The Ancient War Between the Flesh and the Spirit

Sermon on Galatians 5:16-25
Pentecost Monday
6 June 2022
Kramer Chapel Fort Wayne, Indiana

Text: “But I say, keep walking with the Spirit, and you definitely 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.”

Intro: 78 years ago today, the largest amphibious assaults in history, known today as D-Day was underway on the shores of France. The battle for control of the beaches led to the defeat of Nazi Germany once and for all. We are engaged in a more ancient war – the war between the Holy Spirit and our sinful nature. The war is already won; Jesus defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil when he suffered and died to atone for our sins and rose again to break the seal of the grave forever. Yet the battle is not over. Even though our sinful nature, the flesh, was defeated on the cross and drowned in the waters of baptism, it’s not quite dead yet. As the old saying goes, the Old Adam (and Eve!) is a good swimmer! Yet because Christ has defeated it, we no longer have to sin. We already live our lives following the Holy Spirit and what he wants. If we keep walking around with him – when we follow his lead, our victory is guaranteed.

1. The war is between the Spirit and the Flesh
   1. Easier said then done! For our sin-soaked and warped emotions are very powerful.
   2. Our culture urges us to follow our dreams, to our own self be true, to pursue happiness above everything else, to ignore reality when it doesn’t feel right.
   3. As if that was not bad enough, we are told that we must celebrate the choices of others – from same-sex marriage to pretending that some men are women and some women are men, to killing babies in the womb and sick people in their beds.
2. The flesh leads to destruction
   1. When we compromise with these forces, we find ourselves curved back in on ourselves, dividing into ever smaller group and turn to fighting, even among ourselves.
   2. God warns us that the works of these desires lead to destruction and ultimately to hell.
   3. Yet the urgings of the Old Adam are a lie; He is dead.
3. The fruit of the Spirit comes from life in Christ
   1. Our New Adam or Eve lives. For when Christ rose from the dead, we rose to new life.
   2. The Holy Spirit created our new self within us when we were baptized.
   3. He brings fruit from that new nature to us and to our brothers and sisters in Christ through us.
   4. When our work in this battle is done, our life is hidden with God, until the battle is over and we rise glorious in his victory to live with him forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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