The first part of this epistle contains Paul’s counter attack against a very common false gospel. It is the gospel of good works; that a man can serve God sufficiently enough to earn eternity in Heaven. Paul unequivocally denies it; and thus so do we. Sinners are saved by grace, plus and minus nothing, and every single one of us are sinners. The sinner must come to God with absolutely nothing in his hands, if he wants to be saved. If he offers God any sort of help, bribe, gift or reward, the Lord will not answer his need. The only divine response to man’s sinful offerings will be condemnation. But of course, “answer” and “response” are not really the proper words to use when talking about the Lord’s dealing with man.

As this letter reached its halfway mark, Paul's theme switched from the doctrinal to the practical. And as it did, we note that the people in the Galatian churches were divided into three error-filled camps. Some were preaching the false Gospel that Paul condemned in the first part of book. But then some were erroneously taking a middle or compromising position: They said that sinners are indeed saved by the grace of a merciful God, but then after salvation, even non-Jews, must keep the letter of the Old Testament laws. If they don't live like Jews in the laws of Moses then they are not really Christians, or eternally saved. Paul, in verse 1 of chapter five attacks that error and exhorts us – “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Perhaps as a reaction to the first two false doctrines, a third group were leaning toward lawlessness, under the Cover-Girl make-up of "Liberty.” Now that we are saved from the punishment of sin, we may do anything and everything. Sin is no more sin. But Paul replied, “Brethren, use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh.” Salvation by grace gives no man a license to sin, either against God or against man. So, the cry of the legalists was: "To the law and to prophets.” The cry of their opponents was: "Give me liberty or give me death." But Paul was shouting: "The banner of the Lord is love amidst a hatred for sin!"

The answer to second and third problems is to crop off the extremes. “Brethren, if you will walk in the Spirit, rather than the flesh or the law, then you will please God.” “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (verse 16). “Walk in the Spirit; ye are not under the law” (verse 18). Obviously, it is important to walk in the Spirit; so what exactly is that?

Let's begin by giving SOME DEFINITIONS to the things that we find here.

When Paul says "walk," he is talking about every day practical living. Carry out your day-to-day life in the Spirit, rather than in the flesh. Notice that the word "Spirit" in this text is capitalized. That means that we're talking here about the Holy Spirit and not the human spirit. He is not saying, “walk with your head in the clouds,” but “walk in the light and leading of the Holy Spirit.”

The word "flesh" confuses some people. The context clearly shows that it is not talking about “the body” per se. Rather, this is the human nature which we have apart from the Lord. This flesh is what we inherit from Adam, our first Father. Paul might have said, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of your Adamic nature.” That is exactly the language that he uses elsewhere. So this is talking about the place where sin rests – the human heart, so to speak. As far as the omniscient God is concerned, it is not the body that sins; but the heart or soul. The body is not necessarily a sinful thing. Different religious groups throughout the ages have tried to limit and mortify the body, thinking that this stops sin, but they have it all wrong. Guns don’t murder; people do. And it’s not the hand pulling the trigger which kills, it is the heart which hates, or covets, or lusts. Sure, adultery, and fornication, and gluttony are sins performed by the body. But the sins of envy, heresies and hatred are not. They are sins that even an angel, without a body could commit. As Christ Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, adultery & murder are first committed in the heart. The word "flesh" refers to our sinful nature, and must not be confined to the body.

And to "fulfill" the lust of the flesh is to bring it to it's end and goal. The Greek word translated “fulfill” is "teleo" and it literally means "end." In verse 7 where we read, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against flesh,” the word "lusteth" refers to “a strong desire.” "The flesh has strong desires against the Spirit.” “The Spirit has a strong craving, a hatred, a thirst for revenge against the flesh.” And as Paul succinctly adds, "These are contrary the one to the other.”

Quickly let’s define those words which we find verses 19 to 21. Adultery is sexual immorality between at least one married person and another person. Fornication is sexual immorality or perversion of any sort, including adultery, homosexuality, beastiality, incest, and a host of other related things, including pornography. And remember that “they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Homosexuals are not citizens of the Kingdom of God. Uncleanness refers to general impurity, such as a dirty mind and such things. Lasciviousness speaks of licentiousness, wantonness and excess in an evil sort of way. Idolatry can involve either physical or emotional idols which divert attention from Jehovah. Witchcraft is the Greek word "pharmekia" which speaks of sorcery through the use of drugs. It is hard to argue that it doesn’t apply to modern drug abuse. Hatred is a word that you know very well – long term loathing. “And they which do such things shall not inherit kingdom of God.” Variance refers to a contentious nature, and emulations literally speaks of "zeal." But the use here implies "hot-headedness," and it includes jealousy. Wrath is short-term hatred, and strife speaks of factions; the causing of divisions. Murders and drunkenness you can define. And revellings speaks of the kind of rowdiness that often comes with drunkenness.

So what is this all-important "Walk in the Spirit” which defeats these things?"

Negatively, to walk in the Spirit means that we are not walking in the flesh. Perhaps Paul explains this idea more clearly in Romans 8 – Please turn to Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

“But ye are not in flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” This means that the critical question is: does the Spirit of God dwell in your heart? If you have not the spirit of God, you are not of God – you are not a Christian. The Holy Spirit resides in the heart of every born-again child of God. And the Spirit has a ministry in every one of those hearts which He possesses. He will be grieved, and He will convict the Christian when he sins. The Spirit beareth witness with our human spirit, that we are the children of God. As many as are the sons of God they are led by the Spirit of God – Romans 8:14. Where the Spirit of God is there is love; love for the Lord, love for the Word of God and for the saints.

Furthermore, those who walk in the Spirit, yearn to have their day-to-day lives directed by that Holy Spirit. They are grieved when the Holy Spirit is grieved. They long for inward and outward godliness. They listen to the Word of God and what the Spirit whispers in comments upon that Word. They are people of prayer and fellowship with the Lord.

Paul says that walking in the Spirit is the means of keeping the lust of the flesh in check.

Have you ever had a thought which you didn't want to think? Have you ever deliberately tried not to think that thought? Did you overcome that thought? If you did, then you are either a rare and strong person, or you possess the right tools. Generally the only way to conquer any thought, strong desire or emotion is to substitute something for it. To overcome the lusts of the flesh, we must divert our attentions from flesh. But what else is there? There is the Spirit. Let's say that our flesh has been beating us up with depression. I know from experience that thinking about depression almost always creates more depression. I'm sure that thinking about jealousy feeds that jealousy, but that isn’t one of my problems. There are probably a hundred subjects that we could put into this kind of equation. Actually, thinking about that tiny sin-seed, seems to water and warm it into growing all the more.

But if we walk in the Spirit, we shall overcome depression, hatred, jealousy, strife and all the rest of those sins in Paul’s list. And what is it to walk in the Spirit? It is to live under His control. So if we read God's word more, memorize it on a regular basis and meditate on its precepts... If we make prayer an incessant part of our heart's activities... If we seek God's will and to obey God's will... If we meditate on the nearness of the return of the Lord... If we often picture Calvary... Then we shall find that the lusts of the flesh will have been overcome, by the grace and power of God. And then we shall glorify the Lord. The Israelite's who maintained their taste for manna, forgot about the leeks and garlics of Egypt.

Unfortunately, just because you walk in the Spirit that doesn’t mean that your struggles will cease.

Yes, they will come to a conclusion some day, but only when flesh is destroyed at our translation. In the mean time, you will find that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.” If you find that there is no great struggle within your heart between right and wrong, good and evil, righteousness and sin, then something is wrong. Again, it could very well mean that you are not a Child of God. You are not the home, residence and temple of the Holy Spirit. 

We often sing the hymn “Victory in Jesus, my Saviour forever...” There IS a great deal of victory in the Christian's life. But for every victory there is a bucket-full of just plain "struggle." Walking in the Spirit in fact produces much of that struggle. But as it is for the heavy-weight boxer, the struggle is part of life. This is a contest that the child of God should want to face. And the closer we get to the Lord, the more the struggle will reveal itself.

This conflict is a gift from the Lord, and therefore it should be a kind of joy. It is hard, but it is blessed, because it is an expression of our truest love. And this conflict has been guaranteed an eventual victory.

Let us strive to live and walk in the Spirit.