April 28–Walking in the Spirit

It’s the weekend! I hope your week has gone well. I went with some of my friends to Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs) not too far from here. It’s about a 20 minute drive on the paved road and then almost an hour on terrible roads moving anywhere from 10-20mph. But, once you are there, it’s beautiful and peaceful and a great little respite place. It’s a place to think about things...like “Am I showing the fruit of the Spirit?”


“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-24‬ NLT

In Galatians 5:16-26, Paul is still explaining why freedom from the Law does not mean doing whatever you feel like at any given time.  He continues to tell the Galatians to live according to the Spirit instead of the flesh.


Paul isn't talking about our physical bodies versus our immortal soul.  Paul is contrasting a life according to our own desires, ambitions, and efforts versus being guided and "lived in" by the Holy Spirit.

Sin is obviously following our own desires, and Paul racks up a pretty good list of the sins he sees everywhere in the Roman Empire.  It might surprise us that things like being an angry or an argumentative person gets put on the same level as sorcery and idolatry, but Paul shows us there are all kinds of facets to living a life according to the flesh.

Keeping the Law is also living according to the flesh.  The motives and behaviors might be better than sinful ones, but keeping the Law still depends on our will, our desires, and our efforts.  Even though Paul knows the Law is holy and comes from God, when it comes to our practical experience, the Law and sin are like fudge ripple swirl ice cream - always going together.

In contrast, Paul paints a picture of a person who is living by the Spirit - qualities like love, joy, and peace.  It's interesting that Paul's picture of living by the flesh has a lot of specific behaviors in it, but Paul's picture of living in the Spirit is all about characteristics.  He seems to think that, if we have the Spirit and are guided by the Spirit, we will have these virtues and right behavior will just take care of itself.

If we have been crucified with Christ, we are dead to sin, the Law, and all the things associated with our own striving and failing.  We have, instead, been made alive in the Spirit so that we might live out a new life - Jesus' life - with acts of love and peace and mercy that flow out of us and don't need to be defined by a Law.

This is certainly true freedom.

Thank you dear Jesus for tire freedom; for taking all of the need for the law away and sending us your Spirit to lead us. You are the Messiah and have delivered your people. Give us the grace and wisdom we need to follow you fully. We love and adore you this day. Amen and amen. 

Love you dear one,

Pam (and Philip) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 17, 2020

Happy Friday. It’s the end of another week and we have had more opportunities to share the love of Christ with those around us and sometimes that takes quite a bit of effort. I don’t know about you, but I’m not always anxious to embrace others and really listen to them or share with them (especially those who I don’t know well). Sometimes, I just look at them and think “Are you for real?” I don’t always agree with people over politics, sports or of course, religion. And let’s face it, we’d rather spend time with people we like and mostly agree.  And then I read my Bible. God hasn’t called us to sit in our little groups with only those we naturally gravitate towards, but to love people—all people, even those who aren’t necessarily loveable. In this passage, Paul writing to the people of Colosse remarks on how wonderful it is that they truly love others. That love must have really been something over and above the normal and he tells them that it is evident that it comes from the Holy Sp
Read more

January 15, 2020

Happy Wednesday to you. I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I went to Sams. I was out of things like trash bags, toilet paper, and chicken, so off I went. I like going to Sams because there is always lots to look at and the isles are nice and wide. Everytime I’m there, I am amazed at how much stuff and everything from diapers to TVs to mangos to beds. It just seems incredible that so many things in such quantities are all under one roof.  King David never saw a store with as much stuff aa Sams of course, but he did see countless miracles and understand that God has plans. He knew from creation and history that he was serving a God of miracles and he know that God loved him and his people and would take care of them. He was amazed and awe-struck by the fact that a God who had done such great and mighty things not only cared about his people but that He loved them with such a great love.  “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can co
Read more

January 9, 2020

It’s Thursday and I woke up to the blowing wind! Lots of it—I’m dreading Boomer waking up and having to go outside with him. That harsh, bitter wind seems cruel and almost evil. But I’ll wrap myself up with a fe layers and boots and brave it all.  Sometimes I think we try to do that with things we know aren’t right—things that are evil. We try to wrap ourselves up and just wade into it, but Paul tells us we should reject it—stay away from it. “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:20-24‬ NIV When he wrote this he’d been in Berea and the Christians there diligently searched the scriptures to make sure everything Paul said was in line. Paul here is encouraging the Thessalonians to
Read more