5. The Cross And Christ’s Incarnation (Gal. 4:4-7)

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Most of us try to organize our lives around a schedule. You schedule appointments, your school, your work, time to get together with friends etc. Soon you find that your week is filled up. But some people don’t make plans at all, or, if they do, they don’t stick to them. Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler Corporation, once said: “I’m constantly amazed by the number of people who can’t seem to control their own schedules. Over the years, I’ve had many executives come to me and say with pride, ‘Boy, last year I worked so hard that I didn’t take any vacation.’ It’s actually nothing to be proud of. I always feel like responding, ‘You mean to tell me that you can take responsibility for an $80 million project, and you can’t plan two weeks out of the year to go off with your family and have some fun?’”

Sometimes unplanned events occur that you can’t possibly schedule. Cliff Barrows served as Billy Graham’s lifelong associate and crusade song leader. In 1945, before he met Billy Graham, Cliff and his fiancée, Billie, had scraped together enough money for a simple wedding and two train tickets to a resort. On arrival, however, they found the hotel shut down. Stranded in an unfamiliar city with little money, they thumbed a ride. A sympathetic driver took them to a grocery store, owned by a woman he knew, where the newlyweds spent their first night in a room above the store.

The next day, when the lady overheard Cliff playing Christian songs on his trombone, she arranged for them to spend the rest of their honeymoon at a friend’s house. Several days later the host invited them to attend a youth rally where a young evangelist was speaking. The song leader that night was sick, and Cliff was asked to take charge of the music for the service. The young evangelist, of course, was Billy Graham and the two became lifelong partners. You can’t schedule such unplanned events.

When an unscheduled event occurs, you usually scramble to figure out how you can reorganize your life quickly. Perhaps it’s a health issue, or a death in the family, or a paper at school you forgot was due this week. Or, perhaps it’s the birth of a baby - sometimes babies do what they’re supposed to do and come into the world on time and sometimes they come unexpectedly. Unexpected interruptions come up and, sometimes, the timing of our plans has to change.

Herod hadn’t planned on or expected the birth of the Messiah. That was certainly an unscheduled event for him and he began to scramble. That’s why he “summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared” (Matt. 2:7). Mary hadn’t planned on Jesus being born that day, but all of a sudden “the time came for her to give birth” (Lk. 2:6).

When things don’t go the way you planned remember that God’s timing is always the best. He may have plans for you that you know nothing about. The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “To everything there is a season and a time to every matter under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1).

We’re going to see in this study that God’s schedule is perfect. All the details are fixed and certain. He made his plan in eternity past and he is carrying it out perfectly. God’s plan is never late, nothing is ever unscheduled, and it won’t change because it’s a perfect plan. It’s God’s perfect plan of redemption. God’s plan was determined before the world was made and spans the entire history of the human race. His plan was so enormous that we can’t fathom its complexity. Yet smoothly and surely his plan continues to unfold. Just as surely as his Word is fully trustworthy, so his plan for the human race is fully trustworthy.

I have titled this message, “The cross and Christ’s incarnation,” the subject of which is “God perfect plan: Why Jesus came.” The overall point of this message is that the purpose for Christ’s coming into the world was to fulfill God’s perfect plan of redemption through the cross.

A perfect plan has three components: (1) The perfect time; (2) The perfect person; (3) The perfect purpose. The first element in any plan is usually the timing, the schedule. Accordingly…

I. God Awaited The Perfect Time: “When The Fullness Of Time Had Come…” (4:4a)

1. The “fullness of time” was planned from eternity past. God has an eternal calendar which includes a schedule for human history. Throughout human history God has been unfolding his plan for the world, but throughout human history people have ignored God’s plan. They turn a blind eye to his plan and turn their backs on him. Adam and Eve disregarded God’s plan for their bliss in Eden. The nation of Israel disregarded God’s plan for their happiness in Canaan. So, God has repeatedly warned, cajoled, and pleaded with people to repent, to be reconciled to Him, to trust him.

The fullness of time was planned in eternity past. And…

2. The “fullness of time” was revealed throughout the O.T. It was revealed in Genesis 3:15 when God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring: he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” It was revealed through the patriarchs, judges, kings, and Old Testament prophets (Heb. 1:2-3). And the years passed until the perfect time came, “the fullness of time” when God intervened in human history to execute his plan of redemption.

So, the “fullness of time” was planned from eternity past. It was revealed throughout the Old Testament and…

3. The “fullness of time” came when Christ was born. First, Christ’s birth was the “fullness of time” because it was exactly at the time of our greatest need. Human beings had shown themselves to be utterly unable and unwilling to keep God’s law. Over thousands of years, the human race had proven that we are sinners in need of a Savior. “While we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). Indeed, “At that time you were separated from Christ … having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).

Second, Christ’s birth was the “fullness of time” because it was exactly the right time according to God’s timetable. That was the time for God to effect his eternal plan of redemption. This was the culminating revelation of God’s plan. This was the apex of his unfolding drama of redemption. This was the zenith of all God’s ways with man. This was the perfect time when God himself was going to intervene in human history by coming to earth. The task was too great for any mere mortal to speak or act on behalf of God – not the patriarchs, judges, kings, and Old Testament prophets. No, this was the time for God’s one and only Son to be born.

Third, Christ’s birth was the “fullness of time” because it was exactly the right time for God’s plan to be put into action. The time had come to which all redemptive history had pointed. The right moment arrived for God to disclose to the world how he would implement his plan of salvation, a plan that he had made known through the prophets but a plan that the human race had ignored. That’s why, when Christ was born, no one seemed to realize what was happening. The people of Jerusalem and Bethlehem didn’t know, even though their own Scriptures had predicted it long before.

When Christ was born approximately 2000 years ago, it was the perfect time for God to put into action his plan of redemption. And the perfect time for God to complete his plan will come again in the future. He acted once at Christ’s first coming and He will act again at Christ’s second coming. At Christ’s first coming, God revealed his grace; at Christ’s second coming, God will reveal his judgment and wrath. There is a limit set for God’s plan of grace. Yes, “God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). God pleads with people today: “Behold, now is the favorable (acceptable) time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). And he warns everyone: “Surely I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:20). There is a limit set for God’s plan of grace. The question is: “Are you ready?”

So, God awaited for the perfect time to effect his plan. And…

II. God Appointed The Perfect Person: “…God Sent Forth His Son…” (4:4b-D)

This reminds us of the man in the parable who “planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country” (Mk. 12:1). First, he sent a servant to receive the fruit if his vineyard, but the servant was beaten by the tenants and sent away empty-handed. Then, he sent another servant who was shamefully treated – stoned, wounded, and sent away. Then, he sent another servant who was killed, and many others – some of whom were beaten and some killed. At last, “He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours’” (Mk. 12:1-6). And so “God sent forth his Son” (4:4b).

1. Jesus, the perfect person, was “born of a woman” (4:4c). In his perfect plan, God sent his beloved Son, who was born of a woman. He did not come the first time in the way he will come the second time. At his second coming he will come in power and great glory. Then, “he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him” (Rev. 1:7). Then “at the name of Jesus every knee (will) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).

But at his first coming, Jesus came in weakness and obscurity, “born of a woman.” Because he was born of a woman, Jesus was fully human. But Jesus was no ordinary man for he was both fully human and fully divine, both natures being distinct and yet at the same time united in one person. We call this his hypostatic union, the joining together of both his divine and human natures in the person of Jesus.

Jesus was no ordinary man because his conception was different from any other – the woman to whom he was born was a virgin. He was not conceived through the natural union of a man and a woman. He was conceived through the Holy Spirit: “That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” the angel said to Joseph (Matt. 1:20). His conception guarded his deity and his conception guarded his holiness: he had no sinful nature. He was fully human and yet perfectly sinless as Scripture says: “He (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). He was “holy, innocent, unstained, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). He “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

Thus, Jesus was the God-man. He was fully and truly God and fully and truly man. He was God “manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). This is a foundational, non-negotiable truth of Christianity. Consider the following biblical statements:

1. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).

2. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14).

3. “⁶ Though he was in the form of God, (he) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-7).

When he came into the world at his incarnation, Jesus voluntarily “emptied himself” by the position that he took (“taking the form of a servant”) and by the nature that he took (“being born in the likeness of men”). And he “humbled himself” by voluntarily submitting to death. He gave up life to “becoming obedient” to the humiliation of “death, even death cross.” He gave up divine superiority to take on human inferiority. He gave up his glorious position to become despised. He gave up his infinite riches to become poor. He gave up the independent exercise of his divine rights to become dependent and obedient, the perfect servant. Thus, Jesus voluntarily divested himself of his divine rights and privileges but without in any way ceasing to be fully God.

It was necessary for our salvation that the Savior of men should be a perfect man. As John MacArthur puts it: “He had to be God to have the power of Saviour and He had to be man to have the position of Substitute” (Galatians, 108). The debt of our sins had to be paid and it could only be paid by a sinless, perfect person. This idea is echoed in Cecil Alexander’s old hymn: “There was none other good enough to pay the price of sin; He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.” To satisfy the justice of a holy God, there had to be a perfect sacrifice, and the perfect sacrifice had to be a perfect person. The only perfect person was our Savior, Jesus. Thus, even when Jesus came into the world, he had before him the cross. The cross was central to his mission in the world, “for even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).

First, then, Jesus, the perfect person, was born of a woman. And …

2. Jesus, the perfect person, was “born under the law” (4:4d). He was born under the same conditions as those who were finding it impossible to be justified by the law. Like any other person, he had the obligation to obey and be judged by the law. But unlike any other person, he perfectly kept and satisfied the law of God because he was perfectly sinless.

So, in putting his plan into action, first, God awaited the perfect time. Second, God appointed the perfect person. And third…

III. God Achieved The Perfect Purpose: “…To Redeem Those Who Were Under The Law” (4:5-7)

Every plan has to have a purpose, a goal…

1. God’s purpose was to change our standing before Him (4:5a). He did this by sending forth his Son “to redeem those who were under the law” (5a). To “redeem” something means to buy it back, just as slaves were sometimes bought back from slavery. Because Christ was born under the law and perfectly kept the law, he is able to redeem all who were born under the law and were held in bondage by it, being unable to keep it themselves. We could not meet the holy demands of God’s law. We stood before God condemned; our mouths were shut. We had no defense before God, no advocate. We were guilty and enslaved with no hope of freedom until “God sent forth his Son” into the world to “redeem those who were under the law.”

That’s what God revealed to Mary: “You shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). That’s what God revealed to the shepherds: “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11). That’s what God through Paul revealed to the people in the synagogue: “³⁸ Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts. 13:38-39).

God sent forth his Son with the express purpose of redeeming us from the slavery of our sinful flesh and bondage under the law. “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). If we believe in him, the condemnation of sin in the sacrifice of Christ prevents our personal condemnation. It changes our standing before God. That’s why Jesus came into the world, to redeem us from our bondage to sin and, thus, change our standing before God. And he did that at the cross.

By faith in Him and his atoning sacrifice, we are redeemed from the curse of the law, bought back from Satan’s power to the power of God, ransomed from death to life. Our standing before God changed. That was God’s purpose - to change our standing before Him. And in addition…

2. God’s purpose was to change our status before Him (4:5b). God sent forth his Son “so that we might receive adoption as sons (5b). That’s a change of status. Adoption in this context doesn’t mean what it does today in our culture. In the Greco-Roman culture, a certain time was set when the male child in the family was formally and legally “adopted.” The word used here for “adoption” literally means “to place as a son.” So, at this pre-appointed time, the male child was placed in the position of a legal son and given all the privileges of that position. This legal ceremony did not make him a member of the family - he always was a member of the family. Rather, it gave him legal recognition as a son under Roman law.

There are two Greek words that are both rendered simply as “son” in our English translations, but they are in fact different. One word refers to a child by natural birth (teknon) and the other refers to the same child who has now been legally declared a son in the eyes of the law (huios). Here in Galatians 5:5, Paul uses the term “huios” to describe this legal “adoption as sons” with full rights and privileges. Paul’s point here is that, as adopted sons and daughters, we have a new status before God. We who were slaves to the law have been redeemed from its grip and now, as free men and women, we have been adopted into God’s family with all the privileges and responsibilities of sons and daughters.

This new status brings with it a family relationship the like of which we could never have previously had with God. Our status has been changed from slavery under the law to redeemed children adopted into God’s family. Now, because we are God’s children, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (4:6). Notice this beautiful sequence: Not only did God send forth his perfect Son into the world to change our standing before God by redeeming us (marvelous as that is) and to change our status before God by adopting us (marvelous as that is), but also he has sealed that new standing and signified our new status by sending “the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (6a). Thus, we are brought into an entirely new relationship with God, a relationship of intimacy and security that a slave could never have with his master, but which we enjoy with God as his children.

Now we know God in an entirely different way. Now we can call God “Abba! Father!” The question as to what this expression means has been debated over the years. First, it’s important to understand that “Abba” is an Aramaic word which simply means “Father.” Some commentators make a distinction in meaning between the two words by defining “Abba” as a term of intimacy or familiarity (like our English word “daddy”) and “Father” as a more formal form of address. But further research would indicate otherwise. In fact, the N.T. writers who use this combination of words (Mk. 14:35-36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6) are simply giving the Greek translation, “Father” (ὁ πατήρ) of the Aramaic term, “Abba.” While “Abba” does convey a relationship of familiarity and intimacy, it also conveys a relationship of submission and obedience, as does our English word “Father.” We see this in Jesus’ address to his Father: “³⁵ And going a little farther, he (Jesus) fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, ‘Abba, Father (ὁ πατήρ), all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will’” (Mk. 14:35-36). In this context, “Abba, Father” clearly reflects Jesus’ relationship with his Father in terms of both intimacy and submission. Similarly, in our passage in Galatians 4:6, the idea is that of submission (as in redeemed slaves) and intimacy (as in adopted sons). Now we are “no longer slaves but sons” (7a). Now, we enjoy a paternal relationship with God of security, submission, intimacy, warmth, comfort, confidence, affection, joy, peace. Now we have a brand new relationship with God through Christ. That’s why he came into the world. (Help for this research derived from (1) Karen Engle, Faithlife, www.logos.com/grow/what-does-abba-really-mean; (2) The NET Bible, translation footnote, Gal. 4:6).

This new status not only brings with it a family relationship, but also…

The new status brings with it a family inheritance. Because of Christ’s redemption and our adoption into God’s family, we have become heirs of all that his children are entitled to inherit. If we are sons and daughters of God, “then (we are) an heir through God” (7b). We are brought into the family inheritance. Near where we live there is a Toyota car dealer whose slogan is that when you buy a car from them, “Your part of the family.” I’ve often thought that if that’s the case, then let me see the will; what’s the inheritance? Well, that’s not what they mean, obviously. What they want to convey is that, when you buy a car from them, you enter a new and personal relationship with them. As it says in Rom. 8:16-17, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

When we become part of God’s family through “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24) we receive the family inheritance. God has appointed his Son the heir of all things according to Hebrews 1:2, and now through faith in Him, all that is Christ’s by right is ours by inheritance because we are God’s adopted children. As Colossian 1:16 says: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” And we come into the benefit of that through faith in him.

What, then, is the nature of our inheritance? Our inheritance is that we have been “³ born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5). Or, as Ephesians 1:11-14 puts it, “¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Final Remarks

What we see in this passage is that the cross is central to God’s plan in sending his beloved Son into the world to accomplish our redemption. If you trust him, you can be part of his redeemed family. This is why Jesus came into the world – to be our Saviour and to bring us into this new relationship with God, our Father.

To implement his perfect plan of redemption…

1. God awaited the perfect time.

2. God appointed the perfect person.

3. God achieved the perfect purpose.

I can’t think of any better plan than that. The timing was perfect, the person was perfect, and the purpose was perfect. As a result the unsolved riddle of the previous centuries before Christ is solved. The unsolved riddle was: “How can a man be in the right (just) with God?” (Job 9:2). Now the solution is clear: “God sent forth his Son... to redeem those who were under the law.”

Remember our theme statement: The purpose for Christ’s coming into the world was to fulfill God’s perfect plan of redemption through the cross. The question today is: Have you received the redemption that has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you ready to meet Him? Don’t let other plans hold you back so that you miss him when he comes again. Many things in our lives can distract us from what’s important.

Don’t wait until some other time to make your own plan to meet God. What’s important is to follow God’s plan by receiving Christ as your Savior and committing your life to following, loving, and serving him. What’s important is being ready now. If Jesus were to return today, would you be ready to meet him? Don’t think that you have to stop doing this or start doing that first. Don’t say you plan to attend to it when you’re older. Don’t say you’ll think about it after you’ve sown your wild oats, or after you get married, or when your kids are grown up.

Are you ready for the return of Christ in accordance with God’s perfect plan of redemption? Have you made peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and his substitutionary, atoning death on the cross? The One for whom there was no room in the inn will one day declare: “Come, for everything is now ready” (Lk. 14:17). Those “rooms” (Jn. 14:2) which he has gone to prepare for those who love him will then be complete. Are you ready? There is still room in God’s house, but it is filling fast. Soon the last soul will be saved and the entry door will be shut (Lk. 13:25).

For those of us who have made peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, this reminder of why Jesus came - God’s perfect plan: “The Cross and Christ’s Incarnation” - should warm our hearts, fill us with hope, renew our commitment, cause us to watch and be ready, for the coming of the Lord draws near.

6. The Cross And The Flesh (Gal. 5:19-25)

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On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that on January 1, 1863, all slaves would be “forever free.” Yet 100 years later many African Americans were still not free. This precipitated that great demonstration for freedom at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in August 1963 at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his now famous speech, affirming his belief that freedom would one day still be achieved. In part he said: “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream…I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood…I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together…And so let freedom ring…when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

I think those words echo the sentiments of our hearts. It’s our dream to be free from so many restraints. Some of us want to be free from the penalty and power of sin – from addictions, immorality, bad attitudes, broken relationships, memories that haunt you, behaviour that enslaves you, and a conscience that torments you. Others of us want to be free from the enticements of Satan, free from our sinful self and free to please God. The good news is that, if you’re a Christian, you have been redeemed and set free, free from slavery to sin, the flesh, the world and the devil - freed to a life of liberty in Christ. But if we have been set free, why do we still struggle with sin?

This message is the sixth in my series, “The Centrality of the Cross in Galatians.” The title of this message is “The Cross and the Flesh” and the subject is, living the Christian life in freedom through the crucifixion of the flesh. The overall truth in this passage is that the Christian life is a struggle from which we are freed only by crucifying the flesh and living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, you’ll notice in our passage, firstly, that…

I. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Conflict (5:16-18)

It’s a life of conflict because we have within us two opposing factions - the “flesh” and the “Spirit.” The flesh and the Spirit are in irreconcilable conflict. We have a civil war going on within us, “for the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (5:17). On the one hand, our unredeemed humanity (our sinful nature, what we are in Adam by natural birth) wants us to gratify our sinful desires, to please self. And yet on the other hand, the Spirit of God, who gives us new life in Christ and who indwells us, wants us to fulfill his holy desires - to please God, to be like Christ. These desires are mutually exclusive. They cannot co-exist because they are diametrically opposed to one another. The one generates selfishness, disobedience, immorality etc. The other generates godliness, holiness, righteousness.

Because of this conflict we don’t always act as we should. Sometimes we allow our sinful desires to influence us rather than our spiritual desires (cf. Rom. 7). When that happens, our old, fallen, sinful self says: “Go ahead! Gratify your fleshly desires. Do what makes you feel good. Indulge in selfish pleasures,” while the Spirit of God says: “Be holy for God is holy. Live for the glory of God who has redeemed you and set you free from sin.”

There’s a conflict going on inside us. It’s like the man who prayed: “So far today, Lord, I’ve done alright. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t lost my temper. I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few moments, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on I’m going to need a lot of help.”

There’s an irreconcilable conflict going on inside us between the flesh and the Spirit. How, then, can we overcome this conflict?

1. You can overcome this conflict by walking by the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (5:16).

To “walk by the Spirit” means to appropriate the Spirit’s power, to live in the newness of life that the Spirit gives us (Rom. 6:4), to be filled with the Spirit – to be controlled by him, to reflect his nature and character, to be governed by the Spirit in our conduct.

To “walk by the Spirit” means you will not be dominated by your fleshly desires because the Holy Spirit provides the power for holy living, and because by the Spirit you “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13).

So, you can overcome this conflict by walking by the Spirit. And...

2. You can overcome this conflict by being led by the Spirit. “…if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (5:18). Spiritual victory over this conflict is found not in trying to obey a set of rules but in following the Holy Spirit as he leads you in victory over sin, the flesh, and the devil.

To “be led by the Spirit” means that you allow the Spirit to take the initiative. He leads the way and you follow. He marks out your life and you submit. You go where He wants you to go and do what He wants you to do. You overcome the flesh by submitting to the Spirit.

That’s how we overcome this conflict, (1) by walking in the Spirit, and (2) by being led by the Spirit. It’s all a function of who controls us - the Spirit or the flesh, the truth of God or the lies of the devil, our spiritual desires or our fleshly desires.

If you’re discouraged with the conflict, don’t despair. We can have victory as we submit to the Holy Spirit, as we appropriate his power, as we turn away from our own desires and let the Holy Spirit reign in our lives.

First, then, living by the Spirit is a life of conflict. And second…

II. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Contrast (5:19-23)

Living by the Spirit is in total contrast to living according to the flesh. What’s the contrast? What’s the difference?

1. If you live according to the flesh, you produce the “works of the flesh” (5:19-21). The works of the flesh are our sinful desires. They are the product of the behaviour, the attitudes, and the thoughts of our unregenerate nature - those desires that please self. The works of the flesh fall into three categories …

a) Sexual works of the flesh (5:19) – offences against our bodies, such as “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality.” In fact, this category includes any uncleanness, lewdness, any illicit sexual activity, sensuality, uninhibited sexual indulgence and appetite, such as we see all around us in our society.

Sex is a gift from God, exclusively for a man and a woman who are married to each other. If you engage in sex in any other relationship, it turns what God meant for blessing into a curse. Don’t let the world’s sexual standards influence you. TV beams sexual immorality into homes at prime time. Homosexuality is portrayed as normal and even desirable. Premarital and extramarital sex are promoted and trivialized. All kinds of aberrant sexual behaviour is displayed and condoned. The sexual deeds of the flesh are everywhere in our society. They’re public, condoned, promoted, displayed, and admired.

Remember, if you live according to the flesh you produce the works of the flesh. The first category of works of the flesh is sexual. These are offences against our bodies. The second category of the works of the flesh are religious…

b) Religious works of the flesh (5:20) - offences against God, such as “idolatry, sorcery.” “Idolatry” is the worship of anything other than God. It could be your work, your possessions, your hobbies, sports etc. “Sorcery” includes occult practices (mediums, palm reading, tarot cards fortune-telling, witchcraft), and the use and influence of mind-altering drugs.

The third category of the works of the flesh are social…

c) Social works of the flesh (5:20-21) - offences against others, such as “²⁰ enmity (hatred), strife (quarreling), jealousy, fits of anger (like road rage and unprovoked attacks), rivalries (selfish ambitions), dissensions, divisions (factions), ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (i.e. anything else that fits into this type of behavior). We see a lot of this today, don’t we?

As Paul had previously warned, so he warns again, that those who habitually engage in this kind of behaviour “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (5:21b), because their behaviour indicates that they are not Christians - they are practicing the works of the flesh, they are not believers.

Perhaps this describes you? If so, you’re lost. You’re living life in the lust of the flesh. You’re not living by the Spirit. How do I know that? Because you’re producing the “works of the flesh.” And the only way to be freed from that lifestyle is to repent and turn to Christ in saving faith, to cry to God for forgiveness. And if you do, “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

If you live according to the flesh you produce the works of the flesh. But in contrast to this…

2. If you live according to the Spirit, you produce the “fruit of the Spirit” (5:22-23). Fruit is not something that you work for; you produce it. You can tell a fruit tree by the kind of fruit it produces - an apple tree produces apples simply because it is an apple tree. Similarly, if you’re a Christian, the fruit of the Spirit in your life is the evidence of who you are, that the Holy Spirit indwells you.

The “fruit of the Spirit” also falls into three categories…

a) The dominant Christian virtues that are found in God (5:22a). “Love” is the love that God demonstrated to us, that sacrificial love that God has poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 15:3; Rom. 5:5, 8).

“Joy” is that which springs from the security of knowing Christ as Saviour (1 Pet. 1:8), the spiritual well-being of abiding in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s the joy of the Lord!

“Peace” is that tranquility of mind that stems from knowing the Prince of peace and the God of peace (Phil. 4:9).

b) The outward Christian virtues that we show to others (5:22b). “Patience” is that willingness to bear with others, to accept other people for who they are, to recognize that not everyone sees things the way we do, to appreciate that God has made us all different. That requires patience, longsuffering, forbearance.

“Kindness” is a concern for others, gentleness, mercy, showing the grace of Christ to others.

“Goodness” refers to uprightness of character, generosity.

c) The inward Christian virtues that we live by (5:22c-23). “Faithfulness” is trustworthiness, loyalty.

“Gentleness” can be described as meekness, inward grace, submissiveness to the will of God (Col. 3:12), consideration of others (Eph. 4:2).

“Self-control” is the ability to restrain passions and desires, not giving in to the desires of the flesh but yielding to the control of the Spirit.

Against such things there is no law (5:23b). Against these types of Christian ethics and behaviors there is no law, so go ahead and manifest them in the power of the Spirit. No one is going to speak against them for even unbelievers recognize their value.

Is this fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? When others look at you, do they see a lifestyle that can only come from submission to the Holy Spirit? Do they recognize that your life is under the control of a power greater than yourself? Or do they see that you are under the control of your inner, sinful desires of the flesh? When you examine your own life, what do you see? A constant struggle between the flesh and the Spirit? Or that radical transformation that results from being led by the Spirit?

Clearly the apostle Paul’s exhortation here is that we must yield ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit if we want to live a life of freedom in Christ, a life in step with the Spirit.

Living by the Spirit is a life of conflict. Living by the Spirit is a life of contrast. And…

III. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Crucifixion (5:24)

At this point in Paul’s dissertation, you could think, as some do, that he is describing the Christian life as one of a never ending cycle between the flesh pulling us one way and the Spirit pulling us the other. But that’s not what he is saying and he clarifies that here with this short statement of fact: ^“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:24).

First, he identifies Christians as “those who belong to Christ.” We have renounced our allegiance to self, sin, and Satan and have proclaimed our allegiance to Christ. We belong to Him. We are his possession, his redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9-10; Tit. 2:14) who seek to live “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12).

Second, he describes Christians as those who “have crucified the flesh.” Unlike Galatians 2:20, the crucifixion of the flesh here is not something done to us but by us. While we continue to live in the flesh we do not live according to the flesh (see Rom. 8:5-11; 2 Cor. 10:2-3). Rather, we deny ourselves (Mk. 8:34) by renouncing self-control over our lives and submitting ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s control. In so doing, we take up the cross, “share (Christ’s) sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10). In other words, we participate actively in putting to death our old self, the flesh “with its passions and desires / longings.” The implication clearly is that such desires are sinful in nature (see Rom. 7:5), desires that spring from our sinful nature and that are driven by sinful passions.

What this means is that at our conversion to Christ we were united with him in his death and the power of the flesh was broken. Indeed the flesh is “crucified” and dying, sin’s passions and desires no longer reign over us. But this does not imply that all influences of the flesh cease at our conversion, or else Paul would be contradicting his point that spiritual conflict with the flesh is a reality. The flesh is a defeated foe, but the crucifixion of the flesh will only be fully celebrated and known at our glorification. “Like a chicken with its head cut off, the flesh has been dealt a death blow, although it continues to flop around the barnyard of earth until the last nerve is stilled” (MacArthur, Galatians, 171). In the meantime, we can live in freedom from sin’s tyranny through the power of the Holy Spirit, by turning our backs on the old life and living in the newness of life in Christ.

Paul’s answer, then, to the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in the Christian life is that, first, at conversion a true Christian crucifies the flesh such that it no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:12-14). Second, not only do we crucify the flesh, consigning it to a place of death, but also the Spirit dwells within us, enabling us (1) to control any desires that may respond to the temptations of the flesh, and (2) to live in the power of the Spirit, growing more and more in Christlikeness (Rom. 8:29). This is the process of sanctification by which we continuously keep the flesh in the place of death and continuously submit to the control of the Holy Spirit through (1) the daily reading of God’s word and prayer, and (2) through walking in the power of the indwelling Spirit, who enables us to overcome the influence of the flesh and, thus, live as those who have been crucified with him. Living by the Spirit is a life of crucifixion. This is the mark of a true Christian, the crucified life that gives us true freedom (Gal. 5:1).

Are you living in this freedom? If you’re living in the truth that your flesh is crucified, you won’t make excuses for it. You won’t say “Well, my tongue plays me up once in awhile; but others do the same.” Or, “That’s how I was brought up – I can’t help it.” No, you won’t tolerate it. You won’t be like the department of highways which, instead of fixing the road, puts up a sign: “Bump.” That’s how some Christians treat their flesh. They tolerate it by putting up a sign but do nothing about it. If you’re living in the truth that your flesh is crucified, you won’t try to cover it up. You won’t paint over the surface to make you look good, knowing full well that underneath there is rottenness. You won’t concede to it, won’t give in to it. You won’t say: “I can’t help it - that’s just the way I am. It’s in my DNA. My mother or father was just like it. I come by it honestly.” No, you won’t pamper it, spoil it, encourage it, or make a joke of it. But rather, you’ll fiercely reject it and live as those whose flesh is “crucified” with Christ. Martin Luther once said that Christ’s people nail their flesh to the cross “so that although the flesh be yet alive, yet it cannot perform that which it would do, forasmuch as it is bound both hand and foot, fast nailed to the cross” (A Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians).

So, the question is: How do you live as one whose flesh is crucified? The answer is: By putting into practice what is true of you in fact. Stated negatively you do this, (1) by “not (letting) sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:12), and (2) by “not (presenting) your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness” (Rom. 6:13). Stated positively, you do this (1) by “(considering) yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11), (2) by being obedient to the Scriptures, (3) by living as the aroma of Christ on earth (2 Cor. 2:15-16), (4) by yielding to and relying on the Holy Spirit, (5) by allegiance to the Saviour in his suffering and death.

That’s the crucified life! That’s the life to which we are called! That’s the life that signifies that you are a Christian - a life that conforms to the sufferings and death of Christ and a life that is reflective of the life of Christ.

The negative side of living by the Spirit, then, is that living by the Spirit is “a life of crucifixion”. The positive side is that …

IV. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Conformity (5:25)

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” The grammatical structure of this verse indicates that it is a conditional statement in which the truth of the first part of the statement supports the exhortation in the second part of the statement. Thus, the first word is probably better translated “since” than “if.” Or, to put it another way, this is an “if” of reason, not doubt.

Here is Paul’s conclusion and summary of this passage. After having discussed at length the various aspects of living by the Spirit - namely, (1) living by the Spirit is a life of conflict, (2) living by the Spirit is a life of contrast, (3) living by the Spirit is a life of crucifixion – he now concludes this section with this statement that (4) living by the Spirit is a life of conformity – i.e. conformity to the Spirit. This is Paul’s response to and conclusion concerning the potential question that we raised earlier (see comments on 5:24) about the nature of the Christian life as to whether it is a life of constantly being pulled in two different directions. No, he says, just as we have “crucified the flesh” (5:24), so also we “walk by” (5:16), are “led by” (5:18), and “live by” (5:25) the Spirit.

“Since we live by the Spirit…” reminds us that our spiritual life is derived from, granted to us, and directed by the Holy Spirit. To “live by the Spirit” is a life of conformity to the Spirit. The Spirit is the source of our divine life and the sustenance of it. As Jesus taught (1) his disciples, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (John 6:63) and (2) Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5).

On this basis, Paul instructs us, “… let us also keep in step with (walk by) the Spirit.” Our life is granted to us by the Spirit and thus our walk (conduct) must be “in step (in line) with the Spirit.” To “keep in step with / live in accordance with / walk by the Spirit” is to yield the control of our wills to the Holy Spirit, who fills us with holy and godly and Christlike desires, such that our desires are his desires. This is how we overcome “the flesh with its passions and desires” – not in our own strength but in the Holy Spirit’s power. To “keep in step with the Spirit” means to reflect our submission to the Spirit’s control and leading in the way we conduct our lives. Indeed, the leading of the Spirit must be so powerful in us that our manner of life (our “walk”) reflects that reality in our thoughts, words, desires, actions, relationships etc. The Spirit leads us and we, accordingly, are exhorted to “keep in step with the Spirit.” Precisely because He leads us, we must “keep in step / in line” with his leadership, walking in the way that he marks out for us, following in his footsteps, marching in lockstep with him. We must live as those whose lives are rooted in, directed by, and conformed to the Spirit, by following his leading, by submitting to his reign over us, by showing in our actions and attitudes that he controls our lives.

The story is told about “The Sign of a Christian.” As a result of poor planning, Dennis (from Katy, Texas) needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered a store on the other side of town with a huge sign, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners,” so he drove out of his way to drop off a suit. After filling out the tag, he said, “I need this in an hour.” The clerk replied, “I can't get this back to you until Thursday.” “I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?” “No,” she replied, “That's just the name of the store.” Sometimes Christians are like that. The way they live doesn’t conform to the name they bear. Their lives don’t conform to the Spirit who indwells them. If you’re a Christian, then live like one by living in conformity to the Spirit who gave you new life in Christ and who empowers you to live for Christ.

Final Remarks

The reality is that, for the Christian, the Spirit, not the flesh, is the one who leads us and to whom we must cede control. And when we yield control of our lives to the Spirit, we are free from the tyranny of the flesh with its sinful desires (5:17-21). As our thesis states, the Christian life is a struggle from which we are freed only by crucifying the flesh and living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once again in the epistle to the Galatians we see the centrality of the cross as the defining marker of our lives by which (1) we can overcome the internal “conflict” with sin; (2) we can live a life of “contrast” to what we once were; (3) we can live a “crucified” life with the flesh nailed to the cross; (4) we can live in “conformity” to the Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit 5:22-23), following his leading and example.

Living by the Spirit is a life of freedom not fighting, a life of restraint not rules, a life of liberty not licence. Living in freedom is something we all crave - freedom from fear (fear of the past and / or of the future), freedom from a bad conscience, freedom from the power, penalty, and pleasure of sin, freedom to live for God.

And you can have that freedom by trusting Christ as Saviour, for Jesus promised: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5:24). That’s freedom!

So, live by the Spirit and let freedom reign. Let it reign in your home and in your church. Let it reign in every heart that has been set free through the cross, for it is the cross of Christ alone that gives us true and lasting freedom. By the grace of God may we all know what it is to be set free - set free from the flesh and its lusts by the saving work of Christ; set free by the Holy Spirit to live a life of freedom in Christ, so that everyone of us can say in truth: “Free at last. Thank God almighty I’m free at last!”

7. The Cross And Boasting (Galatians 6:12-15)

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The cross has become the universal symbol of Christianity. The most wretched means of death has become the most cherished symbol of life. God transformed the most fearful form of man’s hatred into the most beautiful expression of His love. What was for the Romans an object of shame, disgrace and disgust was for the apostle Paul his pride, his boast, his glory.

When Paul speaks of the cross, he does not mean the physical structure of wood. He means the entire work of Christ in securing our redemption. He means the significance of the whole event – our deliverance from the flesh and the law; all that Christ has done for us in satisfying the judgement of God against our sins.

Because of what the cross stands for, it is a dividing line between all people. On the one side of the dividing line are those who trust their own works for their eternal destiny - for them, the cross is an offense (1 Cor. 1:23). On the other side of the dividing line are those who trust the work of Christ for their eternal destiny - for them, the cross is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). The subject in this passage is: “The separation of the cross.” The teaching of our passage is that when we boast in the cross, it separates us from the world.

We need to understand that…

I. In Ourselves, We Have No Reason To Boast (Gal. 6:12-13)

Whatever we boast in engrosses our attention, absorbs our time, appeals to our flesh, our pride. It’s our obsession. Some people are obsessed with themselves, their money, fame, power, position, self-image. In his book, “Love Beyond Reason,” John Ortberg tells the story of a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who pulled into a service station to get gas. After going inside to pay, he came back to the car and noticed his wife engaged in a deep discussion with the service station attendant. It turned out that she knew him. In fact back in high school, before she met her eventual husband, she used to date this man. The CEO got in the car and the two drove in silence. Feeling pretty good about himself he said: “I bet I know what you were thinking. I bet you were thinking you're glad you married me, a Fortune 500 CEO, and not him, a service station attendant.” “No,” replied his wife, “I was thinking if I'd married him, he'd be a Fortune 500 CEO and you'd be a service station attendant." (pp. 142-143).

We have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. Such human, fleshly pomp is foreign to the thinking of the apostle Paul and has no place in the Christian life. So notice two arguments why we have no reason to boast in ourselves …

1. We have no reason to boast in our ourselves because we have no “religious” merit before God (6:12). “Those who want to make a good showing in the flesh, who would force you to be circumcised…” (6:12a). This is speaking of people we call “Judaizers.” Judaizers were Jews who were preaching a false gospel, a hybrid of Judaism and Christianity, a gospel of salvation by works. They were trying to convince Gentile Christians that it wasn’t enough to trust Christ alone for salvation, that salvation consists of faith in Christ’s atoning work on the cross plus their own self-righteous works, that in addition to trusting the work of Christ on the cross in order to be saved they must also keep the law by being circumcised. This was a religion of the flesh. They didn’t care about the spiritual well-being of their converts. They had no personal relationship with Jesus Christ – no inner, spiritual renewal. Everything about them was superficial religiosity and external rituals but with no spiritual reality. They were spiritual frauds, motivated by deceit.

They were motivated by deceit – the deceit of impressing others with their religious zeal. They wanted to “make a good showing in the flesh” before their Jewish colleagues by forcing Gentile Christians to be circumcised – i.e. by converting, at least partially, Gentile Christians to Judaism. All they wanted to do was impress others with their religious efforts, to be able to boast in their religious fervor. This would make them look good in the Jewish community. They were motivated by religious pride, glorying in their own accomplishments. The more Christians they could convert to this false gospel, the more prestige they would gain among their fellow Jews. This is what they boasted in. This was how they sought to gain religious merit.

But before God we have no religious merit. We cannot earn God’s favor in any way. There is nothing we can do by way of religious activities that in any way deserves the grace of God. We are sinners by nature and by practice with nothing to offer to God that is of eternal or spiritual benefit. Going to church is good, but it has no saving virtue. Singing in the choir is good, giving money to charity is good, but they don’t have any saving value. Before God, we have no religious merit nor can we earn it.

Not only were these Judaizers motivated by deceit, but also…

They were motivated by fear - the fear of persecution for the cross. The purpose behind these Judaizers trying to force the Gentile Christians to be circumcised was not only to be able to boast to their Jewish brethren about their success in proselytizing, but also “…in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” (6:12b). They wanted the best of both worlds - to come under the umbrella of Christianity but without suffering persecution for the cross of Christ. They weren’t prepared to identify themselves out-and-out with the “cross of Christ” for fear of being persecuted. Why would identification with the cross of Christ incur persecution? Because the cross of Christ is offensive to unbelievers. So they removed the “offense of the cross” (5:11) by mixing it with religious rituals, by making salvation dependent on human effort as well the work of Christ on the cross.

There is no persecution or stigma for advocating human achievement or good works. In fact, most people aspire to some inherent human goodness in themselves, whether displayed in religious, charitable, or social works. Perhaps you are clinging to your own good works for salvation. You are refusing Christ because you fear the stigma attached to being a Christian that might incur rejection, ridicule, or even physical attack. Persecution for faithfulness to the cross of Christ is very real today. Recently, I read a report that, in Nigeria, one Christian is killed every two hours and that since 2009 more than 60,000 Christians have either been murdered or abducted, never to be seen again.

There is no doubt that the cross of Christ may be the cause of offense. The offense to unbelievers is that the only way of salvation is through repentance and confession of faith in the crucified Christ. The offense to unbelievers is that we preach the truth that they cannot earn their salvation by their works, not even works that appear to have some religious basis. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That’s the offense of the cross!

The cross of Christ divides the world. To the Jews it is a stumbling block (lit. “a scandal”); the notion of a crucified Messiah is revolting to them. To the Gentiles it is foolishness; it doesn’t make sense to their intellect (1 Cor. 1:18-25). But, to the Christian, whether Jew or Gentile, it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). For us, the cross is the glory, joy, source, and object of our boasting.

You cannot place your trust in the cross of Christ and expect to be popular in your school or workplace or neighborhood. Identification with the cross of Christ has always brought suffering. That’s why these Judaizers tried to tone down the cross by adding to it works of self-righteousness in order to make the message more palatable.

Some years ago my wife and I attended the funeral of someone we knew, who belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s). She had spent so many hours phoning people and knocking on doors that her works earned her the special position of “pioneer” in the JW organization. This is what they boasted about and gloried in. But apart from their own works, it became evident throughout the funeral service that they had no hope.

Firstly, then, Christians have no reason to boast in ourselves because we have no “religious” merit before God. And secondly…

2. We have no reason to boast in ourselves because we have no “personal” merit before God (6:13). “For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” These Judaizers were nothing but hypocrites! What they were demanding of others they didn’t do themselves. They insisted that others keep the law in order to be saved but they didn’t keep it themselves. These religious hypocrites were interested in only one thing, to “boast in your flesh” – i.e. to boast in their successful circumcision campaign among the Gentile Christians. The more Gentile Christians they could convince to undergo circumcision the more they boasted in the success of their proselytizing.

Theirs was a religion of personal merit. But in ourselves we have no personal merit before God. Neither our religious activities nor our personal accomplishments are meritorious before God. For the cross has made all personal accomplishments of no redemptive value, all requirements of the law unnecessary. There is no personal merit before God, not for trying to keep the law nor for performing good deeds of any nature whatsoever. The only basis for a favorable standing before God is faith alone by grace alone in the cross of Christ alone. It is impossible on any other basis to gain favor with God.

When we come face to face with Jesus Christ and the cross all boasting in ourselves is gone, all reliance on anything but the cross is gone, because the cross shows us clearly what we are - that our justification is based in the work of Christ alone, that neither good works nor trying to keep the law nor any personal merit can justify us before God.

In ourselves, therefore, we have no reason for boasting. We have no religious merit before God – we can’t boast of keeping the law or any other religious standard. And we have no personal merit before God - we can’t boast about anything we have done be it ever so good.

So, in ourselves we have no reason to boast. But…

II. In The Cross, We Have Every Reason To Boast (Gal. 6:14)

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14a). Paul had many religious and personal accomplishments - more than these Judaizers did - but he realized the worthlessness of those things. That’s why he said in Philippians 3:7-8: “⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” After his conversion, his sole occupation was knowing Jesus Christ more personally, following him more devotedly, trusting him more fully, loving him more intimately. That’s why he boasted “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” not in his personal accomplishments (such as his education or social position), nor in his religious rituals (like being circumcised on the 8^th day), nor in his religious fanaticism (in persecuting the Christians), nor in his family background (being of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews). Instead, Paul boasted solely in the cross because he knew that his religious zeal and personal accomplishments did not and could not earn favor with God.

He was finished with “making a good showing in the flesh” (6:12). The cross completely broke Paul’s connection with the religious world of external rituals and personal good works. The cross gave him an entirely new perspective: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Except in the cross” indicates that the cross was central to his thinking, it was the sole object of his boasting. Elsewhere he says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Notice three reasons that we have to boast in the cross…

1. We boast in the cross because the cross separates us from the world. “…by which (i.e. the cross) the world has been crucified to me” (6:14b). The “world” here refers to humanity in rebellion against God, the corrupt values and evil practices of unbelievers (1 Jn. 2:15-17).

What is being described here is what takes place at our salvation. Our separation from “the world” by the cross is the result and evidence of genuine salvation. If such a separation is not evident, then we have every reason to doubt the genuine salvation of such a person, for salvation means that we have been redeemed from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Salvation means that the cross stands between me and the world as an impregnable barrier. Salvation means that I am dead to the world and the world is dead to me.

The apostle John reminds us that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn. 5:19). Non-Christians live in the world under Satan’s control, a meaningless life, a life without hope, purpose, or meaning. The only thing they have to live for is the present world / age (2 Tim. 4:10; Tit. 2:12). Physical life is all they think and care about – “eat, drink and be merry” is the sum and substance of their lives.

But the cross separates Christians from the world. When we believe in Christ we no longer conform to the world’s values and practices but we are being transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom. 12:2). We have been freed from the world’s evil and hopelessness, separated by the cross from our old, worldly values and associations. Through the cross we are freed from the tyranny of the world. Jesus Christ “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:4). We are freed from its corruption and judgement. We are released from the penalty of sin through the death of Christ on our behalf at the cross and we live now in the power and control of the Holy Spirit.

The cross separates us from the world. The cross draws a dividing line between us and the world. The cross puts the Christian entirely outside of and apart from the world. There is no common ground between us. It is a mutually exclusive death - the world and the Christian have been crucified to each other. Paul is saying: “The world system is dead to me and I to it.” It doesn’t mean that the world no longer has any influence over us, but its dominion / power has been broken. We are no longer in bondage to it because it has been rendered a fatal blow by the death of Christ.

Once, we were part of the world’s system and values but now we don’t care what the world thinks or says about us. We have been transformed by Christ’s death on the cross. His self-denial for us is the pattern of our self-denial for him. In the world I see all the hatred and enmity that was shown out against Christ. Therefore, I want nothing to do with it.

So let me ask you: Are you living a separated life? Are you living your life for the glory of Christ? Or, are you still dabbling in, and attracted to, the world? To put it in concrete terms, is the language you use honoring to the Lord or do you use curse words and coarse language that the world uses? Are the TV shows and movies you watch wholesome and uplifting or are they characterized by the world’s lust for sexual immorality and violence and foul language? How about your style of dress? What about your habits, where you go, the things you do when no one is looking? What about the music you listen to? If the words were projected up on the screen, would they shock us? Are they pure and holy or dirty and defiling?

Can you say that by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ “the world has been crucified to me”? This is how the Christian views the world. The world and all that it stands for has been put to death, so that it has no power over us. We find it tasteless and meaningless and defiling. It generates no response in us, it has no life for us, it is hollow and opposed to everything we hold dear. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, sin is put to death, the cross becomes our glory and our greatest joy. The cross is what we boast in!

The only escape from the world is through the cross of Christ. Through it we become dead to our old sin nature and its lusts and we become alive to God (Rom. 6:6-7, 11). Now “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

So, on the one hand, “the world has been crucified to me” – that’s how I view the world; on the other hand simultaneously “I (have been crucified) to the world” (6:14c) – that’s how the world views me, the believer. The world wants nothing to do with Christ and the cross. Therefore, it wants nothing to do with me either. As far as the world is concerned I am DOA (dead-on-arrival). I am of no use to it. I am non-responsive. There is nothing in us that is attractive to the world. In fact, the world finds us somewhat repulsive, objectionable, ridiculous, laughable because we are identified with Christ.

We must always keep our crucifixion in focus with Christ’s crucifixion. We died with Christ – when he died, we died. Only when we see our dead position in Christ as far as the things of this world are concerned can we say with Paul that we glory in nothing but the cross. Just as the cross filled Paul’s vision and illumined his life, just as he boasted in the cross, so our world of reference should orbit around the cross.

So, we boast in the cross, first, because the cross separates us from the world and…

2. We boast in the cross because the cross destroys the flesh (6:15a). “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision.” For the Christian neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any saving merit (cf. also 5:6; 5:15a). They represent religiosity, the flesh, and are of no value for salvation or for a right standing with God. There is no more virtue in being circumcised than of being uncircumcised - both are irrelevant in Christ. In Paul’s words, “our old self was crucified with him (Christ) in order that the body of sin (the flesh) might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6).

We boast in the cross, first because it separates us from the world; second because it destroys the flesh; and…

3. We boast in the cross because it makes us a new creation in Christ (6:15b). That’s the power of the cross – to make us “a new creation” in Jesus Christ. The old life can’t be remodelled: there is nothing good in it. We need an entirely new life, a new birth, a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). Through the cross, we have been transformed into new creations in Christ and this transformation is reflected in a new way of thinking, a new world view, a new life of holiness, and it will culminate in our resurrection to immortality at the second coming of Christ (Rom. 8:19-23; 1 Cor. 15:51-54).

Final Remarks

We’ve been talking about “The separation of the cross.” The point is that, when we boast in the cross, it separates us from the world, the cross becomes the dividing line between the Christian and the world. So, what we learn from all this is that…

1. We cannot boast in the cross and in ourselves at the same time. Biblical Christianity is a matter of what Christ has done for us, not of what we have done for him. Human activity is impotent in the shadow of the cross. Pride in human achievement has plagued humanity from the very start when Satan appealed to Adam and Eve’s pride. There is nothing in ourselves in which the Christian can boast, but there is everything in the cross in which to boast.

So we learn that we cannot boast in the cross and in ourselves at the same time. And we learn that…

2. To boast in the cross is to declare unquestioning allegiance to the Christ of the cross. Our language must be that of the hymn writer: “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.”

The more I am occupied with Christ, the more precious the cross becomes and the more I will boast about it, glory in it. How much do you think about the cross? How much do you boast in the cross? How much do you speak of it to others? That depends on how much of the world you allow in your life. The more you permit of the world, the less you boast about and glory in the cross.

3. Allegiance to the cross means separation from the world. We cannot understand the truth of Galatians 6:14 without separating from the world. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). We are “in” the world but not “of” the world (see Jn. 17:11-15), “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 Jn. 2:16-17).

There is nothing in the world that attracts us to it. It all speaks of hatred against Christ and will eventually be burned up. Therefore, allegiance to the cross means separation from the world.

4. What we boast in is the litmus test of who we are. It is the test of our profession of Christianity because the cross is the dividing line between the ages and between all people. Either, the cross is an “offense” (5:11) to you, or the cross is the one thing about which and in which you glory. To worldly, unsaved people, the cross is an offense because their mind can’t understand it and because their proud heart won’t accept it. But to Christians, the cross is our glory and joy, that about which we are pleased to boast because of what we see there and because of what it means to us personally.

5. The glory of the cross is reflected in all who are new creatures in Christ. The cross is central in the lives of those of us who have a new nature with a new way of looking at things and, therefore, a new way of living. That’s the power of the cross! No wonder Paul said, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

6. The glory of the cross is present every time we gather around the Lord’s table. We cannot end this study of the centrality of the cross of Christ in Galatians without these final thoughts on the cross that engage our attention most particularly when we gather around the Lord’s table to remember him. When we do so, let us always remember that at the cross of Christ three crucifixions are taking place…

a) The first crucifixion is that of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is the physical crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ that pays the penalty for our sins, that satisfies the justice of God (Gal. 3:13; 4:4-5), that makes it possible for us to be redeemed from our sin, that makes us fit for God’s presence. Notice the title that Paul gives it: “The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14). We will never understand the significance of the cross until we are clear about who died there.

It is the cross of “our Lord” because he is the exalted one, the authoritative one, because he is the supreme one, the one above all others. It is the cross of “Jesus” because he “saves his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21), because he is the Redeemer, the Saviour. It is the cross of “Christ” because he is the Messiah, the Deliverer, the Sent One from God.

So, the first crucifixion is that of our Lord Jesus Christ…

b) The second crucifixion is that of our flesh. As we noticed in our earlier study, “those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:24). There is within every believer this lifelong battle going on, the war between the “flesh” and the “Spirit” (5:17). The “flesh” is our sinful nature that we are born with in Adam. The “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit who indwells us when we are born again in Christ. The one wars against the other and vice versa. The desires of the flesh and the Spirit are contrary to each other. The only way to ensure that the desires of the Spirit prevail over the flesh is by crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires, by living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit (5:25).

To crucify the flesh means to assign it to the most brutal form of execution. We are not to pamper it or in any way grant its desires. We must maintain a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the desires and activities of our flesh. We are to reckon “our old self” to be dead, nailed to the cross. We are to totally reject it.

To crucify the flesh means that we take an active, positive role in putting to death anything and everything in our lives for which Christ died, in banishing any notion of deriving pleasure from sin, because that is what Christ died for. The apostle Paul challenges us: “¹ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:1).

So, the first crucifixion is that of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The second crucifixion is the crucifixion of our flesh so that it is inoperative. And…

c) The third crucifixion is the crucifixion of the world. “The world” (6:14) refers to the order of the evil world system ruled by Satan and his agents, the world’s value system, godless materialism, vanity and hypocrisy, the society that is hostile to Christ and the church, that entire system of things that is opposed to Christ, the community of unredeemed people whose actions are governed by their unredeemed nature (cf. John 12:31; 14:30; 1 Cor. 2:6, 8; Eph. 2:1-2).

The “world” is Satan’s evil system to which humanity is now in bondage because of sin and it includes Satan’s vast system of false religions (cf. 1 Jn. 5:19). If the flesh is the foothold that the devil has inside us, then the world is the means by which he exerts pressure on us from outside us.

Those are the three crucifixions that take place at the cross – the crucifixion of Christ, the crucifixion of our flesh, and the crucifixion of the world. May the cross of Christ always be at the centre of our lives. May the cross always be our joy and rejoicing. May we never lose sight of the cross. May we always glory and boast in the cross. Don’t demean it or diminish it. Don’t be ashamed of it or embarrassed by it. Remember our thesis: When we boast in the cross, it separates us from the world.

Sir John Bowring was a brilliant man who had a special gift for languages. He is reputed to have learned a hundred different languages during his lifetime and translated poetry into English from a number of languages. Because he was brilliant and good with languages, the British government appointed him to a number of jobs that required him to travel throughout Europe as well as to Syria and even Siam (modern Thailand). He learned Chinese and served as the British governor of Hong Kong in the mid-1800s. Tradition says that one time Bowring visited Macao, a Portuguese colony near Hong Kong, and saw a great bronze cross towering over the ruins of a cathedral that had been destroyed by a typhoon. That sight inspired him in 1825 to write the hymn: “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.”

Біблія казкаря: 60 оповідань

«На початку...» — так починається історія Бога. Це історія, яка охоплює все, що міститься в Біблії, вона відображена у всьому творінні і є змістом та суттю всього життя. Саме ця історія розкриває сенс народження, життя, смерті та вічності всього, що коли-небудь було, є і буде за всіх часів.

Переглянути повний PDF тут.

Тхе Сторителлерьс Библе: 60 Сторис

Библейское повествование — это способ изучения истории Бога в хронологической последовательности, чтобы вся история Бога была понятна от самого маленького ребенка до взрослого. CBS4Kids разработали этот хронологический подход, используя 60 основных библейских историй, чтобы помочь читателю или слушателю получить четкое представление об истории Бога.

Переглянути повний PDF тут.

De La Historia de Dios En Orden Cronológico: 60 Historias

Cuentacuentos Bíblicos Cronológicos es una forma de aprender la historia de Dios en secuencia cronológico para que la historia completa de Dios sea entendida desde el niño más pequeño hasta el adulto. CBS4Kids ha desarrollado este enfoque cronológico utilizando 60 historias básicas de la Biblia para ayudar al lector u oidor a obtener un vistazo de la historia de Dios.

Ver PDF completo aquí.

Ibhayibheli Lomxoxi: Izindaba ezingama-60

Ukuxoxa Ngezindaba ZeBhayibheli Ngokulandelana Kwezikhathi kuyindlela yokufunda indaba kaNkulunkulu ngokulandelana kwezikhathi ukuze indaba ephelele kaNkulunkulu iqondwe kusukela kwencane kuye komdala. I-CBS4Kids isungule le ndlela yokulandelana kwezikhathi isebenzisa izindaba eziyisisekelo ezingama-60 ezivela eBhayibhelini ukuze isize umfundi noma isilaleli ukuba sithole amazwibela ngodaba lukaNkulunkulu.

Bona i-PDF egcwele lapha.

Introduction to Adorned with True Beauty

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We women are so busy these days! If your life is anything like mine, you have more commitments than you know how to handle. There are family, church, and community responsibilities that you must juggle. As you open this Bible study, you may be thinking, “How will I ever have time to make it through these lessons?” And yet you know that God promises to bless the study of His Word. You know that your relationship with Him should be a priority in your life. My prayer for you and for me is that God will so draw us to Himself that we will not miss a day of time with Him in His Word. I pray that He will do a mighty work in all of our lives as we spend the next few weeks together.

As I write this study, I can see in my mind’s eye a variety of women who need to know that they are precious to God; I can imagine women of all stages of life desiring to adorn themselves with the inner beauty that God desires for them. I see singles, young married women, mothers, grandmothers, and women at home and in the workplace wanting to share in the community of a small group of women who will accept them and love them. If you are ready to grow in the Scriptures and in relationships with others and with God, you are in the right place.

We are all on a journey with God through this life. Some of us are farther along than others. Yet, we join together each week throughout this study to become one community of women seeking to know their God. The exchange of thoughts in a small group of women of all ages has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. When I was young, I learned so much from the life stories of the women who had walked before me. Now I hope that the story of my journey will be encouraging to you. As you will notice, I share a lot of myself when I write a Bible study so that you will know that I am real.

May the Lord richly bless you as you commit to these nine weeks in fellowship with God and with other women, seeking to follow God and grow in our love for Him -

Kay Daigle

How to Use this Study Guide

This study is designed to help you consistently spend time in God’s Word daily. Each week’s lesson is divided into five days of homework so that you spend time with God listening to His voice each day. The Bible is God’s message to you, and He wants to speak with you personally. You will gain the most from this study if you do it day by day, answering just that day’s questions, rather than trying to stuff it all in at once. Working on it daily will also allow you to meditate upon what you have seen as you go about your other routines.

A Precious Word from God - Each week you will have a verse to memorize that brings out an essential lesson or thought from the week’s study. Begin learning it the first day. You might copy it on an index card and carry it with you throughout the week, hiding God’s Word in your heart.

Specific types of questions

Sharing questions - These questions are designed for you to write stories, insights, and applications from your own life. If we are to be in community with one another and support one another, we must truly know one another. Although you will never be forced to share one of these answers, be willing to be open and vulnerable with your small group by volunteering. Because we are all still growing and learning, we need each other’s support.

Responding to God - On these questions, you are asked to write out a response to God after studying His Word to you. I have found that writing out my prayers helps me to focus better on what I need to say to God and gives me a way to review my prayers later. Be honest and open here as well. No one will call on you to read yours. You may desire to volunteer to share what you have written and should always feel free to do that.

Diamonds in the Word - These questions are designed for those who want to dig deeper into God’s Word. Some of these will be easy for even a beginning Bible student to answer, and some will require more experience in God’s Word. As a group you will not discuss these, but the background that you gain from digging into God’s Word in a deeper way will certainly enrich your own relationship with God if you apply what you study.

Personal Stories

Each lesson includes a true story that relates the truths of that week’s lesson to a woman’s real life experience. Some of the names have been changed to protect the guilty! Be sure and read these stories each week although your group may not have time to discuss them together. The stories themselves will be an encouragement to you in your walk with God and your growth in true beauty.

Note from Kay Daigle

I would be thrilled if you decide to use one of my studies! They were written just for women, with their needs and concerns in mind in order to maximize their spiritual growth. In order to make the most of these studies, it is necessary to follow the format in the following order:

1. Personal study should always precede discussion.

The women will gain more through their own time with God than any other method of learning. God can speak to them personally as they hear from Him.
Although some women may come unprepared, focusing the discussion on what was studied in the homework will encourage them to study.

2. Weekly small group discussion should precede any lectures.

Use trained discussion leaders to lead the groups through the questions that the students answered during the week, building on their personal study.
Studies have shown that reading followed by discussing what was read enhances the learning process.
A small group provides a forum for women to share their personal stories with one another, which allows for mentoring and accountability in a group setting, especially in groups of mixed ages. Such groups provide an environment for fulfilling the biblical directives for women in Titus 2.

3. Lectures should be the final thing you do, and they are optional.

Studies show that people learn best through their own study followed by discussion. Although some of the women will want the lecture first, if you put it first, many will skip their personal study. Unless they spend the necessary time alone with God and His Word, they limit their own spiritual growth.
You can download my lectures, but please do not simply play them for the group. Use them personally if you like. I believe a teacher should be part of the local body, not some stranger. The best teachers are those who live in the midst of those they teach, accountable to their students, being a model as well as a speaker.
I did not lecture for every lesson because some weeks we meet longer in small groups for fellowship and there are weeks when my interns teach.
If you do not have someone with the training and gifting to present her own lectures, pray for someone with the gift of teaching to begin to learn how to prepare and present a lecture on her own. She may want to use the audios of my lectures to help her as she learns, but she should never simply substitute my lecture for her own study and preparation. I recommend that she go through the training on bible.org in the theology program to learn how to present this kind of teaching if your local church does not provide it.

Related Topics: Christian Home, Curriculum, Spiritual Life

Downloadable Resources for Adorned with True Beauty

Series resources	Document


Series resources	Document

Series Leader's Guide
Series Student Workbook

Lesson resources	Audio	Handout	Slides

Introduction to Adorned with True Beauty
Lesson 1: Adorned with the Beauty of Faith
Lesson 2: Adorned with Beauty through Trials
Lesson 3: Adorned with Beauty through God's Word
Lesson 4: Adorned with the Beauty of Holiness
Lesson 5: Adorned with Beauty among Unbelievers
Lesson 6: Adorned with the Beauty of a Gentle & Quiet...
Lesson 7: Adorned with Beauty in Unjust Suffering
Lesson 8: Adorned with Beauty, Knowing the End...
Lesson 9: Adorned with the Beauty of Humility

9. Adorned with the Beauty of Humility

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Click here to download the manuscript for this lesson.

A Precious Word from God

“And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand by casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NET)

Introduction

We are on the home stretch of our study of 1 Peter. I hope that God has used it in your life in mighty ways. I have been praying that He would adorn us as women as we apply the truths that we have seen. I know that God has shown me areas of my own life where I need to be changed within as I have worked through Peter’s letter. Because God has promised that His Word does not return to Him void without accomplishing the work that He sent it to do (Isaiah 55:11), I know that He has used it in your life over these weeks that we have spent together. I thank Him for all that He has accomplished in making us more beautiful women.

Day One Study

Read 1 Peter 5.

We are going to come back to vv. 1-4 tomorrow. Right now we are focusing on the verses that are specifically addressed to everyone.

1. List all the instructions given in vv. 5-10.

The first two instructions concern humility. What is humility?

2. If you have a Greek concordance, look up the word and its definition in the Greek. If you don’t, at least check an English dictionary, understanding that the Greek definition was the one that Peter used when he wrote this letter. Write out the two instructions with the expanded definition in them. What insights do you gain?

3. Why is humility important according to v. 5?

Diamonds in the Word: Study humility in the Scriptures and its opposite, pride. Look in your concordance for references to these two qualities and look up as many verses as you can within your time constraints. Write down your insights about humility.

4. How did Jesus humble Himself according to Phil. 2:5-8? What do you learn from Him about humility?

5. Sharing question: How do you obey these instructions concerning humility? Give at least one specific thing that you can do in your situation to be like Jesus in this way.

Day Two Study

Today we are going back to the first few verses of 1 Peter 5, written to the elders of the church. In some churches there is an actual board of elders. In other churches, the pastors are considered to be the elders. The issue in this context is not exactly what form this takes but how they should rule.

Reread 1 Peter 5.

6. What specific instructions does Peter give to the elders (vv. 1-4)? What promise?

7. What general principles of leadership do you see in these verses, which are written specifically to the elders but also apply to all leaders in our churches?

8. How do these principles relate to the instructions on humility that follow it? Why would they be mentioned together?

9. Sharing question: Where are you a leader either within or without the church, perhaps even in your home or your job? Can you apply these principles in any way to that position, whether it is an actual assigned position or a place where you influence others? If so, how?

Diamonds in the Word: In Numbers 12:3 Moses is described as the most humble man on the earth and yet he was a great leader. Study his life, and consider what you learn from him about humility and leadership.

10. Responding to God: Talk to God about humility and leadership. Is there an area of your life where you are not proving to be an example to others?

Day Three Study

Reread 1 Peter 5:5-11.

11. Sharing question: We already saw that Peter gives three instructions about dealing with the devil. Write for each one of the three a specific action that you might take to obey it.

Diamonds in the Word: Study in a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia and write down what you learn about the devil. Be sure and look up the verses listed and write down where this information is given in the Scriptures.

12. What is happening in the lives of the believers to whom Peter is writing that made them susceptible to the devil (v. 9-10)? What similarities do you see to situations in which lions may attack?

13. To what promises are the believers to hold onto (v. 10)? How does this parallel other promises in 1 Peter concerning suffering? Review 1 Peter, and write down specific similarities.

14. How do humility, suffering, and the devil relate? When different subjects are put together in the same context, we always need to think about their relationship. What would make Peter think of them at the same time?

15. Sharing question: In what circumstances are you most vulnerable to attack from the devil? What can you apply from the book of 1 Peter to make you stronger and less open to attack?

16. Responding to God: Ask God for the grace to obey the instructions in 1 Peter 5. Describe your feelings about the areas where you are struggling with temptation. Ask for the strength to stand firm against the devil.

Day Four Study

Reread 1 Peter 5:5-11.

Review the three instructions concerning the devil. Today we will consider some examples of dealing with temptation as well as considering some of the devil’s tactics so that we are able to resist, etc.

17. Compare James 4:6-10 with this 1 Peter passage. Give any insights that you gain about dealing with Satan.

Diamonds in the Word: What biblical story would you use to help women understand how to deal with temptation? Write down the basic plot and the applications that you see.

18. Read these passage and write down what do you learn about dealing with temptation:

a. James 1:13-18

b. 2 Timothy 2:22

c. Matt. 4:1-11

d. Matthew 16:21-23

Day Five Study

There is no question that we are not beautiful when we fall into sin. Laura shares her story of how she applied 2 Timothy 2:22 when she was tempted to sin.

Laura’s Story

I was single and working. I was attracted to a non-believer at work. We had gone out as friends a few times. We went on a road trip that was supposed to be a group, but it worked out just being the two of us to see a college football game. We ended up kissing. We had to figure out a way to go back to work and just be friends. However, I was hooked. We were friends, and I had kissed him. I had strong feelings for him.

The Lord kept telling me he was the wrong man for me. Finally, I decided to obey and leave this guy alone. However, it wasn't easy. I was attracted to him, I worked with him, and I had the memory of his kiss.

One day at work, I started dwelling on the situation. I was overcome with desire and wanted to pursue the relationship. However, instead I left the office at lunch. I drove my car to a bus stop parking lot and read 1 Thess. 4:1-7 over and over. I prayed. I asked the Lord to help me overcome the desire I was experiencing. That is exactly what happened. I went back to work and the power of God's word helped me not act on my temptation that day.

19. Sharing question: Relate your own story of a time when you were tempted and how you stood firm instead.

Sometimes our temptation is not to sin in an overt way like our story, but to distrust God. Romans 14:23b says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” Whenever we decide that God is out to get us, is not good, is not faithful to His promises, etc., we are sinning because we are failing to trust Him.

Much of 1 Peter deals with trials, with suffering and persecution. In the midst of all of that, sometimes Satan encourages us to turn from God. Here is a story of a woman who went through a trial and trusted God in the midst of it and ended up with great blessing.

Janie’s Story

I would say that my life has always gone pretty close to plan for what I wanted to happen. Probably the only hitch in that plan was not finding my husband until I was 35. But that's another story.

I had been a Christian since I was 11. However, I realize now that because things were fairly easy, there was not a reason for me to feel a deep dependence on the Lord. After we married within a year of knowing each other, we wanted to wait awhile to have children. So at age 38 or 39 we started “trying.” (That phrase has always cracked me up, but what else do you say?) After several months without success, I talked with my gynecologist, and we began the blood tests and things that you do to make sure that your body is functioning the way it is supposed to. Then, it was time to make an appointment with an infertility doctor. After waiting two months for the appointment and another hour in the waiting room, we went in to see him where he talked with us between mouthfuls of a late-lunch hamburger. We weren’t feeling so great about this path.

So, we tried another doctor who happened to have a cancellation fairly soon and he was very nice. All the while we were praying for God to let us have a family. We had not talked about adoption – it was not even a consideration at this stage. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I was afraid that that was where God was leading us.

With infertility treatments, you make a plan – we’ll do this for x months and then evaluate where we want to go next. The pills were ok, but the shots were a real drag. Everything had to be timed perfectly. Once when my husband was out of town and I needed a shot at midnight, my dad came over to my house at midnight and gave me a shot. I always thought I was a strong person and knew that God gives me the strength I need to handle any situation, but this was starting to push it. We lived in two week cycles from ovulation to menstrual cycle and at the sign of my period would come a huge let down. Tears together brought us closer and more in love.

We had been bearing the load ourselves and had only told a few people about what was going on. My small group Bible Study was a great comfort, and knowing that they were praying was a big support. The feelings were embarrassing, admitting failure at something and an acknowledgement that everything was not ok. All these things I am well acquainted with now, but at that time did not want to share. Plus, it was so difficult and painful that it was like a constant open wound.

As I grew closer to that magic age of 40 every day, I began to think of other options. There had been some things in the news about international adoption, and my heart was touched that there were so many children who would never have a home. When I mentioned this to my husband, he seemed open to the idea. We went on a hot summer day to The Gladney Center in Ft. Worth – armed with questions from all the horror stories we had read on the Internet about international adoption. After the meeting, we felt encouraged and wanted to seriously consider that path. We began to pray that God would show us His plan. We set one more treatment as the last one and if it worked, great. If it didn’t, then we would adopt. When something happened with my body that I could not complete the treatment, I told the doctor’s office that we would not pursue more.

That night, we went to dinner with friends. I felt giddy from the freedom I felt to be free of the infertility treatments and excited about God’s plan for adoption. The process to adopt our son took about six months total. All along the way, God was starting to work on my heart to be free to give Him the credit. He was providing the avenue to give Him the glory. And today, because of the way our family was formed, I still have the opportunity to prove my faith when I talk about how God is the one who brings families together.

I used to feel awkward about how to put God in a conversation. But the work that He has done in my heart through this trial and the growth that happened as a result makes giving Him the glory natural. He changes hearts, and rich spiritual blessings come from trusting in Him to work all things together for good.

In writing this story, it has been somewhat difficult to pull up the pain of the trial. Isn’t it interesting that the way that God works so often is that he erases the painful details when they are no longer needed? One thing I have seen so clearly in this is that when God does a work, He does it COMPLETELY. I praise God every day for the beautiful gift of my children – that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

20. Sharing question: When we lack faith, we sin. What are some ways that the devil tempts you to distrust God or to act independently of Him? What have you learned this week to help you stand firm against this?

21. Responding to God: Write a prayer asking for God’s grace and strength in the area of your greatest temptation or the area where you are doubting His love, etc. Think of a specific way that you need to avoid the situation or the sin or of ways to grow in faith rather than unbelief.

Related Topics: Christian Home, Curriculum, Spiritual Life

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5. The Cross And Christ’s Incarnation (Gal. 4:4-7)

I. God Awaited The Perfect Time: “When The Fullness Of Time Had Come…” (4:4a)

II. God Appointed The Perfect Person: “…God Sent Forth His Son…” (4:4b-D)

III. God Achieved The Perfect Purpose: “…To Redeem Those Who Were Under The Law” (4:5-7)

Final Remarks

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6. The Cross And The Flesh (Gal. 5:19-25)

I. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Conflict (5:16-18)

II. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Contrast (5:19-23)

III. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Crucifixion (5:24)

IV. Living By The Spirit Is A Life Of Conformity (5:25)

Final Remarks

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From the series: The Centrality Of The Cross In Galatians PREVIOUS PAGE

7. The Cross And Boasting (Galatians 6:12-15)

I. In Ourselves, We Have No Reason To Boast (Gal. 6:12-13)

II. In The Cross, We Have Every Reason To Boast (Gal. 6:14)

Final Remarks

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Біблія казкаря: 60 оповідань

Тхе Сторителлерьс Библе: 60 Сторис

De La Historia de Dios En Orden Cronológico: 60 Historias

Ibhayibheli Lomxoxi: Izindaba ezingama-60

From the series: Abraham

Introduction to Adorned with True Beauty

How to Use this Study Guide

Specific types of questions

Personal Stories

Note from Kay Daigle

From the series: Abraham

From the series: Abraham

Downloadable Resources for Adorned with True Beauty

From the series: Abraham

From the series: Abraham

9. Adorned with the Beauty of Humility

A Precious Word from God

Introduction

Day One Study

Day Two Study

Day Three Study

Day Four Study

Day Five Study

Laura’s Story

Janie’s Story

From the series: Abraham

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