Devotionals

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT! By Henry Jaegers

by Henry Jaegers
08/02/19
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WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT!

By Henry Jaegers

This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

Before we approach this particular subject in Galatians, I found it necessary to set forth a simple outline of the book. As I have considered this, I will elaborate on each point to help us to gain proper application of how these truths should affect our daily living.

1. Chapters One and Two: Paul’s Credentials: (why these are necessary?)

2. Chapters Three and Four: Paul addresses  the misunderstandings {What has happened?)

3. Chapter Five: The heart of the matter: (How to get on target?)

4. Chapter Six: Applying the principles: (where, when and how are they to be applied?)

I closed our last study with these two challenges. First, the works of the flesh are: the fruit of the spirit is: why are these two questions addressed this way? They are not put there by accident. Notice first: "The works of the flesh are those things which come naturally to us. They are born out of the idea that I must add something in order for my Christian life to be complete. However, the works of the flesh are things that we do and we do them sometimes without realizing it. In our eagerness to serve Christ, we get the impression that to serve Christ effectively we must be doing something. There is a partial truth of this because the Christian life is active and it results in things happening. But the things that happen that are important are not those things which we produce in a natural way. The works that glorify God are the works that come through the inward motivating power of the Holy Spirit.

A good illustration of this is found when Jesus came to the home of Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38-42). Martha was cumbered about with busyness and serving and doing and of course, the result of this was her frustration with Mary for not doing the same. She became impatient with her sister and somewhat judge-mental over her priorities. That is what I mean by the works of the flesh. The misunderstanding comes when we think that the true evidence of my Christian life is how busy I am in my service for God. Unfortunately, many of the times, what we are doing is not spiritual but carnal. We know also that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word, and this bothered Martha. Martha's priority was outward and Mary's priority was inward. The fruit of the spirit comes not through working but through trusting. When we face problems in our life, it is natural for us to think we must do something to solve the problem and often times we become anxious and frustrated because nothing that we do seems to work. I have discovered through many years of failure, that it is not easy to completely trust God when times become difficult. We may think that working is hard but I find that trusting is even harder. Are you understanding where I am coming from?

None of us will disagree with the idea that only God can make a Christian but only the working of the Holy Spirit can produce character and works that glorify God. We cannot be in the flesh and in the spirit at the same time. I realize I am opening up a can of worms, but I find it necessary to elaborate more than what I am presenting now. Hopefully, this will clarify this matter of the works of the flesh are and what the fruit of the spirit is. In our next study, we will talk more about this.