12/19/12 Ephesians 4
We are to be built up to the full "measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" - Like a container filled to the top - or a puzzle with every piece in place. How? By the gifts that God gives out of His grace to the church.
It begins with each of us being strengthened by the Holy Spirit, rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, and filled with the fullness of God. Then we are called to "walk in a manner worthy" of this new Life. And we can only walk by the same Spirit, by Grace, through Christ Jesus.
Paul shows us what a worthy walk looks like, it is:
humble
gentle
patient
forbearing with one another in love
diligently preserving the unity of the Spirit in peace
speaking truth in love
laying aside the old self
being renewed in the spirit of your mind
living as the new creation you are in righteousness and holiness of the truth
(Again he repeats speaking in truth) must have been a particular issue in Ephesus?
Not sinning in our anger
not giving the devil a foothold
not stealing
working to provide for ourselves and to share
letting no unwholesome talk come from our lips
speaking words to edify and give grace
not grieving the Holy Spirit
putting away all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice
Being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving.
In other words, walking in love as Christ did.
This is the goal. We cannot do it on our own. In fact, Christ gives the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as gifts to the church for the building up of the saints, the body of Christ... us!
As each of is individually fitted and held together, working properly, growing up into "all aspects into Him," Then the church is built up and grows up, in love.
Help me Holy Spirit to walk the worthy walk. Strengthen me with your mighty power in my inner self.
Help me Lord Jesus, dwell in my heart and fill be with your incomprehensible love.
Help me Father, fill me with Your fullness, do exceeding abundantly in me all that You desire . May You receive all Glory due Your Name.
Amen
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
12/18/12 Ephesians 3
The mystery of Christ. Paul uses this phrase over and over to explain this new revelation that salvation is for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. The mystery, the secret plan that God the Father had purposed, planned, and accomplished through Jesus Christ.
Romans 11:25 "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery.... " The Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by faith in Christ Jesus.
Romans 16:25 " Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.."
I Cor. 2:7 " but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of this age understood..."
Eph. 1: 9 " He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him"
Eph. 3:3,4 " that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery..." ; " And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed..." v6 "to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel"
v9 " and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things".
Col. 1:26 -27" that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles , which is Christ in you the hope of glory."
Col. 4: 3 "...so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned"
Paul, a Jew, was given the privilege by Grace to "preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ", to reveal something hidden in God the Creator, to make known "the manifold wisdom of God" To announce "to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" that God had planned from eternity to bring salvation through His Son, Christ Jesus our Lord, to all people.
Paul closes chapter 3 with a beautiful prayer.
To the Father - of ALL families in heaven and earth, "that He would grant you , according to the riches of His glory" : inner strength/ power through His Spirit; ability to comprehend the love of Christ that is beyond our ability to comprehend, through His dwelling in our hearts; to be filled with the fulness of God.
To be filled with the Spirit for strength. To be filled with Christ for love. To be filled with all the fulness of God - made complete.
The mystery of Christ. Paul uses this phrase over and over to explain this new revelation that salvation is for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. The mystery, the secret plan that God the Father had purposed, planned, and accomplished through Jesus Christ.
Romans 11:25 "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery.... " The Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by faith in Christ Jesus.
Romans 16:25 " Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.."
I Cor. 2:7 " but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of this age understood..."
Eph. 1: 9 " He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him"
Eph. 3:3,4 " that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery..." ; " And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed..." v6 "to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel"
v9 " and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things".
Col. 1:26 -27" that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles , which is Christ in you the hope of glory."
Col. 4: 3 "...so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned"
Paul, a Jew, was given the privilege by Grace to "preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ", to reveal something hidden in God the Creator, to make known "the manifold wisdom of God" To announce "to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" that God had planned from eternity to bring salvation through His Son, Christ Jesus our Lord, to all people.
Paul closes chapter 3 with a beautiful prayer.
To the Father - of ALL families in heaven and earth, "that He would grant you , according to the riches of His glory" : inner strength/ power through His Spirit; ability to comprehend the love of Christ that is beyond our ability to comprehend, through His dwelling in our hearts; to be filled with the fulness of God.
To be filled with the Spirit for strength. To be filled with Christ for love. To be filled with all the fulness of God - made complete.
Monday, December 17, 2012
12/17/12
Ephesians 2 - "And you were dead.... " The state we all are in before we find Life in Christ. DEAD!
In sins and trespasses, walking dead. Following the course of the world...the never ending, hopeless, cycle of days upon the earth, under the bondage of the "prince of the power of the air". Chained to our fleshly lusts, indulging the desires of the mind and flesh, children of wrath. Dead! Paul includes himself in this description. We are all "born this way".
BUT GOD.... Love, love, love these two words!!!!
God, rich in mercy!
God, loving us with a great love!
God, sent us a rescuer! A LIFE giver! A Peace maker!
While we were dead, helpless and hopeless, He made us alive together with Christ. All of GRACE.
He raised us from the dead with Christ.
He seated us with Christ in Heaven.
He plans on forever showing us the "riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" v7
We are His workmanship. His creation in Christ Jesus, with a new purpose.. good works.
Christ Jesus brought us near to God by His blood.
He broke down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles.
He abolished the Law, the enmity, the hostile opposition, putting it to death.
He reconciled all who believe - One man, one building, one temple, one dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.
" For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;"
By grace - Greek charis - graciousness, favour, gift, liberality, pleasure, thanks-worthy, joy - we are saved, rescued, redeemed, made alive, made safe. God shows us His favor, a free, undeserved GIFT.
He "elects" us to salvation out of His own good pleasure. All of Grace, all a gift He chooses to give. We receive this gift by faith. Persuaded of the Truth. Conviction and reliance upon Christ for salvation. Constancy in profession of this Truth. Jesus Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me.
I live by faith in Him. Thank God, the God of all Grace, for His wonderful Gift.. Jesus!
Amen.
Ephesians 2 - "And you were dead.... " The state we all are in before we find Life in Christ. DEAD!
In sins and trespasses, walking dead. Following the course of the world...the never ending, hopeless, cycle of days upon the earth, under the bondage of the "prince of the power of the air". Chained to our fleshly lusts, indulging the desires of the mind and flesh, children of wrath. Dead! Paul includes himself in this description. We are all "born this way".
BUT GOD.... Love, love, love these two words!!!!
God, rich in mercy!
God, loving us with a great love!
God, sent us a rescuer! A LIFE giver! A Peace maker!
While we were dead, helpless and hopeless, He made us alive together with Christ. All of GRACE.
He raised us from the dead with Christ.
He seated us with Christ in Heaven.
He plans on forever showing us the "riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" v7
We are His workmanship. His creation in Christ Jesus, with a new purpose.. good works.
Christ Jesus brought us near to God by His blood.
He broke down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles.
He abolished the Law, the enmity, the hostile opposition, putting it to death.
He reconciled all who believe - One man, one building, one temple, one dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.
" For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;"
By grace - Greek charis - graciousness, favour, gift, liberality, pleasure, thanks-worthy, joy - we are saved, rescued, redeemed, made alive, made safe. God shows us His favor, a free, undeserved GIFT.
He "elects" us to salvation out of His own good pleasure. All of Grace, all a gift He chooses to give. We receive this gift by faith. Persuaded of the Truth. Conviction and reliance upon Christ for salvation. Constancy in profession of this Truth. Jesus Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me.
I live by faith in Him. Thank God, the God of all Grace, for His wonderful Gift.. Jesus!
Amen.
Friday, December 14, 2012
12/14/12 Ephesians 1
Christ Jesus fills all in all... Everything is summed up in Him.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ!" Out of the kind purposes of God's own heart, out of His love for us - we received every spiritual blessing through Christ Jesus:
We are chosen in Christ, before the world was even created, to be holy and blameless before God.
We were predestined to become sons of God, through Christ, in love. ( Praise the glory of His Grace!)
We were redeemed through His blood, forgiven for our trespasses according to the riches of His Grace, lavished on us.
We are given wisdom and insight into the "mystery of His will" - planned and purposed in Christ.
We have obtained an inheritance, a hope, a promise, to be God's own possession.
In Him we, who listened to the message of the gospel and believed, are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
We have received all these blessings, yet Paul prays for the church in Ephesus (and for us) to receive even more from the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory":
May He give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened to know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance.
May we know the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the strength of His might, which was brought about in Christ's resurrection and glorification. For Christ is seated at the right hand of God, far above all rule, authority, dominion, and name in this age and forever more.
All things are subject to Jesus.. He is head over all things in the church, His body.
In knowing Christ Jesus we, the church, become " the fulness of Him who fills all in all"
We are chosen, we are adopted, we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are "in" on the plans of God, we have a promised amazing future with Him forever! We are sealed with His Spirit. God grant us wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, to know the hope that has been promised, to know His power to become the church that is filled with the fulness of Christ!
Amen!
Christ Jesus fills all in all... Everything is summed up in Him.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ!" Out of the kind purposes of God's own heart, out of His love for us - we received every spiritual blessing through Christ Jesus:
We are chosen in Christ, before the world was even created, to be holy and blameless before God.
We were predestined to become sons of God, through Christ, in love. ( Praise the glory of His Grace!)
We were redeemed through His blood, forgiven for our trespasses according to the riches of His Grace, lavished on us.
We are given wisdom and insight into the "mystery of His will" - planned and purposed in Christ.
We have obtained an inheritance, a hope, a promise, to be God's own possession.
In Him we, who listened to the message of the gospel and believed, are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
We have received all these blessings, yet Paul prays for the church in Ephesus (and for us) to receive even more from the "God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory":
May He give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened to know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance.
May we know the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the strength of His might, which was brought about in Christ's resurrection and glorification. For Christ is seated at the right hand of God, far above all rule, authority, dominion, and name in this age and forever more.
All things are subject to Jesus.. He is head over all things in the church, His body.
In knowing Christ Jesus we, the church, become " the fulness of Him who fills all in all"
We are chosen, we are adopted, we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are "in" on the plans of God, we have a promised amazing future with Him forever! We are sealed with His Spirit. God grant us wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, to know the hope that has been promised, to know His power to become the church that is filled with the fulness of Christ!
Amen!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
12/13/12
Lamentations
A princess who has become a slave, weeping bitterly every night.
Princes who have become homeless beggars, starving and weak.
Mothers who cannot feed their children and who in desperation boil their babies for food.
Beautiful buildings now burned out, broken down, and desolate.
The pictures we have seen of Holocaust victims, skeletal flesh, barely alive, this is what those left in Jerusalem looked like.
Jeremiah writes his lament, his song of mourning for his beloved country. He has done all he could. But he has not been able to turn the people to repentance, nor stop the wrath of God on the sinful.
"I am a man who has seen affliction" Jeremiah writes. He is a witness first hand of what happens when people turn from God. God will not allow the guilty to go unpunished. ( Ex. 34:7)
Listen to this description of Jerusalem and picture it in your mind's eye. " Jerusalem sinned greatly, therefore she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future; therefore she has fallen astonishingly. She has no comforter. " Lam. 1:8-9
Yet He is a God of lovingkindness and compassion to those who seek Him. "Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord" Lam. 3:40. Repent, acknowledge sin and turn from it. Cry to the Lord for mercy. He will restore.
We must take seriously the "wages of sin" - God has made it abundantly clear! Death will come. Not a blissful nothingness. But a painful, desperate, hopeless, eternal separation from God - from all that is Good, from the only One who can offer comfort, from the ONLY source of Light and Life. Our only Hope is Jesus. He drank the cup of God's wrath for us. He suffered the punishment that we deserve. He is the giver of Life. Jeremiah, in the midst of horror, remembers the goodness and love of God. It is his only Hope. And here we find the words that bring joy and comfort to us "Great is Thy faithfulness" .
Jeremiah did not live to see his beloved country restored or the temple rebuilt. But, he received the promise of a faithful God, a new Jerusalem, eternal dwelling place of the King who "dost rule forever" Lam . 5:19. I look forward to the Day when faith will become sight and we will be forever with the saints of light. I want to meet Jeremiah.
Lamentations
A princess who has become a slave, weeping bitterly every night.
Princes who have become homeless beggars, starving and weak.
Mothers who cannot feed their children and who in desperation boil their babies for food.
Beautiful buildings now burned out, broken down, and desolate.
The pictures we have seen of Holocaust victims, skeletal flesh, barely alive, this is what those left in Jerusalem looked like.
Jeremiah writes his lament, his song of mourning for his beloved country. He has done all he could. But he has not been able to turn the people to repentance, nor stop the wrath of God on the sinful.
"I am a man who has seen affliction" Jeremiah writes. He is a witness first hand of what happens when people turn from God. God will not allow the guilty to go unpunished. ( Ex. 34:7)
Listen to this description of Jerusalem and picture it in your mind's eye. " Jerusalem sinned greatly, therefore she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future; therefore she has fallen astonishingly. She has no comforter. " Lam. 1:8-9
Yet He is a God of lovingkindness and compassion to those who seek Him. "Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord" Lam. 3:40. Repent, acknowledge sin and turn from it. Cry to the Lord for mercy. He will restore.
We must take seriously the "wages of sin" - God has made it abundantly clear! Death will come. Not a blissful nothingness. But a painful, desperate, hopeless, eternal separation from God - from all that is Good, from the only One who can offer comfort, from the ONLY source of Light and Life. Our only Hope is Jesus. He drank the cup of God's wrath for us. He suffered the punishment that we deserve. He is the giver of Life. Jeremiah, in the midst of horror, remembers the goodness and love of God. It is his only Hope. And here we find the words that bring joy and comfort to us "Great is Thy faithfulness" .
Jeremiah did not live to see his beloved country restored or the temple rebuilt. But, he received the promise of a faithful God, a new Jerusalem, eternal dwelling place of the King who "dost rule forever" Lam . 5:19. I look forward to the Day when faith will become sight and we will be forever with the saints of light. I want to meet Jeremiah.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12/12/12 Galatians 5-6
" For neither is circumcision anything, not uncircumcision, but a new creation." Gal. 6;15 Paul teaches. Being a Jew or a Gentile no longer matters. This is the reason Paul is persecuted by the Jews. There has always been a difference... it has been pounded into the head and heart of every Jew... you are God's people and the Gentiles are not! But that isn't really true, never has been, for God created ALL men. The Jews were supposed to be set apart to reveal the Holy One. But they failed miserably.
Now Paul is preaching a "new creation" - a new creature, (ktisis-Greek) a formation, a building, newly fabricated - the Christian. The sons of God, clothed with Christ - not Jew, not Gentile, not slave, not freeman, not male, not female - none of those distinctions matter anymore. "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise"(3 :29) and " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." Gal. 5:6.
We are called to freedom and called to serve one another , in love! By walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit and reaping the fruit of the Spirit we fulfill the Law. All of it!
Paul ends with some very practical examples of this life of faith in love:
We will gently restore those who fall into sin. Gal 6:1
We will bear one another's burdens. 6:2
We will examine our own works and not the work of others. 6:4
We will share good things with those who share the Word with us. 6:6
We will do good and not grow weary. 6:9 ( or more pointedly, do good even though we do grow weary)
We will take the opportunity to do good whenever we can. 6:10
We will follow Paul's example of never boasting in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 6:14.
Oh Spirit of God, fall fresh on me! Lead me, walk with me, bear fruit in me... that I might live as the Child of God, the new Creation that You have born me to be. The cross of Jesus is my only hope of salvation, of completion, of Life. Thank You Jesus.
" For neither is circumcision anything, not uncircumcision, but a new creation." Gal. 6;15 Paul teaches. Being a Jew or a Gentile no longer matters. This is the reason Paul is persecuted by the Jews. There has always been a difference... it has been pounded into the head and heart of every Jew... you are God's people and the Gentiles are not! But that isn't really true, never has been, for God created ALL men. The Jews were supposed to be set apart to reveal the Holy One. But they failed miserably.
Now Paul is preaching a "new creation" - a new creature, (ktisis-Greek) a formation, a building, newly fabricated - the Christian. The sons of God, clothed with Christ - not Jew, not Gentile, not slave, not freeman, not male, not female - none of those distinctions matter anymore. "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise"(3 :29) and " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." Gal. 5:6.
We are called to freedom and called to serve one another , in love! By walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit and reaping the fruit of the Spirit we fulfill the Law. All of it!
Paul ends with some very practical examples of this life of faith in love:
We will gently restore those who fall into sin. Gal 6:1
We will bear one another's burdens. 6:2
We will examine our own works and not the work of others. 6:4
We will share good things with those who share the Word with us. 6:6
We will do good and not grow weary. 6:9 ( or more pointedly, do good even though we do grow weary)
We will take the opportunity to do good whenever we can. 6:10
We will follow Paul's example of never boasting in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 6:14.
Oh Spirit of God, fall fresh on me! Lead me, walk with me, bear fruit in me... that I might live as the Child of God, the new Creation that You have born me to be. The cross of Jesus is my only hope of salvation, of completion, of Life. Thank You Jesus.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
12/11/12 Galatians
Through faith in Christ Jesus we are redeemed. We are made sons of God and heirs of the promise.
Through faith in Christ Jesus we are justified.
" Before faith came" ( Gal. 3:23) there was the Law, that "shut up" the Jews, and sin that "shut up" all men. We were subject to, enclosed with, imprisoned by.. sin. The Jews were given the Law as a protective measure, to shield them from the evil of the world around them. It was a governess, a disciplinarian , to keep the people from moral evil, until Christ would come.
All are sinners, missing the mark, unable to be righteous, the Scriptures make that clear. The Jews were given the Law, but it could not make them righteous, it just showed them that they were not able to become righteous on their own. It was meant to lead them to Christ!
The gentiles didn't have the Law, but now we have Christ Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us... for all of us. There is freedom in Christ. Freedom from the law, freedom from sin.
In Gal. 5 Paul addresses the freedom from the law first, to seek to be justified by law is to "fall from grace"; it is a "yoke of slavery"; it severs us from Christ. It could not save and it could not give life. It is made obsolete by Christ. It has fulfilled its purpose.
In Christ, we find freedom from sin, from the flesh. The whole Law "is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall Love your neighbor as yourself". Because of faith in Christ Jesus we have been given the Spirit. We have been given LIFE. In this new life, we are not under the rule of the Law, nor of the flesh. But we are told to walk by the Spirit ( Gal. 5:16); Be led by the Spirit ( v18); To live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit ( V25) and to sow to the Spirit ( Gal. 6:8)
I know this is very basic, scriptural teaching. I understand it at that level, but I am looking at this with a desire to know Christ more. To appreciate and value and KNOW all that He has done for me and all He desires for me.
What does it mean to "walk by the Spirit"? To "peripateo - walk, live, deport oneself, follow.. as a companion, to be occupied with... the Spirit? To live by the Spirit? To be alive, to have a life time (zao) by the Spirit? To be led ( Greek - ago) - bring, drive, go, carry, be open, lead away.. by the Spirit. To sow to the Spirit - to scatter seed, ?
It is in our living, in our thinking, in our movements, in our work, ... we yield to His Spirit's control and not the flesh's control. These two are in opposition, it is a battle within ourselves. They have opposite results. If the flesh wins the result is seen in our life - immorality, impurity, sensuality, etc and corruption is the harvest that is reaped. If the Spirit wins, the results seen in our lives are quite different - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.. and the harvest that is reaped is eternal life.
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24) We live by the Spirit. We are to walk by Him too. And like Paul we learn to say and agree that we too have been crucified with Christ, and yet we live.. and it not ourselves that live but Christ in us, for we live by faith in the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself for us. It is through His cross that the world is crucified to me and I to the world.
Lord God, I praise You and thank You for such a marvelous salvation. Fill me with Your Spirit!
Amen
Through faith in Christ Jesus we are redeemed. We are made sons of God and heirs of the promise.
Through faith in Christ Jesus we are justified.
" Before faith came" ( Gal. 3:23) there was the Law, that "shut up" the Jews, and sin that "shut up" all men. We were subject to, enclosed with, imprisoned by.. sin. The Jews were given the Law as a protective measure, to shield them from the evil of the world around them. It was a governess, a disciplinarian , to keep the people from moral evil, until Christ would come.
All are sinners, missing the mark, unable to be righteous, the Scriptures make that clear. The Jews were given the Law, but it could not make them righteous, it just showed them that they were not able to become righteous on their own. It was meant to lead them to Christ!
The gentiles didn't have the Law, but now we have Christ Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us... for all of us. There is freedom in Christ. Freedom from the law, freedom from sin.
In Gal. 5 Paul addresses the freedom from the law first, to seek to be justified by law is to "fall from grace"; it is a "yoke of slavery"; it severs us from Christ. It could not save and it could not give life. It is made obsolete by Christ. It has fulfilled its purpose.
In Christ, we find freedom from sin, from the flesh. The whole Law "is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall Love your neighbor as yourself". Because of faith in Christ Jesus we have been given the Spirit. We have been given LIFE. In this new life, we are not under the rule of the Law, nor of the flesh. But we are told to walk by the Spirit ( Gal. 5:16); Be led by the Spirit ( v18); To live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit ( V25) and to sow to the Spirit ( Gal. 6:8)
I know this is very basic, scriptural teaching. I understand it at that level, but I am looking at this with a desire to know Christ more. To appreciate and value and KNOW all that He has done for me and all He desires for me.
What does it mean to "walk by the Spirit"? To "peripateo - walk, live, deport oneself, follow.. as a companion, to be occupied with... the Spirit? To live by the Spirit? To be alive, to have a life time (zao) by the Spirit? To be led ( Greek - ago) - bring, drive, go, carry, be open, lead away.. by the Spirit. To sow to the Spirit - to scatter seed, ?
It is in our living, in our thinking, in our movements, in our work, ... we yield to His Spirit's control and not the flesh's control. These two are in opposition, it is a battle within ourselves. They have opposite results. If the flesh wins the result is seen in our life - immorality, impurity, sensuality, etc and corruption is the harvest that is reaped. If the Spirit wins, the results seen in our lives are quite different - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.. and the harvest that is reaped is eternal life.
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24) We live by the Spirit. We are to walk by Him too. And like Paul we learn to say and agree that we too have been crucified with Christ, and yet we live.. and it not ourselves that live but Christ in us, for we live by faith in the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself for us. It is through His cross that the world is crucified to me and I to the world.
Lord God, I praise You and thank You for such a marvelous salvation. Fill me with Your Spirit!
Amen
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