Galatians 5:13

Galatians 5:13

 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

 

A logical argument might be that if we are saved from condemnation through our faith in Christ alone and that we are no longer bound by God’s Law to achieve salvation, then we pretty much have a pass for a “free for all” in how we live our lives. Since it is through Christ’s triumphant actions alone that we are justified, we can simply believe in him as Savior and go about our lives however we please. That’s a HUGE misunderstanding of the relationship that we have with our Lord. Paul calls out the people of Galatia to not use this freedom from the Law as a ticket to indulge in sinful behaviors. In verse 16, he instructs the people to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Through baptism, the Holy Spirit becomes a part of us…it becomes our compass in pointing us to the Lord. Paul continues in verse 17 saying “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” So that begs the question…what leads us in this life? Are we lead by our own sinful desires, wants, and needs above the direction of the Holy Spirit? Are our own selfish feelings more important than serving the Lord? Where does our allegiance really lie…in the world and ourselves or in the Lord? Our allegiance should rest on the Lord and the Lord alone…for every single thing that is right, pure, and good in our lives has come through his merciful and loving hand. We make think we have achieved it all on our own through “hard work”, “grit”, “luck”, and “good fortune”, but don’t be fooled…God’s in the mix and is the true Giver of everything positive in our lives. Therefore our goal should be to serve the Lord above all else…and that we shouldn’t be fooled by the idea that the gift of salvation is some free pass to live a sinful life. We have been given a gift that we have no business requesting and a gift that we have no ability to obtain on our own...the promise of salvation, the promise of heaven, and the promise of eternal perfect peace. May we keep that fresh in our minds each day, serving as a reminder for how we should act, think, and speak…and may it all be done in service to the Lord. To God alone be the glory!