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The Christian life feels like a battle. It is. It is a continual conflict between the Spirit of God and our flesh. The Spirit wants to draw our hearts to Christ so that our lives will be transformed into Christlikeness from the inside out. Our flesh (sinful nature) is our leftover operating system from our spiritually dead days that want to keep our hearts self-absorbed. As a Christian, I can delight in Christ, while at the same time still defaulting to the idea that the pivot and fulcrum of the universe is me. That is the tension we experience in the Christian life.
The Spirit does not augment our independent efforts at righteous living, like some sort of God-given battery pack. He comes to change the way we live. We used to live one way. We are now going to live another way (v. 16).
Notice where the tension actually exists according to this passage: in our desires (vv. 16–17). It is critical that we understand the significance of the desires of the flesh and desires of the Spirit. The heart of the human problem is the human heart. The engine driving us is our ‘wants’, and our problem before salvation was that we only wanted what seemed best for the kingdom of self. What could change that set of ‘wants’? Only the Spirit, who breathes new desires into us.
Thus the role of the Spirit is vital. In fact, if you don’t understand the role of the Spirit, you cannot understand Galatians. Without the Spirit, we are spiritually dead – captured in the black hole of our self-loving desires. We might be rebellious and zealous for pleasures, or we might be religious and zealous for righteousness, but without the Spirit of God, we are stuck in a vortex of self-love. The Spirit draws our loving gaze from self to the wonder of the Father’s heart revealed through the Son. The Spirit stirs our hearts as the love of God is poured out into our hearts (Rom. 5:5), so that we become lovers of God (1 Jn. 4:19). The Spirit brings a whole new set of desires and thereby changes the way we live.
Reflection
How often do you feel the tension between loving yourself and loving Christ? Which set of desires have been winning in the last few days?
Scripture
About this Plan
Paul wrote the book of Galatians to Christians who were tempted to add good works to the gospel. Although we might not want to admit it, adding to the gospel is a great temptation for us too. So be encouraged as Peter Mead takes us through these devotions, be reminded that Christ is everything, and that the gospel is all we need for our lives now in Jesus.
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