In the New Testament God wisely shows us how to bring
personal holiness, freedom and love together in harmony in Galatians 5.
Dear reader, brevity is one of my core values, and if I
could shorten your read of Galatians 5 or paste pieces of it, I would. But it is both beautiful and seamless, and
should not be divided in our context. It
is worth the time to read freshly. I
started with the New Living Bible and edited it so that it applies to the
discussion at hand. It would be
confusing to try to show my edits, so if you want to see the original it is
here.
Freedom in Christ
1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you
stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to a lifestyle of finding
your righteousness and significance in personal holiness and godliness.
2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on your
personal holiness and keeping "godly" standards to make you right
with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you, because you have thrown
away the righteousness He offers and replaced it with your own system of
righteousness that is based on what you do or don't do. 3 I’ll say it again. If
you are trying to find favor with God by trying to be godly and disciplined,
you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses, which cannot be done!
4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping your
system of righteousness based on external behavior, you have been cut off from
Christ and the righteousness that He freely offers based on His finished work
on the cross plus NOTHING on your part!
You have fallen away from God’s grace and will be crushed by your
inability to keep your own standards, much less all those of the law.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by
faith the righteousness God has promised to us. Hallelujah! 6 For when we place our faith in Christ
Jesus, there is no benefit in keeping or not keeping rules and standards of
personal holiness -- we've moved on to something greater. What is important
then is faith in Christ and the passive righteousness that we received from Him,
expressing itself in love, the real goal and the true keeping and fulfilling of
the Law.
7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back
from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn’t God, for He is the one who
called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching of keeping rules and standards and
comparing ourselves to one another is so contagious! It is like a little yeast that spreads
through the whole batch of dough! 10 I
am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings like these. God
will judge anybody who tries to perpetrate this teaching and muddle your
thinking with this poisonous doctrine.
11 Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching a
righteousness based on rules and self-effort—as some say I do—why do so many
people hate me? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of
Christ, no one would be offended and I would be a speaker in high demand. 12 I
just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision and
rule keeping would show their zeal for it by cutting not only their foreskins,
but that they would cut the whole thing off!
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers
and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead,
use your freedom to serve one another in gospel love. 14 For the whole law can
be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if
you are always biting and devouring one another with your rule keeping and
comparisons of one another, watch out!
Beware of destroying one another with that kind of insidious poison.
Living by the Spirit’s Power
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you
won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 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. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not
under obligation to rules of conduct.
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the
results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other
sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living
that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom
of God
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our
lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23
gentleness, and self-control. There are no rules against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions
and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every
part of our lives. 26 Let us do away with living by man-made rules of
self-established righteousness so that you do not become conceited, or provoke
one another, or become jealous of one another.
Next post, how to read Psalm 1:1 in the light of grace and the New Testament.
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