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Galatians
3:1-14

 

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith - just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?

 

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." 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. 

(ESV) 

 

 

 

The Ministry of the Spirit

Thursday of Easter 2

19 April 2012

The battle is on. Because of our resurrection with Christ in holy baptism, the spirit and the flesh are locked in a life and death struggle. We feel the onslaught of death every day we walk by the Spirit. Only those who do not have the Spirit have what the world calls peace. They are like the zombies of horror movie fame. They are dead, but don't know it. They are dead but act like they are alive. They think living by old Adam is normal; that succumbing to his blandishments is truly pleasurable. It is a sickness unto death. Their peace is oblivion. Our peace is so different.

 

Yes, we are at war on a daily basis, through repentance and contrition. We feel our sin. It is clear and real to us. We cannot fool ourselves about our own depravity. The Spirit's ministry accuses, as it should. Our tears and sorrow at our weakness, our struggles and even frustration at our own incapacity to do what we ought to do, all testify to that accusation (Rm 7:16-21). We must throw ourselves every day upon the ministry of the Spirit to be led by the Spirit, as Paul says, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal 5:18).

 

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Here's where many contemporary Christians go wrong. The ministry of the Spirit is intended to free us from the burden of earning righteousness through our own efforts and works. Yet many Christians thinking they are gaining access to the Spirit's ministry, are looking upon their own good works as evidence of His power in their lives. This could not be more misguided. You cannot return to the works of the law and then proceed to call it the ministry of the Spirit. This is a complete contradiction of the Christian gospel.

 

What then is the Spirit's ministry? Let us not forget that He is the Holy Spirit. He who is holy makes holy the people of God. He makes holy through the holy things that He gives to the bride of Christ: the Word and the Sacraments. This means that the Spirit-filled life is a life filled by receiving the Spirit's gifts in the preaching of the church and in the reception of the Holy Supper. In this way the Spirit gives forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Spirit's ministry does not begin with the law, therefore it cannot return there (Gal 3:1-5). We must never return to mere obedience under the name of the Spirit, who makes holy as a gift. The Spirit's ultimate goal is in the gospel and the freedom it gives. To return to the law is not the ministry of the Spirit, no matter what you call it. 

 

 

Martin Luther

  

"Paul is unable to forget about his doctrine of faith; but always he repeats and inculcates it, even when he is dealing with good works. Here someone might object: 'How could it be that we are not under the law? After all, you, Paul, teach that we have a flesh which desires against the Spirit, a flesh that battles, vexes, and enslaves us. And we are really conscious of our sin; nor can we be free in the sense in which we would most like to be free. This is surely what it is to be under the law. Therefore why do you say, Paul, that we are not under the law?'

 

'Do not let this trouble you,' he says. 'Rather concentrate on this, that you be led by the Spirit, that is, that you obey the will which is opposed to the flesh and that you do not fulfill the desires of the flesh (for this is what it means to be led and drawn by the Spirit). And then you will not be under the law.'

 

Thus Paul speaks of himself in Romans 7: 'I myself serve the law of God with my mind;' that is, in the Spirit I am not guilty of any sin. 'But with my flesh I serve the law of sin' (Rm 7:25). And so believers are not under the law, namely, by the Spirit. For the law is not able to accuse and to carry out its sentence of death against them, even though they feel their sin and confess themselves to be sinners. Through Christ, who was 'born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law' (Gal 4:4-5), the power of the law has been taken away. Therefore, the law is not able to accuse as sin that which truly is sin against the law in believers.

 

"Therefore the dominion of the Spirit is so powerful that, even though there truly is sin, the law cannot accuse it. For Christ, our Righteousness, whom we grasp by faith, is beyond reproach; therefore He cannot be accused by the law. As long as we hold fast to Him, we are led by the Spirit and are freed from the law. So even when the apostle teaches good works, he does not forget his argument about justification, but always indicates that it is impossible for us to be justified by works. The remnants of sin cling to our flesh. As long as the flesh lives, it does not stop desiring against the spirit. Yet this does not endanger us at all; for we have been freed from the law, to the extent that we walk by the Spirit." 

 

Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 5.18  

 

Prayer    

Lord God, heavenly Father, let Your Holy Spirit dwell among us that He may enlighten and lead us into all truth through Your Word and always defend us from all adversities; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

For Bill Korinek, that the Lord his God would grant him strength and healing

 

For President Matthew Harrison, that the Lord would be with him, leading him by the Holy Spirit

 

For the Ladies Retreat of Memorial Lutheran Church, that they would rejoice at the new song the Lord has taught His people
 

Art: DUBOIS, Thomas  Lamb of God

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