Paul the apostle has cared
earnestly for the church members in Galatia. He has dealt with their
exposure to false teaching Judaizers who were teaching them that they
must follow the law of Moses in addition to believing in Jesus for
their salvation. In our latest verses Paul has instructed them to
love and serve one another, and he has warned them against biting and
devouring one another. In chapter five and verse sixteen he told them
if they walked in the spirit, they would not fulfill the lust of the
flesh, and in verse seventeen he shares why this way of walking is so
important. He wrote:
For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that
you would.
Once
again we encounter Paul using the word, “For” to begin
this verse. Let us remember that this means, “because” or “by
cause of” or “since” which denote a conclusion to a previous
thought. Paul says the Galatians should “walk in the spirit”
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh:” in other words there is a war within every person
who has received Jesus Christ as Savior. Paul said in chapter seven
and verse twenty-three and twenty-four of the book of Romans:
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body
of this death?
Notice that Paul the apostle
who had been a Christian for thirty years when he wrote these words
said “O wretched man that I am!” He didn't say, “I was”
or “I used to be”. He said, “I am”. Paul knew the
battle between his fleshly desires and the Spirit of God. Just
because he was a believer in Jesus was not sufficient to remove the
lusts of his flesh. The Spirit of God was in a battle against his
flesh, and it was to be that way until the day of his death.
Paul goes on to say, “and
these are contrary the one to the other; so that you cannot do the
things you would.” In other words, because of this constant
battle where the Spirit of God is saying one thing, and the flesh of
the body is saying another, we are often pulled away from the things
of God and succumb to the works of the flesh. It is like a tug-a-war
going on inside of us where the flesh tells us to do this thing or
that, and the Spirit of God is telling us to do the opposite. For
example, try not to think of a pink elephant with purple poke-a-dots.
Try harder, and harder. If we have any imagination at all, we cannot
get this image out of our heads. We can try to pray it out, think
about other things, tell ourselves not to think about a pink elephant
with purple poke-a-dots, but the elephant doesn't disappear. Well, at
least for as long as this devotion takes to read anyway. So is it
with our fleshly desires.
Paul knew that if the
Galatians were ever going to live righteously, they were going to
have to depend upon the Spirit of God to do the work. They could not
fulfill Spiritual righteousness with fleshly efforts, and their
attempt under the influence of the Judaizers to keep the law of God
with their flesh would end in utter failure. Paul did not end his
words to the Romans with the question of “who shall deliver me
from the body of this death”. He answered it in Romans chapter
seven and verse twenty-five where he wrote:
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the
law of sin.
It is only by way of Jesus
Christ and His Spirit growing stronger and stronger in us every day
that the flesh will have less and less impact upon our lives. The war
within is only won by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we grow, the works of the flesh will
fall victim to the power of the Spirit of God battling within us.
They will not go away, but they shall be defeated more and more as we
grow.
Next time Paul will write about being led of the spirit, 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
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