March 9, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Galatians? Here’s today’s reading:
Galatians 5 (NIV)
Freedom in Christ
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law............Continue Reading
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“Love your neighbor as yourself” seems such a simple direction and yet we so struggle to put others before ourselves. We are selfish and prideful by nature but when we are walking in the spirit and the fruits of the spirit are evident in our lives, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, it should come so naturally.
There is freedom in accepting that everything here on earth is so temporary. Acquiring wealth that you can’t take with you, feeling pain or hardship that will end when this life does, all the things we hold on to so tightly on earth are nothing in the eyes of God. A humble servant spreading His light and love for an eternal purpose, that’s God’s desire for us.
As we walk in Christ we are to go through the Spirit to wait for the hope of righteous by faith. This means that we are to be continually made in the likeness of Christ [ sanctification]. Sometimes we are taken off this path of growing in Christ by our old nature or by other people or circumstances. We need to have our focus on Christ. In verse 7 it reads ; Ye did run well , who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth. [Kj] It reads in the NIV Who cut in front of you. It reminded me of a runner who finished a race but fell on the ground without getting his ticket and had to pick himself up and take the ticket so he was considered finishing the race. He placed 12th and should of placed 6 or 7. But at least he did finish the race. Latter in verse 13 we are reminded that we are not to use this liberty that we have in Christ to sin but are to instead in love serve others. We are to walk in the Spirit. How do we do that. We need to be fully surrendered to Christ and his will for us. And when we do sin we need to keep short accounts with him. And bring it before him and make it right. Verse 18 If you are led by the Spirit , ye are not under the law. In Psalms 51; 17 [ The sacrifices of God are broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite heart , 0 God, thou wilt not despise.]
Galatians 5
Starting out in Galatians 5, Paul exhorts the gentile believers to stand firm in the freedom for which Christ has set us free and not submit themselves to any part of the law which would bring us under slavery and legalism. Paul says not to submit to circumcision, for then Christ will be meaningless. If we as believers submit to circumcision or to any part of the law, we are then debtors to keep the whole law. John 1:16&17 says, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ” Brethren, we stand in grace through Jesus Christ, not in the law through Moses. Verse 7 of Galatians 5 says, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ” The false teachers were trying to get believers to keep the law along with faith in Christ. We are justified and sanctified by faith, not faith plus works in the flesh trying to keep the law. Because we as believers are free, Paul exhorts in verse 13, ” For you were called to freedom brothers, Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Verse 14 says, ” For the law is fulfilled in one word; You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ” Love is a fruit of the Spirit and as we walk in the Spirit we are literally fulfilling the law. But it is Christ in us by the Holy Spirit and as we as believers walk in the Spirit under grace we are empowered by the Spirit to not want to do that which is contrary to the law. In Romans 138-10 it says, ” Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ” You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. ” The new covenant internalizes God’s commands and this is found in Ezekiel 36:26-27 which says, ” And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put in you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. ” The Spirit causes us to obey God’s word as we surrender to His power in the Spirit. Sanctification is not about trying to obey Go’s law and commandments in the power of the flesh. This is a lagalistic mindset and we see Paul in Romans 7 as he tries to obey in the flesh the law apart from the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, ” But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ” Romans 7:14-25 is the same language as seen in Galations 5:17 which says, ” For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ” The less we yield to the Spirit in our lives we will fall victim to the desires of the flesh as seen in verses 19-21. In the Greek here it speaks of a habitual practice and lifestyle of unchanging patterns of sin. Can true believers sin grievously? Yes, but a true believer is typified by a change and to the fruit of the Spirit as seen in verses 22-23. Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is essential to living obediently to crucifying our fleshly desires. Flesh cannot conquer flesh by trying to keep the law and commandments, it’s being surrendered and filled with the Spirit which will evidence the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Verse 25 says, ” If we live in the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ” Our new birth, our new life is in the Spirit and as we walk in the Spirit we shall see a Christ like life unfolding as we grow. Will we be perfect in this life? No, we are prone to wander, prone to backslide, we disobey because we give in to our flesh, but this should, out of love to Jesus cause us to want to obey in the power of the Spirit. John 14:15 says, ” If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ” Love for Jesus, not fear of punishment under the law is our motivation. The Spirit testifies of Christ to us and causes us to want to obey. It is grace through love, not fear through the law that is how we walk our spiritual walk.
It’s really is difficult to grasp the freedom we have in Christ. On the one hand, Paul makes it clear that they are no longer under the law…and he’s actually angry with them that they continue to obey the law.
If we are in Christ and walking in the Spirit, it’s like we don’t even have to think about the law. In most cases, the Spirit lets us know when we are walking off the path. If anyone is confused, Paul gives a pretty detailed list of what is “the work of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit.”
“Now the works of the flesh are evident…..adultery, fornication, uncleanness, etc”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. – Against such there is no law.”
Paul is saying, it’s pretty obvious what is of the flesh and what is of the Spirit….at least it should be to those who are in Christ.
Galations 5
Serve one another humbly in love, and love your neighbor as yourself. If you walk in the Spirit, you will be able to say no to unrighteousness. Be led by the Spirit whose fruit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This way is so much better than being led by the law because it gives us freedom to do what the Spirit is guiding us to do. We don’t have to stop and anaylze whether or not we are sinning with everything we do in the course of the day. We can trust that the Spirit is guiding us to live godly lives.
Galatians five
Ah, to be free in Christ is to be free in deed! Now Paul’s focus is freedom from the law and it’s weak and condemning nature, especially when it came to Gentiles thinking they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Once you think the law is what saves you there is no freedom because you never know what is good enough and you will never keep the law perfectly so there is no confidence in your standing before God, not to mention the law actually stimulates and empowers the sin nature and puts you under it’s control…and there’s no freedom there. And yet the freedom we have in Christ goes way beyond that. It is freedom from sin and the sin nature because the sin nature only enslaves. It is freedom to the Spirt and all the power and influence He has in leading and guiding us as well as bearing His fruit within us. Jesus also frees us from fear and insecurity and having to figure out stuff on our own. But one of the greatest freedoms Jesus gives us is to not need people or circumstances to work out a certain way for me to be at peace.
And remember the fruit of the Spirit are not things we strive for necessarily but the things we recognize the Spirit by and the thing we free the Spirit to produce in us as we yield ourselves to Him. They are His fruit, not ours.