Your Foundation in Christ (Victory Series Book #3): Live By the Power of the Spirit (11 page)

A
young pilot had just passed the point of no return when the weather changed for the worse. Visibility dropped to a matter of feet as fog descended. Putting total trust in the cockpit instruments was a new experience for him, for the ink was still wet on the certificate verifying he was qualified for instrument flying. There was blackness everywhere he looked. The turbulence didn’t seem to matter when he could see, but now every movement of the plane was magnified.

The landing worried him the most. His destination was a crowded metropolitan airport with which he wasn’t familiar. In a few minutes he would be in radio contact with the tower, but until then he was alone with his thoughts. Flying with no visibility, he became aware of how easy it would be to panic. He was tempted to reach for the radio and broadcast “Mayday!” Instead, he forced himself to go over the words in his flight training manual. His flight instructor had required him to practically memorize the book. He didn’t care for the assignment at the time, but now he was thankful. Just thinking about how the plane was built to fly gave him some comfort.

Finally, he heard the voice of the air traffic controller. Trying not to sound apprehensive, the young pilot asked for landing instructions. “I’m
going to put you in a holding pattern,” the controller responded.
Great!
thought the pilot.
That’s
all I need—a few more hours up here!
However, there were no alternative choices. He had to trust the man in the tower whom he couldn’t see, and obey the commands coming by way of the radio. There was no way he could land safely without the controller’s help. To keep from giving in to fear, the pilot thought again of the words in the flight manual. As he did, the words of an old hymn—“trust and obey, for there’s no other way”—took on new meaning.

Aware that this was no time for pride, he informed the controller, “This is not a seasoned pro up here. I would appreciate any help you could give me.” “You got it!” he heard back. For the next 45 minutes, the controller gently guided the pilot through the blinding fog. As course and altitude corrections came periodically, the young pilot realized the controller was guiding him around obstacles he couldn’t see and away from potential collisions. With the words of the instruction book in his mind, and with the gentle voice of the controller, he landed safely.

The flight controller worked on the assumption that the young pilot understood the instructions in the flight manual, and he based his guidance on that. Ironically, the controller had actually written the flight manual. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, who authored our training manual. He too guides us through the maze of life, helping us steer clear of obstacles and enabling us to land safely on the other side. This combination of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance is how we navigate through life under the covenant of grace.

Daily Readings

Galatians 5:13–26

Key Point

Living by the Spirit is neither legalism nor license, and is the only means by which we overcome the desires of the flesh.

Key Verse

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

U
nder the Old Covenant, the children of Israel had to learn to abide by the Law in their own strength. But they could not do it, and neither can we. “The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (Galatians 3:24–25). As children of God, we are under the New Covenant of grace, and we live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. However, the old nature/flesh still wants to have its way. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what
is contrary to the flesh” (5:17). They are in opposition because the flesh operates independently of God, while the operation of the Holy Spirit is always dependent on God the Father.

How do we live by the Spirit? If we answered that question by giving three steps and a formula, it would put us back under the law. The Holy Spirit is a “He,” not an “it.” Living by the Spirit is a relational concept, not a formula. Actually, this passage in Galatians 5 tells us more what living by the Spirit is not, but that is extremely helpful, because it gives us the parameters in which we freely live.

First, living by the Spirit is not legalism. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (verse 18). “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. . . . If you let yourselves be circumcised [for religious purposes], Christ will be of no value to you at all” (verses 1–2). In other words, “Don’t go back under the law.”

Second, living by the Spirit is not license. Paul tells us, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh” (verse 13). In other words, living by the Spirit does not enable us to do whatever we want to do (see verse 17). The Holy Spirit enables us to do God’s will. So, if living by the Spirit is neither legalism nor license, what is it? It is liberty. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Living by the Spirit is the only means by which we overcome the power of the flesh. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16). If we have a choice as to whether we live by the Spirit or by the sinful nature, how can we know which we are choosing? What do our lives reveal? “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (verses 19–21).

However, the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (verses 22–23). Notice the contrast between deeds and fruit. Only the latter is a living spiritual principle.

Why is the flesh in opposition to the Spirit?

How is living by the Spirit neither legalism nor license?

How does the Holy Spirit bring freedom?

How can you know whether you are living by the flesh or living by the Spirit?

What part of your old nature/flesh do you find most difficult to give up?

The whole essence of the gospel is to think according to the Spirit, to live according to the Spirit, to believe according to the Spirit, to have nothing of the flesh in one’s mind and acts and life. That means also to have no hope in the flesh. “Walk then,” he says, “in the Spirit”—that is, “Be alive. If you do so you will not consummate the desires of the flesh. You will admit into consciousness no sin, which is born in the flesh.”

Gaius Marius Victorinus (c. fourth century AD)

2 Corinthians 3:5–18

Key Point

If we live by the Spirit we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Key Verse

But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.

Romans 7:8

P
aul tells us, “No one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith’” (Galatians 3:11). Scripture clearly teaches that believers are no longer under the law. So why does the Church still struggle with legalism? Why do some choose to live as though they are still under the law?

Some Christians actually prefer to have someone tell them what is right and wrong. Others are ignorant of their spiritual life in Christ and the means
by which they live under the New Covenant. Troubled by the problems of immorality, they seek the simple solution of laying down the law.

If we want to relate to God under the law, we need to know what Scripture has to say about legalism. First, “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’” (verse 10). Trying to live by the law only produces guilt, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Legalists are driven people who never reach perfection. Perfectionism is a self-destructive process.

Second, “If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law” (Galatians 3:21). The law is powerless to give life. Telling people that what they are doing is wrong does not give them the power to stop doing it. “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

Third, the law actually has the capacity to stimulate our desire to do what it was intended to prohibit. “When we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. . . . Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in [us] every kind of covetous desire” (Romans 7:5, 8). To illustrate this truth, tell your children, “You can go here, but you can’t go there!” The moment you say that, where do they all want to go? Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they did (see Genesis 2:15–17; 3:6). The forbidden fruit seems to be the most desirable, as does the grass on the other side of the fence.

God’s commandments are not restrictive; they are protective. They reflect the nature of God and are therefore good. The glory of the Lord was revealed when He engraved the law in letters on stone (see 2 Corinthians 3:7–8). But trying to live a righteous life by the law can only lead to discouragement, defeat, and death. “If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness” (verse 9). Only by the Spirit of God can we live righteous lives and not carry out the desires of the flesh. Only by faith can we be justified. Only by the grace of God can we grow in Christ. “We all, who
with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (verse 18).

Why do you think that many in the Church struggle with legalism?

In what ways are those who try to live by the law under a curse? What type of curse does perfectionism bring?

How does the law actually stimulate our desires for sin rather than deter us from it?

Have you tried to live a righteous life under the law in your own strength? If so, how did that work?

How can you live a righteous life under the covenant of grace?

He [Paul] did not say “walk in the Spirit so that you will not have desires of the flesh” but “so that you will not gratify them.” Not to have them at all, indeed, is not the struggle but the prize of struggle, if we shall have obtained the victory by perseverance under grace. For it is only the transformation of the body into an immortal state that will no longer have desires of the flesh.

Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430)

1 Corinthians 8:1–13

Key Point

Liberated Christians restrict their freedom for the sake of a weaker brother, and they abstain from violating the conscience of another.

Key Verse

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?

1 Corinthians 6:15

I
t is false reasoning to assume that if we are completely forgiven and under grace, we don’t have to live according to the law. Living by the Spirit is not a license to do whatever we want. The licentious person disregards rules and regulations. “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2). God has delivered us from the bondage of sin. Why would we want to return to living in chains? We are not under the law, but we are not lawless. We have an eternal standard, but neither
legalism nor license is the means by which we live righteous lives. Living under the grace of God by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit is not a license to sin; rather, it is a gracious means not to sin.

We are free in Christ to live a moral life, but there are times we should restrict our freedom. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul says, “‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” Our freedom becomes license when we abuse our rights and indulge ourselves. We have the freedom to eat whatever we choose, but while one piece of dessert can be good, four pieces are not. We have to master our appetites or they will master us. Always remember that the fruit of the Spirit is self-control (see Galatians 5:23). To continue experiencing the freedom we have in Christ, we have to live responsible lives in the power of the Holy Spirit and do all things in moderation.

A second instance in which we should restrict our freedom is when to do so is for the good of another. “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:23–24). Paul qualified our freedom with the principle of love. “Be careful . . . that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak” (8:9). We have to learn to restrict our freedom for the sake of a weaker brother or sister. If what we are doing is morally permissible, but offensive to others, we shouldn’t do it. We never have the right to violate another person’s conscience. “When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ” (verse 12).

License is a form of spiritual deception referred to as Gnosticism. People think they can indulge their flesh without violating their spirit. They falsely reason, “What I do in the flesh doesn’t matter; it is only what I do in the Spirit that matters.” The Corinthians reasoned that food was both necessary and pleasurable. When their stomachs signaled hunger, it was to be satisfied. They also argued that sex was both necessary and pleasurable, and therefore any sex drive had to be satisfied. But Paul answered their argument when he wrote, “The body . . . is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians
6:13). We cannot separate our bodies from who we are. Our bodies are temples of God.

Why is living under God’s grace not a license to indulge ourselves?

Why is it important to do all things in moderation?

In what ways can our freedom actually lead another believer to stumble?

In what ways have well-meaning Christians been a stumbling block for you?

In what ways have you ever violated another person’s conscience?

One who is free and follows the Spirit and the truth in the higher sense may look beyond the mere letter of Scripture with its types and precursors. But he should not therefore despise the less mature nor give them cause to lose hope to those who cannot grasp the deeper sense. For even if they are weak and fleshly in comparison with those who are spiritual, they remain the Body of Christ.

Origen (AD 184–253)