Galatians 5:13-18
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law," Galatians 5:13-18. Lord willing, through these Scriptures, we will learn about walking in the flesh versus walking in the Spirit. This is surely a warfare.
When Jesus Christ saves our souls, we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future. We are given eternal life. We are promised a new body that is eternal. This new body is not made with hands. It has not and will never be infected by sin. It is a pure body, and in heaven our worship of our Lord and Saviour will be pure. There will be no sin in heaven. All whom the Lord has saved look forward to being with Him in heaven. Though many of us are like the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:21-24, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." To abide in the flesh simply means to be alive on this earth. This is beneficial for others, but it also means the war for us continues on. This war that we are talking about begins as soon as the Lord saves us. This war is with our flesh.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul reminds the Galatians that they were called to repentance, given salvation by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and as a result they have been given liberty. "Liberty" in this verse means freedom from the Mosaic Law. They are no longer under that school master. Paul has been telling them not to go back under the bondage of the law, now he is telling them not to abuse the freedom they have been given by Christ. There are extremes on each side that we can go to, so we must be careful to maintain a biblical walk with the Lord.
As we mentioned earlier, we who are alive on this earth are living in this temporal fleshly body, but there is more to this word flesh. "Flesh" in this verse is flesh as used for the body, to corpus, the material nature as distinguished from the spiritual and intangible. As implying sinfulness, proneness to sin, the carnal nature, the seat of carnal appetites and desires, of sinful passions and affections whether physical or moral. The Galatians had been set free from the burden of the law, and from the penalty of sin. Paul gives them a warning to not use this freedom as an occasion to fulfill their sinful desires, passions, and affections. "An occasion" in this verse means a starting point. Some people will say since they are forgiven of all their sins that they can freely sin all they want. These are known as antinomians. They say the law is no longer needful. They use their freedom in Christ as a starting point to fulfill their fleshly desires. We will see in verses 19-21 that those who live a lifestyle of fulfilling those sinful desires were never truly saved to begin with; they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Those of us whom the Lord truly saved do not live that kind of lifestyle anymore, but we are still living in this sin loving body. We want to serve our Lord and Saviour, but this flesh does not (Romans 7).
Is our flesh really that bad? Does our flesh really hinder our walk with our Lord? Here are some questions we can ask ourselves, and only answer ourselves. What sins do we tolerate, where do we compromise, and why? Do we love our flesh more than we love our Lord and Saviour? To answer this question we must ask ourselves another question, who do we obey more, our flesh or our Saviour? Notice we did not say flesh or religion, because you can love your religion and still be serving your flesh. Our flesh is at enmity with God. It has an extreme hatred towards God, the things of God, and the people of God. Your flesh does not like it when you get up and go to church. You may not realize it, but you make concessions with your flesh when you pick and choose which services you attend. Over time you make more concessions. Your flesh will give you excuse after excuse why you should not attend a certain church service. It is very persuasive. Turn to Colossians 3:1-4:1. These are great scriptures dealing with the war we are in with our flesh. Turn to Romans 13. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof," Romans 13:14. "Provision" in this verse means forethought, spoken of in reference to gratifying the lust of the flesh. We are not to find ways to gratify the flesh, and we should not entertain those kinds of thoughts. Those thoughts do not always appear to be sinful, but they are. We are to dwell on those things which please our Lord and Saviour, not our flesh. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things," Philippians 4:8.
Our flesh is at enmity with God, it is selfish, drawn to sin, and is very deceptive. Our flesh must be crucified, which means we do not give it what it needs to hinder our spiritual walk. This war with our flesh is a lifelong battle. All of us are in this war, though we may be in different individual battles. This means we should be patient with others knowing what they are dealing with. We should be forgiving, honest, encouraging, and welcome accountability with each other. "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more," I Thessalonians 4:1.
Ultimately our help comes from the Lord. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen," Hebrews 13:20-21.
All of us can do better in serving our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I am thankful for His patience and faithfulness to us.
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
