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Mar. 28, 2005 “19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5: 19-21) Paul the Apostle had just advised the Galatians that walking in the Spirit was the way to go with life. There were men traveling the roads behind Paul who would walk into the same towns and villages and try to tell the converts there that since the Spirit of God saved them, they should now start following the law to maintain a righteous standing. This was wrong. Paul’s letter was a correction to the false teachings the Galatians were hearing. The old laws, much like today’s religious doctrines, allowed sacrifices for sins and prayers to say to cleanse the soul. That was a form of slavery to the arbitrary rules set up by certain religions to draw the dollar out of the pocket of the repentant. Paul asked the Galatians at one point: “were you saved by law or by faith?” If by faith, why would anyone want to place themselves back under the slavery of the law? Law was necessary to cleanse from the works of the flesh. Those who had received the Spirit of God as their seal of salvation did not need to concern themselves with the salvation of their soul. That was assured. They did not have to be concerned with following the old laws either. The death of Christ meant “the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believed.” For those that needed the reminder, Paul lays out the works of the flesh in preparing a contrast to the works of the Spirit. It would be a way to identify those truly sealed in the Spirit as opposed to those who were still locked in the grip of sin. The list begins with categories of sexual sin and immorality (19); then Paul touches on the sins that are direct violations against God (20); then he speaks of crimes between men (21). We all mostly know what these things are and we don’t need a whole lot of enumeration and explanation. Sinners know what they do and the righteous know what they don’t do. The point is that those of the true faith who are indwelt by the Spirit of God are much less likely to be running around committing all that stuff. Some do, and have done and today’s big media machine takes great pains to blow up every sin of a righteous person, but these folks, standing in the square, still would not be able to throw the stone. People of the true faith know what they should not be doing. We also know we have an advocate with the Father; “Jesus Christ the Righteous”. Our advantage is the indwelling Spirit of God and we should not be afraid to allow him the necessary control over our daily living. I believe it is simply a matter of remembering God. Catch phrases like “WWJD” are fine and dandy. Such phrases are worthless if worn on the wrist or a chain about the neck while shoplifting a piece of candy or a strawberry from the market. Walking in the Spirit does not play well in Peoria anymore. That should not matter. The trials of Peter, Paul, John and others show us that Christian spirituality is not easy. The world despises those who know their destiny. There are attacks every day against Christian value and the standard of life because, quite simply, Christians do not belong here. This is not our place. It is however, our duty station until the Lord returns. We should be busy. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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