July 22, 2018 STAND FAST part 2
Galatians 5:13, 16 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
One very real possibility is that believers can live according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit. There are many scriptures throughout the New Testament admonishing believers to walk according to the Spirit and to do the things that are pleasing to the Lord. Volumes have been written and an endless number of sermons preached dealing with subjects of walking in the Spirit, the flesh, and the grace of God; these three subjects are interwoven, but it is the grace of God that is the heart of the gospel. All that believers are, and all they are called to do, flows out of the grace of God. It is a most dangerous thing for a believer to misunderstand or to ignore the grace of God. The last blog was about believers living in the freedom we have in Christ and not under law, but we saw that we have a tendency to revert back to living under the law of the flesh. Many have taken the grace of God as an excuse or a way to justify what they do even though what they do is not pleasing to the Lord. They claim that ‘God accepts me as I am and He has forgiven me for all my sins.’ Many believers have been snared by this logic and this application of the grace of God. It is true that God accepts us as we are and He forgives all of our sins, but that is only part of the story. We have been made new, with a new nature and a new heart with new desires and He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. As believers, we must live with the awareness that we are not who we use to be; we now are new creations who belong to Him. One major error that many believers fall into is trying to please God in the strength of their flesh-and that never works. As simple as it sounds, the cure for walking in the flesh is to walk in the Spirit. The Christian life is not about striving, but about abiding in Him. Let us understand that standing fast is all about refusing to live according to our flesh and all about living in the grace of God that made us new, that empowers us, and that is transforming us into His image. Let no other teaching, no other persuasion, and no other power move us from the true grace of God. A life of walking in the Spirit is a life of love, of serving, of power-a life that resembles the life that Jesus lived here on earth.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”
Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Galatians 5:13, 16 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
One very real possibility is that believers can live according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit. There are many scriptures throughout the New Testament admonishing believers to walk according to the Spirit and to do the things that are pleasing to the Lord. Volumes have been written and an endless number of sermons preached dealing with subjects of walking in the Spirit, the flesh, and the grace of God; these three subjects are interwoven, but it is the grace of God that is the heart of the gospel. All that believers are, and all they are called to do, flows out of the grace of God. It is a most dangerous thing for a believer to misunderstand or to ignore the grace of God. The last blog was about believers living in the freedom we have in Christ and not under law, but we saw that we have a tendency to revert back to living under the law of the flesh. Many have taken the grace of God as an excuse or a way to justify what they do even though what they do is not pleasing to the Lord. They claim that ‘God accepts me as I am and He has forgiven me for all my sins.’ Many believers have been snared by this logic and this application of the grace of God. It is true that God accepts us as we are and He forgives all of our sins, but that is only part of the story. We have been made new, with a new nature and a new heart with new desires and He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. As believers, we must live with the awareness that we are not who we use to be; we now are new creations who belong to Him. One major error that many believers fall into is trying to please God in the strength of their flesh-and that never works. As simple as it sounds, the cure for walking in the flesh is to walk in the Spirit. The Christian life is not about striving, but about abiding in Him. Let us understand that standing fast is all about refusing to live according to our flesh and all about living in the grace of God that made us new, that empowers us, and that is transforming us into His image. Let no other teaching, no other persuasion, and no other power move us from the true grace of God. A life of walking in the Spirit is a life of love, of serving, of power-a life that resembles the life that Jesus lived here on earth.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”
Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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