‘It is for freedom that Christ
has set us free’. (v.1) What wonderful truth, and yet so often we live lives
that don’t reflect that. We get ensnared trying to jump through hoops to win
our salvation, or go so far the other way that we use our freedom ‘to indulge
the sinful nature’ (v.13). Paul leaves the church in Galatia in no doubt that in trying
to fulfil the minutiae of Jewish law they had alienated themselves from Christ,
and fallen away from grace. Every time we try to win forgiveness or ‘make up
for things’ with God, we render Christ Jesus’ beautiful, perfect, and holy
sacrifice as utterly pointless. Similarly, those who satisfy the sinful nature
are told that they will not inherit the Kingdom of God
Paul’s answer to both situations
is straightforward – live by the Spirit (v.16). The Fruit of the Spirit will be
known to many of us, those nine characteristics ‘against which there is no law’
(v.23). It is worth noting that these are all the fruit (singular) of one
‘tree’, the Spirit, and therefore we can expect all of them. It’s not a case of
some people being blessed with the tree that grows patience, whilst another
grows self-control. As we grow in our Christian lives, and continue to keep in
step with the Spirit, all of this fruit will appear more abundantly in our
lives. We will also see less of the acts of the sinful nature. Reading this
list we can often initially feel quite secure – “I don’t indulge in witchcraft
or debauchery, I must be ok.” And yet as we read down the list it can get quite
uncomfortable. I know that I get jealous and selfish at times, and I long to
walk more in step with the Spirit so that those aspects of me become a thing of
the past. I also know that it takes time (helped by patience) to grow fruit.
The other challenge of this
chapter comes in verse 7. The Galatian Christians were doing so well, and yet
they allowed someone to get in the way. In Chapter 3 Paul asks who has
bewitched them? These weren’t young Christians,
who hadn’t really got it right in the first place, but men and women who knew
the truth and were living it out. We can often get comfortable thinking that
we’re ok and beyond being distracted away from the true path. This passage is a
reminder that we must constantly be on our guard, testing the preaching we
hear, and continuing to love one another in Christ. Like David and Joab, we
mustn’t get distracted by the Commander General and lose sight of the King.
(Christ Church