Here we go with verse 17 of Galatians 5. “The sinful nature (our idea of how to be righteous) wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants (God’s way of righteousness). And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions”.
Every time you fall into the trap of trying to be good, and pure and holy and righteous by your own attempts to remain what he made you to be and He alone can keep you to be, you will produce bad fruit because you went to the wrong tree to try and achieve it!
Here’s verse 18 of Galatians 5. But when you are directed by the Spirit (tree of life or grace), you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. Now you are able to let fruit be produced in you by allowing God to do it in and through you.
Gal. 5:22-26 tells us what that fruit is.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Verse 23 says “there is no law against these things” because they are only found in relationship with Him as you are led of His Spirit!
Did you see verse 26? We compare ourselves and our fruit to that of our brothers and sisters and become jealous and envious, so we go to the wrong tree yet again in an attempt to produce that fruit in ourselves apart from God.
The enemy played the comparison card for Eve also, and she picked it up off the discard deck.
Lucifer (satan) tried to be like God, and was cast down from the position that was his only because God gave it to him. Satan’s desire was and still is to see us fall into the same stupid trap he chose. One of pride, saying “I will be like god”, through prideful attempts at doing so on our own as he did.
Remember, to fully understand that, you must go back to the question “what is sin?” Was it that Eve ate the fruit of the tree? Was it disobedience? Religion wants to define sin as the list of symptoms from Galatians 5:19-21, but what is the root cause? It’s bad fruit. Just study once again what was written above.
The definition of the word “sin” in the original text is a term used in archery for “missing the mark” or the center of the target. The center of God’s will and his heart’s desire for us has always been to walk in unbroken fellowship with him. It’s all about relationship!
Romans 6:10,11.
10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Living in unbroken fellowship with Him in Christ Jesus. Until you get a revelation that you are dead to the power of sin, you will continue to be in bondage to the false teachings about sin. It has no power, no place, no purpose, and no presence in your life. You are in Christ Jesus.
God wanted us to want unbroken fellowship with Him, so in His love for us, He gave us the right to choose. He never said, “if you eat the fruit I will kill you. He said, “in the day that you (choose) to eat of the fruit of that tree, (the result of separating yourself from me) you will surely die.” Notice they could “freely” eat of the fruit of every other tree, including the tree of life. The result was life and freedom in the fruit of those trees. Death came through the tree of our own knowledge of good and evil. That is why God calls it “the ministry of death” in 2 Corinthians 3:7,8.
7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?
5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
Did you see that? Are you studying or just reading? The old written covenant or law ends in death, but the new covenant of the Spirit of grace gives life.
When Adam and Eve “sinned” in the garden, they missed God’s mark for mankind, and were separated from Him. Galatians 5:4 makes this clear. It reads in the NLT “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace”.
I like it in the Amplified version. “If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing).
It is you who falls away from God’s great grace. Not God pulling His grace from you. How does this happen? Well it’s not through sin or disobeying the law, or not going to church, or not praying 3 hours everyday, or not reading your bible. It’s by seeking to be justified and declared righteous and be given right standing with God through the law.
Romans 7:24,25.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Look at Romans 6:20-22.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
It’s right there people. The truth in scripture says “you are free from the power of sin”. Quit bringing in the leaven of the Pharisees. The religion and legalism. The bondage to works and performance. Just live the free life in Christ and allow Him to do the work in you. You let Him start the work by receiving Jesus into your life. Now let him complete the work. The work He completes is perfect with no flaws.
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”. Grace and Peace.
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