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As a church, we are going through the book of Galatians, and we are at chapter 3. We're just going to consider, in essence five verses today, and I hope this will be helpful for all of you.

I start with a story. An elderly couple was finding that they were getting more and more forgetful. So they went to see the doctor, the doctor told them, advised them to write down everything they say so that they will not forget. They got home, and the wife said to the husband, "Dear, can I have some ice cream?" As he was walking towards the kitchen, the wife said, "Don't you think you need to write it down?" The husband says, "No, dear, I remember you want ice cream." He walked a little bit further, and the wife said, "Uh, I think I changed my mind, I want ice cream with whipped cream."

And she said to him, "Don't you think you need to write it down?" He said, "No, dear, I remember what you want, ice cream with whipped cream." He walked a little bit further, and now the wife says, "Dear, I changed my mind, I want ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Don't you need to write it down?" "No, dear, I remember you want ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top." He went into the kitchen and was there for a long time, after half an hour, he came out with a plate of eggs and bacon. The wife saw it and said, "Dear, where's the toast?"

Forgetfulness is not just something the old people struggle with, forgetfulness is what Christians also struggle with. The Apostle Paul had been teaching about salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

He gave that great propositional statement in chapter 2 and verse 16, which we looked at last week. "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ."

But the Galatians have somehow forgotten this, they have been bewitched, they have been deceived by the false teachers, to now slip back into legalism. So, we are now reading how Paul is reestablishing in this letter of Galatians, that a right standing before God is not achieved by the works of the law in your own flesh, but received by faith in Jesus Christ. So in chapter 3 and verses 1-5, Paul is going to prove why that is so, and he's going to prove it in the beginning here in these five verses with 6 rhetorical questions.

Now, I understand there are kids here. What is rhetorical questions? A rhetorical question is a question you ask, not because you want an answer from them, because the answer is very obvious. But you ask that question so that they will think, so that they would come to a self-realization. So, Paul asks six questions to provoke the Galatians to a self-realization of cause - Getting a right standing before God is not achieved by our own works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

So let's look at these 6 questions. He says, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?" [Gal 3:1] Question number one. And he goes on to say, "It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified." [Gal 3:1]

Rhetorical question number two, "Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?" [Gal 3:2]

Rhetorical question number three, "Are you so foolish?" [Gal 3:3]

Question number four, "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" [Gal 3:3]

Question number five, "Did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?" [Gal 3:4]

And question number six, "Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?" [Gal 3:5]

You will see that in these verses, there are two occurrences of this same phrase, "works of the law or by hearing with faith", "works of the law or by hearing with faith". "Did you receive the Spirit, were you begun by the Holy Spirit, is God supplying the Spirit to you because of your own fleshly works of the law, or is it because you heard the message of the Gospel and believed?"

It's an obvious answer, and right here we note "the work of the Spirit", "works of the law", "hearing with faith", this is actually very similar to what Paul said earlier in Galatians 2:16, "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith." Works of the law versus faith, you see that similarity?

But there is a kind of subtle shift because in 2:16 it was justified, but in chapter 3, the passage we're reading, it's Spirit [verse 2], Spirit [verse 3], Spirit [verse 5].

What is Paul doing? He proves justification by faith in Jesus Christ by appealing to their own personal experience of having received the Spirit by faith. This is his logic - Justification is by faith, not by works. How do you know it? Because you guys, in your own experience, you know how you have received the Spirit by faith and not the works of the law.

So, justification is by faith because you know how you have received the Spirit by faith, that's his logic. You've got to catch this!

So justification is by faith, not works, just as you received the Spirit by faith, not works.

So let me say, Galatians 3:15 is really about this, Paul proving justification by faith by appealing to their own experience that they received the Spirit by faith and not the works. But we are going to go a little bit deeper to understand this life in the Spirit, because there's a shift from Christ in you to the Spirit in you.

And there is something experiential for the Galatians to share, and there is something that they need to keep on living in. So life in the Spirit, what does this mean, how does this manifest? We are going to take a deep dive.

[LIFE IN THE SPIRIT]
So let's look a little bit more closely at the verses first. He says, "O foolish Galatians," [Gal 3:1] he scolds them. Uh, the book of Galatians is a very direct, blunt, vigorous letter because Paul is dealing with a very serious false teaching in a region of Galatia.

So he is somewhat worked up here, I could sense his kind of frustration maybe. He's kind of befuddled, "Why would you guys be bewitched?" So he says, "O foolish Galatians," to up the ante as it were, to let them know he is moved for them.

Now "foolish" is not really saying that they are intellectually low IQ, but I think this is with regard to how they have not applied their minds to the false teaching at hand. "Why are you not thinking this through? O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Who has cast a spell over you?" [Gal 3:1]

I don't think this is literal, of course, it's a figurative speech that says, who has somewhat hypnotized you? It is almost incomprehensible that you would turn from Jesus to go to the works of the law, like circumcision and feast days. "Isn't Jesus Christ crucified clear for you?" [Gal 3:1]

Jesus Christ crucified, I think, is a Pauline shorthand for the Gospel. This is what the Gospel is about, this is the main message of the Bible. God sent His Son, He died on the cross, He was crucified to pay for your sins. Isn't this clear? "Isn't this publicly portrayed?" [Gal 3:1]]

This is a word that refers to how people make public announcements on placards in marketplaces. So he's saying, "Why would you turn from a clear message of the Gospel? You nullify the grace of God and you make in effect, or make of none effect the death of Jesus Christ. Why would you do that?"

So we should be reminded and warned that just as Galatians, the people in Galatia could be deceived, we today may also be deceived. It doesn't mean that we know the Gospel today means that we will forever remember the Gospel, and be standing firmly upon it. There can be enchantments that come in, there can be deceptions that come in. And as a church we need to remain vigilant, we need to define and defend the Gospel, and we need discernment when false teachers, false teachings creep in.

So Paul says, "I'm really puzzled, I ... I really wonder why you would switch from leaning on Christ to leaning on your own works." He goes on to say, "Let me ask you only this, this is an important question to answer: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?" [Gal 3:2]

"How did you receive the Holy Spirit into your life? Did He come into you because you kept obeying the law? That is to say, you try to obey, you try to obey, you try to obey, you try to obey, and then some day the Holy Spirit came into you. Did that happen?" No, huh.

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law? No. Did you receive the Spirit by hearing with faith?" Yes. Because there came a point of time that you heard Jesus Christ crucified, you believed in Him, and you know what, God sent His Spirit into you. So, why would you now go back to the works of the law?

Now, he proves justification by faith by appealing to their own personal experience of having received the Spirit by faith. Justification is by faith, not works, just as you receive the Spirit by faith, not works. I labor to emphasize this so that you do not miss the big picture.

Now, it's interesting because this is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the book of Galatians. For two chapters, there is no mention but from chapter 3 onwards, there will be quite a lot of mentions. He becomes a dominant, an important theme in the book of Galatians.

I think one of the mistakes or one of the oversights we have with reading Galatians is that we think it is only about justification by faith. It's true, it's a lot about justification by faith, but it is very intimately tied to life in the Spirit.

So we see here, Spirit [3:2], later on, Spirit [3:3], later on, Spirit[3:5], and in chapter 3, we read in verse 14, we might receive the promised Spirit. Chapter 4:6, the Spirit of His son into a heart's crying, Abba, Father.

Chapter 5, a good concentration of the work of the Spirit, where we read:
- walked by the Spirit, led by the Spirit [5:16]
- the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh [5:17-18].
- if you are led by the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit. [5:22-23]
- we live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit. [5:25]

Chapter 6, verse 8, "Sows to the Spirit, and from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

So, you must see the Holy Spirit in these few chapters going forward. So Paul is saying, "You receive the Spirit not by works of the law, but by faith. So, O, are you so foolish that having begun by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit first walked in your life because you had faith, because He granted you grace to believe. Now, why would you think that you can complete or you can improve upon it by your flesh?"

"The flesh" here refers to all human efforts apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Why would you start in the Spirit and then end up in the flesh? Instead, the Christian life is to start in the Spirit and to continue in the Spirit." That's the implication of this rhetorical question.

"Did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?" [Gal 3:4]

Now, when we read the word, "suffer", we would assume that Paul is saying, "Now that you are a Christian, now that you have been a Christian, you have been persecuted for your faith, so because of Jesus you have suffered, don't waste your sufferings." Now, I think that is one possible understanding of the word, "suffer", in that it is really suffering in the face of persecution. But some of you may have Bibles that there is this footnote there. A footnote is included to help you see that the original language may not exactly be translated as this word alone. Because there's an alternative translation and the footnote notes for suffer, it can also be the word, "experience".

Now, I understand why ESV translated it as suffer, because every other occurrence in the Bible, the Greek word is translated as suffer. But there is good contextual reason, context means the surrounding verses to tell us that the word, "suffer" may not really need to be suffer, it could be the word, "experience".

Because subsequent to this, you see in verse 5, "Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you." In other words, "Did you experience the work of the Spirit in vain?" And it may not be suffering. Did you experience the work of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit in miracles and actually also in their sanctification, in their holy living?

Because prior to chapter 3, we read the last few verses there and it was speaking about righteousness in Christ, not just positional righteousness, but practical righteousness. How Christ lives in me, and we now see Christ living in me is actually the Spirit living in me.

So the Holy Spirit enables the Galatians to live a holy life, they've experienced it, some may even perform miracles, and so Paul is saying, "Did you experience all these things in vain — if indeed it was in vain, saying, I trust that that's not ultimately in vain, because you do believe."

And if we don't get what Paul is saying so far, that justification is by faith without the works of the law, he concludes in verse 6 saying, "Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."

He draws out his trump card. Now when you talk to a Jew, and you want any example, the ultimate go-to guy is Abraham, because he's the father of the Jews. So Paul says, "How was Abraham counted righteous? Was it because of his works, was it because of his circumcision?" No! Genesis 15 verse 6, "He believed God and based on that alone, it was counted to him as righteousness."

Now, we got to include verse 6 because grammatically that's how verse 5 and 6 are related, but we would spend more time looking at verse 6 onwards next week. But the point I think we need to grasp is that, Paul is proving getting a right standing with God is by faith, just as the Galatians received the Holy Spirit by faith, not by the works of the law.

Justification is by faith, not works, just as you receive the Spirit by faith, not works.

And further on, as we dive a little bit deeper into the verses, we also learn we should therefore, "Live life in the Spirit by faith and not according to the flesh in the works of the law." [Gal 3:5] You started, you were begun by the Spirit, do not go on to perfection in the flesh."

So in this idea, or this theme of life in the Spirit, first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned, I think it's worth our while to consider two things.

Number one - How do you know that the Holy Spirit is in you? Because there's a way for the Galatians to know and Paul is appealing to it.

Number two - What does it mean to begin in the Spirit and to continue in the Spirit? I think we are going to study what it means to depend on the Spirit.

So, just these two things as we draw to an application. I won't say conclusion, in case you think, wah, still so long, your conclusion. Ah, but we're going to look at these two applications.


[1] DISCERNMENT
Now first of all, let's look at the discernment of the Spirit in one's life.

How do you know if the Holy Spirit is in you? Did God send a letter to you on the day you were saved, "Congratulations John, you are now Mine and I'm yours, and I've sent My Spirit into your life." Does He send you a letter like that? Because I check my mailbox, don't have, no email, no WhatsApp.

How do you know if the Holy Spirit is in you?

Now, that is something the Bible actually speaks about. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Now a temple, please don't think of something in Chinatown, but it simply means a dwelling place, the Holy Spirit lives in me. How do I know? Can you see? Can you see the Holy Spirit in a person?

Well, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, you can't see the wind, but you can see and know the effects of the wind. So we are right now looking at this question - How do I know the Holy Spirit is in me, if I can't see Him and I can't see Him in you?

I think whilst we can't see the Spirit, His work is discernible.
I know that because of the language Paul is using here. "Did you receive the Spirit [3:2]? Did you having begun by the Spirit [3:3], does He who supplies the Spirit [3:5]?"

So he's appealing to the Galatians' own personal experience, so it's something you can know. How to know? Well, three things I think we can see in order to know.

[A] Signs & Wonders
Number one, we can discern the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life via signs and wonders.

Because Paul says in verse 5, "Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles?" The word, "miracles" is the word, "dunamis" which refers to mighty works. And in this context, works of miracles — signs, wonders, mighty works.

Certainly on the day of Pentecost, there were people who heard the Gospel believed, and were able to speak in tongues. That's a miracle! So God marked the birth of the New Testament church via miracles, and possibly amongst the Galatians, there were those who believed and those who can do miracles.

So, one of the signs of the Spirit's work in a man's life is the ability to perform miracles. Now, I know there are some people here and people outside who say, "Don't go to Gospel Light because they don't believe in miracles." I ... I wish I could sing the song, "I believe in miracles ..." No, uh, but it is a wrong characterization, we believe in miracles. How can we not!

The foundation of the Gospel is a miracle! That Jesus Christ died and rose again, that's a miracle! And we see plenty of miracles in the Bible, we do not deny miracles, miracles are real. However, we don't believe God has promised every Christian to be able to do miracles, that's not in the Bible.

And number two, we don't believe that all miracles automatically point towards God. Why? Because Satan in the Bible is said to be also able to do miracles. Just back at Pharaoh's courts, Moses performed miracles and Pharaoh's magicians could also perform miracles. And in the end times, we believe that there will be the Antichrist will perform great deceiving signs. So miracles in and of themselves do not automatically, infallibly point to God.

And I think in our day and age, we also need to be wise and not be gullible because there are people who claim that they can do miracles when they actually don't. They're charlatans, they're cheats, they're scammers. I recall when I was a new Christian, there was this holy laughter movement. We talk about that all the time, where people say, "Because the holy spirit is in me, I will laugh uncontrollably."

So in a service, people laugh, people moo like a cow, bark like a dog, meow like a cat. There are people who are falling onto the ground and roll on the floor uncontrollably, saying, "That's the holy spirit." But I don't think that's the Holy Spirit, but you see, people can say what they want to say, but that does not mean it's automatically true. We hear of false healings and false prophecies, so I think we've got to be wise.

Nevertheless, even though miracles are not universal, uh, not a universal sign, neither are they an infallible sign, it is one of the signs. The Galatians are told, "Don't you remember how you received the Spirit and perhaps how you could work miracles?" That's one of the signs.

[B] Sureness
Another sign I think we should observe in the book of Galatians is that of sureness, if I may say, sureness or assuredness, that confidence to know that God is ours and I'm His.

"Because you are sons," Paul would go on to say, "... God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father." [Gal 4:6]

There's that intimacy, assurance, confidence, joy, delight and peace.
This is not just found here, but Romans 8:15-16 also tells us, Paul being the same author, "You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God."'

So, how do I know if I'm a Christian? Well, maybe some of you can do miracles, maybe you would have that deep-seated assurance - He is mine and I'm His.

[C] Sanctification
But there's a third evidence or third sign we must not miss, perhaps to me, this is the most important, this is the most contextual, and that is sanctification.

How do you know if you're a Christian today? Besides the fact that you believe intellectually the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I think this will be a very big sign - Sanctification. Has your life changed? Is it more holy?

You see, the logic I hope you will follow me is in chapter 2, verse 17, just a few verses before, Paul was answering this question, "If you turn to Jesus, if you turn to grace, if you turn away from legalism, doesn't that make you sin more?" Paul says, "No!"

"Is Christ then a servant of sin? [Gal 2:17] Obviously not, you are not going to sin more, in fact, you're going to sin less. Why? Because you're freed from the bondage of the law.

And number two, most importantly, "Christ lives in me." [Gal 2:20] So, Christ living in me means I will not sin so much, I'll sin less.

And he goes on to say in chapter 3, you'll, because "You receive the Spirit [3:2], you are begun by the Spirit [3:3], you are supplied the Spirit [3:5]."

So, we must note the subtle shift. Christ lives in me is in Galatians 2:20, henceforth, he's going to speak about the Spirit in me, which means Christ lives in me by the person of the Holy Spirit. And so, am I going to sin more? No. Why? Because Christ lives in me by His Spirit. So if His Spirit lives in you, you should not be a servant of sin.

I'm not saying, the Bible does not say that you become sinless, but you will sin less. Those who are saved by grace will be changed by grace. Grace is not just pardon, it is power, power to live holy lives.

And I think Paul would go on to say, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, so on and so forth." [Gal 5:22-23] "And they who walk in the Spirit will not fulfill the lust of the flesh." [Gal 5:16]

So my question for you today is this - Do you know if the Holy Spirit is in your life? The Bible says, "If the Spirit is not in your life, you are not His." So, how do I know if the Holy Spirit is in my life? Well, three signs for you to check.

I trusted Christ 30 years ago, that's a long time ago. I was exposed to the preaching of God's Word, came to conviction that I'm a sinner who needs to be saved. I then came to realize that I cannot earn my salvation by obeying the laws, going to church, being good, because that does not count in God's eyes. I'm so sinful that all the supposed good works do not count.

I came to realize that I need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved, that's what needs to be done. But I always wondered to myself, will God accept me if I want to believe in Jesus? I mean, I want to believe, but does He accept me? So I have, for a period of time sought to look out for God's confirmation, Jason, you can now believe.

I sought that confirmation from the skies, I would look at the clouds and hope that there's some kind of a sign that says, "You can now believe." I look at the walls of buildings, I was, I think a bit xiao [in Hokkien] la. Look at walls and looking on the floor to look for scripts of paper and for some markings, some supernatural indication from God that, "Okay, you can now believe, I accept you."

Months went by, nothing happened, I decided I'm not going to wait anymore, so I opened my Bible and said, "Uh, let's turn to the most popular verse in the Bible, most famous verse, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

I looked at the verse and I said, "God, You said ... You said, You ... You wrote the Bible, right, You gave the Bible, so You said, whosoever believes in Him, Jesus, will not perish but have everlasting life. I know that's the only way I can be saved, I've been waiting for You to give a sign, but there's no sign. But tonight, I will take You at Your Word, you said "whosoever", I am one of the whosoevers. I believe, I want to believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Save me, please."

I don't want to over-dramatize things, I'm not a super-feeling-ful guy, but I think from that point onwards, I have an assurance, a confidence, a delight, a joy, a peace, that I can't quite explain. I think that's the Spirit of Christ witnessing to my spirit that I'm a son of God.

How? By the works of the law? No, but faith in Jesus and His finished work. And from that day to today, 30 years, I think sanctification has taken place in my life. I'm far from a good man, I'm a very flawed, selfish, egoistical, sinful man still. But I would say without a shadow of a doubt, that I would have sinned a lot more if not for Jesus. I'm not sinless, but I sin less.

I always say, if not for Jesus, I would have absolutely messed up my life. I would maybe be rich, but I would have a broken family. I would have divorced my wife, I would have abandoned my kids, I would live in all kinds of pleasures, but I would mess up my life. That's what I'm convinced about, and when I look back, I say, "Well, how do I know I'm a Christian? How do I know Jesus lives in me by His Spirit?" Because my life has changed, it is objective, it is real.

Let me ask you today - Is the Holy Spirit living in you? You say, "I can't see the Spirit. I ... I ... I agreed." You can't see wind, but you can see and feel and know the effects of wind, can't you? Has the wind of the Spirit swept your life, has it come into you that gives you that assurance and confidence and have you lived in increasing holiness? It is an inevitable result - Those who are saved by grace will be changed by grace because the Holy Spirit lives in you.

That's what Paul, I think was appealing to, "Hey guys, do you remember how your life has changed? Was it by your works or was it by faith? Why would you right now turn away from Jesus and go back to works? It never works that way."

[2] DEPENDENCE
Let's go on to the second question or second application, I'd like us to think about, and that is dependence.

Living life in the Spirit is beginning in the Spirit and continuing in the Spirit, and not beginning in the Spirit and continuing in the flesh.

There's a common Christian cliché that says, "God helps those who help themselves." I think there's a danger in this statement, some of us think that this statement is from the Bible, somewhere in Proverbs, but tolong [please in Malay] ah, it's not ah, it's not a biblical saying, uh, this is a common saying, nonetheless.

But I think there's a danger in this because it almost makes people think that I need to do something noteworthy or meritorious, and then God will do something else to top up and supplement. I think Spurgeon got it right when he said, "It is more likely God helps those who cannot help themselves."

The Bible is very clear, Jesus Himself said, "Except you abide in the vine, you can do what ... nothing." [John 15:5] The Christian life is not lived in independence from God, but in absolute dependence on Him for everything.

So, we therefore see Paul says, "How can you start in the Spirit and continue in the flesh? [ Gal 3:3] Do you seek to improve upon your life with your fleshly, self-engineered works?"

He goes on to say in chapter 5:16, "You need to walk by the Spirit. Depend on the Spirit."

He goes on to say, "Keep in step with the Spirit." [Gal 5:25]

So in other words, the Christian life is to be lived in dependence on the Spirit at all times. How can you and I live life in the Spirit? How do you do it?

"Alright, I know I've got to live in the Spirit." Maybe that's what you're thinking right now, I hope that's what you're thinking right now. "I'm a Christian, but I cannot live in my own strength. I need to live life in the Spirit, but how?"

And if we don't understand the how, we only get this concept and we have this maybe erroneous mystical thinking, "Somehow the Holy Spirit will zap me." No, I ... I think the Bible gives you a very objective way to do so, and I think it's actually quite easy. It's as easy as A B C, okay, maybe a little bit more, it's as easy as A B C D.

What do you mean by living life in the Spirit? I hope at the end of the day you will be able to say it's as easy as A B C D. What do they all represent? I've actually shared this before, but I'm also quite sure ... I won't say lah, but most of you would have forgotten 100%, right? So that's why it's good to be a preacher, you don't always have to come up with new things, say the same things because people always forget.

[A - Acknowledge I Can't]
So what does A stand for? If I want to live life in the Spirit, I need to start with A. What is A? Abide. Good word, but a bit chim [in Hokkien]lah, the word, "abide". Sim me, sim me lai eh [what is it in Hokkien], so a ... a ... a another word. Ask? Good word, but no. What? Abundance? Abundance? Nope, not yet, not yet. I hear a word, Admit. Yeah, admit is a good word, actually a simpler word than what I came up with - Acknowledge.

Life in the Spirit begins with acknowledgement. Acknowledge what? Acknowledge what? I can't do it. Most of us don't start there because we say, "I can do it." Isn't it? That's where you fail, once you think I can do it, you fail.

I was ... it was interesting, I spoke with someone in our church and she was saying in job interviews and in studies, women generally, when given a task to do will say they can't do, even though they are like 9 out of 10, can one. But when you ask men, even when they are 2 or 3 out of 10, they say, can. So, I think this is harder for men, but Christian living, Spirit-filled living begins with acknowledgement - I can't do it. Can?

[B - Believe God Can]
B stands for what? Very good. Believe then what? I acknowledge I can't do it and then believe what? Believe God can do it. And in particular, the Spirit of Christ in me can do it, He is the partner that God has given in my life.

[C - Call Upon God]
C, confess, confess, can lah, but not, not quite in line with the idea here. Commit, no. Confidence, no. Comply no. Complain no. Kon kam [stupid in Hokkien] ah! Another C, connect, good but something simpler. Cry, bei pai [quite good in Hokkien], I like the word, "cry", it's a bit desperate but good.

Just give a call, Call upon God, in other words, pray lah! So it starts with - I can't do it, the Holy Spirit in me can, so let me ask the Holy Spirit, call upon His help. "Lord, I can't face this temptation, You can, grant me grace to do so." Right?

Christ lives in me and the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, by His Spirit.

[D- Do]
And then finally, do, eh, kon kam this one, uh, okay, finally D stands for - Do.

Don't hide behind the excuse, "Oh, I can't, I can't, I have no control, it's too difficult!" Hey, you can't, I know, I can't, I know, but the Holy Spirit can, but, "Lord, give me grace to obey and let me step out in obedience."

That's what living life in the Spirit is all about - A B C D. To do what God wants me to do, I need to do my A B C D. It's simple, I want to make it simple so that you can do it practically.

Now, what does it mean to live life in the flesh? To live life in the flesh is to do none of the above, or to skip A B C and just go do D. That's living life in the flesh! But living life in the Spirit is acknowledging I can't, believing that His Spirit in me is able to, I call upon Him and I obey.

Now, I'm ... I've run out of time, so let me fast, fast go through some examples, alright?

Revenge, you want to kill someone, you want to kill this driver who cut you, you want to kill your mother-in-law, whatever it is. Someone has offended you, you want to kill, so you say to yourself, "but I cannot leh, I'm a Christian, I should not do that. I need to love, I need to forgive, I shouldn't retaliate. So, let me try ..." You ... you ... grit your teeth, and it's all about your efforts and you will realize you keep falling. You will not be able to forgive, you still want to kill.

The Christian life begins with an acknowledgement - Lord, I've tried this many times in my life, I can't. I have no power against sin. But I thank You, Your Holy Spirit lives in me, I thank You that the fruit of the Spirit is love, it's not my works, it's the fruit of the Spirit. So I ask you to do what I cannot do, I keep praying for that grace so that my heart is not filled with hatred, but filled with love, and I go and love him or her, to serve him or her, to do what is right by him or her.

Maybe some of us are struggling with greed, you know that you shouldn't be greedy, you know you shouldn't be covetous, you know that God has called you to generosity. And you want to live that kind of life but you can't, because you've been trying it in your own flesh. The Christian life begins with an acknowledgement - I can't.

"I'm deeply greedy, but Lord help me to believe that You are with me, I will be content with whatever you have given me because you have said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Let me depend on You, let me call out to You for grace, for contentment, for joy, for an everlasting, eternal focus. And grant me grace to be a good steward, to channel the resources You have given into my hands for the furtherance of Your kingdom."

Maybe some struggle with lust, you struggle with sins against pornography. You are tempted to enter into an affair and be impure and you know that's wrong, but you have tried in vain to fight over this. The solution again is to do our ABCDs - to acknowledge my powerlessness against sin, to believe that Christ lives in me. His Spirit lives in me and as he has said, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality." [Gal 5:16,19]

The real victory over sin and lust is not in you but in the Spirit who lives in you. So as the old preachers would say, "You've got to mortify sin, kill sin on your knees as you call out to God in prayer."

The temptation is strong and any one of you, you could say that the temptation to sexual sins is strong and the only way you can fight it is when you go to your knees and say, "Lord, I'm tempted to do this and to do that, I can't. You can. Loosen that grip of temptation on my heart, fill my heart with the knowledge of Your love and of the hope of eternal life. Show me how Jesus loved me and gave Himself for me, grant me grace to live a pure life, to possess this body in sanctification. Lord, help me!"

And the Puritans would say, "You pray till that grip of sin is loosened." You fight that sin, you switch off that website, that computer, you quit from that job, you avoid that man or that lady. You cut off your right hand and pluck out your right eye as it were, but you do that in the power that the Spirit provides.

And finally, maybe some of us want to reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how do we do it? It begins with an acknowledgement - I can't change lives, I can't even change my life, but I believe God can. He tells me that as I go about the great commission, He is with me always. I call upon His help and I step out in obedience to do His will.


That's what I think living life in the Spirit is all about, but let's not forget the big idea, Paul is talking about justification by faith, proven by the reception of the Spirit by faith. And we should therefore live life in the Spirit by faith, and not according to the flesh in the works of the law.

I hope these are some practical handles for you to live life in the Spirit, that's what it means to tap on available power as Pastor Mike preached two weeks ago. May God and His Spirit be wonderfully evidenced in your life.

Let's bow for a word of prayer.

Father, thank You again for this time. Thank You for Your Word, bless each one, we ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.


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