Galatians 5:13 and 15

[Jim]

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.


What can we learn from this scripture?

What are your thoughts?

[Jim]

By the way, the full term "consumed" here is used only once in the entire New Testament with the Strongs 355 definition. "consume" is used that way two other times.

It means, to "use up" or "destroy". rather harsh words for brothers in Christ(this is exactly to whom he is speaking)

[George]

We have been called unto liberty...it is not the liberty to do as we please. It is the liberty to be freed of the law and the restraints of the religious workings of the Jews. The liberty we have in Christ is not a license to do as we please. We cannot live as close to hell as we possibly can without actually falling into it. We are commanded, and in this case it is a command not a concept of thinking about it or considering it, we are commanded to not use that liberty to exercise the lusts of the flesh. You may have noticed that my signature at the bottom of my posts is Galatians 5:1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage."

Probably the easiest way to bring down a Church is through back-biting, rumor mongering, and such. Witness the following:

Quote:(Rom 1:28) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Rom 1:29) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (Rom 1:30) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (Rom 1:31) Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (Rom 1:32) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Wow, what a list! These things will result in us consuming each other in our lusts. I believe when the apostle Paul says, "and such like," in Galatians 5:21 the things he lists in Romans 1 are the "and such like." When we are warned about consuming one another it is similar to the fighting of wild animals. (Which it really is if you look at it seriously.) Often in the wild animals will fight until both of them expire (are consumed.)

We are Christians made free by the Grace of God through the work of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. Why should we want to act like wild, uncaged animals. If you have ever seen film of a group of almost any kind of animals, even those who form loose family-type units there is constant bickering and fighting going on. Often it is the struggle to see who the alpha male is to be. Why would we as Christians have any designs to be involved in such behaviours?

Paul spells out pretty clearly to us what we are supposed to do and the way we are supposed to conduct our lives in Galatians 5:16:

Quote:(Gal 5:16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Walk in the Spirit. I know this can be difficult in the heat of the moment. Then it becomes doubly important that we take steps to get right. First and most importantly we must get right with God and then we must get right with the other person or persons involved. I have discovered that even if I think I am 100% correct and can back it up with scripture it is the way I handle it that matters. If my tone of voice or choice of words causes pain to another then I need to be the first to apologize.

I believe it of the utmost importance that rather than become entangled in such things as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:15 we must train ourselves to exercise the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance. I point out that meekness is a trait that can only be inculcated to us by and through Jesus Christ. There are some that believe temperance means self control. That is a fallacy because it is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. If it is a part of the fruit of the Spirit it cannot h ave anything to do with self but is actually Spirit control rather than self control.

[George]

I apologize for not signing my last post. That was me. The batteries on my wireless keyboard gave up the ghost so I had to change them. When I put them in I did it backwards but obviously it is working now.

I wanted to add that I believe those two verses Brother Jim gave us certainly contain a lot to think about in a few short words. I believe they ought to be cause for us to examine our relationship with God and how these things can be applied to our lives.

In Christ,
George