By Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

By Rev. Ron Purkey

At the close of an important speech to Congress Jan. 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared his vision of the kind of world he wanted to see after World War II was over. He envisioned four basic freedoms enjoyed by all people: Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. To some degree, these freedoms have been achieved on a wider scale than in 1941, but our world still needs another freedom, a fifth freedom. People need to be free from themselves and the oppression of their sinful nature.

In the New Testament the legalists thought they had the answer to the problem in laws and threats, but the apostle Paul has explained no amount of legislation can change man’s basic sinful nature. It is not law on the outside, but love on the inside that makes the difference. We need another power within, and that power comes from the Holy Spirit of God.

Here is the Christian’s check list as found in Galatians 5:1-26:

First, are you standing free (Galatians 5:1)? Your freedom in Christ is a costly thing, for it cost Jesus his life. In him, you stand free; the yoke of the Old Testament law has been removed (Acts 15:6–11).

Second, are you falling (Galatians 5:4)? To fall from grace does not mean to lose one’s salvation. It means to move out of the sphere of grace into the sphere of law. It means to substitute regulations for a personal relationship with the Lord.

Third, are you running on course (Galatians 5:7)? Or has false teaching gotten you on a detour?

Fourth, are you being leavened (Galatians 5:9)? Jesus used leaven to picture sin (Matthew 16:6–12). Like yeast, false teaching is introduced quietly, it grows secretly and soon it affects every part of your life.

Fifth, are you serving others (Galatians 5:13)? Freedom brings with it the responsibility to serve. Love motivates us to fulfill the law of God (Romans 13:8–14). Remember, biblical love is the decision to compassionately, righteously and sacrificially seek the well-being of another. Just as Jesus loved us, we are to love one another. For by such love everyone will know that we are his disciples (see John 13:34-35). Since the Son of God served us through love, why would his disciples expect to do anything less?

Sixth, are you walking in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16)? Life, not law, changes behavior; and as you yield to the Holy Spirit, Christ’s life is manifest in the fruit of the Spirit. Law works by compulsion from without, but grace works by compassion from within.

Remember, “Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean that we believe there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.” — statement by J. B. Phillips.

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines at www.rcpbibleoutlines.com free on the website. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.