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The Bible tells us that the desires of our flesh are at enmity against the mind of God (Rom 8:7)…
And so we are instructed in scripture to walk in the Spirit, by faith, and not by the flesh.
Galatians 5
Walk in the Spirit
In chapter 5, Paul explains to the Galatian Christians: Through grace, Christ has set you free.
Stand firm, and do not fall back into the slavery of the law.
Yet do not use your freedom as an opportunity to sin.
Do not give yourself over to the deeds of your carnal desires but rather to the deeds of the Holy Spirit.
The Christian is freed from external control by the law to internal control by the Holy Spirit.
The Christian is also set free from the negative effects of the law, so don’t return to it.
You would have to keep the whole law perfectly, which you cannot.
In Christ, only faith working through love avails anything.
Christ died to set us free from slavery to the law.
Our responsibility is to stand firm and not to fall back into law and sin.
Those who return to the law face six negative consequences.
First, it invalidates Christ’s work on the cross for Christ will be of no value to you.
By submitting to circumcision, a person demonstrated that they were not fully trusting in Christ.
Instead they added their own works to what Christ had done, thus invalidating the sufficiency of Christ for salvation.
The second negative consequence of returning to the law is obligation.
Once a person submits to one part of the law (circumcision), he is obligated to obey the whole law.
The third negative consequence of returning to the law is that it removes a person from the sphere of grace.
While the legalist is insecure because he cannot know if he has done enough to merit salvation, the believer is secure because he has placed his faith in Christ and will eagerly await righteousness.
When Paul says we eagerly await. . . the righteousness for which we hope, he is referring to one of two possibilities.
On the one hand he may be referring to the righteousness that grows in us slowly, day by day, as we live by faith in Him (in Jesus).
On the other hand, he may be referring to the day when our righteousness will suddenly be complete, the day when Jesus returns (Rom. 8:8-25; Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:8).
Both ideas are true and are taught elsewhere in Scripture.
Our salvation is past, present, and future. We have been saved by Jesus’ work on the cross in the past; we are saved day by day as the Spirit works within us to bring about daily righteousness, and we will be saved when we see Jesus and receive our glorified body, freed from sin to serve him in unsullied righteousness.
What truly matters is the fruit of grace which is faith expressing itself through love (Eph. 2:10; Jas. 2:14-18).
To fall from grace is to fall from love.
The fourth negative consequence of returning to the law is that it hinders spiritual growth and development.
Using the metaphor of a race, Paul states that the legalists had cut in on the Galatians’ spiritual race and caused them to stumble spiritually.
As a result, the Galatians were no longer obeying the truth.
Turning to a yeast metaphor, Paul illustrates how quickly a little bit of legalism can contaminate a believer and, indeed, a whole church.
Paul, however, expressed his confidence that the Galatians would not depart from the truth.
He warned that those who are confusing them will experience God’s judgment.
A fifth consequence when one retreats to legalism is the removal of the offense of the cross.
Before Paul was converted, as a Pharisee, he preached circumcision.
Now he is being accused of still preaching circumcision.
Paul denies this accusation by pointing to the offense or stumbling block of his gospel.
He omitted circumcision, and this omission was an offense to the legalists who attacked him.
The sixth and final consequence of turning to the law is anger.
Paul is so angry he wishes the legalists would go the whole way and castrate themselves as did the pagan priests of the cult of Cybele in Asia Minor.
This desire is not a pretty picture, but Paul is completely exasperated by these people who are preaching circumcision and sabotaging the Galatians’ faith.
Christ gives the Christian the freedom to love others truly.
In verse 1, Paul states that Christian freedom is the right and privilege of every believer.
Then he points out six negative consequences of falling back into slavery.
Now he warns them not to use this freedom as a license to sin.
Rather than liberty being used for selfishness, the true objective of their newfound freedom is love.
Quoting Leviticus 19:18, Paul summarizes the law as “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Always remember that we are slaves commissioned to love one another (Matt. 22:39).
As a result of the legalists, this church was divided.
They were biting and devouring each other.
Their church and community of faith were on the verge of destruction.
Legalism treats people harshly and often leads to divisions.
Release from the law and the power to love are results of God’s working in us by the Holy Spirit.
The law was powerless to help a Christian overcome these sins.
We may want to please God, but our sin nature continually pulls us into disobedience (see Rom. 7).
The answer to this battle between the old and new nature is found in the inward ministry of the Holy Spirit.
To experience victory we must live or walk by the Spirit.
As we live our lives in dependence on, and obedience to, the Holy Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Now Paul demonstrates the need for the Holy Spirit’s enablement.
The Christian will, this side of heaven, always experience conflict between the Holy Spirit and the flesh.
Here flesh is not limited to the physical dimension of man but denotes anything less than and other than God in which man places trust that belongs to God alone.
Paul gives a more complete description of this conflict in Romans 7.
In summary, Paul tells us that victory over sin is not the result of living under the law.
Instead, it is the result of actively yielding to the Spirit.
Therefore, both the first step of salvation and its ongoing steps (sanctification, growth in holiness) are brought about within us by God’s Spirit working through faith.
To be saved, we must have faith in Christ.
To walk in God’s way, we must have faith in the Holy Spirit, for He empowers us to walk in obedience.
The acts of the flesh symbolize spiritual death, but the fruit of the Spirit is evidence of spiritual life.
In verses 19-23, Paul contrasts the acts of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.
The acts of the sinful nature are divided into four categories.
First, three sexual sins are listed.
Sexual immorality is a broad term covering fornication, adultery, and homosexuality.
Impurity is also a broad term referring to moral uncleanness in our thought life, speech, and actions (Eph. 5:3-4).
Debauchery is brazen, unashamed boldness in these sexual sins.
People who become desensitized through sexual exploits can eventually lose all modesty and instead can flaunt their erotic, sinful lifestyle.
The second category of these sinful acts is religious sin.
Paul presents idolatry and witchcraft as two religious sins. Idolatry involves bowing down to pagan gods.
Witchcraft refers to the magical potions administered by sorcerers.
Through these magical potions, these sorcerers were able to control the evil powers.
Now Paul lists eight societal sins.
They run the gamut from hatred to the actions of discord and jealousy that result in factions.
Loving others is not easy.
When the flesh controls us, interpersonal problems are the result.
Finally, two alcohol-related sins are listed: drunkenness and orgies.
Orgies refer to drunken sexual perversions associated with Bacchus, the god of wine.
Alcohol controls people and distorts their thinking.
Many people, under the influence of a few drinks, have committed grievous sexual sins.
Rather than being controlled by alcohol, the Christian is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
While a Christian may intermittently get pulled into these sins, those who live like this (habitually, continually) ARE NOT CHRISTIANS and will therefore NOT inherit the kingdom of GOD (see 1 Corinthians 6:9).
In contrast to the “acts of the flesh” presented above, those who are obedient to the Holy Spirit produce beautiful, nourishing spiritual fruit.
Notice the fruit in this passage is called the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of self-effort.
This fruit the Holy Spirit produces in the life of a faithful Christian.
In other passages of Scripture, we are commanded to fulfill the individual characteristics.
The answer to this seeming paradox, I believe, is that only the Holy Spirit can produce the fruit; but he will not do so unless we are striving to the best of our ability for them in faithful obedience.
These fruits of the Spirit are in harmony with and not opposed to the law.
However, they are not produced by the law but rather by the Spirit working through the believer’s faith.
The Christian has died to sin and is alive to a Spirit-controlled life of righteousness.
The struggle between our flesh and our new nature is real.
Yet there is more truth to help us win this battle.
Paul explains that those who know Jesus Christ do not have to respond to the flesh because they have crucified the [flesh] with its passions and desires.
This crucifixion refers to our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection (Gal. 2:20).
When Christ died, our flesh was judged.
This does not mean our propensity to sin has been eradicated or rendered inoperative.
We must accept that our old nature has died with Christ and that as new people we have an increasing power to resist sin (Rom. 6:10-12).
In addition to the flesh that is judged, Paul reminds the Galatians that they have the Holy Spirit to strengthen them against sin.
We must keep in step by following the Holy Spirit’s direction and guidance.
He ends our bondage to evil desires.
Finally, Paul challenges the Galatians to live a life of harmony.
Conceited legalism sees no need of the Spirit’s help and thinks it has accomplished salvation apart from the Spirit. Instead, it leads to arguments.
Paul says to stop provoking and envying each other.
These negative traits point to the divisions in the church caused by the legalists.
The only answer to such disharmony is love empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Everyone needs a certain amount of approval from others. But those who go out of their way to secure honors or to win popularity become conceited and show they are not following the Holy Spirit’s leading.
Those who look to God for approval won’t need to envy others.
Because we are God’s sons and daughters, we have His Holy Spirit as the loving guarantee of His approval.
Seek to please God, and the approval of others won’t seem so important.
Ships at sea are not guided by following other ships, or else we will just be going in circles; rather Jesus Christ is our TRUE NORTH and we follow him alone!
SELAH (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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From Faith to Faith
PURE SPIRITUAL POWER
by Gloria Copeland
“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
So many believers think of the fruit of the spirit as little more than a passive list of pleasant qualities that can help improve their personalities.
But they’re far greater than that! They’re pure spiritual power.
Love is so powerful, the scripture says, that it never fails.
Patience is so powerful it cannot be stopped. No matter what the circumstances, it will not quit.
Temperance is so powerful it can master all the unruly desires of your flesh.
The fruit of the spirit are not weak; they’re strong. So strong all the demons of hell can’t stop them. So strong that if you’ll let them flow out of you, they’ll correct the problems in your life.
They’ll keep you steadfast when all the people around you are falling down.
They’ll keep you on your feet when governments fail and when the storms of life come.
We are living in dangerous days. There’s only one way you can make it through in victory.
You must begin to release those powerful fruits of the spirit God has placed inside you.
Believe me, if you’re born again, they are there.
Learn to yield to them and as 2 Peter 1:10 promised, you shall never fall!
Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-10
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