The War Within

Antioch Christian Fellowship

Galatians 5:1, 13-26

July 1, 2008

We don’t have to look very far to find war on planet earth.  Some wars are barely noticed, fought as small skirmishes between rival clans in remote places we have never heard of.  Some wars we hear too much of, huge technologically advanced wars between powerful nations.   Even in the world of sophisticated business, we speak of “hostile takeovers.” We would be hard pressed to find a place of peace anywhere in the world.

When we celebrate Holy Communion, we speak about the bread and wine as outward and visible signs of the grace within us.  When we look at our pitiful world shredded by violence, we can speak of the outward and visible sign of the war within us.

But we are not unique, Paul speaks about this war thousands of years ago to the people in the Galatian churches.  If we read the whole letter, Paul’s anguish over the church is clear.  He tells us that he met the Galatians because he became ill.  He must have developed a serious eye condition while traveling among them and they took care of him.  Paul describes the loving care provided for him, he says, “if it were possible you would have pulled out your own eyes and given them to me!” (Gal 4:13-15) Now he writes to those same people who so cared for him, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you . . . and are following a different gospel.” (Gal 1:6)  “You foolish Galatians!  Who has cast a spell on you?” (Gal 3:1)  “Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish?” (Gal. 3:2-3)  “Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all, but now that you have come to know God how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces?” (Gal 4:8-9)  “For freedom Christ has set us free. . . . do not take on again the yoke of slavery.”  (Gal 5:1)

Paul sounds disappointed, even angry.  He thought the Galatians understood and now it seems that they looking for something more than the simple gospel message he left them with.  Christ has done for you, foolish Galatians, what you could not do for yourself.  He has set you free from the burden of the fear of death so that you might truly live in freedom.  How could anyone give that up?

It can only be that they were at war.  Paul acknowledges that the life of a free Christian is not peaceful co-existence with slavery.  It is important to know this, because this war does not occur out in the open where we can see it.  This war occurs hidden within us, but it is just real as any other war on the earth.  We know because we fight it daily.    He describes the war as one between our “flesh” and the “Spirit.”

Our flesh is a metaphor for following our own desires, our own will, slipping back into the old traps that served us well under slavery.  The opposite of the “flesh” is not the law, but the “Spirit.”  This Spirit that we have been given, the Spirit of Christ,  Jesus calls the “Spirit of Truth.”  (John 16:13)  The law certainly demonstrates the will and desires of God, but within the law, there is no mechanism, no power to keep it.  It is through belonging to Christ and receiving His Spirit that we receive the power to fight the battle within us.

When we became Christians, Christ gave to us His Spirit.  What Paul is saying is that regardless of how ethical, how righteous we believe we are, we fail if we live by human wisdom and reason alone.  When we live with Christ’s Spirit, light shines on those desires and actions that displease Christ and we live in perpetual gratefulness to Him, grateful that nothing, not even this war within us, can ever separate us from Him.

The particular battle that the Galatians were fighting that day had to do with circumcision.  People were telling them there was something they needed to do to be real Christians.  That is not the battle we face.  Our battle looks different.  You must pray more, you must read Scripture more, you must have more faith.  Paul is furious.  He shrieks across the years, “Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?  . . . Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?” (Gal. 3:3,5)  The Galatians have been given the gift of the Spirit of Christ, but Paul does not deny that there is still a war going on within them.

The gift of the Spirit of Christ imprints the desire, the will of God on our mind.  The war begins because the desire of God conflicts with our desires.  The answer to the war is not to return to our old ways and to slavishly follow the law.  The answer is to recognize that when we become Christians, the war is not over, it just begins but we now have the power to fight.  God knows the power of human desire and gives to us a gift, His Spirit which is more powerful than our desire.  The law is not more powerful than our desires, but only highlights their destructive nature. 

The law has the power to condemn us to death, the Spirit of Christ frees us from condemnation to truly live, without the nagging finger of guilt robbing us of our joy and peace.  We are free to be patient because we are no longer waiting for anything.  We have been given what we have been looking for:  abundant life.  We are free to be kind, good and gentle because we draw continually on Christ’s Spirit daily to heal our wounds.  We are free to be faithful, free to believe simply because we hear.  Free to believe even though we have not seen. 

But all of this does not change the fact that we are at war.  But unlike those geo-political wars that over the planet earth, we are not at war to win a victory.  That is already won.  Christ has abolished death.  It does not exist.  For us, Christians, victory is redefined. Victory for us is to persevere, and by persevering in the war within, to overcome. 

When Jesus returns, he will come as a great military leader and we will then see what we have believed.  But until then, Jesus wants us to know that His unheard, unseen, untouched presence is with us today is just as real as it was to those who walked with him thousands of years ago.  He wants us to never forget that regardless of how subtle or how bloody the war within becomes, his Spirit within us will overcome.

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