What do we do when sinful attitudes and actions spring up in our lives?
Dec 3, 2011
The Race for Grace - part twenty-five in a study of the book of Galatians
By Mike Gaudet
What do we do when sinful attitudes and actions spring up in our lives?
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8
Column A Column B
sexual immorality love
impurity joy
debauchery peace
idolatry patience
witchcraft kindness
hatred goodness
discord gentleness
jealousy faithfulness
fits of rage self-control
Given the choice, most of us would rather be Column B people. The problem is that Column A behaviors crop up in our lives despite our best efforts.
How can we see fewer Column A and more Column B qualities in our lives? This passage lets us in on a little secret, “A man reaps what he sows.”
On the one hand, “the one who sows to please the Spirit” will reap “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
On the other hand, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature (flesh)” will reap “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.” Galatians 5:19-21
The key to experiencing changed lives is to remember that . . . “where” we sow determines “what” we grow.
When we sow in the field of the Spirit we reap “eternal life.”
When we sow in the field of the flesh we reap “destruction.”
When we operate in the field of the Spirit, we bear the fruit of the Spirit. Earlier in this letter we read that, when we are in the Spirit we are not under law. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” Galatians 5:18
Law relies on clear standards and consistently applied consequences to motivate change. When we approach God as slaves approach a master whose judgment and condemnation they fear, we are living under law. When this is our mindset Column A behaviors will increasingly spring up in our lives.
The Spirit of God, however, does not encourage us to use commandment keeping to invite divine blessings and avert divine curses. We live by the Spirit when we approach God as children approach a father whose love and care they trust. “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son” Galatians 4:6-7 When this is our prevailing mindset Column B behaviors will increasingly spring up in our lives.
When we live “under law” we call God’s love and care into question. We lose confidence in His provision and protection. We become self-centered and self-protective. We begin to love things and use people. Authenticity gives way to hypocrisy. Gentleness gives way to judgment.
The problem in the church at Galatia was that hypocritical and judgmental attitudes were seeping into the church. The believers were “provoking and envying each other.” A “pecking order” had developed by which they judging one another’s spirituality.
Paul issues a stern warning, “God is not mocked.” To mock someone literally means to “turn the nose up” at them. When they turned up their nose at those “less spiritual” than themselves, they were turning their nose up at God . . . they were mocking God.
The judgment and hypocrisy that characterize this kind of spirituality does not come from the Spirit of God. It grows up out of another field . . . the field of the flesh.
The gentleness that God’s Spirit inspires is rooted in the soil of God’s fatherly love and care.