Galatians 5 (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 116.7-9
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.

Sing Psalm 116.1-3,7-9
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise To God Who Reigns Above)
I love the LORD because He hears my cries and pleas for mercy.
Because He bends to me His ear, my prayers shall ever thus be.
The snares of death encompassed me; hell’s grip could not unloosened be;
distress and anguish pressed me.

Full well the LORD has dealt with me; my soul from death He delivered.
My weeping eyes, my stumbling feet, He has redeemed forever.
Forever I before His face shall walk with those who know His grace,
and dwell with them forever

Read Galatians 5.1-26; meditate on verse 25.

Preparation
1. What must we do about the lusts and works of the flesh?

2. If we live in the Spirit, how should we walk?

Meditation
Let me summarize this chapter briefly, because I think Paul sets up a pattern here that should guide our walk with and work for the Lord every day:

1. Remember that God has called you, and that He has called you to be free from bondage to sin (v. 13).
2. Resolve before the Lord in prayer to stand fast in that calling and to resist anything that would draw you away from it (v. 1).
3. Look ahead—short term and long—to realizing more of the hope of righteousness in becoming more like Jesus (v. 5).
4. Confess all sin and put your fleshly lusts and works to death, right from the start of the day and throughout (v. 24).
5. Seek the filling of the Spirit and commit yourself to walking in the Spirit throughout the day (vv. 16, 25).
6. In every situation bear Holy Spirit fruit by listening for His leading and drawing on His strength (vv. 22, 23).
7. Finally, make the most of every opportunity to serve others in love (vv. 13, 14).

Any questions?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“With my whole heart I have sought You:
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!” (Ps. 119.10)
“I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end” (Ps. 119.112).

“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119.11).

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Lk. 11.13).
“For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Lk. 12.12).

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit Who is from God,
that we might know the things
that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2.12).

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;
in Whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1.13, 14).

“For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God,
Who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 4.7, 8).

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5.25).

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross—there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heav’n descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

(George Croly, 1854)

Reflection
1. How would you counsel a new believer to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh?

2. How can believers help one another to keep focused on increasing in the righteousness of Jesus?

3. Whom will you encourage today to stand fast in the Lord and bear fruit in His Name?

The death of the flesh is the life of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God lives in us, let him govern our actions… As the soul does not remain idle in the body, but gives motion and rigour to every member and part, so the Spirit of God cannot dwell in us without manifesting himself by the outward effects. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Galatians 5.25

Pray Psalm 116.4-6, 10-19.
Commit your day to the Lord, to stand fast in your calling, crucify the lusts and works of the flesh, look forward to the hope of righteousness, walk in the Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit, and serve others in love.

Sing Psalm 116.4-6, 10-19
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
I called to God, “O LORD, I pray, my soul redeem with favor!”
The LORD is gracious in His way, and righteous is our Savior.
His mercy to the simple flies; He lifted me up to the skies—
I rest in Him forever!

Afflicted, I believe His Word, though lying men would undo me.
What shall I render to the LORD for all His blessings to me?
Salvation’s cup I lift above and call upon the God of love
and pay my vows most truly.

How sweet to Him when saints depart—make me Your servant, Savior!
From sin You loosed my wand’ring heart; I praise Your Name forever!
On You I call, my vows to pay; here in Your Presence I would stay
Your praise to offer ever.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.