Walk In The Spirit

Good day people of God. Hope you are up ready for the new week living each day in the realities of God’s grace. I am excited to post another edition of “Vignettes of Grace”.

We are gradually getting to the end of the epistle of Paul to the Galatians, we’ll consider a very popular verse in chapter 5 in this piece:

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Galatians 5:16 King James Version

The Galatian Christians had begun following the law and had started obeying some rules and regulations in an attempt to gain righteousness. One of the traps of such a system is that it produces a false sense of sanctimonious piety. There is usually an external garb of “holiness”, some kind of superficial morality which is produced in people who practice this strict adherence to the law. 

But all through in this epistle, God through the penmanship of Paul had been opening their eyes (and our own eyes I believe as we have progressed in the series) to the fact that such a system is no longer relevant because Jesus Christ has ushered in a new era of grace. This must have thrown up a very pertinent question for the Galatians as regarding their practical Christianity: “if strict observance of the law is now a thing of the past, what then will ensure righteous living?” 

To ask the question in another way and situate it appropriately in our own lives, if our lives as believers in Christ Jesus are no longer to be governed by a code of conduct dictated by the Law of Moses, what will regulate our lives and keep us in line with God’s desires? This is the question Paul answers in this new section of Galatians beginning at verse 16. We will pick at the surface today and continue along the same line the next time.

Living by the Spirit is the answer. This is the only fail-proof way of not succumbing to the desires of the flesh. Experiencing victory over the flesh does not come by simple human philosophy. It is not achieved by mere human resolutions (have you wondered why so many “new year resolutions” don’t really work?). It is not attained by the force of education (our most learned men still indulge in the worst of vices) and definitely not by human legislation (the best of societal laws only prevent some people from public/open displays of their inner evil desires). In this new life in Christ Jesus, God gives us practical victory over the flesh as we keep yielding ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The term “walk” used in our verse in focus is a metaphor for a habitual conduct and not a momentary, fleeting attempt to exhibit some “mystic” attributes.  Dear friends, make it a habit to yield to the influence of the Spirit of God and you will find that you will not need an external code of conduct to keep you in line with God’s desire. 

Is there any particular sinful action or habit that has held you captive? Is there anything in your life that you have accepted as “the sin which so easily besets” (Hebrews 12:1)? Look no further than the resources the grace of God has provided. Allow the influence of God’s Spirit within you to help you overcome any and every challenge you may be facing. Walk in the Spirit.

In the next few episodes we will consider this thought a little more. Remember, the victorious power we experience in our lives through the influence of the Spirit of God in our lives is yet another facet of the astounding grace of God. 

My song for the week is “Greater” by MercyMe.

Have a lovely day and a beautiful week.

"Greater" by MercyMe 

Liberated To Love

Hello dear friends. It’s a new week and it is a privilege writing a new edition of Vignettes of Grace. I hope you maximized the opportunities that came your way last week to be a positive influence like we saw in my last post.

We are at Galatians 5:13 this week:

“My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.” Galatians 5:13 Contemporary English Version

Much of the previous verses in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians had been addressing the issue of our liberty in Christ and its implication on human attempts at justification. The recurrent message all along has been that there is no other way to enjoy the best of God except the way of grace. Also the reality of grace renders all our attempts to make ourselves acceptable to God a mere “chasing after the wind”.

From our verse in focus however, Paul shifts the discussion and begins to address the issue of our liberty in Christ and its implication on our lifestyle-our habits, our actions. In succeeding verses, he would go on to discuss a number of important matters that have to do with an outworking of the inner man but verse 13 opens the door into that discussion.

 It is a simple fact that all the wonderful things God has freely bestowed on us have a practical relevance to our lives here on earth. Indeed we are called to liberty but not to indulgence and reckless living. Galatians 5:13 is a verse that reminds of the awesome responsibility we have as believers in Christ Jesus. We are free from servitude to sin, free from slavery to religious rites and customs but we are now bound to God.

This is much like what God says to us through that wonderful chapter in Romans on our freedom from sin and slavery to righteousness (Romans 6). We are freed from the law but that doesn’t give us a license to sin. Some people have misunderstood the grace of God and wrongly concluded that God’s grace gives us the avenue to go on sinning.  

 We are free, yes! Free from sin, free from the law but not free from love. We have been made free to serve one another in love. This is the true liberty of sonship in Christ. Remember we learnt in verse 6 of Galatians 5 that faith expressing itself through love is what really counts.

God’s grace has brought us liberty and His grace also dictates a certain type of lifestyle-a life that is not governed any longer by a powerless servitude to the law or slavery to sin but one with a powerful exhibition of selfless love. Think on this people. This is our calling. This is the life God planned for us to live.

My song for the week is “I Am Not The Same” by Aaron Keyes. Remind yourself of the realities in this song over and over not only this week but as often as possible.

Join me again next week as we look at more snapshots of God’s amazing grace. Have a lovely day and a great week.

"I Am Not The Same" by Aaron Keyes 

A Little Leaven...

Good day dear friends. How was your weekend? I hope you have rested well. It is a new week and we will continue in our journey in Galatians. We are now at verse 7 of chapter 5: 

“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Gal 5:7-9

Verse 7 of Galatians 5 is one of a few portions of Scripture that present the Christian life as a race. I remember a series of messages I shared in my home church a few years back titled “Portraits Of Our Profession” in which I discussed a few illustrations we find in the word of God that describe our lives as believers. It included the picture of the believer as an athlete, a soldier, a farmer and a builder. Each of those pictures holds important lessons for us and I hope to share these later (perhaps on this blog or another platform). In my post today however, I want to turn our consideration again to an issue we had treated earlier in the series when we were at chapter 2 of Galatians.

The Galatians had started off well. They had received the gospel, embraced the grace of God in Christ Jesus, received the Spirit of God and had been exhibiting good zeal and positive attitude in their Christianity but then things had taken a downward turn. So Paul had to ask them: “who has influenced you?”

The issue here again is the power of influence.  In chapter 2 we saw this in Peter’s encounter with the Jews but here we see it in the Galatian Christians themselves. In Peter’s case, it was only a few individuals-Peter, Barnabas and maybe a few other people that were influenced but here in Galatians 5, it was an influence that had spread all through the whole community of faith in Galatia.

Paul’s reference to leaven or yeast is a borrowed imagery from baking. Yeast is used as a rising agent and only a little quantity is required for a batch of dough. The same imagery is used in 1^st Cor. 5: 6 & 7. It is an apt figure of secret, pervading energy, whether bad or good. For the Galatians it was bad influence: they had started off running well but they had been influenced and led away from God’s path of truth.

Permit me to borrow an example from Nigeria. Corruption is now so pervasive in our country but I have read stories and accounts that make me realize that our country was not always like this. The rot started with only a few people who influenced others who in turn influenced many more and now we are where we are (a crawling giant at 55 years). 

There is an undeniable power of influence. It is seen among friends, siblings, families, peers, colleagues/co-workers, congregations, communities and even large populations. Our actions, words and attitudes usually don’t remain in a vacuum. They always have an effect. They have the power to influence at least someone else and many times a lot more people than we realize can be influenced by the things we do and say.

The Galatians Christians in our passage unfortunately provide us with a negative example of influence. Unlike them, we must refuse to be negatively influenced in any way and I even encourage you to go further than that. Choose to be a positive influence in your home, family, at work, in church, among your friends and everywhere else.  That is what God wants from us, after all through us He spreads the fragrance of His knowledge everywhere (2^ndCorinthians 2:14).

This week I have chosen a song from way back-“Via Dolorosa” by Sandy Patti.

Have a nice day and a great week. Remember this week and always, God’s expectation of us is not only to refuse negative influence but for us to be positive influences. Next week we’ll go back to viewing more snapshots of God’s astounding grace.

"Via Dolorosa" by Sandy Patti