Galatians 5:13-26

13 For you have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

As Christians we have been called to live in freedom through Christ. The freedom that Paul is describing in the fifth chapter of Galatians is not freedom to sin, but rather freedom from legalism. Unfortunately for the Galatians they had accepted some false teachings which led them into legalism. Legalism can have two different appearances. The first gives the idea that one can become closer to God by following a strict set of rules. The second appearance comes about by trying to give others the impression that we are closer to God by following this strict set of rules. Paul's intention for chapter five was to correct the Galatians in this matter.

Paul uses the example of circumcision. Circumcision was part of a covenant that God made with Abraham, and was held in hight regard by the Jewish people. Many of the early church fathers were Jewish, and followed the law very strictly. In a way they struggled with a dual identity: living by the Law of Moses, and living by their freedom in Christ. They could not understand how Gentiles could be a part of the Kingdom of God. In Galatians 5:2 Paul had this to say about circumcision. "Listen! I Paul tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you." For a Jewish person back then, this was probably a hard pill to swallow. However Paul is by no means condemning circumcision, he is just trying to drive the point that nothing you can do aside from putting your faith in Christ can save you.

This is also a very common issue in today's society. People say things like "Yeah I'll come to church when I quit smoking," or "yeah I need to quit cussing," or even "I need to get my life right first." What these people need to realize is that shaping up and flying right does absolutely no good if you have not put your faith in Christ. Being a "good" person is not enough. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a good person. Roman 3:10 says "No one is righteous, not even one." When Christ died on the cross for us, he became our righteousness. There aren't enough good deeds we could ever do that can save us and give us the freedom that Jesus Christ has purchased for us.

In verse 16, Paul begins to explain how to live in this freedom. He tells us to let the Holy Spirit guide our lives, then we won’t do what our sinful nature craves. As humans, we all have a sinful nature, and this sinful nature desires to do things that are evil, which Paul says is the exact opposite of what the Spirit wants us to do. Letting the Spirit guide our lives is not something that just happens. It is something that we must make a conscious effort to do, and then work at it. Paul also mentions in verse 18 that if we are directed by the Spirit, then we are not under any obligation to the Law of Moses. We are no longer under the bondage of trying our best to be "good" or do good deeds. All that is left is to realize that we are sinners and to turn to Christ in repentance. When we finally realize that we are all sinners and that we all have that sinful nature tugging and pulling us away from God, we can understand why it is so important to be led by the Holy Spirit. Since we all have this sinful nature, we all need this freedom that only Jesus Christ offers.

So how do we know if we are letting the Spirit guide us. Paul tells us what to look for, so that we will know. First in verses 19-21, Paul gives a long list of things that the sinful nature desires. Things like sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these are what the bible would consider bad fruit. Jesus said himself that a bad tree produces bad fruit and a good tree produces good fruit. Paul goes on to mention the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you are wondering if you are being led by the Spirit, take a step back and honestly evaluate your life. Are your producing good fruit or bad fruit? This is how you will know.

In closing, Paul states “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” Then he urges us to follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. So if you haven’t already, make a decision today to let the Holy Spirit guide your life so that you may better serve the Lord and his people. I pray today that you will make that decision.

*Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise.*
-Colossians 3:16

Joshua A. Davis