Walking by the Spirit is the Only Path to Experience Lasting Transformation

We concluded part one of our study on understanding the Who and What of the Spirit. Now we are going to learn how to actively experience the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

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. 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.

Big Idea: Rather than merely giving gifts, the Spirit transforms character.

Everything of the flesh is at enmity with the things of the spirit. It is impossible for anyone to do battle, let alone wage war, against the flesh apart from the spirit.

The Holy Spirit Changes Our Nature, Not Just Our Behavior

Paul doesn’t say believers should manufacture these qualities by sheer effort. He calls them the fruit of the Spirit because they grow from the Spirit’s work within us.

Just as an apple tree naturally bears apples, a believer who abides in Christ begins to bear spiritual fruit because the Spirit lives within them. They do what their nature dictates.

The Christian life is not behavior modification—it is Spirit-empowered transformation.

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

When the Holy Spirit comes, He transforms believers from the inside out.

A man bought a beautiful apple orchard. He dreamed of baskets overflowing with crisp, red apples every fall. But after several seasons, one tree never produced a single apple. Frustrated, he decided to fix the problem himself.

He went to the store and bought hundreds of beautiful artificial apples. One Saturday morning, he climbed into the branches with wire and fishing line, carefully attaching apples all over the tree.

When he stepped back, it looked incredible.

From a distance, it was the prettiest tree in the entire orchard.

People driving by admired it.

Visitors took pictures of it.

It looked healthy.

It looked fruitful.

But the owner knew the truth.

Every apple was fake.

When the wind blew, they didn’t grow—they just swayed. When harvest season came, no one could eat them. There was no life inside the tree, producing what appeared on the outside.

The problem wasn’t the branches.

It wasn’t the leaves.

It wasn’t that the tree needed better decorations.

The problem was at the root.

The tree needed life before it could produce fruit.

That’s exactly what Paul is teaching in Galatians 5:16–23.

Religion often tells us to tie more fruit onto our lives.

“Try harder.”

“Be nicer.”

“Control your temper.”

“Have more joy.”

“Love people better.”

But God never asks us to staple fruit onto dead branches.

He changes the root.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t come to decorate our lives; He comes to transform them from the inside out. The works of the flesh can be manufactured for a season. People can fake kindness, fake patience, fake morality, even fake religion.

But the fruit of the Spirit cannot be manufactured. It can only be grown by the life of the Spirit living within us.

The question isn’t, “How good do I look?”

The question is, “What kind of life is producing the fruit everyone sees?”

Because real spiritual fruit is never attached from the outside—it always grows from the inside by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Is your life filled with window dressing or filler to give the impression of a fruit-bearing spirit, or are you an empty, fruitless tree?

The beginning of chapter 5 sets up the whole text on the war between the flesh and the spirit. Paul concludes that we have found our true freedom in Christ, which sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Particularly, Paul is speaking of the legal requirement of the law, which is circumcision. We are not to use the freedom that we have as blood-bought children of God as an opportunity to return to the ways of the flesh. The greatest works of the flesh are committed against those whom we are called to love as ourselves. (Love your neighbor as yourself.)

Paul brings all this to one central idea in verse 15, “but I say walk by the Spirit, and your will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The word walk is used as a metaphor for habitual conduct.

What is your daily habit? Is it your habit to walk according to the spirit or the flesh?

Habitual action is something we continue to yield ourselves to.

Does anyone have a habit they do without even realizing it? When I was a kid, my parents used to call me motor leg. Because of my ADHD, which we did not understand at the time, I would constantly move my leg up and down without even realizing that I was doing it. We had this small StarCraft pop-up camper we would take camping. I literally think my leg moved the camper inches from its original spot, moving as fast as it could go.

Walking according to the Spirit is part of our nature; it’s something we habitually yield our actions and will to.

How do we move from yielding our will to the Flesh to yielding it to the Spirit?

1. We Must Walk by the Spirit to Conquer the Flesh.

The flesh is a formidable foe that only has one end goal: to destroy your life. The flesh was first realized in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve realized they were naked, bringing great shame upon their lives.

The flesh took hold of their lives and is now passed down to all of creation as a result.

Before this point in history, Adam and Eve had not experienced the flesh. They lived in perfect unity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now they are gripped in this cosmic battle that wages war against every human soul for control.

There is only one weapon we have at our disposal to do battle against this foe called the flesh: the Holy Spirit. Paul concludes that everyone who walks by the Spirit will not “gratify the desire of the flesh.”

Those who yield to the Spirit daily have the promise that they will not gratify their fallen human nature. We should see that there is no neutral ground here. We are living in one sphere or the other. Either we are submitting to the Spirit’s leadership or gratifying our flesh.

A. Conquering the Flesh is Not Just Saying No to Sin; it’s Saying Yes to the Spirit.

You cannot pray and look at pornography at the same time. The way you deal with your sin is not simply by saying “no” to the flesh, but also by saying “yes” to the Spirit’s work.

Conquering sin does not come from more theological knowledge, wishful thinking, or better intentions. You have heard how the road is paved with good intentions. I tell you this with all warning and Christian love, so is the road to Hell. If good intentions could take care of your sins, then why did Jesus offer His body to be mutilated and nailed to a cross for good intentions?

A professor of theology can be addicted to pornography or fly off the handle in rage just the same as a younger believer with little theological knowledge. Growth does not happen because of your ability.

Sadly, I have known several gifted ministers who are no longer in ministry because they were not walking by the Spirit. They gave in to various temptations of the flesh and suffered tragic consequences, wrecking themselves and others. Growth does not happen because you attend seminars or read books, as helpful as they may be.

God changes us from the inside out through the Spirit. We must daily yield to Him so that we do not gratify the desires of the flesh.

We need the spirit of God to utterly wreck our lives with the fruit He is producing in all believers.

2. We Must Walk by the Spirit Because the Battle is Intense

We read in Romans 8:3-6 how God did what the law weakened by the flesh could never accomplish in order that we might now walk not according to the flesh any longer but according to the spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh set their minds or wills towards the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit.

Paul alluded to the “present evil age” in 1:4. Building on this, he says that the flesh is against the Spirit and vice versa, and that these two are “opposed” to each other. In verse 16, Paul explains this battle; in verse 17, he stresses its intensity. Part of the problem with fighting the flesh is a casual attitude toward sin that the enemy wants us to have.

Christians, You Had Better Wake up and realize that this Christian Life is a battlefield.

The Civil War within. During the American Civil War, there were communities—especially in border states—where families were literally divided. Brothers fought against brothers. Fathers found themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield from their sons. The conflict wasn’t merely happening across the nation; it was happening within households.

Imagine the heartbreak of sitting at the dinner table one year with your family, then finding yourself facing a brother across a battlefield the next. The fiercest struggle wasn’t always at the front lines—it was inside the family.

That is the picture Paul paints in Galatians 5:17.

“For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other...”

The Christian’s greatest battle is not primarily with culture, politics, or even Satan. Those are real battles, but Paul says the most constant battle rages inside every believer.

Every day, two voices compete for your obedience.

One says: “Protect yourself.”

The other says: “Trust God.”

One says: “Get even.”

The other says: “Forgive.”

One says: “Live for yourself.”

The other says: “Die to yourself and follow Christ.”

Every temptation, every decision, every moment of obedience is fought on the battlefield of the heart.

But here’s the encouraging truth: Paul is not describing a battle between two equal powers. The flesh is powerful, but it is not sovereign. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, living within every believer. The Spirit does not merely help us survive the conflict—He empowers us to win it.

The presence of this struggle is not evidence that God has abandoned you. In many ways, it is evidence that His Spirit is at work within you. Before Christ, there was no civil war because the flesh ruled uncontested. But when the Holy Spirit takes up residence in a believer, a new King has entered the heart, and the old ruler refuses to surrender without a fight.

The question is not, “Am I in the battle?” Every believer is.

The question is, “Which side am I feeding? Which voice am I following?”

Because the side you continually yield to will increasingly shape the person you become.

Do you recognize what kind of war you are in?

You face the temptations of the world, Satan’s temptations, and the flesh’s temptations. Do not allow yourself to take a weak, complacent posture in the Christian life. Do not imagine that you are somehow not involved in this fight, or assume that the flesh will not entice you.

In Romans 7:14-25, Paul explains in graphic detail the battle between the flesh and the spirit. Paul knew His spiritual state as a child of the king, but was also painfully aware of the flesh sold under sin.

Paul concluded: “for I do not do what I want to do, but I do the very thing that I hate...I know that nothing good dwells in me that is from the flesh, for he has the desire to do what is right but does not have the ability to carry it out in the flesh.”

A. We Must Identify the War at Play Inside the Human Heart.

Some imagine that if you could just live apart from the culture’s temptations, then you would not have to deal with sin. Yeah, right! The problem is not simply “out there” (in the world); the problem is “in here” (in the flesh).

People throughout history have sought to live a monastic life apart from the temptations of the world. This never works.

The church father Jerome described how removing oneself from the culture does not remove temptation from one’s heart:

“Oh, how often I imagined myself amid Rome’s pleasures when I was stationed in the desert, in that solitary wasteland so burned by the sun’s heat that it is a dreadful habitation for the monks! I, who because of the fear of hell had condemned myself to such a hell and who had nothing but scorpions and wild animals for company, often thought I was dancing with a chorus of girls. My face was pale from fasting, but my mind burned with passionate desires within my freezing body, and the fires of sex seethed.”

Did you catch that? He was in a desert, but the desires of pleasure still seethed inside of him. We cannot escape this battle entirely until Christ returns to deliver us.

B. The Battles’ Intensity is Because of Competing Agendas

The whole flesh’s agenda is to keep you from doing what you want. This is the same battle Paul experienced in Romans 7.

Though we want to do good as believers, there are times when we cry out with Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24–25).

The new day has dawned for Christians. They are new creations, but the battle rages on until Christ returns. Still, the believer can have “substantial, significant, and observable victory over the flesh”

Walking by the Spirit frees you from being under the law of sin and death. It frees you from the shadow of the Old Testament law.

What does Paul mean by saying, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (emphasis added)? It is probably best to translate “if” as “since”; those who are led by the Spirit are no longer under the law, meaning that they no longer belong to the old era of redemptive history. Paul describes being under the law as being under the curse of sin and death.

Therefore, life in the Spirit brings a whole new way of living. This verse does not mean that you have freedom to sin, but freedom from sin. You have new desires and new power to please God by bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

Do not live under the crushing weight of the law, but live by the dynamic power of the Spirit.

Is that weight of sin heavy to carry? Are you tired of trying to carry that weight on your own?

3. We Must Walk by the Spirit By Observing the Obvious

“Now the Works of the Flesh are Evident”

Why is it important to list the obvious works of the flesh before describing the fruit of the Spirit?

Paul begins this last section by identifying the obvious differences between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the spirit.”

Notice that the descriptions of the flesh are framed in the plural “works,” and the descriptions of the spirit are framed in the singular “spirit.

Works are produced by human effort; fruit is produced by divine life.

Paul says:

“The works (plural) of the flesh...”

but

“The fruit (singular) of the Spirit...”

This is significant.

The flesh produces a scattered collection of sins. They are disconnected manifestations of one fallen human nature. They are disconnected manifestations of one fallen nature.

But Paul speaks of fruit in the singular. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are not nine different fruits. They are one unified fruit produced by one Holy Spirit.

WORKS CAN BE IMITATED, BUT FRUIT CANNOT

You can attend church, give generously, speak from the pulpit, serve others; all of these are outward visible works. But genuine love...

...deep joy in suffering...

...peace that surpasses understanding...

...patience with difficult people...

...cannot ultimately be manufactured.

These qualities are supernatural.

They flow from the Spirit’s presence.

A. The Works of the Flesh Reveal Why we Need the Spirit

The list of the flesh exposes sin’s reach:

It corrupts our relationship with God (idolatry, sorcery).

It corrupts our relationships with others (jealousy, anger, divisions, envy).

It corrupts our own desires (sexual immorality, drunkenness, sensuality).

Sin affects every dimension of life. Therefore, we need more than forgiveness—we need regeneration and ongoing sanctification through the Holy Spirit.

Interestingly, Paul mentions sexual sins in his other lists of fleshly desires. (cf. Eph 5:3; 1 Cor 6:9; Col 3:5). So does Jesus in Mark 7:21-22. Paul uses the terms “sexual immorality” (porneia), “moral impurity,” and “promiscuity.” The first term is a general word for all forms of sexual sin. Moral impurity often denotes sexual sin also; all of these emphasize a lack of restraint and unbridled passion.

Sexual sin is a major problem for many reasons, but possibly the greatest and most glaring reason for such harsh words against it is what it does to the image bearers of God.

It distorts and misuses God’s incredible plan for the marriage union between one man and one woman for a lifetime. I do not think in my thirty years of ministry I have seen one sin destroy lives to a greater degree than sexual sin. The marriages and families that are left in the wake of its destructive power are numerous and forever changed. It is the exact opposite of the fruit of the Spirit in every way possible.

B. The Warning that Brings Life is More Important than Staying Silent

“I warned you, as I warned you before, that those who do (practice) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

We live in a Christian culture of sensibilities that will not allow us to give warnings as we read in verse 21. Paul led us down the road into the pit of humanity’s total depravity. However, he did not lead us there only to leave us in a state of total despair. He led us there to warn that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In other words, if you are living under the rule of the flesh, then you should stand in fear because you will not enter the coming kingdom. Those who come to faith in Christ by grace alone are new people (6:15). While they will still wrestle with sin, the flesh will not dominate them. They have new desires and new power to live. Paul did not lead us down into this pit of despair to leave us lost and alone.

The Warning Signs Before the Bridge. Imagine you’re driving through the mountains at night. It’s raining hard. Visibility is poor. As you round a curve, you see a large yellow sign:

“BRIDGE OUT AHEAD.”

A few hundred yards later, another sign appears:

“DANGER—TURN AROUND.”

Then flashing lights.

Then barricades.

Now imagine someone saying, “Those signs are so negative. Why can’t the highway department put up something more encouraging? Why all the warnings?”

The answer is obvious.

Because they love life more than they love your feelings.

The warning is not meant to rob you of freedom; it is meant to save you from destruction.

That is exactly what Paul is doing in Galatians 5:21:

“...I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul isn’t angry.

He isn’t trying to shame believers.

He’s acting like a loving shepherd standing on the road, waving his arms before people drive over a cliff.

The greatest act of love is sometimes not saying, “You’re fine.”

It’s saying, “You’re headed toward destruction—turn around while there’s still time.”

Our culture often treats warnings as judgment.

God treats warnings as mercy.

Every warning in Scripture is an invitation to repent before it’s too late.

Jesus warned.

The prophets warned.

The apostles warned.

Not because they enjoyed speaking hard truths, but because eternity is too important to remain silent.

Let me tell you, church...eternity is too important to keep silent.

C. Transformation is the Result of a New Nature

The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that something fundamental has changed. Before conversion, the flesh ruled. After conversion, the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer. This does not mean the struggle ends. Paul acknowledges the ongoing conflict:

“For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh...” (Galatians 5:17)

But the presence of that struggle is itself evidence of the Spirit’s work. Before coming to Christ, the flesh ruled without opposition. Now there is a new power and a new desire at work within the believer.

The fruit of the Spirit is a Character Sketch of Christ. All the Spiritual fruit should lead us to consider Jesus’ character. What is the spirit doing in us? He is conforming us into the image of Christ.

It should not surprise us that Love is mentioned first in the list of spiritual fruit or virtues. Look what John writes in 1 John 4:7-8

1 John 4:7–8 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Love is evidence that we know God.

Love is at the heart and soul of all Christian virtue.

Fruit is not a one-time achievement; it is an ongoing abiding daily in Christ. Do you want to be more loving? Abide in Christ. Do you want to have more joy? Abide in Christ. Do you want to have more patience? Abide in Christ. Do you want to have more self-control? Abide in Christ. Just like the works of the flesh that lead to destruction and death are obvious, so are the fruits of the Spirit that lead to life.

Jesus continually reminds us in John 15 that we are to abide in Him if we are to ever truly experience the life in the Spirit He desires for us to have.

CONCLUSION

It’s like following the Drum Major.

During the Civil War and well into the early twentieth century, soldiers marching in formation depended on the drum major. The drum major didn’t simply set the pace—he determined the direction. Hundreds of soldiers could only march as one if they all kept their eyes on the leader and stayed in step with the beat.

If one soldier decided to follow his own rhythm, he would quickly fall out of formation. If enough soldiers did that, the entire company would become disorganized and ineffective.

The strength of the army was not found in everyone marching however they wanted. It was found in everyone keeping in step with the leader.

Paul ends Galatians 5 with this command:

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

The phrase “keep in step” was a military term. It means to march in line, to stay in formation, and to follow the leader’s commands.

The Christian life is not simply about believing the right truths; it is about continually aligning your life with the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Every day, the Spirit is setting the pace. He leads us toward forgiveness while the flesh beats the drum of bitterness. He leads us toward humility while the flesh marches toward pride. He leads us toward purity while the flesh calls us toward compromise.

The question isn’t whether there is a voice leading your life.

The question is, whose cadence are you following?

Paul then immediately warns,

“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (v. 26)

When soldiers stop following the drum major, they begin bumping into one another, breaking formation, and fighting among themselves. The same thing happens in the church.

When we stop following the Spirit, relationships unravel. Pride grows. Competition replaces cooperation. Envy replaces encouragement. Unity disappears.

But when the church keeps in step with the Spirit, something beautiful happens. People from different backgrounds, personalities, and stories begin moving together with one purpose—to glorify Christ.

Today, the Holy Spirit is still beating the cadence of the Christian life.

You don’t have to invent your own rhythm.

You don’t have to lead yourself.

You simply have to keep your eyes on Christ, listen to the Spirit, and take the next faithful step.

One step of obedience.

One step of faith.

One step of surrender.

And if every believer in your church today marched in step with the Holy Spirit, imagine what God could do—not just in our lives, but through His church to reach a lost world.

Church, don’t follow the rhythm of the culture. Don’t follow the desires of the flesh. Keep in step with the Spirit, and He will lead you exactly where Christ wants you to go.