Examines Galatians 5:15's warning against believers "biting and devouring one another," emphasizing how internal church conflict and sinful speech destroy Christian unity and community. The author contrasts destructive behaviors—slander, accusations, and acts of injustice—with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control) presented in Galatians 5, arguing that believers must actively practice brotherly love and reconciliation to avoid the spiritual consumption that comes from factional disputes. Drawing on John Calvin's commentary, the piece challenges Christians to recognize how personal offenses and unresolved conflicts within the church body undermine the very foundation of justification in Christ alone and calls believers to walk in the Spirit rather than engage in mutual destruction.
What does the Bible say about biting and devouring one another?
The Bible warns against biting and devouring one another, indicating that such behavior leads to mutual destruction within the church (Galatians 5:15).
John Calvin elaborates on this idea, explaining that the terms 'bite' and 'devour' represent not only verbal offenses but also any act that arises from malice or injustice. The underlying truth is that actions rooted in contention and strife do not benefit a community but lead to its ruin. Instead of fostering a spirit of brotherly love, these destructive behaviors ultimately weaken and threaten the unity and health of the church body. It is a sobering reminder that within the church, mutual edification should be the goal, not mutual destruction.
Galatians 5:15
Why is love important for Christians?
Love is crucial for Christians as it reflects the fruit of the Spirit and is essential for maintaining unity within the body of Christ (Galatians 5:22-23).
Practicing love among brethren is not merely a suggestion but should be the aim of every believer, especially when faced with disagreements and temptations to conflict. As Paul indicates in Galatians 5:25, 'If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.' This exhortation reinforces the idea that true Christian community thrives on the principles of love rather than the destructive behaviors of biting and devouring each other. The cultivation of love promotes understanding, forgiveness, and mutual support, reflecting the transformative power of the Gospel in our lives.
Galatians 5:22-23, Galatians 5:25
How do we know justification by faith is true?
Justification by faith is affirmed throughout Scripture, primarily emphasizing that we are justified by Christ alone apart from works (Galatians 2:16).
This doctrine is supported throughout the New Testament, with the Apostle Paul consistently affirming that our standing before God is based solely on Christ's righteousness imputed to us through faith. The historic Reformed position upholds that justification is a judicial act of God, declaring sinners righteous based on Christ’s finished work. This concept not only liberates believers from the burden of the law but also assures them of their eternal security in Christ.
Galatians 2:16, Ephesians 2:8-9
“But if you bite and devour one another beware lest you be consumed by one another!”
We are still having our weekly bible study in Galatians and we are about through the book. This has been the most edifying study I have been in and it is because of the book itself. The Truth of Galatians gives us one of the surest foundations of our justification in Christ alone, without which we would stumble under the condemnation of the law.
The Galatians were troubled by those who would come in and rob them of their liberty in Christ teaching them that they weren’t justified solely by Christ, but by works of the law as well. There must have been factions in the church, some being for these works, some being against and Paul warns them that if they continued to bite and devour one another, they would be consumed…(to be wasted or destroyed). I wonder what that might have meant, they would be destroyed? Kind of scary to think that we can destroy one another!
John Calvin comments:
By biting and devouring he means, I think, slanders, accusations, reproaches, and every other kind of offensive language, as well as acts of injustice arising either from fraud or violence. And what is the end of them? To be consumed, while the tendency of brotherly love is to produce mutual protection and kindness. I wish we could always remember, when the devil tempts us to disputes, that the disagreement of members within the church can lead to nothing else than the ruin and consumption of the whole body. How distressing, how mad is it, that we, who are members of the same body, should be leagued together, of our own accord, for mutual destruction!
One of the hardest things for me when I began to work out of the home was situations like this as they are commonplace in the work force. You know the scenario, you walk in a room and everyone quits talking and starts acting like they were working all along, as if you are fooled. Or they don’t talk to you for a week, or they try and make trouble for you and on and on the list goes. I’m guilty of doing the same things, shame on me and I stop now and pray when I am tempted, as the Spirit brings to mind the times I have been hurt. I guess we should expect that in the work place, we just don’t ever expect it in our churches and yet it happens there too, just as it was happening in the church at Galatia.
Have you ever felt that way…like you were being consumed? Consumed by someone’s sinful actions towards you, or by your own sinful actions towards them? Maybe it was the words they spoke to you or your own thoughts towards them? Perhaps their issues with control , and your own expectations, even their indifference? I’ve been in spiritual battles like that in the church, some of my own making and some not and I think we are all guilty of biting and devouring to some degree or another, we have all practiced it,………oh it shouldn’t be! May we instead practice the fruit of the Spirit, also in the very same chapter of Galatians, which is ….love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against which there is no law. Let us pray to that end, that we might practice this fruit especially with the brethren in the body of Christ!
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.(Galatians 5:25)
Comments
Your comment has been submitted and is awaiting moderation. Once approved, it will appear on this page.
Be the first to comment!