📖 Wagalatia — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 6: Uhuru na Tunda la Roho📖 Galatians Intensive — Unit 6: Freedom and the Fruit of the Spirit

Andiko: Wagalatia 5:1-26 (SUV)Text: Galatians 5:1-26 (NKJV)

Simameni Imara Katika UhuruStand Fast in Liberty

Paulo ameonyesha kwamba watoto wa ahadi ni huru, si watoto wa mjakazi. Sasa anaweka bendera juu ya jambo zima: "Katika uhuru huo Kristo alituweka huru; basi simameni, wala msinaswe tena chini ya kongwa la utumwa." Uhuru haukunyakuliwa na Wagalatia; walipatiwa na Kristo na kukabidhiwa kama zawadi. Kusimama imara ni kukataa tu kuurudisha uhuru huo. Hatari si kwamba mtu atawaburuta nje ya neema kwa nguvu, bali kwamba wao wenyewe watairudisha shingo yao chini ya kongwa kimya kimya, wakibadilisha uhuru wa wana kwa utumwa wa mfumo. Amri ya Paulo ni ya haraka na rahisi: simameni.Paul has shown that the children of promise are free, not children of the bondwoman. Now he sets the banner over the whole matter: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." Freedom was not seized by the Galatians; it was won for them by Christ and handed to them as a gift. To stand fast is simply to refuse to give that freedom back. The danger is not that someone will drag them out of grace by force, but that they will quietly slip their own necks back under the yoke, trading the liberty of sons for the bondage of a system. Paul's command is urgent and simple: stand.

Mmeanguka na Kutoka Katika NeemaFallen From Grace

Kisha anataja kilicho hatarini kwa uwazi unaoshtua. "Angalieni, mimi Paulo nawaambia ninyi, kwamba mkitahiriwa, Kristo hatawafaidia neno." Hamaanishi upasuaji wenyewe, bali tohara inayopokewa kama msingi wa kukubaliwa — kama mlango wa kuingia katika mfumo wa kushika sheria uliokusudiwa kukamilisha kile ambacho Kristo alianza. Kuuchukua mfumo huo ni kutangaza kwamba Kristo hatoshi, na nusu-Kristo si Kristo hata kidogo. "Naam, namshuhudia tena kila mtu atahiriwaye, ya kuwa yeye ni mdeni wa kuitimiza torati yote." Yeyote atakayehesabiwa haki kwa amri moja amejifunga kwa kila amri. Na hukumu inatamkwa: "Mmetengwa na Kristo, ninyi mtakao kuhesabiwa haki kwa sheria; mmeanguka na kutoka katika neema." Katika hoja hii ya moja kwa moja, Paulo anaeleza kuiacha neema kama msingi wa kuhesabiwa haki na kugeukia sheria badala yake. Wakristo wanatofautiana juu ya kile ambacho onyo hili linamaanisha kuhusu usalama wa mwisho wa wokovu, lakini hoja kuu ya Paulo hapa ni jaribio la kuhesabiwa haki kwa sheria badala ya kwa Kristo.Then he names the stakes with startling plainness. "Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing." He does not mean the surgery itself, but circumcision received as the ground of acceptance — as entrance into a law-keeping system meant to complete what Christ began. To take up that system is to declare Christ insufficient, and a half-Christ is no Christ at all. "And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law." Whoever will be justified by a single command has bound himself to every command. And the verdict falls: "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." In this immediate argument, Paul describes abandoning grace as the basis of justification and turning to law instead. Christians differ over what this warning implies for final security, but Paul’s direct concern here is the attempt to be justified by law rather than by Christ.

Imani Itendayo Kazi kwa UpendoFaith Working Through Love

Dhidi ya njia hii isiyo na mwisho mwema Paulo anaweka njia iliyo hai. "Kwa maana sisi kwa Roho tunangojea tumaini la haki kwa imani." Mwamini hapati haki kwa jasho lake; anangojea tumaini lake kamili kwa Roho, akitegemea imani. Kisha linakuja mojawapo ya mistari mikuu ya muhtasari ya waraka huu: "Kwa maana katika Kristo Yesu kutahiriwa hakufai kitu, wala kutokutahiriwa; bali imani itendayo kazi kwa upendo." Alama ya mwili haina thamani yoyote upande wowote; kinachofaa ni imani iliyo hai — imani ambayo haikai bure kamwe bali hutenda kazi, na hutenda kazi kwa upendo. Hapa Paulo anailinda neema dhidi ya makosa mawili kwa wakati mmoja: imani peke yake humhesabia mtu haki, lakini imani inayohesabia haki haiko peke yake kamwe. Siku zote iko kazini, na kazi inayoifanya ni upendo.Against this dead end Paul sets the living way. "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." The believer does not earn righteousness by labor; he waits for its full hope by the Spirit, resting on faith. And then comes one of the great summary verses of the letter: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." The badge of the flesh counts for nothing on either side; what counts is a living faith — faith that is never idle but works, and works through love. Here Paul guards grace from two errors at once: faith alone justifies, yet the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always at work, and the work it does is love.

Kutahiriwa hakufai kitu, wala kutokutahiriwa, bali imani itendayo kazi kwa upendo. Imani peke yake humhesabia mtu haki, lakini imani inayohesabia haki haisimami peke yake kamwe.Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Faith alone justifies, yet the faith that justifies never stands alone.

Ni Nani Aliyewazuia?Who Hindered You?

Sasa Paulo anageukia hadithi ya Wagalatia wenyewe kwa huzuni ya kocha. "Mlikuwa mkipiga mbio vizuri; ni nani aliyewazuia msiitii kweli?" Walikuwa wameanza mashindano vizuri sana; mtu fulani aliingilia njia yao na kuvunja mwendo wao. "Kushawishi huko hakukutoka kwake yeye awaitaye." Fundisho jipya halikutoka kwa Mungu. Na Paulo anaonya jinsi kosa la namna hiyo linavyoenea: "Chachu kidogo huchachua donge zima." Kulegeza kidogo kuelekea haki ya sheria hakubaki kudogo; hufanya kazi kimya kimya katika mwili mzima. Hata hivyo ana tumaini katika Bwana kwamba hawatakuwa na nia nyingine, na kwamba yule anayewasumbua atachukua hukumu yake, awaye yote. Paulo anaonyesha hata mateso yake mwenyewe: kama angekuwa bado anahubiri tohara, kwa nini bado anaudhiwa? Basi "kwazo la msalaba limekwisha kuondoka." Msalaba unakwaza hasa kwa sababu unasema mafanikio ya kibinadamu hayaongezi kitu; ukiondoa kwazo hilo umeiondoa injili. Hisia zake ni kali kiasi kwamba anatamani wasumbufu hao, wenye hamu kubwa ya kisu, wangekifuata hadi mwisho na kujikata kabisa.Now Paul turns to the Galatians' own story with a coach's grief. "You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" They had begun the race so well; someone had cut in on them and broken their stride. "This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you." The new teaching did not come from God. And Paul warns how such error spreads: "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." A small concession to law-righteousness does not stay small; it works silently through the whole body. Yet he is confident in the Lord that they will take no other view, and that the one troubling them will bear his judgment, whoever he is. Paul even points to his own sufferings: if he were still preaching circumcision, why is he still persecuted? Then "the offense of the cross has ceased." The cross offends precisely because it says human achievement adds nothing; remove that offense and you have removed the gospel. His feeling runs so hot that he wishes the troublers, so eager for the knife, would follow it to the end and cut themselves off entirely.

Uhuru, Si Ruhusa ya Kutenda DhambiLiberty, Not License

Baada ya kuutetea uhuru kwa nguvu namna hiyo, Paulo anaulinda dhidi ya matumizi mabaya ya upande mwingine. "Kwa maana ninyi, ndugu, mliitwa mpate uhuru; lakini uhuru wenu usiwe sababu ya kuufuata mwili, bali tumikianeni kwa upendo." Uhuru kutoka kwa sheria si uhuru wa kutenda dhambi; mwana aliyewekwa huru haendi ovyo, bali hutumika. Na katika kutumika, anashika kusudi la kweli la sheria: "Kwa kuwa torati yote imetimilika katika neno moja, nalo ni hili, Umpende jirani yako kama nafsi yako." Uzito wote wa amri unafikia upendo, na upendo ndio hasa kitu ambacho mwili hauwezi kukizalisha na Roho hufurahi kukitoa. Lakini pale upendo unapoachwa, kinachobaki ni maangamizi: "Lakini mkiumana na kulana, angalieni msije mkaangamizana." Kanisa linalojigeukia lenyewe hujiangamiza lenyewe.Having defended freedom so fiercely, Paul guards it from the opposite abuse. "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Freedom from the law is not freedom to sin; the son set free does not run wild, he serves. And in serving, he keeps the law's true intent: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" The whole weight of the commandments comes down to love, and love is exactly what the flesh cannot produce and the Spirit delights to give. But where love is abandoned, the alternative is ruin: "If you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another." A church that turns on itself destroys itself.

Enendeni kwa RohoWalk in the Spirit

Basi mwamini anawezaje kuishi huru bila kuanguka katika mwili? Paulo anatoa jibu kwa amri moja: "Enendeni kwa Roho, wala hamtazitimiza kamwe tamaa za mwili." Ushindi haupatikani kwa kukaza meno chini ya sheria, bali kwa kuenenda hatua kwa hatua kwa Roho. Yeye ni mkweli kuhusu mapambano haya: "Kwa maana mwili hutamani kushindana na Roho, na Roho hushindana na mwili; kwa kuwa hivyo viwili vimepingana, hata hamwezi kufanya mnayotaka." Ndani ya kila mwamini nguvu mbili zinapigana vita, na maisha ya Kikristo huishiwa katikati ya vita hivyo. Lakini njia ya kuokoka iko wazi: "Lakini mkiongozwa na Roho, hampo chini ya sheria." Roho huongoza pale ambapo sheria ingeweza kuamuru tu, na huzalisha kutoka ndani kile ambacho sheria ingeweza kudai tu kutoka nje.How then is the believer to live free without falling into the flesh? Paul gives the answer in a single command: "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Victory is not gained by gritting the teeth under the law, but by walking step after step in the Spirit. He is honest about the conflict: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." Within every believer two powers wage war, and the Christian life is lived in the middle of that battle. But the path of escape is clear: "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." The Spirit leads where the law could only command, and produces from within what the law could only demand from without.

Matendo ya MwiliThe Works of the Flesh

Paulo hataziacha asili hizi mbili bila kuzieleza wazi; anataja matunda yake ili zipate kutofautishwa. "Basi matendo ya mwili ni dhahiri, ndiyo haya, uzinzi, uasherati, uchafu, ufisadi, ibada ya sanamu, uchawi, uadui, ugomvi, wivu, hasira, fitina, faraka, uzushi, husuda, uuaji, ulevi, ulafi, na mambo yanayofanana na hayo." Haya ndiyo mazao ya asili ya mwili ulioachwa peke yake — dhambi za mwili, dhambi za ibada, na, cha kushangaza, orodha ndefu ya dhambi zinazoharibu mahusiano: uadui, ugomvi, wivu, hasira. Kisha linakuja onyo zito, ambalo Paulo anasema alikuwa amewaambia hapo kabla: "watendao mambo ya namna hii hawataurithi ufalme wa Mungu." Hasemi juu ya wale wanaojikwaa na kuhuzunika, bali juu ya wale wanaofanya mambo hayo kuwa mazoea ya kudumu ya maisha yao.Paul will not leave the two natures vague; he names their fruits so they can be told apart. "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like." These are the natural produce of the flesh left to itself — sins of the body, sins of worship, and, strikingly, a long list of sins that wreck relationships: hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath. Then comes the solemn warning, which Paul says he had told them before: "those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." He speaks not of those who stumble and grieve, but of those who make such things the settled practice of their lives.

Tunda la RohoThe Fruit of the Spirit

Kinyume cha matendo mengi yaliyotawanyika ya mwili, Paulo anaweka tunda moja linalokomaa. "Lakini tunda la Roho ni upendo, furaha, amani, uvumilivu, utu wema, fadhili, uaminifu, upole, kiasi." Ni tunda moja lenye neema tisa, tabia ya Kristo Mwenyewe ikiumbika ndani ya watu wake kwa Roho. Na Paulo anaongeza neno la utulivu linalopindua kosa lote la Wagalatia: "juu ya mambo kama hayo hakuna sheria." Hakuna sheria inayohukumu upendo au furaha au amani; Roho huzalisha bure kile ambacho sheria isingeweza kamwe kulazimisha. Tunda hili hukua kwa sababu ya kifo kilichokwisha kufa: "Na wale walio wa Kristo Yesu wameusulibisha mwili pamoja na mapenzi yake na tamaa zake." Bwana wa zamani amepigiliwa msalabani pamoja na Kristo. Kwa hiyo Paulo anamalizia kwa mdundo wa maisha mapya: "Tukiishi kwa Roho, na tuenende kwa Roho." Tunao uzima kutoka kwa Roho; kila hatua yetu na iende sambamba naye — bila kujisifu bure, bila kuchokozana, bila kuhusudiana, bali tukizaa tunda analolitoa.Over against the many scattered works of the flesh, Paul sets a single ripening fruit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." It is one fruit with nine graces, the character of Christ Himself formed in His people by the Spirit. And Paul adds a quiet word that overturns the whole Galatian error: "Against such there is no law." No law condemns love or joy or peace; the Spirit produces freely what the law could never compel. This fruit grows because of a death already died: "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." The old master has been nailed to the cross with Christ. Therefore Paul closes with the rhythm of the new life: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." We have life from the Spirit; let our every step keep pace with Him — not conceited, not provoking, not envying one another, but bearing the fruit He gives.

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