Today’s Readings
Context
The Holy Spirit is often the forgotten (or hidden) member of the Trinity in evangelical churches. We honor the Father and the Son but the Spirit scares us a little - some people do weird things and blame the Spirit. So, in certain evangelical circles you will hear little about the Spirit. But the work of the Spirit is essential. He is the one who applies the grace of Christ to our hearts and accomplishes that work within us.
In Romans 8, after the grand promise that there is no condemnation in Christ, Paul differentiates the life of the flesh and that of the Spirit. The Spirit life is vastly superior.
In Galatians 5, we see the works of the flesh contrasted to the fruit of the Spirit. "You know them by their fruit," Jesus said. Here, he spells out that fruit. In the ideal, every believer would walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. However, as the admonition makes clear, we do not always walk in the Spirit and need to be faithful to walk in the fullness of the Spirit, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit.
In Romans 8, after the grand promise that there is no condemnation in Christ, Paul differentiates the life of the flesh and that of the Spirit. The Spirit life is vastly superior.
In Galatians 5, we see the works of the flesh contrasted to the fruit of the Spirit. "You know them by their fruit," Jesus said. Here, he spells out that fruit. In the ideal, every believer would walk in the Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. However, as the admonition makes clear, we do not always walk in the Spirit and need to be faithful to walk in the fullness of the Spirit, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit.
Devotional - The Flesh and the Spirit
Paul articulates, in Galatians 5, the clear difference between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit of God. Those who have been redeemed are called to walk in the freedom of Christ and not under the power of the flesh.
In verse 1, Paul warns the Galatians against regressing from the high standing they have achieved by God's grace to a life lived by the works of the law and the slavery that brings. In verses 2-15, Paul explains the tragedy of such a choice - having experienced God's grace and then returning to walking in the flesh and living by works.
Then, in verses 16-24, Paul clearly differentiates the life of the flesh and the life of the Spirit. He begins with a warning against gratifying the desires of the flesh because they stand in opposition to the fruit of the Spirit.
Simply put, there is a clear and unmistakeable difference between how someone acts when they are walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. It's one or the other. Paul lists the things that mark those who are walking in the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (19-21)But the Spirit produces a different kind of fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (22-23)
Are you walking in the flesh or in the Spirit? It's not that hard to discern. If your life is marked by the behaviors on the first list, you are squandering the grace of God by walking in the power of the flesh, the old nature that Jesus died to defeat. If you are walking in the Spirit, your life will evidence love and joy and peace and all the rest.
Father, may your Spirit produce fruit in my life, the fruit of Christ, that the works of the flesh might be destroyed.
Think and Pray
Read through the list of the works of the flesh. In your life, your relationships, your online communications, do you exhibit them often?
Do people see the fruit of Christ's Spirit at work in you?
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