Galatians 5 - Walking in the Spirit

Previously in Galatians, we looked at how we as believers have been adopted as children into the Kingdom of God. We are His children, and as a result are heirs of all God has to offer us. Because of this, we should not want to again place ourselves back under the Law where we were in bondage to rules and regulations. The answer to legalism is to cast it out.

Paul continues on into the next chapter in talking about legalism. He told them to stand fast in the liberty by which Jesus Christ had made them free. This means believers are to make up their minds to stand firmly on the grace of God through faith regardless of the opposition, rather than being entangled again into the bondage of legalism. If believers go back to works for their justification, Jesus is no longer of value to them. If we seek to be justified by keeping the Law in one area, then we must keep it in every area, and if we seek to be justified by the Law, then Paul states we are fallen from grace. This brings up an important point: The Scriptures do not teach that a person can lose their salvation by some sort of sin they have committed; in this we are eternally secure. However, it would appear from studying Galatians thus far that believers can fall from grace by deliberately setting it aside or disregarding it in an attempt to be justified on their own merits. The author of Hebrews seems to have been writing to a similar audience who wanted to return to the Old Testament, forsaking a new and better covenant for an old one that never could truly take care of their sin. This does not seem to be a casual struggle with doubts, but, again, a deliberate choice to forsake Jesus Christ and His righteousness for their own, which is really no righteousness at all. We can only bring to Him our filthy rags that will leave us in debt to God and subject to His wrath on judgment day. Others reject Christ because they just want to live in sin. When you see big names in the Christian community  renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, and then at the same time or shortly thereafter, openly promote sin, you know this just didn’t happen overnight. There are many professing believers today who are “deconstructing” their faith and leaving the Church, and at the heart of all it is they just don’t want to submit to the teachings found in the word of God.

This brings up another valid question, how do I know if I’ve crossed this line? I believe the answer is that if you still have a desire to serve Jesus and obey His teachings, this is the evidence you are born again, for the Spirit of God is working in you. We cannot come to Him unless we are drawn (John 6:44). People who have truly renounced their faith have no desire to have faith in the right Jesus, nor do they want to obey Him. Again, they have deliberately chosen not to do so. They have lost the desire to do so, and I believe the author of Hebrews explains this for us in Hebrews 6. It is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Christians have struggles with sin, and sometimes these struggles are very real and intense. However, a person with the Holy Spirit living inside of them will not be comfortable staying this way.

We need Jesus’ righteousness, guys! It’s are only hope. As my pastor likes to say, Christianity is not what you do, but what you believe.” More importantly, it is who you believe on. The Scriptures say that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); it is we who can choose to leave Him. As I have stated before, our walk with the Lord is a continual process of trusting in the grace of God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. It is not through doing or not doing something, but faith which works by love. Again, we are not to entertain anything to the contrary, for it is like leaven in a lump of dough. A little leaven will eventually leaven the whole lump. It will spread like a disease or cancer throughout our lives and the lives of others.

Paul stated that whoever tries to persuade us from the grace of God will bear their own judgment. So frustrated was Paul with the Judaizers that he stated under the inspiration of the Spirit that if they were so bent on teaching the requirement of circumcision for salvation, he wished they were cut off. In the King James Version we miss the real meaning of what Paul is saying here. In the original language this means to mutilate or to cut off, so Paul is using a play on words. Just as they were so focused on cutting away the flesh, Paul is saying they should just emasculate themselves as an indicator they are not really part of the body of Christ. This sounds pretty rough, but it gives us an idea of how the Lord views those who have given themselves over to believing and promoting false teaching. They have already made up their minds, and they will only serve to pull others away from or keep them from a real relationship with the Lord. Remember, in the big picture this is eternity at stake, and if it were not, I don’t believe Paul would have had such a sense of urgency in his letter to the Galatians.

Paul then transitions into the role that works play in the Christian life. He states that they have been called unto liberty, but that they should not use this liberty as an excuse to walk after the flesh (walk in sin). You see it’s not that sin no longer exists or that there are things the Lord does or does not want us to do, but our reason and motivation are entirely different. We do not do good works to earn a right standing with the Lord, but because we already have been made righteous through the blood of Christ. Our primary motivator for doing so is love. The Lord loved us when we didn’t deserve it, and He has given us the ability to love Him and to love others. If we truly love one another, we will not walk in the flesh. Sin hurts you, and it hurts me. Love is not just a feeling we get from time to time, but a choice to do what is right for our own good and the good of others. The whole Law is summed up in loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Paul wrote to the Romans “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

So this then brings up another important question, how do we not walk in the flesh? Paul’s answer to this is to walk in the Spirit. I used to think this was some super spiritual or mystical thing, but it simply means that we choose to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit which we received through faith in Jesus Christ. The battle has already been won on the cross; all we need to do is believe on Jesus to receive this power. If we are lead by the Spirit, we are not under the Law. He then lists the works of the flesh, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and so on, and states that those that do these things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The idea here is not an occasional lapse into or struggle with sin, but a practicing of sin with no repentance or signs of remorse. The Scriptures state that people who continually practice sin will not inherit eternal life. The most straight-forward interpretation of this passage is that it says what it means. Paul repeats a similar warning in both 1 Corinthians 6 and Ephesians 5, and in the Ephesians passage he tells them not to  be deceived, for the wrath of God is coming on these individuals. This is not a warning to believers of losing their salvation, but that it is a cause and effect relationship. The practicing of sin is the evidence the persons are not born again. They were either never saved in the first place (probably the most likely scenario), or they have renounced Christ to walk after the world. This is where I have to part company with the eternal security folks: you cannot confidently tell me someone is going to Heaven who is blatantly living and promoting sin with no signs of remorse just because they said the sinner’s prayer when they were 10. While it is true the Lord is the only one who truly knows the heart, at a certain point we have to question what is in their hearts based off the fruit that is being born. Even Saul, who was a train wreck of a king, still had moments of remorse and repentance when confronted by David over his sin.

However, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against these things, for they are right and true, and they cannot be spoken against. These are not things we can produce in our own strength, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If you have ever tried to produce these on your own, you will quickly find out how impossible of a task it is. This happens as we abide in Jesus through faith. Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) The branch does not have to work and strive to produce fruit; it does so because it is connected to the tree. The old man with his sinful tendencies has been crucified with Christ. If we are born again through the Spirit, then we should walk accordingly.

Reader, are you walking in the flesh today? Know that if you continue this way you will not inherit eternal life. If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, do so today. Believe on Him and repent from your sins. If you have already believed on Christ and are walking in sin, the Lord has a different way for you to live. Submit yourself completely to Him, and purpose in your heart to walk in obedience to His Word. If you believe on Jesus and desire to repent, that is the Spirit of God drawing you back to Himself (John 6:44). Abide in Jesus, and allow Him to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life. In the last chapter Paul will further his discussion on works, and will discuss how the body of Christ is to treat those who have fallen into sin.

Galatians 4 - Set Free from Legalism

 

In my last post, I wrote about how the Galatians had been bewitched into believing they needed to do something in addition to believing on Jesus to receive salvation.  The Word implies an appealing to their sin nature, in that they were fascinated by the idea of earning God’s salvation and favor through good works.  It also implies a spiritual deception that comes along with it as the devil often hits us where we are vulnerable.  I also wrote about how although the Law cannot make us righteous, it still has a purpose in revealing our sin and need for a Savior.  At the end of Chapter 3, Paul wrote that if we belong to Jesus Christ, we are Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promises of God.  He continues this idea into the next chapter.

When the heir is a child they are no different than a servant.  They have no ability to make decisions or exercise authority, but are under tutors and governors until the right time comes.  This is the same with us: we were under the bondage and tutelage of the Law until we come to faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was born of a woman, fulfilling a prophecy given clear back in the first book of the Bible (Genesis 3:15).  He was under the Law, He did not break it at any point, and He gave His life to redeem us from its demands.  Because of this we are adopted into the family of God through faith, and the Spirit of God dwells within us.  So then, we are no longer as a servant, but a child of God and an heir of God through Jesus Christ.  We have the privilege of receiving the Lord and all He has for us, and this is for all eternity.

Paul then tells them that seeing how they used to not know God and worshiped idols, but now have become heirs of God, why would they want to go back into that same bondage they were delivered from?  The Jewish people were required to keep the Sabbath, various feasts, and other religious rituals that apparently also were being imposed on the Galatians.  I want to take some time here to comment on a similar movement we see today.  In different areas of Christendom we see some of these teachings emerge.  For example, the Seventh Day Adventists teach that we must still keep the Sabbath and adhere to the dietary laws found in the Old Testament.  I have also seen in main-streamed evangelicalism the teaching that we should keep the Jewish feasts as a matter of obedience.  However, Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17) We are not to let anyone pass judgment on us or attempt to impose these rules on us, for they are a shadow of what is to come.  Jesus has taken these things away by nailing it to His cross (Colossians 2:14) The Scriptures actually speak against these things in several different places.  For more study on your own you can read Acts 15:13-31, Romans 14, Colossians 2:8-23, and 1 Timothy 4:1-6.  Even if these things are taught simply as a matter of obedience as opposed to salvation, it is not a far cry to then say these things are necessary in order to be saved.  I do not believe there is any harm in observing a feast as a teaching tool, for the Jewish feasts point to Jesus in some amazing ways.  The problem arises when we believe and teach we are required to do so.  I am no more spiritual if I keep the Jewish feasts, and no less if I do not.  I am no more spiritual if I do not eat bacon, and no less if I do (thank the Lord).  When people are drawn away into these different rules and regulations, it is an indicator of where their hearts are with the Lord.  Those who believe they must follow all sorts of rules not found in the Scriptures are often the most carnal.  It is the Christian who truly believes and walks in the grace of God that is the most obedient and free in his daily life.

So concerned was Paul for the Galatians that he was afraid that his labor among them had been in vain.  He then asked them had he become their enemy because he told them the truth?  There are many today who are offended at the truth, and consequently Christians try to water it down to make it more palatable.  Although the way we share the truth may vary depending on our audience, the content of our message cannot and should not change.  As I have told our children, Jesus Himself is the truth, and He wants us always to speak the truth.  In writing about godly wisdom, Solomon wrote, “For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.” (Proverbs 8:7)  Paul stated to the Corinthians that love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6).  If we truly love people, and if we truly want to be wise, we will always tell them the truth.  This was far from a warm and fuzzy letter Paul was writing to the Galatians, but it was most necessary for their spiritual well-being.  The Galatians had been drawn away by the Judaizers, and it was not for the good of the Galatians.  The judaizers wanted to draw them away from the grace of God so that they could receive the credit.  They apparently were zealous in their attempts, but their zeal was misplaced.  We should be zealous for the Lord; not to get something from Him, but because we have already received it.

Paul then takes them back to Abraham in the book of Genesis: The Lord had promised Abraham a son, but his wife Sarah was barren.  Upon his wife’s advice, he took Sarah’s maid, Hagar, to wife and had a son through her.  This child was Ishmael.  This was not the Lord’s plan, but Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to help God out.  God had intended all along for Abraham to have a son through his wife Sarah.  So Ishmael was after the flesh, and Isaac was born by promise.  Paul states these things are an allegory: Ishmael represents the Law that was given on Mount Sinai in Arabia, and it answers to Jerusalem, the birth place of the Church.  So too, we are children of promise through Jesus Christ whom Isaac foreshadowed.  In the Genesis account, Ishmael mocked and persecuted Isaac, and as a result the Lord told Abraham to listen to his wife and to cast out the bondwoman and her son.  And so did Abraham.  The answer to legalism is not to indulge in it a little, but to cast it out.  We are not to give place to a works based theology, for as Paul would later write to them a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  We have begun in the Spirit through faith, and we are truly set free.  When you look at it through the lens of the Scriptures, there is no reason anyone of us should want to go back.

Paul will finish his thoughts on legalism in the next chapter, and then go on to explain the proper place that works have in the Christian life.

Galatians 3 - Grace and Grace Alone

 

In a previous post, I wrote about the second chapter of the book of Galatians.  Paul was reminding them of the true Gospel by recounting the events surrounding the Jerusalem Council as recorded in Acts 15.  At the council they concluded that the Gentiles were justified by faith just as they were, and not by keeping the Law.  We have been crucified with Christ, and now live by placing our faith in Him.  Paul ended the chapter by stating that if righteousness comes through the Law, then Jesus died for us in vain.

Paul then moves away from his personal experience and gives them doctrinal instruction.  He states, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”  The word bewitch here is translated to mislead with evil intent, or to fascinate.  It is in man’s nature to think he can achieve righteousness or the favor of God by his own works.  It gives us a sense of accomplishment when we can look back and say “I did this or that.”  These false teachers knew this, and had begun to draw the Galatians away into this false doctrine of works.  No doubt there is a demonic deception that goes along with this: The devil would love nothing more than to draw us away from the doctrine of grace into thinking we must do something besides believing on Jesus who has already done it all for us.  People who say we must believe in Jesus plus do good works or other religious rituals in order to be saved do not understand how sinful they really are, and as a result do not understand the mercy and grace of God.  Paul had preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified among them, and they had turned away from obeying this truth.  He reminded them that they received the Holy Spirit by faith, and that if they begun in the Spirit, why would they think they could be made perfect by the flesh (good works)?  The signs and wonders that were done among them were also done through faith.  He reminded them of Abraham who believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  So then, we are Abraham’s children through faith, and when the Lord told Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed, it was a prophecy concerning the salvation that would come through Jesus Christ.

Those who are under the Law however are under the curse.  It is a curse because in order to be righteous by the Law, we must keep it in its entirety.  This is something that no person has done or ever can do.  The Scriptures state that there are none righteous.  No man is justified in the sight of God by keeping the Law (the 10 commandments), for it is an impossible task.  If I have told a lie, I am a liar.  If I have stolen anything, I am a thief.  If I have hated someone, I am a murderer at heart.  These are only three of the 10 Commandments.  He then quotes from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, “The just shall live by faith.”  However, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.  The Scriptures say that cursed is every man that hangs on a tree.  Jesus absorbed your and my punishment, and as a result we get to receive the blessing of Abraham.  Abraham was promised a son (Isaac) who was a foreshadow of the Son, Jesus Christ, who was to come.  This promise made to Abraham came over 400 years before the Law was given.

So if the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ comes through faith, what then is the purpose of the Law?  The Law was added because of transgressions.  In other words, its job is to reveal our sin.  It is not against or contradictory to the promises of God, but it concludes all to be under sin in order to show us our need for a Savior.  Paul wrote in Romans, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Romans 3:19) If we really take a hard look at God’s perfect Law, our mouths are stopped, and we will come away with the realization that faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God is our only answer.  The Law is our schoolmaster or tutor to bring us to Christ.  Unfortunately the use of God’s Law is something that is largely neglected in modern evangelism, but it is absolutely necessary in leading men and women to Jesus Christ.  When examining men the Lord has used mightily in the past, they had an understanding of how crucial it was to use God’s Law in preparing men and women for the Gospel of grace.  Consider the following quotes: “I do not believe that any man can preach the Gospel who does not preach the Law.  For the Law is the needle, and you cannot draw the silken thread of the Gospel through a man's heart until you first send the Law to make way for it.” (Charles Spurgeon)  “Evermore the law must prepare the way for the gospel.  To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill the church with false converts.” (Charles Finney)  “I have found by long experience that the severest threatenings of the law of God have a prominent place in leading men to Christ. They must see themselves lost before they will cry for mercy; they’ll not escape danger until they see it.”(A.B. Earl)  The Law plows up the hard ground of man’s heart, and allows the Holy Spirit then to bring conviction.  Once a person’s heart has been prepared by the Law of God, they can then receive the grace of God through faith.  At this point, it does not matter their nationality, social status, or gender, all are children of God through faith.  We all get to put on Jesus Christ in the same manner.  If we belong to Him we are Abraham’s children, and heirs of the promises of God.  Paul will discuss more what it means to be an heir of God’s promises in the next chapter.

In closing, do not let anyone bewitch you into thinking that you have to do something to earn your salvation.  If you cannot earn it by being good enough, then you cannot keep it by being good enough.  Jesus plus works or other religious rituals still equals Hell, guys!  It is a continual process of resting in the grace of God through belief on Jesus Christ.  When we fall short of God’s holy standard (which we all do), we get to use the Christian’s bar of soap: 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) If you are talking with someone who thinks they can receive eternal life by being good enough, take them back to the 10 Commandments.  Explain to them how they stand condemned unless they keep the Law in its entirety.  Then tell them of the Jesus of the Bible who offers them the free gift of eternal life simply by belief on that same Jesus. In the following chapter, we will see how the Law and its legalistic requirements fail in comparison to the grace of God through faith.