Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand
firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather,
serve one another humbly in love. 14
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." 15
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other. 16 So I
say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful
nature. 17 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, so that you are not to do
whatever you want. 18 But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; 20
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions 21 and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law. 24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its
passions and desires. 25 Since
we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,
provoking and envying each other.
Commentators one and all
point out that it is in chapter 5 that St. Paul begins the ‘ethical’ section of
his letter. By ‘ethical,’ what they mean is the “so what?” part. In other
words, up to this point Paul has basically been identifying a theological
problem, and—in his own way—doing his best to offer correction. NOW, he is
getting down to the difference it should all make at ground level.
The freedom vs slavery imagery that is used in vss 1 and 13 are images
that tend not to hit us in quite the same way the first readers would have been
hit. For us freedom tends to mean the
ability to do whatever we want, whereas slavery
is thought of as being trapped—in a job or career we loathe, or in a relationship
that’s gone sour; or in a house or car that is worth less than what we owe.
It’s easy for us to forget that for 90% or more of human history some people
OWNED other people. The audio book I’m currently enjoying is set in early
imperial Rome, the era St. Paul lived in. In the story a slave killed his
master. This was horrifically bad news for all slaves in that household, for
Roman law dictated that in such a case ALL of the dead master’s slaves were to
be executed (crucified). The intent was to send a horribly brutal message of
deterrent. A “freed” person in Paul’s era knew precisely what it meant to be
enslaved, and once freed, would never
contemplate returning to slavery. Paul’s point to the Galatian Christians
is that freedom from religiously
legalistic expectations is precisely what they’ve been given in Christ; to
revert to religious legalism would be like the freed man returning to slavery.
At the practical level,
however, Paul always finds himself walking a tightrope… and the tightrope is
this: “If I have been so liberated,” one may say, “and if God has so much grace
to freely shower upon me, then I can do anything I want!” (cue the voice of
Homer Simpson: “Wu-hooooooooo!”). This would be a very apt misinterpretation
of last week’s emphasis that nothing matters in the eyes of God outside of
baptism.
To this ultra-libertine
notion (often called ‘antinomianism) Paul offers the corrective of the above
verses. One does not have to work for one’s salvation. The work has
been fully accomplished by Christ. One who is saved, however, has the Spirit of
God indwelling their lives… and this fact cannot
help but produce a difference. I don’t often read Max Lucado, but I like
what he has to say about the indwelling activity of the Spirit. He says:
“Most
Christians find the cross of Christ easier to accept than the Spirit of Christ.
[concerning the Spirit] we grow quickly quiet and cautious, fearing what we
can’t see or explain. It helps to consider the Spirit’s work from this angle:
what Jesus did in Galilee is what the Holy Spirit does in us. Jesus dwelt
among the people, teaching, comforting, and convicting. The Holy Spirit dwells
within us, teaching, comforting and convicting.
So, adding Lucado’s spin to
what Paul is saying, the freedom the Christian has been given is the freedom of
being released from a slave labor camp where the person spends his days in
endless labor, to enjoy a scenario of personal relationship and fellowship with
God. But when this relationship and fellowship occurs, FRUIT NATURALLY GROWS.
(vss 22-23). I like how one commentator puts it, “The contrast between works and fruit is important. A machine in a
factory works and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit.
Fruit must grow out of life, and in the case of the believer, it is the life
of the Spirit.” He sums up by saying: “We must remember that this fruit [of the Spirit] is produced to be
eaten, not admired and put on display. People around us are starving for love,
joy, peace, and all of the other graces of the Spirit. When they find them in
our lives, they know that we have something they lack. We do not bear fruit for
our own consumption; we bear fruit that others might be fed and helped,
and that Christ might be glorified.
Cheers,
TM
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