Quick Thought for Meditation – Leading – Galatians 5

Galatians 5:18

“ But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

In this verse the Apostle Paul again sets up an important comparison between the Spirit and the law.  The very nature of the law is that it dictates and forces one into situations and actions.  Whereas, the Spirit leads.  What is necessary for leading?  The first is life.  If one is not living then they cannot be led.  The Spirit does not come into action until one is regenerated and has spiritual life.  The second is both strength and weakness.  One cannot be led without some strength for in order to be led you must have the strength to follow.  Yet, it also requires some level of weakness for if one had not weakness they would not consent to being led.  The last thing is desire.  Leading is not picking up and carrying or forcing.  It requires desire from the one that is following.  When all of these are present then the child of God can follow after the Spirit and deny the bondage of the law and the flesh.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Spirit Guided – Galatians 5

Galatians 5:16

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

It is important to note here that “Spirit” is capitalized and thus the Apostle Paul intends that we should walk in a way that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to be our guide.  When we do so we seek after the things of God and not the things of men.  This is not to imply that just because we are walking in the Spirit that we will not have the desires of the flesh any longer.  Those desires and tendencies will always be present.  However, when the Spirit is guiding our steps those desires tend to diminish and the likelihood that we will chase after them dwindles allowing that we might walk in better obedience unto God.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Only One Question – Galatians 3

Galatians 3:2

“This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Paul says to the Galatians that he has only one question of them, though there are many things he writes about, there is only one thing he would ask them.  He then mentions the receiving of the Spirit.  The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, but as the gospel says the Spirit in this case is the Spirit of truth.  In it is revealed the truth of Jesus Christ in all things, including the election, predestination, and redemption of his people.  Paul then says, did you receive this truth by following the letter of the law or did you receive it by the faith that was given to you by Christ Jesus?  The clear and obvious answer, as laid forth in the first two chapters of this epistle, is that it must have come by faith.  For only condemnation and judgment came by the law.  Paul is again reminding the Galatians and in turn us, that we are to live a life of faith if we are to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Anoint Thine Eyes – Revelation 3

Revelation 3:18

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

The Lord as the helper and protector of all of his churches advises this particular church to do three things.  Let us consider the third today: “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve” by which is meant the Holy Spirit.  The eyes under consideration here are not the natural eyes of the body, but rather the spiritual eyes that each regenerated child of God has.  It is clear here that this particular church was following after their own desires rather than following after the will of God.  John is instructing them to apply the Holy Spirit to their walk again and let God be the leader that they follow.  We should all make sure that we are applying the eyesalve of the Holy Spirit to our spiritual eyes on a regular basis.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Hearing – Revelation 3q

Revelation 3:13

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

Each of the individual letters to the churches ends with this phrase.  I have not taken a post to consider each of these, but this teaching is worthy of consideration again.  “He that hath an ear” is the qualifying statement in this verse.  By this John means that 1) those that are regenerated and are able to hear the words of God 2) those that are active believers and will receive the word of God. After the qualifying statement we are given the instruction part of the phrase which is to hear the teachings which the Spirit gave unto John for the churches.  The same is true today, if we have been regenerated and then believed on Christ we should listen to the words of scripture as they are inspired by the Holy Spirit.