Epistles of Paul 26

Well, good evening, brethren, and thank you for attending this Bible study. In previous Bible studies, we have carefully analyzed Galatians. We have seen that some people were coming into church, and they were distorting the Gospel of Christ, as we see in Galatians chapter 1 verse 7, to a different Gospel, as we see that also in verse 6. But it was something that could be understood as being a subtle change, but it was significant, and that subtlety led to Paul saying it was not another, but it was different. And this distortion was related to justification, and particularly, as far as the Gentiles were concerned, circumcision.

We are not justified by obeying any law. It's important for us to understand this point. What do I mean by that? Let's give an example that we break a law of traffic, a traffic law, and for some reason it is a strong violation, and we end up in jail.

We are not made right with that law by just going and saying, well, but I have not broken it again. I'm now obeying all the traffic laws. You see, just because we obey a law does not pay the fine.

And once we pay the fine, we are not, quote unquote, now at liberty to keep breaking the law. Otherwise, we have a notifying. So it's like the analogy that when somebody's in jail, and the penalty has been paid, he's out of jail, but now once he's out of bondage, out of jail, he does not have the right to break the law again. Otherwise, he gets an notifying, and he gets back in jail. And it's the same thing with God's eternal law. God's law, as we read in Romans chapter 3, verse 20. Let's look at that. Romans chapter 3, verse 20, right towards the end of this verse, says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law tells us what is sin. And so, yeah, in the context, we see that it's talking about God's eternal spiritual law of love. When we sin, when we break God's law, we read in Romans 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death. So, the penalty for breaking God's eternal law of love is death. Now, how can we pay that penalty by dying? But once we did, we did. It's the end of the road. And it would be eternal death, but for Christ, because of his sinless life, he died for us, he paid the penalty for us. Therefore, we can live again.

That, therefore, as we understand, the first death is now temporary, because he died and was resurrected. So, he paid, and therefore, he lives again, and therefore, he bought us back or redeemed us from death. You know, it was the penalty he's paid freely. We've done nothing to deserve it. He's paid for us. And so, when we read it, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, he says, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. So, he, therefore, is the first that is resurrected of those that have fallen asleep. And then we read in verse 21 and 22, For since by man came death, by man, that's Jesus Christ, also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. All die. All shall be made alive. Christ paid the penalty of death for every human being.

But back to the story of the example of breaking a traffic law and going to jail. Once you freed, once the penalty has been paid, that does not give you or anybody that was in jail the right to continue breaking the law. So, once we are out of jail, we now got to obey that traffic law, otherwise we go back and get another fine. Likewise, we've got spiritual law. We must now obey God's spiritual eternal law of love, because Christ justifies us, frees us from staying dead, he bought us back from life, and but now he's not going to do that a second time. And so, yes, he freed us freely, but now we must not continue living that way. There must be a change, a change, repentance, a new man, a new creation.

So, Christ, he's who justifies us. So, what was the ceremonial law for? Well, the ceremonial law was to show the Israelites that we need a sacred that we need a sacrifice. And by extension, what was circumcision for? Well, we know circumcision was a sign of the covenant with Abraham, but circumcision, spiritual circumcision, by extension, is that we need to be a new person, a new creation. And so, going back to Galatians, and when we read in Galatians chapter 3 verse 24, it says, therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ. What law is that talking about? Because what law brought us to Christ?

By the context, we know there was the law, there was a tutor was teaching, was pointing to Christ's sacrifice. So, that is the ceremonial law. To teach us that we need to be redeemed, we need to be rescued by a sacrificial passover lamb, pass over our sins for Christ to pass over our sins. And therefore, it required blood, required the giving of life, because the life is in the blood. And therefore, we see, therefore, in Galatians chapter 3 verse 19, within the same context, it says, what purpose does the law serve? So, we can see that is the ceremonial law, because it was added, or it was added because of transgressions, you know, it was breaking the spiritual law, to the seed which is Christ should come, because that law was a tutor pointing to Christ. And so, it pointed that Christ would be the one that paid for the penalty of our sins, not a physical lamb, or a goat, or a bull, but it was Christ's sacrifice that paid for our sins. But all this is part of God's plan. You see, we free moral agents by design, by God's plan, because God wants us to be His children in His kingdom, and as His children, to have characteristics like God, able to make decisions like God, He had to give us free moral agents for us to agency, for us to make and learn to make the right decisions. And so, we need to be able to decide freely, and ultimately, ultimately desire only to live and practice God's law of love, because that's part of His plan. And because it is part of His plan, He promised, He committed that that's what it's going to be, that He wants us there. But for us to be there, because we are free moral agents, and because sooner or later we sin, and then we die, and then we die, the only way that it could bring us back to life, quote unquote, was to buy us back from death. And that's what Christ did. He died and resurrected for us. And so in Galatians 3 verse 21, we read, is the law then against the promises of God? You know, is the law against the promises of God? So what law? You see, we've got to read that context again. You see, so in the end, we all break law. And so the question here is, is law against God?

No, because God's law is a law of love. Law is not against the promise of God. No law is against the promise of God. But law shows us God's mind, God's purpose, and God's mind is a mind of love. And he, because of that, he wants us to become love. But because we fail and we sin, he then provided the sacrifice of Christ for us. And the ceremonial law pointed to that. And so we require, as it says, yeah, certainly not. Verse 21, for if there had been a law which could have given life, truly righteous would have been by the law. Back to the example of the traffic. If there was any law that me obeying, for instance, the law of always going correctly and never going on a red light, passing a red light, or whatever. If there was any law that would have given us pay for the penalty of sin, then surely that law would have been applicable. Because why did Christ have to die then? You see? And so it required an act of faith, an act of love. Faith which is mutual. Faith from God's side that what he was doing and what he's doing, and obviously knows that it's going to have the right outcome, and faith from Christ's side that he knew that he would be resurrected and he absolutely trusted in the Father. But it requires faith from us. We have to trust that what God has done is good enough for us. And if we are obedient, because we're trusting and we're doing what he says after we've been forgiven, he will reward us. As in Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, let's just turn to Hebrews 11 verse 6.

Hebrews 11 verse 6.

But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we trust God that he's a rewarder, and therefore we are going to obey him. We're going to diligently seek him, and we know he's going to reward us. You see, any successful relationship requires trust. Trust and love is one of those characteristics that are absolutely necessary for a good relationship. It's like trust between a husband and a wife.

The husband trusts the wife, the wife trusts the husband, and that builds or helps to have a good relationship. Obviously love is also required, but trust is an important component of that relationship, an important pillar of that relationship.

And a company in business, there is a trust between the employer and the employee. That employee is going to do certain things for the employer, and the employer is going to do certain things for the employee. A relationship between two companies or two businesses, there has to be a certain trust. How is that trust documented via a contract? And so the contract that God writes with us is a covenant. It's a contract. And so we had the old covenant, which was made, and initially the covenant with Abram was signed with circumcision, and even the Israelites, to be in that old covenant relationship, to be part of that nation, had to be circumcised physically. The new covenant, we got a contract which is a commitment in the heart and in our minds, and it's a circumcision of the heart, because we commit to put God first forever, and that is that we're committing to become a new man and a new woman, a new creation. And that's what we do when we are baptized. In Luke chapter 14, we see the story about counting the cost. So let's just look at Luke chapter 14. And in verse 25 and 26, you see the great multitudes went with him, and he turned and said to them, verse 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate, and the word hate days, miseo, which by extension means loveless, so if he does not loveless, his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Basically, we've got to put God first. That's a commitment. That's a commitment that we do a baptism. And we've got a counter cost at baptism. Are we really making that commitment? We've got the counter cost. And again, he's not just loveless, relatives, but his loveless, his own life. That's what it says there, his own life also.

And then if we read in verse 28, for which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and counter cost, whether he has enough to finish it? We're going to consider this carefully before we make that commitment, before we sign that contract, before we are baptized. Am I going to stick to it to the end? Am I really gonna carry on to the end? Or am I going to give up when things get tough? That's why it says in verse 27, whoever does not bear his cross or his stake or his burden, whoever does not carry his difficulties that he has in life, and follow me, follow Christ, cannot be my disciple. That is a commitment, in absolute trust of faith in God, because God is faithful, he does not lie. And there's a commitment to live a new life, regardless of the difficulty, the cross, the stake, the pressures that we're going to have in life. We gotta stick to it through thick and thin till the end. It's a commitment that we will work on ourselves to be a new creation throughout the rest of our physical lives. And so that's why in Galatians chapter 4, when it's talking yeah, in Galatians chapter 4, later in verse 21 through 31, it talks about this allegory or symbolism of a covenant. And a covenant, as we see between verse 22 to 25, between a bond woman, which was a God, which had a child of the flesh called Ismael, of the flesh, meaning that there was no need of a promise because it was purely a physical interaction and there was no difficulties in childbirth or anything like that. So it was that bond woman, Agar, which is symbolized Sinai or Jerusalem as it was then, Jerusalem now. And then there was the other woman, which is the free woman. It was the one that was bound to Abraham, which is Sarah, which symbolizes Jerusalem from above, or the New Testament Church. And it was beyond childbearing age, so she could not be children anymore. But she did have Isaac because it was promised for her to have a child, for Abram and Sarah to have a child. And so it was a promise. So yeah, we have this analogy of two covenants, an old covenant, symbolized by the bond woman, physical, and there is a new covenant, symbolized by Sarah, Jerusalem from above, and it yielded fruit, hair, and inheritance by a promise. And so the analogy then, Paul then goes on to explain, is the old covenant ties into a circumcision of the flesh, which means we can't make it just through circumcision of the flesh. In other words, we can't have eternal life through circumcision of the flesh of the old covenant. We cannot inherit the kingdom of God along with spiritual Christians. And that's what it says there in Galatians chapter 4, you know, nevertheless verse 30. Nevertheless, what does the scripture say? Cost out to bond woman and the son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be here with the son of the free woman. And that is a spiritual analogy, saying that those that are in the old covenant, they have to move to this spiritual commitment of the new covenant to be able to have eternal life.

In other words, if you just with physical things, you try, try, try by obeying the law, you will not pay for previous sins of the law by obeying the law. In other words, you cannot be justified by, by law, by ceremonial law, or any law, or being circumcised. On the other side, those on the new covenant that are trusting and having faith that and therefore they justified by the promise, by the faith, by the action, by the grace, of Jesus Christ, what he did for us.

And once we justified, we made right with God, we then strive to live the way in absolute trust, that is the circumcision of the heart. Then, because of the promise from God, not because we are great people, but because of the promise from God, we are free from the penalty of death. God frees us from the penalty of death, by Christ's death, freely justified by this action of faith that God did, and us believing in that action. We have to trust in that. And therefore, then, when we read now in Galatians 5, verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The liberty that we have from the death sentence that Christ freed us, liberated us from that death sentence, freely gratis. So what he's saying is, don't try to get justified by works of flesh, any works, any self-righteous deeds, any obedience does not pay the fine.

We are made right with God, in other words, we are justified because he made us right. He died for us. And so in Romans 3, if we go back to Romans chapter 3, and we're going to read now, starting in verse 21, Romans 3 verse 21, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law.

In other words, you and I are made right by God by what is done for us. It's not because we have obeyed any law, whatever law. The righteous of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Christ was revealed, and Christ was witnessed by the law and the prophets. In other words, the prophets prophesied that Christ would come. The law, in a sense, pointed to Christ, because the law in the law, for instance, in the Torah, we see, for instance, the Passover, which pointed to the possible lamb, which is Christ.

We see sacrifices in the law, which pointed to Christ. So Christ was witnessed by the law and the prophets. And continue reading in verse 22, even the righteousness of God through faith of Christ some Bibles, a number of Bibles, or most Bibles, say faith in Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. So the righteousness is of God because of his faith. Not because I have a lot of faith that are made righteous. It's because there is an act of faith from God's side, from Christ's side, and we likewise, we have to believe in him.

So the two go hand in hand. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace. We are justified freely by his grace. That is through his faith, through the action that he's done, that he died for us, that he gave his life. And through that he bought us back, in other words, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation, in other words, as an act of mercy towards us by Christ's blood.

Through faith, through the faith that God has, that this act, number one, Christ believed that the Father would resurrect him. Obviously, that relationship is based on love and trust, but also we have to believe that that is good enough for us. And that's why it says to demonstrate his righteousness because of his forbearance, God has passed over the sins that were previously committed.

God has forgiven us. We have done nothing. At that time we didn't even have faith. And this demonstrates at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of one who has faith in Jesus. Now we are idiots. It is in Jesus. We have to believe, we have to trust, that this act is good enough for us. So he justifies us, but now we have to have faith. We have to believe in him.

So it's a mutual relationship of trust. So continue then in verse 31. Do we then avoid the law through faith? In other words, do we avoid the law through faith? No. We establish God's law.

How come? Because the law has not done away. You see, if the law had been done away, we would not require Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Well, the law just erased, so we, our sins are forgiven. No, but the law stands. And because the law stands, the penalty has to be paid.

So do we avoid the law because of what Christ did for us? No. The law stands. We establish the law. The law stands. And then, therefore, back to that example of the traffic transgression, once a fine is paid, that does not prove that the law is done away.

But on the other side, once the fine or the penalty is paid, we have to now obey that law. So the law is not done away. The mere fact that we have to pay a fine and that God, through Christ, paid the penalty for us, it means that the law is not done away, that the law is sound and established. So continuing now in Galatians chapter 5, we read verse 1, and it says, and it says, do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. You see, if we trust in the ceremonial law, or in this case, in circumcision, we are getting entangled back into this need that we've got to pay for it ourselves. And we can't. We can't. There's no way you and I can pay for our lives and live again. And that's why then it says, indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. So if physical obedience, in other words, obeying physically, for instance, the circumcision would pay the penalty of the law, if physical circumcision is how the penalty of the law is paid, if that is the end all, then Jesus Christ sacrifices useless to you, because physical circumcision would pay for it. So Christ would profit nothing. Verse 3, and I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. If you as a Gentile, if you as a Gentile become circumcised, right, because you went circumcised as a Gentile, but if you're a Gentile become circumcised, if you become circumcised, if your hope to be saved is by physical circumcision, then you better obey the whole law, the whole ceremonial law. So if our hope to be saved is by obeying the law, if forgiveness of sin is because we obey the law, then we better obey the whole law perfectly and always. But because the law does not pay for breaking the law. Therefore, seeing that the law does not pay for breaking the law, and if we are standing by the law, then we better never break the law. But we all have sinned.

See, so you have become therefore estranged from Christ if you believe that you need circumcision to pay for your sins, right, or the ceremonial law. You have become estranged from Christ. You attempt to be justified by law. See, it doesn't say by the law, it just says by law. It was you attempting to be paid a penalty by obeying a law, whatever law, because obeying law does not pay the fine. So and then he says, you have fallen from grace. Then you're not accepting Jesus Christ's free will sacrifice or offering, because you're trying to pay for your sins with the law of circumcision, which is impossible, which doesn't pay for our sins. And so it is important to understand the big picture, because indeed, indeed, if you don't understand and you don't have this whole picture, it's very easy for one to get confused. And that's why I spent quite a bit of time reviewing this principle so that it becomes it becomes very clear to us that you and I cannot be made right by obeying a law. We are made right by paying the fine, and the fine against breaking God's law is death. And you and I, once we're dead, we're dead. We can't live again. That's why we need Christ to pay for us, to forgive us, and to be resurrected, so you and I can live again. So what is the reason of the law, of God's eternal law? First, God's eternal law, God's Ten Commandments and his law of love, it demonstrates to us the standard that God expects from us. In other words, the mind of God, the attitude of God, the spirit of God. This is what we have to be if we want to be like Jesus Christ.

In other words, that is the circumcision of the heart. That is, we've got to become a new man. And the circumcision of the heart is change our mind and our hearts. And for that, we need God's Holy Spirit, God's help. Another thing that the law does, it shows us what is sin. And therefore, when we break the law, it is, in a sense, it condemns us. It's our executioner. If we break it, so once again, let's just look at Romans 7 verse 12. Romans 7 verse 12.

In Romans 7 verse 12, we see, therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good. In our word, God's spiritual law, God's 10 commandments. Again, we've got to read it in context and see what he's referring to. The law he is talking about in this specific verse is talking about God's spiritual law, God's standard, God's mind. And this principle of God, his law, his 10 commandments, is God's standard. It's what God wants us to be.

But it's also, he tells us what sin is, and the wages of sin is death. So continue now in Galatians 5 verse 4, and the latter part, it says, you have fallen from grace if you attempt to be justified by law. In other words, those people, they were influencing the Galatians, saying that they needed to be circumcised because justification was through obedience to those ceremonies, or one of which was circumcision. It was they saying that the Gentiles had to be circumcised, but effectively, they were deciding by themselves, or to themselves, that justification was not a free gift of grace, by what Christ had done for us. And so they were saying, it says here in verse 4, at the end of verse 4, you have fallen from grace. You are now more justified by grace, because now you want to be justified by physical circumcision.

In verse 5, for we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the help of righteousness by faith. We are made righteous freely by faith. It is a mutual, faithful relationship. God is faithful. We need to be learned to be faithful, and so it is an act of faith through and through, from both sides. Verse 6, for in Christ, Jesus neither, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. And so it's an act of faith working through love. Once again, it's a relationship that is built on trust and built on love. It's love and trust working together. So it's trust working through action of outgoing care. Understand that God is love, and love is defined by God's Ten Commandments. So it's like ten riverbeds, and each one defines what love is. You see, today people in the world say, oh well, this is love, well that is love, well the other is love, and they have strange definitions of what love is.

This is very prominent today in society. But God is very clear what love is. Love is don't commit adultery. Love is don't steal. Love is don't lie. So it's like ten riverbeds that define what love is, very clearly. So it's not just some emotional thing, it's actually actions that we require. Now, it is interesting when we read Yah in verse 6. It says, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything.

There are two other scriptures that start the same way, and I think it's worth it to look at them. The first one is in this same book, Galatians, but now in chapter 6 verse 15. Galatians 6, verse 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. You see, the other one said, but faith working through love.

In other words, it's us becoming a new creation. We have to change. We have to repent. We have to not sin again. Yes, we've been quote-unquote freed out of jail, bought back so that we can live again, but now we must repent. We must be a new creation, and this is faith working through love. That is an act of faith working through love. It's a very powerful statement there. The other situation where it talks starts the same way. It's in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 19. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 19. And here we see circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

But keeping the commandments of God is what matters. You see, we have here a golden thread. Just call it a golden thread that runs through the Bible, no matter in whatever time that we lived, whatever era, wherever, where, wherever, where we live, there's a golden thread, and that's golden thread is God's spiritual law of love, which is eternal.

Now, other parts of law are temporary, like the ceremonial law or physical circumcision, those are temporary, but here's that golden thread of that spiritual law that is never broken. And the intent, the final outcome of that, is for us to become a new creation. That's when God's early Spirit writes His laws in our minds, in our hearts, as we read in Hebrews 8 verse 10. That is the new covenant, which is basically He's putting God's mind in us. We're becoming like God. We start thinking like God, and so the important is for us to be a new creation. That, in a sense, is the crux of the matter. You see, justification by what Christ did for us and what God did for us by giving us His Son, in faith that this act would yield, this ultimate act of sacrifice, would yield in us the desire to be completely repentant and change. We, on the other side, have to believe and trust God that what He says is sure. Oh, we know we have to carry our cross. We have to carry our challenges. We have our trials. But we have to trust God, as we read in Romans 8, that the sufferings of this world are nothing to be compared with the glory to be revealed in us.

Therefore, we can't continue being the man that we were. We have to be a new man and a new woman, a new creation. But our past sins are not forgiven because of what we obeyed. No, we are forgiven freely by Christ's sacrifice. But now we have to live a godly life. And so, continuing now in Galatians chapter 5 verse 7, you ran well. In other words, you started well, you were doing good, and now suddenly you thinking, or some of you are thinking, that you're going to be circumcised to be justified. And that's why Paul said earlier on, he says, I'm afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. That's in Galatians chapter 4 verse 11. And he says, have I been working in vain? And then he says, you ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Because the truth is that you are forgiven freely by Christ. You don't need, as a Gentile, you don't need to be circumcised. So who has pulled you away? Who has tricked you? You know, I know it's all inspired by Satan, but there were human beings, yeah, being pawns of Satan. So verse 8 says, this persuasion does not come from him who calls you. This persuasion, this convincing, trying to convince, trying to sell to you the idea that you are justified by physical circumcision, does not come from God who calls you. So continue our reading in verse 9. And little 11 leavens the whole lump. Now, as we have completed the verse of 11 bread, that is very significant. And basically what it says is a little bit of spiritual leaven, this little bit of deception, this deviation from truth, number one is leaven. But it's going to spread and it's going to affect everybody. We got to stop it. And so he says, verse 10, I have confidence in you. I trust in you. I trust you. I trust in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind. In other words, that you will not be deceived on this issue, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. He was trying to take you away from this principle that we are justified freely by Christ. He will bear his judgment. Paul is very strong on this point.

In verse 11, and I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? You see, those that preach these ideas of physical justification, like circumcision, they are not persecuted, but we are. So if I am preaching that justification is by circumcision, why am I suffering persecution?

Then he says, then the offense of the cross has ceased. You see, then if we preached that Gentiles needed physical circumcision to be made right with God, in other words, by physical circumcision, then we would not need to preach Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Then we would not need to preach the offense of the cross. In other words, Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Then the offense of the cross has ceased. We wouldn't need to preach it if we were preaching physical circumcision. But I wish, verse 12, I could wish that those who troubled you would even cut themselves off The lexan English Bible says, costrate. The English standard version says, emasculate. If those that teach you that, that you need to be circumcised, I wish they'll just cut it all off. I'm kind of strong. Then verse 13. So you, brethren, I have been called to liberty. Not only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. It was, we are called to liberty, to the freedom of being freed from death. And we called for complete forgiveness of sin. By God's grace. That is a blessing. We have been, we have this liberty. Our sins are forgiven. Graciously, gratis. But then he says, do not use this liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. But do not use this as an opportunity to go back and sin. Don't use it as an excuse. Oh well, because Christ is forgiving us, I just can't go on living in sin. No, no, because I explain very clearly. When you get out of jail, the penalty, the fine fall, going into jail has been paid. Now you're not at liberty to continue breaking the law. You've got to now not use this liberty as an excuse to continue breaking the law. So do not go back to sinning. Verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. God's law, God's mind, is you love others as you love yourself. God's eternal law is love, is outgoing concern. But if you are in continuous arguments, if you are fighting with pride, with ill will, with unkindness in these religious disputes, then you're really not being a new creation. Be careful. That's what it says. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. And in verse 16 and 17, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Let your mind, your life, your thinking, your actions, your words, be according to God's Spirit. And he's going to talk to us a little later, starting in verse 22, about the fruit of God's Spirit. So walk in the Spirit. Walk in. Live that way. In other words, be a new creation. So that's what he says here in verse 16. I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You shall not fulfill the works of the flesh. So for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. In other words, the two order to war against one another, which explains, for instance, Romans 7, so that you do not do the things that you wish. So really, it's a very quick summary of the last few verses of Romans 7. But if you are led by the Spirit, if you are guided by God's Holy Spirit, you are not under the penalty of the law. Why? Because you are obeying God and you're striving to obey God. So you're not under that penalty of that law. And so, brethren, next week we will talk a little bit more about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. And hopefully next week we'll complete Galatians. And then, after that, we'll move on to Corinthians. Have a good evening!