ガラテヤの信徒への手紙5:16-18
わたしが言いたいのは、こういうことです。霊の導きに従って歩みなさい。そうすれば、決して肉の欲望を満足させるようなことはありません。 （ガラテヤ5:16）
「霊の導き」とは聖霊の導きのことです。そして、「肉の欲望」とは、人間の古い自我の欲望のことです。「肉の欲望」というと、肉体の欲望のこと、つまり食欲や性欲のことだろうと思う方もおられるかもしれません。しかし、パウロがここで「肉」という言葉で表しているのは、人間が生まれながらにもっている罪に支配された古い自我のことです。そのことは、本日の箇所の後の19節から21節にかけて次のように記されていることからわかります。「肉の業は明らかです。それは、姦淫、わいせつ、好色、偶像礼拝、魔術、敵意、争い、そねみ、怒り、利己心、不和、仲間争い、ねたみ、泥酔、酒宴、その他このたぐいのものです。」
この「肉の業」のリストの最初に出てくる「姦淫、わいせつ、好色」の三つは、肉体の欲望に関わるものです。しかし、「姦淫、わいせつ、好色」は単に肉体の欲望だけでなく、心の欲望にも関わっています。そして、その後に出てくる「敵意、争い、そねみ、怒り、利己心、不和、仲間争い、ねたみ」の八つは、人間関係における争いに関することです。つまり、人間が古い自我に従って生きるならば、お互いに争って生きる結果となるということです。そして、その行き着く先は、本日の箇所の前の15節に「だが、互いにかみ合い、共食いしているのなら、互いに滅ぼされないように注意しなさい」とありますように、争った両方が傷つき、滅んでいくということです。つまり、パウロが「肉」という言葉で表しているのは、人と人の間に争いを生み出すような、人間が生まれながらにもっている罪に支配された古い自我のことなのです。
したがって、「霊の導きに従って歩みなさい」とあるように、パウロは聖霊なる神様の導きに従って生活するようにと教えます。人間のもっている理性の力によって生活するように、ということではないのです。理性はしばしば感情の力に負けてしまいます。しかし、聖霊なる神様は、ほかの人との間に争いをつくる悪い感情に打ち勝つ力を人間に与えてくださいます。16節の後半に「そうすれば、決して肉の欲望を満足させるようなことはありません」とありますように、聖霊なる神様の導きに従うならば、ほかの人との間に争いをつくる罪に支配された古い自我の欲望を満足させることはないのです。 （6月16日の説教より）
We human beings can have many conflicts in our hearts. For example, it is a common story that a friend’s spouse is unhappy at home and he or she falls in love with the spouse out of sympathy, and is torn between reason and emotion, causing conflict.
NATSUME Soseki, who wrote many masterpieces of modern Japanese literature and is known as a great writer, wrote a novel called Sorekara. The protagonist of the novel, a man called Daisuke, was distressed that his friend HIRAOKA was cold towards his wife, Michiyo, and did not give her enough money to live on. Daisuke then advised his friend HIRAOKA to take good care of Michiyo and encouraged her by giving her money. Daisuke’s father was a wealthy businessman, and Daisuke lived off his father’s support after graduating from university and not working until he was 30 years old. His father then recommended Daisuke to marry the daughter of a certain wealthy family. However, Daisuke, who has fallen in love with Michiyo, is torn between two paths: whether to go down the path of adulterous love or to choose the marriage his father recommends. From a rational point of view, he has no choice but to choose the path of marriage recommended by his father. However, Daisuke thinks that it is natural to develop his relationship with Michiyo, so he goes ahead with the path of adulterous love. And as a result, his father cuts him off from his family, and Daisuke no longer receives any support. The novel then ends with Daisuke going to look for work.
When people think about the human way of life, they ask: “Do we follow reason? Or do we follow our emotions?” And they think that if they follow reason, they are on a safe path, but if they follow their emotions, they are on a dangerous path. However, it is not the case that people always live according to reason. Many people are driven by their emotions and take the dangerous path. They may take other people’s money or have relations with other people’s wives or husbands, knowing that this is not a good thing to do, but following their emotions. Sometimes, they are so driven by their intense emotions that they kill other people. So even though we say that we must control our emotions through reason when we feel conflicted about our way of life, in reality we are often unable to do so.
In verse 16 of today’s Bible passage Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” “By the Spirit” means “by the leading of the Holy Spirit.” And by “the desires of the flesh” means “the desires of human’s old ego.” Some might think that “the desires of the flesh” refers to the desires of the body, for example, the appetites and sexual desires. But what Paul is referring to here by the word “flesh” is the old ego, the sin-driven ego that human is born with. This is evident in what follows later in today’s passage, in verses 19 through 21, when he writes as follows.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
The first three in this list of “works of the flesh” – “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” – relate to the lusts of the body. However, “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” are not just about the desires of the body, but also the desires of the heart. And the eight that follow first five, “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy relate to conflict in human relationships. In other words, if human beings live according to the old ego, they will end up living in conflict with each other. And the end result is that both sides will be hurt and destroyed, as verse 15 before today’s passage says: “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” Therefore, what Paul is describing by the word “flesh” is the old sin-driven ego that human is born with, which creates conflict between people.
Therefore, Paul tells us to live according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, as in “walk by the Spirit.” He does not mean that we are to live by the power of human reason. Reason is often defeated by the power of the emotions. However, the Holy Spirit gives human beings the power to overcome the evil emotions that create conflict with others, as the second half of verse 16 says: “And you will not gratify the desires of the flesh,” which means that if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to overcome the sinful desires that create conflict with others..
Note also that Paul is not teaching us to live by the law that God has given us. In 3:10 of this letter, Paul quotes the Deuteronomy 27:26 and writes: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” If we teach people to live by the law, we risk making those who have been freed from slavery to the law through faith in Christ, “rely on works of the law” again, and “cursed.” Therefore, Paul no longer teaches people to live by the law. He teaches us to live by the Holy Spirit.
You will remember that before we read the Ten Commandments together in worship, I always say, “We cannot observe these Commandments perfectly, however, by the help of the Holy Spirit, shall we live according to these Commandments.” I have always made it clear that we cannot observe the Ten Commandments perfectly. Please note that I have never said, “Shall we live observing these Commandments.” Rather, I am exhorting, “By the help of the Holy Spirit, shall we live according to these Commandments.” The original idea behind this exhortation is described in chapter 5:16 of this letter: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Paul then goes on to write in 5:17 as follows. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” By “the flesh” is meant, as I said earlier, the old sin-driven ego that man is born with. And “the Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is natural that “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.” What then does it mean that “these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do”? It means that there are always two forces in conflict within the Christian soul. One force is the power of the old sin-driven ego that man is born with. The other power is the power of God the Holy Spirit. Here, too, we should be careful. The battle within the Christian soul is not a battle between two parts of ourselves, such as reason and emotions. Nor does it mean that you fight against yourself and win as in the word “Kokki,” which means “winning oneself” in Japanese. Rather, it means that the power of the old sin-driven ego and the power of God the Holy Spirit fight against each other.
When the power of the old sin-driven ego and the power of God the Holy Spirit fight, who wins? Sometimes both forces may not give way to each other and there may be a stalemate. Alternatively, sometimes the forces of the old ego may temporarily prevail, and this may become one’s own will and action. A pastor who was active before the Second World War confessed in his writings that he suffered from the ego, writing that “the ego that I thought was dead began to twitch and torment me” and that “the ego is too stubborn snake to die.”
In the long run, however, the power of God the Holy Spirit overcomes the power of the old ego, and God the Holy Spirit makes it impossible to do what the old ego took for granted. Paul wrote about this when he wrote: “These are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” “The things you want to do” is what the old ego wants to do. Specifically, it includes “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies” as described in verses 19 to 21. God the Holy Spirit gradually changes us so that we cannot do these things that the old ego wants to do. This is the sanctifying, or cleansing, work of God the Holy Spirit. However, for some people, this sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit does not appear very often. Why is this? Perhaps it is because they do not believe in God the Holy Spirit and surrender themselves to his sanctifying work. We should believe in God the Holy Spirit and trust that God the Holy Spirit will fight against our old ego and win the victory and cleanse us as we walk our daily lives.
In verse 18 of today’s passage, Paul says: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” “The Spirit” is, of course, the Holy Spirit. Here Paul contrasts the leading of the Holy Spirit with being under the law. By “under the law” Paul is probably thinking of “the curse of the law.” As quoted earlier, in chapter 3:10 of this letter, Paul states that “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.” There was good reason for Paul to stress so emphatically that one is not saved, but rather cursed, if one relies on works of the law.
As I have repeatedly told you, Paul began his first missionary journey in 47 AD, when he and Barnabas preached the gospel of Christ in the region of Galatia, which is now in Turkey. That gospel was the teaching that a person is saved by believing in Christ. Churches were formed as communities of faith in Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium and Lystra. However, after Paul and Barnabas left, other evangelists entered these churches. These evangelists taught the congregations differently from Paul. They taught that Christians must not only believe in Christ, but also observe the Old Testament law. The evangelists particularly emphasised the need to undergo the ritual of circumcision, which is prescribed in the Old Testament law. In other words, they taught that “one must not only believe in Christ, but also undergo the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law, in order to attain full salvation.” And the Galatian believers were misled by that teaching and turned away from the true gospel preached by Paul. Therefore, Paul strongly teaches in this letter that one is saved by faith in Christ, not by works of the law. In particular, he makes it clear in 5:3-4 that one cannot be saved by keeping the law, as follows.
I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
Thus, Paul’s emphasis on the fact that one cannot be saved by relying on works of the law was due to a specific problem that arose in the Galatian churches. So is this a problem that happened some 2,000 years ago and is not relevant to Christians today? Or is it about the Jewish ritual of circumcision, which is not relevant to Japanese Christians, who are largely unaffected by Judaism? I think not. In Japan, Christians make up a minority of about 1 per cent of the whole population. And it is not necessarily the case that Christian doctrine is adequately taught to a person coming to faith in Christ in Japan. I myself have tried as much as possible to help this congregation learn Christian doctrine, but it is still not enough. People come to church for different reasons. The motivation for wanting to be baptised also varies from person to person. But in any case, those who are baptised in our denomination are baptised with an oath to accept “the Confession of Faith of NIPPON KIRISUTO KYOKAI.” And “the Confession of Faith of NIPPON KIRISUTO KYOKAI” says: “Whosoever believes in the work of this salvation, being elected of God, is justified in Christ, receives the unmerited forgiveness of sins, and is made a child of Cod.” Therefore, when one is baptised, one should believe in the teaching that one is saved by believing in Christ.
However, as one continues in the life of faith, there is a danger that at some point one will deviate from the right walk as a Christian. One danger is that one may become a believer who does not care what one does because one is forgiven for one’s sins as long as one believes in Christ. It goes without saying that this way of life is wrong. The other danger is that one becomes a believer who says that because one has believed in Christ and is saved, one must keep the laws taught in the Bible. Such a way of life may seem right at first glance, but in reality it becomes a way of life that one “relies on works of the law.” As a result, it is easy to become arrogant, thinking that one is keeping the law, or, conversely, to become despicable, thinking that one is not keeping the law and therefore not good enough. To avoid this, we need to change our way of thinking from “I must keep the law as the Bible teaches” to “I must live led by the Holy Spirit,” as today’s passage teaches. We should pray constantly and live our lives under the leading of God the Holy Spirit.