Choose

Galatians 5:16-26

You have been called to be free, Paul has just been saying. There is a picture of what that freedom looks like. It’s called service, to God and other people.

Now Paul gets to the power behind that freedom and service: the Holy Spirit.

This power is not an “it” but “he”. This power is so personal, so powerful. he has an enemy. That’s what happens when you are on to something that is really of God: you attract opposition, resentment, jealousy. Paul calls the enemy ‘the flesh’ – variously translated also as sinful nature, selfishness, selfish desires. It is just the world’s usual standard and way of doing things (flesh > physical > of the world). It can seem innocuous, even good. But the way of the Spirit and the way of the world are so opposed, that if we live only according to the physical nature, the outcome is not just less than what it could be, but rather it is actually and actively opposed to God’s purposes. That leads to the list of unsavoury things (verse 19-21) that are the ultimate fruit of this approach to life.

My take? This calls for daily immersion in the Spirit. We are so easily caught up in the standards of the everyday. We need to be aware that there is a daily battle going on over our loyalty. The Spirit and the ‘flesh’ are not components of human nature, but they are cosmic realities that use human lives as their battleground, and seek us as their trophies. The question is – for the church as for individuals – are we going to live according to the Spirit, and be fully open to his engaging, dynamic, impossible-to-fail power; or are we going to base our decisions, direction, and lines of authority according to the ‘realities’ of the ‘real’ world – a world which, in case you didn’t notice, is passing away.

What will you choose? What will you choose, church?

Prayer:
Purify my mind, heart and spirit in your Holy Spirit, Lord. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.