A More Perfect You

Mike closes out the series with a closer look at the spiritual fruit created in the believer as he continues to walk in the Spirit. I would like to complete our study by reviewing some of the concepts Paul has developed in the fifth chapter of Galatians, and then finish with his summary description of the life lived by walking in the Spirit. Review Paul is defending against false teachers who are threatening the spiritual stability of this church. They…

In the last few chapters I have emphasized the fact that Paul used the device of contrast in highlighting the difference between one who walked in the flesh and one who walked by the Spirit. Paul was doing this in order to respond to teachers who insisted that maintaining one’s perfection before God required adherence to man-made religious rules and prohibitions. He taught them that to remain perfect before God they had to walk in the Spirit, not keep man-made…

In this first of a two-part lesson, Mike describes the way that spiritual life and character are actually produced in the life of every disciple great and small. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul is dealing with false teachers who are perverting the gospel. They were trying to teach that in order to maintain one’s perfect status with God, it was necessary to submit to a mix of rules and rituals that they imposed, the main one being circumcision.…

In this lesson, Mike examines the four groups of activities that Paul describes and condemns as those that will lead a Christian away from the kingdom of God. We are reviewing the passage in Galatians 5:16-18 where Paul is refuting and rebuking false teachers who are disturbing the church with their teachings. Basically, they were promoting the idea that in order to maintain one’s Conditional perfection before God, a person had to adhere to a combination of rules and rituals…

In this lesson, Mike explains the reasons why the pursuit of Actual Perfection is not another form of “Law keeping.” The “more perfect you” mentioned in the title of this book is a reference to the Actual perfection Christians diligently seek through the Holy Spirit. In other words, the (conditionally) perfect ones are seeking more perfection (Actual perfection) by living according to the influence (fruit) of the Holy Spirit. In this way the perfect (saved) seek perfection (spiritual maturity). The…

Mike examines the words and ideas that Paul lays before us in Galatians 5 as he describes the actual perfection Christians can achieve through the power of the Holy Spirit. So far in our study I have explained the ideas of conditional and actual perfection and how these relate to each other. Very briefly then: Conditional perfection is that state of being righteous or justified before God that we receive through faith in Christ (expressed in repentance and baptism). We…

In this lesson, we look at how the Holy Spirit works in creating these states of conditional and actual perfection. So far in our study we have examined two concepts of perfection and how they are related to each other: Conditional Perfection Conditional perfection is referred to as justification, salvation, righteousness or holiness to name just a few ways this idea is expressed in the Bible. This state of perfection is given to us by God based on our faith…

For believers, becoming more perfect in Christ is the essence of life. Of course, this only makes sense if you understand that there are two aspects of perfection in the Christian’s understanding. Conditional Perfection My term for this is the perfect state one enters into when obeying the gospel (obeying the gospel = believe and confess that Christ is the Son of God, repent, baptism). The Bible refers to this (conditional perfection) in various ways throughout the New Testament: Saved…

There is something wrong with the title of this series, can you spot it? Here it is: You cannot have a ‘more’ perfect something or someone. You are perfect or you are not. Once something is perfect (without blemish or error) you cannot improve on it. This title, by the way, comes from the book “God’s Way to a More Perfect You: Living by the Fruit of the Spirit” by Leroy Lawson. The point that Lawson makes at the beginning of…