirit by doing all the reading and all the prayer. But then I still have to confess because I'm still sinning. But God's gonna help me no longer sin. But if God is helping me no longer sin, if it's God helping me, God is omnipotent, then I should no longer sin. So it's God helping me not sin. And if God is helping me not sin, then what happens when I'm sinning? God didn't help me?

1:01:17 Or are you gonna then tell me I didn't you want God's help even though I've been begging for God's help not to sin from the day I was saved. To ask forgiveness and to pledge obediance. The two things go together. Ann in secession, who is on your purylace? Okay, He's gonna go through all the parts of prayer, but basically he gives us five things we have to do. We have to read and study the Bible. We have to have meaningful prayer. Then we have not just reading and studying the Bible. The number three, we have to meditate on God, Christ and spiritual truths. So we can't just study and read and we can't just pray. We got an I'll spend additional time meditating. At this point, I don't know what you're gonna do with your life, because you don't. You've got to be reading and reading and reading and reading in order to walk in the spirit, so that you won't fulfill the loss of the flesh.

1:02:09 You gotta pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, so in order to walk in the spirit, so you don't fulfill the loss of the flesh. And then you got to meditate, meditate, meditating. Oh, and then number four, you have to heed the spirit. You have to you have to heed the spirit. You have to follow So so in order to walk in the spirit, I have to obey the spirit. And if I obey the spirit, then I won't So but wait a minute, So am I doing this with God's power? Am I doing it myself? If I can already obey what the spirit tells me to do without God's help? Well, am I doing this in God's power? Am I doing it to get God's power? Earlier he made it sound like I have to do this in order to get God's power. But if I can already obey the spirit, do I obey the spirit in order to get God's power? Then that means I'm obeying the spirit without God's power. So am I doing it to get it? Or do I already have it?

1:03:00 It makes no sense? And then we have to plan and aim, all right? So this is what doctor uh, this is what AI has to say, all right? If this passage teaches that walking in the spirit ensures we won't fulfill the loss of the flesh, and if the preacher says we are equipped to overcome sin, isn't the logical conclusion that we can and should be perfect? All right? So AI scot kind of phrasing this kind of a hypothetical kind of question, like what about this? All right? So here's what AI does. The promise versus reality. Doctor Masters interprets Paul's words as an unqualified promise walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the less of the flesh. Yet this seems to contradict Paul's own struggle in Roman seven, where he describes doing what he hates and not doing what he desires despite being regenerate. First John affirms the struggle. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. So Ai says, the language of victory over sin often feels like it demands practical perfection. If we fail, the implication is that we simply don't walk in the spirit enough right, so that the promise being offered here doesn't match the reality even found in Scripture itself and the writings of John, or say the writings of Paul, it says uh okay Ai goes on to say,

1:04:33 there's a philological tension that some would point out known as already and not yet. Ai loves pointing this out. So how does this work? Well, Positionally we are free from sin's penalty and dominion. Practically we're still being freed from sin's presence and habits. Masters touches on this only lightly. He does not make space for the inevitable and evitability of sin in the believer's life, which even the most sanctified Christian continues to confess and repent of So masters are masters? Yeah, does not. He doesn't go in any detail here in the sermon. He doesn't really explain, Hey, everyone that you're preaching to is still going to sin. Everyone you're still sinning. Everyone is still sinning. So how do we understand this? He doesn't even draw a distinction between the position and practical reality all right, His five five part plan applies that consistent practice equal spiritual victory.

1:05:24 While spiritual disciplines are vital, This framing can shift the burden towards moral achievement rather than deepening dependence on grace. The danger Christians may internalize failure as proof they did not pray, reflect or read enough. Even though Doctor Masters doesn't explicitly teach entire sanctification, the structure of the sermon leads to the implication that a believer can stop sinning if they simply walk rightly. This implication can cause guilt for those who struggle persistently, pride or self deceit for those who think they actually achieve it, or disillusionment when someone follows all of the state and find themselves still sinning.

1:06:07 So it's basically, hey, you can stop sinning if you will stop sinning. If you'll just if you'll just spend all of your time reading the Bible, praying, meditating on the Bible and obeying the spirit, and then planning and aiming, you won't sin. So, ladies and gentlemen, you can stop sinning today if you'll just do these five things. Call now, well, not call now. You have to do it. You can't just call and get help. You gotta do it. Now. We didn't even get to my I'm going to radically challenge all of this. I think this whole thing here is just crazy. But you see that this just this just destroys any zeal or hope. And this turns what this is, this is a complete and version of a proper understand of law and gospel, because this is telling you that you are sanctified, that your victory in the Christian life is done by what you do. You don't have victory and what by based off what Christ did. See, this is a law based form of sanctification. Do do do do do do this, do this, do this, do this, and then you will stop sinning. But what happens if I continue to send which you are going to There's no I mean, even even in this sermon. I mean he's just on point number what number two, just on prayer.

1:07:34 He's only got like ten minutes left in the sermon, So he's just gonna go through the red. There's not gonna be any breaking this down or explaining. There's not gonna be any of that. You're gonna be left with I've been doing Christians have been doing these things for two thousand years. A little diddy about Jack and Diane, two American kids going up in the heartland. Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Man, Sometimes when you listen to Christianity and listen to the preaching and the and just how just, it just destroys any thrill of living. It just destroyed, it just wipes it out because you're just like what you're left with.

1:08:38 I don't even know what you're left with. You're left with a just It sounds like a bad infocommercial that's selling you a scam. But life continues to christian Life continues after the thrill is gone. And you know what kills the you know why the thrill is gone because some point you wake up and realize none of this is true, none of this is accurate, none of this is even based in any sense of reality of what we see. Even AI's like, this is not the way it works. That means that there's got to be a new way, a better way of understanding this. They say, well, what's the answer. Well, I don't. I mean we're at sixty nine minutes. I don't have the ability to give you the answer now. I ended the last broadcast saying I said, I give up. I'm dying. I retire. That this only just makes me feel it even stronger. It's like, because any criticism of this approach puts me at odds with every Everyone's like, no, you can do it. You can do it. I just go ahead and you believe that.

1:09:55 And just for five seconds, look at your life and ask have you been holy as God is holy? If you think you, then you've got more problems than spirit. You've got mental health problems. Okay, because you're living at your delusional You've never been holy as God as whole. You actually think your holy as God, you're not. That means you're in a perpetual status sin be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Do you think you're perfect as God is perfect? No, then you're in a perpetual stat of sin. Do you love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. If you even think that for a minute, you're delusional. You don't. You're in a perpetual statu sin. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Give me a break. You don't love anything as much as you love yourself? All right? Do you love your enemy? Do you turn the other cheek? Do you resist not evil? Do you bless them who would use you and persecute you? Do you do all things without grumbling and complaining? Do you not have any lust in your heart? Any coveteousness in your heart? Do you have any d forgiveness? In I mean, give me a break. You are in sin because you have a sin nature. And as long as you have a sin nature, you're going to sin. You sin in thought word, indeed, by what you do and what you leave undone, that's the reality. And by telling people no, no, no.

1:10:58 If you'll just read your Bible more, if you'll just pray, if you'll just meditate on the scriptures, if you'll just obey the Holy Spirit and follow his leading, and if you just plan and aim done dun dundn, you become super Christian, and you stop sinning. Stuff has been pounded into Christian's brains for so long they don't even know what to do. If they hear anything different, they just keep and you're just in a never routine of law, law, do this, do this, do this, do this? Well, what in the world did Christ do? Then? If you've got to do everything, then what's the point of what Christ did? Christ did it all for you? All Right, well, I give up. It's frustrating, but we'll take Galatians five sixteen apart and we'll finally get to a new way to interpret this at some point. Thanks for listening, And as I ended the last broadcast, I truly do. I give up.

1:12:06 There isn't any point. God bless