Living by the Spirit

One of the primary themes of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is freedom. In Paul’s theology, Christians are people who had been slaves to sin, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are now free. Paul also views required obedience to the Old Testament Law as a form of slavery. On one hand, it is impossible to keep the demands of the Law perfectly, and, on the other land, the Law – especially the outward signs of the Law like circumcision, food laws, and the calendar of feast days – had become a boundary marker between Jew and Gentile.

Apparently, some rival Jewish-Christian missionaries came to the Galatian Christians and told them that while Paul correctly taught them that Jesus is the Messiah and they needed to trust in him for salvation, they also needed to observe the Law, in essence becoming Jews. For Paul, this undermined the gospel as good news because, again, no one is capable of keeping the demands of the Law, and, in Christ, the barrier that existed between Jew and Gentile has been broken down, thus making the Law not only unnecessary, but, when required of a Christian person, harmful to spiritual health.

Paul contrasts life under the burden of the Law with life in the power of Spirit. He reminds the Galatians that when they trusted, or believed, in Christ’s death and resurrection for their salvation, they experienced the power of the Spirit (Galatians 3:1-5). Why, then, would they choose to submit to the demands of the Law, which only lead to either self-righteousness or condemnation? The key to Christian maturity, says Paul, is not submitting to the requirements of the Law, but rather learning to “live by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17).

How do we do that? First, we simply ask God for grace to live by the Spirit. Then, as we do, we create space in our lives for the Spirit to work. This is where the historic disciplines of the Christian life – prayer, fasting, study, worship, fellowship, and service, among others – come into play. These disciplines, to use Jamie Smith’s language, become “habitations of the Spirit.” As we worship and pray, study and serve, we invite the Spirit to work in our hearts, trusting that as we open ourselves to the Spirit’s work, he will, in fact, work, allowing us to become the kind of people who bear the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul defines as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22).

There is, of course, the danger that spiritual disciplines can become like “laws.” However, if we enter these practices of the Christian life with an expectancy that the Spirit will meet us and change us, we will inevitably find the radical freedom that is unleashed by the gospel.

So, as we gather for worship this weekend, let us come expectantly, inviting the Spirit to inhabit our songs and prayers, the scriptures and the sacrament, learning what it means to live by the Spirit, longing to bear the Spirit’s fruit. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). May Christ Church be a place where the Spirit, and freedom and fruit that only he can bring, is known by all.

Peace,

Chris