I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
REVIEW:
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! NKJV
Liberty is a calling. The liberty Christ has accomplished and given to each believer comes through faith in receiving the Holy Spirit and has its evidence manifested in love. This liberty is not natural, but supernatural producing supernatural love, displayed by serving others.
Consider how Paul so beautifully deals with the law in Verse 14, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Consider how Jesus dealt with the Pharisees of His day. Those religious leaders posed this question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36-40).
Jesus took this one step further with His disciples in John 13:34 “ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Only Jesus could take the law or Ten Commandments, sum them up in two, and then give a new commandment that sums up what He and the Father did. Then He sealed it with the Holy Spirit being given to enable the believer to live love out in His redeemed community.
Paul ends his thought in Verse 15 with a strong warning: “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another (NKJV)! Look at church history and world events to determine how important this segment of Galatians might be. Denominationalism, segregation of churches, a priestly class of clergy over the laity, the love of money, self-promotion, personal kingdom building. Why settle for “critical theory or critical race theory (CRT)” when you could have the pure word of truth contained in the Gospel of the Lord’s kingdom. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life” (John 3:16). God gave His King to die for the sins of the world, David’s greater son. He did everything to right the wrongs in the human race. Wrongs such as racism, all social justice issues have been dealt with at the cross. They were carried to hell by King Jesus. When King Jesus rose from the grave in the “REGENERATION” and was “seated on the throne of His glory” (see Matthew 19:28), He had overcome all the issues of the sin condition in humanity. It is His resurrection life through the power of the Holy Spirit He wants to be lived out through the believer. In His resurrection life is found the answer to the cultural issues we face today in the human race.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:1-5).
These verses in Romans help us be prepared to study the next section of Galatians 5. Chapter 5 verse 16 begins with, I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. How does one walk in the Spirit? It begins by understanding the first principles of the doctrine of Christ outlined in Hebrews 6:1-3. It starts with “REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS.” Dead works are the attempt of trying to please God through your good works or efforts. Example: trying to be a good person. But it is also the unbeliever that is so self-absorbed that they are living in deep sin, only thinking about their flesh desires.
Verse 17 “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Flesh lusts. The flesh lusts are not only sexual immoral activity, but they include covetous lusting, idolater lusts, reviler lusts, drunkard lusts, and extortion lusts. Indeed found in the world, but Paul says they are in people who claim to be believers. You can find these manifestations in local churches I am sad to say! So much so that the work of the Spirit is limited or nonexistent in many cases within local congregations.
The flesh and the Spirit can never compromise and be joined together. The flesh must die! The Spirit gives life! They are “Contrary to one another.” The flesh lusts are born of the flesh nature rooted in sin, the sin nature of Adam. This is why the Gospel is the Good News of the Kingdom of God in the Holy Spirit. Good news that Jesus overcame the “flesh” and gave to us “the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and has made me free from the law of sin and death” (see Romans 8:2). It is this contrary battle that is at the center of us “doing the things” that we don’t want to do.” It is essential to identify the root problem, which is always centered on lusts.
Moving to Verse 18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Let me suggest some biblical foundations that might help in answering the question.
Your performance-based religious activities. It begins in obedient faith. It starts with obedience to the commands of scripture, commands such as repentance from dead works, your efforts to please God. It includes studying scripture and discovering what God commands. A few life verses for me are: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Another is, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)?
Satan and the kingdom of darkness have already been judged by Jesus according to John 16:11, declaring that “the ruler of this world has been judged.” Many Christians think that this is in the future, but it is already done by Christ and is to be finished on earth through His redeemed church. Many Christians are still in bondage to the kingdom of darkness because their hearts have not been thoroughly cleansed and released. 1 John 1:5-10 helps us understand this point.
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:5-10 NKJV).
This passage provides a measuring stick for us to check our walk in Christ. It contains questions that we should be asking our self. He is faithful to cleanse us. How is my walk doing up against the word of God? How is my fellowship doing with other believers? Do I walk in a state of cleansing from all sin? How deep do we let the cleansing go? Are we walking in “cleansing from all unrighteousness?”
Here is one more area to consider from Paul in Romans 8:14. “All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (NKJV). The obvious question is, does one know that they are being led by the Spirit of God? And do they know that they are a son of God?
Sonship with God is only possible through the Holy Spirit. Children are born to their parents, but a true son obeys his father by following his instructions. The same is true in the kingdom of God. Many have been given the power to become children of God (John 1:12), but sonship is a matter of maturity. A father trains his child to grow up and become a responsible individual with the hope and desire for that child. As a father of six boys and one daughter, my great joy was to watch them grow and become mature, able to handle the affairs of life with the values instilled by their mother and me.
Our Heavenly Father is bringing forth sons and daughters with the character of His only begotten Son. The work of the Holy Spirit in the earth is to create a new creation out of the old. He is producing a spiritual race that has the spiritual DNA of God’s only begotten Son. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you as Paul states, “know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). You cannot gain this understanding through human reasoning. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the love of Christ, and only the Holy Spirit can fill us with the fullness of God.
Only in the love of Christ and the fullness of God can we become mature sons and daughters of God. As sons and daughters, we must carry out the Father’s will and not our own will. There is no male or female in the matter of sonship. Every person who has surrendered their life to Christ has been called to reflect Christ in and through their life. It is in men and women throughout the nations that God is revealing His kingdom’s purpose in the earth. The Written Word is being lived out in their lives. These are lives that have been recreated in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s purpose is for the nations to come to know Him and do His will. This can only happen through sons and daughters of God that are led by the Holy Spirit.
Today, ask the Holy Spirit to help you know the love of Christ in an ever-deepening way. Ask Him to fill you with the fullness of God so that Christ may be revealed in every facet of your life. Ask that you might have a part in helping others come to know God and do His will.
The next lesson will lead us to a greater understanding of the “the works of the flesh which Paul says “are evident.”