The Flesh And The Spirit of the Lord is

“For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:17-23

Have you ever considered how often our feelings can obstruct our path to following God’s daily intention for us?  I have numerous times. There are moments when we don’t feel like attending Church, joining a Bible study at a friend’s home, or even stopping by and spending time with loved ones. It’s too easy to let our emotions steer us away from honoring our commitments to God or others during our day. While not every hesitation is a blatant sin, as Paul outlines in his letter to the Galatians, we risk missing out on God’s everyday purpose for us when we allow our feelings to dictate our actions. Recognizing that anything that is not rooted in faith can ultimately lead us astray. It is crucial to trust the Lord with our participation concerning others, fully trusting that our commitment to the Lord’s plan for us can be a source of great strength and growth for us and others.

I have thought for many years that faith was my personal response to God, but faith is actually an ability that is imparted to men by God to believe in Him. I thought that if somehow I could create enough faith, I could become a mature and deeply formed Christian. But Paul makes it abundantly clear that we have died to our old self, our old nature, also known as our old man. So, it begs the question, how can a dead man have faith? The obvious answer is he can’t. We have died, and we are a new creation in Christ, and that new man or new creation reflects the glory of God. But that old man (old nature) does not want to stay dead. This is where the King James version gets it right; it uses the word “reckon” to describe how we keep the old nature buried or dead. This old word “reckon” means to conclude or presume. We are dead to sin, for sin is what corrupts us; we must conclude that we are dead to sin because of the death of our sinful nature.

Paul’s comparison of “rules, laws, and ordinances” to grace highlights a fundamental truth of our faith: grace is born from God’s love. In the early chapters of Galatians, we see Paul instructing the Church to move away from the law of Aaron and embrace faith in Jesus instead of clinging to the performance-driven laws of the Old Testament. This resonates deeply with our experience; we often find ourselves trapped in a cycle of rules and unrealistic expectations, focusing more on religious obligations than on developing a genuine relationship with Christ.

Reflecting on my personal journey, I remember how, in my early years as a believer, I thought I had to earn my love with jesus through Bible reading, prayer, and study. I struggled to finally see that trusting in the finished work of Jesus is what was the only thing that truly invited me into His freedom. I have come to understand that at the heart of the Lord’s desire for all of us is the call to place our full faith and confidence in Him through all the He completed on the cross. When we do this, He transforms us, prompting our behavior and responses to mirror His own, exhibiting the fruit of the spirit. Embracing this truth can radically shift our relationship with God and lead us into the freedom we truly seek.

I am captivated by how Paul draws a stark contrast between the actions of the flesh and the actions of the spirit. It feels like he is clearly defining the significant physical differences between the two. These negative descriptions are pulled from worldly perspectives that reveal our natural human responses. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in shaping our new paradigm and our worldview, initiating a lifelong journey that enables us to see both the world and others through His eyes. This transformation brings forth the incredible, supernatural power of God’s love for us and those around us.

The fruit of the Spirit thrives on what God has sown within us. When we genuinely encounter God’s love, a good seed takes root in our hearts. This seed flourishes with the encouragement and teachings of others who have also received it, as God nurtures the fruit in their lives.

Our Christian journey is a beautiful tapestry woven from shared hearts and a collective vision of Christ’s love, demonstrated through the lives of fellow believers in the Church. This community, the Church, is vital for connection and support, enriching each of us deeply.

It’s essential to distinguish between the organization and the organism of the Church. The Church I’m speaking of consists of individual believers with whom we interact regularly, Jesus didn’t come to save an organization; He came to save people. The organization is a means to gather and foster a community of believers. Let’s ensure we prioritize building healthy, thriving relationships among each other, and not get caught up in the politics of the institutional structures, as this is where true growth occurs.

I am not criticizing church organizations; they undeniably serve a vital purpose. However, as highlighted in Hebrews 6:1-3, it is time for us to move beyond the infancy of our faith. We must progress toward maturity in Christ, leaving behind the continuous cycle of laying the same foundations repeatedly. This cycle, known as ‘Puer Aeternus,’ or ‘eternal boy’ in Latin, is what traps us and blindsides us to growth in Christ.

We are called to deepen our relationship with Christ Jesus to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit and be transformed into faithful men and women who truly grasp and live out our identity in Him. It’s essential that we establish healthy emotional, physical, and spiritual boundaries with one another, guided by Jesus as our Captain. Our ultimate desire could be to embody the Church or ecclesia, as portrayed in the Book of Acts if we would allow it—a vibrant community of faith that actively serves God’s people as a catalyst for change rather than simply as another organization that settles for diluted mediocracy because it seems easier and reaches the masses.

Authentic change demands unwavering commitment and transparency, deeply impacting our hearts and revealing the gifts God has bestowed upon us. Our primary commitment is to God, and we fulfill this by serving our brothers and sisters in Christ. So, who are these brothers and sisters? They are everyone!

Stephen Barnett

Called To Freedom

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:13-16 NET

I have chosen not to go into the scriptures from Galatians 4:17-28 & 5:1-12 as it is further narrative about the need to distance from the Torah law and traditions opposed to abiding in the grace and freedom of Christ which has been covered extensively in previous posts.

Today I will be digging into the freedom we have in Christ and not indulging in the flesh and it’s temptation to detract us from the call of God has upon our lives. The ultimate goal of our freedom in Christ is to serve one another, not to take personal advantage and use it against other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Galatians 5:1 states “Galatians 5:1 NET “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.” Paul is emphasizing here what he has stated in our verse today, that freedom in Christ is the goal, but not a freedom to be selfish and self-serving, but a freedom to die to ourselves and our own desires that Christ may resurrect us into new life with His priorities and desires becoming ours. I believe that in some ways the statement “yoke of slavery” is a double entendre, but not in a bad way. We are always a slave to something or someone, it is just human nature. We either become a slave to sin and its effects upon our life, or we become a slave of Jesus Christ. Why would I choose this language of being a slave of Jesus Christ? The reason is quite simple, Jesus loved humanity including each and every person on this earth both past and present, those who loved him at His arrival, and even those who killed Him and put Him to death on a Roman cross. Everything was designed (all prophesy and all scripture) out of His love for all humanity.

Again, being a slave is not all bad; we all have to serve something or someone, whether it is our spouse, our employer, the government, or whatever the source of what we serve; it can be a positive experience if we put the Lord first in all things. That is what Paul called being a slave of righteousness. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death or obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.” Romans 6:15-18 NET

Paul actually thought of himself as a ‘slave to Christ’ in how he described his relationship to Jesus. “From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” Romans 1:1 NET. If we are to characterize our relationship with Jesus in ways that mirror Paul’s, we should see our relationship the same way as he did. Jesus is described in so many ways that define Him in different characteristics and attributes that correspond to our daily relationship with Him and the various maturity levels we have with Him. For example, Jesus is defined as a friend to those who need a friend, like when he comforted his disciples in times of trouble. He is described as a King for those who need a powerful conquering King, like when he overcame death and sin. He is described as a lover to those who require an intimate and passionate lover, like when he sacrificed himself for our sins, and there are many other descriptors which describe His character in ways that connect to our specific needs.

Herein is the beauty of the freedom of Christ; none of us are held to a specific revelation of His character; we are free to explore and express the full nature of Christ as He is revealed to us. It can be different for each person, but one constant is always true, He loves us completely and fully. I believe this is why Jesus stated so many times, ‘Do not fear, or be afraid’ because fear prevents us from experiencing the whole nature and character of Christ in our lives and keeps us stuck in bondage to sin and death. The enemy of our soul uses fear as a weapon to keep us from becoming the men and women of God we were destined to be by keeping us stuck in old patterns of fear and shame. This blocks us from stepping outside of our comfort zone and growing, knowing the full freedom of Christ with our fellow believers, and demonstrating the beauty of Christ and who He is in our lives. In Christ's love, we are all connected, and it is this unity that gives us strength and courage to overcome fear and shame, and to grow in faith.

It is the Holy Spirit residing in us that reveals Christ, so much so that even faith that is imparted to us causes us to believe. The ultimate stance of arrogance is to think that somehow we had a part in coming to Christ; we didn’t; we were dead in our sins. We had no good thing that resided in us that God would want, so we had to sacrifice our bodies to the proverbial flames of death. This sacrifice allowed us to become a new man, transformed and renewed, raised (or resurrected) in the righteousness of Christ. It is that new man that the Holy Spirit embodies and reveals the beauty of Christ in His fullness. This is where the freedom of Christ becomes evident.

Stephen Barnett

Where Are You Now?

“But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God, as though I were Christ Jesus himself! Where then is your sense of happiness now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me! So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Galatians 4:13-16 NET

Many Bible commentators believe that Paul's difficulty was poor vision, referencing that when he first came to them, they would have pulled out their eyes and given them to Paul. This may or may not be the case though. Scholars also agree that Paul had an amanuensis who dictated and copied his work on papyrus. The skill of the amanuensis in crafting the draft into a thought-provoking narrative concerning the topic at hand truly reflects the quality and depth of Paul's written work.

It is very common to look at Paul as someone larger than life, but that is not the case; Paul was very human with frailties like us, including health concerns that limited him at times. His physical appearance, which was not always impressive, was a testament to his humanity and humility. Even when he and Barnabas visited Galatia, his appearance did not distract from the message he was preaching. Paul did what he could to overcome the physical limitations that plagued him so that the gospel could be preached clearly and concisely so that people may see Christ as their Lord and Savior and not focus on Paul.

Paul’s mission field was unique, for his message was to the gentiles. It begs the question, why the gentiles and not to his fellow Jews? The answer comes back to Paul’s understanding of what happened in Genesis 11 when the languages were confused and all the nations were dispersed at Babel, and what God had restored in Acts 2:5-11. “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”

Paul recognized that God’s inheritance was intact through Israel, but God was doing something altogether new, He was restoring the dispersed nations back to Himself. Paul saw it as his calling to reach all of the middle east nations that had been cut off at Babel and declare the gospel of Christ to those God was entreating. Paul made it his personal mission to reach all of the known nations outside of Israel but were located in Israel’s general neighborhood to preach the gospel, with Spain being the last nation on his radar.

The Galatian Church dealt with many who were trying to bring the church back to rules, laws, and ordinances, thereby forsaking their freedom in Christ as preached by Paul. This’ freedom in Christ’ refers to the liberation from the burden of the Mosaic Law, which Paul emphasized in his message. He had a personal investment in the Galatian Churches; he wanted to see them grow in Christ and become firmly established with Jesus residing in their hearts and minds so that the mandate he was given would be fulfilled in his life. That was Paul’s ultimate purpose for serving Christ. I believe that Paul believed that Christ would return soon, and the drawing in or salvation of the Gentiles was crucial to the return of the Lord, a mission of immense significance. But Paul did not realize that the world was much larger than the Middle Eastern countries he could reach in his lifetime; it would take subsequent lifetimes, and many people inspired by God the same way as Paul to bring more of the world’s population to Christ.

Paul is pulling out all stops here in this verse and using the sympathy of the believers from his first visit, pulling at their heartstrings by reminding them of their kindness and their willingness to do whatever it took to entreat Paul. Because Paul is now bearing down upon them by calling them out because of their sin, he feels they have abandoned their faith in Christ and in him. Why? Because the truth is much more difficult to bear when it reveals you have embraced a lie. But isn’t that how the enemy works? By exchanging the truth of God for a lie? Paul is still a shining light to those who have embraced leaving Christ and are now turning back to the law, even though he knows he will lose some of his precious friends. He will save some, but his passion for bringing back as many who will hear him and believe him is unwavering.

Paul used every circumstance he was offered to preach Christ and testify of His mercy and grace. To me, that is the legacy that Paul leaves behind, not that he was a great man of God, but a driven, obedient man of God. He knew what he was called to do and what his limitations were, but he didn’t allow his limitations to speak louder than his message of Christ. He knew that God had given him a mantle of authority over the churches he planted, but he never let that authority become the driving factor of his ministry. He carried his authority lightly, but he proclaimed the message of Christ boldly.

James, the bishop at the church in Jerusalem, finally settled the argument (recorded in Acts 15:13-20) by stating that there is no longer a need to expose Gentiles to the Torah laws as a means or requirement of becoming a Christ follower, which again bolstered Paul's ministry to the Gentiles.

Stephen Barnett

How Can You Turn Back Again?

“Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You are observing religious days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain. I beg you, brothers and sisters, become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong!” Galatians 4:8-12 NET

Paul is comparing those who were enslaved to the pagan gods of this world, which were never gods to begin with. Now it is not to say that these entities did not have some power, they did! These gods were appointed by Yahweh to look after the nations until Christ came, but they rebelled and became prideful and evil in their intentions over the nations.

Step into the Divine Council Worldview, where intelligent evil has been at play since the beginning, even in the tranquil Garden of Eden. The Satan’s attempt to thwart God’s plan was not a mere act of rebellion; it was a cunning and deceptively simple yet effective plan. His strategy was to steal from God the crown jewel of His creation, mankind, and reduce them from immortal beings to mere mortals with a limited lifespan. It would take a being deeply connected to the Divine Council and the purposes of God to devise such a ruthless and diabolical plan. The plan was deceptively simple yet profound: to sow doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve and lead them to choose for themselves rather than obey God; this put them under bondage to sin. It became a battle of wills in the Divine Order, and Satan was determined to win by manipulating humanity and influencing their decision.

Paul is alluding to this power play by stating that the Galatians were enslaved by beings that were by nature not gods at all; he is not saying that they weren’t divine beings created by Yahweh, which they were; he is saying that with Deuteronomy 32 in the background of their thinking, that these are the very beings which rebelled and chose a different path than the one prescribed by God Himself. These divine beings were appointed as placeholders over the non-Jewish nations until Christ was revealed and assumed the role of King over the earth. However, these heavenly beings, now embodied with human flesh, wearied themselves with waiting for the promised King and took it upon themselves to rule over mankind, albeit cruelly and without the mercy of God.

Paul is asking why would you go back to that now that you know God, and God knows you through Jesus Christ? Do you want to be enslaved by them again? He poses the obvious question and brings a level of awareness that they may not have considered that this is a spiritual matter of first determining where their freedom comes from and why would you give that up to be controlled by anything that is Anti-Christ. Paul is also making a point that liberty in Christ needs to be maintained; it isn’t just a one-time thing, and we’re good; this is a daily walk with Jesus which requires intentionality and purposeful commitment, and a willingness to grow in our relationship so that we can fully comprehend the richness and fullness of what we have inherited in Christ.

Another point that Paul makes in the above verses is that we have an identity in Jesus Christ, which is different from what was offered through the divine beings who were our first caretakers. We are replacing these divine beings that were put over us with a new identity as 'sons and daughters of God, 'a term that signifies our intimate relationship with God; we are now part of the family of his household. Apparently, the divine beings haven’t received the memo that they are being replaced, and they are refusing to give up their positions as ‘guardians’ over mankind, but that is about to change. There is going to be a battle over who will control the nations. But the beautiful part is this epic battle over power and position is the Lord’s battle, not ours. Jesus declared war at the cross, where He conquered sin. Through His resurrection, he defeated death, which provided all of mankind the opportunity to embrace His death as their own, and baptism representing new life in Christ as our declaration of war against the principalities and powers that rule over this world, stating that we have been bought with a high price and are not held to the old ways which brought death, but to new life in Christ.

Paul offers himself as an example, saying, “Become like me.”  Christians in Paul’s day had some freedoms depending on where they were in one of the different Roman provinces. There has been some debate concerning who specifically the book was written for. There were several churches that Paul and Barnabus planted in Galatia, and there were ethnic differences between North and South Galatia, to which Paul was quite sensitive. I am not sure if it matters if the Galatian letter was sent to churches in North of South Galatia, as the letter itself proves itself as a master’s thesis on salvation by grace alone, through faith. Paul confronted the theological crisis in the churches in Galatia head-on, for he didn’t want to lose his converts, while at the same time, he tried to ground them fully in the gospel of Christ.

How does the grace of Christ appear to you in this passage of Galatians? Are you thoroughly convinced, or does his letter miss its mark of being a light in the dark?

Stephen Barnett

God Sent The Spirit Of Jesus Into Our Hearts

“Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world. But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.” Galatians 4:1-7 NET

The picture we have from Paul is that he is looking at the Jewish people who were under the law as the heirs, the guardians, and managers of the law itself until the appropriate time Christ came and set His people free from the guardians and managers so they could move into their entire inheritance. It is the same with us. Paul says that we were enslaved under the basic forces of the world, which would be laws, rules, and ordinances, not necessarily the Aaronic law. The world itself has its hold upon us even without the Aaronic law, constantly telling us we do not measure up or we have somehow failed God’s standard; it is also known as the law of sin and death. Jesus, in His triumphant act, came and fulfilled the Aaronic law and defeated the law of sin and death so we could move into our true inheritance as fully formed sons and daughters of the Father.

But there is a caveat, we do not inherit the promises of God wholesale without a death on our part; there is a sacrifice that needs to be paid for this inheritance, and that sacrifice is the death of our old natural man and its desires. It is up to us to make this sacrifice, to die to self and the promotion of our will to the flames of sacrifice. It is when we recognize that as Jesus died, we must also die from our own way and self-promotion that the spirit of Christ can live within us, promoting His agenda for our lives and for His kingdom, that we begin to partake of the treasures of God’s inheritance as we first experience His peace and joy as it takes root within us.

Notice that Paul says, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” Amazingly, Paul identifies the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God’s Son; that should dispel any doubt about who the Holy Spirit is. As the Spirit of Jesus enters our hearts (minds), He takes possession of the surrendered mind of the believer and declares that this is His home, where He lives, and the surrendered mind of the believer is now the temple in which He rules. It is interesting that the forehead to the side of the eye socket is called the temple! Christ in us calls out to the Heavenly Father from our heart (mind), declaring Abba! Father! We are captivated by the fact that the Son of God resides within us and now calls us sons, and we inherit everything that Jesus inherits, but here is the amazing part, Paul says that ‘all things’ were created by Him and for Him. (Colossians  1:16) If that is the case and we inherit the ‘all things’ that Christ has created. We need to become prepared for what is coming and be ready as sons and daughters of the King to receive a Kingdom not made with hands, and live lives totally submitted to our Lord so we can be ready for His return, a return that we should anticipate with a sense of urgency and anticipation.

Part of growing into this new relationship with Christ is to become deeply formed in this life by reflecting on our relationship with Him in all that we do. It’s not easy becoming deeply formed, but it is necessary. It is different for each person, but similarities are common, like quiet time to reflect on the Lord and listening for Him to speak; in our minds and in the written word, this is also known as silent time. Spending time in the scriptures with deliberate moments deconstructing each phrase or words so you can understand the speakers and put yourself into the headspace of the ancient near eastern hearers of the biblical times, and begin to see how the narrative speaks to you. This journey is not just beneficial; it’s necessary for our spiritual growth and development.

The purpose of the Galatian letter was to call the believers in Galatia out of superficiality by not allowing the Aaronic law to define their relationship with Jesus, but instead by fully trusting Jesus who sacrificed and paid the full price of the atonement on our behalf, so that we might be firmly established as sons and daughters of King Jesus. Jesus arose from the grave and defeated the claim that Satan had on all humanity because of Adam’s fall in Eden, Jesus is now the second Adam who completed what the first Adam could not do.

Feel the power within and listen closely. The spirit of Jesus dwells in us, calling out to the heavenly Father, "Abba, Father," claiming us as His personal friends and co-heirs with Him before His Father. This is what Paul is defining: we are all sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, because of Jesus.

Stephen Barnett

Clothe Yourselves With Christ

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:27-29 NET

The astonishing beauty of what Paul is saying is staggering. Paul is not saying that we have inherited salvation because of our lineage to Abraham, which is completely missing from the narrative. Jesus makes that point clear in Matthew 3:9: “…and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!” so genealogy is not a qualifier. But baptism is noted as the starting point; what is baptism? Historically, it was a rite of passage from one life to another; regarding Christian baptism, it is the death to self (under the water) and the rising to new life (resurrection) in Christ as a new man. Many fail to perceive that it is also a declaration of war to the existing principalities and powers of the earth.

But baptism isn’t just about water immersion; it's about believing loyalty in Jesus Christ. It's an outward act of obedience to the transformation happening in the heart. Jesus is circumcising the heart, removing the outer sheath or covering over the heart, and revealing the heart of flesh once again, as it says in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.” God takes us and tenderly removes our hard hearts to reveal the true tenderness that resides there; it is His tenderness toward ourselves and others.

True baptism is about death to the sinful nature (the old self or old man) so that Jesus may manifest (or reveal) Himself within us. He takes control of our minds, drives our thoughts and actions, and forms us into people of prayer and action. Through our active demonstration of His love, we hope that everyone we encounter may experience Jesus, our King, through us and come to know He is their King, too. This empowers us to be active agents of His love in the world.

Paul’s terminology is powerful, “…we have clothed ourselves with Christ”. We have died in the form of Jesus by ‘going under’ the water, Jesus went to the souls who had died in the underworld who were patiently waiting for the promised Messiah, and He preached the good news to them and led those held in captivity free. “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.” Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth? He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.” Ephesians 4:&-10 NET.  And Jesus rose from the grave, and by doing so defeated sin and death so that we could testify as Jesus did “I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever” “When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” Revelation 1:17-18 NET.

The phrase 'clothe yourselves in Christ' holds a precise and profound meaning. It's not a directive to ‘act like Christ’ but to envelop His very nature, much like slipping into a garment that covers your entire naked body. Christ becomes our covering, giving us meaning, purpose, and identity. We wear Christ in His entirety, obscuring our natural selves so others may see Christ in us. Our role is to obediently allow Christ to radiate through us, permeate our hearts, and continually heal and restore the parts of us that have been damaged and hurt by life's trials. Jesus recognizes our willingness to be His vessel, and when we obstruct the process of growth and change because of fear or unbelief, we hinder His work in us.

 The identity we embrace in Christ transcends mere human nature; it is not defined by our birthplace, occupation, or gender. We are sons and daughters of God, a divine calling that bestows us extraordinary benefits. We inherit the very nature of Jesus Himself and are seated with Him in heavenly places. Ephesians 2:5-6. This is not a covenant based on human terms but something far greater—God’s promises. From this perspective, we are sons of Abraham and his descendants, having received the promises just as he did.  This places the responsibility squarely upon God, not us. We have received the fullness of this gift of love in Christ Jesus, and we can boldly and freely enter into God’s presence because of the righteousness of Jesus.

This is a profoundly personal relationship we enter through death to our flesh. We are made alive through Christ, not because we loved Him, but because He first loved us and died for us to save us from ourselves and the effects that sin has upon us. His love is transformative, and through this life with Him, we may live with Him where He resides. And where does Christ reside? Within our hearts and the hearts of our fellow believers, cherishing and loving each of us as we manifest Him in His strength and power.

Stephen Barnett

Held In Custody Under The Law

“Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.” Galatians 3:23-26 NET

So, in this way, we were prisoners of both the Aaronic law and the law of sin and death, which is, in essence, the Aaronic law, for it declared sin and its penalty for disobedience. We were kept prisoners of this law of sin and death until the faithfulness of Jesus Christ was revealed. His faithfulness became the faith that we adopt as His children. If it were our faith alone, then it could be said that we somehow contributed to salvation due to our faith in Jesus, but that is not the case; we depend upon the faith of Jesus Christ to become our atonement for our sins and the penalty for that atonement which was His death to free us from God's requirement of our own penalty of death. We adopt His sacrifice as our substitution; we were dead in sin, and now we become alive as Christ becomes the life within us because of His resurrection.

I find it interesting that Paul describes the law as our guardian until Christ came;  it was much deeper than that because we were prisoners of that law without even knowing it. I believe that each of us inherently knew something was wrong with the arrangement because we could never break free from the guilt and shame and experience true freedom in God’s presence apart from Jesus. This 'true freedom' in Christ refers to the liberation from the fear of failing God and the assurance of His grace upon us. Jesus provided the means through his body, which became the substitution, our scapegoat, which was the sacrifice given in place of ours, which would have been our death. The glorious end to the means of Jesus becoming the scapegoat was the fact that his perfect body bore death on our behalf and took our penalty for sin once and for all so that His sacrifice was, in total, the requirement to satisfy God’s requirements for sin for all mankind.

Faith has now come in the man Jesus Christ, and we are empowered to believe in the Holy Spirit, who reveals Jesus to us in very personal and intimate ways. In fact, the Holy Spirit’s purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ to us and guide us: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.” John 16:13-14 NET

Paul takes the obvious track here, we are sons of God by faith. Who are the sons of God that Paul is speaking of? Jesus is the ‘unique – one and only’ Son of God as declared in John 3:16, but there are other sons of God, some of which were placed on earth as placeholders for the 70 nations disinherited at the tower of Babel. These sons of God were not part of the rebellion that started on Mount Hermon where divine beings mingled with human women to produce hybrids on the earth (Genesis 6:1-4); the sons of God I am referring to are recorded in Deuteronomy 32:7-9 ESV “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.  When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.” These sons of God were appointed as caretakers over the nations, but in their embodiment, they mishandled their position and allowed pride and the temptations of the flesh to corrupt them; it became unbearable. They rebelled against the God of heaven and sought recognition as gods over the nations for themselves rather than just shepherding the people until Christ came. They became evil, a grave sin, in their rule and stewardship of the nations. These sons of God are what Paul calls the principalities and powers over the nations.

My point in bringing this up is that we, too, are sons of God, but by faith. We will eventually displace these rebellious sons of God as rulers over the nations when the heavenly kingdom is finally brought to earth by Jesus, and we will rule and reign with Him for eternity. Until this happens we must understand that the battle for these nations is the Lord’s, not ours. Our role in this cosmic battle is to love and serve our heavenly King as priests, and love and honor each other as we would Christ for that is how Christ is made manifest in our brothers and sisters by our love. 

The Lord has already declared victory and has the battle well in hand with His heavenly warriors who fight in His service. We do not have it within us as natural men and women to fight spiritual forces with our bodies; it’s impossible. But we have a far greater weapon than we know: intercession.

Being a son of God by faith means recognizing that Jesus resides within us. As such, we can pray in the ways that Jesus prays, not out of selfish gain but out of compassion and tenderness, so that others might grow into the full knowledge of Christ and begin to be powerful for God’s Kingdom purposes.  I have often heard it proclaimed that a person is saved in Jesus Christ, but I am always left with the question, "Do they know what they are saved into?" When we are saved, we are not just granted freedom and mercy for no purpose; we are also given a new position of a son of God by faith, a position of authority and responsibility in God's Kingdom. Too often, this is not considered when sharing Jesus with others; a deep well of wisdom and understanding comes if a believer allows their life to become deeply formed in Christ Jesus and is made aware of the cosmic implications of their salvation and their position in Christ and His Kingdom.

My goal here is not to be controversial but to dive deep into our understanding of who we are and whos' we are. We must keep a firm perspective on our role as sons of God, not like the rebellious sons of God who came before us and failed because of their pride and avarice, but as those who keep their eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We trust that He will transform us into the men and women we were designed to be. With Christ firmly implanted within us, we will draw all people unto Jesus so that they may become as we are (as the scripture calls us) manifested sons of God, a part of the divine family of God.

Stephen Barnett