Who Are Those Who Belong To Christ?

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. [Galatians 5.22-24] 

Who are those who belong to Christ?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Aside from the obvious initial signs of the Holy Spirit, speaking in unknown tongues and the working of miracles (see The Evidence of "In Christ"), Paul further reveals and details the evidence of the Holy Spirit - the evidence of salvation - the evidence of having taken up their own cross, to the Church in Galatia in the subject passage above. This is in contrast to what life outside the Holy Spirit - outside of Grace - looks like:

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. [Galatians 5.19-21]

Galatians 5.19-21 pretty much 'nails it' in accurately describing the culture of society today. Sadly though, this culture of society was largely present in the Church at Galatia (or else, Paul wouldn't have needed to address it). But, even more sadly, this culture remains in the Church at large today.

Why is this so? Why is the Church today still so involved with the world and its ways? The answer is simple: because people have not given up their own way as Jesus demanded. Fallen man is incapable of anything better than what Galatians 5.19-21 describes. The only way to transcend that fallen condition is undivided, unconditional, persistent, and unrelenting faith in Jesus Christ.

But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” [Luke 18.8b]

Jesus actually answered His own question for us in another setting:

But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.14] 

Paul is very clear in his letter to the Galatians that observance of the law of Moses (including circumcision) is not the way to God. However, Paul does not necessarily reveal the level of difficulty involved in his description of salvation by grace through faith:

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. [Galatians 5.24] 

Any attempt to observe and keep the law of Moses is a 'work of man' and, as such fits one of the possible descriptions of an idol (it is man-made: the product of man's effort). Just like the snake on a stick that was indeed at first meant to heal mankind, but was later destroyed by Hezekiah because it had become an idol (Numbers 21.8-9 and 2 Kings 18.4), so it is with the law of Moses. With the Advent of Jesus, any attempt to look to the law of Moses instead of to Jesus, is idolatry. Amazingly enough, Paul listed idolatry in Galatians 5.19-21 above as a 'fruit' of the sinful nature in company with all manner of degenerate sin. SIDENOTE: This author believes debt, insurance, medicine and technology all fall under the category of idols. It should furthermore be observed that, with very few exceptions, the advertisements for these products consistently portray sexual deviance and self-gratification.

Here's something to chew on: if "being good" is not the product of the Holy Spirit in us (resultant to faith in Jesus), it is purely the effort of man and qualifies as idolatry.

The point is not for us to change our ways. The point is that we must give up our own ways (good or bad) and be changed by The Way, Jesus. The only 'effort' Jesus demanded of us was to take up our cross, the very instrument of our own death, and with all the life in us, follow Him. This effort, as Jesus described in Matthew 7.14 and demonstrated Himself, is not easy. There is no other way however to genuinely produce the fruit of the Spirit.

So free is the grace of God in Christ Jesus that no amount of 'toeing the mark' of the law can ever earn it. But, Paul is not at all promoting any kind of 'free willy' grace. Instead, Paul defines just how difficult salvation is (as Jesus confirmed) by listing the fruit of 'being in' salvation versus the fruit of 'being out' of salvation.

The unchanged Church today far too much reveals not the fruit of the Holy Spirit (salvation) but the sinful nature - the fruit of man's effort toward anything other than Jesus - far too much of the nasty stuff listed in Galatians 5.19-21. Grace was never intended to allow this! Grace was intended to remedy it. And, the difficult and narrow road of undivided, unconditional, persistent, and unrelenting faith in Christ alone is the only way that Grace manifests in the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians was not written to bring 'relief' to the Church, but to point out that any and every effort other than the Cross of Jesus yields the bad fruit listed therein (see Galatians 1). The fruit of the Spirit or the results of following sinful desires provide the litmus test to determine who are those who belong to Christ.

Father, may there be a revival of Truth among Your people (the Church) today. May Your Word be revealed in Christ and Christ be revealed in Your Word. May Your people hold only to Jesus for salvation and every promise in Your Word. May the fruit of the Spirit reveal those who are Yours. So be it.