Scriptural Readings: I Corinthians 6:1-2, Romans 14:17-18, Galatians 5:22-26
King James Version
I Corinthians 6:1-2
v.1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
v.2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
New Living Translation
v.1 When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!
v.2 Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?
Life itself is a big question. To make a strong foundation and continue, questions must be answered to succeed. However, we have to consider a lot of things, and one of them is our differences. The secular world is entirely different from the spiritual realm which sometimes opposes each other, and this is where the trouble starts. We settle our differences without knowing which is secular and spiritual. We can compromise our differences, however, sometimes the most comfortable for us to meet halfway are making more complicated solutions, taking us more into arguments resulting in emotional imbalances.
Hatred exists and is a part of us, and sometimes this is the cause of our differences. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that we must not have hatred. The bible is clear about this. We have to live a holy life. How are we going to do this?
King James Version
Romans 14:17-18
v.17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
v.18 For he that in these things serveth Christ [is] acceptable to God, and approved of men.
New Living Translation
v.17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
v.18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.
The kingdom of God is a spiritual realm. In the spiritual world, eating and drinking are not a necessity. All things coming from His domain are good and can never be wrong. Compared to the secular world, where we always have a point of argument. We have to separate spiritual from secular.
Verse 17 shows us the two worlds. The secular world represents eating and drinking, while the spiritual world tells us what the Holy Spirit produces in us. We must be able to know the spiritual essence. As soon as we get to know what the Lord is saying, what happens next is we grow and mature spiritually. Furthermore, the secular world and its issues are unveiled and exposed when the spiritual essence comes to our spiritual senses, telling us what attitude we must be having. Verse 18 now tells us we are the servant of Jesus Christ with the attitude God Himself bestowed on us, pleasing both for Him and men living in the secular world.
King James Version
Galatians 5:22-26
v.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
v.23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
v.24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
v.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
v.26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
New Living Translation
Galatians 5:22-26
v.22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
v.23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
v.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
v.25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
v.26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Our lives are filled with questions in the secular world-embracing laws, worldly attitudes that lead us to an unending life of miseries and uncertainties, and above all, lack of faith in God. We are God’s children, a co-heir with Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, He nailed all those passions, desires of our sinful nature(the old man in us)to His cross, so that our lives must conform and fit in the spiritual realm where God’s kingdom is. We are now living in the spirit, and we must walk in the spirit. In the secular world where we are helpless, crippled, and defeated, in the spiritual world, we are powerful. The moment we walk in the spirit, God will empower us. Our lives will be transformed fitted to that what God had planned. The fruit(take note, not fruits)of the Holy Spirit will be produced in us, as promised, living a victorious life in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Alleluia!