Every Christian’s Frustration

Galatians 5:14 – 26

Let me tell you a story that could be not only your story, but also the

story of nearly every Christian here today

-you were a sinner...lost...hopeless...helpless...in fact, the Bible

says in Ephesians 2:1 you were dead in your sins

--but then you heard good news, almost unbelievable news

---news about God’s incredible love for you...about a love that

was so strong it moved Him to send His only Son to come

to earth and die a horrible death on the cross—to die a

death you deserved because it was paying the penalty

you had coming to you because of your sin

---news about God’s amazing power that conquered death

and raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead

---news that because of God’s grace you could receive

forgiveness for your sin, new life with meaning and

purpose, as well as eternal life by trusting in Jesus

-so you do it—you believe—and God takes away your sin, your

guilt, your past...and He gives you life...real, true life like you’ve

never known or even imagined it before

--you make your faith public by getting baptized, you join the

church and become not just a Christian, but a Baptist, which

has got to be waaay better than a plain ol’ generic Christian

---you are soooo totally happy that you’re almost giddy—

and you’ve never been giddy about anything in your life

-but eventually...it happens—you sin—and I’m not just talking

about an itty-bitty “oops” of a sin like running a red light when

“honest, officer, it was just pink around the edges”

--I’m talking about another driver cuts you off and in your rage

you unleash a string of vile profanities that simply stuns you

---you pull over on the side of the road, shaking, and you

think to yourself, “Oh, my gosh. I can’t be a Christian. I

mean, a true Christian would never talk like that, right?”

---you don’t know enough to answer your own question, so

you call a friend from church and are told, “Don’t worry

about it. Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”

-and that sounds pretty good—after all, you have read it on a

bumper sticker—and you’re satisfied until...guess what? you sin

again...and then again

This time you talk to your young, handsome, but wise pastor

-he nods his head knowingly—he’s seen your kind before—he

opens his Bible, reads 1 John 1:9 which assures you that If we

confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

and purify us from all unrighteousness.

--then he confidently asserts that this verse was written to

Christians, so obviously it means Christians are going to sin

---“That’s not to minimize sin,” he adds, “but it’s not something

to worry about and surely nothing to lose sleep over.”

-you thank him for his counsel...and with biblical support like that

you know he’s not wrong, but you can’t help but wonder if that’s

all there is to it

As the years go by it seems you find yourself bouncing back-and-

forth between two extremes

-either you are completely neurotic about every potential sin in your

life and it’s nearly impossible for you to accept God’s forgiveness

-or you don’t worry much about sin because, after all, you’re

saved, you’ve got your ticket for heaven, so there’s not much to

get too worked up over

--yet as the years go by, you never really sense that you are

experiencing the spiritual growth other Christians talk about

---and you have this nagging feeling that the Christian life is

about more than simply making it to heaven someday

‘Sound familiar?

-it does to me...and I think it reflects the experience of many, if not

most of you

--listen to how one believer describes his journey of faith à

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do,

but what I hate to do...

For I have the desire to do what is god,

but I cannot carry it out.

For what I do is not the good I want to do;

no, the evil I do not want to do—

this I keep on doing!

Sounds really familiar, doesn’t it?

Not only does it mirror what we’ve all gone through, those are also

the words of the Apostle Paul

-yeah, the Apostle Paul...other than Jesus, this dude was the best

Christian ever...yet here we find him struggling with the exact

same problem you and I have

In the first half of Galatians 5, Paul has been addressing the pressing

need of these new believers...reminding them no one achieves

right standing with God by obeying a bunch of religious laws

-instead, right standing with God is only through faith in Christ, and

even then it’s not achieved, but received as God’s gift

The reality of salvation is this: we have been saved at a point in the

past (i.e., justification), we are in the process of being saved (i.e.,

sanctification), and finally there is coming a day when our salvation

is complete (i.e., glorification)

-that’s confusing, I’ll admit, but when we can begin to wrap our

minds around it, we’ll gain new insight into this common

frustration we all deal with

Ephesians 2:5, 8 both say à it is by grace you have been saved

-the Greek behind that tells us that our salvation has already taken

place at a point in time in the past and the effects continue today

--it would be like saying, “Elizabeth has been crowned queen of

the British Empire.”

---there was a time when she was not queen, then a specific

moment when she was made queen, and as a result of

that action she is still queen today

1 Corinthians 1:18 à For the message of the cross is foolishness to

those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the

power of God.

-the Greek behind this phrase reminds us that our salvation is still

being worked out inside us...it is, somehow, not yet complete

--are we forgiven now? yes

--are we saved now? yes

--if we died now would we go to heaven? yes

-but God isn’t finished with us yet...the moment of our salvation

was just the beginning

--from that point in the past we have been being saved

That’s all well and good, but there’s more

-Hebrews 9:28 à Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins

of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin,

but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

-Romans 13:11b à ...our salvation is nearer now than when we

first believed.

So, which is it?

-is our salvation past, present, or future? the answer is: yes

-think of salvation this way

--justification is the beginning of salvation

--sanctification is the continuing of salvation

--and glorification is the completion of salvation

Thirty-four years ago next month, I was justified

-because of Christ, God looked at me “just if I’d” never sinned

--I refer to that night in June of 1974 as the moment I was saved

---and I’m right by saying that, but my statement is incomplete

--the moment I was justified, my salvation was secured forever

-at the same time, the moment I was justified sanctification began

--that’s the process by which God works in me to make me more

and more into the image of Christ

--Romans 8:29 à And those God foreknew He also predestined

to be conformed to the likeness of His Son...

---what that means is that it has always been God’s plan that

those who are justified would be shaped to be like Christ

----“Christian” isn’t just some label we wear...it’s a word

that means “little Christ”...more than suggesting that

when people see us they should see Jesus

-so at this point in my life, 34 years after my justification, I am still

being sanctified...I’m saved and still in the process of being saved

--if I’m still in the process of being saved, what else does that say?

---I’m not there yet...and I won’t be there until I pass from this

life to the next or until Jesus returns

Now with all that spinning around in our heads, let’s return to our text

-Read Galatians 5:16 – 17

--before we had this lengthy discussion about salvation, you might

have been shocked by all of this

---I mean: what’s he talking about—“sinful nature”?

----I’m a Christian, “I don’t have no stinkin’ sinful nature”

----how can I have a sinful nature and the Holy Spirit in me

at the same time...and then, on top of that, for them to

be in conflict with each other?

-----shouldn’t that sinful nature have been evicted

from me, say, 34 years ago?

-----well, that’s what’s in the process of happening...

that’s what sanctification is all about

If you remember the sitcom Home Improvement, there was an

episode in which Tim looks across the fence into his neighbor’s back

yard only to find him slowly chipping away at this humungous log

-Tim asks, “Hey, Wilson, what are you doing?”

--“Ah, Tim,” Wilson answers, “I’m building a canoe.”

-puzzled, Tim remarks, “That looks terribly difficult.”

--“Not really, Tim. All you have to do is take a log and then chop

away everything that’s not a canoe.”

That’s what salvation—especially the sanctification part—is all about

-listen to 2 Peter 1:3 à His divine power has given us everything

we need for life and godliness...

--the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to remove that part of us that

is not Christ

-like Wilson referred to his canoe-making, that sounds simple—but

it’s not—and on top of that, it can be rather painful

In his classic, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes à Christ says,

“Give Me all. I don't want so much of your time...your money and...

your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self,

but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off

a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree

down...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you

think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the

whole outfit. I will give you a new self iinstead. In fact, I will give

you Myself: My own will shall become yours.”

Our common frustration of still wrestling with sin despite being

believers for 4, 34, or 64 years, isn’t because God is unable to bring

about that total transformation

-it’s because when He justifies us, He leaves our free will intact—

we don’t become His robots—which means we are still free to

flirt around with our sinful nature...or worse

--and as long as we insist on keeping parts of our old self

around, we’re going to flounder

-now you might point to this list of sins Paul mentions in vv. 19–21

and think, “I’m not a drunk. I’m not into witchcraft or orgies. How

in the world can I be lumped in with those kind of sinners?”

--point well taken—and I’m glad you’re not involved with that

---but what about “sexual immorality, impurity” in v. 19?

----pornography? lust? or “doing everything but _____”

with your boyfriend or girlfriend?

---what about “idolatry” in v. 20?

----true, you may not worship a statue or a tree, but do you

have something or someone that ever takes God’s

rightful place in your life?

-----are you sacrificing your relationship with God so

you can be popular?

-----do you worship your children or grandchildren to

the point where they are more important than

God Himself? does a girlfriend/boyfriend keep

you from surrendering yourself wholly to God?

-----do you make a god out your career or your plans

for your life...or your personal comfort?

---I won’t even go into hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,

selfish ambition, envy, and on and on

You see, we tend to blame God when we suffer consequences for

our sinful choices...or when we sense He is disciplining us...or when

we feel like He’s taking away things that mean a lot to us

-but page after page of Scripture teaches us that this is how God

works...we shouldn’t be surprised...listen

Read Hebrews 12:4 – 11

I love v. 11 à No discipline seems pleasant at the time...

-pleasant? are you kidding me?

--when God is working in my life, chipping away at the parts of me

that are not Christ, it hurts...and I’m usually not very happy

about it...but there is another way

--here’s His invitation: we can surrender first...we can confess our

idols, our selfish ambition, our impurities...or we can stubbornly

hang on to them, resisting the gentle conviction of His Spirit,

and just wait for Him to get out His hammer, axe, and saw

In sharp contrast to giving in to our sinful nature, we can choose to be

led by (or, literally, in v. 25, walk in step with) the Spirit

-and when that’s happening we overflow with evidence that we are

living a surrendered life...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

--what’s funny is that every Christian wants that kind of life

--who doesn’t want love, joy, and peace?

--we want them more than money, success, and pleasure

-when we don’t have those Spirit-given qualities, it means we

have decided we’d prefer to gratify our sinful nature instead

--when you think about it, that’s simply ludicrous

----here we are—Christians—we’ve been justified by grace...

we know from repeated experience that sin never keeps

its promise to make us happy...and yet time after time

we convince ourselves that this time will be different

-----and when we turn to the high-priced sin that we

think we want, we turn our backs to God’s free

free gifts we need

----it causes us to shake our heads in disbelief

----it causes God’s heart to break

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Have I been justified?

-if not, what is keeping me from that step of faith?

2. If I have been justified, is God’s sanctification process making a

real difference in my life?

-does the fruit of the Spirit characterize how I act and speak?

-am I ready today to surrender the thing that prevents me from

being made more like Christ?

-or am I going keep my life’s focus on gratifying my sinful nature?

3. Read 2 Peter 1:3 – 9

-which describes you?

--are making every effort to possess those qualities in increasing

measure?

--or are you ineffective, unproductive, nearsighted, blind, having

forgotten that you’ve been cleansed from your past sins?