A Life of Faith
“Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” — Galatians 3:3
I want to briefly follow up with last night’s sermon (I taught on Galatians 3:1–14)… What I hope you took away is that the law is full of demands and condemnation, whereas the cross is full of grace and forgiveness. Living under the demands of the law leads to curse and death, whereas living under the gospel of Christ and Him crucified leads to freedom and life. Paul makes this point all throughout Galatians 3, but perhaps more succinctly in Romans 8:1–4 when he declares:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
So what does it mean to walk not according to the flesh but acccording to the Spirit? Or as Paul says in Galatians 3:3, what does it mean to be perfected not by flesh but by the Spirit?
Perhaps these prayers will help show a difference between the two:
Prayer #1
“Lord, I feel so anxious (or afraid). Help me not feel this way. Might your power work in me and take away this unwanted feeling!”
Not a terrible prayer but it misses the heart. This prayer fails to break us. This prayer fails to expose our unbelief but instead keeps our dependence on ourselves and our ability to receive and live out of His power.
Prayer #2
“Lord, I feel so anxious (or afraid). Expose to me why I feel this way. What might I be clinging onto too firmly? What am I afraid to let go of? Where am I seeking value and worth apart from you? Give me true repentance as you expose what I am loving apart from you. Give me faith to receive all the righteousness that is mine in Christ. Help me receive the peace that only your Spirit can bring. Amen.”
This prayer points at our heart — as we speak the words of the the worried Father as his boy is sick and needing Jesus’ healing, “I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
What does this look like in my life?
I lead a lot of things in my job. It’s a common fear of mine to lead a social event or bible study (like RUF 101!) and fear nobody comes. The first prayer would be me asking God to take away that fear. But it would just come back during the next event, right? Nothing would be changed. My heart would be untouched.
The second prayer would be a prayer of faith and repentance and would expose my heart. Why am I so afraid? What does a “good” attendance give me? Feelings of validation and worth? Does it give me identity as someone who leads such an important and “popular” ministry? How shallow… The answers to those questions would lead me to the cross. The answers to those questions would lead to a prayer like this:
“Lord, forgive me for idolizing my work. Forgive me for using these students to give me feelings of validation and worth that only you can give. Forgive me for failing to receive and rest in the identity you have purchased for me on the cross. I am your Son in whom you are well pleased. I believe that but help my unbelief.”
This sort of dying to self, dying to idols, dying to outside sources of worth and identity — through repentance — is the opposite of “being perfected by the flesh.” That prayer of death is a prayer also of faith where the Spirit perfects me more and more into the image of Christ.
