Galatians 5
Daily Bread - Galatians 5
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and 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.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Observation:
Paul uses the situation where people were advocating that the new Gentile men believers be circumcised to teach the true gospel. Paul shows how this is false teaching and says if this were true, then you would have to live up to the whole law, not just the one pertaining to circumcision. He points out that just as a little yeast can leaven the whole dough, a little bit of false teaching can ruin a whole church.
Instead Paul teaches that the Christian life is marked by freedom, not slavery. As we are freed from the demands of the Law, we can do what we were created to do: love God, and love each other. When you obey out of fear, it is not out true love. That is why often when kids have only strict rules growing up and obey only out of fear, when they go to college they go wild.
Paul says the antidote to all of this is to live by the Spirit. Well what does that look like? For one, we won’t be dominated by the sinful nature, whose acts are obvious and are listed in vv.19-21 (ie. it’s a long list of vices). But the outcome of living by the Spirit is love, joy and peace etc… Galatians 5:22. There is no law about these things because they are generated from within based on a right relationship with God. They are not extrinsically motivated, but intrinsically.
Application: Would you say your life is more controlled by the Spirit or the sinful nature? Most likely there are times in our lives of both cases. When we are in the sinful nature, it is all about me and my desires. And when we are in that place, we always end up feeling empty. Why? Because this is not who we were created to be and our soul isn’t right when we are in this mode.
But when we are living according to God’s Spirit, which He has placed within us, we experience the love and joy of life. Instead of living for self, we start living for others and we have peace because our soul is well.
Take a moment and figure out what is the operating principle in your life right now. Commit to asking God’s Spirit to help you live by its guidance. I love the explanation for guidance (guidance = God, u and I dance!). As we are in a relationship with God “the dance” spills out into all areas of our life and we experience love, joy and peace!
Prayer: God help us to live by Your Spirit and not just for ourselves. As we are guided into that right place with you, help us to love our neighbors like you love us, unconditionally and always seeking their best interest. In this way we will fulfill the calling you have for us on earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and 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.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Observation:
Paul uses the situation where people were advocating that the new Gentile men believers be circumcised to teach the true gospel. Paul shows how this is false teaching and says if this were true, then you would have to live up to the whole law, not just the one pertaining to circumcision. He points out that just as a little yeast can leaven the whole dough, a little bit of false teaching can ruin a whole church.
Instead Paul teaches that the Christian life is marked by freedom, not slavery. As we are freed from the demands of the Law, we can do what we were created to do: love God, and love each other. When you obey out of fear, it is not out true love. That is why often when kids have only strict rules growing up and obey only out of fear, when they go to college they go wild.
Paul says the antidote to all of this is to live by the Spirit. Well what does that look like? For one, we won’t be dominated by the sinful nature, whose acts are obvious and are listed in vv.19-21 (ie. it’s a long list of vices). But the outcome of living by the Spirit is love, joy and peace etc… Galatians 5:22. There is no law about these things because they are generated from within based on a right relationship with God. They are not extrinsically motivated, but intrinsically.
Application: Would you say your life is more controlled by the Spirit or the sinful nature? Most likely there are times in our lives of both cases. When we are in the sinful nature, it is all about me and my desires. And when we are in that place, we always end up feeling empty. Why? Because this is not who we were created to be and our soul isn’t right when we are in this mode.
But when we are living according to God’s Spirit, which He has placed within us, we experience the love and joy of life. Instead of living for self, we start living for others and we have peace because our soul is well.
Take a moment and figure out what is the operating principle in your life right now. Commit to asking God’s Spirit to help you live by its guidance. I love the explanation for guidance (guidance = God, u and I dance!). As we are in a relationship with God “the dance” spills out into all areas of our life and we experience love, joy and peace!
Prayer: God help us to live by Your Spirit and not just for ourselves. As we are guided into that right place with you, help us to love our neighbors like you love us, unconditionally and always seeking their best interest. In this way we will fulfill the calling you have for us on earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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