…”But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Gal. 5:6).”
One of the greatest challenges among members of the body of Christ is dealing with the desires of the flesh. We hear the good news about how when we become affixed to Christ that “sin shall no longer have dominion over [us] (Rom. 6:14)” because we have become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).” Not only do we hear the good news, but we receive it with excitement and joy! All of us come to Christ as broken, wounded, and burdened in some way, and most in several ways. All genuine believers come to Christ expecting their lives to be completely transformed. The problem is that for most of us once we take our steps of faith to receive Christ the truth of the matter is we normally don’t feel much different. All of the external dilemmas remain present in our lives. What’s worse is that we soon come to realize that the same temptations to act a certain way, indulge in the same destructive habits, and keep the same negative attitude don’t go away either.
To help Christians combat this enemy many new covenant pastors/teachers will preach sermons on Galatians 5:16: “Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” They’ll explain that walking in the spirit is merely just walking in the word, for Christ did indeed say “the words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life (John 6:33).” After that usually a description of what walking in the spirit looks like surfaces, and the fruits of the spirit, which are: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).” And indeed, yielding to the spirit will cause the believer to walk in these things. However, usually they fail to touch on the most important part of this verse. At the end it says of these things:
“Against such there is no law.”
If you’re like me you’ve skipped this last part a million times because it sounds pretty obvious. Of course there wouldn’t be any laws against walking in peace, love joy, etc. not in God’s perfect law of liberty anyway. However, when we go back down to verse sixteen everything comes full circle:
“But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.”
And this is where I believe most Christians are missing the mark; this is why many of us struggle to produce the fruits of the spirit at a steadier rate in our early walks with Christ, and why many of us fall away altogether. We want so desperately to walk in the spirit and not yield to the flesh, but if the fruits of the spirit don’t produce right away we get discouraged and guilt starts to surface, and the root of guilt is always condemnation.
You can’t walk in the spirit unless you understand God’s GRACE.
What’s missing in these teachings is the grace factor. Whenever guilt and condemnation are present in the heart of a believer you can be sure that their understanding of grace is distorted (for a detailed description of Grace, check out my first blog). The fruits of the spirit will begin to produce rapidly and effortlessly in the believer’s life when they understand that “for by grace [they] have been saved through faith, and that is not of [themselves]; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph. 2:8-9).” So often we forget that our righteousness before God doesn’t come through the works of the law or the works of the flesh but through the righteousness of faith: “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans4:5).”
We don’t seek after the fruits of the spirit to obtain righteousness, but because we ARE righteous.
Sadly, so many see the fruits of the spirit as the new standard of righteousness one must obtain to prove their right standing before God forgetting that Jesus finished work on the cross has already clothed them with all the righteousness they need forever! It’s only when we realize through God’s amazing grace how righteous we are will we begin to live righteously and the fruits of the spirit begin to manifest.
“..much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17).”
The bible declares that “for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7),” how much more powerful is this verse when supplemented with what God has already declared man to be! Beloved friend, cling on to God’s freely given abundance of grace and righteousness like the son clings to the father and your walk with God will be exponentially more intimate and the fruits of the spirit will manifest in your life rapidly. Right believing will always produce right living. Believe that you are righteous and you shall be righteous. To Christ be the glory through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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