The Results of Salvation - Part 2 (Galatians 5:18)

Part 2: Separation from the Law

“But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” - Galatians 5:18

Something should be understood before launching into the letter to the Galatians: they were falling into the trap of misusing the Law. That is, they thought that they had to once again subject themselves to the Law of the Old Testament. This is seen clearly throughout Galatians, especially in the context of Galatians 5. Paul himself was a former Pharisee, knowing full well the traditions and requirements of their self-defined "law." The Jews had established laws around the Law, to keep themselves from disobeying the Law, all the while, ignoring the very purpose of the Law. Paul had earlier in Galatians 1 warned them to avoid "other gospels" (which, as he states clearly, are not gospels as all, as they are not the "good news" from God), because there is only one Gospel, which is the Word of God, concerning the sacrifice of Christ to pay for sin, having fulfilled the Law and prophecies concerning Himself. One of the key points in the Gospel is, in fact, the complete fulfillment of the Law, which only pointed towards the Christ in the first place. Therefore, there is a great error in subjecting one's self to the Law all over again, while claiming to be saved through Christ. It is, truly, hypocrisy.

Paul himself could well identify with their error, as seen in his own history (see Galatians 1:11-14). He himself was "circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless." (Phil. 3:5-6) So anyone who thought that he could not "understand" would be very much in the wrong. According to the Pharisee's view of the Law, they could obtain righteousness through it, and Paul himself was one who succeeded, as far as he had known.
But the point of the Law, as dealt with earlier in Galatians 5, is not to save anyone. In fact, the Law has nothing to do with righteousness, but rather, the opposite: 

"Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." (Gal. 3:19-22) 

So what then? These Galatians, who had focused on avoiding the breaking of the Law, were now looking for purpose. They should have already known at this point what it should be, and though they were followers of Christ, they had little idea of what they actually ought to do. So Paul makes a very clear statement: "But if you are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the Law." This is another key statement Paul makes to these Galatians. If they were truly followers of Christ, they would have the Spirit, and if they are lead by the Spirit, they are not under the Law.
What does it mean to be "lead by the Spirit"? According to many churches today, it means jumping up and down frantically, yelling out in random babble, and preforming many miracles constantly. But this cannot be the case (as we will see later, in the actual fruits of the Spirit). This leading, truly, has little to do with "feelings." Feelings are most often a result of the flesh ("feelings" are a result of something in general). Many claim that the Bible is the Word of God, written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit. And then, in direct contradiction, they utterly ignore the actual Word of God, looking for new "revelations," as the old are not "up to date."  And people should quickly realize that "feelings" are just not reliable. If I "feel" like eating the worst possible food, that doesn't justify it as being led by the Spirit. The writer in Proverbs 18 says "A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind." (vs. 2) The fool wishes to "discover himself," that is, they want to uncover their self-defined "potential." Literally, the fool does not "take pleasure in knowledge, but in uncovering his inner man." He fails to see that knowledge comes from without, not from within. And so many fall into the error of being a fool when they "feel" they are being lead by the Spirit. Rarely, if ever, do they compare these feelings with the actual Word of God, and they never seek to test these feelings with It either. They trust their feelings without any fear, and thus fall into a self-destructive state of depression.
To be "lead by the Spirit" comes, in a very basic sense, two ways: The first is the salvation of our souls. That is, we are lead to Christ by the working of the Spirit, not our "inner man." (See John 14:15-17.) When we are lead by the Spirit, our flesh profits nothing at all (John 6:63). The Spirit will not lead us into sin, that we are sure of. If It is the Spirit of God, It cannot contradict Him, which common sense should tell us. The Spirit of God leads us into Truth, as Christ also clarifies in John 16: 

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." - Vs. 13-15

All the righteousness we do is from God, not our "inner man."
But let us look at the context now...
When Paul clarifies "...you are not under the Law," he is making another clear statement. Related to the first post, we see here a sort of message to these Galatians. They were so focused on avoiding any transgression against the Law- they focused on not doing wrong. But Paul says here, that if they are truly of Christ- lead by the Spirit- they are not under the Law. Their focus is utterly useless if they keep to their old ways. If we are in Christ, we are not focusing on avoiding wrong, but rather are walking according to the Spirit within us. We are not "filled with the Law," but are "filled with the Spirit." (See Eph. 5:18-21 and Col. 1:9-12.) If we were filled with the Law, we would be without hope, being already dead, because the only point of the Law was to either condemn men to death, or point them to Christ. It would truly be the same as filling one's self with lighter fluid- it just isn't a bright idea.

Once the Spirit has brought us to Salvation, we are then convicted of more Truth. We desire to search things out, and learn more of God. We want to know how to work our our salvation, and ought to desire only more growth in good works and righteous thinking. The Spirit, in ways we rarely see coming, works in us a desire to live for God. We have already lived a life for ourselves, and have found no true joy in it, and whenever we give in to temptation, there is a great feeling of guilt, and never any true joy in the least. (See Eph. 4:17-24.) And what happens when we become bored with the Truth? What happens when we become passive about good works and righteous thinking, and decide that we have better things to do? Peter warns of this in 2 Peter 1:9-11, "For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you." If we have the Spirit, we will desire more Truth. We must desire these things. If we ignore this desire for learning, and good works, and righteous thinking, we are "quench[ing] the Spirit."
The Galatians' problems were rooted here, in a sense. They identified themselves more with the Law than they did Christ (and His fulfillment of the Law). They were striving to keep the Law, or rather, to avoid breaking it. Their sole focus was entirely off, and would only give them the fruits of the Law, not the Spirit.
What is the fruit of the Law? Death. This has already been discussed, and a reading of Galatians 3-5 will show that the Law was never meant to save, nor grow, anyone. It only condemns, and without Christ, will never mean anything more than a lack of perfection before God. Without the Law, however, we would not know grace. Christ would only have been a confusing point, not a saving reality, because the bad news had to be fully realized before the Good News could mean anything. When the promise of Christ was made to those in the early in Old Testament, it had to be somewhat confusing for them, in that they had not fully realized their own sin. By the time Christ actually did come to earth, Israel was already far beyond the Law, having not only misused it for their own profit, but also becoming hypocrites and liars. The highest of religious authority was corrupt, and the common Jew was very ignorant of the coming Messiah, as is seen in their reaction to all His works. (He did not do anything that was separate from the words spoken concerning Him, and yet all those in Israel were shocked at His works and Word, and when He died, despite being told of His rising again by Christ Himself, no one remembered.) The Law only pointed us to Christ (Gal. 3:23-24), and yet it seemed, none of the Jews knew this.
The fruit of the Spirit is coming later in this chapter of Galatians, but before this happens, the contrast must be made. We cannot know the fruits of what is opposite to our flesh if we don't even know why our flesh is evil. Without the Law, we would not even know what sin is! (Rom. 7:1-13) Now, as will be dealt with in the third part of this series, the deeds of the flesh are evident. But Paul lists them anyway, in a general sort of fashion, to give an idea of what he means in the first place. The fruits of the Spirit come afterward, but before we can know why these fruits are so important and good, we must see that evil is, really, quite common. Paul lists both horrific and basic sins, from murder to a lack of self control in general. If we had no idea what "clean" was, we would not have the faintest idea of what "dirty" is either.
So, we have two teachers here: The Law, and the Spirit...
The Law teaches us of sin. Paul speaks of it clearer here in Romans 7:4-13:
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful."
The Law thus pointed to Christ, and Christ took care of our debt, fulfilling the Law. So we are already past that stage- we know what sin is, and Who pays for it on our behalf. So then comes the second Teacher: the Spirit of God.
Our Lord said to His disciples in John 14, "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." (vs. 25-26) No true Christian on this earth will profess that he knows all there is to know, much less that he understands the Truth as he ought to entirely. But we see to know the Truth, because without it, our "reality" is no better than that of the world. Christ told the Samaritan woman in John 4, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (vs. 21-24) Those who claim these days to worship "in spirit" often fail to understand this, and go about thinking that "feelings" are truth, and that we ought to live as we feel we should. Again, as I had referenced before, the writer of Proverbs 18 said it clearly, that a fool does not delight in the obtaining of knowledge, but in the discovering of his own self. This "self-discovery" is foolishness, and has nothing to do with the Truth, save for the fact that people do find who they are if they come across the Law, seeing that they are sinners. We who are in Christ worship the Father in "spirit and truth," not in feelings and visions that may or may not be of God. The Spirit teaches us of Christ, not ourselves. To worship in "spirit" is to worship in who we really are. That is, we do not worship based upon what others think we are, but rather, we truly worship God, utterly excluding how others think of us. Unlike all religions of the world, we do not worship outwardly more than we are truly worshiping God in who we are. It is not a matter of where we worship Him, or what words we say. The world worships their "gods" by meeting certain traditional requirements and standards, and have to preform certain tasks and bow in specific fashions. We worship God... period. Jesus Christ was telling this woman that it would come about that soon, all who are of God in Christ would worship Him in all they were. And not only this, but they would worship God in truth. Who we really are is what is important, and more importantly, why we are worshiping God. We live according to the Word of God, and that alone. We believe that God is true, and that all He has said in the Scripture is Truth. And to worship God, we obey His Word, and live in light of the Salvation which He has given. We do not live for ourselves, but for Him alone. This is not a fake reverence for Him, but an entirely dedicated, loving and honoring attitude towards God, who is our Lord, Savior, and King.

 

“He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” - John 3:31-36