Walking in the Flesh, Part 2

January 3, 2025

We live in a day of moralism. A day in which anyone who claims the name of Jesus is considered a Christian. As a result, Christians have lost their way in what it means to live like a Christian. We have allowed many “acceptable sins” and destructive attitudes to mark our lives. Unfortunately, these actions and attitudes reveal that we are not walking the Spirit but after our flesh. We are not living godly lives.

The problem of Christians living like unbelievers is not new. In the early church, Paul penned a letter to the churches of Galatia. In that letter, he provided a way for us to tell if we are walking the Spirit or the flesh. In short, our actions and attitudes reveal what we are following. Last week, we began looking at the list that marks those living after the flesh.

The second part of the list deals with what we worship. Those who walk after the flesh are marked by idolatry and sorcery. Immediately, most Christians would proclaim that this is not an issue for them. We don’t generally have a statue in our homes to which we sacrifice. Nor do we hold seances in our homes. Yet, when we consider these concepts, we discover that we struggle with these sins.

Idolatry is to worship anything other than God. To worship something is to assign it inordinate value. As we examine our lives and the lives of Christians around us, we discover that we all struggle with idolatry. Our hearts are idol factories that create them as fast as we can destroy them. We regularly struggle with valuing things more than God or asking things to do what only God can do.

One sure way to discover your idols is to examine your time/money, and conversations. You might also ask what makes you angry. Inevitably, we get angry when our idol gets poked. When we examine our lives through these filters, we discover that they are full of idols. Sports, money, jobs, family, politics, conspiracy theories, recognition, and acceptance quickly become idols. Unless we remain vigilant, they begin to dominate our lives.

As we consider sorcery, we might discover two ways we unintentionally struggle with this sin. First, some Christians fall prey to concepts like karma and rituals, which bring luck. We “knock on wood” and wear the lucky clothes. These seemingly innocuous actions reveal that we trust in something other than God for direction. Second, the word used here is the same word from which we get our English word pharmaceutical. Many Christians reveal how they live an addiction to items in life. Things like caffeine, over-the-counter drugs, and yes, even vitamins and oils become an addiction. These things can be used for health and God’s glory in their proper place. But they become harmful when we allow them undue weight in our lives. We must always be on guard to keep Christ first and not allow other things to become a talisman to us.