But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
The desires of the flesh are described for us in verses 19 and following:
...immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like these...
Paul says, "All these things have been put away in Christ."
We are no longer subject to them. We don't have to respond to
them. We have, in Paul's words, been transplanted from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of his Son. We have traded one sovereign
for another. We have been taken out from under the sovereignty
of sin and death and we have been placed under the sovereignty
of God. We worship and serve him, and we are free.
The third thing that Paul tells us in this passage is that we
are free to
serve others. In chapter 5, verse 13, Paul writes,
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh [that is, don't use the freedom that you have in Christ to indulge yourself], but through love serve one another.
Real freedom is not the freedom to indulge yourself or exploit
others. It is the freedom to give yourself in loving service to
other people.
Paul does an interesting thing in this chapter. It is not obvious
from our English translation, but from verse 25 on, he describes
for us, first negatively and then positively, what true servanthood
is. He tells us what it means to give ourselves in loving service.
In chapter 5, verse 25, we read:
If we live [or since we live] by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
If you look back at verse 16 in that chapter, Paul tells us
that deliverance over the desires of the flesh comes as we walk
in the Spirit. Now, the term that Paul uses in verse 16 is a general
term for walking. It is much like our word for walk. It involves
putting one foot ahead of the other. Our English word peripatetic
comes from this particular Greek word. We refer to teachers who
teach as they walk as peripatetic teachers. Socrates, as he walked
the streets of Athens, taught peripatetically. That is the term
used in verse 16.
But in verse 25, Paul uses a different Greek word and that difference
is not obvious from our English translation. The Greek word translated
"walk" here is a word that means to walk in rank or
file, to walk together in the Spirit. Here Paul is talking about
the corporate walk--the walk of the body of Christ together, instead
of the individual walk which he described in verse 16.
Three years ago I was in Berea, Greece, with my good friend John
Landrith. We were looking for a synagogue and we happened to pass
by a school ground where there were a number of children playing.
We watched them for a few moments and then the teacher came out
and blew a whistle. All the children stopped. Then the teacher
called out to them, "Stikesthe! Stikesthe!" which is
the same Greek word that Paul uses here in verse 25. The children
ran from all over the playground and lined up one after another.
I thought, "What a beautiful illustration of this principle."
This is what Paul is talking about. This is how we line up with
one another. This is the way we walk in step, in unison with one
another.
From this point, Paul begins to tell us how we can walk in unison
together. And the undergirding principle throughout the rest of
the passage is that of giving loving service. Basically, this
walk is accomplished by being a servant, by giving yourself willingly
to one another. That is what you are set free to do. Paul states
the principle first negatively, in verse 26, and then positively,
in chapter 6, verse 1, and the following. Verse 26:
Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Actually, what he says is, "Let's not be boastful with
the result that we challenge and envy one another." The term
"boastful" means to have an empty opinion of yourself,
to think of yourself as more than you are. It means, basically,
to be self-centered, to be preoccupied with yourself, your appearance,
your clothes, your hair, what you do, the impression you make
on others. This goes back to what Paul said earlier in chapter
5. This is the way of the flesh-to be preoccupied with yourself.
Paul says that if this is our preoccupation, it will issue in
these two attitudes toward people. In other words, the way you
look at yourself will determine the way you look at others and
the way you react to them. And that attitude, preoccupation with
self, will exhibit itself in challenging certain people and envying
others.
Those we feel superior to, we will challenge. We will call them
out because we want to prove our superiority, and we do it by
being more witty, or more knowledgeable, or more interesting.
We read Time Magazine and therefore everything is more interesting-even
us-and we are going to demonstrate it. It pulls out of us this
competitive spirit. I am better than you and I will show you.
So we challenge one another.
On the other hand, if we feel inferior to people, the result is
that we envy them. Isn't that true? We walk into a situation where
we feel that we don't belong, we longingly look at other people
who seem to have things together and we envy them. In both cases,
we go away from that situation terribly depressed. If we have
talked too much, we feel badly about it, and a little embarrassed.
If we have been envious we start feeling sorry for ourselves,
which always leads to depression. So it is not a very satisfactory
situation.
Paul says, "Don't walk into a situation with vain glory,
with an empty opinion of yourself. See yourself as God sees you-and
God sees you as a servant." Therefore, you can walk into
any circumstance and be a servant and you will have a place. You
will make an impact. God will do something through your life.
You won't have to prove anything.
In the following verses in chapter 6, Paul tells us in very specific
terms what it means to be a servant. Instead of challenging one
another, instead of envying one another, instead of acting and
responding in a competitive way, he tells us what to do. This
is wrapped up in three terms: verse 1, "restoring one another";
verse 2, "bearing one another's burdens; and verse 6, "sharing
all good things with those who teach." Let's look first at
chapter 6, verse 1:
Brethren, even if a man is caught In any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourselves, lest you too be tempted.
The first action that we ought to take as a servant is to be
redemptive and restorative. How do you respond when you see someone
who has been victimized by the enemy, someone who is down and
out, someone who has been ensnared by Satan and has fallen into
sin? Ted Wise once pointed out that Christians are the only people
who tread on their wounded in battle. You see, the person who
has fallen is not the enemy. He is the victim of the enemy. These
people have been, to use Paul's term in 2 Timothy 2:26, "ensnared
by Satan to do his will," and they need to be delivered,
to be restored-not criticized, not ostracized, not rejected. They
need to be loved and restored.
The term that is translated "restore" is the term that
is used in medical literature today to describe the setting of
bones, which is done gently, and is constructive and purposeful.
"Restore" means to put back into place something that
is out of place. Paul says that ought to be our action, considering
ourselves lest we, too, be tempted. We are not to respond self-righteously;
we are to recognize that we are prone to fall into the same sin
and that next time someone may need to be involved in a restorative
ministry in our lives. To restore those who have been victimized,
to build them up, to encourage them, to put them back in a place
of useful service where God wants them to be is a mutual ministry
of all Christians. The first action of a servant is restorative.
The second is found in verses 2-5:
Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ [which is the law of love]. For If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting In regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load.
We are to bear one another's burdens. By so doing, we will fulfill the law of love. This assumes that God never intends any of us to bear the responsibility for living our lives in this world alone. There is a wonderful stick drawing at the top of this particular chapter in Good News for Modern Man that shows a number of figures, each carrying a sack over his shoulder with his left hand and with his right hand extended out in front to lift the burden of the person in front of him. That is the pattern. Paul says we do have our own burdens to bear. He says in verse 5:
For each one shall bear his own load.
There Paul is using the word that refers to a soldier's pack.
This particular statement is placed in here to keep us from unloading
all of our burdens on everyone. Paul is saying that all of us
have certain responsibilities to bear. But in Christ God has given
you the adequacy to bear them. But at the same time, there are
crushing, unbearable burdens that God gives to some people that
they cannot bear alone. And therefore, we must help them to bear
those burdens.
Verse 3 tells us the reason why we do not carry out that ministry.
There are times that we feel that we wouldn't fall to our knees
like someone else does. We wouldn't fail like that. It wouldn't
crush us. And therefore, we withdraw from our brother or sister
instead of helping them bear the burden.
Paul says, "If you think you are something, remember you
are nothing". God will frequently bring something into your
life that will prove to you that you don't have the strength to
bear that burden. We have to recognize our mutual weakness. We
need one another. As servants we need to bear one another's burdens,
no matter how complicated a person's life may become, no matter
what struggle he is involved in. We can have a part in bearing
that burden and sharing with him the responsibility.
Finally, Paul says in verse 6:
And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.
There is no hierarchy in the church of Jesus Christ. Leaders
have the same needs as those who are led. Those who teach struggle
with the same areas, they have the same problems, they need to
be ministered to. The same ministry that you carry out for one
another, you need to carry out for your leaders as well. We need
one another and therefore we are to share all good things with
one another.
These are the three characteristics of a servant, according to
Paul. We are to restore the fallen brother, we are to bear one
another's burdens, and we are to share all good things with those
who teach. Paul goes on to say in these following verses that
to ignore these principles is to fall back into bondage.
He reminds us in verse 7 of what we have often referred to here
as the law of inevitable consequences: You reap what you sow.
God's character is inexorable. You cannot get away from his character.
You cannot thumb your nose at God. Sooner or later your life will
catch up with you. If you live your life for yourself and you
serve yourself, and indulge yourself, the result will be loss.
But if you give yourself to the life of service, the result will
be gain. So Paul says in verses 7-9:
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption [or moral decay---your life will begin to disintegrate], but the one who sows to the Spirit [in the context, sowing to the Spirit is ministering to the needs of your brother] shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
Nothing makes you more weary than being a servant. It is discouraging.
You don't always get the return that you expect. In fact, for
some people, the only return will be the Lord's "Well done."
People won't always recognize what you are doing. They won't appreciate
you. Therefore, it is easy to grow weary and get tired and want
to quit. Paul says, "You will reap if you don't get faint,
if you don't give up-if you continue to pour out your life in
loving service."
Paul concludes in verse 10:
So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Now this is Paul's definition of what it means to do good.
If you have ever been a Boy Scout you know that you had to do
a good turn every day. This good turn was always an undefined
thing-it was difficult to know what your good turn for the day
was. Paul tells us what it means to do good. Jesus went about
doing good. What did he do? He went out serving. He came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister and give his life as a ransom
for many. And that is what we are called to do. We are to do good
to all men, wherever needs exist-Christian, non-Christian, Buddhist.
It doesn't matter who they are, where they are, or what they believe.
God wants us to serve and minister and love these people, and
especially the household of God. The family comes first, but we
are not to ignore secular man as well.
That is what we are called to be and that is why God set us free.
Absolute freedom is the freedom that we enjoy in Jesus Christ.
Paul said in the book of Romans that before we came to know Christ,
we were free in regard to righteousness. That is, we could not
be righteous. All we could do was sin, because even our best actions
were tainted with self-centeredness. Paul says that now, in Christ,
you are set free. But that is not a freedom to exploit your neighbor
or indulge yourself. It is a freedom to love and serve God and
love and serve your neighbor.
And that, I believe, is what God has called us to in our nation
today. I am sure you all want to make some kind of impact on our
nation. I do. And this is certainly a great time to begin. Well,
how do we do that? As I said, earlier, God may call you to a level
of governmental leadership, where you can exert your influence-but
that is not true of all of us. What then can we do? We can proclaim
the message that sets men free. That is true freedom. And secondly,
we can live out our freedom in a world that is bound and enslaved.
We can be God's men and women. We can exercise the freedom of
the sons of God in the midst of the world. And we can serve others.
We are free to do that. That is our privilege.
Two hundred years ago, the foundations were laid for the freedoms
that we enjoy here in America; and we could well say that two
thousand years ago the foundations were laid for the freedom that
we enjoy as the sons of God. During this time of celebration-and
there is much for which we can give thanks-we need to celebrate
what is unquestionably the greatest fact of all-the fact that
we experience the freedom of the sons of God.
Our Father, the Scriptures remind us that the one who called us is faithful and he will do it. We thank you for his faithfulness to us. As we look back to the past we can see that he is the one who set us free and continues to give us the capacity to walk as free men and women. We ask for the courage and the forthrightness coupled with the love to proclaim that message and to live it out. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.
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