Galatians 4-6 - Walk by the Spirit

Sonship in Christ

Gal 4:4-5 LSB - [4] But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, [5] so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Gal 4:6-7 LSB - [6] And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" [7] Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Gal 4:19 LSB - [19] My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you--

An Allegory of Two Covenants

Gal 4:19, 22-23 LSB - [19] My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you-- ... [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-woman and one by the free woman. [23] But the son by the servant-woman had been born according to the flesh, while the son by the free woman through the promise.

Gal 4:19, 30-31 LSB - [19] My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you-- ... [30] But what does the Scripture say? "CAST OUT THE SERVANT-WOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE SERVANT-WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN." [31] So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant-woman, but of the free woman.

Christ Set Us Free

Gal 5:1 LSB - [1] It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Gal 5:5 LSB - [5] For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.

Phl 3:9 LSB - [9] and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [is] from God upon faith,

 

Walk by the Spirit

Gal 5:16 LSB - [16] But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Gal 5:17 LSB - [17] For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you do not do the things that you want.

Hymn 130 - The inward warfare

John Newton 8.8.8.8.8.8

Strange and mysterious is my life,

What opposites I feel within!

A stable peace, a constant strife,

The rule of grace, the pow’r of sin:

Too often I am captive led,

Yet daily triumph in my Head.

I prize the privilege of prayer,

But o! what backwardness to pray!

Though on the LORD I cast my care,

I feel its burden every day:

I seek his will in all I do,

Yet find my own is working too.

I call the promises my own,

And prize them more than mines of gold;

Yet though their sweetness I have known,

They leave me unimpressed and cold

One hour upon the truth I feed,

The next I know not what I read.

I love the holy day of rest,

When Jesus meets his gathered saints;

Sweet day, of all the week the best!

For its return my spirit pants:

Yet often, through my unbelief,

It proves a day of guilt and grief.

While on my Savior I rely,

I know my foes shall loose their aim;

And therefore dare their pow’r defy,

Assured of conquest through his name:

But soon my confidence is slain,

And all my fears return again.

Thus different pow’rs within me strive,

And grace, and sin, by turns prevail;

I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,

And vict’ry hangs in doubtful scale:

But JESUS has his promise passed,

That grace shall overcome at last.

Gal 5:18 LSB - [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Gal 5:22-23 LSB - [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Gal 5:24 LSB - [24] Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Bear One Another’s Burdens

Gal 6:1-2 LSB - [1] Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, [each of you] looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. [2] Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Gal 6:14 LSB - [14] But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.