Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 3

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

¹⁹But the works of the flesh are evident, which are (adultery), immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, drug-abuse, hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, ²¹jealousies, (murders), drunken bouts, wild parties, and the such like these, of which I foretold to you and told you before that those who habitually practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In my previous posts I recorded some of the technical details in this passage; now for some more practical observations. First of all, it’s interesting to me that porneia (immorality) is at the top of the list. I don’t necessarily think there is any order at all to the list, yet, still, there it is, sexual sin at the top of the list. Our pastor last Sunday made the observation that knowing God not only means loving what He loves, it also means hating what He hates. Hmmmm. One of those things where my heart wonders if it really is seeing things through God’s eyes. Food for thought. What is mean is, yes, of course that is bad, but would it be at the top of my list of things I hate?

Second, I think it is revealing to me just to pause and consider this list. I think it is probably true of all of us that when we think of “works of the flesh” our minds naturally go to the immorality, drunken bouts, and wild parties.  Since I “don’t do that” I can then sit off to the side, congratulate myself, and go on unchanged. But that is not all that is in the list. It is interesting that Martin Luther made the same observation 500 years ago:

“I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust. But it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which the believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred, covetousness, impatience ...”

“But it takes in more.”   We have in our list five words for what we (and Luther) call carnal lusts: immorality, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunken bouts, and wild parties. We also have idolatry and drug abuse. That makes seven and pretty well ends the list. Right? No. There are eight more. Eight. The group which actually makes up the single largest category in the list. And what are they? Go back and read them and see.

I don’t know if I’ve ever really looked this straight in the face. Most of the sins in the “works of the flesh” are what? They are just plain personal meanness: hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, jealousies, and some texts even follow all of this with murders!

Once again, I don’t think Paul intended this list itself to be exhaustive or in any particular order, but still it is worthy of note that these sins of personal meanness represent 8 of the 15 sins (more than half) and if you include the “murders” you’re up to 9!

As I alluded above, I suspect it has always been the tendency of believers to congratulate themselves that they don’t participate in what we might call the grosser sins of the list, then allow the sins of meanness to go unnoted. It saddens my heart to think that in too many churches par for the course is “hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, and jealousies”. On the way to a business meeting, a young child told her mother, “I don’t like to go to yelling meetings.” Yikes. And we wonder why so many young people grow up to “leave the church and never return.” Someone important once said, “By this shall all men know you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

Case in point once again is the very Reformation itself. I have enormous respect for Martin Luther and for John Calvin all of the men who risked their lives (many lost them) to reestablish the Bible as the supreme authority. But sadly their history is blackened by “hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, and jealousies”. As I have lamented before, only ten years after Luther lit the Reformation’s spark, protestants were murdering each other. And so it has continued down through the centuries. It is “okay” to be a Christian, to even be a leader in fundamental, evangelical circles and yet be a person who in reality is just plain mean. As long as you aren’t immoral (well, not in any ways that anyone else finds out about) and as long as you don’t attend wild parties, it is totally okay to be a hateful, mean-spirited person. In fact, you might even be praised for being so “militant.” Nice word but personally I’ve never been impressed. If the Bible really is the authority, then we need to let it speak … and what it is saying in Galatians 5:19-21 is that God doesn’t approve. Whether church groups do or don’t, God doesn’t. I wish somehow we could shout that from a rooftop.

But, of course, the biggest rooftop I need to shout it from is my own heart. When I look at myself, it is no wonder church “groups” are so mean-spirited. If everyone else is like me (and they are), then we are a collection of mean-spirited people. This is the very point I’ve been lamenting for some time. I wish the Spirit’s indwelling made a bigger difference in me. I think to myself, “Here I am, indwelt by the very third Person of the Trinity, with all that infinite wisdom and power and love so available to be my spirit, and yet still here I am a petty, discontent, impatient, easily angered, selfish little buffoon.” Guess I need to talk to myself like Luther: “Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh.” 

One of the commentators pointed out it is actually good for us to feel this nearly inconquerable struggle. He pointed out that it should keep our hearts constantly running back again to our real refuge, which is Christ Himself. If we will fight the battle, it is there to keep us humbled. Yes, I am myself a sinner. Yes, I struggle to maintain even a minimal representation of the person I should be. Even indwelt by the very Holy Spirit of God, I still do a miserable job of living out the Christ my heart really does love. The good news is that, as we studied above, the Holy Spirit Himself is inconquerable. He will be our guide, nudging us toward the right path, even though we spend most of our time off of it.

I guess what is important here in Galatians 5:19-21 is for us all to clearly and definitively see that our personal meanness is not okay; it is (and should be) a major part of our own personal Hall of Shame. It is NOT acceptable to God, and I need in my own heart to fight it (and hate it) and seek to keep it out of my life, just as much as I might “immorality, idolatry, drunkenness and wild parties”. My heart cannot be congratulating itself that I haven’t worshipped any idols or been to any “wild parties” lately, then be letting down the guard on my meanness. Both are my shame and both should be fought against. “We have seen the enemy, and he is ___.”

I guess the other thing I should do, since we are studying Galatians, is to point out once again, the answer to the struggle is not rules. That in a sense is the whole point of this book. I am reminded again of Michael W. Smith’s words,

“You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart …”

God help me to let the Holy Spirit be changing my heart as I seek to let Him change my behavior. May I not pick and choose from my Hall of Shame but determine to fight against all of it. As I would even try, may my successes be His glory and may my failures keep my heart leaning on Jesus’ breast.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 2

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

¹⁹But the works of the flesh are evident, which are (adultery), immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, drug-abuse, hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, ²¹jealousies, (murders), drunken bouts, wild parties, and the such like these, of which I foretold to you and told you before that those who habitually practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In my previous post I looked at some textual issues and the meaning of the word porneia, which I’ve translated “immorality.” A couple more thoughts on word meanings: In support of the authenticity of the word “moikeia” (adultery) at the top of the list, something I hadn’t thought about before – when considering words for sexual sin, it is important to realize the enormous cultural double-standard of the ancient world. In their minds, a married woman was expected to be totally faithful to her husband. For her to do otherwise was clearly “moikea” (adultery), to which all would agree even today. However, it was completely acceptable for men to be unfaithful, as long as it wasn’t with another man’s wife. For men, it was only “moikea” (adultery) if he was violating someone else’s marriage. According to sources I read, that is one reason why, in Biblical discussions of sexual sins, the two words porneia (immorality) and moikea (adultery) get listed together. If you only listed adultery, the men would excuse their “fillies” and go on. Culturally speaking, you had to corner them by calling it porneia (immorality). Hence, Biblically, the two words often appeared together, which would support that occurrence in this passage. On the other hand, porneia does cover it all and so could stand alone in an intentionally brief and deliberately summary list like this.

Another interesting word in the list is pharmakeia, which I have translated “drug abuse.” Obviously, we get our word “pharmacy” from this Greek word. Most versions translate it something like “witchcraft” or “sorcery”. Most of my theological lexicons make much of the connection between drugs and witchcraft. Interestingly, though, I also have a Greek/English dictionary that is entirely secular and it gives the definition as simply “drug abuse.” I often consult this dictionary being all too aware that presuppositions can influence theological discussions just the same as any other. I wonder if our “religious” mindset doesn’t predispose us to look for something beyond the simple meaning of “drug abuse.” Or is it possible that we think drug abuse is a modern problem?

This word and same discussion occur in Revelation 9:21: “Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  Notice the word in the middle “magic arts.” This is our word pharmakeia. Of 18 translations I consulted they all translated it either “magic arts,”  “witchcraft,” or “sorceries.” Given my secular dictionary’s definition, and the simple meaning of the word, the verse could instead be translated, “Nor did they repent of their murders, their drug abuse, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Considering that this is a reference to people in the Last Days (something not too distant from right now!), I would almost suggest this translation would fit our world better. On the other hand, in defense of the “magic arts” translation would be the fact that it appears right next to the word “idolatry.” Perhaps Paul did intend the word to be understood in a religious context, in which case “magic arts, witchcraft, or sorceries” would be the appropriate translation, as these activities did involve extensive use of drugs. I will leave the matter, once again acknowledging Paul’s final “… and the such like these.” In fact, whether we’re considering drug abuse or witchcraft, either one could rightfully be included in this Hall of Shame.

Having presented my various technical observations, there are a few practical implications I want to record, however I will close this post and record them in the next.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 1

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

¹⁹But the works of the flesh are evident, which are (adultery), immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, ²⁰idolatry, drug-abuse, hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, ²¹jealousies, (murders), drunken bouts, wild parties, and the such like these, of which I foretold to you and told you before that those who habitually practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I think it reasonable to assert that this list, on the whole, would be something the entire human race (believers or not) would agree to be our “dark side.” It is our Hall of Shame. For my part, I would think it a desponding business to attempt to explain this darkness apart from the Bible. Why is this darkness so prevalent in the world? Why is there so much cruelty in our world? Why is it that children (in general) must be taught to be kind but find it quite natural to be mean? Why can’t people just “play nice?” It is certainly true that people are capable of great virtue and seemingly selfless heroism. But why this other “dark side?” Wherein is its source and where shall we find its cure? Will Durant, after writing his 11-volume “Story of Civilization” concluded, “Man is capable of much good, but much greater evil.”

The Bible, and this passage in part, gives us a very clear explanation of our problem, while also offering us hope of a solution.

What is the problem? It is our “flesh.” It is the very nature we were born with. Genesis 1-3 explains it all in lurid detail. We were created in the image of God but chose to be driven not by the Spirit but by our own base “wants,” and so plunged ourselves into an entire world, an entire civilization, a race that, while capable of great good, unfortunately devolves regularly into much greater evil. The passage before us is a catalog of the kinds of behaviors into which we devolve when unchecked by a sense of moral or virtuous restraint. Read them again and consider, is this not a very familiar exposure of the very heart that beats inside of me? Who of all the human race could say they know nothing of such evils? Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, immorality, theft, lying, and slander” (Matt 15:19).

Once again, these things are significant in the light of the book of Galatians precisely because the human race is aware of this dark side and the need to somehow restrain it. The very natural and logical solution is some form of legalism. We need rules! We need better rules, more rules, fewer rules, new rules, old-fashioned rules … rules, rules, rules. But after 6000 years of rules, the human race is no better. This passage tells us why. The problem is not what we do. The problem is the “us” who do it. The problem runs far deeper than the code of ethics we propose to live by. The problem is deeply embedded in the very nature of who we are. I do not simply need to be reformed. I need to be re-born. If I could hope to live above this list of evils, it means there must be some fundamental and very deep change within me. That change, as we see in this book, is offered to us in the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. The fruit of His influence and presence is seen in verses 22-24, "love and joy and peace …” But we shall consider that at length when we arrive there.

For now we must deal honestly with this list before us. This will require more than one post, so I will begin with this one, then post more later.

First, some exegetical technicalities: In my translation offered above, I put two words in parentheses: “adultery” and “murders”. These two words represent textual variants. In my study, I felt the evidence (at least what I could find) was not convincing to either include or omit either term. I also studied the list itself to see if it was presented in some structured order, but I couldn’t perceive any that would give me a clue that the words should or should not be included. I seldom am satisfied to stop at this point, but, in this case, I will. The list ends with the words, “and the such like these…”  Adultery and murders certainly meet the qualification, “such like these.” By ending the list with “and the such like these…,” Paul obviously didn’t intend to be somehow exhaustive. In that case, the list is neither improved nor diminished by the presence or absence of “adultery” or “murders”. It remains a Hall of Shame either way, so I will just put them in parentheses and move on.   

There is also some textual variance in whether some of the terms are singular or plural. I would answer those concerns with the same argument as just given.

Now, for the listed terms themselves: There is apparently quite a bit of scholarly (or not so scholarly) debate regarding the word at the top of the list, porneia, which I have translated “immorality.” The scholarly debate arises from the fact (as presented in TDNT and elsewhere) that the word originally referred specifically to prostitution, then came to refer to the sexual activities associated with the pagan idol-worship. There are those who would maintain that the Bible’s prohibitions against porneia are only intended to prevent prosititution and idol-worship, that the word does not refer to sexual relations in general (outside of marriage). Such persons are suggesting that only prostitution or idol-worship are prohibited and that consensual relations are okay outside of marriage.

The arguments presented definitely had me thinking. Sometimes it’s even scary to me but I am determined to let God tell me what is right and wrong and not to cling to the church’s traditions, regardless of whether they are universally held and whether or not I personally like them. I was resolved that, if I found the views presented to in fact be supported by the Scriptures, I had to be prepared to change my thinking … whatever that means. Again, I confess, in this case, the thought was pretty scary. It would be quite the bombshell to discover that our traditional views of sexuality were not supported by the Scriptures. But, come what may, that is precisely why I study. I want to think God’s thoughts, and so I waded in, not knowing where this one would land me.

It didn’t take me long as I looked at the Scriptures themselves to find what I thought was conclusive evidence that in fact, by NT times, the word had come to refer to sexual immorality of all kinds. There are many, many passages where the term is used but the context itself provides no definitive clue as to what the word meant exactly. If one looks only at those passages, it certainly is possible to attach the “prostitution, idol-worship” understanding to the word. However, there are some passages where it is very clear in the context what sort of activity is being referred to and I personally feel the only defensible and final argument is to be based on those passages.

In I Cor 5:1, Paul says, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality (porneia) among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife”.   There is nothing in this passage to suggest either prostitution or idol-worship. The problem is plain-old, every-day, run-of-the-mill sexual sin. A man is having sexual relations with someone other than his wife. I think such a conclusion is obviously the natural understanding of the passage, but it is further supported by the fact that Paul calls this particular porneia, “…of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate.”  Clearly, we’re not talking about prostitution or idol-worship. We’re talking about deviant sexual behavior. Even in a sex-crazed, immoral world, there are still “limits,” but once again we’re talking about in-general sexual sin, illicit sexual relations – and Paul calls it porneia.

Another revealing passage is I Cor 7:2, Paul says, “… because of sexual immorality (porneia) , let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.”    I think it reasonable to assert that no one would understand Paul to be concerned in this passage particularly about prostitution or idol-worship. Certainly those things would be an available outlet for people’s sexual desires, but I hardly think it his point. It would rather be, like today, that their culture was literally swimming in sexual sin and its opportunities and allures. What is a person to do? “Get married,” Paul says. God’s  solution for porneia is marriage. Note here that, if porneia was only prostitution or idol-worship, the answer would simply be to go find a nice, consensual relationship and get your satisfaction there. If porneia, sexual sin is only prostitution or idol-worship, and any other consensual relationship is okay, then why limit the solution to marriage?

This understanding of the I Cor 7 text is further reinforced by Paul’s later words, “…come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”  He just mentioned the possibility of a man and his wife abstaining from sexual relations for a time. Again, I think it would be entirely unreasonable to understand him to be afraid that they would fall into prostitution or idol-worship. Just like in our world, porneia is far more available than that. It is as close as the girl at the office. It’s as close as the magazine on the grocery store rack.

I think it completely reasonable to see in these two passages references to porneia where the understanding is clearly understood as any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage. So for once (what a relief!), I believe the church’s traditional understanding of sexuality is in fact supported by the Scriptures. Sexual relations are only good and proper within the context of marriage. All activity outside of that is porneia and, as we find in Galatians, condemned as a work of the flesh.

I want to record a number of other exegetical observations and practical conclusions, but this post needs to end, so I will come back to the passage in another.

Galatians 5:13-23 – Born Again

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.

¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, ¹⁷for the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing; ¹⁸but if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law.

…²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As an almost parallel passage, I like what Romans 8:3,4  says:

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

“… what the law could not do …” Just think, if the law could do it, then we would not need a Savior. If we could do anything, it would be to keep rules. As the hapless Israelites delusively chanted, “All that the Lord commands us, we will do.” But they didn’t and they couldn’t and we can’t either. Our rule-keeper is broken. We want too much. The law cannot do it because we cannot do it. There has to be another way. And there is.

“… God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh…” Jesus. Always Jesus. We need a Savior and it is Him. He is the very gift of grace itself. When we say we’re saved by grace, when we say we’re loved by grace, when we say we walk by grace, when we sing “Amazing Grace,” we’re talking about Jesus. He is our blood-bought forgiveness; and the indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Stop a minute and think about those words: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us…” Once again, as a freed man, it’s not that I long to be free of law. It’s God’s law. I was created to be “right.” I love Him who first loved me. My only problem with law is that I can’t do it. Yet, this passage says,“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us…”

And how is it possible that “the law might be fulfilled in me” if I can’t do it? It happens in those “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Once again, the big problem is not that I do wrong, which I could presumably correct by doing right. The big problem is that I am wrong. The problem is not that I don’t do good. The problem is that I am not good. The real change which needs to occur goes far, far deeper than just me keeping the right rules; and all of this is why His Spirit is an indwelling Spirit. He doesn’t just hang around and help us do right – He takes up residence in our hearts to actually help us be right.

His indwelling now means there is a power present inside of me that can actually conquer my rotten spirit, my rotten me. The key is to allow myself to “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” – to not be driven by my wanter but by the Spirit who wants me to love.

All of this is why, I believe, as we are about to see in Galatians, they are the “works” of the flesh or the “fruit” of the Spirit. The “works” are totally me. It’s what I do naturally. But in Christ there can be a new natural. If I allow the indwelling Spirit to guide me, to be my spirit, my mind, my attitude, my wanter, the “me” He produces lives love and joy and peace.

Our Jesus truly saves “to the uttermost.” It’s all grace -- Not just some new rules but born again!

Galatians 5:13-23 – “The Battle”

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.

¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, ¹⁷for the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing; ¹⁸but if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law.

…²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I was thinking I was ready to move on but as I look at the passage, there’s still so much to ponder. As I read it this morning, I particularly notice the battle. In a sense “the battle” is what legalism is all about – the battle going on inside of every person, believer or not – the battle of living with “right and wrong.” I personally think in part it (the battle) comes from the fact we were made in the image of God, morally responsible and accountable (which image even unbelievers still bear) and part of it is the sense of law which I think God implanted in us as fallen people (to keep us at least from being as bad as we could be).  There simply is a battle going on inside every one of us. Legalism once again proposes the answer has something to do with law, more rules, less rules, new and better rules, restoring old-fashioned rules, etc., etc. As we learn from Galatians, God’s answer is not law but grace: blood-bought forgiveness and the indwelling Holy Spirit. But, from the passage before us (and from hard experience) we see that even the very Holy Spirit’s indwelling doesn’t end the battle inside us.

Somehow, way down deep in my heart, I think I have to come to grips with this myself. Even the Holy Spirit’s indwelling doesn’t end the battle. It only equips us to fight the battle. Everyone, regenerate or not, fights this battle within themselves. The whole point of Jesus’ outpouring the gift of Holy Spirit indwelling was to give us His power to fight the battle – not, in the short run, to win it but to empower us to fight it. Martin Luther struggled with this but told himself, “Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh.”  His advice to us was: “Do not despair if you feel the flesh battling against the Spirit or if you cannot make it behave. For you to follow the guidance of the Spirit in all things without interference on the part of the flesh is impossible. You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and do not fulfill its demands.”

The fight. We are free; but we must guard lest that freedom become a beachhead for our rottenness. We must love others; if we don’t we’ll bite and devour each other. We must choose to be walking in the Spirit; but we have to beware of instead fulfilling the lusts of our flesh. We must let ourselves be led by the Spirit; but we are in danger of instead resorting to law.

It’s the battle. “… the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing…”   Eadie observed, “They maintain this reflex warfare, and they cannot coalesce, for they are contrary the one to the other … The phrase “opposed to each other” describes not only actual antagonism, but undecided result.”   

Perhaps it’s the “undecided result” my heart doesn’t like. As I have learned these things and have been trying to apply them, I don’t necessarily feel like I’m doing any better. I’m still just as impatient and rotten. I wish I could feel like my realization of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, my sense of His presence, my determination to in fact draw on His power could mean some kind of significant and measurable improvement. But I can’t say it has. I think I am more aware of my rottenness, more aware that I am being impatient or unloving. I just don’t know that I’m winning the battle to change it. But then I read, “… so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing…” Even Paul’s “victory” in Romans 7 doesn’t actually conclude with his success. He’s still bemoaning his failures, “O, wretched man that I am!” when he asserts, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” And to make himself clear that the battle isn’t over, he actually concludes that chapter with “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my flesh a slave to the law of sin.”  

Hmmmm. Not sure what to do with this. I wish I did feel like it was all making more of a difference, that I was doing a better job of putting off the old self and putting on Christ. Perhaps there is more to understand. Perhaps it is possible to do “better;” I just don’t see it yet. Or perhaps it’s just “the battle.” In this fractal universe, I’ve often noticed Exodus 23:28-30: “I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.  But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” “Little by little I will drive them out before you …”   The Lord could have just nuked the Promised Land, cleared out the Canaanites, and handed it all to the Israelites with a bow on top. But He didn’t. He made them fight for it. And even their fight, He told them ahead of time, wouldn’t be successful in a year. It would take time. It would be a process. They’d have to stay at it. That’s the same pattern, it would seem to me, that we face in this battle of sanctification.

Maybe I expect too much. Maybe I’m hoping for too much. I wish there could be a quantum leap of improvement. If there is a way, as I said above, I still don’t see it. So … I will keep studying to understand better and keep at least trying to fight. “You are doing all you can if you resist the flesh and do not fulfill its demands,” said Martin Luther. I guess if that is where I feel I am, at least I’m in good company!

“Carry on, my wayward son. There’ll be peace when you are done.” (Kansas)

Galatians 5:16 – The Little Engine That Couldn’t

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

“ …be serving one another through the love; ¹⁴for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself … ¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, …”

Before I leave these verses, there’s one more thing I’d like to get down on paper.

The last few years, I have been enjoying the realization that God has made it so simple for us: “Love God; Love people.”  “… all the law is fulfilled in [this] one word.”  Life really isn’t that complicated after all. Even the 66 books of the Bible can be reduced to this simple command. Love.

But there is a problem. I can’t even do that(!). Even the simple aspiration to genuinely love leaves me realizing how much I don’t. I’m very glad for the command. I like that life is really about relationships. I like knowing that. It makes even work far more enjoyable when I see that it’s the relationships that really matter. And I hope I do a better job because I realize that.

But. My “loving” is still inextricably bound up with getting what I want. I love to be loving … as long as I get what I want. Don’t give me what I want and watch me turn instantly into an impatient, angry, childish buffoon.

Guess my point is this: As simple (and as noble) as God’s command is, it really leaves me in no better condition than the most pompous legalism. Make it complicated (OT Law) and I can’t do it. Make it unbelievably simple (“Love God; Love people”) and I still can’t do it. Once again, it seems to all of us totally logical and reasonable, if I can’t seem to get it together, I must need new and better (or simpler) laws. But none of it works. None of it frees me from myself. None of it enables me to rise above this awful selfish beast that lurks in my heart (and shows his ugly face every little time I don’t get what I want). The answer is patently NOT law. Not more law. Not less law. Not complicated law. Not simplified law. NOT law.

I loved to read to my kids the story, “The Little Engine That Could.” I certainly wanted my children to grow up unafraid to try, determined to succeed at whatever they did. “I think I can, I think I can.” It really is a nice little book and some good thoughts to put in children’s minds. But. In the real world, sometimes you have to simply accept, “I can’t.” And when it comes to becoming a person of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness, I need to simply run up the white flag. I can try. I will try. But I’ve lived long enough now to really realize “I can’t.”

There is a very interesting interchange in the OT that is worth recording. I noted years ago how the Israelites totally missed the whole point of it all when God gave them the Ten Commandments and they responded to Moses, “All that the Lord commands us, we will do.” Of course about 12 verses later they were worshipping a golden calf. They didn’t get it. Both Moses and God, on separate occasions, said something like, “Oh that they had such a heart in them.” But they didn’t and they didn’t see it.

After forty years in the wilderness and all of their failures, they still didn’t see it. In Joshua 24, Joshua issued his famous challenge: “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Then the people answered him, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! …We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God.” Joshua replied, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.”  But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord …We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”

Hmmmm. Promises. Promises. They totally did not get it. Joshua told them point blank, “You can’t do it.” Their own history from the previous 40 years should have clued them in that somehow he was right. He even brought up this issue of forgiveness which they totally blew off. They just didn’t get it. Clear back at Mt. Sinai, their response to the Law should have been, “This is a good law, a very reasonable law. The Lord has every right to expect it of us. But we know our hearts, that we will not do it. We will fail. Is there not some other way for us to be the Lord’s people? We need to be saved from ourselves!” 

And it wasn’t as if there was not “another way.” Clear back in the Garden, the Lord promised to send the Seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent. About 500 years before the Exodus, Job had said, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” The people of Israel knew there was a Messiah. They simply had never come to a point where they stood face to face with the enormity of their own failure, and so they apparently only saw the Messiah as a nice appendage to their own righteousness. Just like today, their legalism eclipsed the face of God in their hearts. They really did think it was about the rules and they really did think somehow they could keep them.

They just didn’t get it.

But do we?

I would ask again of us professing believers, do we embrace grace as the way of forgiveness, then live under law? I needed a Savior because of my sins and sinfulness. Do I now somehow only need Him as an appendage to my own righteousness? Or is He my righteousness? Paul asked this very question of the Galatians in 3:2,3: “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” 

Grace is the answer. The way of salvation is grace but not with an asterisk. It’s not grace to be saved and law to live by. It is grace, all grace. Grace is the air that true believers breathe; it is the blood that flows in their veins. “Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”

But when it comes to living out grace, the agent of grace is the Spirit. Paul’s solution to our failure is not, here are new and better rules (legalism), or no rules at all (antinomianism). His solution is very clearly, “… be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh.”

“When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, that He might redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, and because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

Once again, it seems to all of us totally logical and reasonable, if I can’t seem to get it together, I must need new and better (or simpler) laws. But none of it works. None of it frees me from myself. None of it enables me to rise above this awful selfish beast that lurks in my heart (and shows his ugly face every little time I don’t get what I want). The answer is patently NOT law. Not more law. Not less law. Not complicated law. Not simplified law. NOT law.

The answer is grace, embraced as the way of forgiveness and enjoyed daily through the power and enlightenment of indwelling Holy Spirit. The people of Israel totally didn’t get it. God help us not to miss it.

I want to live grace. I want to be a person like Jesus who adds to this world love and joy and peace and patience. God help me to practice the presence of His Spirit in my heart, to allow Him to be my spirit, to inform my thoughts and to be my attitude. God help me to read and study the Word such that I might truly know the mind of the Spirit. May my failure to love only drive me to depend on Him more. And because of grace, may I live out His heart, not because I’m enamored with the rules, but really, honestly, truly, sincerely because I love Him.

The little engine that couldn’t still wants to.

Galatians 5:13-23 – My Patient Guide/My Patience Guide

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.

¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, ¹⁷for the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing; ¹⁸but if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law.

…²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Hendriksen offers an insightful illustration of what it means to be Holy Spirit led. He says it is not like a guide who points to the mountain pass and says, “The road is through there.” Rather, the Holy Spirit is like the person leading the blind man to Jesus. The blind man had to want to get to Jesus. The blind man had to walk on his own feet; no one carried him. But he needed a sighted person to walk beside him. He couldn’t get there himself. He wanted to get there but he needed someone who could see the way and he needed that person to stay right beside him the entire way.

I like that. I think, prior to this study, I saw the Holy Spirit’s guidance like the mountain guide. Even though I believed in the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, still I think I saw myself as largely “on my own.” Through the Word He showed me the path, but the help was definitely a distant thing, something outside of myself. I think I was missing the point of the indwelling. When God says, “I am with you” He means it! He means right here with me. He means that although I must make the choices and although I have to do the walking, yet He is right here at my elbow guiding me by that gentle pressure. He can see the goal. He can see the right path. He can see the tripping hazards along the path. What I must do is walk with Him. I need to learn to yield to that gentle pressure at my elbow. He knows where He’s going. I don’t have to. I just need to trust Him.

This is so encouraging and makes so much sense. Of course I do a terrible job of trusting Him. I do a terrible job of yielding to that gentle pressure. Hmmmm. I’m not so sure I’m even very good at recognizing it. I think what I do is get it in my head, “I don’t want to go that way” and try to wander off. Of course I don’t know the way. Of course I don’t see the tripping hazards. But I’m a stubborn sinner and do it anyway. There’s something I want “over there,” or there’s something I fear. I think if I wander over this way, I’ll be safe. The whole adventure is of course ludicrous, but I literally can’t see it.

The awesomely good news is that my Guide never leaves me(!). All the time I am stubbornly stumbling around, He is still right there at my elbow. He still sees the goal. He still sees the path to get there, even from whatever wrong place I’ve wandered into. And, if I’ll only want to feel it, that gentle pressure is still there at my elbow, nudging me in the right direction.

I’m sitting here marveling at His patience. It has taken me a lifetime to cover a distance that should have taken only a few days. I have stubbornly wandered far and wide my whole life just to get to where I am today. Yet all that time He stayed with me. All that time He could see the path. All that time He knew where I needed to go. All that time He could see how foolishly I was wandering hither and yon. Yet, He has stayed with me; always there ready to lead me if only I would trust Him and let Him lead. Wow is that love. Wow is that patience.

How often have I wanted to “guide” someone, but the second they got stubborn, I would just wash my hands of them and give up. Where was the love? Where was the patience? Where was the Spirit? Wow have I got a lot to learn!

“…if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law …But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

No “law” could give me that kind of love, that kind of patience. That is what He means by, “…be serving one another through the love; for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But even something that simple I cannot do on my own. I need my Guide. I need His power. I need His patience! I need His patience so I can learn patience!!

Hmmm. Once again, I find my heart wanting to sing, “I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it; when it’s all about You, it’s all about You. I’m coming back to the heart of worship; ‘cause it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.