10-16-23-ENG.

"Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"

Galatians 3:3 
WANT TO, NOT HAVE TO

Read It: Galatians 5:18
Today's text is one of those powerful statements of Scripture you need to meditate on and enjoy for a few minutes. So that's exactly what we're going to do today. Think about it: In the Holy Spirit, you are free from the law. Now that does not mean that law is no good. Because of all the abuses of justice today, law has gotten a bad rap. But law is good and necessary, because people are rebellious and lawless by nature. The flesh has to be restrained. See, law isn't made for the law-abiding. If you're going the speed limit, that police officer on the side of the road isn't going to pull you over, congratulate gratulate you, and write you a thank-you ticket. He doesn't have time for that. His concern is the guy behind you who's doing seventy-five in a fifty-five-mile-an-hour five-mile-an-hour zone. His radar does not reward. It condemns, because that's what law does. So if you are trying to live your Christian life and achieve spiritual victory-by tory-by keeping a set of rules, you are going to feel condemned. If you are trying to find spiritual power in a list of do's and don'ts, you are going to be sorely disappointed. The law has no power to help you obey. All it does is give you the boundaries and the penalties for overstepping stepping those boundaries. You're on your own after that. But if you ever let the Holy Spirit take over in your life, He will free you from the law He will give you the power to produce spiritual fruit and please God because you want to, not because you're afraid God will point His radar at you and pull you over. It saddens me to see how many believers treat the Christian life like a life sentence. What an unspiritual, unfruitful way to live. The Christian life is designed to be a joy, not a load. Paul asked the Galatians, "Having been supernaturally introduced to the Christian family by the power of the Spirit, are you now trying to be victorious by the power of your condemned humanity?" That's foolish, he says. Are you trying that same mess today? It's still foolish. Think About It You may have burdens, but your life is not to be a burden. Do you see the difference?