Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levitam. Shabbat Shalom! Now we know that you are here and we are very happy that we can be again together under the sound of the Word. The topic for today, or the ministry for today, of course, is found in Galatians, in the book of Galatians, that we are moving along in our study together of the book of Galatians. So I'm sure you have your Bible with you and I would like you to open to the book of Galatians to chapter 5. And let's see if the Lord can help us today to conclude with the fifth chapter of Galatians. We always give a measure of introduction as we read. began our meditations together, but again it's always good to remember brothers and sisters that the believers in Galatia have been saved, they've accepted the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. They became what is known to us as born again, born from above. They were now children, sons and daughters of the Father, just like the Jewish believers who were in the city of Yerushalayim and have accepted the Messiah in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and so on. Now the Gentile world have heard the message of the Gospel and many became believers in Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. But, of course, as it is in every generation, it was in the past, and it is in the present, and it will be in the future, there's always those that oppose the simple ABC of the Gospel and introducing things that are not given to us in Scripture. And of course, as we read in Acts chapter 15, there were those who came down from Jerusalem and said to the believers in Galatia that except they will be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, they cannot be saved. So Shaul, who minister in the region of Galatia, who led, Shaul Paul, who led the believers, the people in Galatia to come to know the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, wrote to them this interesting and important letter. I mentioned to you before that the letter to the Galatians was the first letter that Shaul Paul wrote out of the 13 letters. And he wrote this letter in order to correct doctrinal error that needed to be corrected. And doctrine is very important, beloved brothers and sisters. If we don't have foundation, we will never be able to build a house upon it. If we don't have sound doctrine, we will never be able to grow in appreciation of the work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So we are in Galatians 5 in this ministry meeting. And we're reading from verse 13 to verse 26. And with the Lord's help, we'll see what the Lord has for us. So Paul is writing and he says to them in verse 13, he says, For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revilings, and such alike. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, ahava in Hebrew, joy, simcha, peace, shalom, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And they that are Messiahs, or Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the affection and lust. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. another and I'm gonna stop here with the reading of Galatians chapter 5 and verses 13 to 26 Now as the Apostle Paul was writing this letter and I reminded you the Apostle Paul was a very you might say he was very sound in his presentations and you notice that in the first two chapters of Galatians he gave them his personal testimony his personal biography he told them who he was He told them what happened before he became a believer. He told them how he got saved. He accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And how the Lord Jesus the Messiah called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. To the uncircumcision. Then in chapter 3 and chapter 4, Shaul Paul presented before the Galatians doctrine, teaching. He went back to the Hebrew scriptures and he reminded them how God in his plan gave his people Israel the law, but the law was never given in order to bring Israel justification, but the law was given in order to help Israel to have a code of life in which will make them different than all other nations. And when the Messiah came, if you remember we read in Galatians chapter 3, and especially if you remember in this verse 19, what was the reason that the law was given? It was added because of transgressions. until the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And the seed is the Mashiach, the Messiah. When the Messiah, when the Mashiach of Israel, the Savior of the world came, He was the only one who fulfilled the law fully. And everyone that believe in Him is now delivered from the curse that they deserve because of the failure of men. The law is holy, Israel is sinful, man is sinful. The law will always curse the one who never fulfill completely the law. And therefore we are cursed by nature. But the Messiah came and He became curse. on our behalf when He died for us on the tree and paid for our sins. Now in chapter 5 and chapter 6 the Apostle Paul is moving no longer to personal testimony no longer only to doctrine but now he wants them to live practically. How do we live the life as believers now that we are saved? How do we live our lives as believers? And many times beloved brothers and sisters to our own shame We have to admit that we don't rise to the standard that we ought to live as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. In fact, the Christian community, the believers in Jesus the Messiah are far more responsible under the grace of God that Israel was under the law that God had given to our forefathers. Therefore, God will have to deal with the believers far severe because of their violation of the Word of God. Because we have everything. We have a complete canon of scripture. We have the Holy Spirit of God is indwelling us. We have the Messiah who already died, was buried and rose again and he is in heaven as a great high priest interceding on our behalf. We have everything to be able to live a godly life and yet you will see that even the Galatians, instead of living in the light of the blessing that they have, they were biting one another, they were devouring one another. And eventually ended up also to live many times in the works of the flesh, the old nature, rather than in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. So now in this passage, the Apostle helps the Galatians and he helps us to know how to live in liberty, how to live in freedom. You know, if you ever knew the Israel National Anthem, The second part of the Israel national anthem is like this. Our hope will not be lost. The hope of 2000 years to be free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem. This is the hope of the Jewish people for the last 2,000 years to go back to the land, to live as a free nation in the land after 2,000 years since the dispersion of the Romans. When the Romans destroyed a temple in the city of Jerusalem and the Jews, many Jews were killed. Over a million Jewish people were killed and dispersed. The rest of the nation was dispersed. For two thousand years, beloved brothers and sisters, there was no state, there was no nation called Israel in its own land. But now there is, since 1948. But, is Israel living in freedom, in liberty? Israel is still in unbelief. Israel still do not believe as a nation that Yeshua Jesus is the Messiah and only a few Jewish and a few Gentiles who are minority in this world have accepted the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. So we have been liberated, have been freed from the judgment that we deserve because of our sin. But how do we leave this free, you might say liberty that we have in Christ? Notice that in verse 1 of chapter 5, The Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith the Messiah has made us free and be not entangled with the yoke of bondage. So now that you became a believer, how do you live your free life, you might say your liberty? Does liberty mean that we can do as we please? Does liberty mean that the believer has now that he is free and he believes in Yeshua and he can live a sinful life and carry on as if everything is okay? The answer of course is no. You remember what Paul said in Romans 6 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! May it never be, the apostle Shaul Paul said. Not so! Because you are a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, and you are saved, it doesn't give you license to be lawless, to live a careless life. And that's what he's trying to teach the brothers and sisters now in Galatia in these verses in which we are here dealing with. So you notice that in Galatians 5 verses 13 to 26, the apostle Paul is giving a threefold ministry or telling us of the threefold ministry of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of every believer. Now let me just remind you for a moment, brothers and sisters, when you and I have confessed our sins and repented before God, that very same moment that we accepted the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Holy Spirit of God took residence in our body and we became born from above, born again. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17 says, all that are in Christ Jesus, in the Mashiach Yeshua, are new creation. All things have passed away. All become new. We are new creation. And as a new creation, we have a divine person indwelling in our hearts, in our person, you might say. And He is the one that minister to us, that guide us, that lead us to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. And so Paul, in Galatians 5, Verses 13 to the end of the chapter give us the threefold ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believers. Not in the life of the unbelievers, because the unbelievers are not born again. They are not born from above. They are not new creation. He is speaking to the Galatians who are already believers and to you and I as well. So He began, notice in verse 13, 14 and 15 and he said that the Holy Spirit of God, he helps the believers to fulfill the law of love. We could not fulfill the law of Moses by nature because we were not born from above. We didn't have a new nature. That's why the law condemned us, but now that we are believers in the Lord Jesus, in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, verse 13, 14 and 15, Paul shows the Galatians that the Holy Spirit of God helps the believers to fulfill the law, but he called it known as the law of love. And so he began in verse 13, and he said to them, listen, do not use liberty for an occasion for the flesh. Notice that, verse 13, for brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, unto freedom, in Hebrew we call it, chofesh, or herut. You have been called unto freedom, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. You know, many times when we hear people ask the question, so you say that you are saved, that you are forgiven, so it means you can do what you want, right? You can do as you please, after all, hallelujah, praise the Lord, we are saved, we are going to heaven. So who cares, one might say, let me live carelessly, sinfully, not judging myself, Not repenting for my wrong doing, because after all, Yeshua died for my sin, you see? Paul is saying, no brethren. He said to them in verse 13, he says, brethren, and notice he called them Achim, and by the way, the word Achim, brethren, is mentioned at least around 10 times in the book of Galatians. He's saying to them, notice, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh by love, but by love serve one another. In other words, don't be careless as a believer, because the Lord Jesus, the Messiah has set you free and forgave your sins and you belong to him. Don't say to yourself, wow, Now I have an occasion to do as I please, therefore I'm free, I have freedom, I can do as I please. Paul says, no brother, don't use it, don't allow yourself to have this liberty and use this liberty as an occasion for the flesh, for your all sinful nature to have its own way, Don't allow yourself to live in such a way, because if you're going to allow yourself to live in such a way, you will never please the Lord. You will never be able to grow spiritually and to honor God. He says, but the opposite. Notice what he says, but by love serve one another. The word love here is the Hebrew word Ahava. In Greek it's Agapeo, and it's an unconditional love of serving the brethren. Apparently, it seemed to be that the Apostle Paul, though he wanted the Galatians to understand their position, forgiven, saved, justified, reconciled. But he also understood that they have a problem not positionally but practically. In other words, there was the danger for them to carry on in the old sinful nature that is against the will of God. And that all nature, we all have this, this sin nature. The reason that we sin is because we have a sin nature. The reason that man does wrong is because we were born and shaped in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive me, David the king of Israel said when he prayed in confession to the Lord. And though he says to them, no brethren, don't do so, but the opposite, you better serve one another and do it with love, because if you are going to honor the Lord, if you are going to please the Lord, and if you are going to live your life in the light of the new nature that you have, serve God's people. Do it out of love towards one another, he says in verse 14. And then he reminds them, in verse 14, he reminds them, what is the fulfillment of the whole law? The Torah, what is the fulfillment? Notice in verse 14, for all the law, in Hebrew we say Kol HaTorah, all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. In Hebrew, Ve'ahavta l're'achah kamocha is taken from the book of Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 18. God wanted His people, Israel, not only to love the Lord, but to love the people of Israel and the neighbors around. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, because love, notice this, love is that which, as we have here in verse 14, love is the fulfillment of the whole Lord. Think about the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua. When he came from heaven, unconditionally he loved humanity. He came down from heaven to a people whom he knew who will reject him. Isaiah, the Hebrew prophet, said he was despised and rejected of men, and men of sorrow that had been acquainted with grief. But yet he came. He loved us even unto death. He loved us to the extent that He was willing to lay down His life for us. What an example we have in the person of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And so verse 14, He says, listen, the law is fulfilled in one word. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." Quoting Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 18. You remind us of what Yeshua the Messiah said in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 22, when he was asked about which is the greatest commandment. And you remember what the Lord Yeshua and the Lord Jesus said to the one that asked Him? He says, listen, in verse 37 of Matthew chapter 22, He said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbors as thyself. And then He said, On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. What's the use of seeking to keep rules and laws of men or even the law of the Lord but the behavior, internal behavior is completely contradicting that which we claim to say that we keep. That's what he was saying to the Galatians. If you're not behaving in a right way, so what if you will be circumcised externally? So what if you're going to keep certain things and certain commandments that God gave, external commandments, if your heart is wrong before the Lord? And what if you are saved and you are a believer and you allow yourself to live in the light of the flesh? So what is honor for the Lord if you don't walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord? That's what he said to the Galatians. And so he can move along and in verse 15, the Galatians did not allow the Holy Spirit of God to guide them. Look and see what's happened there in Galatia. Sadly, what happened in Galatia, we read in verse 15, notice apparently there was a problem in Galatia. even though they were misinstructed by listening to those who told them you must be circumcised in order to be saved and that is wrong but apparently in practice they failed how did they fail? notice what he said in verse 15 he said if you bite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another you see they were biting one another They were bickering with one another. They were devouring with one another. He says, listen, you better be careful. Lest ye be consumed, consumed one of another. You better be careful. In other words, it's not enough to have a positional relationship with the Lord when practically you fail to bring it into a relationship with other believers. That's what the Apostle Paul is saying to the Galatians. And notice he used the word biting. He used the word devouring and he even said at the end he said you better be careful take heed lest you be consumed one of another. The Hebrew words here for biting is linshoch, it's like a lion who is biting. And the second word here is devour. It's like a lion who devour that food that had been presented, maybe the other animal that came along his way. And imagine, brothers and sisters, what a shame is when God's people behaving in such a way that they bite one another, devour, you might say, one another, and eventually, you know what's going to happen? As it says here at the end of verse 15, that ye be not, take ye that ye be not consumed one of another. In other words, at the end, you know what's going to happen. In the end you'll see how you're going to be so going so far away with that which God have intended for you that you're going to end up to be splitted and devoured you might say and eventually you're going to be consumed and you will not enjoy the place of blessing that God has for you. And you see and when you think about what he said to the Galatians who apparently in verses 13, 14 and 15 did not allow the Holy Spirit of God to fulfill the law by their flesh, by their behavior. What's happening is whenever you see divisions among the people of God, whenever you see friction, broken relationship, it is all because the believer did not allow the Holy Spirit of God to help them to fulfill the requirements of God and instead of acting in the spirit they have allowed their old sinful nature to take possession of them and they eventually lost their blessing from the Lord. And here is Shaul Paul give them that warning in verses 13, 14 And 15, love, by love serve one another. What a reminder it is for us. If we are going to be able to stay together, if we are going to be able to build a local assembly, a local fellowship, a local group of believers, you cannot have a comfort zone when problem free. We need much grace towards one another to be able to build things, to build the work of God. We cannot do so when we do not allow the Holy Spirit of God to lead us in that way. So notice that Paul is moving along. And in the next verses, verses 16, Galatians 5, verses 16 to 21, he gives them a second ministry of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of God's people. And what is the second ministry? of the Holy Spirit of God, is that the Holy Spirit of God is helping the believer to overcome the flesh. The Holy Spirit of God helps the believer to overcome the flesh, this old sin nature that we have, that flesh, that sin nature that cause us so much, that hinder us from spiritual gross, this sin nature that we all have, beloved brothers and sisters. And for this, I would like you to look at a chart that we have for you to look at. And I think it will help us to understand. As you look at this chart, I would like you to remember, brothers and sisters, the look at the top statement, the two natures of the true believer. You see, brothers and sisters, every one of us who is a believer in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, We have two natures. We have the old nature and we have the new nature. The old nature we were born to our mothers with. David said many years ago, in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51. This is the old nature. And if you notice, as we look at this chart, that the old nature is capable to sin. While the new nature is incapable to sin. We have two natures. One is the old nature that is capable to sin. With this nature we have done all sort of wrong things. We committed every sin that is in the book. This is the old nature, but with the new nature that we all receive when we are in Christ Jesus, in the Mashiach Yeshua, this new nature cannot sin. Now I want you to notice, I want to read for you these two verses. If you turn to Romans chapter 7 and verse 14 with me for a moment. Romans chapter 7 and verse 14, look what Shaul Paul said about himself and he was a believer, a saved man, an apostle to the Gentiles he says in verse 14 of Romans chapter 7 for we know that the law is spiritual but look what he said about himself but I have a problem I am carnal and I am sold under sin I have a disease called sin nature this is my all nature I was born to my mother who was born, to her mother who was born, to her mother who was born through Adam and Eve who sinned in the Garden of Eden. and plunge the whole human race into sin. This is the old nature that we all have. This is the sin nature and that sin nature is capable to sin all the time. It is a sinful nature. But then look at the same time on the other side, we have the new nature. This new nature is incapable to sin. Go with me for a moment to 1 John chapter 3 for a moment, to the epistle. 1 John chapter 3, and look what John is saying, Yohanan. Yohanan is saying in 1 John chapter 3, and he says in verse 9, Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, And he cannot sin because he is born of God. You know, this is an amazing lesson. It's really an amazing lesson. Every one of us, we might not feel it, we might not even understand it, but the Bible teaches us that every believer has two natures. Every time you and I do something wrong, it's never the new nature. It's always the old nature. Every time when we harm someone, every time when we think evil, Every time that we do something that dishonors the Lord is always this old, Adamic, sinful nature which we have, which cannot honor the Lord. It's a sinful nature. And that's why we read in this passage, beloved brothers and sisters, on the one hand, the old nature, Romans 7 verse 14, is capable to sin. On the other hand, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 9, this new nature cannot sin because the new nature is a nature that was given to us by God. But now I would like you, brothers and sisters, to look back at the very same chart and I would like you to notice some of the names that the Bible, the scripture, gives us concerning these two natures which we possess. You notice that some of the names that we have in scripture, the old nature is called, and look at this chart, it's at John chapter 3 and verse 6a is called the flesh. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16a it's called the outward man. In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 9 this old nature is called the natural man. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14, this old nature is called the natural man. I'm sorry, in Colossians 3 verse 9 it's called the old man. In 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14 it's called the natural man. And in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3 we learn of this human nature that we have. Look at this, the old nature called the flesh, the outward man, the old man, the natural man, the human nature. That nature, that old sinful nature constantly sin and do wrong against the things of God. On the other hand, if you look at the chart once again, the new nature which we received from the Lord when we were born again, when we accepted Yeshua the Messiah, it is called in John 3 verse 6b, it's called the Spirit. The small s. In 2nd Corinthians 4, it is called the inward man. In Colossians 3 and verse 10, that new nature is called the new man. In 2nd Corinthians 2 and verse 15, it's called the spiritual man. And in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4, it's called the divine nature. It is fascinating when you study such a passage as Galatians chapter 5, because in verses 16 To verse 21, Galatians 5,16-21, the apostle Shaul Paul mentioned to the Galatians that the Holy Spirit of God is able to help the believer to overcome the flesh. And when we say the flesh, it's all sinful nature. is that which we read about, the flesh, the outward man, the old man, the natural man, the human nature with which we have dishonored the Lord. And the Holy Spirit of God is able to assist the believer to overcome and to live in a different light and not to live as we used to live before we have turned to Yeshua our Messiah. So let's go over verses. Notice that in verse 16 and verse 17 of Galatians chapter 5, we find out that there is a conflict in the life of the believer. There's a conflict. Why? Because we have two natures. So Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, he says it to the brothers and sisters in Galatia, he says to them, and I'm reading verses 16 and 17, he says, listen, this I say, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Verse 17, For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary one to another, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. See what he's saying to the Galatians? He said, if you really want to live in the light of that which will honor God, don't walk in the flesh. Don't walk according to the desires of the old nature, this old man, this outward man, this natural man, this human nature which is sinful. Don't allow yourself to be drawn by this old sinful man that always seems to want to go in a different, in a wrong direction. In other words, he says walk in the Spirit, under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God in the new nature that you receive and you will be successful not to fulfill the desires and the lust of the flesh you see when we became believers immediately we noticed that there is a conflict we immediately find ourselves that we have a conflict I get up in the morning, the new nature says, why don't you give thanks to God? The old nature says, no, you don't need to give thanks, everything is fine. The new man says, why don't you open your Bible and read a verse or two from the scripture? The old man says, no, later on, we don't need to read the Word of God now. And then you can see the decision making every time that we are in our life, every time as believers we have to make decision and we still even today, every day it's a conflict that the believer have, the flesh want his own way, the spirit, the new nature want its own way, and we are constantly having conflict in our lives. Now this is not a problem that the unbeliever has. We never had a problem before we became Messiah followers, Christians, Meshichim. We never had this problem. We didn't have a new nature. We didn't have a divine person in dwelling up. We didn't care. Yes, we had conscience. But the unbelievers don't have that problem. That's why sometimes young people They who have accepted the Lord are wondering, and they say, wait a minute, I have accepted Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, but for some reason, I have always problems. I don't understand what I'm going to do. I don't know how to handle myself. I'm losing my friends. My teachers don't understand me. Even my unsaved parents, if they are not saved, don't understand what have I done. and I have constantly conflict, what shall I do? Well, Paul tells us, don't be surprised because, listen, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Why? Because for, verse 17, the flesh lusts against the Spirit. and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary one to another, so you cannot do the things that you would. You see, the flesh always wants us to do wrong. Don't give thanks to God. You don't need a Bible. You don't need to follow Yeshua. You don't need to read scripture. You don't need to go to meetings. Why? Why should I come and go to hear a Bible teacher teach you about the Word of God? I can go do many other things. And you see what happened? This is the sinful, old nature which you and I have, beloved brothers and sisters, that we have constantly this conflict. What shall I do? How do I handle situation in my life? How do I honor the Lord in my life? And that's why we have many time problems. That's why when we make decisions in our life, the flesh says, do it your way. The new man, the spirit said, do it God way. What should you do? You're in a crossroad. Well, if you're going to allow the flesh to take its course, how can you grow spiritually? How can you honor the Lord? And Paul is saying to us that we do have the Holy Spirit of God who can assist us to overcome the lusts of the flesh. So walk in the Spirit, Galatians, Paul is saying to them. And you will see that you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Why? Because the flesh always is lusting against this new nature that you have. And the new nature that you have is always contrary to the old nature because the new nature want to please God. He says, you see, these are contrary. These are contrary and he says here to one to another so that you cannot do the things that you would. You see Paul said you cannot do the things that we would. How many things beloved brothers and sisters we want to do in the flesh? How many times the lusts of our flesh want to do certain things and when we do them we fail and we stumble and we dishonor the Lord and then later on I say I was a fool. I shouldn't have done that. How many a times we played the fool and we didn't allow the Spirit of God to lead our new divine nature to honor the Lord in our lives. How much decision we have made, that we shouldn't have made a decision, had listened to the Word of God, how much blessing God would have given to us. But we thought we knew better than God. And you see what Paul is saying, listen. You have two natures. You are different from the unbelieving world. You have two nature, the old nature, the new nature. The old nature always sin, the new nature cannot sin. The old nature is the flesh, the outward man, the old man, the natural man, the human nature. The new man is the spirit, the inward man, the new man, the spiritual man, the divine nature that we have according to 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 4. We are born from above. John 1 verse 12 says, As many as received Him, To them He gave the right to be called the children of God, even to them that believe on His name. You and I are children of God. We belong to Yeshua. And God wants us to live for Him here in this world. So, there is a conflict. And you may feel it in your life today, and I may feel it in my life today. Every day, we go through the same issue. Shall I go that way? Or shall I do it this way? Shall I make this decision? Or shall I make that decision? Lord help me! And the Spirit of God is always willing to help us if we're only going to allow Him to help us in our life. Now notice verse 18, Galatians 5,18 If you are led of the Spirit of God, you are not under the law. In other words, the Spirit of God is God the Holy Spirit. Verse 18, But if ye be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. You don't need rules. Because the Spirit of God will give you the right conduct. You don't need laws. Because the Spirit of God will lead you in a way that it will be pleasing God, because after all, the same God who gave the Law is none else but God the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son. God gave us the Law, but we could not fulfill the Law because of our sin nature. And therefore God said that the Law was temporary until the Messiah came. When the Messiah came, He fulfilled the Law on behalf of all those who will believe on Him. So He's saying to them, listen, verse 18 He said, if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law or any man's law, because if you and I will be led by the Holy Spirit of God, we will always do the right thing. Unfortunately, in reality, we don't, because we don't live in such a communion with God, allowing the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God to lead us. And that's why we stumble, we fall, we dishonor the Lord many, many times in our life. And notice what we read about Yeshua for a moment. Turn to Matthew Chapter 4. Matthew Chapter 4, we read of our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah as men. that when he entered into this world when he was born to the virgin Miriam in the city of Bethlehem in the land of Israel and he lived among our own people Israel before he died he was submissive to the Holy Spirit of God in his own life. We read of him in Matthew 4 and verse 1, then was Yeshua led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Imagine the Holy Spirit of God led the man, Mashiach Yeshua, to go all the way to the wilderness because God wanted to teach us a great lesson. that Yeshua, every time He was tempted, He never allowed Himself to follow after Satan. He said to Satan, men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds by the mouth of the Lord, from the mouth of the Lord. He said to Satan when he tempted him, he said, thou shalt honor God. He honored God in his life. He was the supreme individual that never sinned and we had to learn from him. If we are led by the Spirit, we don't need laws because God, the Holy Spirit of God will lead us right. God, the Holy Spirit of God will lead us aright and how wonderful it was to see Yeshua who was tempted. You know, I often wonder, you see the difference between Adam in the garden of Eden and Yeshua in the wilderness? Both of them were tempted in the three areas that you and I are being tempted today. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. You remember when the woman saw in the tree that it was good for food? It was pleasant to the eyes and it was able to make one wise. And she took off the fruit when she was tempted by Satan. She ate of it. Nothing happened because she was not the federal head of the human race. Adam was. But the moment that she had given it to Adam, he ate and he plunged the whole human race into sin. And that's how you and I received the sin nature. On the other hand, Yeshua in the wilderness, not in the garden of Eden, where there is plenty, Yeshua was hungry, the Lord Jesus, for 40 days in the desert. And when He was tempted, He didn't allow Satan to beguile Him. He's the man from heaven. He's the man that came from glory. He's God's man. You and I belong to Him because of His work on behalf of us when He died for us on the shameful Roman cross. Yes, in Adam we all died. But in Yeshua, in the new man, in the man from heaven, we all be made alive. All who trust in Him. Two men! Adam, Yeshua, one fell into sin, the other one honored God, never sinned at all. And that's why He is qualified to be the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world. And so, beloved brothers, back to Galatians. In chapter 5 and verse 19, 20 and 21, The apostle Shaul Paul gives the Galatians the list. And this list is a list of the works of the flesh. Some, there is a lot more. And if you notice, if you look at this chart, And you will notice here's another list, is a list of the works of the flesh, Galatians chapter 5 verses 19 to 21. Look at this list, beloved brothers and sisters, look at this list. This list shows us what the old sinful nation of ours, yours and mine, is capable of doing because when we allow it to have its own way, that's what happened in our life. Notice this list and let me read it to you. In verse 19 we read, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, idolatry, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murderers, drunkenness, reveling and such alike. And notice what he continues in verse 21, and he said, Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in pastime or in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now notice brothers and sisters, he gives us a list here. of the works of the flesh. These things men do. These things we do when we allow our flesh, our all nature to continue on in its own way. And you notice these are divided really into four areas. Verse 19 The works of the flesh are known as a manifest which I give as idolatry, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. These are sensual sins that man by nature committed because of our own sin nature. Sensual sins. Then you notice in verse 28, the first part, we have the false worship that men commit in his life. Idolatry and witchcraft. This comes from this old sin nature and this is not so much sensual but it is a false worship, idol worship that man is capable to commit in his life because of his sin nature. Thirdly, look at the personal social sins that we commit. It continues in verse 20b and verse 21a. It continues with hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envying and murders. You see, these are some things that we do personally and in relationship to the society. Why there are so many murders in this world? Why there is so much hatred in this world? Why there is so much envy and emulation here in this world? Why there is so much anger and strife in this world? Why there is so much heresies here in this world? Why there is envying and so on? Why? Because it comes out of the old nature the flesh and the apostle is showing the Galatians on this list notice this, on this chart you see the works of the flesh there are so many of them He only gave them a little list here. He continued, if you remember, He said, "...and such alike as these." Sensual sins, false worship sins, personal and social sins, and notice the other one is restraint, inability to restrain ourselves. Notice in the last part of verse 21, it says there, drunkenness and revelings. You notice drunkenness. You notice that beloved brothers and sisters? When Noah, this man of God came out of the ark into a new world and the first thing we find Noah failing in that very same thing when he got drunk and you remember what we find out how his son looked at him and mocked him And you remember that? And this is how the capability that we have, if we are not careful, if we are not careful, we are very... we cannot even restrain ourselves. And that's the four areas in which the lusts of the flesh are being exhibited in the life of the men, women, people, when they allow their flesh to carry on in its own way. It's called in scripture, the works of the flesh, in plural, the works of the flesh. The 16 fold sinful works of the flesh, which is exhibited at times in the life of even God's people. Because we have the old nature within us, we are capable of falling into one or two or many more of these sins. that are called sensual, false worship, personal and social sins, and the lack of restraint that can come in a life of a believer, a life of a child of God. But you see, a child of God may fall into one of those sins. We see it in Scripture many times. but he or she will not continue on an ongoing habitual and continual way in their life because they have a new nature, a divine nature at some point of time they will have to realize I cannot continue in this way I dishonor the Lord and so you can see that in this list of things that can happen in the life of the believer. Yet notice what he said at the end in verse 21. Paul says, I've also told you in time past the day which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. What does he mean here? He doesn't mean that a believer can lose his salvation or her salvation. No, of course not. Because our salvation does not depend upon our performance. Our salvation depends upon the finished work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. But what does he mean here is that when a person is habitually and continually live this kind of lifestyle is an evident that he or she are really not belong to the Lord whatsoever. that he or she are really unsaved if they continue habitually and on an ongoing basis. And that's why he said, such those that practice or do habitually continue such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. When a brother or sister fall into any one of these sins, he or she need to repent. He or she has to come to the throne of grace. We read in 1 John 1.9, if we sin, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The believer should immediately turn to the Lord and repent and recognize that he failed the Lord, that he dishonored the Lord and be restored to the Lord in his life. Verses 16, beloved brothers and sisters, to verse 21, the Holy Spirit of God helps the believer to overcome the flesh. Because the flesh, the flesh prophet is nothing. The old nature of ours is capable to do anything. With this all sinful nature we have committed any and every sin that is in the book. Even if you haven't done it and you thought of it, as far as the Lord is concerned, it's a sin. And for this we deserve to be punished, but praise God, Yeshua paid for every sin that we have committed. Now quickly, let's move along to the last portion of Galatians chapter 5. And the last verses, verse 22, 23 and verse 24, he gives us, Paul gives the Galatians and you and I, the third ministry of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of the believer. And what is that third ministry? It is the fact that the Holy Spirit of God can help the believer to produce fruit for God. Ruach HaKodesh, Ruach HaElohim can help us because our new nature is linked with the person of the Holy Spirit of God. And He's helped us to bring fruit, fruit for God. blessing and honor to the Lord and to others. And so we read in verse 22, there is another list. And I would like you to look at this chart again. And here's another list now. Here's a nine fold list of the fruit, singular of the Holy Spirit of God. We read of it in verse 22, but the fruit, notice that the word fruit is in singular even though there are nine parts to it, but it is the fruit that is produced by the Holy Spirit through the new nature that God had given to the believer in Yeshua. And so we read, but the fruit of the Spirit is, and notice, beautiful, love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. This is verse 22 and the first part of verse 23. Ninefold fruit of the Spirit which began with love. The Hebrew word is Ahava. The Greek word is Agape, which means unconditional love that the Holy Spirit of God can produce out of this divine nature, the new nature that we have, this new man. And you see, look at the beautiful thing, beautiful things or beautiful fruit that this new nature can produce with the help of the Holy Spirit of God. Notice that internally within love, joy and peace. Shalom and joy, Simcha and love, Ahava. This is what we have internally if we enjoy the things of the Lord. We have love in our hearts. You remember what we read in Romans chapter 5? That the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Ruach HaKodesh shed, place love. Why are we able to love even those that are unlovable? Why is it that we are able to have this joy when things around us are joyless? Why are we able to have Shalom, peace, when there is turmoil around us? The peace of God, Shalom HaElohim, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Where do we get this? The new men, with the help of the Holy Spirit of God, have internally It is an inward state, inward condition that we can have when we walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Look at second group, it says, long-suffering and gentleness and goodness. This is not done towards me or towards the inside. These are an outward state, outward condition. You see, why do we need long-suffering? Why do we need gentleness and goodness? Because we need patience, we need long-suffering with one another, with people in a world in which we live in. We suffer long. We allow ourselves to bear with things, even though they are not so easy. But how can we do it? The Holy Spirit of God helps us to produce it. And then thirdly, we have a third group which is faith and meekness and temperance. This is a Godward state. It's in relationship to God. We are faith in God, faith in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Be humble and meek. You remember what Yeshua said of himself, I am meek and lowly in heart. Moses was the meekest man on earth. It is in relationship to God. It was evident by others. But when Moses was broken before the Lord, Moshe, Rabbeinu, the lawgiver of Israel, God have used him when he was broken before the Lord. He was the meekest man on earth. And of course, temperance. Temperance simply means to be tempered in whatever you do, to know when to do it, to know when not to, to know how to handle situations. And God is the one that is able to help us to be temperance in our life, in the things that we do in our life. So verse 22 and part of verse 23 gives us the 9 fold list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God. It is that which pleases the Lord in the life of the believer. And notice what it says now in verse 23 at the end. against such, there is no law." You see, a believer who walks in the power of the Holy Spirit doesn't need laws, because the Spirit will always make him do the right thing. But when, you know when we need laws? When God said, thou shalt not covet, because He knows we have an inclination to covet. You know when we need laws? When the Lord said, I shall not murder, because we have an inclination to murder and to hate. When the Lord tells a certain thing to do, you know why God said this to our people Israel in the law? Because He knew that the sin nature that they have, that the law will become like a mirror to say, Oh God be merciful to me I have failed you at every one of these commandments that you gave I need a sacrifice I need forgiveness, the blood atonement which remind and ought to remind the Jewish men of the Messiah that was going to come and take away the sin of the world. The law condemned us The sacrifice, the blood forgave us and pointed to the Messiah who was the only one who fulfilled the law. And because of Him, we are now set at liberty. And we are not to live in the light of the flesh. And notice what he concluded. And I would like to conclude with this Galatians chapter 5. In the last verses here, verse 24, 25 and 26, the people who belong to the Messiah, God's prove of such a thing. Notice in verse 24, it said, and they that are the Messiah, the Christ, the Messiah, have crucified the flesh with the affection and lusts. In other words, what is the word crucified mean? Put to death. So those that belong to Yeshua the Messiah are on an ongoing basis need to put to death this all sinful nature. But positionally we have already reckoned ourselves dead when we have accepted the Messiah. When we believed in the Lord Jesus and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah we have already said this thing. I died with Him. I was buried with Him, and I rose again with the Lord Jesus, with the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. There is a very interesting verse in Colossians chapter 2, and I want to read that to you. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 11. Look what it says, what Paul says in Colossians 2 verse 11. Paul says like this. He says, in whom also ye are circumcised. With the circumcision, notice, made without hands. In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the Messiah. In other words, when Yeshua died, we died, positionally. When Yeshua died, we died with Him. And positionally, beloved brothers and sisters, God does not look at us whatsoever under this old sin nature. He look at us as we are in Messiah, in Christ. He died, we died. He was punished on our behalf. We have accepted Him. We have died. They that are belong to the Messiah have died. They put to death the flesh with the affection and it's lost positionally. Practically, it's another story. This we need an ongoing help from the Spirit of God. Then verses 25 and verse 26, he's closing this 5th chapter and the Apostle Paul says, if the believer will live in the realm of the Spirit of God, then he will be able or she will be able to please the Lord and not to live in a way that it is harmful and dishonoring to the Lord. And notice I'm going to read these last two verses, verse 25 and verse 26. If we live in the Spirit, in the realm of the Spirit, allowing the Spirit of God to guide us, living in the light of the new nature that we have, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we are already positionally belong to the Lord and we live in a light of the Holy Spirit of God to guide us and to lead us. Now let us walk, let us practice this. Let us live it out on a day-by-day basis. Let us not, verse 26, be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another. and envying one another. A change has to happen practically just as a change happened positionally when we have accepted the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Let us not desire His vain glory and let us not provoke one another to envy and so on, envying one another. In other words, brothers and sisters, what Paul is saying and I'm going to finish with it for today don't live like you used to live, He is saying to the Galatians don't carry on allowing the flesh to take control over our lives, you have two natures and if you look at one more time the chart, you have two natures, these two natures are completely different the old nature is capable to sin the new nature is incapable to sin walk in the Spirit and he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Why? Because the spirit is the inward man. The spirit is the new man. The spirit is the spiritual man. The spirit is the divine nature which we receive. So walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the last of the flesh. Why? Because the last of the flesh is the outward man. The last of the flesh or the flesh is the old man. It's the natural man. It's the human nature which dishonors the Lord at any time, every time. Live your life, Paul said to the Galatians, in a way that it will please the Lord. And how much help we need. from the Lord to help us to walk in a way that will please the Lord Yeshua in our life. We can do it the Holy Spirit of God to take control over our life and He will do so if we will submit to His authority. Can we say Amen to that? so You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom. StSq2 2.60 you