Galatians 5:1, 13-25 (NRSV)
1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
13
For you were
called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an
opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If, however, you bite and
devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16
Live by the
Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For
what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is
opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from
doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are
not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery,
enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned
you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22
By contrast,
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law
against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by
the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not
become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Year C
June 26-July 2
June 26, 2016
Cross~Wind UMC
Title: Bearing Fruit
6.4, 1333
Introduction
I came across an article about
fruit, especially the new shape of fruit that was just interesting to me.
Some farmers are challenging our
assumptions about the shape of fruit.
Watermelons, for example, no longer
need to be the rounded oblong shape with which we are most familiar. Go to the
right market, and you may find square watermelons grown by botanical artists.
At a restaurant, the cucumbers in
your salad might appear heart-shaped rather than round, due to the produce
shaping of another farmer.
One agricultural expert has
developed a process where pears -- having long been pear-shaped -- can now
arrive at your farmer's market in the shape of little Buddhas. They can shape
the arms and facial features in such a well-defined way that the Buddha appears
to be in a prayer-like, meditative state. Now, would you eat a little Buddha?
Farmers grow these pears this way. Such
farmers have molds into which the fruit grows, taking on the shape of the mold.
With or without the mold, producing
fruit is no easy task. Because of our distance from the farm or orchard, many
of us have lost our appreciation for just how difficult this process is. We
simply go to the local grocery store and pick up whatever fruit we like, at a
reasonable price. It is all right there before us and we can receive it
instantly.
Application
I have long used this passage for discernment
of the will of God. If you are going down a path that produces the fruit of
which Paul writes here, then we are broadly in the will of God.
One author applied it to the
ministry of the church.
Fruit growers use baskets, and in the
church we have to have organization methods and programs. They're important and
necessary. But if the fruit crop fails and there's no life in the trees, you're
not going to improve matters by buying better baskets. Today we're turning out
the best baskets we've ever had, but there's a failure in the fruit crop.[1]
I invite you to take up the
challenge. The point of our life together is not to produce better baskets, but
to produce the fruit of transformed human lives. In terms of your life right
now, do your decisions lead to production of this fruit?
First, let us draw an analogy from
our role in fruit production
Ordinary pears, watermelons and all
other fruit we consume require a great deal of time and labor. We plant the
seeds, prune the trees, remove the weeds, water the plants, and treat the
pests. Farmers take great care to ensure that the plants have all they need to
produce beautiful, delicious fruit. Then there is the waiting. Trees and plants
take time to grow. Buds appear slowly, and fruit grows and matures over many
days and nights. Successful growers need both hard work and patience to bring
the fruit to market, whether pear- or Buddha-shaped.
We often would like the fruit of the
Spirit to appear instantaneously in our lives. We need to think of ourselves as
farmers of our lives. Time spent in worship, scripture, and prayer is like
watering the soil. Removing anything that harms growth is like pruning and
weeding. Of course, an untended tree may produce some fruit. We might produce,
almost by accident, some fruit. When we participate by providing the proper
conditions, our watering, weeding, and working the orchard of our lives will
make us fruitful.
Second, let us draw an analogy with
the produce section
You go to the grocery store. Where
are you going to find fruit and vegetables? In the "Produce" section,
a reminder that we do not manufacture fruit, but instead receive it. The role
of the farmer is to participate in a natural process. By no means do farmers
cause the fruit to grow. Instead, they make the conditions right to give the
fruit the opportunity to grow. Then they get to collect what the earth
produces.
There are no shortcuts, which can
be quite frustrating. Maybe you have prayed the prayer, "God, please grant
me patience, and give it to me NOW!"
A little 4-year-old boy is
traveling with his mother. Like most kids his age, he is constantly badgering
his mother with the same question: "When are we going to get there? When
are we going to get there?" Like many mothers of 4-year-olds, she gets
irritated and says, "We still have 90 more miles to go. So don't ask me
again when we're going to get there." The boy is silent for a long time.
Then he asks, "Mom, will I still be 4 when we get there?"
A man's car stalls in heavy traffic
just as the light turns green. All his frantic efforts to get the car started
fail, and a chorus of honking horns behind him makes matters worse. He finally
gets out of his car, walks back to the first driver behind him and says,
"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to get my car started. If you'll go up there
and give it a try, I'll stay here and honk your horn for you."
While we cannot force patience or
any other fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we can make the conditions right
that allow them to mature in our lives.
In the movie Evan Almighty, a wonderful
scene occurs when God, at this point a waiter played by Morgan Freeman, has a
beautiful thought for the wife of Evan. "If someone prays for patience, do
you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be
patient? If someone asked for their family to be closer," which had been her
prayer throughout the movie, "do you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy
feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"
Third, let us focus upon Jesus fruit
Farmers create square watermelons
and Buddha-shaped pears by using molds that shape and restrict the growth of
the fruit. The pear takes on the shape of the mold because it is not free to
grow beyond it. While shaping the watermelon, the mold also limits how much it
can grow.
Jesus fruit, on the other hand, is
the product of freedom, not restriction.
Paul reminds us that Christ makes us free. Christ deeply blesses us with
the gift of freedom. Paul wants us to know that God is not squeezing us into a
mold, as the law would do. Instead, Christ has set us free to be fundamentally
different.
Fourth, let us ponder that we are free to be.
- A psychologist might tell us we are the products of our
parents and limited by their emotional health.
- An economist might say we are products of our economic class,
limited in our options by the wealth or poverty into which we were born.
- A sociologist might say we are products of our
neighborhood or ethnicity, shaped and limited by cultural traditions and norms.
The Bible tells us instead that we
are free from those forms or molds. Christ has set us free for freedom. We do
not have to be the same shape as all the other watermelons on the vine or all
the other pears on the tree. Circumstances do not limit us beyond our control.
There are no forms around us restricting us, forcing us into some unnatural
shape.
Conclusion
As the sons and daughters of God,
redeemed and renewed by Jesus Christ, we have the freedom to be free. We have
been set free to become Jesus-shaped, to live Jesus-shaped lives.
I invite you to look at your life
again. Sometime today, take a brief inventory of your life. Are you producing a
life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control?
Remember that we are to lead
Jesus-shaped lives. You have been set free to break out of the mold and become
the person Jesus wants you to be.
Going deeper
I would encourage a serious
reader of the letter to read Galatians 5:1-6:18 together first, in order to
catch a flow of the exhortation in the form of pastoral counsel that Paul
offers. In particular, note how what
Paul has said thus far prepares the way to present his notion of Christian
liberty.
In the world of scholars, the
presence of these last two chapters, for some, suggests that Betz is wrong to
say that Paul uses the rhetoric of the courtroom in this letter. Such rhetoric
does not have a practical appeal at the end. It might suggest that something
other than the image of Paul presenting case to a jury is in play.
The whole of Galatians forms a
coherent, progressive argument by Paul against the influences of a group of
law-oriented opponents. These teachers insisted that Christians were obligated
to keep the Mosaic Law. While theologically rich in their own right, the first four chapters of Galatians are
really a series of examples and citations about the Law and the gospel leading
up to the climax of Paul's argument in chapters 5 and 6. If this is true,
then we have moved beyond the idea that Paul now offers an ethical imperative
based upon the fundamental theological point established in the first four
chapters. We have moved toward viewing Chapters 5 and 6 as the goal of this
letter. As we shall see, then, the point of what God has done in Christ is to
transform human lives. In Chapter 4, Paul says he is so direct and urgent in
his letter because his desire is that Christ takes form in them. He longs for
the oneness in Christ to become real in them. The negative examples and fierce
arguments Paul had leveled against the missionary opponents (who had apparently
gained considerable influence over the Galatian Christians) now give way to Paul's positive concluding remarks. Paul
has given hints of what he wants. He wants to see Christ formed in them, which
explains the urgency and occasional harshness of the letter. He wants to see
them to unite in Christ. Thus, this chapter begins with Paul drawing a quite
specific conclusion from his previous four chapters of discourse. No one should
force the Galatians to submit to circumcision.
The insistence of his opponents that the Galatians observe this ritual
flies in the face of Christian freedom. They are in danger of exchanging the
slavery of heathenism for the slavery of Judaism. Clarifying the scope of this freedom is what directs and informs the
rest of the letter.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25 (NRSV)
[The theme of
Galatians 5:1-12 is that of a warning that his readers need to stand firm in
their Christian liberty, thereby rejecting the way of circumcision and Law.]
1 For
freedom Christ has set us free. [Here is the goal of the discussion in the first four
chapters. If we have a proper grasp of what God has done in Christ, then we
will have genuine, Christ-given freedom. Freedom is a perilous, fragile
gift. Freedom can also fragment
community. Paul is warning readers
against an exclusively individualist concept of freedom. "I've got mine," becomes the slogan
of a society in centrifuge. Paul appeals
for a churchly, communal sense of responsibility. Christ's gift to all his disciples is true
freedom. As Barth sees it, it is not
that freedom is a fine thing in itself, but because Christ has won it. Such
a comment enters a realm of philosophy. Is something worthy because God
determines it so, or is it worthy naturally, and God acknowledges it as well
and works toward its perfection. It
seems more likely to me that what Paul is doing acknowledging a legitimate
human desire for freedom and liberty, and therefore lifting it up as something
life in Christ brings. In any case, Paul addresses the Galatians as those who
have received this liberty. As he sees it, to give up the freedom that
Christ has won, and thereby giving up justifying faith, is the temptation into
which false teachers have led these people and won some success among them. As
he puts it in verse 9, a “little leaven” leavens the entire lump. What we learn
is that circumcision in this passage and Jewish feasts in 4:10 are to become
obligatory, according to these false teachers.[2]] Stand firm, therefore, and do
not submit again to a yoke of slavery. [I have avoided the
identification of the opponents of Paul as Judaizers, for it has led to an
equation of Judaism with nomism. Torah-observance in and of itself becomes a
desire to make oneself acceptable before God, and Judaism itself is thereby
being rejected by Paul. However, recall that Paul has already affirmed “the
whole law” as encapsulated in the command to mutual love. The problem, then, is
not with “law”/torah itself (any more than that all “slavery” is problematic),
but rather with the “self-indulgence” that is the core of nomism. If one’s
focus in observing God’s gracious “instruction” is exclusively to secure
blessings for one’s self rather than to be in just and loving relationship with
God, others, and the whole of creation, then one is ultimately following one’s
own “desires” rather than being “led by the Spirit” who is the revealer of
God’s “instruction,” torah, “the whole law.” I want to discuss what this
liberty might mean. While it appears Paul has set up an absolute contrast
between slavery and freedom, he seems to have a much more nuanced position. To extol “freedom” in American churches
cannot help but call to the minds of those who attend the rallying of the
colonists for independence. To set it directly in contrast to “slavery”
certainly tempers the celebratory mood with necessary humility regarding our
national forebears. Some of them wanted to secure the blessings of liberty for
themselves, but refused to extend it to others.]
[Martin Luther thought of this
last chapter as an exposition of the Christian liberty to which Paul hoped that
the Galatian churches would return. He does not think Paul is referring to
civil liberty. Rather, he refers to the liberty of conscience that comes from
Christ. One is no longer fearful of the anger of God, and therefore has
liberty. Interestingly, I think the modern person no longer lives with such a
fear. The liberty Luther thought one could have only in Christ the modern,
secular person comes by quite naturally. Of course, for Luther, reason cannot
properly appreciate this gift.]
[I note
that Barth says that the contrast is with the idea of servitude overcome in
Christ. This servitude consists in bondage to a law of God that humanity has
misunderstood and misused, a law to which humanity ascribes divine authority
and makes every effort o observe. Of course, in practice, humanity does not
recognize in it the voice of God. Such bondage does not allow humanity to
receive genuine revelation.[3]
He discusses the notion that the imparting of liberty is not simply opposing
freedom of choice, but offering genuine direction that brings liberty. Such
liberty is human sanctification.[4]]
[Galatians 5:2-12 is his testimony that circumcision gives no special
standing to those who are truly seeking Christ. The tone of Paul is severe. The suggested
requirement is fatal to the freedom Christ wants to bring. Paul reveals that
freedom in Christ is not a freedom toward the self-indulgence of
licentiousness. Rather, the exercise of
loving service is the truest mark and measure of Christian freedom.]
[Galatians 5:13-26 has the theme of warning against corruption of the
flesh and an invitation to bearing the fruit of the Spirit.]
13 For
you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; [Having identified
freedom as Christ's gift to his followers, Paul now carefully defines just what
kind of "freedom" this is and what it requires. God has called them
to freedom. What will this freedom look
like in a human life?] only do not use your freedom as
an opportunity for self-indulgence [sarx, which would be one form of slavery. “Flesh” is
that self-regarding human nature corrupted at its source, with its unchecked
appetites and propensities, which result in the works of the flesh he will soon
list. Some of the friends of Paul might even suggest that the Law is the best
antidote to the works of the flesh. However, Paul is moving in the direction of
describing the freedom that comes in the Spirit. However, freedom will look like love and service] but through love become slaves [For
Paul, freedom is not the opposite of slavery, but rather a matter of what one serves.] to one another. [Now, he can speak of slavery in a positive sense
of practical love to each other, which is the law of Christ. Service that is
relationally directed toward others “through love” Paul can positively refer to
as “slavery.” Paul directs the attention of his Galatian audience out of their
self-absorption and reminds them that one’s response to the neighbor measures
loving service - not the self. Many commentators have noted how Paul's complex
relationship to the law that we see here. Paul emphasizes the power and
priority of Christ's freedom and love over the letter of the law. Yet, he uses
a popular encapsulation of the law itself to demonstrate correct behavior in
those living within Christ's freedom. Some
commentators have suggested that this reference to "the law" allows
one to understand it as Paul's continued commitment to the "second
table" of the Mosaic covenant - and the ethical/relational precepts
spelled out there. Others claim Paul is stressing the difference between
the concern of the opponents with doing the Law and his own urgings that
Christians fulfill the law through love. Why
should others be any more beneficial a master than one’s own self? Does not
experience teach us that those who submit their own desires to the desires of
others are often, if not perhaps universally, taken advantage of by them?] 14
For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[The very real potential for such abuse may be
exactly why Paul immediately asserts that one can reduce the law to the command
to love the neighbor as oneself. Gutbrod
says that the true intention of the Law finds fulfillment in one set in love by
Christ.[5] This notion seems to have some basis in the
teaching and life of Jesus, which is why he refers to it as the law of Christ. Paul and Jesus unite at the supremacy of
love. In b.Sabb. 31a, we read of
a Gentile coming to Shammai asking the rabbi to teach him the entire Torah
while he stood on one foot. Shammai hit him with a rod that he had. When he
went to Hillel, he responded, “What is hateful to you do not to your neighbor;
that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.”
Judaism had other attempts to summarize or organize the Torah into shorter
topics or sayings. Yet, that command applied individually (“I must love others
as I love myself”) of course cannot stave off abuse. Yet when applied
communally where every “neighbor” who is to be loved is simultaneously a “you”
who must also show love in return to the other who is reciprocally a
“neighbor,” then there is both a freedom to act for others even as there are
restraints established by what we recognize as unloving when directed toward
ourselves. Just as “slavery” has the potential to be both positive and negative
in Paul’s view, so in the same way he can use the word “law” (nomoV) either positively or negatively.
Clearly, Paul uses the “law” in a positive sense here. Most likely, he uses it
in a way that corresponds to the use of the Hebrew word Torah within Judaism to
refer to the “instruction” God provides through the Scriptures regarding how to
live in relationship with the Divine, other people and all of creation.]
[In all of
this, we can see the problem that Luther unnecessarily created for himself. He
made such a sharp distinction between faith and love that there is legitimate
concern that “faith” becomes only a matter of inner conscience, with little
effect upon how one lives. In this, I think John Wesley had a better way of
thinking, using these verses to say that Christianity is always faith working
through love. I think it quite unnatural to separate them. However, Luther does
say:
Reason takes offense at the brevity
with which Paul treats the Law. Therefore reason looks down upon the doctrine
of faith and its truly good works. To serve one another in love, i.e., to
instruct the erring, to comfort the afflicted, to raise the fallen, to help
one’s neighbor in every possible way, to bear with his infirmities, to endure
hardships, toil, ingratitude in the Church and in the world, and on the other
hand to obey government, to honor one’s parents, to be patient at home with a
nagging wife and an unruly family, these things are not at all regarded as good
works. The fact is, they are such excellent works that the world cannot
possibly estimate them at their true value. … My neighbor is every person,
especially those who need my help, as Christ explained in the tenth chapter of
Luke. Even if a person has done me some wrong, or has hurt me in any way, he is
still a human being with flesh and blood. As long as a person remains a human
being, so long is he to be an object of our love.
Calvin moves in this same direction, reminding us that the
present question is not, in what manner we are free before God, but in what
manner we may use our liberty in our relationship with others. A good
conscience submits to no slavery; but to practice outward slavery, or to
abstain from the use of liberty, is attended by no danger. In a word, if “by
love we serve one another,” we shall
always have regard to edification, so that we shall not grow malicious, but use
the grace of God for the honor of God and the salvation of our neighbors.]
15 If,
however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed
by one another.
[When the restraints of verse 14 on freedom are not in place — when
everyone is free to use others only as a means to satisfy his or her own
personal desires — the result is that everyone
is simply “consumed” by each other. All these attempts to explain Paul's
reference here to "law" immediately after he proclaims Christian
freedom is perhaps best understood by noting the particular example Paul offers
this Galatian community in verse 15. Apparently, the Galatian community's
division into opposing theological factions had generated combative spirits
that drove them to "bite and devour one another." To those who
claimed the continued primacy of the law, Paul's familiar distillation of all
law to the single commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself"
must have been convicting. The law convicts all the backbiting factions of
denying the very law they are seeking to follow.]
[Verses
16-21 and 22-26 divide human behavior
into that of the "flesh" and that of the "spirit.”
Traditional interpretations of these two ways have tended to take Paul
literally. One understands flesh as the base, fallen nature of human
flesh. Likewise, one understands the
spirit as a literal reference to living within the power and the influence of
the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit.
Some scholars suggest that such a reading is too simplistic. This interpretation reads flesh and spirit as
redemptive historical terms. For Paul, fleshly existence was something
that trapped all people until the events of Christ's death and
resurrection. Those who hear and believe
the news of Christ's resurrection, however, now enter into a new plane of
existence - living in the Spirit. In
this model, the Mosaic Law was part of the old fleshly system that existed
before Christ's redemptive death. Thus,
when Paul argues against being in the flesh he is not simply citing flesh as an
inferior human condition, but as a past standard that has been overwhelmed by
the event of Christ's death and resurrection.
Those still in the flesh are the opponents whose teachings are causing
confusion and dissension in the Galatian church. Those in the spirit are all those who live
the light of Christ's redemptive acts.
To live in "the Spirit" is to experience the crucifixion of
one's own flesh (v. 24) and thus to enjoy the new freedom Christ offers.]
[In verses 16-18, Paul offers a
double contrast with the Spirit, first with flesh and then with Law. Flesh and Law are closely allied. The Law is no safeguard against the flesh,
but rather provokes it. Flesh and Law
move in the same element, the outward and material.]
16 Live
by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. ["Self-indulgence"
is not primarily sensual or bodily gratification, but the total resources of
humanity without the Spirit. F. F. Bruce says the way of the Spirit is the way of freedom and love. Love does not
have external force or sanction, one that a nation or religion can impose. One
cannot impose love of neighbor. It arises through the operation of the Spirit.]
17 For what the flesh desires is
opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for
these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. [The temptation is to go
to Romans 7 and 8 for an exposition of this tension between flesh and Spirit.
However, Betz thinks we may have a pre-Pauline anthropology here that Paul does
not work out fully until his letter to the Romans. Thus, we cannot go to the
Romans passage and assume that Paul is already thinking that way. Barth will take, of course, a Reformed view
of this passage. For him, this passage shows the freedom of Christians in Christ and the solidarity of Christians
with the rest of humanity in the struggle with the flesh. The Christian is not only free in Christ
but also struggling with the continued presence of the flesh. Humanity is
dead in its sins, Barth says, in all seriousness of a past that is
unfortunately always present. Individuals are corpses awaiting the
resurrection. Individuals engage in the conflict of the Spirit against the
flesh. Such conflict does not mean peaceful co-existence, let alone
cooperation. Even the Christian remains a rebel rather than a servant of the
king. His point is that the liberation of humanity in Christ, the new birth,
the conversion, the freedom, all takes place in Christ, not in the Christian.
The individual remains useless as for as the good has concern. Individuals
choose only the wrong. The Christian is a practical non-Christian. Freedom and
bondage clash in one person. In all of this reflection, Barth distances himself
from the Roman Catholic notion of human cooperation in justification. He
stresses that in one sense, liberation is provisional, for the saints are still
captives. The liberation is real, for if they are still prisoners, it does not
count. The captivity is behind them, freedom ahead of them. All of this is in
their fellowship with Christ.[6]]
18 But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not subject to the law.[Contrast the positive assessment of “law” in verse
14 to its juxtaposition to the Divine in verse 18. Here, Paul clearly
identifies “Law” with the “desires of the flesh” that are “opposed to the
Spirit” in verses 16-17. (Whether the other use of “law” in this passage is
positive or negative is somewhat difficult to say; that there is “no law
against” love [v. 23b] seems to smack of sarcasm or at least irony since “love”
sums up “the whole law” in v. 14.) We learn that the age of Law is superseded
by the age of the Spirit. To exchange the freedom they now have for the Law
would be to return to the slavery of stoicheia.]
[Verses 19-21 are a list of vices.]
19 Now
the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, [porneia he refers to fornication. In the Greek and Roman world,
it was so common that it became reprehensible only when carried to excess]
impurity, [akaqarsia he refers to impurity, suggesting
the spread of the corrupting influence of vice.] licentiousness [aselgeia he refers to wantonness, vice throwing off all
restraint with no sign of shame or fear, without regard for self-respect or
respect for others].,[We have references to
impurity, uncleanness, shocking public decency. ] 20 idolatry,
sorcery, [They
recognize false gods and tamper with the powers of evil. With eidwlolatreia Paul refers to worship of
idols, referring to any substitute for the worship of the true God. With farmakeia Paul refers to sorcery, to the
drugs used in witchcraft.] enmities, [With ecqrai Paul refers to enmities or hostilities
between individuals or communities, on political, religious, or racial grounds.]
.strife,
[With eriV Paul refers to strife or quarrelsomeness.]
jealousy, [With
zhloV Paul refers to the negative sense
of this word, that of selfish jealousy. Depending upon context, one could
translate as jealousy or envy.] anger, [With qumoV Paul refers to outbursts of rage.
Aristotle refers to the menace of uncontrolled rage that does not hear the
voice of reason. He compares it to a pet dog who vigorously barks before
discovering if the approaching person is friend or foe.[7]]
quarrels,
[With eriqeia Paul refers to a mercenary spirit and
selfish ambition.] dissensions, [With dicostasiai Paul refers to dissensions and
divisions.] factions,
[With aireseiV Paul refers to
heresy.] 21 envy, [Paul uses fqonoi to refer to the grudging spirit that
cannot bear to contemplate the prosperity of someone else. Depending upon
context, it could receive the translation of jealousy or envy.] drunkenness,
[With meqai Paul refers to drunkenness or drunken
orgies.] carousing, [With kvmoi Paul
refers to revelry, a word always used with drunkenness.] and things like
these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God. [As Paul refers to the reign of God
here, he refers to a future reality, the heritage of the people of God in the
age to come. The gift of the Spirit is the guarantee or first installment of
that heritage.]
[Verses 22-26 focus on the Spirit. Here are
the graces that exhibit the lifestyle of those who live by the energy and
indwelling of the Spirit. Even if we continue to read verses 16-25 as
literal references to flesh and Spirit, there remains an undercurrent in Paul's
words of the continuing battle between law and freedom. Paul refers to the
behaviors manifested by the flesh and the "works" of the flesh (v.
19) - i.e., activities brought about and fully realized by human actions and
abilities. Those in the Spirit, however, experience the "fruits" of
the Spirit (v. 22). Human endeavor cannot
bring fruit to existence. Farmers can plow, fertilize and tend - but
whether a crop succeeds in producing fruit is still the result of the divine
gift of life. Likewise, it is through Christ's freely given sacrifice that
those living in his Spirit can expect the presence of the Spirit's greatest
fruits. While it takes a bit of a stretch to characterize every one of the
vices listed in verses 19-21a as actions that abuse others for personal
gratification, the “fruit of the Spirit” are virtues that exist essentially in
relationship. The placing of “self-control” at the end of the virtues draws
attention to this fundamental distinction between gratifying the self’s desires
and restraining them — or indeed even putting them to death in verse 24.]
22 By
contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, [Paul refers to agaph
as the first fruit, not surprising, given that it fulfills the Law and
defines the law of Christ.] joy, peace, [With cara Paul
refers to joy and with eirhnh he refers
to peace or well-being. Some scholars think that we have three sets of three,
and if so, love, joy, and peace form the first triad.] patience, [With makruqumia Paul refers to patience, which is
also a quality of God.] kindness, [With crhstothV Paul refers to another quality of
God, that of kindness.] generosity, [With agaqvsunh Paul refers to goodness and
generosity.] faithfulness, [With pistiV Paul
refers to faithfulness, dependability, and loyalty.] 23 gentleness,
[Paul
refers to prauthV as gentleness, which
Aristotle says is a mean between an excessive tendency toward anger and
incapacity for anger.[8]]
and
self-control. [Paul
concludes his list of virtues with egkrateia as
self-control, focusing upon sensual passions rather than the previous virtue of
gentleness. According to the seventh book of Nichomachean Ethics, such a person has strong passions but is able
to control them, while the opposite type of person has the strong passions and
has no strength to resist their temptation. Plato contrasts it to those who
over-indulge in food and sex.[9]]
There
is no law against such things. [Believers have no external law regulating outward
behavior. The Spirit has replaced Law. Practicing such virtues is beyond the
realm of Law to touch. One cannot legally enforce them. Aristotle uses a
similar phrase to suggest that some persons surpass others in virtue, not
needed a law to regulate their behavior, and in fact, they constitute a law or
standard for others.[10]]
24 And
those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. [Paul has made it clear that both flesh and
Law are part of the pre-Christian order. The cross makes a clean break.
Pannenberg says crucifying our desires
is something that those who belong to Christ should do, certainly in the aorist
with an allusion to the act of baptism, yet still as something they must still
demonstrate in the present conflict with carnal desires, as shown in verses
16-17. The indicative seen in baptism meets the imperative life actually lived.[11]
Quite literally at the heart of Paul’s argument in this passage is his
conviction that what we truly “want” is
to live in relationship with God and others, but the “flesh” opposes the
leading of the Spirit “to prevent [us] from doing what [we] want” (v. 17;
cf. Romans 7:7-25a). If we fail to recognize this deepest restlessness of our
hearts, then our baser desires will distract us and enslave us. Belonging to
Christ (v. 24) as a slave belongs to a master is ironically the means of our
liberation in Christ (v. 1). We find freedom not in independence of the self,
but in relationship.]
25 If
we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.[We have the indicative and
imperative characteristic of Paul, that is, you are in the Spirit, so walk and
live in the Spirit. As F. F. Bruce puts it, walking by the Spirit is the outward manifestation of living by the
Spirit. Living by the Spirit is the root, and walking by the Spirit is the
fruit.]
26
Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one
another. [Barth notes that human action is lacking in modesty, which leads
to jealousy of others and exalting oneself about others, reaching for a glory
that one cannot have precisely because one reaches for it. The reaching for it
makes it empty and hollow.[12]]
[Tolmie says 5:13-6:10 are urging the Galatians to have their lives
directed by the Spirit. Matera says that if they live no longer by the Law,
they must now live by the Spirit. To do so is to fulfill the Law through love
and its attending graces. The flesh, however, has a different effect in the
lives of people. He describes Paul's dominant rhetorical strategy as urging the
Galatians to have their lives directed by the Spirit. In order to convey this
message, he uses several commands, exhortations, warnings and promises. F. C.
Bauer stresses that now Paul shows that
freedom from the Law does not mean freedom from moral obligation.[13]
However, it becomes clear that Paul does not bring another legalistic demand
upon Christians, but rather, clarifies life in the Spirit.]
[If we examine the
works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, we can see that while the
former disrupt fellowship and friendship, the latter build it up. For Barth
the work of God begins a season that bears fruits. Such a fullness of fruit
will need a sequence of seasons, both sowing and reaping. There will be new
beginning which in each case are radical. One
will also find weeds on these fields, and these will be a threat to the good
seed. There will also be unskillful cultivation and lack of seriousness in
caring for the good seed. There will be set backs to its growth. It will always
be necessary that the good work of the Holy Spirit that has begun should begin
again. One cannot be a Christian if one is not willing to move forward
according to the direction of the Holy Spirit, constantly marching into a small
portion of the land that God will show us. Christian life is a daily
penitence, a constant stretching after the new possibilities that are offered
him, a never-resting striding in the light of the divine invitation and command
that constantly encounter the individual afresh.[14]]
[1] --Vance
Havner, When God Breaks Through: Sermons on Revival (Kregel Academic, 2003),
60.
[2] (Church Dogmatics, IV.1 [61.4], 639-640).
[3] (Church Dogmatics I.1 [12.1] 456).
[4] (Church Dogmatics IV.2 [66.2] 531).
[5] (TDNT, IV, 1076).
[6] (Church Dogmatics IV.2 [65.3] 496-98,
533).
[7] (Nichomachean Ethics, 7.1149a3).
[8] (Nichomachean Ethics, 2.1108a).
[9] (Republic, 3.390B-C).
[10] (Politics 3.13, 1284a).
[11] (Systematic Theology Vol III, 253).
[12] (Church Dogmatics, III.4 [56.3] 666)
[13] (Paul, 1875 English Translation, p. 275).
[14] (Church Dogmatics IV.4, p. 39).
No comments:
Post a Comment