DISCIPLINE UNDER THE NEW COVENANT

"But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like. I warn you , as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:18-24).

Probably the most salient reason why church folks want to be under the law is the fear of lawlessness if there is no law. But, are our people in the churches or the culture at large following the law any way? No! The reason they are not has nothing to do with the lack of10 commandment preaching. It has everything to do with bringing folks to Christ with unchanged hearts. They continue to be creatures of the culture at large first concerned with matters of the flesh rather than matters of the Spirit.

Living by the law of love seems to be too "loosy goosy" for a lot of folks; they want something with more structure. The problem is that they disregard the structure anyway. The new covenant is not with out law and structure. None of the old covenant is in force except what Jesus and the apostles brought into the new covenant. An this is the law that has always been in force, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself'"(Matthew 22:36-39). Or, as Paul stated about love for neighbor, he said, "Bear one an other's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

Living by the law of love is living by the Spirit. That is a little too subjective for a lot of folks since we can all make the claim that love had something to do with our actions. So when discipline under the new covenant has to be done--and it does even though discipline is seldom, if ever, done any more in the churches, Paul shows us what is of the flesh and what is of the Spirit. If there are personal problems or church problems, those who are mature need to ask, "Where is this problem coming from? The Spirit or the flesh?" Let those who are involved answer. After reading this text the answer should be self evident. Those who love the Lord will ask forgiveness. They may need some help with skill development, but they are teachable. Those who only have excuses and blame are unworkable. These are the ones who still live by the flesh and there is little hope for them.

Grace&Peace,
Tom