Galatians 5:13-15 – “Worse Sins”

Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³For brothers you were called upon freedom. Only [do] not [use] that freedom into an opportunity to the flesh, but be serving one another through the love; ¹⁴for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But beware, if you are biting and devouring each other, lest you are consumed by one another.

I have a few thoughts I want to record before I move on from these three verses.

Interesting, in the phrase “opportunity to the flesh,” the word translated “opportunity” can be a martial word used for the place from which an attack is made, the “base of operation,” or meaning a “springboard” or “starting point.” Clearly, Paul wishes to make the assertion that freedom in Christ should never be somehow perverted into a place from which to launch our evil nature. The whole point of the Spirit’s indwelling, of that very freedom itself, is to free us from our flesh! I guess it just goes to show how much we need the Lord. Even when He offers us freedom, we’ll find a way to turn that into a new form of sin and its slavery. Our adversary, the devil, certainly does “prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” His ministers still “masquerade as angels of light.” Eadie quotes an Irishman of his day who said, “If the devil cannot stop the coach, he mounts the box and drives it.” How much more perverted can we be than to use the very freedom Jesus purchased with His blood as the military base of operation for our flesh? It’s a good thing His name is Jesus – “for He shall save His people from their sins.” He’d better!

The other thing I’d like to note – and I’m not sure exactly how to put this together or where to go with it: It is interesting to me that in verse 13 he warns us not to use our freedom as an opportunity to the flesh, then in verse 15 he specifically applies that to “biting and devouring each other.” What I mean is, and I’ve done it myself, almost universally everyone applies “opportunity to the flesh” to immorality, going “wild;” yet Paul’s very first application is to this “biting and devouring one another.” I wonder if anyone else finds that noteworthy? When we hear “opportunity to the flesh” our minds all go directly to immorality. Yet Paul’s immediate application is to “biting and devouring each other.” Is it possible we don’t see our world through God’s eyes? Is it possible that we’re seeing immorality as a “bad thing” but “biting and devouring each other” is so typical it isn’t even on our radar screen? Here’s a reckless thought: Is it possible that “biting and devouring each other” is actually more evil than immorality?

Hmmmmmm. My heart feels like I’m seeing the tip of an iceberg. Of course one sin is not “worse” than another, but I suspect it is true that we have in fact chosen to call immorality a “bad” sin while conveniently failing to see discord as something to even be concerned about. My reckless thought above is, at first glance, offensive even to me. The second I think the suggestion that one sin is “more evil” than another, my mind starts to run with theological arguments against such an absurdity. But what if I turned the sentence around and wrote, “Immorality is more evil than ‘biting and devouring’ each other”. Can anyone else hear their heart basically agreeing? “Yeah, that’s true in a way …” Hmmmmmmm. Why is that? Why is it I can write the sentence one way and it’s theologically offensive, then say exactly the same thing only in reverse and it seems perhaps reasonable? Is it not because I do in fact see immorality as a “worse” sin? Is it not because discord really doesn’t strike me as “that bad”? That somehow I even need to defend it as not “that bad?”

Yikes! Can I point out again that “biting and devouring” each other is the sin Paul first applies the text to – not immorality? When I would fear my flesh, do I first fear the possibility that I might be unloving to the people around me, that I might be impatient, unkind, sharp, disrespectful, that I might fail to genuinely treasure the people in my life? Here are some honest thoughts from my heart: Immorality is certainly a constant, even painful temptation to me. I live in a world awash with beautiful girls. It is a constant battle to keep my heart and my eyes in the right place. Yet, by God’s grace, I can say I have been faithful to my wife for 30 years. Although immorality is a bad sin and it is a temptation that feels like a monster, and I’m very aware that Jesus said even to look is to already have committed it, yet the actual act hasn’t ensnared me for 30 years. Is it possible that it is to me a “safe” sin – bad, yes, alluring, yes, but one that’s “over there”, one I can point to and condemn from a distance? On the other hand, have I been impatient? Unkind? Have I said hurtful things to people? About people?

I probably need to wrap up this post but I can’t help bemoaning the fact that the church has never been known for its love for each other. While churches have their fellowship dinners and “greet” each other during the service and congratulate themselves for how loving they are, the rest of the world sees them as a group consumed with their own in-fighting. As I’ve pointed out before, the Reformation had barely even started and Protestants were already martyring Protestants. Luther hated Calvin and Calvin hated Luther. Church fights and church splits are basically “par for the course.” … and all of this after Jesus said they would know we were His disciples if we loved each other.

Hmmmmm. God help me, as I would learn what it means to be free in Christ, to “walk in the Spirit,” that I would not conveniently leave some sins “off the radar.” And perhaps, even in particular, may I learn to  see my flesh even in the minute to minute interactions I have with other people … and perhaps particularly in those interactions with other professing believers.

Wow. A lot to think about.