DCLM Daily Manna 2024: DCLM Daily Manna 29 November 2024: The Works of the Flesh
Text: Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
KEY VERSE: Galatians 5:19,21
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness… they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
One of the simplest ways of describing and classifying a thing is by looking at its manifest characteristics. For instance, we can tell that something is a living thing if it exhibits most or all of the qualities of living things – respiration, growth, reproduction, feeding, dying, etc. When an object shows the clear distinctive of its group, there is no doubt in placing it rightly where it belongs.
In this context, Apostle Paul needed to make a clear distinction regarding those who are genuinely born again and those who are walking in the flesh. In the text, he gives an inexhaustible list of the evident characteristics of the flesh. The list leaves no one in doubt as to who is walking in the Spirit. Paul concluded that all those who show some or all of those traits will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
The list here serves two explicit purposes for us. One, it makes us to know who we are and where we stand. It is impossible to claim to be a Christian walking in the Spirit and simultaneously manifest those traits of the flesh. Anyone who professes to be a Christian but still manifests works of the flesh is living in self-delusion. Two, it helps us to verify the claims of others. While we do not set out to condemn others, we can rightly classify them within our congregations and other Christian folds, know how to relate with and help them.
True Christians do not walk in the flesh. If you still show those character traits of the flesh, you are not a genuine Christian. What you do in the church and what people think of you does not matter. What matters most is who God, through His word, says you are. But you can retrace your step and faithfully follow Christ from now on. His grace is abundant for everyone.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: You shall be known by the fruit you bear.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Hosea 1-4
Daily Manna 29 November 2024
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