 photo by Laura Evans The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Luke 4:18 ESV Dear ICB family, Luke records that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism (3:22). Then Luke 4:1 says that Jesus, "full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil." The Spirit appears twice in one verse. That must be important. After his temptation in the wilderness, "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…. And he taught in their synagogues" (Luke 4:14–15). And then, when Jesus comes to his hometown and opens the scroll of Isaiah to announce his agenda, literally the first words out of his mouth are "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (Luke 4:18). Jesus was full of the Spirit, was led by the Spirit, and worked in the power of the Spirit, and when it came time to declare publicly what he was up to, the very first thing he acknowledged was that the Spirit was upon him, anointing him to carry out his work. Let's see now. Being full of the Spirit. Being led by the Spirit. Working in the power of the Spirit. Having the Spirit upon you. Sound familiar? Just a few weeks ago Pastor Neil called our attention to Paul's various statements about the Spirit in Galatians 5. There Paul says we are to walk with the Spirit (v. 16), be led by the Spirit (v. 18), bear the fruit of the Spirit (v. 22), live in the Spirit (v. 22), and march in step with the Spirit (v. 25). Jesus walked his entire life in step with the same Spirit with whom Paul calls us to walk today. It should come as no surprise, then, to find that that is exactly what Jesus himself did. Once the Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism, it was that Spirit who anointed (and empowered and led) Jesus to carry out the mission that the Father had entrusted to him. And this is the very same Spirit who leads, walks with, anoints, and empowers us. The fruit that grew in the life of Jesus was produced by the same Spirit tending the soil of our hearts. Jesus walked his entire life in step with the same Spirit with whom Paul calls us to walk today. It won't be easy. Walk in step with the Spirit and you're liable to find yourself alone in a desert subjected to intense Satanic attack. Or you might find yourself saying things that make people in your hometown want to throw you off a cliff. But if the Spirit is upon you and has anointed you? If it's his power by which you work? If it's the Spirit who fills you and leads you? The presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is our great privilege as New Testament saints. And he is as real in our lives as he was in Jesus' life. So following Jesus, our example, let's be led by the Spirit, let's be filled by the Spirit, and let's allow him to anoint and empower us to do the work that he has called us to do. Longing for more of God's Spirit, Eric
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Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:14-30Jesus inaugurated his public ministry with a sermon preached from Isaiah 61:1-2. In it he proclaimed that the Spirit of God had anointed him to bring good news to the bankrupt, freedom for those in bondage, light and sight to the blind, and healing for the broken-hearted.
Why, then, did the citizens of his hometown get so angry that they wanted to throw him off a cliff? In short, Jesus told them (just as Isaiah had centuries ago) that this good news, freedom, light, sight, and healing was coming not only for Jews but also for the Gentiles, including the Romans by whom the Jews had been oppressed for the previous 90 years. Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
 photo by Laura Evans It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised. Galatians 6:12 ESV Dear ICB family, By my count, at least five times in the book of Galatians Paul highlights the fact that the false teachers were people pleasers. In 1:10, responding to those who were teaching another gospel, Paul asks, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." In 2:4–14 he describes how, when Paul finally came to Jerusalem and met James, Peter, and John, the pillars of the church (today we might call such people the movers and the shakers), far from placing them on a pedestal, he ended up challenging Peter to his face. His example stands in stark contrast with the behavior of the false teachers, who never would have done anything to offend such important people. In 4:17 he tells the Galatians that the false teachers "make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them." Apparently they buttered the Galatians up so that the Galatians would return them the favor. In 5:11, in contrast with the false teachers, Paul speaks of the persecution and offense that he's endured. All he had to do to escape persecution and offense and get back on the false teachers' good side was to preach their version of the gospel, the very thing he wouldn't do. And finally, in 6:12–13, Paul mentions the same idea. He says that the false teachers "want to make a good showing in the flesh." In other words, they wanted to look good in front of their friends. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Beneath the religiosity of these false teachers raged their desire to please people and win their approval. They wanted people to look at them and say what faithful gospel workers they were! What great things they were doing for God! How godly they were! How holy! What great people worthy of admiration and imitation! Apparently such a desire had become ultimate for these false teachers. And just look at where it took these them. Their desire to put on a good show and win friends caused them to jettison the true gospel and begin preaching a false message that would only condemn their hearers to eternal separation from their only hope of reconciliation with God. It is a terrifying prospect. At least it should be. And not a one of us is immune to the temptation. What is a people pleaser to do? Through his example, Paul gives us at least three answers to that question. First, Paul only sought the approval of God and only sought to please God (1:10). At first glance, this may jar you. Wait, we have to seek God's approval? We have to try to please him? Doesn't that sound like works-based salvation? It's not, and here's why. Paul is not saying that his good works made him his Father's son. He wanted to please his Father because he already was his Father's son. It was no slavish, fearful desire. Only now that he had become a child of God could he please God, and because of the new heart God had given him, that was the only thing he wanted to do. Not only that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that was the very thing that he was now capable of doing whereas before he had been unable. It was Paul's joy to bring a smile to his Father's face, and that smile was more important to him than the smile of any mere human being. Paul only sought the approval of God and only sought to please God. Second, Paul had a single master (1:10). He was a servant of Christ alone. No one else held his allegiance. He would let no one but Christ pass judgment on him. It was before his own master that he would stand or fall, and Paul knew that he would be upheld, for his master was able to make him stand (Romans 14:4). If your master is looking down on you and saying, "Well done," why do you need others to puff you up? It was before his own master that he would stand or fall, and Paul knew that he would be upheld, for his master was able to make him stand (Romans 14:4). Third, the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross for sinners was so immense in Paul's mind that it became the sole thing that he boasted in (6:14). To boast in something means to brag about something or to talk about it with extreme enthusiasm. It means to praise that thing in an extravagant way. It means to glory or exult or rejoice in that thing. Jesus Christ and his gift to the world as represented by his cross was so bright in Paul's mental and emotional sky that the praise of man was like a distant star competing with the full strength of the sun at noonday. The completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross for sinners was so immense in Paul's mind that it became the sole thing that he boasted in. Just think of it: God the Son, the eternal Word of God the Father, descended from the throne of heaven, became flesh, lived among us, and then demonstrated to us the depths of the Father's love for his creation by dying in perfect obedience so that humanity could be reconciled to God forever! What other thing could you possibly find to rejoice in? That you just got a record number of likes on your Instagram picture? That mere people esteem you? Be free. You've got bigger things to boast about. God has saved you. When you've grasped the love of God for you as demonstrated in the cross of Christ, the praise of people is a raindrop that hits your face when you're standing up to your chin in the ocean of God's love. You probably won't even notice. And only in so orienting your values and desires will you end up being of any good to anyone else. That alone will keep you faithful to the gospel when other people pleasers exchange truth for applause. You won't be focused on raindrops because you're swimming in the ocean. Let rain drops fall. Or not. It doesn't matter. You've got the ocean. Pushing farther out into the surf with you, Eric Isaiah 65:17-25; Galatians 6:11-18In the book of Galatians, Paul makes several major contrasts:
This last contrast is the focus of today's message from Galatians 6:11-18. Here Paul exposes what it looks like to live for the glory of God in two ways:
Then Paul contrasts those who sought glory for themselves with those who sought the glory of Christ. For them,
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
 photo by Laura Evans Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. Galatians 6:4 NIV Dear ICB family, I know what it is to look into the mirror and loathe the face peering back at me. For me it's a feeling of profound disappointment. It's distain toward who I am and how I am. It's disgust at what I see in myself. Then I start reading the Bible. "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh" (Romans 7:18 ESV) rings in my ears. Then Paul cries out, "Oh, wretched man that I am!" (Romans 7:24). Jesus says, "Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25). Paul counts "all things" as "rubbish," surely including himself (Philippians 3:8). So the Bible teaches me to hate the person I see in the mirror, then. Is that it? Words require context. Take the word fear. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). But then John writes, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). So what then? Love and wisdom are mutually exclusive? Words require context. Fear can mean "terror" as well as "joyful trembling." We're commanded to shake in our boots with glee before God but not to be afraid of him. Love casts out terror but not humble, happy reverence, and it's humble, happy reverence, not terror, that is the beginning of wisdom. Yet it's possible to denote both concepts with the same word: fear. So it is with the word pride. Galatians 6:4 says that those who have tested themselves "can take pride in themselves alone" (NIV), and Paul says to his readers in 2 Corinthians 7:4, "I have great pride in you" (ESV). Yet Isaiah 2:11 says, "The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day" (ESV). So which is it? Of course, the answer is Yes. That is possible because the same word, pride, can mean two very different ideas. The word pride is connected to the words pleasure and delight. You find pleasure and take delight in the things or people you are proud of. For example, after Paul tells the Corinthians, "I have great pride in you," he immediately says, "I am filled with all comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy." Paul was filled with a sense of joyful pleasure when the believers in Corinth came to his mind. In that way, he was proud of them. You find pleasure and take delight in the things or people you are proud of. This is the feeling God the Father himself was filled with when he looked down at Jesus at his baptism and said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). It's not unlike a father watching his son score a goal in football or cast a fishing line for the first time or get a good grade on his math final. God the Father was, in essence, saying, "That's my boy, and I am so proud of him!" And then there is a very different concept that we mean when we speak of pride. This other concept also refers to things in which we find pleasure and take delight. However, this pleasure or delight is sinister and selfish. This pleasure or delight comes at someone else's cost. It's not wrong to find delight in a job well done until part of your delight in your job well done comes from the fact that your work makes you look better than someone else. In that sense, it's not wrong to take pride in your work until that pride costs the guy working right next to you esteem in your eyes. This is, of course, what we normally mean when we talk about pride, and this evil type of pride is intimately connected to comparison with others, the very thing Galatians 6:4 says not to do (NIV). It's not wrong to find delight in a job well done until part of your delight in your job well done comes from the fact that your work makes you look better than someone else. "I take pride in myself and in my accomplishments" should mean that I find pleasure in being the person that God created me to be and in doing the things that God has created me to do, and I have no need to compare myself to others. That does not mean I write off everyone else in the world. It just means that I don't have any need to measure myself against others. Satisfaction and delight in God's good gifts to you only becomes sinful when that satisfaction begins to look around at others and starts comparing. So is it right for me to hate the person I see in the mirror? It seems so humble. Well, very simply put, it's not. God wants you to know who you are, how he's put you together, and what he's given to you, and he wants you to find satisfaction and delight in his handiwork. In that sense of the word, you should take pride in yourself. This is not self-centeredness. Such an attitude holds God, not the self, at the very center of its focus. This is not navel-gazing or self-aggrandizement. This is worship to God for what he has done in you, through you, for you, and in spite of you. God wants you to know who you are, how he's put you together, and what he's given to you, and he wants you to find satisfaction and delight in his handiwork. Yes, yes, you're a cracked pot for sure. No one's doubting that. But you're God's cracked pot, and he's put his greatest, most glorious treasure within you, what Paul calls "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). God doesn't hate his treasure-filled cracked pots. You really shouldn't either. Not even the one looking back at you in the mirror. Do you delight in the work that God has done in you? Do you find pleasure in the way that he has made you to do be, without the slightest inclination to start comparing yourself to someone else? Oh that you would! In that sense, may you take pride in yourself alone. Longing for grace to feel more proper pride, Eric Ecclesiastes 4:7-12; Galatians 5:25-6:10What does it look like to live in Spirit-filled community? Galatians 5:25-6:10 answers that question by showing us four attitudes and actions that we should have toward each other and four that we should have toward ourselves.
Four attitudes and actions towards each other
How we look at ourselves
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
Galatians 5:13-26; Isaiah 5:1-7You were called to freedom (Gal. 5:13). Our freedom is to become what we were created to be, that is, we are free to bear fruit. This fruit is not yours but the Spirit's. He produces it in you as you are
You have been set free to be fruitful! Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
 photo by Laura Evans But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV Dear ICB family, The rich loamy soil that covered the hillside made for the perfect spot for his vineyard. He knew it would take a lot of work, but he was up to the task. By the sweat of his brow he cleared the ground—boulder by boulder, rock by rock, stone by stone. He spared no expense on importing the finest grapevines and rooting them in the fertile earth. Not only a hedge but a wall as well rimmed the property, providing a place of safety in which his vines could flourish. Ready to make the hillside his permanent home, the man built a tower in the middle of his vineyard and carved out a storage place for the rich harvests he knew would come as a result of his labor. He knew it would take a lot of work, but he was up to the task. The sun rose and set. The clouds passed overhead and let down their rain. And the day came for the vineyard owner to inspect his vines. Instead of heavy laden clusters of grapes, however, the man was dismayed upon his inspection. His vines had produced grapes no better than the vines that could be found out in the wild—those abandoned to chance, left to fend for themselves, and under the care of no expert vinedresser. There was literally nothing else the vineyard owner could have done. His planning was thorough. His execution was flawless. His provision was lavish. He was left with but one option: destruction, desertion, and desolation. He set fire to the hedge and pulled down the walls around the perimeter. He abandoned his tower and vat to the elements. His expert sheers would no longer trim the vines, and his capable hoe would no longer work the soil. Thorny weeds would choke out the unfruitful vines. And if that were not enough, the vineyard owner would turn nature itself against the vineyard in which he had invested so much. From then on the clouds would skirt the once fertile hill and deposit their life-giving rain on other, fruit-bearing hills. There was literally nothing else the vineyard owner could have done. And all this because the owner of the vineyard had come looking for fruit but was left wanting. Israel was God's beloved vineyard. He had done everything for them. He had single-handedly redeemed them from slavery. He had turned a disorganized, ragtag community into a full-fledged nation with a law code that would prove to be the envy of the nations. He had entered into a sacred covenant with them that outlined how his relationship with his people was going to work. He had driven out dozens of other peoples so that his chosen people could inherit a rich land complete with already built farms and cities. The owner of the vineyard had come looking for fruit but was left wanting. And then, after all that, God stooped down and looked for the fruit that should have grown up and out of hearts that had experienced the most amazing expressions of free, unmerited grace. Instead of justice, however, he found bloodshed. Instead of righteousness, he heard the cries of the oppressed. He was left with but a single course of action. So goes the prophetic word in Isaiah 5. So that's it, then? God's people didn't produce the fruit God had freed them from slavery to produce, so he abandons them to their utter destruction? Not quite. One day, a branch would bear the fruit that the vinedresser was looking for. This shoot from the stump of Jesse was not meant to be the only one in whom the Spirit of God dwelled. One day the Spirit would be poured out in abundance over God's people (32:15). One day God would shower this same Spirit on Israel's descendants (44:3), and God's Spirit would not depart from them (59:21). Then—and only then—would they finally bear the fruit that God so longed for them to bear; then righteousness would define God's people, and the effect of righteousness would be happy, quiet peace (32:16–20). This is, of course, our story. By God's good grace, we live on this side of the coming of the very Spirit that God promised throughout the pages of the Old Testament. This is the "promised Spirit" that we receive "through faith" (Gal. 3:14). The same Spirit who descended upon Jesus, empowered him, and led him lives in us today and longs for us to walk in step with him. He is the one who produces the very fruit that God so longs to see hanging from the branches of his people, fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit is the one who produces the very fruit that God so longs to see hanging from the branches of his people. Exactly as Pastor Neil said on Sunday, God saved you and freed you from slavery to sin so that you would bear fruit. Knowing such fruit-bearing is impossible on your own, he's given you his Spirit for that very purpose. So, with the promise of the presence of God's fruit-bearing Spirit ringing in your ears, go grow the fruit you were created to bear! You don't bear fruit in order to become a branch of the vine. You bear fruit because you are a branch of the vine (John 15). As Spirit-filled believers, we are finally free to do what we were made to do. We're free to grow the fruit that our God so earnestly desires to see hanging from our branches. And when he sees his fruit, the work of his own hands, he smiles, and the vines of his vineyard are full of joy. Longing for more fruit, Eric  photo by Laura Evans I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! Galatians 5:12 ESV Dear ICB family, For four whole chapters now, Paul has gone after these troublesome distorters of the gospel of Christ (1:7), and as Pastor Neil said on Sunday, here Paul uses language that is almost hard to believe coming off the pen of a Spirit-inspired apostle. In fact, it's hard to imagine Paul using any stronger language than that of wishing emasculation upon this particular group of people who insisted that Christians return to Torah keeping as the basis of their right standing before God. It's hard to imagine Paul using any stronger language than that of wishing emasculation upon this particular group of people. There are moments to feel deep anger and even to use strong language. Your beloved spiritual children falling into a perversion of the gospel, in this case self-righteousness, is one of those times. I can only wish that that was what got my goat. Instead, I want to use strong language when I drive in Bishkek. I feel deep anger when someone slights me. If only it was my love of Christ and others and not my self-centeredness that stirred such strong emotions within me. But let's back up a moment. Am I even right to call Paul's extreme language an expression of his love for Christ and for others? Surely he was out of line here. Surely true love would soften its tone. Hasn't Paul read 1 Corinthians 13? We cannot be overly simplistic here. Psalm 97:10 says bluntly, "O you who love the LORD, hate evil!" And Paul himself wrote, "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." Remember, Jesus flipped tables and drove out with a whip those who were profaning his Father's house (John 2:13–17). One day that same Jesus will descend from heaven on a white horse, a sword will come out of his mouth with which he'll strike down the nations, and he'll rule over the world with an iron rod (Revelation 19:11–16). I'd say the relationship between love and even the strongest of actions and language is more complex than it might seem at first glance. We cannot be overly simplistic here. So how do we know when it's OK to wish that a person would go emasculate himself and when such a wish is a reflection of a sinful heart? Let's start with the observation that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). That is, anger as a starting point does not result in anyone going and carrying out righteous actions. That's true. Of course it is. Scripture says so. But what if anger is not the starting point? What if love is, and what if anger is the result of love? While anger does not produce the righteousness of God, might love produce both anger and the righteous acts that God wants his children to produce? The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). And since I mentioned 1 Corinthians 13, let's take a look there for a moment: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." There's no way Paul's wish that the false teachers would go emasculate themselves fits this definition of love, right? Well, let's see. Was Paul being impatient with either the Galatians or the false teachers themselves? It doesn't seem so. Can we say for sure that Paul was being unkind, especially if his use of such strong language was so that no one would find himself ultimately "severed from Christ" and "fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4)? No. Was Paul expressing envy of these false teachers? Not in the slightest. Was he boastful of his apostleship before them, or was his language a demonstration of arrogance? Not a chance. Just read the entire letter as a whole. Paul was most assuredly not seeking his own interests. But come on, Eric, surely this was rude. Well, the nice folks at Wikipedia define rudeness as "a display of disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette of a group or culture." Was Paul's intent disrespect, or was it instead meant to serve as a rude awakening (pun intended) for those whom he considered his dearly beloved children? I don't think so. And who can say that Paul was insisting on his own way here? In fact, Paul says that even if he himself turned up one day and started preaching that they all should get circumcised, the Galatians are to count Paul himself as accursed (1:7). In fact, this might be some of the strongest evidence. Paul was most assuredly not seeking his own interests (see 1:10; 5:11; 6:12). Was irritability or resentfulness at the root of the use of Paul's language here? I think it might better be called love. He certainly wasn't rejoicing at wrongdoing, and it's clear that Paul rejoiced in the truth that salvation is a free gift to be received by faith. He had borne so much on account of the Galatians and had even endured sickness (see 4:11, 13), and he continued to believe and hope that the Galatians would ultimately listen to him, their spiritual father (5:9). If only it was my love of Christ and others and not my self-centeredness that stirred such strong emotions within me. In short, I do believe that even language as strong as Paul's in Galatians 5:12 can be the expression of genuine love. The proof is not in the words themselves but in the heart from which those words flow, and more than a mere cursory reading of Galatians shows that Paul's heart, even as expressed in 5:12, was full of deep love for the Galatians. May we imitate such love, and may even our strongest language be an overflow of love and not of anger. Grace and peace, Eric Galatians 5:1-12; Deuteronomy 10:12-22Two applications from these passages
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
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