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At the close of an important speech to Congress on Jan 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared his vision of the kind of world he wanted to see after the war was over. He envisioned 4 basic freedoms enjoyed by all people: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. To some degree, these freedoms have been achieved to some degree. (Wiersbe, 716)

But our world still needs another freedom. Warren Wiersbe calls it a fifth freedom. Man needs to be free from himself and the tyranny of his sinful nature.

Only Jesus Christ offers that kind of freedom. Only those who are in Christ have the indwelling potential for victory over the enemy of sin.

Last week we began a new series. Our aim is to discover what real, genuine Christianity is all about. It of course is a matter of the heart.

Tonight we want to probe the nature of this conflict. Before we can enjoy the fruit of the Spirit, we must identify and put to death the enemy.

What is the real enemy of successful Christian living? What needs to go? In Galatians 5:19 we find the answer: "the works of the flesh." You may be surprised what the works of the flesh are!

Verse 19 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.” [KJV "Now the works of the flesh are manifest..."] "manifested" = open, manifest, well known

Vance Havner has said, "Too many Christians live their Christian lives inside their heads; it never gets out through hands and feet and lips."

Last week we scanned the background of Galatians. It's a book that addresses the problem of legalism. It's a book that addresses the importance of the Holy Spirit.

Key: When the Holy Spirit controls a person's life, certain things must evacuate. What things? "the works of the flesh"--those activities and attitudes generated by the flesh

Key Q: How can I know if I am being controlled by the flesh or the Spirit? The simple answer is this…

What exactly are the works of the flesh? Paul's list of vices totals 17, although 2 are not in oldest Greek manuscripts (adultery, murders). These seem to be grouped into 4 types of sins, 4 categories.

What are repulsive sins? There are 4 listed in v 4. They are all sexual sins, blatant perversion of the gift of sex that God designed for mankind to enjoy in the loving bounds of marital commitment.

Here are the sins: Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness. These are all works of the flesh.

Key: You need to know that the sexual life of the Graeco-Roman world in which Paul lived was a lawless chaos. One has said of that age, "It was an age when shame seems to have vanished from the earth." (see Barclay, 24)

Demonsthenes wrote of the Greek practice, "We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for the day to day needs of the body, but we have wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our homes." (Barclay)

The upper level of Roman society was largely promiscuous. And in all levels, homosexuality was rampant.

It was against this bleak, immoral background that the church existed. It has been said that Christianity introduced chastity as a completely new virtue into the pagan world. That wasn't easy. It wasn't popular then for a Christian to practice sexual purity. In fact, prostitution was even incorporated into Roman religion! Religion and sexual immorality went hand in hand.

So you can appreciate Paul's bluntness. He hit the nail on the head with the Christians at Galatia . "These things are rampant in the world, but they have no place in the lives of Christians. They're of the flesh."

Pornea is love which is bought and sold, which is not love at all. Pornea occurs when a person buys sex, whether from a prostitute, or from a store or over the internet in the form of pornographic literature, or in a sexually perverted novel.

The basic Greek word means "physical and material dirt." Here it refers to moral dirt, things which are repulsive. General moral impurity.

There seems to be a downward progression. Fornication refers to specific sexual infidelity. Uncleanness refers to general moral corruption. Lasciviousness is the climax of sexual evil. This word indicates a love of sin that is so reckless and so audacious that a person no longer cares what God thinks or what man thinks about his actions. That's lasciviousness.

When people flaunt on TV screens, parading their sexual lewdness, that's lasciviousness. When people live in open, sexual sin, and care less what people think, that's lasciviousness.

Lasciviousness is sexual sin that has no shame. It describes a person who is at the mercy of his or her unbridled passions and fantasies.

Discuss: What strikes you about this list so far? What are some practical things we can do to eliminate the works of the flesh, namely, this first set of vices?

Barclay, "A man's god may rightly be said to be that to which he dedicates his time, his substance, and his talents." (34)

A status symbol can be an idol. Lots of Christians are controlled by the status symbols. A house in a certain section of town. A piece of furniture. A car. Whenever a things usurps the place that belongs to God, we have committed idolatry.

= Greek word "pharmakeia" = sorcery and witchcraft; the use of medicine, drugs, or spells; In ancient times, the worship of evil powers was accompanied by the use of drugs to create a trance. Hence, the word "sorcery."

Not surprisingly, Paul says these are both "works of the flesh"—repulsive sins and religious sins. You may be thinking, “Okay, I can see those are bad. I don't do those things... I'm OK.” Hold on…

I find it convicting that the biggest category is this one, the one that has to do with relationships. There are nine social sins!

Key: The quickest way to see if a person is controlled by the flesh or the Holy Spirit is to look at his/her relationships with people. Don't look at whether the person is preaching or teaching a SS class, or dropping $ in the offering, or singing in church. A person can do all these things and be controlled by the flesh.

Look at their relationships. How does he/she relate to people? Do you see Christ in the way he relates to people?

See: Eph 5:18 -- the byproduct of being filled with the Spirit? Proper relationships (Eph 5:22-6:9)

= the opposite of agape love; it's bitter prejudice; it's when we put up barriers in our heart and separate ourselves from people.

I read one commentator who said that no sin more commonly invades the church than this one. And no sin is more destructive of Christian fellowship than this one.

Someone has said, "There is no better test of a man than his reaction to the success of someone else." (Barclay, 49) How do you react when your neighbor gets the new car you've been wanting?

Let's stop here for a minute. Sometimes you will hear this counsel, "It's OK to blow up at people. You can't hold it in or you'll hurt yourself. Let it out!"

No, it's never right to blast someone else just so you can clear your chest. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Wrath is a work of the flesh. Granted, we must communicate our feelings, but always under the Spirit's control.

Let me lay it on the table. Sometimes a person will say, "Well I can't control my temper. That's just the way I am. People will just have to learn to accept my outbursts and my uncontrolled temper."

No. That may be the way you are, but that's not the way Christ wants you to be. He wants to move you from exhibiting the "works of the flesh" to radiating the "fruit of the Spirit." For that to happen it starts by you calling your unbridled temper what God calls it--a work of the flesh, sin. And then yielding that sin to the Spirit, and asking Him for help to overcome it.

Some people are at odds with people all the time. Over something. If that's you, ask yourself, "Is the Spirit really controlling my life?"

Discuss: What impresses you about this third category of vices? It raises some questions for me, such as: Why is the list so long? Why are these so commonly excused? Why are these called “works of the flesh”?

= being controlled by foreign substances; wine, beer, drugs, etc (Greek methay)

The Romans had village festivals, with lots of carousing and drinking, even orgies. Of course, the child of God must have nothing to do with such practices.

Notice something. Paul listed 17 vices. But his list is representative, not exhaustive. How do we know? The next words…

All sin has to go. Every work of the flesh must be crucified (24). Before we can ever experience the wonderful fruit of the Spirit, we must confess and forsake the works of the flesh. And lest we miss the importance, Paul offers this sobering word of caution...

Verse 21 “I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God .”

Please don't water that warning down. The Bible does teach that true Christians are eternally secure. But imitation Christians aren't.

Discuss: According to the context of this passage, how can I tell if I'm an imitation Christian? Look at the fruit of my life.

To conclude this study, I’d like to lay before you three things: an observation, a warning, and a challenge.

Observation: One factor that causes great harm to evangelism is this: Christians who live according to the flesh. Why so?

Warning: If you continually manifest the "works of the flesh," you are giving evidence that you really are not a child of God. Paul's not talking about an act of sin, but a habit and pattern of sin, as well as the absence of the Spirit’s fruit we see in verses 22-23.

Challenge: You can experience victory over sin even tonight. There is hope through Jesus Christ. You can tap into the power of the Spirit.

Discuss: How? How can a person get rid of the works of the flesh? What other passages in the Bible help provide this answer? Romans 6; Ephesians 4:22-24

[1] These are unedited teaching notes used for a Wednesday evening Bible study at Wheelersburg Baptist Church . They are provided for your edification as you personally study God’s life-changing Word. Pasto r Brad Brandt