Galatians 5 - Tuesday, September 3

Galatians 5

Freedom in Christ

  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. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹² As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Life by the Spirit

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

Spirit vs. Flesh

   In the 1860s this country experienced one of its most bitter and difficult times:  the Civil War.  It was so difficult because we were not being attacked by foreigners and strangers, but by people who lived nearby -- from our own country -- our brothers and sisters.

   The scriptures teach us that the same thing is going on inside the Christian.  Our new spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, wants to live according to the fruit of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, etc.  In contrast, our sinful human nature wants to continue in the ways of the flesh.  It's a Civil War -- a house divided against itself.

   The ultimate winner will determine our eternal destiny.   And, of course, there's nothing more weighty and consequential than that.

   Fortunately, we have a mighty warrior that fought and fights for us:   The Son of David, our Savior Jesus.   As David slew the Giant Goliath, Jesus conquered the Tempter on the battlefield and crushed his head by the power of His sacrificial death in our place.   And He continues to do daily battle in us as we struggle with the Civil War within.  As Luther declared:  "but for us fights the Valiant One, whom God Himself elected."

   So, in the end, it is not our fighting that wins the war.  It is the power of our King Eternal, who has called us His own and has made us His temple.