As we have discussed, Israel was not just called out of bondage, but into the glorious freedom of God and into a new land of promised prosperity and blessing. Likewise, we are not just called out of this world, or this present evil age, but we are called to the kingdom of God. It, too, is a place of unprecedented prosperity and blessing. However, we must fundamentally keep in mind that the Lord’s kingdom “is not of this world” (see John 18:36). It is a transcendent kingdom far above this realm. His kingdom...

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:13-14).

Before we begin to examine the fruit of the Spirit in some detail, we must understand that a foundational principle of the kingdom of God is freedom. This is a fundamental principle of what it will take to possess our Promised Land or to walk...

Now it came about when they had finished circumcising all the nation, that they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

 

Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

 

While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert

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Briefly reviewing what we have covered earlier in this study, after Paul recited the experiences of Israel in the wilderness, we read: “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (I Corinthians 10:11). This makes clear that everything which happened to Israel was a biblical model of what would happen to the congregation of God at the end of the age. The church has indeed closely followed the same pattern. Now, after centuries of wandering in the wilderness,...

The last of the works of the flesh that Paul lists in Galatians 5 is “carousing.” This is more than just joking around. The Greek word that is translated implies being loud and foolish. The carnal nature is prone to being self-centered and likes to be the center of attention. The more we let the carnal nature exert itself, the louder and more boisterous it often becomes. This is contrary to the kingdom of God because the most basic devotion of the Holy Spirit will always be to draw attention to the Son...