Paul the apostle has been
sharing with the church members in Galatia the difference between the
flesh nature and the spirit nature. The flesh manifests itself in
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like;
and the fruit of the spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness and temperance. In
chapter five and verse twenty-five Paul encourages the Galatians to
understand where they live and how to walk there. He wrote:
If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Paul
begins with the word “If” which implies there is a choice
made. Since there is a possibility of an “if” then there is a
possibility of an “if not”. “If we live in the Spirit,...”
means there is a chance that we may not be living in the Spirit and
have not made the choice to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior.
However, “if” we have received the free gift of salvation through
believing in Jesus Christ's substitutionary sacrifice for our sins,
we now “live in the Spirit”, and the spiritual things take
preeminence in our lives. The spiritual things are all around us, and
the emphasis and constancy of them within our lives is daily.
Paul
goes on to say, “...let us also walk in the Spirit.” The
idea is “practice what we preach.” In other words if we proclaim
to have received Jesus Christ as our Savior, we now live in the
spirit and our behavior, attitude and actions should reflect it. Our
words should convey a different manner of living than those of the
flesh, and our conduct should be conducive to the fruit of the spirit
rather than the manifestations of the flesh. The Galatians were being
influenced by Judaizers who would have them manifest their faith
through fleshly means, and Paul calls them to a higher standard that
demonstrates itself in spiritual fruit.
As we
consider this small and yet powerful verse, have we made the choice
to “live in the Spirit” by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior? If
not, today is a great day to begin. And if we have already received
God's salvation plan, do we realize “we live in the Spirit”? If
so, does our walk demonstrate a life that is conducted by spiritual
things? Perhaps as we ponder these questions we will take note once
again of the importance of walking in the Spirit, and may we evermore
walk before Our Heavenly Father and others in a spiritual manner.
Next time Paul exhort us in our manner of living with others, so read
ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment