Tuesday 23, July 2013
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:13-18
KEY VERSE: “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” (Galatians 5:17).
War is bad. Civil war is worse. It produces no winner – the winner is a loser. The American Civil War (1861-1865) recorded over a million casualties. The Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) claimed about three million lives. The Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) recorded over six million casualties. Added to these irretrievable losses are colossal economic setbacks and hard-to-repair social dislocations. Civil war proves more deadly than external aggression.
Today’s text talks about another kind of civil war. It is the war that goes on within each of us which is as tricky as the normal civil war but portends eternal outcome. This describes the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, between internal corruption and conviction. The epistle had been addressing the problem of false doctrines that was making the rounds among the Galatians regarding obligations to ceremonial law. It urged the believers to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. But this liberty is neither a licence to sin nor freedom from God’s moral law.
In particular, believers are exhorted to walk in the Spirit which is the only way we can win the said civil war and be predisposed to demonstrate love which is the sum of the law. Those who walk in the flesh exhibit carnal traits that promote sin and strife even among church members. Pride, anger, ill-feeling and harsh tempers in a person show that he or she is still walking in the flesh and therefore is losing in the said battle. Walking in the Spirit implies yielding to the tender influence and grace from the Holy Spirit that come by spiritual interactions and application of God’s word.
The victory that Christ scored over the devil, the author of sin, translates to our own victory. It is God’s design that every Christian lives an overcoming life on a daily basis. But this is only possible when the believer devotedly yields to the regenerating and sanctifying influence of God’s Spirit. Are you winning the civil war?
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Victory over Satan and sin is defined by victory over self.
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