January 1927
38
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
real Christian manliness and strength. Temperance, self-control, the guarded step that keeps the way of life. Against living this kind of a life, “there is no law” (v. 23).. This is the fulfilment of the requirements of God. The man who bears the golden fruit proves that he has reckoned “the old man” in the posi tion of the One Crucified. We can keep the old self life in the place where Jesus put it—the place of death—by walking in the Spirit (v. 25). P ith and P oint The liberty we enjoy as Christians is not licentious liberty. If we do not have' the power of the Spirit, it is because we are unwilling to pay the price of the Spirit. The flesh is the angle-worm on the devil’s hook. You can’t help the devil’s coming down your street, but you can keep him from stopping at your house if you’ll make the Holy Spirit your Door-man. (■'Some, sell themselves outright to the flesh; others rent themselves out by the hour. If you. do: not want the fruits of sin, stay out of the orchard. We take sides with God against sin just in so far as we love Christ. The devil’s chloroform in these days is the denial of the reality of sin. S uggestive Q uestions What is the badge of a true believer? (Jn. 13:35). When is the Holy Spirit received? (Jn. 7:39; Eph. 1:13, 14). Is there any one specific sign by which believers may know that they have the Spirit? (1 Cor. 12:4-11). What are the personal conditions of the Spirit-filled life? (Rom. 6:16, 12, 13; . 12 : 1 ) . Is crucifixion of the flesh a self-work? (v. 24; cf. Rom. 8:13), Did Christ cru cify Himself? (Heb. 9:14). When did the crucifixion of “the old man” take place? (Rom. 6 :6). Did Paul reckon crucifixion of the self life a past or a present work? (Gal. 2: 20; 6:14). G olden T ext I llustration “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Eph. 5:11). A ship was once wrecked on the Irish coast and no one could understand how the careful Captain could have gone so far off his course. A diver was s.ent down to investigate. He found inside the com pass box the small point of a steel pocket knife used in cleaning the compass the day before the wreck. It made it a false guide and plunged the ship into ruin. How often has the world been startled by the sudden downfall of some supposedly good man ! There are underground tun nels leading to such wrecks. Sin biases a man’s judgment. By trying to have fel lowship with one little sin, he is gradually steered away from the path of God, and
FEBRUARY 27, 1927 MAKING THE COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN GALATIANS 5:13-25
These are days when man^,- people clamor for freedom —personal liberty. They mean by this—license to do that which is contrary to the laws laid down for the good of hu manity. The believer h a s been “called, into lib erty” (v. 13). Chris tian liberty, however, is not the liberty of the flesh but the Holy Spirit. L o v e will therefore be the master principle that gov erns the exercise of our liberty. There is great difference between free dom to do what the flesh wants to do, and freedom to do what we ought to do. “Use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Paul defines the high level Christian life in 1 Cor. 8 :13: “Wherefore if eating meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” It is not always a question of what we would feel free to do on our own account, but what the Spirit makes us free to do in relation-to others who are weaker than we are. We must always be actuated by the law of love (v. 14). Though Christ has freed us from the curse of the law, He has not freed us from the obligation of it. The Gospel is a “doctrine according to godli ness (1 Tim. 6 :3). The Spirit enables us to fulfill the moral demands of the law, for He “sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God” (Rom. 5:5). It is the lack of this love that causes Christians to “bite and devour one an other” (v. 15). What a different world it would be if, instead of snapping at one another on account of differences of opin ion as to what is consistent, all should set themselves against sin in themselves! How shall these questions be solved? “Walk in the Spirit” (v. 16). He who, yields his life wholly to the Spirit has brought in the Holy Spirit as his resource, and the score must be in God’s favor. There can never be an increase of Christ in me until there has been a decrease of self-will. “This soul of mine must rule this body of mine or quit it,” said John Foster. The life of a Christian is in an even higher sphere than this—for he realizes that his spirit shall be ruled by the Holy Spirit. This is the “victorious life” in a nutshell. Prohibitions are negative. You can’t kill an appetite by starvation, but you may disarm the flesh by' living in a higher sphere. “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit” (v. 17). Naturally, the devil stirs up the carnal inclinations to oppose the will of the Spirit. Thus it comes to pass that unyielded Christians “cannot do the things that they would.” Let no one cherish the notion that to .become a Christian is to be rid alto gether of the oppositions of the flesh. In the renewed man there is a struggle un known to the unregenerate. War is de clared between the Spirit, the new tenant, and the old nature,, which persists in oc cupying as much of the house as its pro prietor will permit.
The half-way Christian life is the hard est life, because a person is trying to do what he cannot do. The full-surrendered Spirit-filled life in easiest, because thq Spirit of God takes us the battle and ejects the sinful intruders for us. The conquest over the sensual is not gained by self-repression but by a new affection—the love of Christ. The way to make a sour beverage sweet is not to try to eradicate the sourness, but to put in the sugar. • Webiiave just read of the “lusts of the flesh” (v. 16). Now we have the cata logue of the “works of the flesh-(vs. 19- 21). One describes the inner motion; the other is the display of effects. What a person does testifies to what he is, “Every man blameth the devil for his sins,” says an old writer, “but the great house-devil of every man, that eateth and liveth in every man’s bosom, is that idol— himself." Seventeen, sins are listed. It will be well to look into the meaning of each word carefully. He who has light views of sin can never have great thoughts of God and Christ. Sin is a brat that no one cares to have left at his door. “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.” The first essential in victory is to call sin S-LN. Those whose practice is the things of this category of vs. 19-21 give evidence that they are in the bondage of sin, and have never been born into God’s kingdom (v. 21). These sins are the pioneers of hell. What is the evidence that one has re ceived and has resigned his life to the Holy Spirit? It is FRUIT! The word is singular (compare “works”). Carnality tends to- numerous distractions, but the Spirit’s inworking is one harmonious whole. -’‘‘Works’’ suggests personal ac tivities. “Fruit” suggests a power that works within and expresses itself out wardly. Note three threes. We have a three fold relation to the universe—to God, to the world, to self. Instruction in right eousness falls into three categories (Tit. 2 :12) “soberly (as to self, righteously (as to fellowmen) godly” (as to God). , The first three products of this list (vs. 22, 23) are Godward; the next three man- ward ; the last three, internal graces of the Spirit. 1. Love, foremost of Christian graces, derives its power from being first poured out upon Christ. Joy, the product of love, gives new glow to the life. Peace,' that holy calm breathed into the soul through acceptance of God’s. Love-Gift, is the foretaste of the eternal Sabbath of God. 2. Long-suffering, the broad shoulders on which we “bear all things.” Gentle ness, the thoughtful insight learned in the school of Christ, which leads, one to lov ingly minister to others. Goodness, the honest, generous face, the hand of charity. 3. Faith, the wonderful quality that unites man to God, and in turn to his fel lows. Meekness, the quiet mien, the will ing self-effacement, which is a mark of
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker