(Galatians 5:5)  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Once again Paul is going back to the exhortation in Galatians 5:1 to “stand fast” and “be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”  These are phrases that point to the daily Christian walk.  He is showing the Galatians the contrast between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit.  This is the difference between walking under grace and walking under the law.  The flesh believes its behavior according to a system of rules can attain righteousness.  By depending on self, there is a basic assumption that a God-pleasing, consistent Christian life is possible through actions performed by self right now.  Self-righteousness assumes there is no need for external righteousness.  The flesh is consumed with self-sufficiency that blocks out the need or desire for a greater righteousness.  The flesh leads us to believe we can live righteously to the point where the flesh itself is perfected.  The flesh impatiently demands more of itself than is humanly possible.

Contrast the walk in the flesh with the spiritual mind.  We depend on the patience produced by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God leads us to live in dependency on a righteousness that is not ours.  We depend on the righteousness produced by Christ in us.  It is in this alone that the Spirit leads us to live a life of obedience to God.  God is not making demands on our flesh to conform.  He is shaping, molding, and guiding us in a transformation.  This takes time.  We serve a God Who makes change permanent.  The change conforming us to Christ is an everlasting change.  We are led closer and closer each day we walk in the Spirit towards living according to the true identity we have in Christ.  Looking in the mirror, we don’t see this change.  Our mortal bodies still bear the marks of sin – age, disease, imperfection.  But once again, the Holy Spirit produces patience in us to look forward in hope.  The righteousness God is producing inside of us will one day be manifest in our immortal bodies as our physical bodies are eternally transformed to match our identity in Christ.  Until then, the Holy Spirit produces patience as we wait for that day “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13)

Renewed Thought -

“My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Calvary.” – Norman J. Clayton