The Spirit Life

Galatians 5:15-18 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
 
THIS is too true, isn’t it? It has been said that the church is the greatest enemy of the church. Many teachings in the epistles admonish people in the churches to put aside differences, so  they can be one body in Christ. Today, while the church voices concerns about enemies in the culture, churches minimize and afflict each other. The sin nature will consume the church if sin is not crucified.
    The solution, of course, is to stop biting and devouring to please the devil and start living in the Spirit to please your Lord. What happens then? Paul says, “You will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” because you are born again (John 3:3) to put on the new self (Ephesians 4:24), so you will be united with Christ (Philippians 2:1). Living in the Spirit is best defined in these five powerful verses:
 
Galatians 5:19-23: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
 
    We can understand the power of this “life fruit” when we contrast it with dead flesh. Pause for a minute or two on verses 19-21. This is a tragic and deadly representation of the world’s heart isn’t it? How broken and lost is our world because of the sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery that permeates every element of our society and media?  We idolize individuals and objects. Some of you also deal with blatant witchcraft in your communities. Demon worship is everywhere. The list goes on into the depths of Hell. This is the biting, devouring life.
    That’s why we thank God for the Spirit life. When Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit,” he points you out of Hell and into the Kingdom of God. The Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is the outward sign of a Spirit-driven heart.
    Note this is not Spirit “fruits”. These are traits that come together to demonstrate the Christian life. Developing each attribute into our life requires the Spirit growing us into maturity over time. As natural fruit needs time and nutrition to grow well, so does our Christian life.
    Then Paul’s concluding sentence adds power to the fruit. When he writes, “Against these things there is no law.” Paul once again directs the Galatians’ minds from the law to faith. The fruit is the Spirit’s fullness of God’s grace to guide you to a sanctified life. It is the strength by which we live.