Galatians 5:16-26 English Standard Version

Keep in Step with the Spirit

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

At the end of a long list of bad behavior is a generalization, “things like these.” That means that there are sinful behaviors that are not listed. Verse 26 tells us not to become conceited which looks like this; “At least I am not like that!” We tend to ignore those “other things” that are still a hindrance in walking hand in hand with the Spirit.

Remember how it feels to walk hand in hand with someone you love. In taking hands and walking together the hands will move in rhythm with your steps. When you are not in step with the Spirit the hands will tend to move against one another. If we are being led by the Spirit, our hands, those things we do, will not resist being led.

• Romans 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

When we walk in step with the Spirit we do not tell the Spirit “Let’s do this!” He leads us, we do not get to choose where we go and what we do. When we do, we fall out of step and go our own way. That is how we got in trouble in the first place and needed to be saved from sin.

When we believe sin is fun we have forgotten what it felt like to be a slave to sin. Stay there and we will forget before too long what it feels like to walk in step with the Spirit. Love will let us do what we want, but we will feel alone once again. He didn’t let go, we did.

Daniel 7:13-14 English Standard Version

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

John 9:35-41 English Standard Version

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

I have often wondered why the ruling class despised Jesus so much and now I can see why.

The Pharisees heard Jesus declare that He is the Son of Man to whom dominion was granted in Daniel’s prophecy. His comment that He came into the world to judge the world became a threat to their power and position within Israel.

The powerful do not give up what they have without a fight. Jesus proclaimed His dominion and judged them guilty. I can only imagine what might have been their thoughts at that moment. It might have been something like “We will see about that!” If they could kill Him they believed that His claim was false because Daniel’s prophecy proclaimed that the Kingdom of the Son of Man would never be destroyed. Kill the man, kill His reign.

None are so blind as those that refuse to see.

Here we are today some 2000 years later and this same argument continues between the Son of Man and the world. People want power and prestige and refuse to submit to the dominion of the Son of Man who sits at the right hand throne of God.

Jesus told them plainly who He was, where He came from, and where He was going. It was the religious leaders of the day that denied the Son of Man was God because He was a man.

But the Son of Man is the Son of God, is God and has dominion over the world as long as it exists. So if killing Him didn’t work, try something else.

Mankind is doing a pretty good job right now trying to end His dominion by destroying the world.