Paul now begins a conversation with the churches at Galatia which gives them directions as to how to live a life of grace/faith. Life in Christ immediately results in the Holy Spirit entering into a believer and producing within certain, identifiable characteristics. The Holy Spirit provides the power to walk a Spirit-filled life. Paul says “walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The word walk implies a continuous action and means that a Christian surrenders to the Spirit’s control as he lives his daily life. The Word of God works hand in hand with the Spirit of God to direct our attitudes and actions; in other words, our lifestyle reflects the desires of the Spirit rather than the desires of the flesh. He goes on to say that 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.” There is truly a battle which rages between the works of the Spirit and the works of the flesh – they are totally opposite. Paul then ties in the teaching that he has been emphasizing for the first four chapters of Galatians – those who are “led by the Spirit…are not under the law.” Those Judaizers who were teaching that salvation comes through the law were being led by the flesh – they felt obedience to the law would result in righteous behavior; however, Paul was stating that righteous attitudes and actions only result from the power of the Spirit (5:18). Circumcision had no power to result in good works, even though this is what the false teachers had been telling the churches at Galatia. Paul’s point is very clear – God desires for His followers to walk in the power of the Spirit and not trust our flesh to bring righteous attitudes and actions. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin through His death on the cross and now He has provided us with the Spirit of God, who will enable us to do good works.
Dear God, thank You for the Spirit of God who provides the power to produce righteous attitudes and actions.
