Know: Describe what it means to live by the Spirit.
Feel: Sense the conflict as we are caught in the pull of a sinful nature, although we long to live a Spirit-ruled life.
Do: Choose to live every moment in step with the Spirit.
Learning Outline:
Know: Living by the Spirit
How does a person walking with the Spirit behave?
How does a Spirit-guided person relate to the law?
How do the “works of the flesh” compare to the “fruit of the Spirit”?
Why can Paul say that against the fruit of the Spirit there is no law?
Feel: Internal Spiritual Conflict
Why is there such an internal struggle between our inborn desires to serve ourselves and the Spirit’s promptings, and how do we find relief from this conflict?
What emotions result from the works of the flesh, and how do these compare with the emotions and attitudes listed as the fruit of the Spirit?
Do: Living in Love
What must we do to crucify our sinful nature?
What conscious choices do we make that side with the Spirit against our sinful nature?
What choices do we make that strengthen our sinful tendencies?
Summary: Living by the Spirit implies a daily walk along the path that the Spirit dictates. It requires daily choices that side with the Spirit in all matters of decision and also starve our sinful selves.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Only the daily indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to live a God-honoring life.
The lightbulb is nothing without electricity. It was designed for illumination but cannot displace darkness without energy. Several simple things occur whenever the lightbulb is ignited. Obviously, the bulb must be connected properly to an electrical source. The electrical switch must be turned on. The filaments within the incandescent bulb or the gases within the fluorescent tube must be intact. Similarly, whenever Christians shine forth, several simple things occur. The Christian must be connected properly to a spiritual energy source (God). Interruptions of the energy flow (for example, switches) must be overridden, meaning that sinful tendencies and habitual shortcomings must be submitted unreservedly to divine control. Likewise, the internal integrity of the Christian’s life must be intact. The smallest cracks in the fluorescent tube or the tiniest breaks of an incandescent filament can destroy the bulb’s capacity for lighting. Small cracks (questionable language, shortage of physical discipline [for example, gluttony, drunkenness, laziness], coarse humor, greediness, uncontrolled temper, and multitudes of similar characteristics) will eliminate the Christian’s effectiveness. Summarily, the primary conditions for spiritual effectiveness are moral integrity and spiritual energy. Whenever either is absent, spiritual light fails. Some church members exemplify exalted standards of citizenship and apparent integrity but produce no spiritual light because no connection with God exists. Other members emphasize supernatural encounters with God but lack moral integrity. Again, no light is produced. However, whenever the Holy Spirit’s power engages the morally integrated life, the surrounding landscape is illuminated. Apart from God Himself, Spirit-filled, morally upright believers are this world’s greatest need.
Opening Activity: Sing the Christmas carol “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” (no. 128 of The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal) and discuss how Christ’s heavenly light must be reflected in our lives. Share the concepts developed in the teacher’s section above, focusing on what believers must do to stay connected with God’s Spirit.
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: For Paul, walking by the Spirit is the opposite of gratifying the desires of the flesh. Throughout many of Paul’s letters the metaphors of flesh and spirit are played against each other. Some have misunderstood Paul’s intentions. The ascetics misinterpreted these writings to condemn every aspect of physical existence. Many monastic movements were built upon this suspicion of the body or humanity’s physical nature. Two equally repulsive viewpoints emerged. The monastic movements espoused the position that the body itself was irreparably evil and must be denied, punished, deprived, and otherwise humbled to achieve righteousness. Nourishment, sexual expression, and other ordinary pleasures were denied to humiliate the body and purge wickedness. Their extreme opponents taught that since the body was beyond redemption, their treatment of the body was inconsequential. Therefore gluttony, drunkenness, laziness, and various sexual perversions were considered acceptable because only souls, not bodies, mattered. Neither extreme is correct. Body and spirit were created divinely perfect; thus, neither is inherently evil. Sin entered and corrupted every aspect of human existence. Divine redemption is not merely spiritual, but physical and mental also.
Bible Commentary
I. The Christian’s Conflict (Review Galatians 5:17 and Romans 7:14–24 with the class.)
The means by which God redeems our corrupted human spirit and body is the Holy Spirit. In Romans, chapter 8, Paul outlines the working of God’s Spirit in human lives. God’s Spirit accomplishes through human weaknesses what law could never achieve. Battles rage daily within human souls between flesh, symbolizing self-destructive desires and propensities, and the Spirit, representing everything God has invested to liberate the captive individual. Law—external reinforcement of societal standards for preserving life—will always be necessary to restrain individuals who live selfishly to gratify every personal craving regardless of their actions’ impact upon others. Nevertheless, restraining selfishness should never be equated with producing righteousness.
Most religions part company with Christianity here. Most religions are mechanisms for restraining evil that utilize retribution to enforce social conformity. Righteousness is achieved by appeasing the deity through conformity to societal rules. Sadly, legalistic expressions of Christianity travel that same road. Genuine Christianity, however, recognizes that rules are powerless to transform the rebellious human heart. Only an intelligent appreciation of God’s love and its supreme expression at Calvary effectively can redirect self-centeredness into God-centeredness.
Human beings, nonetheless, are powerless against inbred selfishness. Education, cultural development, and moral upbringing may curb but will never cure the rebellious spirit. Thus, God’s antidote was the infusion of the Holy Spirit into those who sincerely desired spiritual transformation. Only the indwelling Spirit was sufficient to overcome inbred sinfulness. Paul recognized, however, that selfishness did not yield easily. While the struggle could not be resolved by focusing on behavior, the conflict could be settled by unreservedly surrendering the heart to God. Once we have yielded completely, God can change through inside control what external controls could never accomplish. There is no substitute for the Spirit’s presence—not philanthropy, model citizenship, community service, or self-mortification. Human righteousness is merely “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, NIV). More important, such self-righteousness is not merely ineffective; it is unsatisfying. Personal satisfaction comes not from being coerced to live righteously but from earnestly desiring to live righteously and then, by God’s magnificent grace, doing so.
Consider This: When believers recognize their shortcomings, how should they initiate positive change? What resources has heaven provided to those who sincerely desire righteousness? How can the spiritual battle’s intensity be minimized? As the believer’s life is filled increasingly by God’s Spirit, what is being displaced? How should Christians avoid the temptation to concentrate their efforts on changing behavior when the effective strategy would be to facilitate the Spirit’s invasion of our lives?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Paul outlines nine virtues known as the fruit of the Spirit that characterize the Spirit’s working within the surrendered life. Just as natural fruit is created through internal plant processes that transform the soil’s nutrients into delectable grapes, strawberries, and mangoes, so spiritual fruit is generated by the Spirit’s work upon the human heart. Experimenters successfully have replicated the taste and shape of various fruits by carefully analyzing their chemical structure and externally assembling their various components. Such fruitlike things, however, have never reproduced themselves. Artificial copies lack one essential: life! Externally assembled morality bears some resemblance to authentic character, but it remains lifeless, incapable of reproducing itself. Only internally generated spiritual fruit endures forever and yields offspring. Thus, faithfulness engenders faithfulness, kindness encourages kindness, gentleness generates gentleness, etc.
Activity: Bring some high-quality artificial fruit to class—some that could almost be mistaken for real fruit. Bring real fruit that matches the artificial fruit you have selected. Fill a container with both types of fruit. The container must allow class participants to view the fruit from a distance. Transparent bowls are ideal. Place the container within your meeting location but at some distance from where participants sit. Read Matthew 7:16. Or, alternately, if these items are unavailable, ask class members to compare artificial fruit to real fruit, describing the differences, and then read the text from Scripture and answer the questions below.
Thought Questions: How can the artificial fruit be discerned from the authentic fruit? Would discerning become easier if the fruit container was closer? What methods might be used to eliminate doubts concerning which was which? Would biting into the fruit settle the question? How can believers discern genuine spiritual fruit within others? Within themselves? How might difficult circumstances and trials distinguish between genuine spiritual fruit and the morally good look-alike? How can believers be confident that their spiritual fruit is authentic? How can Christians multiply their spiritual fruit?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: The strongest Christian gathers strength from the encouragement of fellow believers. Beginning Christians are even needier. By recognizing the Spirit’s transforming power in our acquaintances’ lives and acknowledging that recognition to the person, one may mightily encourage others to continue growing. Remember, recognition is only the first phase; expressing that recognition must follow.
Activity: Gather NewYear’s cards, generic holiday greetings cards, or some attractive nonseasonal stationery. Or if such cards or stationery is unavailable, any paper will do. Distribute to class members and encourage them to write an encouraging note to someone whose life has blessed their own. Recognize a specific spiritual attribute that can be tied to a specific biblical reference. Two prominent lists of godly attributes were contained in our theme chapter (Galatians 5) and also 2 Peter 1. The blessing presented could have been received secondhand. For example, the note could be directed to someone who led the class member’s parents to Christ, indirectly contributing to his/her spiritual advancement. Share how that blessing has affected the class member personally, as well as other family members or friends. Share also how Christ has used your life to bless others. (In some ways this could be described as the divine pyramid marketing plan: the uplinks receive credit for the downlinks’ spiritual influence!) Either provide postage so that the messages can be left with you for mailing, or encourage class participants to deliver or mail the notes themselves.
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Key Text: Galatians 5:16
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Summary: Living by the Spirit implies a daily walk along the path that the Spirit dictates. It requires daily choices that side with the Spirit in all matters of decision and also starve our sinful selves.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Only the daily indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to live a God-honoring life.
The lightbulb is nothing without electricity. It was designed for illumination but cannot displace darkness without energy. Several simple things occur whenever the lightbulb is ignited. Obviously, the bulb must be connected properly to an electrical source. The electrical switch must be turned on. The filaments within the incandescent bulb or the gases within the fluorescent tube must be intact. Similarly, whenever Christians shine forth, several simple things occur. The Christian must be connected properly to a spiritual energy source (God). Interruptions of the energy flow (for example, switches) must be overridden, meaning that sinful tendencies and habitual shortcomings must be submitted unreservedly to divine control. Likewise, the internal integrity of the Christian’s life must be intact. The smallest cracks in the fluorescent tube or the tiniest breaks of an incandescent filament can destroy the bulb’s capacity for lighting. Small cracks (questionable language, shortage of physical discipline [for example, gluttony, drunkenness, laziness], coarse humor, greediness, uncontrolled temper, and multitudes of similar characteristics) will eliminate the Christian’s effectiveness. Summarily, the primary conditions for spiritual effectiveness are moral integrity and spiritual energy. Whenever either is absent, spiritual light fails. Some church members exemplify exalted standards of citizenship and apparent integrity but produce no spiritual light because no connection with God exists. Other members emphasize supernatural encounters with God but lack moral integrity. Again, no light is produced. However, whenever the Holy Spirit’s power engages the morally integrated life, the surrounding landscape is illuminated. Apart from God Himself, Spirit-filled, morally upright believers are this world’s greatest need.
Opening Activity: Sing the Christmas carol “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” (no. 128 of The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal) and discuss how Christ’s heavenly light must be reflected in our lives. Share the concepts developed in the teacher’s section above, focusing on what believers must do to stay connected with God’s Spirit.
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: For Paul, walking by the Spirit is the opposite of gratifying the desires of the flesh. Throughout many of Paul’s letters the metaphors of flesh and spirit are played against each other. Some have misunderstood Paul’s intentions. The ascetics misinterpreted these writings to condemn every aspect of physical existence. Many monastic movements were built upon this suspicion of the body or humanity’s physical nature. Two equally repulsive viewpoints emerged. The monastic movements espoused the position that the body itself was irreparably evil and must be denied, punished, deprived, and otherwise humbled to achieve righteousness. Nourishment, sexual expression, and other ordinary pleasures were denied to humiliate the body and purge wickedness. Their extreme opponents taught that since the body was beyond redemption, their treatment of the body was inconsequential. Therefore gluttony, drunkenness, laziness, and various sexual perversions were considered acceptable because only souls, not bodies, mattered. Neither extreme is correct. Body and spirit were created divinely perfect; thus, neither is inherently evil. Sin entered and corrupted every aspect of human existence. Divine redemption is not merely spiritual, but physical and mental also.
Bible Commentary
I. The Christian’s Conflict (Review Galatians 5:17 and Romans 7:14–24 with the class.)
The means by which God redeems our corrupted human spirit and body is the Holy Spirit. In Romans, chapter 8, Paul outlines the working of God’s Spirit in human lives. God’s Spirit accomplishes through human weaknesses what law could never achieve. Battles rage daily within human souls between flesh, symbolizing self-destructive desires and propensities, and the Spirit, representing everything God has invested to liberate the captive individual. Law—external reinforcement of societal standards for preserving life—will always be necessary to restrain individuals who live selfishly to gratify every personal craving regardless of their actions’ impact upon others. Nevertheless, restraining selfishness should never be equated with producing righteousness.
Most religions part company with Christianity here. Most religions are mechanisms for restraining evil that utilize retribution to enforce social conformity. Righteousness is achieved by appeasing the deity through conformity to societal rules. Sadly, legalistic expressions of Christianity travel that same road. Genuine Christianity, however, recognizes that rules are powerless to transform the rebellious human heart. Only an intelligent appreciation of God’s love and its supreme expression at Calvary effectively can redirect self-centeredness into God-centeredness.
Human beings, nonetheless, are powerless against inbred selfishness. Education, cultural development, and moral upbringing may curb but will never cure the rebellious spirit. Thus, God’s antidote was the infusion of the Holy Spirit into those who sincerely desired spiritual transformation. Only the indwelling Spirit was sufficient to overcome inbred sinfulness. Paul recognized, however, that selfishness did not yield easily. While the struggle could not be resolved by focusing on behavior, the conflict could be settled by unreservedly surrendering the heart to God. Once we have yielded completely, God can change through inside control what external controls could never accomplish. There is no substitute for the Spirit’s presence—not philanthropy, model citizenship, community service, or self-mortification. Human righteousness is merely “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, NIV). More important, such self-righteousness is not merely ineffective; it is unsatisfying. Personal satisfaction comes not from being coerced to live righteously but from earnestly desiring to live righteously and then, by God’s magnificent grace, doing so.
Consider This: When believers recognize their shortcomings, how should they initiate positive change? What resources has heaven provided to those who sincerely desire righteousness? How can the spiritual battle’s intensity be minimized? As the believer’s life is filled increasingly by God’s Spirit, what is being displaced? How should Christians avoid the temptation to concentrate their efforts on changing behavior when the effective strategy would be to facilitate the Spirit’s invasion of our lives?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Paul outlines nine virtues known as the fruit of the Spirit that characterize the Spirit’s working within the surrendered life. Just as natural fruit is created through internal plant processes that transform the soil’s nutrients into delectable grapes, strawberries, and mangoes, so spiritual fruit is generated by the Spirit’s work upon the human heart. Experimenters successfully have replicated the taste and shape of various fruits by carefully analyzing their chemical structure and externally assembling their various components. Such fruitlike things, however, have never reproduced themselves. Artificial copies lack one essential: life! Externally assembled morality bears some resemblance to authentic character, but it remains lifeless, incapable of reproducing itself. Only internally generated spiritual fruit endures forever and yields offspring. Thus, faithfulness engenders faithfulness, kindness encourages kindness, gentleness generates gentleness, etc.
Activity: Bring some high-quality artificial fruit to class—some that could almost be mistaken for real fruit. Bring real fruit that matches the artificial fruit you have selected. Fill a container with both types of fruit. The container must allow class participants to view the fruit from a distance. Transparent bowls are ideal. Place the container within your meeting location but at some distance from where participants sit. Read Matthew 7:16. Or, alternately, if these items are unavailable, ask class members to compare artificial fruit to real fruit, describing the differences, and then read the text from Scripture and answer the questions below.
Thought Questions: How can the artificial fruit be discerned from the authentic fruit? Would discerning become easier if the fruit container was closer? What methods might be used to eliminate doubts concerning which was which? Would biting into the fruit settle the question? How can believers discern genuine spiritual fruit within others? Within themselves? How might difficult circumstances and trials distinguish between genuine spiritual fruit and the morally good look-alike? How can believers be confident that their spiritual fruit is authentic? How can Christians multiply their spiritual fruit?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: The strongest Christian gathers strength from the encouragement of fellow believers. Beginning Christians are even needier. By recognizing the Spirit’s transforming power in our acquaintances’ lives and acknowledging that recognition to the person, one may mightily encourage others to continue growing. Remember, recognition is only the first phase; expressing that recognition must follow.
Activity: Gather NewYear’s cards, generic holiday greetings cards, or some attractive nonseasonal stationery. Or if such cards or stationery is unavailable, any paper will do. Distribute to class members and encourage them to write an encouraging note to someone whose life has blessed their own. Recognize a specific spiritual attribute that can be tied to a specific biblical reference. Two prominent lists of godly attributes were contained in our theme chapter (Galatians 5) and also 2 Peter 1. The blessing presented could have been received secondhand. For example, the note could be directed to someone who led the class member’s parents to Christ, indirectly contributing to his/her spiritual advancement. Share how that blessing has affected the class member personally, as well as other family members or friends. Share also how Christ has used your life to bless others. (In some ways this could be described as the divine pyramid marketing plan: the uplinks receive credit for the downlinks’ spiritual influence!) Either provide postage so that the messages can be left with you for mailing, or encourage class participants to deliver or mail the notes themselves.