y continue in their sin, but repented.
Those who sin through weakness are not denied pardon as long as they
rise again and cease to sin. There is nothing worse than to continue in
sin. If they do not repent, but obstinately continue to fulfill the
desires of the flesh, it is a sure sign that they are not sincere.

No person is free from temptations. Some are tempted in one way, others
in another way. One person is more easily tempted to bitterness and
sorrow of spirit, blasphemy, distrust, and despair. Another is more
easily tempted to carnal lust, anger, envy, covetousness. But no matter
to which sins we are disposed, we are to walk in the Spirit and resist
the flesh. Those who are Christ's own crucify their flesh.

Some of the old saints labored so hard to attain perfection that they
lost the capacity to feel anything. When I was a monk I often wished I
could see a saint. I pictured him as living in the wilderness,
abstaining from meat and drink and living on roots and herbs and cold
water. This weird conception of those awesome saints I had gained out
of the books of the scholastics and church fathers. But we know now
from the Scriptures who the true saints are. Not those who live a
single life, or make a fetish of days, meats, clothes, and such things.
The true saints are those who believe that they are justified by the
death of Christ. Whenever Paul writes to the Christians here and there
he calls them the holy children and heirs of God. All who believe in
Christ, whether male or female, bond or free, are saints; not in view
of their own works, but in view of the merits of God which they
appropriate by faith. Their holiness is a gift and not their own
personal achievement.

Ministers of the Gospel, public officials, parents, children, masters,
servants, etc., are true saints when they take Christ for their wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and when they fulfill
the duties of their several vocations according to the standard of
God's Word and repress the lust and desires of the flesh by the Spirit.
Not everybody can resist temptations with equal facility. Imperfections
are bound to show up. But this does not prevent them from being holy.
Their unintentional lapses are forgiven if they pull themselves
together by faith in Christ. God forbid that we should sit in hasty
judgment on those who are weak in faith and life, as long as they love
the Word of God and make use of the supper of the Lord.

I thank God that He has permitted me to see (what as a monk I so
earnestly desired to see) not one but many saints, whole multitudes of
true saints. Not the kind of saints the papists admire, but the kind of
saints Christ wants. I am sure I am one of Christ's true saints. I am
baptized. I believe that Christ my Lord has redeemed me from all my
sins, and invested me with His own eternal righteousness and holiness.
To hide in caves and dens, to have a bony body, to wear the hair long
in the mistaken idea that such departures from normalcy will obtain
some special regard in heaven is not the holy life. A holy life is to
be baptized and to believe in Christ, and to subdue the flesh with the
Spirit.

To feel the lusts of the flesh is not without profit to us. It prevents
us from being vain and from being puffed up with the wicked opinion of
our own work-righteousness. The monks were so inflated with the opinion
of their own righteousness, they thought they had so much holiness that
they could afford to sell some of it to others, although their own
hearts convinced them of unholiness. The Christian feels the unholy
condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot
trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect
righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble.

VERSES 19, 20. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft...

Paul does not enumerate all the works of the flesh, but only certain
ones. First, he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts, as adultery,
fornication, wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only work of
the flesh, and so he counts among the works of the flesh also idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, and the like. These terms are so familiar that they
do not require lengthy explanations.

IDOLATRY

The best religion, the most fervent devotion without Christ is plain
idolatry. It has been considered a holy act when the monks in their
cells meditate upon God and His works, and in a religious frenzy kneel
down to pray and to weep for joy. Yet Paul calls it simply idolatry.
Every religion which worships God in ignorance or neglect of His Word
and will is idolatry.

They may think about God, Christ, and heavenly things, but they do it
after their own fashion and not after the Word of God. They have an
idea that their clothing, their mode of living, and their conduct are
holy and pleasing to Christ. They not only expect to pacify Christ by
the strictness of their life, but also expect to be rewarded by Him for
their good deeds. Hence their best "spiritual" thoughts are wicked
thoughts. Any worship of God, any religion without Christ is idolatry.
In Christ alone is God well pleased.

I have said before that the works of the flesh are manifest. But
idolatry puts on such a good front and acts so spiritual that the sham
of it is recognized only by true believers.

WITCHCRAFT

This sin was very common before the light of the Gospel appeared. When
I was a child there were many witches and sorcerers around who
"bewitched" cattle, and people, particularly children, and did much
harm. But now that the Gospel is here you do not hear so much about it
because the Gospel drives the devil away. Now he bewitches people in a
worse way with spiritual sorcery.

Witchcraft is a brand of idolatry. As witches used to bewitch cattle
and men, so idolaters, i.e., all the self-righteous, go around to
bewitch God and to make Him out as one who justifies men not by grace
through faith in Christ but by the works of men's own choosing. They
bewitch and deceive themselves. If they continue in their wicked
thoughts of God they will die in their idolatry.

SECTS

Under sects Paul here understands heresies. Heresies have always been
found in the church. What unity of faith can exist among all the
different monks and the different orders? None whatever. There is no
unity of spirit, no agreement of minds, but great dissension in the
papacy. There is no conformity in doctrine, faith, and life. On the
other hand, among evangelical Christians the Word, faith, religion,
sacraments, service, Christ, God, heart, and mind are common to all.
This unity is not disturbed by outward differences of station or of
occupation.

DRUNKENNESS, GLUTTONY

Paul does not say that eating and drinking are works of the flesh, but
intemperance in eating and drinking, which is a common vice nowadays,
is a work of the flesh. Those who are given to excess are to know that
they are not spiritual but carnal. Sentence is pronounced upon them
that they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Paul desires that
Christians avoid drunkenness and gluttony, that they live temperate and
sober lives, in order that the body may not grow soft and sensual.

VERSE 21. Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in
the past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.

This is a hard saying, but very necessary for those false Christians
and hypocrites who speak much about the Gospel, about faith, and the
Spirit, yet live after the flesh. But this hard sentence is directed
chiefly at the heretics who are large with their own self-importance,
that they may be frightened into taking up the fight of the Spirit
against the flesh.

VERSES 22, 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

The Apostle does not speak of the works of the Spirit as he spoke of
the works of the flesh, but he attaches to these Christian virtues a
better name. He calls them the fruits of the Spirit.

LOVE

It would have been enough to mention only the single fruit of love, for
love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit. In I Corinthians 13, Paul
attributes to love all the fruits of the Spirit: "Charity suffereth
long, and is kind," etc. Here he lets love stand by itself among other
fruits of the Spirit to remind the Christians to love one another, "in
honor preferring one another," to esteem others more than themselves
because they have Christ and the Holy Ghost within them.

JOY

Joy means sweet thoughts of Christ, melodious hymns and psalms, praises
and thanksgiving, with which Christians instruct, inspire, and refresh
themselves. God does not like doubt and dejection. He hates dreary
doctrine, gloomy and melancholy thought. God likes cheerful hearts. He
did not send His Son to fill us with sadness, but to gladden our
hearts. For this reason the prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself
urge, yes, command us to rejoice and be glad. "Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king
cometh unto thee." (Zech. 9:9.) In the Psalms we are repeatedly told to
be "joyful in the Lord." Paul says: "Rejoice in the Lord always."
Christ says: "Rejoice, for your names are written in heaven."

PEACE

Peace towards God and men. Christians are to be peaceful and quiet. Not
argumentative, not hateful, but thoughtful and patient. There can be no
peace without longsuffering, and therefore Paul lists this virtue next.

LONGSUFFERING

Longsuffering is that quality which enables a person to bear adversity,
injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the improvement of
those who have done him wrong. When the devil finds that he cannot
overcome certain persons by force he tries to overcome them in the long
run. He knows that we are weak and cannot stand anything long.
Therefore he repeats his temptation time and again until he succeeds.
To withstand his continued assaults we must be longsuffering and
patiently wait for the devil to get tired of his game.

GENTLENESS

Gentleness in conduct and life. True followers of the Gospel must not
be sharp and bitter, but gentle, mild, courteous, and soft-spoken,
which should encourage others to seek their company. Gentleness can
overlook other people's faults and cover them up. Gentleness is always
glad to give in to others. Gentleness can get along with forward and
difficult persons, according to the old pagan saying: "You must know
the manners of your friends, but you must not hate them." Such a gentle
person was our Savior Jesus Christ, as the Gospel portrays Him. Of
Peter it is recorded that he wept whenever he remembered the sweet
gentleness of Christ in His daily contact with people. Gentleness is an
excellent virtue and very useful in every walk of life.

GOODNESS

A person is good when he is willing to help others in their need.

FAITH

In listing faith among the fruits of the Spirit, Paul obviously does
not mean faith in Christ, but faith in men. Such faith is not
suspicious of people but believes the best. Naturally the possessor of
such faith will be deceived, but he lets it pass. He is ready to
believe all men, but he will not trust all men. Where this virtue is
lacking men are suspicious, forward, and wayward and will believe
nothing nor yield to anybody. No matter how well a person says or does
anything, they will find fault with it, and if you do not humor them
you can never please them. It is quite impossible to get along with
them. Such faith in people therefore, is quite necessary. What kind of
life would this be if one person could not believe another person?

MEEKNESS

A person is meek when he is not quick to get angry. Many things occur
in daily life to provoke a person's anger, but the Christian gets over
his anger by meekness.

TEMPERANCE

Christians are to lead sober and chaste lives. They should not be
adulterers, fornicators, or sensualists. They should not be quarrelers
or drunkards. In the first and second chapters of the Epistle to Titus,
the Apostle admonishes bishops, young women, and married folks to be
chaste and pure.

VERSE 23. Against such there is no law.

There is a law, of course, but it does not apply to those who bear
these fruits of the Spirit. The Law is not given for the righteous man.
A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does not need
any law to warn or to restrain him. He obeys the Law without
compulsion. The Law does not concern him. As far as he is concerned
there would not have to be any Law.

VERSE 24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.

True believers are no hypocrites. They crucify the flesh with its evil
desires and lusts. Inasmuch as they have not altogether put off the
sinful flesh they are inclined to sin. They do not fear or love God as
they should. They are likely to be provoked to anger, to envy, to
impatience, to carnal lust, and other emotions. But they will not do
the things to which the flesh incites them. They crucify the flesh with
its evil desires and lusts by fasting and exercise and, above all, by a
walk in the Spirit.

To resist the flesh in this manner is to nail it to the Cross. Although
the flesh is still alive it cannot very well act upon its desires
because it is bound and nailed to the Cross.

VERSE 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

A little while ago the Apostle had condemned those who are envious and
start heresies and schisms. As if he had forgotten that he had already
berated them, the Apostle once more reproves those who provoke and envy
others. Was not one reference to them sufficient? He repeats his
admonition in order to emphasize the viciousness of pride that had
caused all the trouble in the churches of Galatia, and has always
caused the Church of Christ no end of difficulties. In his Epistle to
Titus the Apostle states that a vainglorious man should not be ordained
as a minister, for pride, as St. Augustine points out, is the mother of
all heresies.

Now vainglory has always been a common poison in the world. There is no
village too small to contain someone who wants to be considered wiser
or better than the rest. Those who have been bitten by pride usually
stand upon the reputation for learning and wisdom. Vainglory is not
nearly so bad in a private person or even in an official as it is in a
minister.

When the poison of vainglory gets into the Church you have no idea what
havoc it can cause. You may argue about knowledge, art, money,
countries, and the like without doing particular harm. But you cannot
quarrel about salvation or damnation, about eternal life and eternal
death without grave damage to the Church. No wonder Paul exhorts all
ministers of the Word to guard against this poison. He writes: "If we
live in the Spirit." Where the Spirit is, men gain new attitudes. Where
formerly they were vainglorious, spiteful and envious, they now become
humble, gentle and patient. Such men seek not their own glory, but the
glory of God. They do not provoke each other to wrath or envy, but
prefer others to themselves.

As dangerous to the Church as this abominable pride is, yet there is
nothing more common. The trouble with the ministers of Satan is that
they look upon the ministry as a stepping-stone to fame and glory, and
right there you have the seed for all sorts of dissensions.

Because Paul knew that the vainglory of the false Apostles had caused
the churches of Galatia endless trouble, he makes it his business to
suppress this abominable vice. In his