Tim Keller: Comparing the Flesh and the Spirit
From his commentary - Galatians for You
An excerpt from Timothy Keller - Galatians For You: Amazon Link
I used these helpful distinctions in a couple sermons a few weeks back and there has been interest to read through these notes. This is just an excerpt from the book but was a basis for the material given in the sermons on Galatians 5:16-24:
[16] But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] 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. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] 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. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (ESV)
All the text below is from Galatians for You by Tim Keller
Acts of the Flesh: actions as well as attitudes
[Keller outlines four potential categories for acts of the flesh]
Sexuality (3):
Sexual immorality (porneia), which is sexual intercourse between unmarried people; impurity (akatharsia), i.e. unnatural sexual sexual practices and relationships; debauchery (aselgia), ie. uncontrolled sexuality:
Religion (2):
Idolatry (eidololatria), providing an inadequate substitute for God and witchcraft (pharmakeia), faking the work of the Spirit.
Relationships (8):
Destructive attitudes - selfish ambition (eritheia), competitiveness, a self-seeking motive; envy (phthonoi), coveting, desirijng what others have; jealousy (zdlos), the zeal and energy that comes from a hungry ego; hatred (echthrai), hostility, an adversarial attitude.
Destructive results - discord (eris), argumentative or seeking to pick fights; fits of rage (thumoi), outbursts of anger; dissensions (dichostaiai), divisions between people; factions (aireseis), permanent parties and warring groups.
Substance Abuse (2):
Drunknenness and orgies (drinking orgies); addiction to pleasure-creating substances and behaviors.
Paul has a stark warning for “those who live like this . . . they will not inherit the kingdom of God'' (v21). Paul is referring to habitual practice, rather than infrequent, and repented-of, lapses. For someone to continually indulge the sinful nature without battling against it is to show that the Son has not redeemed them, and that the Spirit has not renewed them.
Another way to break down this list into categories is to notice that some of the sins are characteristic of religious people (selfishness, envy, jealousy, factions), while others are more characteristic of non-religious people (immorality, drunkenness). This lists shows us that God does not make the kind of distinctions that we commonly do . . . it undermines the tendency of naturally non-religious people to label the flaws of someone else’s religious sarx [flesh] as “worse” and of religious people to see the works of a non-religious sarx [flesh] as beyond the pale. We are much better at noticing the works of someone else’s sinful nature than we are at battling our own! (150)
Being Led by the Spirit
To be led by the Spirit is to change, and be changed, to be the people we want to be. The Spirit-fuelled development of Christlike character is liberating, because it brings us closer to being the people we were designed to be, the people our Spirit-renewed hearts want us to be.
Fruit -
Christian growth is gradual (often gradually and unnoticed).
Second, the growth of the Spirit’s fruit is inevitable (a person saved by faith will be a person in whom the fruit of the Spirit grows).
Third, the fruit of the Spirit has internal roots (not traits - life produces the fruit).
Fourth, Christian growth is symmetrical (all parts of the fruit grow).
[Keller describes all nine fruits of the spirit - the Greek word for each is given first (transliterated) and then the english word]
1. Agape = love.
It means to serve a person for their good and intrinsic value, not for what the person brings you. Its opposite is fear: self-protection and abusing people. Its counterfeit (a fake version) is selfish affection, where you are attracted to someone and treat them well because of how they make you feel about yourself.
2. Chara = joy,
a delight in God for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. Its opposite is hopelessness or despair, and its counterfeit is an elation that is based on experiencing blessings, not the Blesser, causing mood swings based on circumstances.
3. Irene = peace,
meaning a confidence and rest in the wisdom and control of God, rather than in your own. It replaces anxiety and worry. The fake version of peace is indifference, apathy, not caring about something.
4. Makrothumia = patience,
an ability to face trouble without blowing up or hitting out. Its opposite is resentment toward God and others, and its counterfeits are cynicism or lack of care: This is too small to care about.
5. Chrestotes = kindness,
which is an ability to serve others practically in a way which makes me vulnerable, which comes from having a deep inner security. Its opposite is envy, which leaves me unable to rejoice in another’s joy. And its fake alternative is manipulative good deeds, doing good for others so I can congratulate myself and feel I am “good enough” for others or for God.
6. Agathosune = goodness, integrity;
being the same person in every situation, rather than a phony or a hypocrite. This is not the same as being always truthful but not always loving; getting things off your chest just to make yourself feel or look better.
7. Pistis = faithfulness,
loyalty, courage, to be utterly reliable and true to your word. Its opposite is to be an opportunist, a friend only in good times. And its counterfeit is to be loving but not truthful, so that you are never willing to confront or challenge.
8. Prautas = gentleness,
humility, self-forgetfulness. The opposite is to be superior or self-absorbed. Humility is not the same as inferiority (see next chapter).
9. Egkrateia = self-control,
the ability to pursue the important over the urgent, rather than to be always impulsive or uncontrolled. The slightly surprising counterfeit is a willpower which is based on pride, the need to feel in control.
When we look closely at the fruit of the Spirit, and see that one aspect of it cannot be seen in isolation from any of the others, we see that we are far more in need of growth in the fruit of the Spirit than we think. When we stop looking at our gifts as a sign that we are Christlike, and stop looking at our natural strengths as a sign we are Christlike, but challenge ourselves to look at the nature, unity and definitions of the Spirit, we have a much deeper sense of how we lack these things.