“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)
Let us pick up where we left off on Thursday, “O wretched man that I am”! It is not that I am now looking to thrash a dead horse, but there is still more to consider, we will, Lord willing, wrap it up this morning. This will be the last post on this subject for a while anyway.
We have concluded that there are two natures at war within every believer’s makeup. We are either lead by the Spirit and therefore not under the law or we wallow in self-pity as we are once again feel trapped in bondage to our old sinful natures. The same old sin keeps ensnaring us, whatever that may be. Nevertheless the Word of God is the final authority and we must so submit to its power. The Spirit of God has freed us from this mind-set; “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)
Therefore there is a pattern that the believer must learn to appropriate to their lives. But in order to do that we must understand the enemy. Our flesh is our enemy, let me explain. Although it knows both good and evil it can only ever cleave to that which it is drawn too and that is sin. But the Spirit will never sin as it is God's Spirit. Think of the flesh like a magnet; bring it close enough to a magnetic field and the inevitable will happen as it latches onto that object and the two become one. The Law clearly teaches us this truth. Hence the reason for the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, having to die on our behalf and pay the price for our sin. The law was and still is a teacher to prove to humankind that in us it is impossible to have a relationship with God because of our sin. Therefore the law is good, as it is the catalyst that helps us understand our need for a Saviour. Without understanding that we deserve God’s judgment because of our sin, we will never have the need for a Saviour: - “So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)
So, if we have truly been born again, if God has called us and we have His spirit living within us we are now justified by faith. Every single believer is now a saint and no longer a sinner; although we still sin we are not viewed by God as sinners. Why? Because Christ has paid the price for all our sins, past, present and future sins, we are now justified by faith and not our works through the flesh: - “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)
“Let not our life be after the wills and motions of the flesh. Two motives he mentions here: - [1.] We are not debtors to the flesh, neither by relation, gratitude, nor any other bond or obligation. We owe no suit nor service to our carnal desires; we are indeed bound to clothe, and feed, and take care of the body, as a servant to the soul in the service of God, but no further. We are not debtors to it; the flesh never did us so much kindness as to oblige us to serve it. It is implied that we are debtors to Christ and to the Spirit: there we owe our all, all we have and all we can do, by a thousand bonds and obligations. Being delivered from so great a death by so great a ransom, we are deeply indebted to our deliverer.” (Matthew Henry)
How do we now appropriate this truth to our lives? Think of it like this, let’s say we spill a cup of coffee on a white shirt and it is now stained and dirty, we take it off and put on another shirt, don’t we? We must take it off but at the same time put something else on, or we will be left naked. It is now no different for the child of God we must learn to put off our old natures, the way we think, act and behave. But in order to have a positive result (life and peace) we must be led and walk in the Spirit. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
Where we make our mistake is when we try and patch up the flesh. We look for justification in and through our carnal natures. But we should have already understood that the law has proved to us that it is impossible by the flesh to walk holy before our righteous God and Father. It is for this exact reason that the Lord Jesus came and suffered such a cruel death.
We will never be rid of this dilemma if we do not learn to be led by the Spirit. We may at times think we are on the right track but before long we are once again shown the frailty of the flesh as we are once again trapped by it.
Do you remember the early days of salvation and how the Lord freed us from this mind-set, I do! This is why the Apostle Paul teachers us to be careful not to make any allowance for the flesh, for if we flirt with it, we will eventually fall by it, as it knows no other way; “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3)
I agree with Charles Spurgeon's understanding on this subject and leave you with these thoughts…
“The wretchedness of Paul, I think, lay in two things, which are enough to make any man wretched. Paul believed the doctrine of human responsibility, and yet he felt the doctrine of human inability. I have heard people say sometimes—"You tell the sinner that he cannot believe and repent without the help of the Holy Spirit, and yet you tell him that it is his duty to believe and repent. How are these two to be reconciled? We reply that they do not want any reconciliation; they are two truths of Holy Scripture, and we leave them to reconcile themselves, they are friends, and friends do not need any reconciliation. But what seems a difficulty as a matter of doctrine is clear as daylight as a matter of experience. I know it is my duty to be perfect, but I am conscious I cannot be. I know that every time I commit sin I am guilty, and yet I am quite certain that I must sin—that my nature is such that I cannot help it. I feel that I am unable to get rid of this body of sin and death, and yet I know I ought to get rid of it. These two things are enough to make any man miserable—to know that he is responsible for his sinful nature, and yet to know that he cannot get rid of it—to know that he ought to keep it down, and yet to feel he cannot—to know that it is his business to keep God's law perfectly, and walk in the commandments of the law blameless, and yet to know by sad experience that he is as unable to do so as he is to reverse the motion of the globe, or dash the sun from the center of the spheres. How will not these two things drive any man to desperation? The way in which some men avoid the dilemma, is by a denial of one of these truths. They say, "Well, it is true I am unable to cease from sin;" and then they deny their obligation to do so; they do not cry, "O wretched man that I am;" they live as they like, and say they cannot help it. On the other hand, there are some men who know they are responsible; but then they say, "Ay but I can cast off my sin," and these are tolerably happy. The Arminian and the hyper-Calvinist both of them get on very comfortably; but the man who believes these two doctrines, as taught in God's Word, that he is responsible for sin and yet that he is unable to get rid of it, I do not wonder that when he looks into himself he finds enough to make him sigh and cry, ever, to faintness and despair, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death. And now says one, "Ah, I would be a Christian, if that is the way in which he faints—it be is always to be fighting with himself; and even until he despairs of victory." Stop a moment. Let us complete the picture. This man is fainting; but he will be restored by-and-bye. Think not that he is hopelessly defeated, he falls to rise, he faints but to be revived afresh. I know a magic, which can awaken his sleeping hopes and shoot a thrill along the freezing current of his blood. Let us sound the promise in his ear, see how soon he revives. Let us put the cordial to his lips; see how he starts up and plays the man again. "I have been almost defeated" says he, "almost driven to despair. Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy; though I fall, yet shall I rise again." And he lets fly against him once more, shouting, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." So on he goes again, more than a conqueror, through him that has loved him.” (Charles Surgeon) - Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 23rd, 1859, by the REV . C. H. Spurgeon At the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
Therefore: -
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)
Signing off
Tyrone
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