I think all of us have attempted to master something by trying and trying and gave up because in the end we were left frustrated and running on empty. Over the years I have spoken with people who have stopped going to church because they felt as if they were failing at life and the message they heard was, “just try harder.”
The message of Galatians can be summed up this way: You have been set free to live free. We have been set free to live differently. However, we could easily fall into the trap of thinking this means we simply need to try harder. Nothing could be further from the truth. Think of it this way. We have been set free to live differently and living differently is not about trying, but relying. We are to rely on the Holy Spirit. We need to stop trying and start relying.
Paul loves the Galatians, and he wants them to experience the joy of their freedom by living in the power of the Holy Spirit by relying on Him. Paul asks this question: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh” (Gal 3:3)? Living by self-empowerment and by the law of works does not produce the right fruit in our life. It’s like having a power-strip with four plug-ins. You plug in your computer, your printer, your phone, and then you use the fourth plug-in to plug into itself. Obviously, nothing works, because there is no power. When we try to do life through self-empowerment, we don’t have the power to live as we desire. I mean we try and try, but end up with the wrong fruit and greater frustration. We need to stop self-generating.
In Galatians chapter five Paul uses a fruit metaphor to shows what happens when we plug into the Spirit. Paul even explains that when we live by the Spirit, we can love and serve others (Gal 5:13-14). Interestingly, in verse 13 as Paul describes what freedom looks like he uses a Greek verb (douleuete), which means “to serve” or “to obey.” Ironically, Paul describes our freedom from slavery to the flesh as something that should lead us to become servants to one another through humble love. In other words, the biblical picture of freedom is not that of autonomy. Rather, freedom and servanthood go hand in hand. True freedom is found in humbly submitting ourselves in loving service to one another as Christ did for us (Mark 10:45).
Paul even paints a picture of what life looks like when we simply try harder. He lists things like immorality, jealousy, and fits of anger (see: Gal 5:19-21). We don’t want to have any of these things describe us. But, we have all tried by our own power to no avail. Living differently is not about trying harder, but by living by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to rely on God.
In Galatians 5:16-17 Paul speaks of the fruit of the gospel in our lives. He explains, “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” (Gal 5:16-17). Paul is not presenting a picture where we are sinless, but where we walk in the Spirit-empowered to sin less and less. The fruit of the gospel in our lives is that we are free of the power of sin. We can’t try our way out of sin. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit. We need to plug into the Holy Spirit.
Paul explains the fruit we will have when we plug into the Holy Spirit. He writes: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). These verses describe the kind of life we want to live. How do we live it? Paul asks a question: “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith” (Gal 3:2)? The Holy Spirit’s power is available to all who believe. Too often this wonderful gift is going unopened and unused. It’s like having a new car with no gas. It looks impressive but isn’t going anywhere. Too many believers put on a good façade, and they try harder and harder in their own strength and end up on empty. There is a better way. Paul declares: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). We live in the Spirit by acknowledging Him every day throughout the day.
When we acknowledge the Spirit and rely on Him, His fruit grows in our life. For me, it means taking the time throughout the day to just take a breath and recognize that God is with me and His Spirit is at work. I ask Him to continue to work in and through me. I partner with Him aware that He is the senior partner.
What power we have in the Spirit. We have been set free to live differently and do so by relying on our Lord. Together let us live dependent on the Spirit. Let’s live the life of freedom.