JUNE 20, 2024
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:24-26)
Those who trust in Christ have been set free. The Galatians were in danger of wasting that freedom by veering off in one of two directions. On the one hand, false teachers were pressuring them into circumcision to be sure of being right with God. On the other hand, freedom can also be squandered on serving only our sinful desires instead of investing it through serving others in love. God’s Spirit gives us the power to do that if we will follow His lead. Life in the Spirit bears powerful and positive fruit in a Christian’s life. Paul has vehemently argued that we are saved by faith alone and that our works are helpless in obtaining salvation. Paul not only taught that this meant we were saved by grace alone, but that true salvation could not be lost due to our works, either. While this teaching is actual, Paul also adds that those who belong to God give up the right to keep holding on to their sin.
Those who trust in Christ are not immediately eradicated of all desire for sin, but Paul has written that two significant things do change when we are saved. First is recognizing that sin is a path leading only to death. Second, God gives us the power in His Spirit to win the battle against our sinful desires. We may sometimes still give in to our instinct to sin, but Christians are no longer people controlled by our sin. We have agreed sin is worthless, and we have declared, in Christ, our intention to move with Him away from sin by the grace and power of God.
Paul has described what it looks like to live as one who is free in Christ. He has been clear that this is not freedom to do whatever feels good. On the contrary, true salvation is freedom from being controlled by our sinful desires. This happens when we walk by and are led by the Spirit. True Christians trust God’s Spirit to set the direction they will follow.
Paul says living by the Spirit involves keeping in step with the Spirit. It consists in adjusting our life according to the direction the Spirit leads. In other words, it involves submitting to God’s way, but we are still the ones taking each next step. This will not happen automatically. It is something we must choose from day to day. We must often decide to let the Spirit lead moment by moment as we follow after Christ.
In this chapter, Paul describes how those in Christ should live. Believers ought to live in the power of and by the direction of the Spirit of God. Life in the Spirit of God is the pinnacle of human experience on this side of eternity.
But what if we skip this kind of obedience? What if a Christian doesn’t participate in walking by the Spirit? Paul answers that in Vs. 26: We become conceited, proud, and arrogant. Life in the Spirit of God requires submission to God and humility. It is about Him and not us. Proud people are in the business of self-promotion, which provokes others to compete with us instead of serving alongside us.
Without the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, our life becomes a destructive and self-serving religious existence. Rather than fall into that pit, let us hear what the Apostle is saying and seek to follow the Spirit’s lead.
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