Purity and the Christian Life

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil 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. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another" (Gal. 5:14-26). There it is my friend, plain and simple: The way of life and salvation, and the way of death and damnation. It's all done here and now, and we will reap the eternal reward hereafter. The mighty apostle Paul minced no words whatsoever here, in admonishing the believers in Galatia as to what is what in the realm of the hope of salvation. He clearly listed many of the things that will keep God's people from inheriting eternal life if they practice and continue in those things. It's really simple math: "The wages of sin is [eternal] death [not life]" (Rom. 6:23).

He also let them and us know what kind of life and spirit accompanies the works of those who will ultimately be saved unto eternal life. In no uncertain terms the apostle made it plainly known that if we have been born of the Spirit, we need to continue to walk in the Spirit thereafter if we intend to "make [our] calling and election sure" (II Pet. 1:10). It is no coincidence that he tells us to "walk in the Spirit" so that we do not "fulfill the lusts of the flesh;" and thereafter lists seventeen "works of the flesh" that no one can be saved while doing. Paul also makes it clear at the end of the chapter that our proof of belonging to Christ is that we do NOT practice the works of the flesh, and that we DO bear "the fruit of the Spirit." There is also an element to this passage that is easily overlooked, but at the same time it is the point of the entire book of Galatians, and the reason for this passage. It is this: "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." What does that have to do with it? According to the apostle, a whole lot indeed. The Galatians were being duped by false apostles who were persuading them that in order to be fully right with God they had to keep the ceremonial ordinances of the law in addition to having received the Spirit of God (Gal. 3:1-3). His message to them was that this practice could not possibly ADD to their experience with Jesus, but rather it was certain to TAKE AWAY from it (Gal. 4:10,11; Gal. 5:4; Gal. 6:15). To have godly respect unto any natural ordinance like the ones in the law is to take away from the godly respect that is owed to Jesus alone, who FULFILLED ALL natural ceremonial ordinances, or "works of the law." No one today among God's people is being taught that circumcision or the feast of tabernacles is required, but they ARE being taught that things like water baptism, so called 'communion services,' sabbath days, and the like are commandments of God. Yet if we do our homework the scriptures clearly show us that these things were and are fulfilled by Jesus for all who are 'in him' by means of HIS spirit baptism (Mat. 3:15; Mat. 5:17; Lk. 22:15-20; Col. 2:10,16,17; I Cor. 12:13).

The problem with observing these kinds of things is exactly what Paul said above, that being that God's Spirit does NOT lead us back to the ceremonial works that merely symbolized what Jesus would fulfill (Gal. 3:24,25). What that means is when we are made to believe that we need to keep natural ceremonies in order to fulfill some supposed 'obedience,' we are actually being made to go backward from the leading of the Spirit of God. I hope you see that, because that is exactly what is there to be seen. When we go backward from the leading of the Spirit, we can only go back to the "works of the flesh," as the Galatians were doing. The only way to fulfill obedience to Christ in holiness, meaning to be without sin, is to "walk in the Spirit" and not "fulfill the lusts of the flesh." We simply cannot walk straight in the Spirit at the same time that we are being led backward FROM the Spirit by having regard unto the ceremonial works of the law (Jn. 4:24; Philip. 3:3). Simply stated, it just messes up the walk. God's HOLY Spirit is the only thing in existence that can both make us holy, and lead us into preserving holiness in our lives. We cannot afford to go backward from where the holy Ghost is leading us, because that means to go backward from holiness. The ONLY place that God's Spirit leads us is further into Christ, who I believe is holy (I Cor. 6:17; II Cor. 3:17; Gal. 3:27). I think it all paints a much clearer picture as to why the same apostle said the following in another place: "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:13,14). Anyway, I believe if you will search out all the referenced scriptures here, and give it some thought and prayer, you will see that this understanding is from God, and can be very helpful to the hope of our salvation (Rom. 8:24,25; Rom. 13:11; Eph. 4:4; I Thess. 5:8). God bless.