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Scripture Reading: Gal. 6:1, 7-8, 12-18; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11
Galatians 1 tells us how religion with its traditions is versus Christ and the church (vv. 3-4, 13-15a, 16a), and chapter 2 tells us that the law with its ordinances is in opposition to Christ as our life (vv. 11-13, 19-21). Chapter 3 speaks concerning the flesh and the Spirit. Having begun by the Spirit, we should not try to be perfected by the flesh (vv. 2-3). Rather, we must remain in the Spirit and deny the flesh. Moreover, the promise of the Spirit, which we have received, is the blessing of Abraham through the gospel that was preached to him by God (vv. 8, 14). Following this, chapter 4 reveals that the flesh working together with the law produces children according to the flesh, and the Spirit working through grace produces children according to the Spirit (vv. 21-31), who are sons of God and heirs through God, inheriting all the riches of God (vv. 4-7). In order to be sons of God and heirs of God’s riches, we need Christ revealed in us, Christ living in us, Christ put upon us, and Christ formed in us (v. 19). Christ, who is the Son of God, is being formed in us to make us sons of God. In principle, this means that we become the same as Christ. In ourselves we can never be the sons of God; we can only be the sons of the devil (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8, 10). In order for us to be the sons of God, we need to have Christ formed in our inner being to make us the same as He is.
A genuine believer is a son of God, but he may not always bear the image of a son of God. This is because even though he has Christ revealed in him, living in him, and put upon him, he may not have Christ adequately formed in his entire being. For this reason, Paul says to the Galatians, “My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you” (4:19). Paul’s intent was that the Galatians would fully become Christ. Only in this way could they be sons of God in practicality. We may illustrate this by a young man who is the son of a king and the successor to the royal throne. The young man may not yet appear to be a proper heir of the throne. This means that the kingship still needs to grow and be formed within him. Then one day, before he even ascends to the throne, everyone will be able to testify that he is already a king. Many in Christianity hold the teaching that every saved believer will enter into the coming millennium to be the kings in the kingdom. We should not believe this. Even if many were to be given the kingship outwardly, they would not have the inner growth, measure, or stature of a king. We need Christ to be formed in us until we are the same as He is in life and in nature.
Galatians 1 through 4 tells us that we need Christ revealed in us, Christ living in us, Christ put upon us, and Christ formed in us. After this, chapter 5 speaks concerning our need to walk by the Spirit (vv. 16, 25). Christ today is the all-inclusive One dwelling in our spirit. He is one with our spirit, and we are one with Him as the Spirit. Now we need to walk by the Spirit. Then chapter 6 tells us that as we walk by the Spirit, we need to restore a fallen brother in a spirit of meekness (v. 1). This is one example of our Christian service. In our service to the Lord, we must do everything in our spirit. Such a Christian life is a sowing life. Whatever we do, whatever we say, and wherever we go is a sowing. If we sow unto the Spirit and not to the flesh, we will of the Spirit reap eternal life (vv. 7-8). Then Paul concludes this Epistle by telling people that he has nothing to do with the religious world and that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision are anything. Rather, what we need is the new creation (vv. 14-15). If we walk by the Spirit and enjoy the riches of Christ in our spirit, we will spontaneously be a part of the new creation, which is the new man, the church.
In verse 17 Paul says, “Henceforth let no one trouble me.” Paul did not want to be troubled with the Judaistic religion, circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath, or any such thing. Then he continues, “I bear in my body the brands of Jesus.” In the ancient times, when a man was sold as a slave, the buyer marked him with a brand to indicate his ownership over him. For Paul to bear the brands of Jesus indicated that he was the slave of Christ Jesus (Rom. 1:1). From the first day that Jesus appeared to Paul, He branded him with the “hot iron” of the cross. As a slave of Jesus, purchased by Him, Paul no longer cared for the things of the Judaistic religion. Finally, Paul closes Galatians by saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen” (6:18). At this point there is no religion, tradition, laws, ordinances, or the flesh; there is only Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit living in our spirit. Now we must walk and live in this spirit and sow unto the Spirit. Then we will reap eternal life, the totality of which is the new creation, the new man, the church.
The first major item mentioned in Galatians 6 is the human spirit. Verse 1 says, “Brothers, even if a man is overtaken in some offense, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness.” The most important matter in restoring a fallen brother is that we do it in our spirit. It is not adequate merely to use our good heart or our mind, emotions, and will. We must restore our brother in a spirit of meekness. Our human spirit is the proper organ with which to care for the brothers.
Following this, verses 7 and 8 say, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For he who sows unto his own flesh will reap corruption of the flesh, but he who sows unto the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.” Paul refers to our actions, walk, and living as our sowing. Day after day and hour by hour, the things we do and the way we live are a sowing. We must be careful concerning our sowing. If we sow unto our flesh, we will reap corruption of the flesh, but if we sow unto the Spirit, we will of the Spirit reap eternal life.
As we have seen, in chapter 5 the Spirit is the One who dwells in and mingles with our regenerated spirit. This Spirit in our spirit is versus the flesh, and the flesh is versus the Spirit (vv. 16-18, 25). Following this, 6:1 speaks of a spirit of meekness, indicating that the emphasis in the latter chapter is our human spirit, which is indwelt by and mingled with the Holy Spirit. In the mingled spirit, it is our human spirit that takes the initiative. If we sow unto our flesh, that is, walk according to the flesh, we will reap corruption, but if we sow unto the Spirit by walking according to our mingled spirit, we will reap eternal life.
The way we talk to the brothers and sisters is an example of sowing. To speak with a brother in a fleshly way is to sow unto the flesh. If we do this, we will reap corruption. Gossiping is a very corrupting factor in human society. Although speaking about others in a loose manner passes corrupting “germs” from one person to another, as fallen human beings, we are accustomed to doing this. Because of this, there is the possibility of gossiping even in the church life, which is the real social and communal life. To do this is to sow unto the flesh, causing ourselves, others, and the whole church to be corrupted. It is good to communicate with other brothers and even other churches, but we must be careful not to spread deadening and corrupting germs by speaking with one another according to the flesh. We must be careful to sow only unto the Spirit. Then we can be assured that we will reap the eternal, divine, uncreated life as our harvest.
In verse 1 of chapter 6, Paul speaks of our human spirit as the proper organ for serving the Lord by restoring a fallen brother, and in verse 8 he speaks of sowing unto the mingled spirit. Following this, Paul points out that circumcision, a strong ordinance of the Judaistic religion, is merely a good show in the flesh. Verses 12 and 13 say, “As many as desire to make a good show in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised, but only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For neither do they that become circumcised keep the law themselves, but they desire you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” In principle, all religious ordinances are shows in the flesh, such as the wearing of brightly colored robes by a choir and the singing of solos by specially talented persons. We must condemn all fleshly shows.
Then in verse 14 Paul says, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” For many centuries most Christian teachers have not understood the proper meaning of the world in this verse, supposing that it refers to the secular world. According to the context of Galatians, world refers to the religious world. Both verses 13 and 15 deal with circumcision, indicating that the “world” mentioned between these two verses is religion. Circumcision, as an ordinance of the Jewish religion, has been crucified on the cross, and we have been crucified to it. We have nothing to do with this religious world. This matches 1:4, which says that Christ “gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age.” An age is a part of the world, which is the satanic system. Between us and religion is the cross. Religion as a world has been crucified to us, and we have been crucified to religion. In today’s terms we may say that Christianity as a world is crucified to us, and we to the world of Christianity. I was born and raised in the world of Christianity. Even before I believed in the Lord Jesus, I contended for Christianity against Buddhism. Christianity was a true world to me. However, one day I said goodbye to that religious world. The religious world was crucified to me, and I to that world.
In 5:6 Paul says, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith avails, operating through love.” Then again in 6:15 he says, “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.” The book of Galatians concludes with the new creation, which is the issue of all the things dealt with in chapters 1 through 6. The new creation is the new man in Christ, which corporately is Christ’s Body, the church (Eph. 4:24; 2:15-16; Col. 3:10-11). God has two creations, the old creation and the new creation. The old creation is God’s work, but it does not have God’s life and nature in it. God was among His old creation, but He did not enter into it. The new creation, however, has God within it. God as the basic element of the new creation has been wrought into it. The old creation is composed of the heavens, the earth, and billions of items, including man. Strictly speaking, the new creation does not include all these items; it is simply the church as the new man. In the future we will have the new heaven and the new earth, but even the new heaven and the new earth will not have the divine nature in them. They will be restored, but they will not be renewed with the divine element. Only the church has God as the basic element in it. This is signified by the golden lampstands, which are a sign of the churches and which consummate in the New Jerusalem as the city of gold (Rev. 1:12, 20; 21:18, 21). In typology gold signifies divinity. The new heaven and the new earth will not have the element of divinity, but the New Jerusalem — the ultimate expression, manifestation, and consummation of the church as the new man — will be constituted with the divine life and nature. Today every local church is a miniature of the New Jerusalem, having God Himself as its basic element. No human words can exhaust what the new creation is. Nevertheless, we are in it, and we are a part of it. We are not merely in the old creation; we are a part of the new creation, having the divine life and nature as our constitution.
Paul says that neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. This means that to have a traditional religious practice is nothing, and to reject that practice is also nothing in itself. Likewise, to shout in the meetings is nothing in itself, and to be silent is also nothing; both to keep religious forms and to drop all the forms are nothing. Rather, a new creation is what matters. This is why we do not care for the law, religion, traditions, ordinances, or the flesh. We care only for Christ as the life-giving Spirit filling our spirit. If Christianity were to drop its ordinances, it might have very little left. The reason that Christianity maintains its ordinances is to make people appear to be living, even if they are dead (Rev. 3:1). This is to cheat people. Some claim that certain practices in Christianity, such as the clergy-laity system, choirs, and Sunday schools are necessary. These things may be necessary for Christianity, but they are not necessary for the church. Outward forms and ordinances are necessary only for the dead ones, not for the living ones.
The new creation is the new man. Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” The Lord Jesus abolished all the ordinances in order to bring together the two peoples — the Jews and the Gentiles — to create the church as the one new man. Although the Lord slew all the ordinances and buried them in a tomb, Christianity has opened the tomb to attempt to bring them back. As a result, the unique new man that the Lord created has now been divided. Christianity is divided mainly by ordinances, such as the various methods of baptism. The New Testament teaches us that we must baptize people, but the Lord has no intention that we make baptism an ordinance. In this matter alone there are many different ordinances. To baptize by immersion is an ordinance to some, and baptizing by sprinkling is an ordinance to others. Moreover, the number of times to immerse someone, the direction in which to immerse them, and the kind of water to immerse them in are more ordinances. If we testify to someone that we are saved and that we love the Lord Jesus, he may ask where we were baptized, believing that baptism only according to his ordinance is able to cause people to be saved. Many divisions have been produced over this issue alone.
Methods of studying the Bible, practicing the gifts, and conducting our meetings can all become ordinances. We must never let our practices become ordinances. If a good practice becomes an ordinance, we should be the first ones to drop it. If we have the assurance that we are practicing something in the spirit, it is good to do it, but if we are not in the spirit, we should stop. Galatians 5:13 says, “You were called for freedom, brothers; only do not turn this freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Our freedom in Christ is precious, but we should not take advantage of and abuse this freedom. When we practice something in our meetings, we must be sure that we do it in the spirit. This all depends on our daily living. Day by day and hour by hour we must be one with the dear Lord Jesus. We should always say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. I am one with You. I do not care for my desires, feelings, wishes, tendencies, intentions, likes, or dislikes. I do not care for myself. Lord Jesus, I care only for You. You are the living Spirit who lives in me, and I am one with You.” If we do this, we will come to the meetings with the rich experiences of Christ, and our spirit will be strong, high, and released. Then whatever we do in the meetings will minister Christ to the members of His Body. We will not hold to laws, ordinances, religion, traditions, or regulations. We will simply have the reality of the living Jesus, which is the reality of the new creation, the new man, the church life. In this reality there are no divisions, no confusion, no Greek, no Jew, no barbarian, no Scythian, no slave, and no free man. Rather, Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:10-11). This kind of church life is the very thing that the Lord is recovering today.
We must all ask the Lord to have mercy upon us. According to our natural birth, we are all religious. The element and disposition of religion are in our blood, but they have already been put on the cross. Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit living in our spirit is now our new source, new nature, and new life. Therefore, we must walk by the Spirit, sow to the Spirit, and enjoy all the riches of the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit. For this reason, Paul concludes Galatians by saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen” (6:18). We need to digest and assimilate all the matters that we have fellowshipped in these chapters in order to make them our living. Then we will enjoy the church life in the Lord’s recovery, not merely in a doctrinal way but richly, in practicality and actuality. This depends on our faithfulness to go on with the Lord in our spirit.
