Day 2 

Lisa Scheffler, author

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There is an old saying that, depending on when and where you grew up, you may have heard, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.”

The idea is that without some kind of menacing force prowling the area, people will do what they want. If the boss is out, the employees will goof off. If Mom and Dad aren’t around, the dishes will never get done. If the teacher is out of the room, students will talk and not work.

Although not a perfect analogy, this was part of the concern that Paul’s opponents had expressed. Without the law, what’s going to keep people in line? In this passage, Paul wants the Galatian Christians to consider a different question. What if it didn’t take a menacing force to get people to do the right thing? 

Read 

Galatians 5:13-18

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Based on Paul’s warning in verse 15, what do you think was going on in the Galatian church?

In practical terms, what do you think it means to be led by the Spirit?

Reflect

If we think about how this section of Galatians fits in with the rest of the letter, we could say that Paul is answering the question he posed in 3:3 – having begun by the Spirit, do you now come to completion by the flesh? His answer is no, you are made complete in the faith the same way you entered it — by the Spirit.[1]

Think of it this way, believers have received an amazing upgrade to the law beyond what they could have ever imagined. The Spirit of the living God has come to rest on his people. So of course, as Paul makes clear in verse 13, being free in Christ is not a license to sin. That wouldn’t be of the Spirit. The Spirit will lead us away from self-indulgence, to love and serve others. Freedom is for love.

In verse 15, Paul describes the Galatians’ behavior in vivid terms. They were biting and devouring each other like wild animals fighting over food. It’s not surprising that because the message of Paul’s opponents so thoroughly contradicted his own, the Galatian church erupted in conflict. What might surprise us is that Paul does not cheer on the fight. He doesn’t marshal supporters, or ask his “side” to come to his defense. Instead, he tells the Galatians to love and serve one another.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he replied simply, love God with your whole being. He followed with “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36–40). From the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), we know that “neighbor” is not just people who are like you and live nearby and also that love is more than a sentiment. To love is to relentlessly pursue the good of another, even when it costs you something.

Here Paul echoes Jesus. This is the law the Galatians need to follow in their conflict and strife. By doing this, they will fulfill the entire law. Love your neighbor as yourself. The Spirit opposes the flesh and all the selfish, self-indulgent desires that turn us in on ourselves so that we either disregard those around us, or end up using them. It’s Spirit empowered love, and not a shared ethnicity, circumcision, or following the same food laws that forms a covenant community. Likewise, for us it’s not a middle-class suburban lifestyle, shared politics, or preference for contemporary worship music that makes us family. It’s our humble service and love for one another. As we are led by the Spirit, we will be led to love.

[1] Gordon Fee, Galatians, 200.

Respond

How could a closer walk with the Spirit keep you from gratifying the desires of the flesh? What do you think it means to walk in the Spirit? Have a meaningful conversation with a fellow Christian and discuss this. Get practical and encourage one another.

Take time now to invite the Spirit to lead you in everything you do. Ask him to empower you to love others, particularly in areas of your life where there is conflict.