Today's scripture reading is Galatians 5. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. Take notice, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again, I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised, that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await, through the Spirit, the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith expressed through love. you are running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth? Such persuasion does not come from one who calls you. A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be. Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those who are agitating you, I wish they would proceed to emasculate themselves. For you, brothers, were called to freedom. But do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree. Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery, idolatry and sorcery, hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage, rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying one another. This is God's Word. Paul continued passionately here in Galatians 5 to argue that the Galatians must not try to mix faith in Christ with obedience to the law of Moses. We saw that in verses 3 and 4. Verses 7 through 10 are a slight parenthesis in Paul's argument. Paul stopped teaching about our freedom in Christ. We saw that in verse 1 and then verse 13. And instead, in this little parenthesis, he began to wonder in print about who was responsible for the false teaching that had invaded the Galatian church. We see that in verse 7. In verse 9 he wrote, a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. In other words, if the church tolerates just a little false doctrine, false doctrine will eventually pervade the entire church. Like cancer cells, false doctrine consumes the body of Christ slowly, but steadily. Also like cancer, false doctrine is often unseen and undetected for a long time, sometimes until it is too late. Paul wrote this letter like a spiritual surgeon seeking to cut out the spreading cells of false doctrine before it metastasized and killed the whole body. False doctrine has existed in every age of humanity, and in this digital world of ours, we have access to more of it than ever. Have you been sampling false teaching through TV broadcasts, books, podcasts, or online videos? Remember that it only takes a little yeast, according to verse 9, to leaven the entire loaf. We must be on guard then. We must test everything against the teaching of Scripture and reject everything that conflicts with God's Word. And so I hope you'll keep that in mind. Watching or listening to or reading these devotionals is gonna help you in your walk with God because it's injecting truth into your life. But it's very easy to get into false doctrine, either to slip into it or to slide into it slowly. and it can slowly consume your spiritual life. So be careful about what you let influence your understanding of God, your understanding of His Word, your understanding of our faith. Be on guard and be careful, and I'll see you next time.
