Galatians 5:16-26
Keeping in step
Growing up in Australia in the 1970’s one of the rituals that we went through when I was in primary school was to line up before school began. The bell would ring and we would all rush to line up in our classes on the asphalt around which our classrooms were built (no inside auditorium in my school).
From memory we would then stand at attention as they played the national anthem which was in those days, “God save the Queen”. There might be a couple of announcements and then one by one, year by year, each class would go off and walk/march into class while remaining in our lines following the teacher. I don’t remember my school doing it but in some schools in those days they would even chant “left, right, left, right”. It was almost a military operation.
In the reading today believers are being called to keep in step with the Spirit (v25). The Greek word that our English Bibles have translated keep in step was one that a teacher in the 1970s could have used to keep their kids in line as they marched into the school. It had a sense of standing in a row or walking in a straight line[1] and here believers are being told that as we walk we should keep in line or in step with the Spirit. Today we want to look at why this is important and what keeping in step with the Spirit looks like. To do that we want to look at what Paul says about…
- Walking by the Spirit (16-18)
- What it doesn’t look like – the acts of the flesh (19-21)
- What it does look like – the fruit of the Spirit (22-24); and then come back to the call…
- Keep in step with the Spirit (25-26).
Walk by the Spirit (16-18)
In verse 16-18 Paul called the believers in Galatians to walk by the Spirit and explained why they were to do so.
Galatians 5:16-18
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[2].
These words follow on from the previous paragraph where Paul called the believers to not use their freedom to indulge the flesh (as an opportunity for the flesh), but rather they were to serve one another humbly in love and to not bite and devour one another. How it is possible to live this way Paul has explained in these verses. He tells them to walk by the Spirit, and you won’t gratify/fulfill[3] the desires of the flesh.
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And you won’t gratify the desires of the flesh
The reference to the flesh in these verses isn’t just a reference to the physical body, although at other times in the NT can be used this way[4]. Paul’s use of the word here refers to the source of our desires and should be thought of as our fallen human nature that has been corrupted by sin and rebellion and is opposed to the things of God (Romans 8:7)).
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The flesh and the Spirit’s desires are contrary/antithetical
The flesh, we are told, desires what is contrary to the Spirit of God and the Spirit desires what is contrary to it. Paul says that they are in conflict with one another and therefore we should not just follow or do whatever we want to do. Rather we should continuously walk or be led by the Spirit.
The truth is that you are not the right guide for what is best for you to do. Our natural inclination is to gratify our own selfish desires and to please ourselves rather than God. We need to be led by the Spirit. The Spirit of God is working in us, and we are to have our minds set on what the Spirit desires. Listen to how the apostle Paul puts it in Romans….
Romans 8:5-6
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
We are to let the Spirit govern us, and not the flesh. We are not to gratify (or do) what they flesh desires but have our minds set on the what the Spirit desires (literally = the things of the Spirit). The Spirit of God is working in us, and we are to live according to what the Spirit desires and what the work the Spirit is doing in us is to lead us and change us so that we become more and more like the Lord Jesus (see Romans 13:14 where the opposite of not gratify the flesh is to clothe oneself with Christ). We are not under the Law but we are to walk by the Spirit of Christ whose work is to see Christ formed in us (see Galatians 4:19). What that looks like and what it doesn’t is explained in the verses to follow.
The acts of the flesh (19-21)
Firstly, Paul has provided a whole list of things that are acts of the flesh. These are acts or behaviours that result from the gratification (or the following through on) the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:19-21
19 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.
Paul wrote they are obvious. It’s clear what they are. Paul had already warned them about these things. These are the things that people do because instead of walking or keeping in step with the Spirit, they follow the desires of the flesh. For those who like to catalogue things, the list is often divided into four sections: sexual sins, false worship, social sins and acts of dissipation. The other thing to note is that there is a lot of overlap in the terms that are used. Let me just run through the list with you…
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Sexual sins
The first three acts have to do with unrestrained sexual desires. The word that the NIV has translated as sexual immorality was a general term for all sexual activity outside of marriage of a man and woman, whether it was adultery or sex before marriage. Impurity is listed next and is closely associated with sexual immorality focusing on the unwholesomeness or uncleanness of sexual sin and lastly the act of debauchery is a word that emphasizes the abhorrent nature of things that are done when all restraint is removed.
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False worship
The next two acts have to do with people abandoning the worship of God turning to either idolatry, the worship of other things or witchcraft that involved the use of potions and spells in attempts to manipulate the supernatural world to get what they wanted.
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Social sins
The next group of acts are those which cause division and fighting among people. Paul lists 8 acts that cause people to bite and devour one another: (1) Hatred; (2) Discord (conflict); (3) jealousy, (4) fits of rage (which uncontrolled explosive anger), (5) selfish ambition, (6) dissensions (divisiveness), (7) factions (when people choose sides) and lastly (8) envy. These are all acts that disrupt the life of a community and are the outworking of gratifying our own selfish desires rather than humbly loving our neighbour.
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Acts of dissipation
The last couple of acts have to do with dissipated living: drunkenness and orgies (or wild drunken parties or revelry).
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The list isn’t exhaustive
The list isn’t meant to be exhaustive because Paul concludes the list with the words “and things like these”. There were other things that he could have included which he hasn’t. But these 15 things in the list are examples of things that people do when they don’t walk by the Spirit but live to indulge or act out the desires of the flesh. These are things that those who are led by the Spirit are to put off and have done with because they know these things are antithetical to what the Spirit desires and is working in us to produce.
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You won’t inherit the kingdom
And Paul has warned the believers, as he had previously done so, that those who live this way (literally practice or continue to practice these things as way of life) won’t inherit the kingdom of God. If your life is lived to indulge the flesh then clearly, Paul believes that the Spirit of Christ doesn’t live in you and you are not a child of God and an heir. He is not talking about occasionally falling into sin but continually living out and practicing these things. You won’t inherit the kingdom. As Paul says later in chapter 6, God won’t be deceived …
Galatians 6:7-8
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man sows what he reaps. 8Whoever sows to please the flesh from the flesh will reap destruction.
The fruit of the Spirit (22-23)
In contrast to the acts of the flesh Paul lists in verses 22 to 23 the fruit of the Spirit. In the list are virtues or character traits that the Spirit of God produces in the life of a believer. There are 9 altogether.
At the head of the list is love and it is at the head probably because it is the the chief of these virtues or the one that sum up all of them. If there was one word that captures or sums up everything that the Spirit is seeking to produce in us it would be love. He wants us to love as Christ has loved us and all these virtues or qualities are in some way necessary if we are to serve one another humbly in love.
The second of the virtues is “joy” and without a joy which comes from God, it would perhaps be impossible to give ourselves to love and service of others. We would be looking for joy in the wrong things. Peace comes next and it is peace that we have with others because we now have peace with God. It’s what we need if we are to love one another rather than biting and devouring one another.
Patience or forbearance is the fourth virtue and we need forbearance/patience to keep on loving people who do things to us or against us that don’t make them easy to love. Indeed in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 Paul writes that love is patient (same word) and that it is also kind (13:4) which is the next virtue in the list. Those who are kind show grace to others in need whether they are deserve it or not.
Goodness is very similar to kindness. Later Paul will say that we aren’t weary at doing good (6:9). Faithfulness is about being true and dependable. Gentleness is the manner or the care that you take in dealing with people. Self-control is the ability to restrain oneself so that you might love and serve others.
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Love involves all the virtues
This is the fruit that Spirit produces in us. The Spirit produces love and love is the sort of thing that involves lots of other virtues that really can’t be separated out without diluting our understanding of what love is.
If you remove one of the colours that make up pure beam of white light, then the light would no longer be perfectly white. If ChatGPT is to be believed, if you remove red, the light will appear to become cyan and if you remove green it will be magenta and without the blue it will appear yellowish. I don’t know how true that is (ie what colours are made) but hopefully you get the point.
You can’t really exercise love without patience or without self-control or without showing kindness or exercising gentleness in your dealings with others. This is part of the reason why I think Paul uses the singular word for ‘fruit’ rather than referring to the ‘fruits of the Spirits’.
It could be that the word “fruit” is just a collective noun, but it also might be that all of these things come together to make up the total package of what it means to love like Christ. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love is patient. It is kind. It always perseveres. And from what he says here, it is is gentle and it exercises self-control. It is goodness and faithfulness.
You can’t say that you love someone but you’re not willing to be patient with them or not prepared to be gentle or instead of exercising self-control you respond in fits of rage. All these things go together and are the work of the Spirit in our lives.
Keep in step with the Spirit
Paul ends this section by arguing that since we belong to Christ and live by the Spirit then all of us are to keep in step with the Spirit. We are back to where we started – have a look again at verses 24 through to 26. It has to do with who we are.
Galatians 5:24-26
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.
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Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit
We are no longer people who are enslaved to the flesh. When we become Christians, we died with Christ, and we have crucified the flesh are no longer enslaved to sin, and the passion and desires of the flesh as we once were. The flesh or the sinful nature isn’t total destroyed or non-existent, but its power has been broken. And we now have the Spirit of Christ dwelling and working in us. But Paul is calling us to keep in step with the Spirit. In chapter 6 and verse 8, he calls believers to please the Spirit not the flesh. And what the Spirit desires is that we become joyful, patient, kind, gracious, faithful, self-controlled, peaceful and loving. These are the things of the Spirit that we are to set our minds. We are to keep in step with the Spirit so that his fruit continues to be cultivated in our lives so that we might serve one another humbly in love.
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Pull out the weeds
It also means getting rid of weeds – the things that would prevent you being fruitful. We are to say ‘no’ to the flesh and what its desires. That’s why Paul ends this chapter telling the believers not to become conceited, provoking and envying each other. These things are contrary to what the Spirit desires. We are not to gratify the desires of our flesh for those desires lead to the acts of the flesh and we know that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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It is the Spirit of Christ who is working in you.
It is a struggle because there is a conflict going on. You won’t find it to be a stroll in the park. There is a conflict going on. But we must remember who it is that lives and is working in you and who ultimately produces the fruit in you. It is the Spirit of Christ who lives in you and is working in you, and that’s why it’s his fruit. So, keep in step with him and don’t indulge the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit. Don’t do whatever you want to do but be led by the Spirit and keep in step with him and serve one another humbly in love.
[1] Fitz Rienecker, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament,p518.
[2] The New International Version. (2011). Zondervan.
[3] The word that most of the English versions have translated as “gratify” is the Greek word is τελεω (teleoࠢ) and has the sense of bringing something to completion or accomplish.
[4] See Romans 4:1; Gal. 6:8; Eph. 2:15.
