Is the Spirit Actually Enough?

-
Paul actually thinks that walking in step with the Spirit is sufficient for Christians to know how to live (Gal. 5:16-25).

If someone's not willing to walk in step with the Spirit, no guidelines of any kind will help (Gal. 5:2-4).


Do I actually think that?

Do you actually think that?

Comments

Post a Comment

Most viewed

How do we integrate grief into worship?

-
Image
Integrating grief into worship is hard, but there are times when it's important for a Christian community to figure out how. 1. I've seen grief verbally acknowledged from a pulpit, then someone leading the service asked the participants to set it aside to enter into worship. This seems better than not acknowledging the grief, but I think it conveys the impression that grief is insignificant, or that the show must go on—that the participants are less important than the ceremony of worship. 2. I've seen someone invite participants to enter into triumphant worship with their grief, to express their faith in the middle of the circumstances. This seems like a better response because it invites participants to meditate on how their worship relates to their grief. It opens up opportunities to recognize Jesus as the resurrection and the life (John 11:23-27). The drawback of 2 is that it can tend toward papering-over grief rather than integrating it. We are often so uncomfortable
Read more

The Fruit of the Spirit & the Spirit-Filled Life

-
Image
The Fruit of the Spirit has kind of a VBS-theme vibe going on. That might be why it doesn't come up a lot in adult discipleship. Maybe it's just typecast—"Oh, that's mostly in the Bible so there's safe imagery for children's church. It's not really important for adults. Too cute." But the Fruit's position in Galatians 5 is actually really theologically significant. The Fruit is significant because Paul contrasts it with the acts of the flesh. They're opposites. Gal. 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are obvious: ... Gal. 5:23  But the fruit of the Spirit is: ... It almost sounds like Paul is contrasting two ways of living. In fact, that's exactly what he's doing! Gal. 5:16  But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. This is one of the big themes in Paul's depiction of the Christian life. You either carry out the desires of the Spirit or you carry out the desires of the flesh. Those desires are
Read more