“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:16-18 (ESV)
The apostle Paul makes a grand declaration in the beginning of the fifth chapter of Galatians. He exclaims that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. But free from what? The curse of sin that comes from our inability to fulfill the law of God. Christ didn’t abolish the law he perfectly fulfilled it. The only man who could ever live up to the law was the lawgiver himself, the God-man Jesus Christ.
Fulfilling the Law
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17 (ESV)
Jesus Christ gave us this freedom from sin by fulfilling the law, which made him uniquely qualified to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin. To break the curse of sin and death Jesus himself became a curse.
If we understand the holiness and worthiness of the sovereign God of the universe, the idea of this should shock us. He who knew no sin from all eternity became sin for us. He carried the guilt and shame of all humanity past, present and future. Christ did on the cross what we couldn’t do for ourselves.
Redeemed by Christ
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14 (ESV)
So, Christ redeemed us and saved us from the curse of the law and the penalty of death for our sin, but why? To include the Gentiles, which simply means non-Jews, in the blessing of Abraham. This blessing is that God would set apart a people for himself and that he would be with us but ultimately that God would live in us and transform us. This group of people that Christ will save unto himself will be made up of Jews and Gentiles alike, people from every nation and tribe of the world.
By faith in Christ we receive the promised Spirit which takes up residence in us and sanctifies us. Salvation is an unearned gift of God given to us through his grace; it is a gift from God afforded to us by the work of Christ on the cross. Sanctification is also a gift from God that is a work done by Christ through the Spirit. That is why the Scripture says in Hebrews 12 that Jesus Christ himself is the author and the finisher of our faith.
Set Apart
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV)
Christ set us apart to be his people, his inheritance—this is what freedom in the Spirit is. Freedom from sin and freedom from death to be raised to a new life in Christ. We have two natures in us: the corrupt sin nature we were born with and the Spirit of God we received once we were reborn and regenerated through him. It’s very important to look at this as a supernatural rebirth. Something that was dead being raised to life, because our human nature will inevitably be drawn toward believing our works earned us something.
This is part of the curse of our sin nature. We believe in our goodness because we often compare ourselves to others rather than to God and his standard, which is perfection. We want our works to validate us when we feel we are doing well or at least better than others, but we want grace when we realize we fall short. But the truth is we always fall short. If we see ourselves as we truly are, unable to do good in God’s sight, we will understand that we could never come close to righteous on our own through works.
Saved by Grace
Remember what Scripture says:
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6 (ESV)
Paul spends much of the letter to Galatians explaining that if you think living a good life can earn you salvation, then you don’t understand the gospel and are not truly saved. Thinking we can earn salvation is the opposite of saving faith. We are wholly and fully saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. And although he is saying good deeds and a moral life lifestyle cannot save us, he isn’t saying it’s ok to live the opposite of that.
Saying that good works can’t save you doesn’t mean we live an immoral lifestyle. Salvation and sanctification are gifts and are supernatural. Paul is saying that in our fallen state we don’t want to be good and can’t be good because it’s not in our nature
Because we are sinful by nature, doing good doesn’t save us. That’s not to say that we can’t do any good deeds in our fallen state. People who are not Christians do good deeds all the time. Doing good and truly being good by God’s standard are two different things. Good according to God’s standard is moral perfection in action and intention. Any good we do is still tainted with corruption and sin.
A New Nature
We are actually given a new nature in salvation and are regenerated, or reborn. A new nature that has new affections and desires. So good works don’t save us, they are evidence that we are saved. In a very real way we are called to starve our old nature and feed our new nature.
If we walk by the Spirit the Scripture says we will not gratify the desires of the flesh, but that doesn’t mean we cannot gratify the desires of the flesh because the flesh is waging war against the Spirit, they are contrary to each other.
Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul says if you try to earn your salvation by your own merit you are judged by the law, but if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the curse of the law. Why? Because by faith your trust is in the one who became a curse for us. Jesus set us free from this curse. This doesn’t mean the law is bad, the law is the perfect character and decree of a holy God. It’s a curse to us because we are unable to live up to it.
The fate of those who ignore the law is the same of those who think they can live up to it: judgement and condemnation. It’s only through Christ that we are saved and it’s only by his Spirit we are sanctified.
In Christ,
Pastor Joshua
Joshua West is a pastor, evangelist, and author. He is also director of the World Challenge Pastors Network.
