Our manner of life — the way in which we normally live. Several portions of Scripture provide insights into this matter. Consider Ephesians 4:17-24: “This I say therefore, and testify, in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that yet put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

After saying this, Paul specifies what it means: putting off falsehood and speaking truthfully, being angry without sinning, not giving the devil a foothold, no longer stealing, not letting any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, not grieving the Holy Spirit, getting rid of bitterness, rage, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. These are the particulars.

Two passages of Scripture are pertinent here. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal. 6:7-9). Related to this passage is the following: “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:16-21).

In our pattern of living we face the need for making a basic choice, something that nonChristians do not really face because they are only in the flesh. Scripture says that those who have not become spiritually alive cannot please God because their minds are darkened and their sensitivities dulled. Thus they are unable to respond because sin does not give them an option. On the other hand, when one becomes a Christian, he is at that point given an option. He needs to make a choice. If this were not so, the exhortations in the Bible would be meaningless. That is why there is a problem with those who claim to have arrived at the point of sinless perfection. In my judgment, the Christian, as long as he is in this scene, will need to choose between the flesh and the Spirit. As he grows in grace and knowledge, he will progressively align his life with the teachings of Scripture. But we are on dangerous ground if we equate positional sanctification with what is call practical or progressive sanctification, being set apart for God.

When we become Christians, we are redeemed. The words that Scripture uses for redemption are the same words that refer to the purchase of slaves in a slave market: taking slaves out of the market entirely, and then setting them free. Scripture repeatedly makes the point that once this happens, then it is the responsibility of the Christian increasingly to make true in actuality what is true of him positionally.

That’s the issue that faces the Christian. We are to make good in practice what we are in position, by sowing to the Spirit rather than the flesh. But there is a tough question implicit in Galatians 6. Is it possible for a Christian to have a manner of life antithetical to that which a believer’s manner of life is supposed to be? I believe that it is possible. When the Apostle Paul enumerated the works of the flesh in Galatians 5, he was indicating the possibility of even a Christian doing such things. Otherwise, what was the point of his saying to the Galatian Christians, “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of your sinful nature”? Paul also emphasized that the Spirit and the sinful nature are in conflict with each other so that we do not do what we want to do.

To do this effectively the Christian must take some decisive action.

Do you know what sometimes happens when we attempt to establish a manner of life pleasing to God? We reverse the sequence of Scripture and yield our capabilities to God before we submit ourselves to him. The results are predictable. Because we have not yielded ourselves to God, we find the yielding of our capabilities to be spasmodic or incomplete. Since our basic commitment is tentative or absent, the willingness to place our capabilities unreservedly at the disposal of the Lord is subject to the whims of the moment.

Instead, there should be the decisive subordination of ourselves to him. Then we will give our specific gifts to the Lord as a logical product of our commitment. When the Christian refuses to yield his abilities as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but instead yields himself to God and places his abilities at his disposal, then he is ready to be of constructive usefulness in the fellowship of God’s people.

Christ as the foundation refers to a group rather than to an individual. In other words, those doing the building are contributing to a body of believers rather than simply to their own personal lives.

Lonza Seadrow

Tifton