Galatians 5:16-18

The question of the morning is, “How do we get rid of the Sarx?”  That is the question of the final section in the letter to the Galatians.  That, fundamentally, is the question of our lives. How do we get rid of the Sarx? 

We discovered in Galatians 5:13-15 that sarx is the Greek word for flesh, or meat or body or person or even descendant.  In this last section of Galatians it means “sinful inclination” or, what I call, plain old selfishness.  We are called to be free, but we should not use our freedom in Christ as an excuse to give into the Sarx.  But how do we do that?  How do we get out of ourselves?  How do we get over ourselves?  How do I learn to live in the freedom of Christ and yet not be selfish or indulgent? How do I stop asking what do I want? How do we get rid of the Sarx?

We found out in my last sermon that this last part of Galatians is about the Sanctifying Community.  I like that phrase.  We are sanctified in community.  We must work together to get rid of the Sarx.  It is in the community of believers, as we love each other, that the Sarx is controlled. 

Galatians 5:13-15 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature (sarx); rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

We began to see how to confront the Sarx.  It is by us, as a group, being enslaved to each other in love!  I have a slim to none chance of getting rid of the Sarx on my own.  I need you.  I need a loving community. I need to be immersed in the slavery of love to get a handle on the Sarx.   Paul goes on to say that if we as a group give into the Sarx, then we are going to act like a pack of dogs nipping, and biting and finally having each other for lunch.  Hey, I don’t want that.  I don’t want to be part of a pack of dogs; I want to be in a bunch of neighbors committed to loving each other.  Dogs devour. Loving neighbors sanctify. 

How do we fight the Sarx?  We found out last time that it is in community.

That is not, however, the complete answer. It is an amazing answer.  It is a surprising answer. It is where we begin. But there is more to the answer. This struggle with the Sarx is elaborated upon in the next three verses of Galatians 5. 

Galatians 5:16-18 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (sarx).  For the sinful nature (sarx) desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature (sarx). They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

“Wow, that sounds pretty black and white Paul.  Aren’t you being a little dramatic?”  The Sarx and the Spirit are in conflict.  One wants one thing and the other wants the opposite.  You can’t live by the Sarx and live by the Spirit at the same time. They are mutually exclusive ways to live. Paul uses the metaphor of a fight.  “In this corner, in the red trunks, the defending champion of the world, with a record of billions wins and only one loss… The Sarx. In this corner, in the blue trunks, the challenger in his rookie fight… The Spirit!” The announcer goes on, “This is a grudge match. There can only be one winner.  There are no draws, no ties, no kissing your sister, only one will step out of the ring, victorious.” Paul clearly tells us it is a fight to the finish!  

The conflict comes down to this.  Does the Sarx rule your life?  Do your own self-focused interests dominate your decisions?  Do you ask, “What’s in it for me?” Or, “What is the best for others?”  It is a simply question. Does the Sarx win the fight in and for your heart or does the Spirit?  If in this fight, the Sarx is currently winning, - you have been in this fight since you learned the word…”mine” - how can we change the outcome of the fight?  Paul gives us the next answer.  What was the first answer?  Community, we gang up on it.  Here is the next answer. 

YLT Galatians 5:16 And I say: In the Spirit walk ye, and the desire of the flesh ye may not complete;

What the NIV translates live in the Spirit, the Greek actually uses the metaphor of walk. The answer to ridding ourselves of the Sarx is to walk in the Spirit.  Isn’t that a beautiful metaphor?  Tanya and I often go on a walk. “Hey, you want to go on a walk?”  “Sure, it will be fun.” There is joy in holding hands and chatting it up as we walk along.  We are on a walk with the Spirit.  Our lives are walking with the Spirit.  The creepy crawly Sarx is lurking all around looking for an opening to jump us and devour us, but the trick is to walk hand-in-hand with the Spirit.  Can’t you hear echoes of the 23rd Psalm?

Psalm 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

How do we fight the Sarx?  We, the sanctifying community, like a herd of sheep walk, holding hands, or hoofs, with the Spirit. 

“Well, Tim that sounds real nice, but how exactly do we do that?” Let me make three observations to that end.  Note, we will be right here answering that question for the next couple of months.  I’m sure you are going to get tired of me talking about how the sanctifying community walks with the Spirit.  Let’s begin, today, with three observations from our verses.

1) You still have desires.

YLT Galatians 5:16 And I say: In the Spirit walk ye, and the desire of the flesh ye may not complete;

Watch carefully what Paul says in this verse.  Walking in the Spirit does not prevent us from having the Sarx; from having the selfish, indulgent, desires.  But it does keep us from bringing them to completion, to fulfillment; to the conclusion of biting and devouring and consuming each other. “Interesting… you are saying that I am going to still have the desires, but if we are walking with the Spirit, we control them?” Walking with the Spirit is not prevention from feeling the Sarx. It is the way we keep the Sarx from eating our lunch.

While walking with the Spirit we will continue to feel the Sarx’s presence.  We are going to discover, in the next few verses of Galatians, 15 or so different ways we might feel its presence.  Here is a sneak preview.

Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the sinful nature (sarx) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

We will still have these desires. So, when we feel the presence of the Sarx, in these ways, we rely upon holding hands with the Spirit for power.  Here is an exercise; visualize holding hands with the Spirit.  This leads me to my 2nd observation.

2) You have to make a choice.

Galatians 5:17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

There is a bit of a paradox here.  It is in walking with the Spirit and relying upon the Spirit in community that we have the power to combat the Sarx, but we have to make a choice to walk and rely!   Listen to a section from “The Spirit for the Rest of Us” by Tim Woodroof.

Relationship with the Holy Spirit begins with an invitation. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Luke 11:13). Yes, there are times in Scripture when the Spirit falls, unasked and unexpected, on people like Cornelius. And, yes, the Spirit can do what he wants, when he wants, with whom he wants. But, as in so much of our interaction with God, the Spirit demonstrates a remarkable respect for and deference to our wills and our wishes. Just as Jesus does not come barging into our lives, demanding faith and obedience "or else," so the Spirit will not force himself on us, taking up residence where he has not been welcomed. He wants a partner, not a puppet.

And so the Spirit waits for us to invite him inside. We can do this through baptism (a request, not just for forgiveness of sins, but for "the gift of the Holy Spirit"—Acts 2:38). We can do it through prayer (as when Peter and John prayed for Samaritan believers that "they might receive the Holy Spirit"—Acts 8:15). I personally believe we should make this request whenever we participate in communion…

So when you ask God for his promised Spirit, do so with confidence that he wants to give the Spirit to you, believing that what you have asked he will accomplish, trusting that your Father will keep his promise. Ask God and then expect him to deliver, expect him to have already delivered.

You cannot remain neutral.  But, the Spirit is there for the asking!  I need a yippy! 

3) Law is not the answer.

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

What was going on in Galatia in 49 AD was a debate over how to get rid of the Sarx.  The agitators were advocating the use of circumcision and the Law of Moses as the answer to the Sarx.  But Paul is advocating that Law is not the answer to the Sarx, but rather being led by the Spirit. 

While on the rafting trip several times Danny Kratzer told us to, “Man up.” He meant we needed to use our strength and determination and grit to do whatever we needed to do. “Quit your whining and Man Up!”  While it was a good answer while rafting the river, it is not the answer to the Sarx.  The “Man up” answer does not work with the Sarx because it relies upon our own will, which is easily perverted by the Sarx. Rather, we are led by the Spirit.

Paul continues the walking metaphor by saying as we are walking with the Spirit, he is the one who is leading the walk.  While holding hands, we go where he leads!  It is not our wisdom to come up with rules or strategies or “manning up” it is in being in step with the Spirit as he guides us on our walk.  The answer to the Sarx is following the Spirit, not relying upon law.  

Three observations:
1) When we have desires, we rely: “I am relying upon you, Spirit.”
2) When we make the choice, we ask: “Heavenly Father give me the Holy Spirit.”
3) When we are tempted to “Man up,” we give into following the Spirit.

Rely, ask and follow, brings the Spirit into our community for sanctification. 

Los Alamos Church of Christ
August 16, 2009