Day of Pentecost: Life Made Simple

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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.  (Galatians 5:16–17 ESV)

The world we live in is a complex world and many times, I’m sure like me, you have wondered how to make life simpler for ourselves. The good news is this - life can be simple.

Because of who Jesus is and what He has done, Life according to Paul can be reduced to this - Walk in the Spirit, not the Flesh; Deny the Flesh, because it is not the Spirit. Life can be that simple. Not do good and not bad. Not love. But this - walk and live by the Spirit. And deny the Flesh, which opposes the Spirit.

 Now I am convinced in the wisdom of Albert Einstein to whom is attributed this insight “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” (It wasn’t a direct quote, but a paraphrase of his habit of mind). But we can rest assured that Paul, with the wisdom given to Him in and through Christ, has here in Galatians 5 captured Life, in its simplicity, no more and no less. So if you want a simple life - consider the meaning of Paul’s words with me.

1. Does Paul mean don’t be practical and worldly, but be more “spiritual”?

Sometimes we mistake Paul’s use of the word Flesh to mean “worldly living”. We think he means don’t be like the world. Or we might think Flesh is eating and drinking, or economic, social and organizational life in the world; and we contrast Flesh to some kind of eternal or spiritual life or life after death. This is a big mistake because Paul was a good Israelite, like Jesus and all Israelites knew that God created the heavens and the earth, and all of God’s creation is good and designed and made with our joyful and meaningful existence in mind. In short, we were made for Earthly life as God’s image-bearing creatures. So was original design; and our human destiny and glory. So whatever Paul means by means by Flesh he does NOT mean life on earth.

2. So what is the Flesh?

One thing that is very very clear in Galatians 5 is that Flesh is not the Spirit; and Spirit is not the Flesh; and the two are opposed to each other. So one way of putting it - Flesh is anything and everything that opposes the Spirit. What this means is this… until the Spirit comes, it is impossible to know what the Flesh is. The Flesh is only known and seen and discovered, in the Presence of the Spirit.

A good illustration is 4G technology. We all live with 4G technology right now and probably pretty happy with it. In fact, when our network can only pick up 3G network, we get quite frustrated and wish for 4G. We are happy with 4G. We are happy because we have not yet experienced the fullness of 5G. We are happy because we don’t know what we are missing out on. We don’t know what 5G can do for us. We haven’t felt its presence in our lives. One day we will. And I guaranteed us, when we do - we would be wondering - how did we ever live on 4G! It’s so lousy. 

This is precisely what Paul is concerned for in the post-Pentecost World. The Day the Father poured out His Spirit upon on all Creation, was the Day “Flesh” life become exposed for what it is. It is old. It is fading. It is outdated. It is passing away. It is not bad, it’s just outdated.

So put simply, the Flesh is an old way of life. The Flesh refers to life before the Day of Pentecost. On that Day, God downloaded a Firmware and New Technology for Life on Earth. He rebooted the System and we are now invited to live with a new Operating System.

3. So what is the Spirit?

The Spirit is the same Spirit that filled Jesus, on the day of Baptism (Luke 3:22)

The Spirit is the same Spirit that Jesus, having lived by His Leadership (Luke 4:1), committed back to the Father on the day of His death on the cross (Luke 23:46)

The Spirit is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11), and was poured out on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and dwells with us if we have been baptised by the Spirit (Acts 18:25 - 19:7).

It is the means by which we know the God of Jesus, as our Father in Heaven; the means by which we have fellowship with Jesus, not as a person in history, but as the risen and ascended Lord.

We live in a complex world. But life can be simple. Stop living according to the Flesh, and start living according to the Spirit. Whether at home, at work, or at play; whether it’s big life choices or every day existence - let’s walk in the Spirit. Let’s live by the Spirit. Let’s keep in step with the Spirit. Welcome to the Life lived in the truth of Pentecost!