As a Christian, Do I Need to Change?
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires
of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,
rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I
warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. And those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and
desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” ~ Galatians
5:16-25
Strong words by the apostle Paul. There is a
debate among Christians today. Some say you can be children of God or Christians,
but have no change of heart, thinking, beliefs or lifestyle. Christ’s death, burial, resurrection
gets you a pass to heaven, but no additional change is necessary. Others say
once truly saved, everything changes. Your thinking, beliefs, and behavior changes
in regards to sin, walking in the spirit, worship, and daily living. Maybe the simplified question a lot of people are asking is "As a Christian, do I need to change how I think, believe and live?"
Who has it right? What's the answer? Let’s look at Paul’s words and a few other NT writings to answer these questions.
Who has it right? What's the answer? Let’s look at Paul’s words and a few other NT writings to answer these questions.
Verses 16-18 “But
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires
of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
They key word is “flesh.”
This is Greek transliterated sarx. Sarx means “mere human nature, the earthly nature of man
apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God.”[1]
It is in sum, all that we do in our own power apart from the Spirit of God.
These two concepts are mutually exclusive. The works of the Spirit
are not and cannot be the same as works of the flesh. The power is completely
different. The motivation is different.
There is always a battle for the believer to walk in the Spirit
over living the flesh. The theme of Galatians the war between the law and
grace. Law and grace are contradictory, either as a means of salvation or of
sanctification. So can a Christian do things in their own power? Absolutely.
Should they? No.
Verses 19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,
rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned
you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The real key word in this
passage is “do”, but we’ll get there in a minute.
Paul gives a list of works
of the flesh in three groupings (sex, religion, and relationships):
Sex
1) Sexual Immorality - Greek porneia
- all illegitimate sexual activity, e.g. adultery, sex outside of a monogamous marriage
between a man and woman, homosexuality, prostitution, etc.
2) Impurity - Greek akatharsia
- Anything that prevents us from approaching God because of our uncleanliness.
3) Sensuality – Greek aselgeia
– Lack of restraint– especially in in the area of sex.
Religion
4) Idolatry – Greek eidolotria –
The worship of anything that is not God.
5) Sorcery – Greek pharmakeia
– It’s where we get the term pharmaceutical. This is referring to mind-altering
drugs.
Relationships
6) Enmity - Hateful attitudes which leads to hateful actions.
7) Strife - The result of enmity is strife, which is unnecessary,
bitter fights.
8)
Jealousy / Envy– Greek zelos – Anger or hateful bitterness
because of desiring the possessions of someone else.
9)
Fits of Anger – Unexpected outbursts of
unrestrained rage.
10)
Rivalries, Dissensions, Divisions – The intentional and unnecessary divisions and politicking for oneself or a group.
11)
Drunkenness – Being under the influence
of alcohol, which results in sinful, and uncontrolled behavior.
12)
Orgies (carousing, NASB) – Greek komos – “A nocturnal and riotous
procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows who after supper parade
through the streets with torches and music in honour of Bacchus or some other
deity.”[2]
Orgies were part of the pagan culture and tied back to false deity worship.
So now you have the sins Paul list’s out plus
don’t forget his “and things like these.”
But here
is the key word to this section: “do” or as the NASB translates it “practice.”
“Do” or “practice” is the Greek prasso which translates as a present active participle. What does
that mean? It means an ongoing action – a habitual way of life. One who practices
these works of the flesh or sin is the unsaved. How do you know? Look at what
Paul says as he continues, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God.”
I know the automatic
pushback: “But Nat, I struggle with sin. In fact, I still sin. I don’t want to.
I know it’s wrong. I have remorse, but I still sin – even in some of these
areas.” If you thought this or something like this, you already answered your
pushback. You know it’s wrong. You don’t want to. You have remorse. That’s a
mark of a true believer.
We need to remember, the
occasional actions are not and should not be the definition of a person’s
character, but instead the habitual actions. Paul wrote, “For the
mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.” Hostility is that of an
enemy, not of a friend or child.
Listen to the words of John:
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness. You know
that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who
abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little
children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever
makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning
from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy
the works of the devil. No one born
of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides
in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it
is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the
one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:4-10).
This is an important difference we need
to remember. As Christians, we still sin. We always will. But it won’t be a way
of living. It will be something we dread. When we sin, we grieve the Spirit.
When we sin, we will have remorse followed by repentance – a sign of true
conversion, and confession. The one who hasn’t changed or repented from their sins – “the one
who practices such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
In the remaining verses Paul gives a
list of what living in the Spirit looks like in the fruit (not fruits) of the
Spirit:
Verses 22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. And those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and
desires.”
These are fairly well self-explanatory and
really the opposite of the works of the flesh. How will one recognize if they
belong to Christ? They have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires
(v 19-21).
Verse 25 “If
we live by the Spirit, let us also
keep in step with the Spirit.”
For those of us who are followers of Christ,
let us daily walk in the Spirit and by the Spirit. When we sin, we repent,
confess, and ask for His help to have us do better.
So, can you be a Christian and still struggle with sin? Absolutely. We will always battle with the flesh (whether it's sin, any work in our own power, or legalism - a talk for another time). But the real question was and is can a person be an authentic Christian and practice habitual (intentional and ongoing) sin with no remorse, no conviction, no repentance, and no confession? From the Apostle Paul's perspective (and the whole NT), no.
So, as a Christian, do you need to change how you live? Think? Believe? Absolutely, because it's the natural outflow of being a new creation and a masterpiece of God (Eph. 2:8-10).
So, as a Christian, do you need to change how you live? Think? Believe? Absolutely, because it's the natural outflow of being a new creation and a masterpiece of God (Eph. 2:8-10).
Can a Christian have times of sinful waywardness that are an ongoing struggle? I do believe so. But as I addressed earlier, there will be true remorse, repentance, and confession. In His power, in the Spirit's power, we can not fall into temptation. He will provide a way out (1 Cor. 10:13).
I encourage you all, to do what the Apostle
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:5 “ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the
test!”
Examine yourself and do not be deceived. If you
are a follower of Christ, there will be evidence. A desire and a walking in the
Spirit instead of the practice of living in the flesh.
If you are not walking in the Spirit and are
truly far from God and Jesus, believe that Christ died for your sins. Believe that He was buried and rose again for your sins and for mine. Remember, it’s not a
prayer that saves you, but a repentant heart that believes (acts in accordance
with) in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
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