The Flesh vs
The
Spirit
(The Law of God
and Galatians 5 – part 2)
People love to quote
Paul to ‘prove’ they don’t have to keep the Law of God.
Did you know that
even Peter thought Paul’s letters were confusing?
2Peter 3:15b “as also our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to
him, has written
to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things, in
which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people
twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the
Scriptures.”
Don’t be quick to quote
Paul you might NOT understand him. Here in Galatians 5 he spends most of his
time dealing with the battle we all face. The LUST of the FLESH vs. Walking in
the SPIRIT.
Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” 17 “For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary
to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Is Paul saying
either you are led by the Spirit or you keep the law? This
doesn’t seem to add up. That sounds like the law is bad.
The Spirit of God
has the same character and attributes as God.
If God is good, His Spirit is good.
His Law should be too. God is RIGHTEOUS; His Spirit is RIGHTEOUS. So, His LAW should be too.
God is LOVE.
His Spirit is LOVE. So, His LAW should be too.
Psalm 19:7 The LAW of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple; 8
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring
forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
What part of that
sounds BAD to you?
Then what did Paul
mean by being “under the Law”?
Let’s look at more
of Galatians 5.
Remember, Paul
told us the flesh is against the Spirit. Look at what Paul calls the
Works of the Flesh:
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are
evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
ALL of these are Sins
listed as violations of God’s Law. Then Paul lists the Fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit”.
These Fruit are
all desirable traits of the child of God.
Paul is contrasting
the Flesh and the Spirit. The Lusts of the Flesh are all things
which the Law tells us not to do. God gave the Law to show us what is Right
and what is Wrong.
The Flesh wants to BREAK God’s Law. The
Spirit wants to keep God’s law.
Why does Paul say
this?
Galatians
5:18 “But if you are led
by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
He seems to be equating
the Lust of the Flesh with ‘under the Law’. ‘Under the Law’ refers to someone who can’t
help themselves.
This Law controls
them. They are in bondage. What Law controls them?
The Law of
Sin and Death :
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
**Here is something
important to note! Sometimes Paul answers
our questions in other letters he wrote. If we read Romans 8:1-9 he
spells it out.
Romans
8:1 There is therefore now
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin
and death. 3 For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did
by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:
He condemned sin in the flesh,
***
Stop there. Not that the Law was weak. It was the Flesh
that is/was the problem!
Our FLESH willingly
violates God’s Law so we suffer the consequences of our SIN. We all know that
the wages of our sin is death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The carnal or natural man is 'unsaved'. He has not been born again and received the Spirit of God within him. That is the difference. This is unbelievers versus believers. Not fighting each other, but the way they deal with God's Law is at odds.
Hopefully, some of this is
making sense. What does this mean for the believer
today?
What are you doing
if you claim to walk by the Spirit but REFUSE to keep the LAW?
A believer
should WANT to keep God’s Law and be OBEDIENT.
The unsaved
person doesn’t care about God’s Laws and doesn’t try to keep them.
The CURSE of the
LAW is on all who break it.
Yeshua redeemed us
from the CURSE of the LAW.
Galatians
3:13 “Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree”.
Then WHY would we continue
to BREAK God’s LAW afterwards?
I understand. We have been LIED TO. They told us the Law was done away.
This is EXACTLY
what Peter warned about.
2Peter 3:16 “(Paul) in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things,in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures”.
Yeshua came to bring us the NEW COVENANT . What does that do?
Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says
the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of
Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD”.
33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds,and
write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”.
Ezekiel
11:19 "Then I
will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 "that they may walk in My statutes
and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will
be their God.
Ezekiel
36:25 "Then I
will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "I will give you a
new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My
Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My
judgments and do them.
THAT is the New
Covenant. What Covenant are YOU keeping?
Matthew 26:27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 "For this is My blood of the New Covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
You now have a choice. Ignore God’s Law and be rebellious. Follow God’s Law and be obedient.
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Luke 13:23 Then one said to Him, "Lord, are
there few who are saved?" And He said to them, 24 "Strive to enter
through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and
will not be able. 25 "When once the Master of the house has risen up and
shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord,
Lord, open for us,'and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you,
where you are from,' 26
"then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You
taught in our streets.' 27 "But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know
you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of
iniquity.' 28 "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God, and yourselves thrust out.”
I don’t want this
for any believers. Start reading the Book of the Law. Begin with Exodus and go
through Deuteronomy.
Read the
commandments and believe them.
Then you need to
start learning them to do them. You will see that some of these commandments you
can start doing. Others you can’t or don’t
understand. Do not try to learn how to
do priestly duties – you are not a priest.
If you are a man, obviously you can’t keep ones that are for women
only. You also don’t need to learn how
to bring sacrifices. It is not lawful
for anyone to bring a sacrifice now that the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed
and a priesthood who are sons of Aaron is not in place. These are also God’s rules, so don’t stress
about those parts. The Law is not a burden.
You can do it.
1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
This is what I mean
when I say, “Return to Yehovah”.
Compiled by G.E. Walker November
2020
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