Sunday School Lesson
August 6
Lesson 10 (KJV)
Inheriting the Kingdom
Devotional Reading: Isaiah 44:21–28
Background Scripture: Galatians 5:13–26
Galatians 5:13–26
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Key Text
Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. —Galatians 5:13
The Righteous Reign of God
Unit 3: God’s Eternal Reign
Lessons 10–13
Lesson Aims
After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:
1. List the fruit of the Spirit.
2. Contrast the fruit of the Spirit with the works of the flesh.
3. Make a plan to identify and eliminate one unhealthy fruit in his or her life.
How to Say It
Galatians Guh-lay-shunz.
Gentiles Jen-tiles.
Philippians Fih-lip-ee-unz.
Introduction
A. Already Having What We Seek
A man walks through his home, searching. Where are my keys? he asks himself repeatedly. Then he reaches in his pocket. His keys are there. A woman rummages through her car, searching. Where are my glasses? she wonders. Then she touches her head. Her glasses are there. Sometimes we already have what we are looking for. Today’s text is like that.
B. Lesson Context
Our text is from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, written to address a controversy among churches founded on his first missionary journey. He wrote in response to some people’s belief that Christians of Gentile background had to obey stipulations in the Law of Moses in order to belong to God’s people (Galatians 1:6; 5:2–6; see Acts 15:1–5).
But Paul pointed out that faith in Jesus, not the completion of the works of law, is the true identifier of God’s people (Galatians 2:15–16; 3:1–6). God gave the Israelites the Law of Moses to guide them until He brought the fulfillment of His promises (3:23–25). That fulfillment was Jesus. His death and resurrection made it possible for people of every nation to be welcomed into God’s family. Works of law in general (3:10–12) and circumcision in particular (5:2–6) had not resulted in the people living as God called them to live: fully devoted to Him in holiness. But in Jesus and through the Holy Spirit, there was freedom and empowerment to do so.
I. Living in Freedom
(Galatians 5:13–18)
A. Fulfilling God’s Law (vv. 13–15)
13a. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty.
The nature of the controversy indicates the presence of brethren from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. These disparate groups had been made into a family by God’s call. That call is the good news that in Jesus, God had come in the flesh, had submitted to death, and rose to new life.
The result of that call is liberty (see also 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4). That term would have reminded Paul’s Jewish readers of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Marking the end of their enslavement, the exodus began the journey to freedom in the promised land. But beset by sinful disobedience generation after generation, Israel lived more under oppression than in true freedom. That state led eventually to exile and captivity in a foreign land. God promised that true freedom means an end to being exiled from His presence; in the gospel, that promise is fulfilled (compare Revelation 7:15–17).
13b. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
But liberty is not license. Some might have thought that because the requirements of the law were fulfilled, then their freedom meant that they could do as they pleased. Paul negated this thought. Using freedom to repeat the sinful rebellion that led to exile in the first place would hardly be an expression of faith in Jesus, who was unwaveringly faithful to God the Father.
Jesus’ faithfulness was expressed in His loving service for others (Mark 10:45). His followers are compelled to exercise Christian liberty in the same way: by love serving one another. To do otherwise would be to provide an occasion to the flesh. The term translated “occasion” suggests something like a base of operations (also Romans 7:11).
We should consider how Paul uses the word flesh here. In some places, he uses this word to refer to the physical body (example: Romans 4:1). In other places, he uses this word to refer to unholy physical desires (example: Ephesians 2:3). But here the focus seems to be a perspective that is entirely self-centered, not acknowledging God’s rule or others’ significance.
14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Many Jewish teachers, including Jesus (Mark 12:28–34) and Paul, saw the entire Law of Moses as pointing to two great obligations: to love God and love others (compare Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5). Because the Galatian churches faced division, Paul emphasized loving others as the law’s focus. If motivated by their love for God as revealed in Jesus, the Galatian Christians could love one another despite long-standing divisions of their respective heritages.
15. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
The alternative to the love just described was self-defeating division. Each side attacked the other, like flesh-eating animals. In such a conflict, both sides would be eaten up. In the Cold War that followed World War II, the United States had a policy of nuclear deterrence known as “mutual assured destruction”—appropriately known as MAD for short. It would indeed be madness for the Galatians to undercut one another since that would only result in mutual destruction.
We might wonder whether a solution would be for the Galatian churches to divide into all-Jewish and all-Gentile congregations. For Paul, such a division was unthinkable. The singularity of the gospel and of God himself must be reflected in the unity of His people (Ephesians 4:1–6). A divided church will be a devoured church.
The two groups had to come to terms with the truth that they both belong to God’s people through their faith in Jesus rather than through their obedience to the Law of Moses. This did not mean ignoring their differences in background or experience; but it did mean uniting across those differences with Christlike love.
B. Choosing God’s Side (vv. 16–18)
16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
But what can give the power to live such a life of loving service? The answer, Paul says, is what only faith in Jesus can provide: God’s own Spirit, the Holy Spirit. In Old Testament times, God had sent His Spirit to a few individuals—notably the prophets, who proclaimed His message authoritatively. But God had promised that in the age to come, He would pour out His Spirit without that limit (Joel 2:28–32). All believers could be thereby empowered to live prophetically in the sense of their lives testifying to the true God and His rule over the world.
With Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, that promise is fulfilled. Those who believe in Jesus as God’s true king are promised that God’s Holy Spirit will live within them (Acts 2:38). Thereby they are empowered to do what Israel had failed to do before: live genuinely as God’s people.
Paul did not need to tell his readers to receive the Spirit, because they already had. But the Spirit’s direction and power can be resisted (Acts 7:51). So the Galatians needed to be reminded to walk (or live) in the Spirit. In so doing, they would fulfill God’s will as summarized in the command to love. Such a life is the opposite of the life of the flesh; that is, the life of sinful selfishness. The flesh provokes desire, or lust, meaning not just sexual desire but any selfish motivation.
What Do You Think?
What steps will you take to ensure that you continue walking in step with God’s Spirit?
Digging Deeper
Who is a mature believer you can ask for accountability in this regard?
Focus Control
What do you think about your job, your family, or your financial situation? Each topic brings up both positive and negative aspects to ponder. Perhaps you were passed over for a promotion. But the promotion would have meant working for a supervisor who was not as caring as your current supervisor. You have a choice as to what you’ll focus on: you can be angry that someone else received the promotion, or you can choose to see the blessing that resulted in remaining where you are.
This type of choice is critical because thoughts can lead to actions. Walking in the Spirit reveals a focus on the things of Christ. And when we’re focusing on Him, we aren’t thinking about the things we could have had, the things that went wrong, or the people who wronged us. What does all this say about your choice of focus? P. M.
17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
These two sets of desires, those of the flesh and of the Spirit, are fundamentally opposed to each other. We are either motivated by our self-interest or filled with the Holy Spirit who directs us toward Christlike loving service for others.
Romans 6–8 (especially 7:24–8:1) offers us Paul’s own extended commentary on the phrase so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. What we truly want is to be God’s people, to fulfill the purpose for which God created us. But the selfishness that pervades our hearts prevents that. However, we receive the power to become the people we desire to be—people who reflect God’s holiness—through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit (see 8:10–11).
18. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Paul clarifies that there was nothing inherently wrong with the law in and of itself. But the Law of Moses did have its limitations (see Romans 7:7; 1 Timothy 1:8). The Jewish constituents among Paul’s original audience were especially challenged to shift their thoughts, speech, and behavior toward a life directed by the Spirit.
II. Rejecting Selfishness
(Galatians 5:19–21)
A. Deadly List (vv. 19–21b)
19a. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.
For purposes of contrast, Paul reminded his readers what life in the flesh, the self-ruled life, was like as he began what we call a vice list. There are many such lists in Paul’s letters (examples: Romans 1:29–31; Colossians 3:5). We should keep in mind, however, that even collecting all the vices from all of Paul’s lists would not include everything that could be named. For the list at hand, the vices fall into four groupings across three verses.
19b. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.
These terms encompass all forms of sexual activity that occur outside of a marriage relationship. In addition to hurting others, these acts also harm the guilty person (see 1 Corinthians 6:12–20).
Uncleanness speaks to guilt through such activity. Lasciviousness refers to behavior that is shocking to public decency. Even cultures far from godly standards uphold some standards of sexual propriety (see 1 Corinthians 5:1). But a life of selfishness will find a way to shock any society. Life in the Holy Spirit is directly opposed to the life of flagrant sexual sin (1 Thessalonians 4:3–8).
20a. Idolatry, witchcraft.
The list then shifts the focus to false religious practices. Idolatry exalts the created above the Creator, reducing God to something much less than He is. Witchcraft is the attempt to use physical objects and rituals to manipulate the spiritual world.
20b. Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies. Next, Paul lists attitudes and actions that work against self-sacrificial love, threatening the church’s unity. Hatred refers to hostility toward those we identify as enemies. Variance is divisiveness, making differences greater rather than seeking to overcome them. Emulations are strong passions that resent the success of others.
Wrath refers to strong anger. God’s wrath is the expression of His holiness against human evil. But human anger is often driven not by holiness but by selfishness. Strife is the forming of mutually hostile groups to advance selfish interests; seditions intensify that unholy tendency. Heresies later became a term for false beliefs accepted by some Christians, but here it is another expression for hostile division and partisanship.
What Do You Think?
How does the world’s inclination for hatred, strife, and cruelty affect the church’s display of sacrificial love?
Digging Deeper
How might James 1:19–27 inform the church’s response to such inclinations?
21a. Envyings, murders.
Envyings and murders conclude the grouping of sins of selfishness. These two refer to the desire to deprive others of what they have—even life itself!
21b. Drunkenness, revellings, and such like.
Paul concludes with two terms that represent public displays of the self-destructiveness produced by selfishness. Drunkenness (intoxication from alcohol) suggests individual self-destruction. Drunkenness is part of the wild, party-like atmosphere of revellings, a context which includes unrestrained immorality (contrast Romans 13:13–14; 1 Peter 4:3).
B. Deadly Consequences (v. 21c)
21c. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. All these evils are contrary to the kingdom of God—that is, to the reign of God brought about by Christ, now and in eternity. If these behaviors had become the mode of the Galatians’ lives, they showed themselves to have returned to rebellion against God’s rule. Those whose lives are characterized by these vices would have no eternal inheritance except death (see Revelation 22:14–15).
III. Pursuing Godliness
(Galatians 5:22–26)
A. A List of Life (vv. 22–23)
22a. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
The fruit of the Spirit stands in sharp contrast to the works of the flesh. The word fruit is an apt term because like a farmer who plants a crop and reaps a harvest, what the Holy Spirit produces is what God seeks in His people. Since Paul’s focus is on doing good toward others, perhaps this is why the word fruit is singular: all these characteristics belong together as one fruit, not many fruits.
As with the previous list, this list groups similar characteristics. It begins with three foundational aspects of the Christ-follower’s character: love, joy, and peace. The kind of love Paul has in mind is not conditioned on how deserving of love the other person is. Rather, the kind of love in view flows from grace that blesses the undeserving. It is the kind of love that God demonstrates toward us (John 3:16). Joy is an inner disposition of well-being, but it always is expressed outwardly and shared with others (see 2 Corinthians 8:2).
The word peace reminds us of Old Testament statements about the peace that God granted His people (Numbers 6:26; Psalm 29:11; Isaiah 9:6–7). More than the end of hostility, such peace means positive goodwill and fellowship. As God has made whole our relationship with Him, His Spirit empowers us to make relationships whole with others (see 2 Corinthians 13:11).
22b. Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness.
The second grouping consists of characteristics that undergird relationships. Longsuffering is patience regarding the failings of others, including wrongs that others commit. As God is patient with us, His Spirit empowers our patience toward others (compare Romans 2:4).
Gentleness names the attitude that seeks to do positive good to others in all circumstances. It serves to nurture and protect others. Again, because God treats His people in this way, His Spirit enables them to treat others likewise (see Colossians 3:12–13). Goodness further develops the idea of gentleness, putting the attitude into action. Those empowered by the Spirit do not simply want the good; they actually do good things for others. The Spirit compels us to be loyal to fellow Christians, committed to their welfare no matter what.
What Fruit Is This?
We moved into a new house several years ago, and I was amazed at the beauty of the landscaping. The lawn was lush green, every brick-lined planter had blooms, and the backyard was lined with trees.
Visitors would ask us what kind of trees we had. The problem was, I had no idea. It wasn’t until the trees began to produce fruit that I could identify them. We were fortunate to have an orange tree, a lemon tree, a fig tree, and two pomegranate trees! One of the things that I loved about having those trees, besides their delicious fruit, was the fact that I learned how to recognize those trees because of their fruit-bearing properties.
However, there were some seasons when the pomegranate fruit never sweetened and turned red. The seeds stayed tasteless and white. Sometimes they’d be rotten right there on the vine, and you didn’t know it until you cracked one open.
Jesus had pointed things to say about bearing fruit (see Matthew 7:15–20; 12:33–37; Luke 13:6–9), and Paul drilled down to specifics. Bad fruit may or may not immediately be visible. But sooner or later, the nature of what the tree produces becomes known (compare 1 Corinthians 3:12–15). It’s impossible to go half-and-half on this (see James 3:12). Think of your most recent “fruit”—was it one of those listed in Galatians 5:22–23? P. M.
What Do You Think?
How do the Spirit’s gifts (Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11) empower you to seek the welfare of others?
Digging Deeper
How will you continue to develop never-failing love (1 Corinthians 13) so that you can be attentive to others?
22c–23. Faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. The list concludes with three characteristics that are to undergird all the believer’s actions. Faith in this context refers to a willingness to practice without fail what one believes. As God has been devoted and persistent to fulfill the promises that He has made, so also His Spirit empowers us to be persistently devoted.
A second feature undergirding Spirit-filled action is meekness. The meek do not seek to assert rights or privileges. As Christ emptied himself of privilege in becoming human, so also do those empowered by His Spirit (compare Ephesians 4:2).
The word translated temperance is also (with variations) found in Acts 24:25; 1 Corinthians 7:9; 9:25; and 2 Peter 1:6. It refers to the ability to keep desires in check. This was a characteristic admired in Paul’s time but not widely practiced.
The Galatian Christians could be criticized by their Jewish neighbors for abandoning the Law of Moses and by their pagan neighbors for abandoning the customs of pagan worship. But Paul reminds them that if they live as the Spirit directs, they will produce a fruit that no law—Jewish or Roman—stands against.
B. A Life to Live Out (vv. 24–26)
24. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Believers in Christ are joined to Him in His death and so are raised to a new life (Romans 6:1–14). This does not mean that our old desires and habits disappear instantly. But it means that over time the Spirit replaces them with Christlikeness. This requires our cooperation to assure that the old life remains dead and buried.
What Do You Think?
How would you explain to a new believer what it means to have “crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24)?
Digging Deeper
How might Romans 7:22–8:17 help inform your explanation?
25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The new life the Galatians had in Christ carried an obligation: to put that life into practice. The phrase walk in the Spirit could also be translated as “get in line with the Spirit.” It means deliberately reordering one’s life to reflect what God has done. It is bearing the fruit of the Spirit as routine practice.
26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The Spirit’s work can be destroyed easily by persistent selfishness, the key characteristic of the life of the flesh. If Paul’s original audience chose to seek attention for themselves, then the result would be to disregard and disrespect others. That would destroy the fellowship that the Spirit sought to build. Christians are saved by a Lord who was worthy of glory but chose lowliness to serve others (Philippians 2:1–11). Following His way by the Spirit’s power directs the Christian to a better way through loving others.
Conclusion
A. Forgiveness Plus Paul begins and ends his vice list with the commonly named pagan vices but devotes most of his attention in the middle to matters of hostility and disunity. He is driving home a point to Galatian church members that needs to be heard through the ages: When we divide the body of Christ for self-serving reasons, we serve the flesh. We might tend to minimize such acts by pointing to the blatant evils of the ungodly world around us, but our selfish hostility is just as evil. We paganize ourselves when we refuse to love one another. Do you want a kingdom life, the life that God always intended for His people? Then let the Holy Spirit bear His fruit.
What Do You Think?
In what ways will you serve a neighbor in the upcoming week?
Digging Deeper
How will the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) inform your acts of neighborly love?
B. Prayer
Thank You, God, for Your incomparable blessing of freedom and life in the Spirit. We rely on the power of Your Spirit so that we can be people who reflect our Lord’s resurrection. Amen!
C. Thought to Remember
Freedom means becoming what God made us to be.