(REFLECTIONS ON Galatians 5:16-26, Galatians 6:1-6)

Paul has already established that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. However, Paul also wants to emphasize the point that freedom doesn’t mean we are free from responsibility, free from consequences, free to do whatever it is that our hearts desires.

For Paul, freedom was never to indulge in the world, but a freedom to break away from the darkness of the world in order to choose the light of the kingdom of God. Throughout the Bible and our own experiences in the Christian faith, we know clearly that there are two forces pulling us in opposite directions.

According to Paul, these two forces are the Spirit & flesh. The flesh represents our own desires, the values of the world, the instincts of humans and all the self-indulgence that comes with that. The Spirit represents the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God, a life devoted to God, our Creator, Father, and the One that sacrificed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ in order to give us life.

Paul writes that the Spirit & flesh are in conflict with each other,

16 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. 

Yes, we are free in Christ, but with this freedom comes the responsibility to make a choice each day. What will we live for? Will we choose the flesh or will we choose the Spirit? We can’t choose both, because they are in conflict with each other, and it is to our detriment to do whatever we want and choose the flesh because we would then be spitting Jesus Christ right in the face even though He sacrificed it all for us.

The acts of the flesh, Paul writes, are obvious and are destructive, selfish, and create division and an implosion of God’s creation. The fruit of the Spirit however is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (v.22-23)

Against such things there is no law, because the law is only relevant to law breakers. Against such things there is no law, because Christ has set us free from the law and it is by His grace that we are saved by faith in Him.

The choice is therefore still ours each day. In our freedom, which will we choose today? Yes, we can’t do anything to obtain salvation, that can only be done through Christ. However, in our freedom we daily must decide if we will choose the Spirit and life in Christ, or the flesh and life apart from Christ.

Lastly, let’s not think that we can separate the fruit of the Spirit and only take those things that we like, that we can say Amen to, and leave out those things that we don’t like. It is the “fruit” of the Spirit, not “fruits” of the Spirit, there is only one. May the fruit of the Spirit live in us, as we, in our freedom, make a responsible and conscious decision each day to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Galatians 5
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Galatians 6