Welcome to Authorized Sword Ministries. This is Breaking the Chains, Series Three, Breaking Spiritual Strongholds. Lesson Four: Lasting Freedom, Walking in the Spirit.

We're so glad you're here.

Before We Begin

A gentle note first. This course is Bible teaching and spiritual encouragement. It does not replace professional counseling or medical care. We encourage you to use those good resources right alongside your faith. And if you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, please call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time, day or night, in the United States. In an emergency, call 911.

Where We Left Off

In this series we've learned what a stronghold is. We've looked at gambling and the love of money. And we've looked at the chains of the heart: anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness.

This is the last lesson of the whole Breaking the Chains course. Across three series we've talked about drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, gambling, and bitterness. Today we ask the most important question of all: How do I stay free? Not just for a week. For life.

Our Key Verse

Today's key verse is Galatians 5:16.

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." — Galatians 5:16 (KJV)

That's the secret of lasting freedom. Not trying harder in our own strength, but walking in the Spirit. Paul doesn't say, "Fight the flesh and then maybe you'll walk in the Spirit." He says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Fill your life with the Spirit, and there's less room for the flesh.

It Starts With the New Birth

Lasting freedom doesn't start with a program. It starts with a Person. Jesus said:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." — John 3:3 (KJV)

If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, that's the first step. He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. Turn from your sin and trust Him.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." — Romans 10:9 (KJV)

Stand Fast

Freedom can be lost if we don't guard it.

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." — Galatians 5:1 (KJV)

"Be not entangled again." Many people get free and then drift back. Jesus told a sobering story about a man who was cleaned up but left empty. The evil spirit came back with seven worse, "and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Matthew 12:45). An empty house won't stay clean. It has to be filled.

The Flesh and the Spirit

Every believer feels a war inside.

"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." — Galatians 5:17 (KJV)

Paul lists what the flesh produces, and it reads like the topics of this whole course:

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: 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." — Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV)

Drunkenness. Fornication. Wrath. Idolatry. All of it comes from the flesh. But then Paul shows us what the Spirit grows:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." — Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

Temperance means self-control. That's a fruit of the Spirit, not of willpower. As you walk with God, He grows it in you.

How to Walk in the Spirit

Walking is a daily, step-by-step thing. Here's what it looks like.

Feed on the Word Every Day

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." — Joshua 1:8 (KJV)

Pray Without Ceasing

"Pray without ceasing." — 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)

Talk to God all through the day, not just at meals.

Stay in Church

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." — Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)

You need a church family, and they need you.

Keep Short Accounts

When you sin, don't wait. Confess it right away. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Serve Others

Freedom isn't just about what you stop. It's about who you become. Paul said:

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." — Galatians 5:13 (KJV)

One of the best ways to stay free is to help someone else get free. Your story of what God did can be the key to someone else's chain.

God Finishes What He Starts

Maybe you're afraid you won't make it. Hear this promise:

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" — Philippians 1:6 (KJV)

God doesn't start what He won't finish. And He holds you:

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." — John 10:27-28 (KJV)

Questions for Study

1. According to Galatians 5:16, what is the key to not fulfilling the lust of the flesh?
2. Why does lasting freedom have to start with being born again (John 3:3)?
3. What does Matthew 12:43-45 teach about an "empty house"?
4. Look at the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. Which ones have we covered in this course?
5. Temperance is a fruit of the Spirit. How is that different from willpower alone?
6. Which daily habit (the Word, prayer, church, confession, or serving) do you most need to build?

Simple Steps for This Week

First, if you've never been born again, talk to God today, and talk to a pastor this week.

Second, set a daily time and place to read your Bible and pray.

Third, be in church every time the doors are open this week.

Fourth, memorize Galatians 5:16 and Galatians 5:22-23.

And fifth, read Galatians chapter five and Romans chapter eight.

Closing This Course

That brings us to the end of Breaking the Chains. We've talked about hard things, because these chains are real. But Jesus Christ is greater than every one of them.

Whatever has held you, whether it's a bottle, a pill, a screen, a bet, or a grudge, it does not have to be the end of your story.

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).

A Prayer

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for every chain You have broken through Jesus Christ.

Help us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Fill us with Your Spirit, so we will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Grow in us love, joy, peace, and temperance.

Keep us in Your Word, in prayer, and in Your church. Use our stories to help others get free.

And keep us in Your hand until the day of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you for walking through Breaking the Chains with us. God bless you as you walk in freedom.

This is Authorized Sword Ministries. God bless you.

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Sources

This lesson uses Scripture only. No outside statistics are quoted.