Personal Service
Week of July 31, 2011
Bible Verses: Galatians
5:13-16,22-26; 6:7-10.
Lesson Focus: This
lesson is about using the freedom found in Christ to serve others.
The Heart of Service: Galatians
5:13-15.
[13] For you were
called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for
the flesh, but through love serve one another. [14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [15] But if you bite and devour one another, watch
out that you are not consumed by one another.
[ESV]
Christian Freedom
is not Freedom to Indulge the Flesh. What sort of freedom is Christian freedom? Primarily it is a freedom
of conscience. According to the Christian gospel no man is truly free until
Jesus Christ has rid him of the burden of his guilt. Paul tells the Galatians
that they had been called to this
freedom. It is equally true of us. Our Christian life began not with our
decision to follow Christ but with God’s call to us to do so. He took the
initiative in His grace while we were still in rebellion and sin. In that state
we neither wanted to turn from sin to Christ, nor were we able to. But He came
to us and called us to freedom. What are the implications of Christian freedom?
In brief, it is freedom from the awful bondage of having to merit the favor of
God; it is not freedom from all controls. Flesh
in the language of the apostle Paul is not what clothes our bony skeleton, but
our fallen human nature, which we inherited from our parents and they inherited
from theirs, and which is twisted with self-centeredness and therefore prone to
sin. We are not to use our Christian freedom to indulge this flesh, as an opportunity for the flesh. The
Greek word here translated opportunity
is used in military contexts for a place from which an offensive is launched, a
base of operations. Thus our freedom in Christ is not to be used as an
opportunity for self-indulgence. Christian freedom is freedom from sin, not
freedom to sin. It is an unrestricted liberty of approach to God as His
children, not an unrestricted liberty to wallow in our own selfishness. There
are many such slaves in our society today. They proclaim their freedom with a
loud voice. They speak of free love and a free life; but in reality they are
slaves to their own appetites to which they give free rein, simply because they
cannot control them. Christian freedom is very different. Far from having
liberty to indulge the flesh, Christians are said to have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires [24]. That
is to say, we have totally repudiated the claim of our lower nature to rule
over us. Now we seek to walk in the Spirit and are promised, if we do, that we
shall not gratify the desires of the
flesh [16]. Instead the Holy Spirit will cause His fruit to ripen in our
lives, culminating in self-control.
Christian Freedom
is not Freedom to Exploit my Neighbor. Christian freedom is no more freedom to do as I please irrespective
of the good of my neighbor than it is freedom to do as I please in the
indulgence of my flesh. It is freedom to approach God without fear, not freedom
to exploit my neighbor without love. Indeed, so far from having liberty to
ignore, neglect or abuse our fellow men, we are commanded to love them, and
through love to serve them. Christian liberty is service not selfishness. It is
a remarkable paradox. For from one point of view Christian freedom is a form of
slavery, not slavery to our flesh, but to our neighbor. We are free in relation
to God, but slaves in relation to each other. This is the meaning of love. If
we love one another we shall serve one another, and if we serve one another we
shall not bite and devour one another
in malicious talk or action but rather serve one another. Love is never greedy,
never grasping, it is always expansive, never possessive. Truly to love
somebody is not to possess him for myself but to serve him for himself.
Christian Freedom
is not Freedom to Disregard the Law. What is the Christian’s
relation to the law? Paul says if we are Christians that we have been set free
from the law, that we are no longer under the law and that we must not submit
again to the yoke of slavery which is the law. But we must take pains to grasp
what he means by these expressions. Our Christian freedom from the law which he
emphasizes concerns our relationship to God. It means that our acceptance
depends not on our obedience to the law’s demands, but on faith in Jesus Christ
who bore the curse of the law when He died. It certainly does not mean that we
are free to disregard or disobey the law. On the contrary, although we cannot
gain acceptance by keeping the law, yet once we have been accepted we shall
keep the law out of love for Him who has accepted us and has given us His
Spirit to enable us to keep it. In New Testament terminology, although our
justification depends not on the law but on Christ crucified, yet our
sanctification consists in the fulfillment of the law.
The Power of Service: Galatians
5:16,22-26.
[16] But I say, walk
by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [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] And 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
conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. [ESV]
[16] Each time Paul writes of
Christian freedom he adds a warning that it can very easily be lost. Some
relapse from freedom into bondage [5:1]; others turn their freedom into license
[5:13]. In verses 13-15, Paul emphasized that true Christian freedom expresses
itself in self-control, loving service of our neighbor and obedience to the law
of God. The question now is, how are these things possible? And the answer is,
by the Holy Spirit. He alone can keep us truly free. This section in which Paul
elaborates this theme is simply full of the Holy Spirit. He is mentioned seven
times by name. He is presented as our Sanctifier who alone can oppose and
subdue our flesh [16-17], enable us to fulfill the law so that we are delivered
from its harsh dominion [18] and cause the fruit of righteousness to grow in
our lives [22-23]. So the enjoyment of Christian freedom depends on the Holy
Spirit. True, it is Christ who sets us free. But without the continuing,
sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit our freedom is bound to degenerate into
license. By flesh Paul means what we
are by nature and inheritance, our fallen condition. By the Spirit he means the Holy Spirit who renews and regenerates us,
first giving us a new nature and then remaining to dwell in us. More simply, we
may say that the flesh stands for
what we are by natural birth, the Spirit
for what we become by new birth, the birth of the Spirit. And these two, the
flesh and the Spirit, are in sharp opposition to each other. Certainly, as we
learn to walk in the Spirit, the flesh becomes increasingly subdued. But the
flesh and the Spirit remain, and the conflict between them is fierce and
unremitting.
[22-23] In verse 22-23 we have a
cluster of nine Christian graces which seem to portray a Christian’s attitude
to God, to other people and to himself. Love,
joy, peace. This is a triad of general Christian virtues. Yet they seem
primarily to concern our attitude towards God, for a Christian’s first love is
his love for God, his chief joy is his joy in God and his deepest peace is his
peace with God. Next, patience,
kindness, goodness. These are social virtues, manward rather than Godward
in their direction. Patience is longsuffering towards those who aggravate or
persecute. Kindness is a question of disposition, and goodness of words and
deeds. The third triad is faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Faithfulness appears to describe the reliability
of a Christian person. Gentleness is that humble meekness which Christ
exhibited. And both are aspects of the self-control which concludes the list.
So we may say that the primary direction of love, joy, peace is Godward, of patience, kindness, goodness manward, and faithfulness, gentleness, self-control selfward. And all these are
the fruit of the Spirit, the natural produce that appears in the lives of Spirit-led
Christians. No wonder Paul adds again: against
such things there is no law. For the function of law is to curb, to
restrain, to deter, and no deterrent is needed here.
[24-25] What must we do in order to
control the lusts of the flesh and to bear the fruit of the Spirit? The brief
answer is this: We must maintain towards each the proper Christian attitude by
crucifying the flesh and walking by the Spirit. Paul writes that everyone who
belongs to Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh. This is not something that is done to us but rather something
that is done by us. Thus verse 24 does not teach the same truth as Galatians
2:20 or Romans 6:6. In those verses we are told that by faith-union with Christ
we have been crucified with Him. But here it is we who have taken action. We
have crucified our old nature. It is not now a dying which we have experienced
through union with Christ; it is rather a deliberate putting to death. What
does it mean? Paul borrows the image of crucifixion from Christ Himself who
said: If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me [Mark 8:34]. To take
up the cross was our Lord’s vivid figure of speech for self-denial. Every
follower of Christ is to behave like a condemned criminal and carry his cross
to the place of execution. Now Paul takes the metaphor to its logical
conclusion. We must not only take up our cross and walk with it, but actually
see that the execution takes place. We are actually to take the flesh, our
willful and wayward self, and (metaphorically speaking) nail it to the cross.
This is Paul’s graphic description of repentance, of turning our back on the
old life of selfishness and sin, repudiating it finally and utterly. The
following points belong to the notion of crucifixion and cannot be separated
from it. First, a Christian’s rejection of his old nature is to be pitiless. If
we are to crucify our flesh, it is plain that the flesh is not something
respectable to be treated with courtesy and deference, but something so evil
that it deserves no better fate than to be crucified. Secondly, our rejection
of the old nature will be painful. Crucifixion was a form of execution that
afflicted great pain. Thirdly, the rejection of our old nature is to be
decisive. Although death by crucifixion was a lingering death, it was a certain
death. Criminals who were nailed to a cross did not survive. If we crucified
the flesh, we must leave it there to die. We must renew every day this attitude
towards sin of ruthless and uncompromising rejection. So widely is this
biblical teaching neglected, that it needs to be further enforced. The first
great secret of holiness lies in the degree and the decisiveness of our
repentance. If besetting sins persistently plague us, it is either because we have
never truly repented, or because, having repented, we have not maintained our
repentance. It is as if, having nailed our old nature to the cross, we keep
wistfully returning to the scene of its execution. We begin to fondle it, to
caress it, to long for its release, even to try to take it down again from the
cross. We need to learn to leave it there. When some jealous, or proud, or
malicious, or impure thought invades our mind we must kick it out at once. It
is fatal to begin to examine it and consider whether we are going to give in to
it or not. We turn now to the attitude which we are to adopt towards the Holy
Spirit. This is described in two ways, first, it is to be led by the Spirit [18]. Secondly, it is to walk by the Spirit [16,25]. There is clearly a distinction between
being led and walking, for the former expression is passive and the latter
active. It is the Spirit who does the leading, but we who do the walking.
First, then, Christians are portrayed as being led by the Spirit. As our leader the Holy Spirit takes the
initiative. He asserts His desires against those of the flesh and forms within
us holy and heavenly desires. He puts this gentle pressure upon us, and we must
yield to His direction and control. But it is a great mistake to suppose that
our whole duty lies in passive submission to the spirit’s control. As if all we
had to do was to surrender to His leading. On the contrary, we are ourselves to
walk, actively and purposefully, in
the right way. And the Holy Spirit is the path we walk in, as well as the guide
who shows us the way. This becomes clear when a careful comparison is made
between verses 16 and 25. The English of both verses contains the verb ‘to
walk’, but the Greek words are different. The verb in verse 16 is the ordinary
one for walking, but that in verse 25 refers literally to people being ‘drawn
up in line’. Hence it means to ‘walk in line’ or ‘be in line with’. It is used
of believers who by sharing Abraham’s faith are said to walk in the footsteps of the faith [Romans 4:12] or follow his
example. So to walk by the Spirit is
deliberately to walk along the path or according to the line which the Holy
Spirit lays down. The Spirit leads us; but we are to walk by Him or according
to His rule. As, therefore, we crucify the flesh, repudiating what we know to
be wrong, so too we must walk by the Spirit, setting ourselves to follow what
we know to be right. We reject one path to follow another. We turn from what is
evil in order to occupy ourselves with what is good. And if it is vital to be
ruthless in turning away from the things of the flesh, it is equally vital to
be disciplined in turning towards the things of the Spirit. The Scripture says
believers are to set their minds on the
things of the Spirit [Rom. 8:5-6], and to seek the things that are above … set your minds on things that are
above [Col. 3:1-2]. This will be seen in our whole way of life – in the
leisure occupations we pursue, the books we read and the friendships we make.
Above all in a disciplined practice of prayer and Scripture meditation, in
fellowship with believers who provoke us to love and good works, and in
attending public worship and the Lord’s Supper. In all these ways we occupy
ourselves in spiritual things. It is not enough to yield passively to the Spirit’s
control; we must also walk actively in the Spirit’s way. Only so will the fruit
of the Spirit appear.
[26] Verse 26 shows that our conduct
to others is determined by our opinion of ourselves. It is when we have become conceited that we provoke and
envy other people. The Greek word for conceited
describes somebody who has an opinion of himself which is empty, vain or false.
When we are conceited, our relationships with other people are bound to be
poisoned. Indeed, whenever relationships with other people deteriorate, conceit
is nearly always the basic cause. According to Paul, when we are conceited, we
tend to do one of two things: we either provoke one another or envy one
another. To provoke one another means to challenge them to a contest. It implies
that we are so sure of our superiority that we want to demonstrate it. So we
challenge people to dispute it in order to give ourselves a chance to prove it.
Secondly, we envy one another, being jealous of one another’s gifts or
attainments. Very different from these two things is that love which is the
fruit of the Spirit, which Christians exhibit when they are walking by the
Spirit. Such people have no self-conceit, or rather are continuously seeking by
the Spirit to subdue it. They do not think of themselves more highly than they
ought to think. The Holy Spirit has opened their eyes to see both their own sin
and unworthiness and also the importance and value of other people in the sight
of God.
The Reward of Service: Galatians
6:7-10.
[7] Do not be
deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will
from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from
the Spirit reap eternal life. [9] And
let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do
not give up. [10] So then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the
household of faith. [ESV]
Paul moves from the
particular to the general, from Christian ministers and their support to
Christian people and their moral behavior. He reverts to the theme of the flesh
and the Spirit which he has treated at some length in 5:16-25. There the
Christian’s life is likened to a battleground, and the flesh and the Spirit are
two combatants at war with each other upon it. But here in Galatians 6 the
Christian’s life is likened to a country estate, and the flesh and the Spirit
are two fields in which we may sow seed. Further, the harvest we reap depends on
where and on what we sow. This is a vitally important and much neglected
principle of holiness. We are not the helpless victims of our nature,
temperament and environment. On the contrary, what we become depends largely on
how we behave; our character is shaped by our conduct. According to Galatians 5
the Christian’s duty is to walk by the
Spirit, according to Galatians 6 to sow
to the Spirit. Thus the Holy Spirit is likened both to the path along which
we walk and to the field in which we sow. How can we expect to reap the fruit
of the Spirit if we do not sow in the field of the Spirit? To sow to the flesh
is to pander to it, to stroke it, instead of crucifying it. The seeds we sow
are largely thoughts and deeds. Every time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge,
nurse a grievance, entertain an impure fantasy, or wallow in self-pity, we are
sowing to the flesh. Holiness is a harvest; whether we reap it or not depends
almost entirely on what and where we sow. Instead of sowing to the flesh, Paul
instructs his readers to sow to the Spirit. By the books we read, the company
we keep and the leisure occupations we pursue we can be sowing to the Spirit.
Then we are to foster disciplined habits of devotion in private and in public,
in daily prayer and Bible reading, and in worship with the Lord’s people on the
Lord’s Day. Paul distinguishes between the two harvests as well as between the
two sowings. The results are only logical. If we sow to the flesh, we shall from the flesh reap corruption. That
is, a process of moral decay will set in. If, on the other hand, we sow to the
Spirit, we shall from the Spirit reap
eternal life. That is, a process of moral and spiritual growth will begin.
Communion with God (which is eternal life) will develop now until in eternity
it becomes perfect. Therefore, if we want to reap a harvest of holiness, our
duty is twofold. First, we must avoid sowing to the flesh, and secondly we must
keep sowing to the Spirit. We must ruthlessly eliminate the first and
concentrate our time and energies on the second, it is another way of saying
that we must crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit. There is no other way of
growing in holiness. The subject changes somewhat from personal holiness to
doing good, helping others, engaging in philanthropic activity in the church or
community. But Paul treats this too under the metaphor of sowing and reaping.
Some incentive is certainly needed in Christian well-doing. Paul recognizes
this, for he urges his readers not to grow
weary. Active Christian service is tiring, exacting work. We are tempted to
become discouraged, to slack off, even to give up. So the apostle gives us this
incentive: he tells us that doing good is like sowing seed. If we persevere in
sowing, then in due season we will reap,
if we do not give up. If the farmer tires of sowing and leaves half his
field unsown, he will reap only half a crop. It is the same with good deeds. If
we want a harvest, then we must finish the sowing and be patient. The household of faith consists of our
fellow believers. Thus a patient continuance in well-doing is a characteristic
of the true Christian, a characteristic so indispensable that it will be taken
as evidence of saving faith on the Judgment Day [Rom. 2:7].
Questions for
Discussion:
1. What is Christian freedom?
How does it free us to serve one another in love?
2. Describe the battle
between the flesh and the Spirit. What does Paul say we are to do
with our flesh? What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? Think about how
you can put these things into practice in your daily Christian walk.
3. What does Paul mean by
sowing to the flesh; by sowing to the Spirit? What are we sowing? What are we
seeking to harvest? Take an inventory of where your time and resources are
being planted. What areas do not reflect the harvest you want?
References:
Galatians, Timothy George, NAC, Broadman.
Galatians, Philip Graham Ryken, REC, P & R
Publishing.
The Message of
Galatians, John Stott, Inter
Varsity.