Like a Fish Out of Water
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want…Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. - Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25, NIV
One of the more important aspects of living by the Spirit is how to handle sin in the life of the believer. The reality is that Paul says that those who live to indulge the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But how do we know if our sinning is living or the normal struggle we face as those who are learning to keep in step with the Spirit? Here’s an analogy that you might find to be helpful: it’s like a fish out of water.
As a boy I can remember fishing with my grandpa on Lake Erie. If I ever held still long enough to actually catch a fish, I would reel it in and then set it triumphantly on the deck of the boat. And the fish would flop all about causing general chaos and mayhem. And why did the fish flop? It was trying to breathe. But to breathe, it would need to get back to water. For a few short moments, it was a fish out of water. Now it couldn’t live like that because, that is not how fish live. They live in water but, for a short moment, it was still alive but not in its natural habitat. So it is with a Christian who has sinned. They do not cease to be a Christian. And, they will begin to flop about if you will to regain the natural habitat for their new life in Jesus (life by the Spirit). In the meantime, and for a short season, they will be a fish out of water. The flopping does not disprove their fish status, on the contrary it supports it. They are a follower of Jesus, thus the uncomfortable circumstance when they are found in sin. That lack of comfort is in fact the very stuff that should convince them and those around them that their faith is real. Without a regenerate heart, we love darkness and sin and prefer it to the light. In other words, there is no flopping. Because, on our own we are not fish but land animals who breathe air. No sense of distress rises in humanity in the default position when we sin because, we love sin and only know sin. If we are made new, as fish (I know we are pushing the boundaries of the analogy here), we struggle to return to the water because our new life cannot be supported without it. Hopefully, without further stretching this analogy until it snaps, you’ve got the main point here and can see the difference between a sinner caught in sin and a follower of Jesus caught in sin. One is a fish out of water and well, that can’t last long.