Works and Fruits
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Important messages
Galatians 5:13-26
13. For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the
flesh, but through love serve one another.
14. For
the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as
yourself."
15. But
if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
16. But I
say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the
flesh.
17. 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.
18. But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The whole of the letter to the Galatians is a plea to
return to freedom, into which they were born and which is characteristic of the
true Christian life. God calls a people out of slavery into glorious liberty. The
point is not only that spiritual slavery is dreadfully bad, but that life in
the Spirit is joyously wonderful. In this section, Paul will show that the walk
in the Spirit is synonymous with freedom. The only people on this planet, who
are truly free, are those who have been born of the Spirit of God and whose practical,
daily life is under the control of the Spirit.
“Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the
flesh” is really a command to self-examination to see if your Christianity is
genuine or not. The unregenerate church member will see liberty as an excuse to
an unprincipled lifestyle, not very different from that of the world’s
citizens. They will free themselves from high standards and restrictions that
set the Christian apart. He will give in to the flesh, as much as possible,
while still maintaining a fairly decent reputation as a card-carrying member of
the Christian community. For a good number of decades, this has become the
popular trend, and the Christian, who refuses to conform to it, is sneeringly
judged old-fashioned, negative or worse.
Loose-living and the rarity of a practical walk in the
Spirit show me that true Christianity is scarce these days. A large percentage
of professing Christians are not truly born again by the Spirit of God. A. W.
Tozer alluded to this fact back in the mid-20th Century and a
contemporary of his, Vance Havner, went so far as to say that perhaps 90% of
the members of his evangelical denomination were unconverted. I assure you, the
trend has not reversed in the last half century or so.
The genuine Christian will see the Spirit-filled life
as the Promised Land that flows with milk and honey and will gladly cross the
flooded Jordan River in order to experience it. The carnal ways are not among
his goals and he has no intention to “gratify the desires of the flesh”.
“Through love serve one another… the whole law is
fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" The
reader will probably know that “agape” is
the Greek word that is used in the New Testament to especially denote the love
of God. In the last article, we saw that the love of God is the motivational
force behind all Christianity. There is absolutely no other force under which
it is possible to love anyone else as
yourself. We have also mentioned that humanitarian love is common among
unconverted people and is highly honored by society. However, the exorbitant salaries
that some officers of humanitarian organizations receive is one proof that they
fall short of loving their neighbor as theirselves. Only God’s love will
suffice to serve the Lord and others in the Kingdom of God.
Contrary to the false teaching that comes straight
from the realm of ungodly psychology (and has been adopted by the church), love
of self is a given fact in the Bible; it is not a goal: “No one ever hated his own flesh (Eph.5:29; see also Ro.15:1-3; 2
Co.5:15: Php.2:21). Self-love doctrine is probably one of the most popular
deceptions of our day. Somehow, many Bible students have totally ignored the
warning of Paul to Timothy: “In the last
days there will come times of difficulty (dangerous, extremely fierce,
furious times; see the same Greek word in Mt.8:28, translated exceedingly fierce-KJV). For people will be lovers of self…” (2
Ti.3:1,2).
Does it shock you to learn that the church is teaching
people, beginning with children, to be extremely dangerous? It is the logical consequence
in the lives of those who have learned to put themselves first. They will stop
at nothing for self-satisfaction, so the apostle must warn, “watch out that you
are not consumed by one another”. Those, who “bite and devour one another” are
living by the law of a different nature and any attempt to fulfill the law of
God will end in failure. I again quote Warren Wiersbe: “Man needs to be free from himself and
the tyranny of his sinful nature.”
The one, who loves his neighbor as himself, has the
law of God written on his heart and will fulfill it naturally. Paul’s teaching
in verses 16-18 makes my point very clear. He tells us that the secret to
squelching the desires of the flesh is by walking in the Holy Spirit. You
cannot do both. We will insert parallel passages in Romans 8:9 and 14 to show
that this is only possible, when one is a genuine Christian and has the Holy
Spirit living within him: “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does
not belong to him.” When the
Spirit dwells in someone, He will naturally lead him: “For all who are led by
the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
The flesh and the Spirit
are contrary to each other. It is impossible for those, who walk after the
flesh, and those, who walk according to the Spirit, to peaceably co-exist. They
will not understand each other. One will see things through the eyes of the
Spirit and will walk in the ways of God; the other will think as men think,
according to earthly ways. Those who walk after the flesh will promote projects
similar to those that are successful in the world. The people who are led by
the Spirit will get their direction from the Bible.
Those who walk in the
Spirit are free from the law, because it is the law of their nature to walk in
the ways of God. They are not under a tutor, who must continually hold them in
check to keep them from wandering onto the paths of the world and constantly
correct their wayward footsteps. They need not be confined within four walls to
protect them from harmful desires.
David sums it up nicely in the first Psalm, verses 1
and 2: “Blessed is the man who walks not
in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the
seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his
law he meditates day and night.” This is a man, who has been blessed
with a godly nature, as Abraham, we learned previously. He has been reconciled
to God, restored to the state in which he was created, and beyond that, he
walks in all the advantages of the last Adam, Jesus Christ. He delights in the
walk of the Spirit and therefore, as Paul teaches, he does not fulfill the lust
of the flesh.
19. Now
the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality,
20.
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,
dissensions, divisions,
21. envy,
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn
you, as I warned you before, that those who do such
things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22. But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23.
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no
law.
24. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires.
25. If we
live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
26. Let
us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Notice, first of all, that the products of the flesh
are called works, and those of the
Spirit are called fruits. That
distinction goes a long way in explaining the two different functions. The
flesh performs deeds and the Spirit of God promotes growth. The latter is alive
and, given the right spiritual nutrients, will naturally blossom and produce. The
former achieves through self-effort and abilities.
The works of the flesh are sinful, and even that,
which seems to begin legitimately, will end up being unlawful and evil.
Religious good deeds come from the flesh and always will prove to be sinful.
Jesus gave the parable of the wheat and the tares, in which the two plants in
their first stages are similar. The difference is seen, when the ears appear
(Mt.13:26).
In the apostle’s list, we see physical sins and sins
of the inner man. What outwardly appears moral, may be ruled by envy,
rivalries, and strife. A seemingly religious person may be inwardly driven to
do ‘good deeds’ because of jealousy. Physical sins are manifested through the
body, while the inner ones are secret sins of the heart. We might classify
sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, anger, drunkenness,
and orgies as obviously visible sins. More deceptive are hidden sins, such as
enmity, strife, jealousy, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. The
sins, which are held within, are equally offensive to God and, because they are
not seen openly, are more dangerous.
The whole realm of hypocritical religion exists
because unregenerate people attempt to mechanically produce fruit, without
having the proper roots. Jesus taught clearly on this subject. “Each tree is known by its
own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked
from a bramble bush” (Lk.6:44-45).
John Baptist put it this way: “The ax is
laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Lk.3:9). James adds: “From the same mouth come blessing and
cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (Jam.3:10). Paul
concludes, “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
There are sins that are not listed here… “things like
these”. The Bible does not have to specifically name every sin. A study of the
list will give us a good idea of the things that fit into the sin category and
every similar thing, which is pleasing to the natural man, offends God and/or
does harm to our neighbor, is sin. When the Galatians yielded to Judaism and
came under the law, they began to manifest the deeds of the flesh. In verse 15,
Paul warned against biting and devouring one another, and he ends the chapter
with another warning about becoming “conceited, provoking one another, envying
one another.”
When a life is yielded to the Holy Spirit, holy fruit
will result. The Spirit is at the root of the new nature and these characteristics,
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control”, stem from Him and grow as fruit in the new man. These are then
the ‘law of nature’ and require no kind of external law to enforce them. They
function in total freedom. I need to remind you that they are not the best of
human virtues, but are supernatural and heavenly, directly endowed by the Holy
Spirit.
Let those who abuse liberty be served notice that
gospel freedom only comes into play, after crucifixion. In chapter two, Paul
said, “I am crucified with Christ.” Here he states that all “those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”. We
will take up the subject of the crucifixion of the world in the next chapter: “Far
be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
God always deals with deep root problems, not with
superficial symptoms. The fountain, from which the damning evil flows, the
flesh, has been destroyed by the crucifixion of Christ. Its passions and
desires have lost their power and the life comes under the governing force of
Christ. He claims ownership and the individual surrenders his personal goals
and ambitions. In the case of Paul, this Jewish leader became a missionary to
the Gentiles; it was a total about-face. Christ also supplies the power to carry
out His purposes in His servant.
What has been accomplished 2,000 years ago on the
cross, must become a practical reality in the life of the believer today. The
Spirit has given him life with all its heavenly potential and now he must learn
to walk step-by-step in unison with the Spirit. It is entirely a new way of
life and the old ways must be put aside. This is what Paul meant in Romans 12:1 and 2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
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