Blog
“Freedom and the Flesh”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, M. W. Bassford
In 1 and 2 Corinthians, we encounter a young church full of new converts. Some of these people have come out of gross immorality to draw near to God through Christ. However, the Corinthians suffered from a predictable problem. Rather than abandoning their former worldly thinking, they imported it into the church, so that even the Lord’s Supper became an opportunity for them to exalt themselves and shame others.
In Galatians 5:13-15, Paul condemns this worldly worldview. He points out that in Christ, we have freedom. We are freed from our sins; we are freed from the need to justify ourselves before God through works of merit. However, he warns the Galatians that it is all too easy to use our freedom in Christ to express our fleshly desires. Rather than loving and serving one another, we can find ourselves attacking and devouring one another.
Sad to say, this fleshly attitude is all too evident among God’s people 2000 years later, even among those who have been Christians for much longer than the Corinthians had. Most of us have probably seen brethren who obeyed the gospel decades ago acting as though they had never come out of the world in the first place. Contentiousness, self-will, and pride are fully as evident in them as they are in someone who never has set foot inside a church building.
If we are honest, each one of us will admit that this is a struggle for us. All of us were toddlers once, and inside us all, that inner toddler remains. We want what we want, we want it now, and if we don’t get what we want, we are inclined to pitch a fit.
Sometimes, brethren cloak their personal outrage in doctrinal self-righteousness. They will seize upon an obscure issue and insist that everyone follow their obscure position, or else. Really, though, whether they realize it or not, the true problem is not their quirky interpretation of the Scriptures. It is that they aren’t being honored in the way that they feel they deserve.
This is not how we have learned Christ. As Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:22, all things belong to us. Our exaltation in Christ is so extraordinary that any of our attempts to exalt ourselves cannot change our position in any meaningful way. It would be like me trying to make a meaningful contribution to the gold in Ft. Knox by tossing my wedding ring on the pile!
All things belong to us, so the affronts that matter so much to the world should be insignificant to us. Brother X is a jerk. Who cares? We have Christ. Sister Y insisted on her way. Who cares? We have Christ. They are not rivals for the esteem that rightfully should be ours. They are fellow heirs in Christ who offer us opportunities for service and love. We must not bite and devour one another, but more importantly, we don’t need to bite and devour one another. We already have been filled with Him.
