Live by the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit. Love by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:13-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Today’s text begins saying:  For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. We were freed from sin, not freed to continue in sin. Many people misuse the grace of God as a license to continue in sin, presuming that because Jesus died once for all sin, sin itself no longer matters. But sin has not been redeemed by the blood of Christ, it is sinners who are redeemed. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  Having been redeemed from sin, we are no longer to practice lawlessness, but instead we are to do the will of the Father. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  We are not saved by our works but by grace. But by grace we are also recreated in Christ Jesus for good works.

The text continues saying:  For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. There is something we need to acknowledge though so that we can love our neighbor. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  Before we can love our neighbor, we must love God with our whole heart, soul and mind. Then we are not to love others as we love God, but as we love ourselves. 1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.  Our ability and our capacity to love is derived from God’s love for us.  In Romans 5:8 it says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  If we love others then as we love ourselves, it must be that we love them with the love of God, demonstrated in the cross. Our love then does not tolerate or embrace their sin, but rather calls then to redemption through the cross.

The text says:  Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,  envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  This is in agreement with what Jesus says:  “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  The text continues:  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.  The way we live and the way we love, the way we interact with others is to be spiritual not of our own flesh. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes what Godly, spiritual love is like.   Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.  Human love; worldly love will fail because enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions and  envying are present in human love. The world says love is demonstrated by tolerance and inclusion of each person’s choices, while God’s love does not embrace or rejoice in unrighteousness, but is demonstrated in that Jesus died to redeem us. Human love may be able to forgive, but it is unable to forget. It still takes into account every wrong that it has suffered, as is evident in our culture and society today. Only the love of God can truly forgive and forget.  In Isaiah 43:25 God says:  “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.”   If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.Let us love by the Spirit.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, for the demonstration of Your love, that on the cross, Jesus died to redeem us from sin. Thank You that by Your love and grace, You give us the ability and capacity to live and to love; that we can walk by the Spirit, live by the Spirit and love by the Spirit. Amen.