Paul Trask today continues his study of Galatians by moving into chapter 5, verses 13-26.

The Apostle Paul here is providing his Galatian converts some practical ways of evaluating their spiritual life since having been corrupted by the Judaizers from Jerusalem 

• “So how’s that workin’ out for ya?” – NOT GOOD AT ALL!
• Instead of “Loving their neighbor as themselves,” they are “biting and devouring each other,” and are at risk of completely destroying each other – NOT GOOD!

The Apostle Paul then launches into an extensive discussion of “works of the flesh” versus “fruit of the spirit,” which results in an unequivocal fork in the road

• This fork in the road requires a decision on which path to take – because those 2 paths are mutually exclusive – you cannot go down both at the same time
• In the New Covenant era, which Jesus ushered in on the cross, God’s Law is no longer written down in ink, nor on tablets of stone – but rather on tablets of human hearts

Paul then provides a Self-Assessment Tool for his Galatian converts to use

• The path labeled “works of the flesh,” represented by any attempt to keep the Mosaic Law, results in all kinds of reprobate behavior
• On the other hand, “the fruit of the Spirit” results in all of the blessings of heaven

 This Self-Assessment Tool which Paul gave the Galatians is every bit as applicable to us today in the 21^st century as it was in the 1^st century

So the final questions for us are:

What’s in your heart today?

And what’s coming out of your heart today?

(Galatians 5:13–26; Matthew 22:35–40; Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 7:12; Matthew 23:23; Galatians 4:15; Romans 7:1–6, 8:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:2–3; Galatians 2:19-21; John 15:1–8; Jeremiah 31:31–33; Matthew 12:33–35)