The key truth from Galatians 5:16 is that not gratifying the desires of our flesh is presented as an automatic result of walking by the Spirit. So our emphasis, then, should not be on stopping the gratification of the flesh but rather on learning how to walk by the Spirit.
Think about religion for a minute, with all of its prohibitions and regulations. All religions in the world have one thing in common: they tell us to stop doing something. Stop lying, stop lusting, stop overdrinking, and stop being depressed! just stop!
But believers are told to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), to “live by the Spirit,” and to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). And if we learn how to do this, the result will be that we no longer live a lifestyle of gratifying our flesh. Do you see the power of this?
Question 2. According to Galatians 5:17, what is the conflict that you and I experience every day as Christians?
It is true. The flesh of every person naturally desires what is contrary to God’s Spirit. Our flesh, like a little toddler, wants to be gratified. It wants a pacifier. It wants what it wants, and it wants it now!
The Spirit of God wants us to grow and mature out of a life of fleshly gratification. He wants us to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. He wants us to learn to live a life of crucifying our flesh rather than gratifying it.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24
These two competing desires within us, the flesh and the Spirit of God, can lead us to great failure when we choose to let our flesh live by feeding its appetite for sensual indulgence. The end result can often be great harm done to ourselves and others. I’ve experienced this firsthand; possibly you have too. The devil, using our desire to gratify our flesh, comes to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10).
So, these competing desires within us are totally at odds with each other and can never be reconciled. If we indulge our flesh, we will sin in ways we do not really want. “They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want” (Galatians 5:17).
In this lesson, we talked about the way to freedom, which is in “Walking by the Spirit.” In the next lesson, we will talk about how we receive the Spirit of God so that we might learn how to begin walking by Him and not by our flesh.
My issue was that I needed to lose weight. The truths of washing at the cross, walking by the Spirit, and warring against the flesh have been very effective for me. Walking by the Spirit was the key to winning the battle against overeating. It produces results by addressing the root of the problem and showing the solution in Jesus Christ. Even dyed-in-the-wool gluttons like me can find love and comfort through walking by the Spirit of God. It changed my life and can change yours too. Marlene