How knowing Jesus changes you

I remember preaching once on how God can accept us despite everything that’s unacceptable about us. And I said:

God’s acceptance of us depends 100% on what Jesus did for us on the cross, and 0% on anything we do for him, which sets us free from the treadmill of trying to make ourselves acceptable…The truth is we’re no more accepted by God on the best day of our Christian lives, and no less accepted on the worst because it depends 100% on what Jesus did on the cross and 0% on us.

And someone came up afterwards, very angry, and said ‘You should never preach what you’ve just preached’. So I said ‘Why not?’ And he said ‘Because you’ve said it doesn’t matter how we live.’ So I said ‘No I didn’t. I just said God’s acceptance of us doesn’t depend on how we live’ and he said ‘But it amounts to the same thing, because if you say that, people will just go out and sin’. So I said ‘Why will they?’ and he said ‘Because if you know you’re accepted anyway, you’ll just feel free to do whatever you want’. So I said to him ‘I think what you’ve not understood is…that when you know someone loved you enough to die for you, it completely changes what you want’. And that’s what tonight’s passage in our Galatians series is all about. It’s about How knowing Jesus Changes You.

So, would you turn in the Bibles to page 974. I know it’s onscreen, but opening a Bible helps you see how the ‘graphics bites’ fit together. So page 974. Where you’ll find Galatians 5 and look under the heading ‘Christ has set us free’ because this sums up Galatians:

For freedom Christ has set us free

In other words, by dying for us, to see us forgiven and accepted, Jesus has set us free from the ‘treadmill’ of trying to make ourselves acceptable – which of course immediately becomes the treadmill of failure and a sense of God’s condemnation. So if you’re trusting in Jesus tonight, you’re free from that treadmill. But as we’ve seen, the Galatians were being unsettled by people who were trying to bring the ‘treadmill’ back. They’re often called ‘Judaisers’ – because they were Jews who thought that unless you were living under the Old Testament law: 1. You weren’t really fully accepted by God, and 2. You couldn’t really live to please God. So their message was: ‘It’s great that you trust in Jesus but you now need something else. You need to add living under the Old Testament law’. To which Paul says (Galatians 5.1 again):

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery [don’t get on the treadmill of the Old Testament law].

So the Judaisers thought that unless you were living under the Old Testament law: 1. You weren’t really fully accepted by God, and 2. You couldn’t really live to please God. And so far in Galatians, Paul has answered number one, by saying: Jesus’ death has made you fully acceptable to God – whereas the Old Testament law can’t, and was never meant to. But what about number two? Because the Judaisers would have said to Paul ‘Look, these new Christians came to faith from a godless, Gentile lifestyle, and they’re still surrounded by that. So how can they possibly live for God, and not slide back into that old lifestyle – unless they come under God’s Old Testament law?’ In fact, the Jews said the Old Testament law was like a ‘fence’ between them and the Gentiles – to protect them from all the sinfulness out there. ‘So, Paul, how can these new Christians possibly live for God without that ‘fence?’ Won’t they just go out and sin – just feel free to do whatever they want?’ So Paul now turns from what Jesus has set us free from to what he’s set us free for. And I’m going to call the freedom Jesus gives us ‘gospel freedom’. And point one is:

1. What gospel freedom is for (Galatians 5.13-15)

And Paul says it’s not for sinning, but for loving. Look on to the next page, to Galatians 5.13:

For you were called to freedom, brothers [and sisters was implied in the original word]. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

So flesh isn’t what covers your bones. Paul uses that word to talk about our fallenness or sinfulness. So he’s saying ‘you have the freedom of knowing that God’s acceptance of you doesn’t depend on how well you do today. But don’t use that as an excuse for sinning. Don’t rationalise sinning by saying ‘well, I can be forgiven afterwards, can’t I?’ It is wonderfully true that Jesus died for all our sins – past and future. But that’s to encourage us that all our past sins can be forgiven. It’s not to encourage us to plan on sinning in the future. So what is gospel freedom for? Not sinning, but loving. Galatians 5.13 again:

Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

And Paul knew that gospel freedom changes people to be like that. Many of you know Ken Matthews, married to Fiona. And I still remember Ken saying in his wedding day speech ‘Fiona, you know me better than anyone for the idiot I am. And yet you still love me. And every day that makes me want to love you, and be a better man’. And if you’re trusting in Jesus, you can say to him ‘Lord, you know me better than anyone as the sinner I am. And yet you still love me – loved me enough to die for me. And every day that makes me want to love you and be a better person’. And that’s the heart of being a Christan: living on the receiving end of such love that it changes you. So you might be surprised to see what Paul says next (Galatians 5.14):

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

And if you’ve understood Galatians so far, you should be thinking ‘Hold on, Paul. You’ve been saying that the way on in the Christian life is the way in, and that that doesn’t involve the Old Testament law. So why are you suddenly telling us to keep an Old Testament law?’ And Paul would say ‘I’m not telling you to keep an Old Testament law. I’m telling you that when Jesus’ love changes you to be more loving, the Old Testament law is being fulfilled.’ Galatians 5.14:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

So the law describes the kind of life that reflects God’s character and creation order. That’s why the Old Testament law is still God’s Word for us, even though it’s not God’s law over us, as it was for Old Testament believers. But the law described something it couldn’t deliver. It promised something it couldn’t produce. And Paul is saying the kind of life the law promised can only be produced (and even then only imperfectly) in those trusting in Jesus. It’s fulfilled in those who live on the receiving end of Jesus’ love, and are changed. So we still need the Old Testament law as God’s Word for us. For example, to define what marriage is, and the faithfulness it calls for. But it can’t make us faithful, or any of the other things it commands. Only Jesus can. But then if Galatians 5.14 was a surprise, Galatians 5.15 is a shocker:

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Which is a picture of Christians at one another’s throats. And Galatians 5.15 is most likely there because the Judaisers had divided the Galatians badly. Because when some people are saying ‘You’re not really fully acceptable to God like we are because you’re not doing A, B and C like we are’ or ‘You’ve not experienced X, Y and Z like we have…’, it divides people badly. False teaching divides. Whereas gospel freedom unites. That’s what gospel freedom is for. Next:

2. What gospel freedom enables (Galatians 5.16-18)

And Paul says, it enables you to resist sin and desire God’s will in a way you couldn’t before. Look on to Galatians 5.16-17:

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.

Here’s a picture to help us understand that:

So the flesh means our fallenness, our sinfulness. And this stickperson stands for how we fallen people live, by nature. Which is to do what we want – to follow our desires, as if they were unquestionably right, and as if God wasn’t there to have a say. Which is why he’s crossed out. That’s the fallen environment we were born into – which is why all of us have all sorts of wrong desires and weaknesses towards sin. And that’s the fallen environment we’re still surrounded by. But next picture, our stickperson has now come to faith in Jesus:

Let’s call her she. So she started on the bottom arrow, but then she heard the gospel – that out of love for her, Jesus died on the cross to see her forgiven and accepted. And as God’s Spirit helped her to see that, it completely changed what she wants. So she’s now on that top arrow, going in a new direction, with new desires. And I’d love to say she’s now sinless and lives out her new desires perfectly. But that’s not true – and won’t be, this side of heaven. So she has to say what John Newton, the converted slave trader who wrote Amazing Grace, said:

I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.

So now look at Galatians 5.16-17 again:

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.

So what does it mean to walk by the Spirit? It means now that God’s Spirit has given you new desires, walk in the direction of those new desires, live them out intentionally. So take pornography, for example, because that’s a struggle for many of us. Being a Christian doesn’t neutralise any temptation – whether it’s to pornography or anything else. Because like I said, we have all sorts of wrong desires and weaknesses towards sin because of our fallenness. But the Spirit gives us new desires. For example, when it comes to pornography, the desire for purity, the desire for an unclouded relationship with God, the desire to be faithful to our spouse, the desire to honour sexuality and people as we should – instead of treating sex as just a pleasure and people as just objects. The Spirit gives those new desires, but we then have to live them out intentionally. If those desires are like a rugby ball God puts on the pitch in front of us, we have to pick it up and run with it. So for example with pornography, we have to start by asking ‘How can I cut off the avenues of temptation here?’ And if it’s an issue for you, I’d say you’re defeated before you’ve begun unless you use some kind of internet accountability software with the help of a few godly friends – like Covenant Eyes or Accountable2You.

These verses don’t mean that living out our new desires is a walk in the park. It will involve struggle. But the point is it’s a struggle we can now win, and where some progress and godly habits are now possible. Look at Galatians 5.16-17 again:

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. [Literally, ‘to keep you from doing whatever things you might want to do.’]

Which shows Paul is in touch with reality, because he knows that even on that top arrow, we’ll still find ourselves inconsistently, inexplicably, wanting to do what we know Jesus doesn’t want. And one work of his Spirit is to keep us from running those wrong desires into practice. So, sin is still possible for us in the way it always was before. But, the point is, obeying Jesus is now possible for us in a way it never was before. And then in Galatians 5.18, Paul mentions the Old Testament law again, because he’s still answering the Judaisers, who said that only the Old Testament law could change people. But Paul says:

And if you are led by the Spirit [which just means led to live out those new desires], you are not under the law.

In other words, if Jesus, by his Spirit, has changed you, then being under the law would do nothing to help you change more. Because although the law can still tell us what we ought to be, it can’t make us what we ought to be. That’s what gospel freedom enables. Next:

3. What gospel freedom doesn’t look like (Galatians 5.19-21)

And Paul says it doesn’t look like the same old you – saying that God accepts you, but living completely unchanged. But that was the Judaisers’ caricature of the gospel. They said ‘your gospel will just leave people saying “Hey, God accepts me already – so I can just sin as I please”’. And Paul answers that in Galatians 5.19-21:

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.

We can’t unpack that list of works of the flesh, but one thing to say is that: a lot of it describes the Gentile lifestyle that the Galatians had come to faith from, and were still surrounded by. Which is a reminder that, once we come to Jesus, we may have a lot to unlearn from our past and from our environment, as God’s Word shows us the things that are outside his will – which we may never have realised were outside his will. But another thing to say is that a lot of that list is about relationships inside the church. So in Galatians 5.20 again:

…enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions

And like in Galatians 5.15, Paul was most likely thinking of the Judaisers’ influence, because false teaching always divides. But even without the problem of false teaching, we all have it in our flesh to behave like this in church relationships – when we’re provoked or offended or disappointed by our brothers and sisters, or when we disagree over things. And we need to be led by the Spirit and not by the flesh in all our relationships with one another. But the main point of this bit is Galatians 5.21:

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And to help us understand what that is and isn’t saying, here’s my picture again.

So when Galatians 5.21 talks about those who do such things it means those who do such things as their lifestyle – their unchanged, unrepentant lifestyle. And Paul is saying if some or all of Galatians 5.19-21 describes your lifestyle, that’s evidence that you’re still on the bottom arrow in the picture. In which case, you’re not going to inherit the kingdom of God. Not because we earn that by how we live but because those who are genuinely in the kingdom (who have Jesus as King) show evidence of that in changed (although far from sinless) lives. So Galatians 5.21 isn’t about earning acceptance with God. It’s about whether you’re showing evidence that you’ve been accepted by him already.

So Galatians 5.21 is not saying that if you’ve ever done, or ever do, any of the things in Galatians 5.19-20, you’re not really a Christian, you must still be on the bottom arrow because Paul knows Christians still sin. People on the top arrow sin every day. Paul is talking about people for whom Galatians 5.19-21 describe their lifestyle, not about people for whom those verses describe their failures. But even after those clarifiers, these are searching verses aren’t they? And maybe they’ve made some of us uncomfortable because we’ve been living like bottom arrow people, even though we profess to be Christians. In which case, let’s take to heart what I once heard someone wisely say:

God means to disturb those who are comfortable in their sin, but to comfort those who are disturbed by their sin.

Which of those do you need him to do right now? That’s what gospel freedom doesn’t look like. And lastly:

4. What gospel freedom will always produce (Galatians 5.22-26)

And Paul says it will produce a life which is the fruit of living on the receiving end of Jesus’ love. Which gets us to the famous fruit of the Spirit passage, Galatians 5.22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Again, we can’t unpack all that, but the thing to get is that Paul is describing a life that is the fruit of living on the receiving end of Jesus’ love. Because elsewhere, the New Testament says that all of these qualities belong to Jesus. And as we live on the receiving end of these qualities from Jesus, it changes us, and we find we want to treat others as he’s treated us. So for example, Love – we find we want to love as Jesus has loved us. And when that seems too costly, we remember the cost of the cross. Or when people seems unlovable, we remember how Jesus died for the unlovely. Or then, Joy – that comes from knowing God’s acceptance of us depends 100% on what Jesus did on the cross and 0% on us. But that’s not just something for me, because I will then relate to you knowing that I only live with Jesus by his constant forgiveness and undeserved love – and that I can’t receive that from him and yet not give it to you. So next there’s…peace – which means peace with you. Because how could I not love and forgive and bear with you, when Jesus does that for me every minute of every hour of every day? And then…patience – That is, with you and your sin. Because Jesus is patient with me and my sin every day, so how can I receive that from him and not show it to you? And so on.

The Puritans called it ‘gospel holiness’ because it’s taking in the gospel of Jesus’ love for us that produces this fruit. And one last time, Paul mentions the law because he’s still answering the Judaisers. End of Galatians 5.23:

…against such things there is no law.

And when you think about it, much of the Old Testament law is ‘against’ things.

You shall not commit adultery.

Because God gave his law for the situation after the fall. And so it speaks against what the fallen human heart wants. But what about a heart that’s been changed by Jesus? For example, a heart that’s living on the receiving end of Jesus’ faithfulness, and so wants to be faithful itself? Paul’s point is that in that case, the law, whose purpose is to speak against sin, has nothing to speak against. Let me say again: we still need the Old Testament law as God’s Word for us. For example, to define what marriage is, and the faithfulness it calls for but it can’t make us faithful, or make us anything else it commands. Only Jesus can. And once Jesus has made us faithful all the Lord can do is say “well don’t commit adultery” and that’s a bit redundant at that stage.

Remember the person I began with, who came steaming up to be on the door, and said “If you preach this gospel people will just go out and sin. Galatians 5 says that’s not true. Well, if you’re a Christian your experience says that is not true because when God by his spirit opens your eyes to what Jesus did for you on the cross it changes you completely. Is that your experience?

For example (Exodus 20.14):