This passage makes it clear that believers are called to be free. In the context of the Book of Galatians, this means freedom from the Law and freedom from slavery to sin. We are called to be free people, as that is what Jesus died to make us!
But Paul quickly adds that we are not to use our blood-bought freedom to indulge the flesh; indeed, the Spirit of God is freeing us from bondage to our flesh!
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18 NIV
The Spirit of God is all about the Son of God (John 14 through 16). He points us to Jesus’ perfect life lived in our place, to Jesus’ substitutionary death, to Jesus’ powerful resurrection, to Jesus’ ongoing ministry of intercession. The Spirit is all about the Son, so if we are walking by the Spirit, we will become all about Jesus, too. And we won’t be living in bondage to substances because the Spirit provides power to walk in our new life of freedom from gratifying our flesh.
Question 6. According to Galatians 5:17 NIV, what conflict is every believer experiencing?
Every believer has a conflict raging within us. We have competing desires. We have the desire of the flesh, which is to gratify itself, and we have the desires of the Spirit, which is to crucify our ungodly desires. This battle will be with us for life; we will have competing desires until the day we die.
Being free in Christ does not mean that we are free from temptations. And these desires of our flesh might, at times, cause us to fall so that “we do not do what we want.” But if this happens, we come to the cross and wash, and the Holy Spirit will raise us to walk again in the newness of life.
You, as a believer, are under grace, not under Law. Why is this true? Because when Jesus died, your “old man” (natural self) died with Him (Romans 6:6), and the Law only applies to people who are alive (Romans 7:1-2).
So, if you are a believer in Jesus, you are not under the Law’s condemnation, and you are not under the Law’s supervision. You are under grace (Romans 6:14). God has determined to interact with you only based on grace, not Law, for the rest of your life! What a gift!
To finish this lesson today, please notice the contrast between a life lived in bondage to the flesh, and a life lived by the power of the Spirit:
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Galatians 5:19-26 NIV
Question 7. According to all that you have learned so far, what makes the difference between living like Galatians 5:19-21 and living like Galatians 5:22-26?
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In verses 19-21, we see that our self-centered flesh lives at its worst. In verses 22-26, we see our crucified self experiencing the power of the Spirit.
And what has made the difference between the two? We are learning to walk by the Spirit.
The Spirit, who we have found waiting for us at the cross, has led us away from sin and leads us to daily walk with the Savior. We are learning to keep in step with Him (Galatians 5:25), like a child who runs to keep up with his parent as they walk across a busy and dangerous intersection.
Friend, we are naturally fleshly people. We are born gratifying our flesh and enslaved in the darkness. But supernaturally, we are born again as spiritual people who are learning to walk by the power of the Spirit.
This means that we are learning to come to the cross and wash, that we are learning to hear the good news often and believe it. And as we do, the Spirit of God works in our hearts to free us from darkness and break the sinful chains, and to walk us away from bondage to substances.
Question 8. What did you learn in this lesson today, and how will you implement it into your life? Please share.
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Wow! One thing that has been hidden in hearing the message of the love of Jesus who died on the cross for my freedom is that I need to believe. I really took for granted how important believing is, sometimes I go around with this knowledge and be satisfied by knowing, the question is do I believe?
I relearned how to come to the cross, how to instead of being drunk on wine to be filled with the Spirit instead. When I want to drink/get drunk, let's be real, I will go to the cross, see Jesus taking my place, my punishment for what my flesh does all the time. And I will be grateful and filled with the Spirit instead.
I find the power of the Holy Spirit as I trust and continually stand in the belief that the King of Kings gave up His throne to put on flesh, experienced my struggles, and joyfully laid down His life to endured my punishment. As I wash in the agony and victory of the cross, the power to demolish strongholds comes through the divine power of His counselor who is found on the mount of Calvary.