Message of the Month

                                                     7-1-09

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is filled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Gal. 5: 13-18 )

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Gal. 5: 24-26) On January 6^th, 1941, President Roosevelt made a famous speech in which he envisioned a New World. He envisioned a world of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. We, in the United States, have spent more than 200 years striving for those freedoms. The vision of President Roosevelt was lacking the most important freedom for the Christian. That is the fifth freedom, the freedom from self. In other words the freedom from our sinful nature.

Religious legalists think they have the answer to the control of man’s sinful nature. They think that if they lay out the rules to follow and stick strictly to them, then they have the sinful nature under control. They think that in this way man can be free from being controlled by self. We see this attempt in many ways today. Many Christians know that they need help and agree to have laws and rules put upon them by their religion in an attempt to earn freedom from the sinful nature. All this is an attempt to assure them-selves that their salvation is complete. They are taught that certain things are necessary for their salvation, such as baptism, dietary laws, or attending certain churches. The list can go on and on.

However, these rituals and requirements do not free us but instead put us farther into bondage. Paul expresses this in his letter to the Galatians. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Gal. 5:1-4) Paul was not saying that it is wrong to try to eat healthy, or to follow certain procedures or rituals. But having been set free by trusting in the vicarious death of Jesus for our salvation, it is wrong to add the necessity of certain works, actions, or rituals to complete that salvation. In Gal. 3:2 they received the Spirit by faith. In 3:3 they then tried to make themselves perfect by the flesh. In Gal 4:9 they accepted Christ as Savior but returned to the bondage.

It is not law on the outside that frees us but Christ on the inside. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" (Gal. 4:6 ) We need another power within to continue in that freedom. That power is the Holy Spirit. There are 14 references to the Holy Spirit in Galatians.

Paul points out three ministries of the Holy Spirit that gives us liberty. First is in Gal. 5:13-14. Here Paul tells the Galatians, "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another, For the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The Holy Spirit enables us to fulfill the commandment of love. We, as human beings, tend to want legalism. We want to be able to earn our own way, but Paul says we are called to liberty and freedom. Not that we are called to work our way to liberty, but it is a free gift. That concept is hard for our flesh to accept. This gift of God frees us from the guilt of sin. God also frees us from the penalty of sin. Christ died in our place. He took our penalty upon Himself. We are no longer under the condemnation of sin. We are free from the law. Christ bore the curse of the law, and He has called us into liberty.

We walk in freedom but we must watch that our freedom does not become a license to let sin abound in our lives because God will forgive us. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ( I Corinth. 6:12 ) All things are lawful for me. But all things are not helpful; all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify. ( I Corinth. 10:23 ) A Christian is an epistle read by all men. A Christian belongs to God. We may be the only contact someone has with God. A Christian must be worthy of bearing the name Christian. While all things may be lawful, we must evaluate our behavior on the basis of, whether or not it will edify. Through love serve one another. ( Gal. 5:13b ) Liberty plus love will equal service while liberty minus love will equal license.

Man has a hard time accepting this free gift of God. Man wants to do it himself. This opens the door for Satan to set the trap. He adds to the gift of salvation. Many say salvation is only complete if you have been baptized. This enables man to have salvation depend upon what he does to earn it. The same is true with only attending certain churches or doing or not doing certain things. Salvation is complete in the sacrifice Christ made for us. It is free for the asking. Other things may be good to do or not to do, but salvation depends entirely upon what Christ did 2000 years ago. If you love me you will keep My commandments. ( John 14:15 ) We obey Christ out of love. A person strives to please those he loves. Any obedience that comes from external pressures only lasts as long as the pressure is applied. Obedience that comes because of love is internal and will last eternally. Our obedience must come from our love of Christ.

Where does this love come from? That is a normal question because it is not natural for man to love God. Since the fall of man his spirit has been dead, and love for God is not the normal course of events. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ( Romans 5:5) The ability to love God has been placed in the Christian’s heart by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that dwells in each of us. The Galatians were lacking this love. They were either legalists or excessive liberals. As a result they were devouring one another. The first ministry of the Holy Spirit is to shed the love of Christ in our hearts so we can love God and thus love one another.

The second ministry of the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome the flesh. Just as Isaac, the child of the Spirit, and Ishmael, the child of the flesh, could not get along, neither can our spirit and flesh get along. The flesh, or the old nature, is like the swine and the raven in scripture. It always is attracted to something unclean to feed on. The spirit is like the dove. It is attracted to the clean and holy to feed on. You can’t just will to overcome your flesh. Paul said in Romans 7:15, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." Even the great pillar Paul could not overcome his flesh without help. It is the Spirit of God that enables us to handle the old nature. Ritual, or man’s law, cannot help us overcome the flesh. If you are German, Italian, or Dutch neither all the laws passed nor all the rituals followed will change that. It is the same with our sinful nature.

How do we change that nature? And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ( Gal 5:24 ) And if Christ is in you, the flesh is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ( Romans 8:10 ) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. ( Gal. 5:16 ) Help is available for us. We may just be doing little sins or very serious sin, but nothing is too hard for God. To Him the sin of pride is as bad as the sin of adultery or murder. To God sin is sin. How do we get the help we need? We get the help we need by seeking the heavenly, by fellowshiping with Christ, and by seeing that only the Spirit of God can do it. If we earnestly desire help and cry out to God, He will never turn His back on us. God may not send the help the way we expect it, but if we accept God’s plan, we will see the answer in due time.

If we feed the flesh it will grow. We can feed the flesh in many ways. Such things as watching movies that would not be acceptable to God, telling off-colored jokes, or doing anything that does not bring glory to God feeds the flesh. If we feed the spirit it will also grow. Such things as reading our Bible, praying, or listening to wholesome music, lift and feed the spirit. Only through the Spirit can we put to death the deeds of the flesh.

First, the Holy Spirit sheds love abroad in our heart. Second, the Holy Spirit helps us overcome the flesh. The third ministry of the Spirit is producing fruit in our lives. Just being good is not enough. The absence of evil in our life is not enough. God’s goal for us is producing the fruits of the Spirit.

How can we produce the fruits of the Spirit? We never will on our own. With God’s help we must seek the heavenly, which is Christ, and slay the earthly, which is the flesh. Then we will produce fruit. As we press on, the fruit will fall. This is like a flower girl at a wedding. She walks down the aisle with petals falling. She pays no attention to the petals but concentrates on her goal. When she reaches her goal, her path is covered with her fruit. All fruit is an outgrowth of God’s love. The first three fruits express the Godward aspects of the Christian life. They are love, joy, and peace. These are a Spirit quality. The flesh can produce attraction, happiness and calmness, but they are only counterfeit and temporary. The Spirit produces love, joy and peace, and they are a way of life and are permanent. The next three fruits express the manward aspect of the Christian life. These three are longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness. Longsuffering is being courageous and enduring to the end. Gentleness is kindness one to another. Goodness is love in action. The final three fruits are the selfward aspects of the Christian life. They are faith, meekness, and temperance. Faith is unwavering confidence. Meekness is the right balance of power and authority. Temperance is self-control. As I said the flesh will counterfeit the Spirit’s fruit. When the Spirit produces fruit, God is exalted, but when the flesh produces fruit, man is exalted.

If we cultivate the fruit, God will produce the harvest. Just as physical fruit will grow best in the ideal climate for it, spiritual fruit also needs the proper climate. We must establish the proper climate for it to grow. We must provide an abundance of the good soil of the Word of God, water it well with the water of prayer, and cover it in the sunshine of fellowship and praise. We must walk in the Spirit and be on guard looking for the weeds of evil.

Not only will the fruit of the Spirit be present, but the power of the Spirit will also be manifest. The fruit is the nature of Christ brought forth by the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit is the power of Christ brought forth by the same Spirit. If we are truly yielded to God, we will not have one without the other. Each Christian has the same Holy Spirit that Paul did, as John did, and, yes, even as Christ did. It is the Holy Spirit, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Fruit is produced to be eaten, not to be stored away and let rot. People are the beneficiary of your fruit. They need the demonstration of God’s love, peace, and joy. They need your kindness, gentleness, and goodness. They need to see God manifested through you. Not only will the fruit be produced in the proper climate, but so will the gifts. The body of Christ is in need of the manifestation of the fruit and gifts of the Spirit as never before. Today we are bombarded on all sides by the counterfeit. Satan has disguised this counterfeit as enlightenment, but it is still his overall plan to deceive.

As Christians, we must build the proper climate. We must do that by getting into God’s word. We must begin and end each day letting our minds become washed with the water of the word. We must get on our knees. We must do more than ask for things. We must also worship and praise God. We must surround ourselves with Christian, or at least wholesome, music, literature, television, and friends. We must cultivate the soil by watching for and removing the weeds that will try to creep into our lives.

We must let the fruit grow. We must let the gifts be manifest. We must support each other to build the Kingdom of God.