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.

Galatians 5 ESV

There is a Christian myth that change is an event rather than a process;

that it is more like a light switch that is turned on than a battle that must

be engaged. For some reason we tend to think—wrongly—that immediate

liberation from the slavery of addiction is more glamorous than the

gradual process of taking a little bit of land at a time. Such expectations

have implicitly encouraged addicts to tell great, though fabricated,

stories of liberation instead of simply being honest about their struggles,

and finding in that honesty something highly praiseworthy.

from: Edward T. Welch “ADDICTION: A Banquet in the Grave” page 113

Welch is speaking specifically of the battle addicts face in pulling themselves away from their addictions. I believe his description is a powerful picture of the call all of us have in Christ to put to death our old nature and to grow in the strength of the Spirit. Our text this morning highlights the works of the flesh and the inordinate pull it can have on our desires and our thoughts and our actions. Remember this Spirit is the very same Spirit Who empowered Jesus to live in perfection and endure suffering and temptation and gain the victory. We have the very Spirit of God living in us.

Our LORD Jesus Christ paid for all our sins. He has rescued us from death and from the punishment our sins so deserved. He took the punishment in our place. And Jesus Christ gave us His righteousness. This means that our sinful actions and sinful life have been exchanged and in its place we are clothed in Jesus Christ, given the record of His good and holy living. So when we sin we are, in effect taking off our royal robes, the signs we are sons and daughters of God—The High King of Heaven, our Father—and we are putting on the dung and mud soaked rags of our past sinfulness.

We all sin. There is no one who is perfect and without sin—except Jesus. To act as if we are sinless is to make a lie of our great need for the Saviour. But we are not to stop at the fact we sin. We are to hate our sins. We are called to speak of our battles and cry out and ask for help so that temptations do not sweep us away. We begin by asking God for His help. We reach out to brothers and sisters in Christ in the faith so that we may encourage one another and grow in grace. Most of all, we must be honest about our struggles so that we receive the help we honestly need.

Remember this great and glorious truth: God sees us. He sees our public persona. He sees us when we think no one is looking. He sees our heart. He sees our attitude. He has provided us the cleansing and saving refuge of Jesus so that as often as we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And, as our passage from Galatians teaches us, we then no longer offer the parts of our bodies, or our mind, or our attitude to sin. We do, instead, bring our minds, our thoughts and our attitudes in submission to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

God of victory and love—thank You for the great and glorious gift of Jesus Christ. We ask You, this day, to give us Your Spirit in ever greater measure so that we will walk in the way of Jesus. Bring the increase of and continual ripeness of the fruit of the Spirit within us. Cause us to be sensitive to the needs of our brothers and sisters all around us as we struggle together against our sins. May we be open in our encouragement and acts of love and support as fellow soldiers of the cross of Christ. Thank You that the victory against sin and death has already been won in Jesus’ Name. Amen.