Scripture: Galatians 6:1-10; Romans 7:14-25; Galatians 6:14-18
The Church was initially established as a place
where believers could come together for fellowship, worship, teaching,
counseling, correction, and above all, for mutual support and unity in
Christian faith. But as we all know, the
Church has seldom provided unity in the way that Jesus Christ intended it to be. Throughout the lessons that we have learned
from Paul’s letter to the church of Galatia, we have seen countless examples of
disunity and conflict among the various church leaders of that day.
After all, the gospel of Jesus Christ is, first and
foremost, based in teaching Christ Crucified and Risen! And following that, in all that Jesus
did and taught for the people of this dark and hurting world. The humanity of Jesus was immersed in Jewish
law and tradition, but the spirituality of Christ encompassed far more than
what Judaism had always stood for.
In Matthew 19:16-30,
we read of a young man who came to Jesus to ask the question “What good
thing must I do to get eternal life?”
The Lord then gave him the expected response from Torah – which basically,
was to follow the law. But then, Jesus
added the answer that comes from His spiritual nature - “If you want to be
perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Unfortunately, these words will never be
found in the Law of Torah!
Then later, when His disciples asked for further clarification,
He added even more assurance and focus to the discussion - “With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.” “Goodness” is always founded within the heart
of God, and seldom, if ever, in the ways of man.
Read Galatians 6:1-10
If we consider Paul’s advice
regarding what the Church should be about, we discover that he thinks that we
should be more like a loving family than as a group of individuals who are
working to advance their own ideals of what is good versus what falls short!
A true and loving family will
always take responsibility for the welfare, encouragement and support of every
other member, and always in the way of God, but never to their personal gain
and understanding. This is what the
Church should always be striving toward – for this will lead us into true
unity, not only with each other, but with our Holy and Gracious God. Perhaps Paul’s point is for us to consider
whether we are truly Spirit-filled or not!
Without the Spirit being at work in our lives, we will always be at the
mercy of the world’s way and no other!
Paul’s question to us all is
this – who are we trying to please? Are
we working to emulate the Spirit of God by accepting and living up to the
teachings of Jesus Christ. and to become spiritual people through Him, or are
we more concerned and satisfied by remaining as worldly people of the
flesh. Unfortunately, the flesh will
always bring about conflict, as flesh is always working to satisfy its variety of
differences, which will never lead us into a unified position! But by immersing ourselves in the Spirit,
there will always be Christian ways at work within us.
Read Romans 7:14-25
Sin is our very nature, and
given the chance, it will bring against us a mighty temptation to live and
think in the world’s “fleshly” way. In verse
20, the apostle brings his dilemma to the point – “Now if I do what I do
not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that
does it.”
So the question is whether we
are living in the Spirit of God, or in the spirit of the “flesh”? It isn’t about what we desire to do,
but rather what we wind up doing regardless!
But knowing the difference, and understanding that difference to be ever
present in our decision-making processes, will allow the Spirit to begin taking
precedence whenever we find ourselves at the point of choosing!
It all comes down to the “I”
and the “me” that tends to influence the decisions that we make! When “I” am in Christ, and Christ is in “me”,
our life will be focused in the spirituality that comes from our Almighty God,
and when we are not, sin will have free rein in our lives.
Paul reminds us that “law”,
whether the Law of God or the law of sin, will always require that we choose
which “law” will be governing our decisions.
This decision process is similar to the one that must be made before we
cross a busy city street. If we wait for
the green “Walk” sign before we step off the curb, our crossing will be much safer
and more complete, but if the “law” of “me first” jumps to the fore in our
mind, and we decide that the cars will just have to wait for “me”, the outcome
will certainly be less than successful!
The same is true when we
allow sin to govern our thoughts instead of the Lord!
Read Galatians 6:14-18
Paul asks us to consider the “marks” that we bear
and the source from which they come. Are
they marks from the Cross of Christ which are the marks of His redemptive
salvation for the life we have given to Him, or are they marks that the cross
of Rome produced which are the marks of death that have become ours through
sin?
The apostle would have us keep our hearts focused on
the Cross of Christ, and to leave the world’s sentence of death far behind.
John 3:16-17
