We have been called to liberty, but this liberty is no occasion for the flesh. We are granted full forgiveness, but this is not granted so that we might begin sinning with impunity. How can we who died to sin still live in it?
The works of the flesh are plain, Paul tells us. But we through our materialistic tradition have sought to make the Word of God of no effect. We want to see the works of the flesh as limited to biological appetites, and yet Paul lists many other activities under this heading. Many of these works of the flesh are not only tolerated in churches of Jesus Christ, but also encouraged and welcomed. We reject certain works of the flesh—drunkenness, carousing and the like—because we are conservative Christians. But we tend to embrace others—for the same reason.
Paul also lists biting and devouring, hatred, variance, strife, envyings–all activities and attitudes which lamentably have had an honored place within the church. Is there envy in your hand? Drop it to the floor. Is there strife in your mouth? Spit it out—you must made room for the bread and wine. Is there dislike or hatred of someone else coming to this Table this morning? Whether here or at another church does not matter; it is all the same Table. Do you really want to sit down at the Table of the Lord with a furrowed brow, muttering to yourself? What are you muttering? Are you telling yourself that the Lord of the Table does not seem to understand that He is eating with unwashed sinners? He understands it well enough. He invited both you and the one you are muttering about.
This is a glorious banquet, and the Scriptures tell us that a glorious banquet is no place for strife, no place for the flesh.