Daily Bread 2010 - Galatians 6
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.
Paul has given the Galatians a vision for the life of freedom in Christ, and strongly urges them not to go back to the slavery of trying to live up to the Law. In verse 1 he states, “It is for freedom that Christ Jesus set you free, therefore do not let yourselves be burdened again with the yoke of slavery.”
He also challenges their intention to willingly give up this old life. For ultimately it is a choice of how we lead our lives and what principles govern the way we think and act. He reaffirms his intention to lead them to Christ and help them grow to become mature in Christ. And he challenges those who have intended to lead them back to their old ways that they are not true teachers but false.
Finally, in the verses above He gives them a “means’, or a vehicle, for this new life in Christ. A lot of time in the church we can make a lot of demands on people’s lives, but sometimes we don’t give people the strategy for carrying out what we are asking them to do. Paul shares that the “means” or “agency” for this new life is the Spirit. Notice it is a capital “S” Spirit. Meaning it is not any spirit, but the Spirit of God. That’s right God living in us through His Holy Spirit is the only way we can possibly live out this freedom we have in Christ.
It would make sense that we would need a new operating system, since our old operating system would continue to produce the same results. And Paul also gives us a glimpse of what the person operating under the Spirit’s guidance and power will look like. He calls this the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of living in connection with the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. I always say that self-control is last for a reason. It is the hardest fruit to bring about in my opinion.
Do these fruits of the Spirit characterize your life and living? Would those close to you agree with this assessment? If not, this does not make you a bad person, but it might cause you to look at if you are operating more under your old operating system (the sinful nature) or the Spirit. If you want to go deeper on what this looks to live in connection with the Spirit, read any of Dallas Willard’s books including: Renovation of Heart, Spirit of Disciplines, Hearing God, and his classic magnum opus, The Divine Conspiracy. I learned this idea of Vision, Intention and Means from him and it is an excellent model for living the life as a follower of Jesus, and how we actually can become the type of person who would and could do the things he would do if he lived in us through His Spirit
Jesus, we thank you for the freedom you came to bring us to become the people Your Father created us to be. Send Your Spirit into our lives and help us to intentionally live by Your Spirit so we can live lives full of love, joy, peace and yes…self control. Amen.
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.
Paul has given the Galatians a vision for the life of freedom in Christ, and strongly urges them not to go back to the slavery of trying to live up to the Law. In verse 1 he states, “It is for freedom that Christ Jesus set you free, therefore do not let yourselves be burdened again with the yoke of slavery.”
He also challenges their intention to willingly give up this old life. For ultimately it is a choice of how we lead our lives and what principles govern the way we think and act. He reaffirms his intention to lead them to Christ and help them grow to become mature in Christ. And he challenges those who have intended to lead them back to their old ways that they are not true teachers but false.
Finally, in the verses above He gives them a “means’, or a vehicle, for this new life in Christ. A lot of time in the church we can make a lot of demands on people’s lives, but sometimes we don’t give people the strategy for carrying out what we are asking them to do. Paul shares that the “means” or “agency” for this new life is the Spirit. Notice it is a capital “S” Spirit. Meaning it is not any spirit, but the Spirit of God. That’s right God living in us through His Holy Spirit is the only way we can possibly live out this freedom we have in Christ.
It would make sense that we would need a new operating system, since our old operating system would continue to produce the same results. And Paul also gives us a glimpse of what the person operating under the Spirit’s guidance and power will look like. He calls this the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of living in connection with the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control. I always say that self-control is last for a reason. It is the hardest fruit to bring about in my opinion.
Do these fruits of the Spirit characterize your life and living? Would those close to you agree with this assessment? If not, this does not make you a bad person, but it might cause you to look at if you are operating more under your old operating system (the sinful nature) or the Spirit. If you want to go deeper on what this looks to live in connection with the Spirit, read any of Dallas Willard’s books including: Renovation of Heart, Spirit of Disciplines, Hearing God, and his classic magnum opus, The Divine Conspiracy. I learned this idea of Vision, Intention and Means from him and it is an excellent model for living the life as a follower of Jesus, and how we actually can become the type of person who would and could do the things he would do if he lived in us through His Spirit
Jesus, we thank you for the freedom you came to bring us to become the people Your Father created us to be. Send Your Spirit into our lives and help us to intentionally live by Your Spirit so we can live lives full of love, joy, peace and yes…self control. Amen.
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