A Very Dark Spirit
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 3:3 and Proverbs 16:25
Series: Comments on Galatians
Surveys tell us that the majority of young people in the United States are highly interested in spirituality. Most of them say that they believe in god. Indeed, most of them say that they pray. It is not a specific sort of spirituality however, often finding a malleable and informal expression. In other words, they pray to an unknown god who is created from their feelings. Now this may sound spiritual but it is quite the opposite. This sort of spiritual interest is of the flesh.
If I am interested in spiritual matters but as directed by my own reason, I am fleshly, carnal, driven by my own desires. They are a desire of the mind that have a kind of religious quality, but they are very much human cravings all the same. The life of the spirit is driven by the Spirit of God, not by the mind of a man or woman. If I do not know who the God is whose Spirit works with my own spirit, then I am driven by shadows. If I am not directed by the true God, then I am being led by a very dark spirit, a shadow called self.
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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