Walking in the Spirit Day by Day

Galatians 5:1-16

Gal. 5:1—The believer is to turn away from anything that smacks of legalism and instead rest in Christ’s triumphant work for him and live in the power of Christ’s Spirit.

These Galatian Christians were indwelt by the Holy Spirit Who would enable them to act out in their experience their maturity of Christian life in which they were placed but they were depriving themselves of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Galatian Christians had been living their lives with dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Galatian Christians were not depending upon the indwelling Spirit to produce in their lives the beauty of the Lord Jesus.

Christ lives in us by the power, Person, and Agency of the Holy Spirit.

ENTER THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit will only work within the legal confines of Calvary (Rom. 8:1-3). Faith in the Cross automatically guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not help you keep the law. The Holy Spirit lives within all believers.

God gets glory out of victory over sin, and that’s what the Holy Spirit is all about.

At conversion, the Spirit of God enters the believer’s life; it is imperative that the believer be baptized with the Holy Spirit after conversion’ which will always be accompanied by the speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance (Acts 2:4). The mere fact of being baptized with the Holy Spirit guarantees very little. The believer must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Only then, will the Holy Spirit work for us such as we need desperately. Upon discovering the Holy Spirit, Paul obtained victory. The Holy Spirit then becomes the source of a dynamic that can banish the inner sin and death which Jesus has already overcome (Rom. 8:2). One must give control to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit can make us alive in our mortality. The Spirit can enable us to do what we could never do unaided. As 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This doesn’t mean that Jesus is the Holy Spirit, but it is because of through what Jesus did at the cross, which enables the Holy Spirit to abide within us in the first place.

The Holy Spirit enables us to act in ways that are contrary to the natural impulses of our sinful nature. Walking by the Spirit, we are released from the old master that produces hatred. The Holy Spirit is presented to us as the key to this new freedom to do good; it is our faith in the cross which gives the Holy Spirit proper freedom, underlined by Paul’s order to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).

Only by submitting to Jesus can we experience the immense power for true goodness that is provided for us in the Holy Spirit. What we could never do in our own strength, the Spirit can enable us to do.

Gal. 5:2—The issue is Spirit versus flesh.

THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS THROUGH THE APOSTLE

Those living by faith have through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.

We know that one can be admitted into a state of righteousness only through the action of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is either by faith in Christ, or it doesn’t really matter. The Holy Spirit tells us it does matter.

Gal. 5:3—The Galatians would lose the aid of the Holy Spirit in the living of their Christian lives, if they assumed the burden of the legalistic system.

The ethics of the Pauline epistles and the ministry of the Holy Spirit take the place of and are a vast improvement upon the Mosaic Law.

The Galatians began in the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit brought them to salvation (Gal. 3:3). The Holy Spirit would not help them if they resorted to the Law.

ENTERS THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit has been there all the time. If we resort to works, the Holy Spirit will not function. When we place our faith in the cross, the Holy Spirit then steps in with His power.

Romans 8:1–2 NASB95

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Gal. 5:4--Justification by Law is energized by man’s will; righteousness by faith is energized by the Holy Spirit.

A backslider can come back to God.

I remember the first time I sensed the convicting power of the Holy Spirit upon my heart. I could not have been brought to this place of revelation without the power of the Holy Spirit working upon God’s Word. The only way salvation can be understood, is for it to be preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Most preachers do not preach under any anointing of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word separated from the Spirit cannot affect anything. Just because it is the Word of God, does not necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit is anointing it. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (Lk. 4:18). Many preachers do not have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Most have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 2:4.

Galatians 5:5 NASB95

For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

“We wait in faith through the Spirit for the full realization of God’s righteousness.”

“Through the Spirit”—this is a reminder that the Holy Spirit will only function from the foundation of faith.

THROUGH THE SPIRIT

“For we through the Spirit,” says we are living through the Spirit. Those who are under the Law love by means of the “flesh”—their reliance is upon the flesh instead of the Spirit. The one depending on the Spirit is guaranteed of success. The Holy Spirit anoints the preacher to preach the Word. The Holy Spirit then seizes the sinner with conviction. Faith in Christ is also supplied by the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who superintends all that is done, hence “through the Spirit.” It is only “through the Spirit,” that one can have a victorious Christian life. The Spirit of God works only as it regards the righteousness of Christ. It is all “through the Spirit.” The reason you are dominated by the sin nature is because you don’t have the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not function when you are trying to overcome this thing within yourself. The Cross will guarantee the help of the Holy Spirit which will give you victory for which you have so long sought.

Romans 8:23 NASB95

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

Faith guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit.

Gal. 5:6—Godliness results from Jesus Christ living through you by the Holy Spirit. God calls us to serve others just as Jesus did, by the power of the same Holy Spirit and in the same gracious freedom.

True believers look forward through the Spirit to being accepted by God on the ground of faith.

Gal. 5:7—The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul here likens the Christian life to a race.

The Holy Spirit is now giving you victory over sin. By the power and help of the Holy Spirit, we can “run well!”

False teachers had deprived the Galatians of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Gal. 5:10—Galatians is the greatest teaching in the Word of God as it regards a rejection of the flesh and dependence on the Spirit.

Warnings of false teachers is one of the great office works of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

Believers being baptized with the Holy Spirit is not the first concern of most preachers.

Gal. 5:11—The Holy Spirit comes through the cross.

Gal. 5:12—one must remember that it was the Holy Spirit who told Paul what to say.

The Holy Spirit teaches about the cross. The Holy Spirit reveals truths.

Gal. 5:13—it is only through the life of the Spirit and by the Spirit’s power that the Christian can live for God and not fulfill the desires of his sinful nature. And the Holy Spirit always works through the cross of Jesus Christ according to the price there paid.

When Paul speaks of flesh, he means all that man is and is capable of as a human being apart from the Holy Spirit in his life. Anything in the spiritual sense which is birthed by man and not by the Holy Spirit can be said to not be of God. The Holy Spirit must birth all things spiritual within our hearts and lives.

Slavery to one another is possible only because Christians are delivered through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit from the necessity of serving sin in their lives.

The believer has both the desire and power through the Holy Spirit to keep from sinning and to do God’s will.

The indwelling Holy Spirit exercises a stricter supervision over the believer than Law ever did over the unbeliever. The believer has passed into the control of God the Holy Spirit. The restraining hand in the world is the Holy Spirit. It is the general ignorance and lack of recognition of the ministry of the Holy Spirit that is responsible for the tendency in the church of adding law to grace.

The Mosaic Law is substituted for the restraint of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dealt with men before the Mosaic Law was given. To acquaint the saint with the ministry of the indwelling Spirit is victory over sin. The controlling ministry of the Holy Spirit is the secret of holy living.

Many believers think that because they are saved and Spirit-filled, that they can obey the Commandments. Why cannot the believer keep the law now that he is saved and Spirit-filled? The Holy Spirit will not help him. The only way these things can be done is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Man is unable to do what needs to be done, without the Holy Spirit.

WHY WON’T THE HOLY SPIRIT HELP THE BELIEVERS KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS?

It would seem that the keeping of the Moral Law, is the very thing the Holy Spirit would help us to do. The Holy Spirit won’t help us keep the Commandments. The Holy Spirit will not help anyone to do that which is error.

The Holy Spirit works and functions in the realm of the cross. That’s where the Holy Spirit works. We now have the Holy Spirit fighting for us.

HOW DOES THIS WORK AS IT RELATES TO THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The Believer after coming to Christ, should immediately go on and be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Without the baptism with the Holy Spirit, all that He needs to do, cannot be done. The Holy Spirit definitely comes within their heart and life; the further evidence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, is available and commanded of all believers. Many Spirit-filled believers think that the presence of the Holy Spirit automatically guarantees all the victory that we will ever need. When that doesn’t happen, the problem is not with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit functions in the capacity of Calvary. The Holy Spirit will then work for us. Untold numbers of Spirit-filled believers are going “cold turkey.” The believer no doubt thinks he is operating in the Spirit. Failure is a sure sign of functioning in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Most thinks works of the flesh is the Spirit but it really isn’t. If the believer believes the price paid in the cross is for victory for the believer, the Holy Spirit will begin to work. That which was impossible will now become easy, because the Holy Spirit is accomplishing the task. The Holy Spirit functions and works in our faith in the cross.

SUBMISSION TO THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Agape is a fruit of the Spirit. The real alternative to the regimentation of legalism is the discipline of the human spirit by submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This slavery of love as related to men is the continuing aspect of the new life under the Spirit which began in the believer’s “surrender to Christ.” How often men find new life in Christ and the freedom it brings but are still not living under the Spirit! To enter the new slavery of love directed by the Holy Spirit, is to truly begin life under the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit produces love in the heart of the yielded believer. Our faith insures the help of the Holy Spirit.

Gal. 5:14—Paul is suggesting that a new life of love is made possible within the Christian community through the Spirit and the Law finds fulfillment.

The Law will be met in those who, being called by God and being filled with the Spirit, and allow God to produce the Spirit’s fruit in their character.

In Romans 8:4 Paul speaks of the fact that the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in the Christian by the Holy Spirit.

The believer will obey the Law by the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 2:20). This is a dynamic produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is constantly prodding us to love—the love of God and the fruit of the Spirit.

Obedience is from the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit through Paul roundly condemns sin.

The Law of Christ is the fruit of the new nature and the Spirit of God.

Galatians 5:16 NASB95

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

What is the solution to the destroying that is all to common in churches? The answer is in living by the Spirit. It is the Spirit alone who can keep the believer truly free. The contrast between the “flesh” and the “Spirit” is one of the themes of the New Testament. The flesh is anything which is not born of the Spirit of God.

THE SPIRIT

It is the Spirit of God who takes up residence in Christians to enable us to understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). The Spirit is the presence of God in believing man. The Spirit is not natural to man in his fallen state. But this does not mean that by the gift of the Spirit the redeemed man escapes the need to struggle against sin. The Spirit simply makes victory possible and only to the degree that the believer “lives by the Spirit” or “walks in Him.”

WALK IN THE SPIRIT

Paul admonishes the Galatians to continue to govern their lives by the inward leading of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:5 NASB95

For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

The secret of victory over sin is found in subjection to the empowering force of the Holy Spirit, as He indwells the human spirit.

We must be careful to notice that Paul puts upon the believer the responsibility of refusing to obey the orders of the evil nature by conducting himself in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been given him as the agent to counteract the evil nature. There must be a cooperation of the saint with the Holy Spirit and His work of sanctifying the life. The Holy Spirit is not a perpetual motion machine which operates automatically in the life of the believer. The choice lies with the believer as to whether he is going to yield to the Holy Spirit or obey the evil nature. The Spirit is always there to give him victory over that nature as the saint yields to Christ and at the same time places his trust in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works on the principles of the cross.

THE HOLY SPIRIT KNOWS

Everything that Jesus did at the cross and the resurrection is known fully by the Holy Spirit. The believer’s dependence on the Spirit guarantees the benefits brought to pass in our lives by the Person and Agency of the Holy Spirit.

We’re told to “walk in the Spirit.” satan knows that if we “walk in the Spirit,” victory will be ours.

The believer must, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, obtain God’s will. The Holy Spirit guarantees the victory that had been purchased at such great price (Rom. 8:1-2). There is a strong assurance that if the believer depends on the Spirit to give him both the desire and the power to do the will of God, he will not fall into evil.

The Holy Spirit can do what is needed to be done. The Holy Spirit alone can give victory over the flesh.

Walking in the Spirit

The Holy Spirit enables us to subdue the lust of the flesh when we continuously submit ourselves to His power and control.

Galatians 5:17 NASB95

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

The spiritual conflict within believers involves the whole person; the struggle is whether they will surrender to the sinful nature’s inclinations and again submit to sin’s control, or whether they will yield to the Spirit’s demands and continue under Christ’s dominion (v. 16; Ro. 8:4-14).

A characteristic of the contrast between flesh and Spirit, is that the two principles are in conflict. The Spirit does no evil. The flesh is to become increasingly subdues as the Christian learns by grace to walk in the Spirit. The Spirit intends that we depend on God’s grace.

THE FLESH VERSUS THE SPIRIT

Gal. 5:17--”For the flesh constantly has a strong desire to suppress the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit constantly has a strong desire to suppress the flesh.” The Holy Spirit is there to oppose the flesh and give the believer victory over it. When the Holy Spirit places a course of conduct upon the heart of the believer, the flesh opposes the Spirit in an effort to prevent the believer from obeying the Spirit. The desires of the flesh will not be fulfilled if the believer walks in the Spirit, because life in the Spirit is completely opposite to the way of life by the flesh.

Through the Holy Spirit’s work, the flesh is removed. The Holy Spirit is teaching through the Apostle that victory is promised over the carnal nature.

Yield to the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. Jesus emphasized the the absolute necessity of being born of water and of the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5). Rom. 8:9 instructs us that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, Who is the Holy Spirit granted by Christ, that person does not belong to the Lord. The Holy Spirit indwells every person who has become a Christian. (This does not mean that every Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit.) The indwelling Holy Spirit is the nature of Christ.

Gal. 2:20 gives the account of the struggle that rages between the sin nature and the Holy Spirit. Paul, immediately after his conversion, did not know how to yield to the Holy Spirit. But he finally yielded to the Holy Spirit. There must be a constant denial of the sinful nature and acceptance of the Holy Spirit.

INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Paul does not mention the cross nearly as much in these statements as he does the Holy Spirit. Most of his instruction is given concerning the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who guarantees all that is done by the Lord at Calvary and the resurrection. The Holy Spirit must be given freedom in our lives in order to do His sanctifying work. Learning to cooperate with the Spirit is not altogether easy. The Holy Spirit is a Person. The Holy Spirit is given to us for a particular purpose. It is not that the Holy Spirit is hard to get along with. The believer learns to look to the Spirit, depend on the Spirit, trust in the Spirit, let the Spirit have His way.

There is a struggle between self and the Spirit of God. The believer must have the help of the Holy Spirit in order to do what he needs to do and live as he needs to live. One must have the help of the Holy Spirit and on a constant basis. We must have a constant dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will exhibit the power needed. This is the manner in which the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit is guaranteeing our victory. The Holy Spirit through Paul does teach that sin is not to have dominion over us. The subjection of the saint to the personal control of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the secret of victory. The Holy Spirit will suppress the activities of the evil nature as the saint trusts Him to do so.

“And these are contrary,” refers to the “flesh” and the “Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit was sent forth by the struck Savior. The Holy Spirit was shed forth as the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice (1 Cor. 10:4). The reception of the Holy Spirit immediately causes war. The Holy Spirit fights in us.

Without the Holy Spirit, there is no way we can be what we ought to be in Christ. Without the Holy Spirit helping us, there is no way we can overcome the devil. Most of the Christian world is trying to do the things which we know we must do, without the Holy Spirit.

THE BELIEVER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is not an automatic thing. The Holy Spirit helps us. Many Christians believe little in the Holy Spirit or His working and power. The Holy Spirit must have cooperation. When we believe victory was won by Christ, the Holy Spirit will give us His power.

The Spirit and the flesh are diametrically opposed to each other.

The two forces fighting within us are the Holy Spirit and the sinful nature. We face constant tension between the Spirit and our sinful nature. We shouldn’t be surprised when we experience resistance as we follow the Spirit’s leading. We need to o what the Holy Spirit instructs. satan uses our nature to thwart the leading of the Spirit but we will receive reminders from the Holy Spirit not to give in. The Holy Spirit will give us dependable guidance. (For more on the conflict between the Spirit and our sinful nature, see Rom. 8:5, 9; Eph. 4:23-24; and Col. 3:3-8).

Galatians 5:18 NASB95

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Life by the Spirit is neither legalism or license. Being led by the Spirit does not imply acceptance of what happens. Responding to the Spirit is described by three mutually interpreting words in verses 16, 18, and 25, “walk,” “led,” and “live.”

That Spirit and flesh are in conflict is illustrated by the contrasting lists of the works of the flesh and of the fruit of the Spirit. If one’s conduct is characterized by the traits of the “works of the flesh” list, then he is either not a believer or else a believer who is not being led by God’s Spirit.

LED OF THE SPIRIT

“But if ye be led of the Spirit,” tells us that it is possible for the saint to not be led by the Spirit. One cannot be led by the Spirit and be under the Law at the same time. “Led in the Spirit,” is the same as “Walk in the Spirit.” The term “led” emphasizes the submission of the believer to the Spirit. The Galatian Christians had been living their Christian lives in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had entered their hearts to take up His permanent residence. The entrance of the Law meant that the Spirit had no opportunity to minister to their spiritual lives.

Laws deceive us into thinking they are the Holy Spirit when they aren’t. Then we don’t have the power of the Holy Spirit. Depend upon the Spirit, be led by the Spirit.

The flesh and the Spirit are diametrically opposed to each other. The Law finds nothing to condemn in the life of the person who is led by the Spirit. This is the blessed moral freedom of the person who is led by the Spirit. Walk “after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).

By the intervention of the Holy Spirit, the Law is fulfilled and human nature is now aided by the Holy Spirit.

The person who is led by the Spirit will do what is right freely.

If we desire to have the fruit of the Spirit listed in 5:22-23, then we know that the Holy Spirit is leading us. How can we tell that the Spirit is leading us rather than our own subjective feelings? Being led by the Holy Spirit creates the desire to hear and the readiness to obey God’s Word. The Holy Spirit gives us the sensitivity to discern between our feelings and His promptings.