Hey my friends, it's Matt. This is the Ten Minute Bible Hour Podcast. And we have got one of these passages today where there's a really easy read that'll preach. It has a nice little lesson to it. It's very simple. And I just want to go with it and then kind of keep rolling because once I turn this page past this, we're on to the last page of Galatians, and I got to admit I'm pretty excited to get to Philemon. But also there's a bunch of exciting stuff here at the end of Galatians that I want to get to as well. So there's a part of me that is saying, just do the easy interpretation of this passage, Matt, so we can get past it and turn the page and get into more of the real juicy stuff that you want to cover at the end of Galatians. But then there's another little voice inside of me that is like, no, it doesn't matter if it's hard and it takes a minute. Don't do the obvious interpretation just because it's easy, because there are some challenges to the obvious interpretation. Who cares if it takes a little longer to turn the page? Which voice should I listen to? Well, I set it up this way for a reason. Because this is a passage that kind of lends itself to that old illustration we've all heard about how to deal with apparent conflictedness within us, right? I mean, you got the little angel on one shoulder, you got a little devil on the other shoulder in all the cartoons. You got the the part of you that wants to go do this thing that probably isn't a very good idea that you're tempted to do. Then there's this other part of you that is more sober-minded that's like I probably shouldn't do that. And so, of course, the old metaphor is you got you know two wolves inside you, and you got a good wolf and you got a bad wolf, and they're in a tug of war over your decision making, over your soul, and whichever one you feed the most is gonna get bigger and stronger, and it's gonna defeat and devour and consume the other wolf, and then that's gonna be the wolf that wins out. And usually the point of the illustration, and you know, I think this is nice folk wisdom here, the point of the illustration is hey, it's kind of the little things. Don't go around doing stupid small things because that'll add up to big things. You will develop certain habits, and the evil wolf is gonna eventually win out if you feed it in little subtle ways that are mostly inconsequential but have a cumulative effect. However, in the larger context of Galatians, I'm not sure that's the only or even the best way to understand the passage I need to read to you right now. So just be open mind here, tell me what you hear. I'm gonna read this passage to you, and then we're gonna talk about why it's a little bit tricky. All right, here we go. So I say, this is Galatians 5, 16, Paul talking. So I say, live by the spirit, and you won't gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They're in conflict with each other so that you don't do what you want. But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. Okay, now before you make up your mind as to whether the two wolves analogy is the best way to understand this, I want to ask you to consider a couple things here. Okay? You gotta think about all of this in light of what we've covered in Galatians so far. Remember how we got here and where we are in Paul's line of argumentation. He found out that these Judaizers, these agitators had made their way into the Galatian church. He is very disappointed, astonished even that they're abandoning the gospel that they received. And then he goes through his resume to be like, hey, the gospel that you got for me, that was the real gospel. Everybody signed off on it. This is the gospel that the other great leaders of the church and original disciples of Jesus were into. Oh, maybe you heard that Peter said something different. Well, that's true. He did act in a way that wasn't in keeping with the gospel. It was at a dinner one time, but I called him out for it, and even he had to admit he was wrong and that this other thing, this thing that you received is the true gospel. And then he goes on to talk about how right standing with God comes through faith. That's the way it's always been, that's the way it'll always be, that if you don't obey everything written in the law, you're under a curse, which is of course impossible. So this really isn't an avenue to God. He then he goes on to talk about how Jesus became the curse for us, taking on the penalty for human failure, our inability to live up to what the law says. And then he goes on to say, you know, maybe so some of you are wondering, like, why even have a law at all? Why'd we even do it? Well, for one, it points us to God. It's a teacher about who God is and about our own sinfulness. It's like a stern tutor who raises us up to eventually understand that we need Christ, exactly who he is. But with the law, you're never going to be free because it's not a tool for salvation. It's a tutor. It's a teacher. In Christ, through faith, you are free. You go from being not sons and daughters of God to being sons and daughters of God. You go from being outsiders who are all defined and divided up by little demographic characteristics and whatnot, to being insiders who are defined first and foremost by your relationship to Christ, your descendants of Abraham, inheritors of the promise to redeem that was given to him way back in the day. So don't go back to slavery. Don't put yourself back under the law. Live fully and confidently in the freedom of Christ. He says, look at the fruit. I mean, he doesn't use the word fruit, he will in a minute, but what I'm summarizing in Galatians 4, he's saying basically, look at the fruit. These people who are so zealous to win you over to circumcision and putting yourselves back under subjection to that difficult tutor that is the law. How do they act? What are they like? Then think about what I've been in your life. Compare and contrast. Then he takes an example from deep in the Old Testament to again point to how the plan all along was for freedom. There to be freedom in Christ. And then he says just a few verses before the stuff we're looking at. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and don't let yourselves again be burdened by a yoke of slavery. He tells them not to get circumcised, because if you make this gesture, this ovation toward the law, there's no end game to that. You can go as far as you want. Heck, you could cut off everything, but in doing so, you're not really cutting off your sin. All you're doing is cutting yourself off from God by putting yourself under the impossible standards of the law instead of putting yourself under the gracious work of Christ. So once again, that's the whole run-up to this passage starting in Galatians 5.16, where Paul is talking about life by the Spirit. Well, what the translation that I usually read from is calling the sinful nature. Now, I have used the same Bible since forever. It's the 1984 NIV. My dad gave me that version of the Bible when I was a kid, and I have used that. I mean, I we've had to rebind my kid Bible because I've had it for so long and it's taken so much abuse. And so I just know the rhythms of that particular translation. A lot of my memorization is in that or in King James. I don't know, it's just kind of the way it worked. So I know where stuff is on the page. It's easy for me to zip around that particular edition of the Bible, but that doesn't mean that that translation is absolutely ideal or perfect or flawless at every single turn. And some smart people have said this might be a passage where a stronger translation, not to say this one is wrong, but a stronger translation might be more like what the ESV does, the English Standard Version, which you hear from time to time here as well. I read from a lot of different translations at different times. So, in light of that, before we start making up our mind as to our initial read on this passage, whether this is, you know, feed one wolf, feed the other kind of thing, or something different is going on here. I'm gonna read you the passage one more time, now that we've done that whole review of what's going on in Galatians. But I'm gonna read it in the ESV, where the translation is a little bit different on that one line that is the sinful nature. The ESV is gonna translate that, the desires of the flesh. It's gonna hit you a little different, but let me read it. And then we're gonna start over the next couple days working toward what's the best way to understand this particular passage. Here we go. But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. These are both fair renderings of what seems to be there in the original language, as best as somebody like me is able to tell. But translation, it's not purely science. It's the science of meanings, but it's also the art of meanings, and language is fluid and it evolves. And so at times, even though the meaning seems very similar, people who immerse themselves in this and do it for a living are going to come to slightly different conclusions with how best to express an idea in the original Greek that might not perfectly literally translate to whatever version of English you and I happen to speak right now. I think either translation can get us in the larger context to what Paul wants us to understand and take with us as readers of this letter so that we know what to do with these questions moving forward. But I do think that just if we're doing the quick skim read, the new international version might nudge us in a slightly different direction than the English Standard Version does on that question of sinful nature, NIV, versus the desires of the flesh, ESV. The New International sinful nature versus the spirit thing makes it sound a little more like you had a sinful nature, then you met Jesus, now you have a sinful nature that's still in there and very powerful, and you also have the Holy Spirit is in you, so this new nature and this old nature, and they're at war with one another, and it is close. Whereas just the knee-jerk read is you're cruising through Galatians quickly and you get to this verse in the English Standard Version, and it says the desires of the flesh, well, that makes it sound more like this life by the spirit is in contrast with life by the law, life by your own effort and trying to earn your way to God by doing every single thing written in the book of the law and by impressing him. Also, that word flesh, I mean, it kind of pops given everything that we've just read about circumcision as well. And that's why I say, okay, in light of all of this, we can't just fly past to this passage. There's too much in play. This is too important for the payoff for the whole book and the payoff for you and me and what we're supposed to do. Are we talking about two wolves that are fighting inside of ourselves and it's pretty close? And this is sort of a new thought that we're getting to at this point in Galatians, or are we talking about that same thought we've been dealing with for most of Galatians, which is the faith represented in the presence of God, life by the spirit, versus the law and human effort? What exactly is at war here? Two natures within us, and either of them could win out, or a strategy and an orientation to say, I will live by faith and walking with the spirit versus I will live by faith in myself and trying to uphold the law by my own effort, or maybe some combination of the two. I don't know. I'm not saying yet. We're gonna try to put our heads together and figure this thing out and understand it in context as best as we can over the next few days, because it is an important question. All right, that's plenty for now. I'm Matt. This is the 10-minute Bible hour podcast. Let's do this again soon.