But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Before we dive in:
Welcome to Week 3 of the Summer Reading Plan!
We are flying through the book of Galatians, and I hope that it has been as encouraging and insightful to you as it has been to me.
Last week, if you recall, we left off with Paul being grieved about the false teachers leading the church of Galatia astray. These false teachers were (most likely) Jewish leaders who had come into the church and began telling those in the Galatian church that they had to follow Jewish laws and customs if they really wanted to be saved.
Understanding that this was the premise of their false teaching really explains the whole book of Galatians. As we continue this week, we will see Paul exhorting the church to carry on in following Christ, not to carry on in trying to follow Mosaic law.
So far in this letter, we've seen Paul echoing, "Be free from the law." As we wrap up the book of Galatians, we will see that Paul isn't telling Galatian Christians to be free from all laws, because there are still things we need to do as Christians, but rather specifically avoiding being trapped in Mosaic law.
With that being said, let's get started!
Section 1:
Here in Section 1 (4:21-5:12) Paul is kind of taking an "aside" in his letter to Galatia and speaking specifically to those who are trying to follow Mosaic law. He brings up a story from the Old Testament that Jewish Christians would be very familiar with, which is the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael.
Now you can read this story for yourself in Genesis 16 and 17, but I'll give you a very condensed summary:
Abram had been promised a son by God, but it wasn't coming as fast as he and his wife Sarai wanted. So Sarai gave one of her slaves named Hagar to Abram as a wife, so that he could have a child with her. Well, Hagar gets pregnant and Sarai realizes she actually doesn't like that, and mistreats Hagar so that she runs away. As Hagar is in the desert, she is visited by God, who tells her to go back to Sarai and Abram and have the child she is pregnant with. So she goes back and has the child and he is named Ishmael. (Seriously, please read this for yourself, I have to leave out so many details.)
God then appears to Abram and basically says "Hey man, uh, what are you doing? I made a promise with you and I'm going to keep it, your wife is going to have a son and I'm going to bless him."
Now at this point Abram is 99 years old, so he laughs and asks that God just bless Ishmael instead, since he's already been born. But as we know, God is a stickler for the promises He makes, so He says, "No, Isaac is the one I'm going to keep my covenant with you through, but since you asked, I can make Ishmael the father of many descendants too."
(Fun fact, Genesis 17 is also where circumcision as a physical reminder of the covenant is established. I think Paul specifically points to this story because of how caught up the Jewish leaders were on circumcision.)
A few chapters later in Genesis 21, Abraham is having a party for Isaac, and Ishmael is being a punk and mocking him, so Sarah demands that Ishmael and Hagar be sent away, and after conferring in a dream with God, Abraham obeys and sends her off.
Whew.
So now, as we jump back into Paul's side note, we see Paul making a comparison of the Old and New Covenant with Sarah and Hagar.
Now to these Jewish leaders, Hagar and Ishmael are the opposite of what they want to be. They see themselves as direct descendants of Abraham, and as such, more favored by God. Paul again flips the tables on them and compares the Old Covenant and those who are pressuring the Gentile Christians to be circumcised to Hagar and Ishmael, which was a huge insult. This made the Jewish leaders stop hard in their tracks.
Paul transitions away from that story (and rebuke) with this verse:
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Paul continues his letter by reminding the Gentile Christians that if they are trying to win favor with God by following Jewish customs, they are cut off from Christ.
Yikes. Not something I want to hear Paul say to me. He wraps up his whole big point with verse 6:
For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
Again, we see Paul pointing out "the law" (which we know in this context means Jewish customs) and how we are now not living in slavery to it. But he doesn't just stop there and say, "We don't have to follow Jewish customs. Now we live free from all laws."
Instead, he directs their attention to something even more important: living life by the Spirit. This is a concept that is echoed everywhere in the New Testament, and it's something that we will see a lot of as we continue in our Summer Reading.
Paul says the important thing is not following Jewish customs. The important thing is faith expressing itself in love.
Again, the important thing is not just having faith, but faith expressing itself.
At this point, I'm sure some listeners are saying, "Sure Paul, that sounds great. What does faith expressing itself even look like?" Seeing that this may be an issue, Paul continues and lays out what a life of expressed faith looks like.
Section 2:
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Here is where another of the main points of Galatians is laid out: live life by the Spirit, and do not satisfy your own sinful natures.
Paul actually gets really specific here, and expressly names a lot of the actions that our sinful nature desires to do, but ends that list with an incredibly stern warning: "Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." (vv. 21)
Remember, he is writing this letter to a church! This letter is to people who have professed Christ in their own lives and are attending a church! You might think, "Isn't that enough Paul? You're telling me that people who believe in Jesus as their savior and go to church still may not inherit the Kingdom? But why?"
This isn't the first time that this point is made in the New Testament, and it certainly won't be the last. In fact, we'll get to another statement like this in our Summer Reading in the book of James, chapter 2.
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Paul finishes up these thoughts with explaining what a life filled with the Spirit actually looks like. The Jewish Christians were caught up in the Old Covenant and the laws that accompanied that, but Paul reminds the whole church in Galatia that living life in the Spirit should be the focus, not trying to follow every letter of the Mosaic law. For if we live life through the Spirit, we won't be breaking any of God's law anyway!
The point that Paul is getting at here in Galatians is that salvation through Jesus does not happen simply because we believe in Him or because we follow Mosaic law. Salvation through Jesus comes through our relationship with Him, through living our lives in the Spirit, through putting our own sinful desires to death, and choosing to follow Jesus in every part of our lives.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Section 3:
Lastly, we get to Section 3, and the first few verses of chapter 6. In these verses Paul encourages the believers in Galatia to truly live their lives with one another, sharing the burden of sin and living by the Spirit.
In verses 1-3, he encourages members to gently and humbly (keywords here, gently and humbly) correct other members of the body of Christ if they have fallen into sin. He reminds them that it is our duty in Christ to disciple others, and to help them when they fall. None of us are above that mission.
In verses 4-6, he reminds people not to compare their ministry to another person's ministry. We all have a ministry by the way that we live our lives and disciple those around us. Paul doesn't want some Christians to compare their ministry with others, because we have all been given tasks that are different. (See Romans 12:3-8)
Lastly, in verses 7-10 Paul issues a warning to us as Christians.
Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God.
He reiterates his previous point in Section 2 and warns that we will reap what we sow. If we live our lives according to the our sinful desires, we will reap death. Period.
But, if we live our lives according to the Spirit, we will reap everlasting life. He encourages the church to not become weary in doing good. Putting our own desires to death and replacing them with the desires of the Spirit is not an easy task, but it is the task we are called to perform.
At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Brothers and sisters, let us not become discouraged with the struggles of our sin, or the brokenness of the world around us. Focus on doing good (vv. 10), intentionally strive for Godliness, live your life according to the Spirit. There is a harvest of blessing waiting for us if we don't give up.