Galatians 5:1, 13-25

In helping the Galatians build a fully inclusive church, the Apostle Paul warns them of the other side of the coin, the chance of being entangled in sin again.  We are being warned that there are two forces battling within us.  These are “the flesh”, our desires and self-gratification, and the Spirit of God that produces freedom.

In AA, the first step is an admission that something is controlling you and taking you on a self-destructive path.  That is based on the idea that we have here, something, the flesh, is dragging us down, that wants to take away our freedom.  And just as with alcohol there is a danger of relapse, so it is with the nature that drags us away from God.  There is always the temptation, the lure of something that will ultimately destroy us.

In our passage this week, Paul contrasts the manifestations of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.  The freedom that is in Christ Jesus allows us to live in the fruit of the Spirit.  But we always have the danger of misusing our freedom and being entangled again in the manifestations of our nature outside of Christ.  So we must walk carefully in this world, not judging what others do in their freedom, but realizing the choice that we must make to keep the freedom of Christ abounding in us.

Pastor Greg