Gal. 5:16-26, Walk in the Spirit

Back in Gal. 3:3 Paul asked the rhetorical question, Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?  He mentioned the Spirit in 5:5, that we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  Now we come to this major truth, that the way we live the Christian life is to walk in the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is given to the believer by God the Father at the request of and in the name of God the Son (John 14:16,26).  He indwells every believer.  Now Paul is saying to walk in the sphere of the Spirit, in the realm of His influence.  It speaks of being yielded and submitted to the Spirit. 

It may sound like believers have a choice in this, that if you walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  But actually, “walk in the Spirit” is a command; it is in the Greek “imperative” mood.  The person who seeks to live a good life by keeping the law considers the command to be: don’t fulfill the desires of the flesh!  So he might say things like, “I’m going to do better;” or “I can do this;” or “I’m going to turn over a new leaf.”  However, remember this clear statement from Rom. 8:8: So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

When the Spirit controls us (i.e. when we are yielded to Him) He influences everything about us.  That is what Eph. 5:18 says: the same way wine controls the actions of a drunk person, so the Spirit controls the one who is walking in the Spirit. 

Romans 8:8 tells us what it means, day to day, to walk in the Spirit: those who live according to the Spirit (set their minds on) the things of the Spirit.  The “things” of the Spirit are the Living/Written Word.  The Spirit glorifies Christ (Jn. 16:14).  The issue is that our minds must be renewed; we must put off the old way of thinking and put on the truth that is in Christ.  If we do not do this, as Christians, we find ourselves in the conflict described in Gal. 5:17.  There is conflict within that leaves us unable to do the good things we want to do.  (Rom. 7:15-20 describes this paralysis clearly.)

In the end we must understand: there can be no “two ways” in our lives.  We cannot live by the law and the Spirit.  The command is to walk in the Spirit.  If He is leading us then we are not under law!

Perhaps you have been a Christian for a long time.  I commend this passage to you, and urge you to ask the Lord to help you see its truth and also to see the truth of how you are living your life.  The life lived in the strength of the flesh is described in 5:19-21; the life lived in the power of the Spirit is described in 5:22-23.  We will look at this in more detail, but for now some Spirit-led honesty is necessary for those whose confession is the gospel of Christ, myself included.