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All Saints Church |
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Thorpe Acre Road, Loughborough, |
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Paul Chung Law and Life by the Spirit
Today we are going to continue with the study on Galatians. Last week Terri spoke about the Law and the Promise. Today we are going to look at the Law and life by the Spirit. The two passages are closely linked. The common point that cut across the two is the role of the law, i.e. the role of the Law in salvation and the role of the Law in sanctification. First, it is clear that the law does not and cannot save. Secondly, the law does not and cannot free us from thinking or doing the wrong things. In fact the law, by this I mean the moral law not the ceremonial law, serves as a benchmark; it tells us how well or how badly we are doing. The truth is that we have all fallen short. Because we cannot save ourselves God sends his Son to fulfil his promise and plan of salvation. Because we cannot live holy lives by our own strength God sends his Holy Spirit to help us to live our new lives in Christ. This provides the thread that links the two passages. The Lord Jesus has fulfilled the requirements for the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit is helping us to live in the way that is pleasing to God. Today’s passage tells us that there are three considerations: the law, the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. The law sets the standard; if we follow our sinful nature then we live below that standard; if we are led by the Spirit then we are not under law (v18). What does it mean if we are led by the Spirit then we are not under law? Does it mean that we are above the law and we can do what we like
because we justify it by saying that the Holy Spirit tells us to do it? No,
that would be wrong and it would be very dangerous and damaging to think like
that. There are two ways of answering the question. The first is that if we
are led by the Spirit then we are Christians who have received and are
following the Holy Spirit therefore we are not under the condemnation of the
law. This is approaching the question from the salvation point of view, i.e.
what Terri explained last week. The other way of answering this question is
found in today’s text, v22 “… against such things there is no law.” In other
words, if we live by the Spirit then what we do is in accordance with the law
and the law is not against us – against things there is no law. Last week we had some old friends for dinner. One of them is a
consultant surgeon. I asked him about his opinion on the long working hours
for doctors and the government is trying to reduce that. After some
discussion he said this about himself. If I am in the operating theatre I am
not going to walk out just because my 8 hour day is up and I don’t expect any
of my team to walk out. We are in a caring profession. I’ll finish my job
whatever it takes. He also said, “If I do a big operation on a Friday, even
though I am not expected to work during the weekend and won’t get paid for
it, I will go in to see the patient to see how they are getting on.” A person who keeps to the letter of the law would do only what is
necessary to satisfy the law. A person who is motivated by care and
compassion will go beyond what the law requires. This is the idea that the Apostle Paul is communicating. Live a life
that is led by the Spirit and the law won’t be against you because you will
do more than what it requires. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law. However, we must not gloss over the fact that in each of us there is a
battle between the desires of the sinful nature and the leading of the Holy
Spirit. V17 “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.” V19-21 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” The sinful nature is always at work
in us. A Christian family, whom Anissa and I know well, moved back to the Do not think that we are any better, if we are not careful we will fall. Some sins seem bigger than others because their obvious consequences are much more serious. Don't minimize "little" sins or overrate "big" sins. They are all in conflict with the Holy Spirit. The more sensitive we are towards the leading of the Holy Spirit the
more we are acutely aware of the influence of the desire of the sinful nature.
Like a master musician they can pick out from a performance all the notes
that are slightly out of tune or not in rhythm. Like a master scholar they
can pick out from a piece of writing all the blemishes. Similarly, the Holy
Spirit will help us to pick out the thoughts or motives that are not pure. To give you a simple example, I was speaking to a colleague and he was
telling me that he was very busy as he was finishing reading several of his
research students’ theses before they could submit. Just a matter of interest
I asked him in his career how many of his doctorate students have completed
so far. His answer was three. The first thought that came to my mind was that
I have 20 students who have got their doctorates already but I stop myself
from saying those words because in my mind I questioned my own motive. This is a trivial example, whether I did tell him or not is of no big
significance. What is important for me and for us is that do we know why we
do what we do or why we think what we think. Are you aware of the influence
of the desire of the sinful nature on the one hand and the leading of the Holy
Spirit on the other? The more you grow in Christ the more you will sense this
acutely. As Christians we must accept the reality of conflict in the Christian life. There are two opposed sorts of desire in every Christian’s makeup. There are desires that express the fallen human nature, and there are desires that express the supernatural, God honouring, God loving motivation that comes through the Holy Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit we will keep discovering that we are not as good as we think we are. There is an element of motivational sin, at least, in our best works. None of us have reached perfection. If we say or think we have then we are kidding ourselves. Martin Luther commenting on this passage wrote, “The Christian feels
the unholy condition of his heart … He therefore goes to Christ to find
perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble.” (Commentary on the
Epistle to the Galatians p183). The Holy Spirit’s prompting is not there to
condemn us or make us feel bad but to bring us back to Christ. This is a
basic truth which we must understand and apply again and again. The Apostle Paul’s instructions to the Galatians and to us are “… live
by the Spirit, … led by the Spirit, ….
[remember that we] belong to Christ Jesus … crucify the sinful nature with
its passions and desires.” If we do this then our character will display the
fruit of the Spirit. A fruit takes time to form and ripe. Similarly, the
fruit of the Spirit takes time to form and mature. We are all in different stages of our Christian walk. Therefore, there
is no direct comparison. What each one of us should look for is progression. Recently
I heard a speaker who tells the story of one of his friends who became a
Christian. This friend had a very difficult up bringing and had a foul
character. Before he became a Christian many people would not like to be in
his company for more than a few minutes. They just could not stand it; being
with him was hard to bear. Now after some years, being with him is still hard
to bear, but people would probably stay for 15 to 30 minutes. That is a big
improvement. Through the leading of the Holy Spirit this person has moved on,
praise the Lord. But, my question to you and to myself is “In the last few
years have you moved on?” Are you sensitive towards the prompting of the Holy
Spirit so that you are aware of where the desire of the sinful nature is
influencing you? Are you working with the Holy Spirit in transforming your
life? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is a lovely picture. Imagine
a character that displays all these qualities. We are working towards that by
following the Holy Spirit. The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us every day. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that saved us and is available to us in our daily life through the Holy Spirit. |
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