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Galatians
BC Weekly Digest Monday, January 3 2000 In this issue: Galatians 5:13-18 Galatians 5:19-26 Galatians 5:25 Galatians 5:25 Galatians 5:13-18 Galatians 5:13-18 (ASV) 13 For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only [use] not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Comments by Howard Justice 13 "For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only [use] not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another." Contrary to the advice of the Judaizers which would have placed these former Gentiles under the bondage of Judaism, Paul clearly explains that these brethren (fellow children of God in Christ Jesus) were called through the gospel to the freedom that exists only in Christ Jesus. Compare this passage to 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4; James 1:25; 2:12. The freedom that we, as faithful Christians, have is the freedom from that old curse of the death warrant of sin that is mentioned in Colossians 2:13-14 where Paul notes that it was taken away and nailed to His cross. We are freed from the curse of sin through the redemptive power of the blood of Christ. As Christians, we are to use our "freedom" as an occasion to serve others through the "agape" love which can only be found in Christ Jesus. We are not to think that we are immune to fleshly lusts because "all who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12 ASV). This Agape love will cause us to serve one another rather than self. This is the sign of a true Christian. Remember what Christ said in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 14 "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Here then is the completion of the whole law. It is the service of others and of God. Though Paul doesn't directly mention the relationship that a man is to have with God as Christ did in Matthew 22:37, it is a foregone conclusion that the Agape love that inspires a selfless and loving service toward one's fellow men is that same Agape love that flows from the throne of God (John 3:16). It is not the "philo" love which simply causes men to consider the physical welfare of other men but rather the spiritual love that mirrors God Himself. But, just as this love is pure, it cannot be extended beyond the love for a man's soul. It is the sincere desire to see that others of a kindred faith have the same blessings that flow freely from God. It is that love that should motivate each of us and cause us to be unwilling that "any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). There are those who believe this statement of Christ in Matthew 22:37 (also Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27) is the "eternal Law of God." Though this is a simplified way of expressing the principles by which all law evolved from God, they are the basic tenets upon which every law has been given to man from God. Some have even said that they contain all the Ten Commandments but those statutes first came at Mt. Sinai and were explicitly for the Jew as Paul is trying here to show these Gentile converts to Christianity upon whom these false teachers had tried to bind the circumcision of the Jew. 15 "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Here is the exact opposite of Agape love. It is the devouring and consuming self, the 'ego,' which causes "jealousy, hatred emulations and strife" (Gal 5:19-21). It is this personal wantonness which can destroy one's soul and condemn each of us to an eternal Hell. Our prayers should always include that God would help us to surrender our will to His will, just as Christ did in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). 16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Yes, it is foreign to the nature of a Christian to hate, to envy, to carry animosity toward others. And beyond that, we are to put self aside in favor of those who need our assistance toward their goal of an eternal Heaven. We are to become self-sacrifices in our service to both God and others. 17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would." Human reasoning is diametrically opposed to the reasoning of the Holy Spirit. This passage demands that we understand that this "spirit" is the Holy Spirit and is indeed the message which was sent from God. Those things that are contained in the holy message are opposed to the wantonness and self-service of the world. If we follow after the flesh, we cannot hope to have eternal life because that can only come from a following after the Spirit. And if we follow after the Spirit, we cannot partake of those evil things of the world. 18 "But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." These Christians had been freed from bondage to the Law of Moses and were no longer under the law's condemnation. Of course, Gentiles had never actually been under the Law of Moses unless they had become proselytes. The law of the Patriarchs had always been their code to live by. Like the Law of Moses, it was superseded by the Law of Christ that was "codified" at Pentecost. The law of the Patriarchs was never written down as the Law of Moses had been. But, as Paul explains: "When Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14). They had been [observing] a law unto themselves. This was the law of the Patriarchs which extended from creation to Pentecost for the Gentile. Howard Justice ------------------------------ Galatians 5:19-26 Galatians 5:19-26 (ASV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, 21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. 25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. 26 Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another. Comments by Howard Justice *5:19 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness" Paul enumerates those things which displease God, the workings of the flesh, i.e., Satan. Since the dawn of creation, these things have been anathema to God. Heading the list is adultery (sexual misconduct between men and women of whom at least one is married but not to the other) and fornication (sexual misconduct between men and women, men and men, women and women, as well as between mankind [men and women] and beasts). Sexual relationships outside of marriage have always been condemned in God's eyes. Uncleanness refers to the filthy or lewd thoughts which "flow" out of the mind and lasciviousness refers to a corrupt or base lifestyle which serves only the desires of the flesh. *5:20 "Idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties" The idolatry here refers to those images to which they had formerly given allegiance in worship. However, there are other things which equally condemn us by our giving undue attention to them at the sacrifice of our service to God. Most any wholesome work can become an idol if we, through it, neglect our service to God. Sorcery is also described as witchcraft and refers to those mystical alliances which people make with the unknown whenever they cannot explain the fortunes of fate. One of the most dangerous of these is astrology along with fortune telling, palm reading, etc. These are all sorcery. Enmities refer to occasions of offense in which we allow our feelings to run rampant against our fellows, be they Christians or not. Christians are to love both their fellow saints as well as their neighbors (Matthew 22:38). Strife, jealousy, wrath, factions, divisions and parties are all seditious in nature. They are not favorable before God and those who practice any kind of bigotry will surely perish. God's creatures are to be loved, not despised and hated. One of the most common faults of mankind is the bigotous nature in exhibiting undue preferential treatment for those who can benefit him. *5:21 "Envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Envy infers that one has considered the assets of another and become spiteful and covetous of their properties whether tangible or intangible. It always mandates a covetous nature which God despises. Drunkenness, revellings and such like refer to the indulgence in beverages containing alcohol, the riotous celebration (including dancing) and any other activity which resembles these thoughtless celebrations. God has always condemned intoxicating drink because it robs man of his ability to reason and act responsibly. God always demands our full attention. Of course, revellings refer to riotous celebration or that which robs man of his spirituality and replaces it with an undue amount of carnality and frivolity. Dancing, while in and of itself is not sinful, becomes such when it replaces pure thought with impure thought. For this reason, Christians should regard all such undue celebration, where God is given second place, as wrong and sinful. *5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness" In opposition to those sinful works of the flesh, Paul gives what God has determined man should accept as the nature of his character. Love is at the top of the list because without it, the others will surely fail. Joy comes from knowing that what one does is acceptable in God's eyes. Peace comes as a result of the love and joy and it passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) in that it can calm the greatest storms of life. Longsuffering is the patient endurance that we must exhibit while at the same time we are kind, good to all and faithful to our confession (Hebrews 4:14). *5:23 "Meekness, self-control; against such there is no law" Meekness is described as "strength in humility." It is the trait exhibited by a tamed horse that is led by a small farm boy. It is strength under control, yet ready to be properly demonstrated upon a moments notice. Against these traits, there can be no law since these are the traits that God had intended for man from creation. *5:24 "And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof." Those who have sworn allegiance to Christ are to have put these things aside in favor of those things which are pure and please God. *5:25 "If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk" The only conclusion that one can rightfully determine from the foregoing argument is that since we are led by the Holy Spirit through the written word, let us continue to walk in that light. *5:26 "Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another" We are not to become haughty or self-aggrandizing in our spirituality but rather are to become thoughtful considerate, kind, always complimenting and encouraging our fellow saints and trying to live without being envious of another's estate in this life. Howard Justice ------------------------------ Galatians 5:25 Galatians 5:25 In connection with Galatians 5:25 "If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk" the question has been asked: How can it be said: "The only conclusion that one can rightfully determine from the foregoing argument is that since we are led by the Holy Spirit through the written word, let us continue to walk in that light" when the Christians to whom this message was written did not HAVE the written word? === In Romans we are told: "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:10-14 ASV). Because the Spirit of God dwells within a Christian, he should not live according to the flesh but he should be led by the Spirit. Notice that the Spirit does not force one to do what is right. The leadership of God's Spirit is never defective. Thus, to live according to the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit has to do with our RESPONSE to the leadership the Spirit provides. Although the believers to whom Galatians was written did not have the entire written Word, the Gospel they had was the same Gospel we have, and the way they were to live and walk was the same way we are to live and walk. They had the same information, but some of it was not yet incorporated into Scripture. In his second letter, Peter states that the Lord's "divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:2). Since Peter knew that his death, "the putting off of my tabernacle," would occur soon, he wanted to remind them in writing of the things they had already learned (2 Peter 1:12-14). In the first century, Christians received instruction from the Apostles. We now receive the same instruction through the Scriptures. As Paul wrote to Timothy: "But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture inspired of God [is] also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:14-17 ASV). According to this, there is absolutely nothing one must know in order to live by the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit, that is not furnished in the scared writings. The leadership of the Spirit is available and is not defective. Whether we are LED by the Spirit and LIVE by the Spirit (rather than by the flesh) depends on whether we heed the Word of God or reject it. Roy Davison ------------------------------ Galatians 5:25 In response to last week's reply in connection with Galatians 5:25, the additional question has been asked: "Timothy had been instructed 'from a babe' about things of God. Was Paul writing about our 66 books many of which were not yet in existence? Or did he refer to the O.T. Scriptures which WERE in existence when Timothy was young?" That the first Christians viewed the New Testament writings as Holy Scripture is clear from Peter's words: "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; as also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, knowing [these things] beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him [be] the glory both now and for ever. Amen" (2 Peter 3:15-18 ASV). Thus, what Paul said applied to the Old Testament Scriptures and to the New Testament Scriptures that had been completed. As explained in the former reply, even before the New Testament books were penned, the first Christians had the same "Apostle's doctrine" in which they "continued steadfastly" starting with the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:42). Even before the first word of the New Testament was penned, Jesus had said that His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35). The words of Christ and the Apostle's doctrine are now preserved for us in the New Testament, and they furnish the man of God completely (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Roy Davison