Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh

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

 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 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 desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. 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: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, ²⁰ idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envy, 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 crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. ²⁶ Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not 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.  Today’s text says: You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. Many today do take or perhaps mistake the freedom we have in the grace of God for an opportunity to continue in sin. They reason that because Jesus died once for all sin, past, present and future; that their sin will be forgiven.   Grace is a free gift from God. We should never assume or presume that we will be given a gift. A gift is given by the grace of the giver. We cannot presume on grace by continuing in sin. The freedom we have in Christ is not freedom to sin, but rather freedom from sin. Jesus didn’t offer Himself as a sacrifice to redeem sin. His suffering on the cross was to redeem us from sin. How then could we mistake the opportunity we have to live free from sin and instead continue in it?

1 John 1:5-10 says: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. We will be forgiven and cleansed of every sin that we confess as sin. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! If we call what God calls evil good, if we call darkness light, we nullify the grace of God regarding our sin.   On the cross, in Luke 23:34 Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  We will be forgiven for what we do not know, but not for what we choose. If we say that what God calls sin is not sin for us, we deceive ourselves. In Matthew 7:13-14;21-23 Jesus says:  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it… Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one 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; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” 

In John 16:8-11;13, speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says: “He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged… when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”  The Holy Spirit convicts all of us regarding sin. Even those who have no knowledge of God’s word are aware of good and evil. Along with giving us awareness of sin, the Spirit also will guide in all truth. If we will yield to the Spirit, we will walk in the truth. In today’s text it says:  Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, 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. 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 crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.

Thank you heavenly Father for Your gift of grace. Thank You Lord Jesus Christ for Your redeeming sacrifice that cleanses us from our sin. Thank You Holy Spirit for convicting me of my sin, that I might confess and be cleansed. Thank You for being my guide. I choose to yield to You that I might walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Amen.