Galatians 5 - Not the Flesh, But the Spirit: Walking in Love

Intro / Review

In chapter 5, Paul applies his teaching strongly and specifically. Let’s review what Galatians has already taught us.

The Purpose of Freedom Is Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

^ Talk about this verse - something not forcing everything into the “holiness is the ultimate purpose for everything” box.

You Can’t Have Jesus AND Law

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

He begins chapter 5 by telling the Galatians that if they want to keep living in obligation to the Law, they can’t have Christ too. Grace and works don’t mix: either you trust Christ fully, or you’re on your own to attempt to obey the Law perfectly. In verse 6, Paul brings up a theme from chapter 2: whether you’re a Jew (circumcision) or a Gentile (uncircumcision), the only thing that gets you to Christ is faith.

Law Encroachment Is a Spreading Poison

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

Then Paul writes a specific rebuke to the false teacher(s) who were leading the Galatians astray. He calls the false teaching “leaven” – an influence that would spread through the church until the bondage had affected everyone.

The Purest Expression of Freedom Is Love

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Without Love, We’d Devour Each Other

In verse 13, Paul starts describing what our liberty looks like. True liberty does not make excuses for sin, it serves others by love. Paul sums up all that the Law said about relationships with others the same way Christ did: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39). If your “liberty” ever conflicts with showing love, love has priority. How can you enjoy the love-based liberty? By walking in the Spirit, Paul says, and avoiding the lusts of the flesh. Here we find another contrast in Galatians: Spirit vs. flesh. The two have conflicting desires. The phrase “lust of the flesh” refers to desires that show man’s rebellion against God. On the opposite side of the fight are the desires of the Holy Spirit. Being led by the Spirit (fulfilling His desires) results in doing right, but it is not the same as living under the requirements of the Law.

Love Comes From the Spirit

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Paul specifically describes the works of the flesh – the multiple ways that flesh-living appears in action. The works in verse 19 refer to different types of immorality. Verse 20 lists false religion, hateful reactions, rivalry and conflict. Verse 21 talks about ways that people cast off restraint and live loosely. The result of living in these flesh-works is frightening: a person whose life is consistently full of flesh will not enter God’s kingdom. Simply put, perpetually fulfilling the desires of your flesh shows that you’re not saved.
On the other hand, when a person fulfills the desires of the Holy Spirit, there is fruit (a set of noticeable results) in his life. The fruit of the Spirit is a full picture of the man who walks by faith – not a list of separate traits that you should work on one at a time. The focus that Galatians puts on the difference between faith and works applies to these verse too: the fruit of the Spirit is not something that can be worked up by human effort. It is the inevitable result of walking in the Spirit and fulfilling His desires. The Spirit produces the fruit; we don’t force it. The end of verse 23 is a little confusing until we read it along with the rest of the book. What has “law” referred to through the last four chapters of Paul’s letter? It is the Law given through Moses that disciplined the Jews and prepared them for Christ’s coming. Paul guards against the potential misunderstanding that walking in the Spirit will somehow contradict the Law that God gave. No, verse 23 ends with the answer that “the Law is not against a Spirit-filled life.”

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Paul ends the chapter with a call to walk in the Spirit and put aside proud, petty arguments.

Application

We often get fixated on the specific vices Paul mentions and turn those verses into a checklist of sins to avoid (and the Spirit’s fruit into a virtue checklist). I’d like us to avoid that trap and instead, talk about freedom, love, and the Spirit in our lives.