Word@Work, Let God's Word energise your working day!

Galatians

Filter by Chapter Number

A Little Yeast

Galatians 5:9-12

Yeast is known world-wide.  It is used in brewing, to convert sugars into alcohol; and in baking, to produce carbon dioxide which lightens or ‘leavens’ the texture of bread.  Yeast cells grow at an amazing rate, budding off ‘daughter cells’ which also grow and bud.  It only requires a little yeast in the right growing conditions to eventually produce millions of yeast cells which have a powerfully increased effect.  

Free To Serve

Galatians 5:13

What do we mean by freedom?  It depends on the context.  The man who has been released from prison is free of being controlled, but has a new responsibility to control himself.  A child who runs away from home is free of the constraints of the family, but is very vulnerable and at risk of being caught up in things that would enslave him or her.  Paul said that the freedom we have in Christ is not freedom to do what we like, but freedom to serve the Lord and others.
 

The Law Of Love

Galatians 5:14-15

Paul was writing to believers who were arguing with each other.  The issue was whether or not you could be a true Christian if you did not also fulfil all the Jewish laws.  The legalists were so insistent that they were right that they behaved like wild animals, biting and tearing at each other with sharp claws.  

The War Of Love

Galatians 5:16-18

Not all conflict is outside of us.  The most important conflicts go on inside our own hearts.  Although we are sinners by nature, God sends His Holy Spirit into every person who believes the gospel and trusts in Jesus (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13), giving them the desire and the power to resist the passions of the flesh (Titus 2:12).  But our sinful natures are set to ignore or resist the Spirit of God and neutralise His instructions.  That is why we experience an inner contest between God’s will and our sinful passions: between His Spirit and our flesh.  They are totally opposed to each oth

The War Of Flesh

Galatians 5:19-21

In these verses, our ‘flesh’ is not the skin and muscle of our bodies, but the inner desire to please ourselves.  That self-pleasure does not accept the authority of God over us or consider any responsibility to other people.  So when we allow our ‘flesh’ to take control of our minds and body, our actions will display no regard for anybody else or God.  Indeed, we will show that we are at war with God and other people (Galatians 5:17).
 

The Fruit Of The Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23

When the Holy Spirit is allowed to operate in a believer’s heart, He produces deep changes.  In contrast to the ‘acts of the flesh’ (Galatians 5:19-21) - which are all offensive to God, His law and to other people - the Spirit’s activity is fully in tune with God’s heart.  There is no Divine penalty for anything produced because of the Holy Spirit’s work.  Instead, God is glorified, people are blessed and the believer is satisfied.
 

Dead Passions

Galatians 5:24 

Passions are powerful.  They are the deep desires which stir our imagination, motivate us to action and seem to want to control our thinking.  But we are not animals, unable to understand our impulses or unable to control them.  We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  He is the Master at choosing how and when to express His deep desires; His desires are always right and He always makes right choices.
 

Marching In Step

Galatians 5:25

When we first trusted in Jesus, by repentance and faith, the Holy Spirit was given to us (Acts 2:38).  He caused us to be born again into God’s family (John 3:3-8), and sealed us with God’s promise of eternal life (Ephesians 1:13).  It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the inner assurance that we belong to God (Romans 8:15-17).  The Holy Spirit also guides us into understanding the truth (John 14:26), convicts us of sin (John 16:7-8), and helps us as we pray (Romans 8:26-27).  He is God ‘in us’, ‘on the move’ and ‘up to the minute’ in our lives.
 

Keep Humble

Galatians 5:26

Conceit is a many-headed monster.  It shows itself in all sorts of guises, which all start from false ideas about ourselves - believing that we are cleverer, more attractive, wiser, more knowledgeable and generally morally better than we are in our private life.  Conceit is self-flattery which exceeds the reality of who we are (Isaiah 16:6).  It is based on a fantasy of who we would like to be.  Conceit lifts us up and pushes others down.  It is often accompanied by a narcissistic urge to taunt others about their inferiority, at the same time as we secretly envy what they do and who they ar

The Traps of Sin

Galatians 6:1

Sin is described as a trap which ensnares people (Psalm 9:16; Proverbs 29:6).  It stops them moving forward with God and paralyses them in a painful and frightening place (Psalm 69:2-3).  This is all part of Satan’s work (2 Timothy 2:26).  The Apostle Paul recognised that believers do sometimes get trapped in sin, but God has provided brothers and sisters, who are living by the Spirit, to help them (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
 

Pages

BeaconLight
Word@Work
CrossCheck