The Glad Tidings

by E. J. Waggoner

The Spirit and the Law.

“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14. The flesh and the Spirit are in opposition; but against the fruits of the Spirit there is no law. Gal. 5:22, 23. Therefore the law is against the works of the flesh. The carnal mind is “not subject to the law of God.” So those who are in the flesh can not please God, but are “under the law.” This is another clear proof of the fact that to be “under the law” is to be a transgressor of it. “The law is spiritual;” therefore all who are led by the Spirit are in full harmony with the law, and so they are not under it.

Here again we see that the controversy was not whether or not the law should be kept; that never at that time came into the mind of anybody professing godliness. But the question was concerning how it could be fulfilled. The Galatians were being led astray by the flattering teaching that they themselves had power to do it, while the heaven-sent apostle strenuously maintained that only through the Spirit could it be kept. This he showed from the Scriptures, from the history of Abraham, and from the experience of the Galatians themselves. They began in the Spirit, and as long as they continued in the Spirit, they ran well; but when they substituted themselves for the Spirit, immediately the works began to manifest themselves, which were wholly contrary to the law. The Holy Spirit is the life of God; God is love; love is the fulfilling of the law; the law is spiritual. Therefore whoever would be spiritual must submit to the righteousness of God, which is witnessed to by the law, but is gained only through the faith of Jesus Christ. Whoever is led by the Spirit must keep the law, not as a condition of receiving the Spirit, but as the necessary result.

We often find people who profess to be so spiritual, so wholly led by the Spirit, that they do not need to keep the law. They admit that they do not keep the law, but say that it is the Spirit that leads them to do as they do, and that, therefore, it can not be sin, even though opposed to the law. Such persons make the terrible mistake of substituting their own carnal mind for the mind of the Spirit. They have confounded the flesh with the Spirit, and have thus put themselves in the place of God. That is the very worst kind of popery. To speak against the law of God, is to speak against the Spirit. They are terribly blinded, and should pray, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”

The Fruit of the Spirit.

The first-fruit of the Spirit is love, and “love is the fulfilling of the law.” Joy and peace come next, for, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1, 11. Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:38), or, as stated in another place, “with the oil of gladness” (Heb. 1:9). The service of God is a joyful service. The kingdom of God is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 14:17. He who is not glad, not occasionally merely, but all the time,—glad in adversity as well as in prosperity,—does not yet know the Lord as he should. The words of Christ lead to fulness of joy. John 15:11.

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, must come forth spontaneously from the heart of the true follower of Christ. They can not be forced. But they do not dwell naturally in us. It is natural for us to be angry and exasperated, instead of gentle and long-suffering, when opposed. Note the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. The first come naturally; therefore, in order for the good fruit to be borne, we must be made completely over into new creatures. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good.” Luke 6:45. Goodness comes not from any man, but from the Spirit of Christ continually dwelling in him.

Christ’s by Crucifixion.

“They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts.” It is by death that we become joined to Christ. As many as are baptized into Christ, have put on Christ (Gal. 5:27), and as many as have been baptized into Christ, have been baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). “Our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Rom. 6:6, 7. “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. This is the experience of every true child of God. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. He still lives in the flesh, to all outward appearance the same as other men, yet he is in the Spirit, and not in the flesh. Rom. 8:9. He lives in the flesh a life that is not of the flesh, and the flesh has no power over him, but, so far as its works are concerned, is dead. “The body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Walking in the Spirit.