Liberty to Love

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." --Galatians 5:16

I used to set out each of the fruit of the Spirit in list next to my bed: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. At the end of every day, I would go through each thing, and try to make sure I did something that lined up with each of the different fruits. Brilliant, huh?

I suppose it was if I was going go for figuring out if I was walking in the fruit of the Josh.

I had the most amazing revelation about these fruits of the Spirit the other day: They're the fruits of the SPIRIT! That means that as I allow the Holy Spirit to fill me and indwell me; as I quiet my soul and listen to his truth speak into my life - the fruit of the SPIRIT happens as a result of him being there - and me being ... well ... dead. "For I have been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..." -Galatians 2:20.

So yes, about two or three weeks ago, this concept really hit home with me, but it left me in a place of utter confusion: what do I do now? I've heard so many interpretations of what it means to Walk in the Spirit and how to overcome the fruits of the flesh and live out the fruit of the Spirit - but now that I've realized that my "righteousness is as dirty rags" and that I NEED the Spirit in order to walk in these fruits ... wow, what now? Do I sit around and pray for an indwelling to live these out? But what does that even need to look like? How can I keep my focus right? How can I walk in these things while avoiding turning into a law? And consequently, my pride and self-righteousness...

Truthfully, I'm still struggling with some of these answers in my spirit, but I want to share what the Lord hit home with me this last week. I meet with two other guys on a semi-weekly basis where we confess to each other, pray for each other, and read through passages of the Bible together - it's an awesome group, and I'm so thankful for them! Right now, we've been reading through Galatians. So for the last week or two, I've read Galatians about five times - it's a good way to get to know the book and allow the Spirit to reveal its depth to you! As I was reading Galatians five for about the fifth time, I began to have an epiphany about the entirety of the chapter and how Paul introduced the fruit of the Spirit! Go ahead and read Galatians five, and then I'll share my own little commentary on what the Lord taught me through it.

Now, disclaimer: this IS NOT the divine, only interpretation of this passage.... there are thousands. Good ones. One's probably like this and much, much better than mine -- but this is the humble interpretation of a goofy little Christian that's never had any formal education in Bibleness, I just like to read the words and try to figure out what they mean. So if you disagree, feel free! And help teach me. But I'll say this, after I realized some of these things, the freedom I felt in the depths of my heart reached a deeper level than I have ever experienced prior. And with all that said....

Reading through Galatians has taught me a couple big, important lessons: my flesh sucks, the law is dead, grace is awesome, and liberty equals love. Chapter five, verse one, is a call to "stand fast" in the liberty wherewith Christ has "made us free" - seeing the Galatian's problem, we understand that their bondage was in serving the law and man-made systems of righteousness. "Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Mmm. No.

Paul goes on to tell them in verses 2-12 that this problem they faced of reverting back to their flesh in order to achieve righteousness...was..well, bad. Verse five, "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." Paul even references the warnings of Jesus when he warns the 12 apostles of the pharisees works-based doctrine, "Beware of the Pharisee's leaven," in verse nine when he says, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

Just the slightest amount of works-based doctrine can REALLY jack up our faith and theology. When I start to say I CAN and God...uh... wait... where's God? See, when we think that our righteousness is in our own power, what's the point of God? I mean, honestly. So let's just establish this truth: In our flesh, we CAN DO NOTHING that is good, right, or perfect in the sight of God. NOTHING.

So how and where does the Spirit come in? Well, it makes since to me that if I'm inhabited by God that the things that are characteristic of him would become characteristic of me. So what does the Bible say that the Spirit is good for? "For by one Spirit are we all baptized..." - 1 Corinthians 12:13 - "Which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together... edifying itself in love..." - Ephesians 4:16 - "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace..." - Ephesians 4:3 - "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in unity of faith..." - Ephesians 4:11-12. I see one MAJOR theme with the Spirit: brotherly love and unity.

So if this is one MAJOR characteristic of God's Spirit, it's probably a characteristic of those who walk in his spirit as well.... as a matter of fact, Galatians 5:13-14 basically reads: "You aren't in the law any more, you're in the liberty of grace and faith! But don't use this liberty as a chance to sin, but serve one another in love, edify each other - for all of the law you used to live by is finished and completed in this truth: love your neighbor as yourself." Whoa. So if we really think about this, we realize that we are walking in the Spirit, inhabited by the Spirit, in fellowship with the heart of God when we simply love our neighbors as ourselves.

Paul uses this phrase of the way we should treat each other to lead up to his famous, "Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Why? Because the lusts of the flesh are TRULY, for believers in Christ, insults and accusations against the body of Christ. Even if it's just a lustful or bitter thought, I accuse my brothers before the Lord with my own sin - even just in my head! When I lusted after that girl, I caused dissension to the body of Christ; when I judged my brother, I cut off the finger of the Lord! That is why when we walk in the Spirit: selfless love towards our brothers for the point of edifying them and building them up: we CAN NOT fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I cannot lust after a girl in order to edify her; nor can I criticize my brother in pride to make him stronger.

I think John caught on to this same principle when he wrote the whole book of first John: how many times does he make the point, "If you can't love your brother, you don't really love God." Part of having the Spirit of God and walking in that Spirit is having a love for what God loves: his people and his children! Instead of focusing on ourselves: turn outward! See that walking in the Spirit isn't about a checklist, but a lifestyle. Not an action change, but an attitude change. This will truly give you freedom from the law, but also not provide an occasion for us to abuse the grace and liberty of God!

This is what the Lord is teaching me and pushing to the forefront of my heart right now: I hope you find this freeing and encouraging. Love one another, and walk in the Spirit, and stay blessed in the name of Jesus. Amen.