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We all sin! We are
born with a fallen nature that wants to sin
continually. Sin controls us! Our sinful nature is in
constant rebellion against God. The only way
we can overcome our sin problem is by
receiving a new nature from God Himself.
There is only one way to overcome the
desires of the flesh, and that is to live by
the transforming power of God’s Spirit.
Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the
Spirit, let us also keep in step with the
Spirit.”
The desires of our flesh
are at odds with what the Holy Spirit wants
for us, freedom from sin. Whenever we are
focused on keeping the law we are focused on our
flesh (performance), not on what God wants us to do,
which is walk by the power of the Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis.
Romans 6:14 says, “For sin will have no
dominion over you, since you are not under
law but under grace.”
Some
people think they can overcome their sinful
desires by keeping God’s law.
The church in Galatia was being tempted
to believe in the false gospel of
works-righteousness. They were being taught
that Christians were required to keep
circumcision and the Holy days from the Old
Covenant law. Paul said in Galatians 1:6-7,
“I am astonished that you are so quickly
deserting him who called you in the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different
gospel—not that there is another one, but
there are some who trouble you and want to
distort the gospel of Christ.” The false
teachers were trying to persuade the
Galatians to submit to the Old Covenant law
to be saved (Gal. 2:3-5; 4:9-11).
Paul said that it was foolishness to
place yourself under the Old Covenant
Law!
Galatians 3:1-3 says,
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ
was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me
ask you only this: Did you receive the
Spirit by works of the law or by hearing
with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun
by the Spirit, are you now being perfected
by the flesh?”
The Law is an
impossible standard to live up to.
Most of Paul’s churches had the same
problem with Judaizers insisting the
Gentiles had to live according to the Law of
Moses. The Old Covenant Law had blinded them
to the truth of the gospel.
2 Corinthians 3:14-18 says, “But their minds
were made dull, for to this day the same
veil remains when the old covenant is read.
It has not been removed, because only in
Christ is it taken away. Even to this day
when Moses is read, a veil covers their
hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the
Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with
unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness with
ever-increasing glory, which comes from the
Lord, who is the Spirit.” (NIV)
Those who still preach Moses have
rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit in
their lives.
All the other
apostles agreed with Paul’s teaching that
the Law was not to be made a requirement for
the Church. The Apostle Peter stood up at
the first church council in Jerusalem and
said, “Now, therefore, why are you putting
God to the test by placing a yoke on the
neck of the disciples that neither our
fathers nor we have been able to bear? But
we believe that we will be saved through the
grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
(Acts 15:10-11). The council understood that
keeping the Law was an impossible standard
for people to live by; and the only way a
person can be saved is by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ alone (see:
Acts 15:28-29; Gal. 5:1-4; Rom. 2:17-24). By
grace alone means that God loves, forgives,
and saves us, not because of who we are or
what we have done, but because of what
Christ has done for us.
The Law
only shows us how sinful we really are!
Romans 7:6-9 says, “But now we are released
from the law, having died to that which held
us captive, so that we serve in the new way
of the Spirit and not in the old way of the
written code. What then shall we say? That
the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had
not been for the law, I would not have known
sin. For I would not have known what it is
to covet if the law had not said, “You shall
not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity
through the commandment, produced in me all
kinds of covetousness. For apart from the
law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart
from the law, but when the commandment came,
sin came alive and I died.”
Because
we died in Christ when He died, the law,
along with
its condemnation and penalties no longer has
jurisdiction over us (Rom. 7:1-3).
Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is
everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
The law was only a temporary
guardian to prepare the way for Christ.
Galatians 3:24 says, “So
then, the law was our guardian until Christ
came, in order that we might be justified by
faith.”
The Greek word translated as
either, “tutor” or “guardian” in Galatians 3:24
is “paidagôgos”. It describes a slave
who took care of a child until they reached
adulthood. They watched over the children at
school and at home and were often very
strict causing those under their care to
look forward to the day when they would be
free from their tutor’s custody.
The law served as a
tutor to show us how sinful we really are
and our need for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Jews under the law were like
children under the control of a guardian,
but this was only until Christ came. Once He
came, those who trusted in Him were forgiven
for their sins and made right with God. Instead of
being like young children under a guardian, they could
now enjoy the freedom of full-grown children
of God (Gal. 3:23-26). Since Christ has
come, all those who believe in Him are
united as God’s children, regardless of
their race, sex, or social status. In Christ,
they are completely forgiven and justified
by faith and are Abraham’s true heirs
(Gal. 3:27-29).
God wants to
make us into His new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!”
Transformation of this kind can only occur
as the Holy Spirit changes our thinking
through prayer and the study of God’s Word
(Phil. 4:8).
We have to put
our old life behind us!
Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “You were taught,
with regard to your former way of life, to
put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be
made new in the attitude of your minds; and
to put on the new self, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness.”
(NIV)
And Romans 13:14 says, “But put
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to gratify its
desires.”
Christ’s gift of salvation
is both a onetime decision, as well as a
daily conscious commitment to live for
Christ (Eph. 2:8-10).
We are given a new
nature and have a new way of thinking that
the Holy Spirit gives us that we have to
learn to yield to His guidance. As we grow in
our Christian life we should gradually
notice that our thoughts are being changed,
more and more each day into Christlikeness.
Transformation does not happen overnight.
When we are born again our regeneration is
instantaneous, but our transformation is a
life-long process. We are
gradually conformed to Christ’s image as we
spend time in fellowship with Him
(2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:1-2).
It is only when
the Holy Spirit renews, reeducates, and
redirects our minds that we begin to see our
lives truely
transformed!
Romans 8:5-6 says, “For
those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit. For
to set the mind on the flesh is death, but
to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace.”
Don’t be fooled by a false
gospel.
The Galatians
were led away from the true gospel to a
false gospel of law-keeping.
Galatians 4:21 says, “Tell me, you who
desire to be under the law, do you not
listen to the law?”
The Galatians’
were “bewitched” by trying to live according
to the Old Covenant Law
(Gal. 3:1-5). Paul used the example of
Abraham’s two sons to show that people are
saved because of their faith in Christ and
not because of what they do (Gal. 4:21-25). Paul contrasted those who are
enslaved to the law, represented by Hagar,
the slave wife with those who are free from
the law, represented by Sarah, the free
wife. The mistreatment of Sarah by Hagar was
comparable to the persecution of the Gentile
Christians by those who claimed that obeying
the law was necessary for salvation (Gen. 16:4).
Paul explained the meaning of
Abraham’s two sons and the two kinds of
covenants God made with His people
allegorically. The first was a covenant of
slavery, the second was a covenant of
freedom. God wants His children to be free,
and the promise is made real by the Spirit
of God, who shows us our freedom in Christ
apart from the law.
We are
commanded to walk in the Spirit!
Galatians 5:16-18 says, “But
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not
gratify the desires of the flesh. For the
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,
and the desires of the Spirit are against
the flesh, for these are opposed to each
other, to keep you from doing the things you
want to do. But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not under the law.”
God’s desire is to transform us, from the
inside out, into Christ’s likeness.
When we walk by the Spirit, our thoughts
(and actions), will become more loving and
Christ-like. Galatians 5:22-25 says, “But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. And those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live by
the Spirit, let us also keep in step with
the Spirit.”
God
begins the process of perfecting us from the
moment we are converted from unbelief to
faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit first
convicts us of our need for Christ and then regenerates
us when we accept Christ’s offer of
forgiveness. He then gives us new hearts with new, holy
desires (Ezek. 36:26). He transforms our
stubborn wills, and He opens our hearts to
embrace the truth of the gospel rather than
reject it, to believe it rather than doubt
it. God gives us a hunger for righteousness
and a desire to please Him. Our inner person
is transformed through the miracle of the
new birth and from that point on, everything
that occurs in our lives God uses to make us
more like Christ (Rom. 8:28-30).
God is calling us to a lifestyle of
holiness.
1 Peter 1:13-16 says, “Therefore,
prepare your minds for action; be
self-controlled; set your hope fully on the
grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is
revealed. As obedient children, do not
conform to the evil desires you had when you
lived in ignorance. But just as he who
called you is holy, so be holy in all you
do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I
am holy.’” (NIV)
“While living on
this earth, Christians have to fight the
desires of sin, so they are called to be
obedient children, separated from evil in
all that they do. They are to be holy (cf.
Lev. 18:2-4), for that accords with the
character of God who is holy and has called
believers to himself.”
[1]
God has called us to live holy lives.
“Holiness, however, is not something people
can achieve by themselves. All mankind is
defiled by sin (Rom. 3:10,23), but Christ,
the perfect man, died to take away man’s
sin. God can now accept repentant sinners as
cleansed, because of what Christ has done
(1 Pet. 2:22-24). God declares believers in
Jesus Christ holy; that is, he sanctifies
them (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2). Having been
declared holy, believers must make it true
in practice. They must have lives of
practical sanctification (Rom. 6:8-11; 6:19-22).”
[2]
We never have to fear that we
are not good enough. Our salvation is not
temporary. We can depend upon God to
complete what He started.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also,
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, and believed in him, were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is
the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it, to the praise of
his glory.”
John 10:27-30 says, “My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me. I give them eternal life, and
they will never perish, and no one will
snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who
has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
And Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of
this, that he who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of
Jesus Christ.”
God is the one who
began a good work in you, and He is the one
who brings your salvation to completion
(Eph. 2:8-10). You have God’s guarantee that
you have eternal life once you have truly
accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior (1 Jn. 5:11-13; Eph. 1:13-14). God is
faithful; you can take Him at His word. He has
promised to be with you until Christ returns
(Phil. 2:16; 1 Thess. 5:2-11; 2 Pet. 3:10-13;
Rev. 20:11-21:8).
It is only by
believing in the true gospel that we will be
with Christ when He comes again.
1 John 3:1-2 says, “See what kind of
love the Father has given to us, that we
should be called children of God; and so we
are. The reason why the world does not know
us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we
are God’s children now, and what we will be
has not yet appeared; but we know that when
he appears we shall be like him, because we
shall see him as he is.”
The
Holy Spirit (the Spirit of truth), is the
one who helps us understand that our righteousness
is in Christ alone. He can keep us from being
deceived by a false gospel.
John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another Helper,
to be with you forever, even the Spirit of
truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
You know him, for he dwells with you and
will be in you.”
The righteous
requirements of the law are fulfilled in us
when we walk according to God’s Spirit!
Titus 2:11-14 says, “For the grace of
God has appeared, bringing salvation for all
people, training us to renounce ungodliness
and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in
the present age, waiting for our blessed
hope, the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all
lawlessness and to purify for himself a
people for his own possession who are
zealous for good works.”
We can only know the true gospel when we
have the Holy Spirit to guide us
(1 Cor. 2:12-16; 1 Jn. 2:20, 27).
Christians have to understand that they have
the Holy Spirit living inside them from the
moment they accept Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior. To walk in the Spirit means
that we yield to His control, we follow His
lead, and we allow Him to exert His
influence over us. When we walk in the
Spirit God gives us Christ’s love in our
hearts and the desire to obey Him. The more
we love Him, the more we want to obey Him, we
do what is right out of love, not because we
have to keep the law to earn our salvation.
Have you experienced the transforming
power of the Holy Spirit in your life yet?
References:
1. The ESV Study
Bible: 1 Peter 1:14-15.
2. The Bridgeway Bible Dictionary: Holiness.
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