Galatians 5.22
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
As we saw yesterday, grace is the source of our relationship with God, and peace is the fruit. When we embrace God’s grace, our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God. As it says in Romans, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” But it goes further. Galatians 5 tells us that our peace isn’t just positional, it is also practical and experiential. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit, and it produces in us a condition of heart and mind that gives us calm, which then gives us clarity, which then gives us confidence.
That is peace: calm, clear, and confident in the midst of the many situations of life
However, keep in mind that to experience the power and peace of the Spirit you must walk in the Spirit. This is a key message in Galatians 5, where Paul draws the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. In verse 17 he says, “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.” This is the great inner battle: The sin nature and the Spirit are both within you, and they are constantly competing for your attention, your choices, and your behavior.
If you are a Christian, the power and peace of the Spirit are available to you. In order to get access to the power and peace of the Spirit, you must make the choice to walk in the Spirit and say no to your sin nature. That is why Paul says in Galatians 5.16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The point is that you have the choice to gratify the desires of the flesh, in which case you will not experience the fruit of the Spirit.
Spirit vs flesh is a battle. It is a fight. A struggle. You must compete. The battle — the competition — is not general. It is very specific.
- Truth vs distortion/deception
- Love vs indifference/hate
- Self-centered vs others-centered
- Humility vs arrogance
- Sexual purity vs lust
- Good language vs bad language
- Generosity vs greed
- Gratitude vs discontent
- Joy for others vs jealously of others
- Emotional discipline vs impulsive anger
The intensity of the inner battle was made clear to me recently while at OSU spring practice when I heard Coach Meyer passionately challenge the players to be fierce competitors. Not standard/normal competitors, but fierce competitors. Practice is designed so that every drill and matchup had a winner and a loser. Coach Meyer made it clear that a fierce competitor will not always win every drill and matchup, but if he loses a drill, the fierce competitor is motivated to bring more focus, energy, and competitive fire to the next matchup. The fierce competitor does not accept losing. As a result of this intensely competitive process, the fierce competitor gets progressively better with every rep. He also makes the guys around him better.
Throughout practice I heard the constant, passionate challenge to “compete. Be a fierce competitor!” I couldn’t help but think of Galatians 5 and the inner battle between the Spirit and the sin nature. How many Christians are fierce competitors when it comes to the matchup of the Spirit vs the desires of the sin nature? How many Christians fiercely pursue the things of the Spirit and do not accept losing to their old impulses and desires? How many Christians are getting progressively better through the inner battle between the Spirit vs the flesh?
At the end of practice Coach Meyer gave the team a final message on being a fierce competitor. “Be relentless,” he said. “Never stop competing. If you keep fighting, keep competing, keep swinging …. at some point the rock will break. So be relentless, keep swinging, and break the rock!
That’s it. That is spiritual warfare. That is the inner battle that every Christian must fight. We are in a daily competition against the desires and impulses of our old nature, and we have been given the Holy Spirit to “put to death” the old nature. For this to happen in your life, you must be a fierce competitor who chooses the Spirit and says no to the desires of the sin nature. Yes, there will be certain sins and habits that are tenacious and difficult to eradicate from your life. Yes, you will lose some matchups. But always your response should be this: Trust God. Be relentless about walking in the Spirit. Pray constantly. Never stop competing for the lordship of Christ in your life. If you trust the Lord and keep competing, keep fighting, keep swinging …. at some point the rock will break.
Paul was this kind of fierce competitor for the things of the Spirit. Here is what he says in 1 Corinthians 9.24-27: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
Trust God and do the work. Be a fierce competitor for the lordship of Christ in your life. Break the rock!
