Gospel Freedom in Galatians
Background: What was the key issue in the early church? Race. Culture. Issues that are still with us today. The church at its inception on Pentecost was essentially 100% Jewish and the Apostles and the church in Jerusalem seemed content to keep it that way. Then God called a Pharisee named Saul to salvation and set him aside as an Apostle to the Gentiles. Over the next 30 years, the church became primarily Gentile with a Jewish minority, and many Jews fought it.
Galatians was Paul's first letter, written at the end of his first missionary journey when Gentiles began to come to Christ in droves. A group, sometimes called Judaizers and sometimes the circumcision party, opposed the inclusion of Gentiles in the church. If they were to be part of the church, they needed to become Jewish - follow the law and Jewish rituals. Paul fought them tooth and nail his entire ministry. The gospel was for the whole world.
Galatians is a powerful argument for a gospel free from the works of the law.
As often as time allows, the reader is encouraged to read the entire book - it will not take more than a few minutes. Each day we will work our way through the book passage by passage.
Today's Reading: Galatians 1-6 Focus Passage - Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Through the Bible Readings: Ezekiel 38-39, Hebrews 8, Psalm 123, Proverbs28:5–6
If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings.
Devotional: Battling the Flesh
I remember a statement made by a Southern Baptist statesman named Vance Havner back in my younger days. "We are so well organized and administrated that if God removed the Holy Spirit from the Southern Baptist Convention completely, it would be five years before we noticed the difference." I would have hoped he was wrong then and that the statement would be wrong today, but I believe that Christians have become adept at walking the power of the flesh and calling it the Spirit. We promote things by our power and abilities and then say, "Look what God did."
Galatians 5:19-21 lists sixteen specific "works of the flesh" which are in five broad categories. The last of these items makes it clear that this is not an exclusive list. Verses 16-18 made it clear that we are in a daily battle between the flesh and the Spirit. Our flesh, our old nature, still lives even though the Spirit is working in us to produce the fruit of Christ. We must not work in the flesh or live under the deception that flesh can produce the things of God.
The first category is fleshly sexual behavior, which ranges from acts of immorality to impurity of mind and heart. Any sexual activity outside of the boundaries of marriage is sinful, whether it is physical or fantasy. The world tells us we are outdated in morality, but God's word stands. We cannot walk in the power of God while also walking in immorality or impurity. Paul then mentions fleshly worship. Idolatry is the worship of other gods and sorcery is worshiping our way to get what we want. The third category is fleshly relationships, with nine descriptions of how sin has affected the way we speak to and interact with one another. The sad fact is that our relationships are governed far more by the works of the flesh than by the fruit of the Spirit in families, in churches, and in the world at large. The fourth category is fleshly revelry - drunkenness and carousing, the wild lifestyle so many live. Most of us would condemn this, but we must remember that the same list that condemns these condemns envy, strife, and anger! The final category is fleshly "everything else." Paul said "anything similar" to make sure we didn't make this an exclusive list.
We must realize that these things that come naturally to us are the enemies of our souls. We declare war on our sin, on our own sinful natures, and in the power of Christ displayed in the indwelling Holy Spirit, we overcome the power of sin. Daily our lives are a process of putting to death the flesh and walking in the Spirit so we can see Christ formed in us.
Father, may I see the flesh defeated and Christ formed in me!
Think and Pray:
How would you describe the battle in your life to defeat the flesh and see, by the Spirit's power, Christ formed in you? Utter defeat? Slow progress? Glorious victory?
No comments:
Post a Comment