Galatians 5 verses 13 to 26

 

Galatians 5 verses 13 – 26

For brethren ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this.  Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

This I say then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Or the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.

Meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

If ye live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.

Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

COMMENTARY BE FREE by Warren Wiersbe

The legalists thought they had the answer to the problem in laws and threats, but Paul has explained that no amount of legislation can change man’s basic sinful nature.  It is not the law on the outside but love on the inside that makes the difference.  We need another power within and that power come from the Holy Spirit of God.

There are at least 14 references to the Holy Spirit in Galatians.  When we believe on Christ, the Spirit comes to dwell within us – chapter 3 verse 2.  We are “born after the Spirit” as was Isaac – chapter 4 verse 29.  It is the Holy Spirit in the heart who gives assurance of salvation – chapter 4 verse 6 and it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to live for Christ and glorify him.  The Holy Spirit is not simply a “divine influence”.  He is a divine person, just as are the Father and the Son.  What God the Father planned for you and God the Son purchased for you on the cross, God the Spirit personalizes for you and applies to your life as you yield to him.

This paragraph is perhaps the most crucial in the entire closing section of Galatians, for in it Paul explains 3 ministries of the Holy Spirit that enable the believer to enjoy liberty in Christ.

1.    The Spirit Enables us to fulfil the law of love – verses 13 to 15

For brethren ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this.  Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

Paul begins by explaining our calling – we are called to liberty.  The Christian is a free man.  He is free from the guilt of sin because he has experienced God’s forgiveness.  He is free from the penalty of sin because Christ died for him on the cross.  And he is, through the Spirit, free from the power of sin in his daily life.  He is also free from the law with its demands and threats. Christ bore the curse of the law and ended its tyranny once and for all.  We are “called unto liberty” because we are “called into the grace of Christ” (Galatians 1 verse 6).  Grace and liberty go together.

Paul then issues a caution – “Don’t allow your liberty to degenerate into license.”  This is the fear of all people who do not understand the true meaning of the grace of God.  “If you do away with rules and regulations” they say “you will create chaos and anarchy.  Of course that danger is real, not because God’s grace fails but because men fail of the grace of God – Hebrews 12 verse 15.  If there is a “true grace of God” (1 Peter 5 verse 12) then there is also a false grace of God and there are false teachers who “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4).  So Paul’s caution is a valid one.  Christian liberty is not a licence to sin but an opportunity to serve.

This leads to a commandment: By love serve one another (verse 13).  They key word of course is love.  The formula looks something like this:

Liberty + Love = Service to others

Liberty – Love = License (slavery to sin)

The amazing thing about love is that it takes the place of all the laws God ever gave.  “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” solves every problem in human relations (see Romans 13 verses 8 to 14).  If you love people (because you love Christ), you will not steal from them, lie about them, envy them, or try in any way to hurt them.  Love in the heart is God’s substitute for laws and threats.

On a much higher level, the Holy Spirit within gives us that love that we need (Romans 5 verse 5, Galatians 5 verse 6 and 22).  Apparently the Galatian believers were lacking in this kind of love because they were “Biting and devouring one another” and were in danger of destroying one another (verse 15).  The picture here is of wild animals attacking each other.  This in itself is proof that law cannot force people to get along with each other.  No matter how many rules and standards a church may adopt, they are no guarantee of spirituality.  Unless the Holy Spirit of God is permitted to fill hearts with his love, selfishness and competition will reign.  Both extremes in the Galatian churches – the legalistic and the libertines were actually destroying the fellowship.  The Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum.  He uses the Word of God, prayer, worship and the fellowship of believers to build us up in Christ.  The believer who spends time daily in the Word and prayer and who yields to the Spirit’s working, is going to enjoy liberty and will help build up the church.  Read 2 Corinthians 3 for Paul’s explanation of the difference between a spiritual ministry of grace and carnal ministry of law.

1.    The Spirit Enables us to Overcome the Flesh – verses 16 – 21, 24

This I say then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  Or the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.   And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

The conflict – verses 16 and 17.  Just as Isaac and Ishmael were unable to get along so the Spirit and the flesh (the old nature) are at war with each other.  By “the flesh” of course Paul does not mean “the body”.  The human body is not sinful; it is neutral.  If the Holy Spirit controls the body, then we walk in the Spirit, but if the flesh controls the body, then we walk in the lusts (desires) of the flesh.  The Spirit and the flesh have different appetites and this is what creates the conflict.  These opposite appetites are illustrated in the bible in different ways.  For example, the sheep is a clean animal and avoids garbage, while the pig is an unclean animal and enjoys wallowing in filth (2 Peter 2 verses 19 – 22).  After the rain ceased and the ark settled, Noah released a raven which never came back (Genesis 8 verses 6 and 7).  The raven is a carrion-eating bird and found plenty to feed on.  But when Noah released the dove and it did not return, he knew that it had found a clean place to settle down: therefore the waters had receded.

Our old nature is like the pig and the raven, always looking for something unclean on which to feed.  Our new nature is like the sheep and the dove, yearning for that which is clean and holy.  No wonder a struggle goes on within the life of the believer.  The unsaved man knows nothing of this battle because he does not have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8 verse 9).  Ishmael did not create any problem until Isaac came on the scene.

Note that the Christian cannot simply will to overcome the flesh.  “These two are opposed to each other so you cannot do anything you please” (verse 17).  It is this very problem that Paul discusses in Romans “I do know what I am doing.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … For what I do is not the good I want to do; not the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7 verses 15 and 19)  Paul is not denying that there is victory.  He is simply pointing out that we cannot win this victory in our own strength and by our own will.

The contest – verse 18.  The solution is not to pit our will against the flesh but to surrender our will to the Holy Spirit. This verse literally means “But if you are willingly led by the Spirit then you are not under the law.”  The Holy Spirit writes God’s law on our hearts (Hebrews 10 verses 14 to 17, 2 Corinthians 3) so that we desire to obey him in love.  “I delight to do thy will O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40 verse 8.  Being “led of the Spirit” and “walking in the Spirit” are the opposites of yielding to the desires of the flesh.

The crucifixion – verses 19 to 21 and 24.  Paul lists some of the ugly “works of the flesh”.  The flesh is able to manufacture sin but it can never produce the righteousness of God.  “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17 verse 9.  This list in Galatians can be divided into 3 major categories: 

(1)   The sensual sins – verses 19 and 21

Adultery is illicit sex between married people, while fornication generally refers to the same sin among unmarried people.  Uncleanness means just that: a filthiness of heart and mind that makes the person defiled.  The unclean person sees dirt in everything (see Titus 1 verse 15).

Lasciviousness is close to our word debauchery.  It speaks of a wanton appetite that knows no shame.  It goes without saying that all these sins were rampant in the roman Empire.  Drunkenness and revelling (orgies) need no explanation.

(2)   The superstitious sins – verse 20

Idolatry like the sins named above, is with us today.  Idolatry is simply putting things ahead of God and people.  We are to worship God, love people and use things, but too often we use people love self and worship things, leaving God out of the picture completely.  Jesus tells us that whatever we worship, we serve (Matthew 4 verse 10).  The Christian who devotes more of himself to his car, house or boat than he does to serving Christ may be in danger of idolatry (Colossians 3 verse 4).

The word witchcraft is from the Greek word pharmakeia which means “the use of drugs”.  Our English word pharmacy is derived from this word.  Magicians in Paul’s day often used drugs to bring about their evil effects.  Of course sorcery is forbidden in the bible as are all activities of the occult (Deuteronomy 18 verses 9 – 22).

(3)   The social sins – verses 20 and 21

Hatred means “enmity” the attitude of mind that defies and challenges others.  This attitude leads to variance, which is strife, the outworking of enmity.  Emulations means jealousies or rivalries.  How tragic when Christians compete with one another and try to make one another look bad in the eyes of others. 

Wrath means outbursts of anger and strife carries with it the idea of “self-seeking selfish ambition” that creates divisions in the church.

Sedition and heresies are kindred terms.  The first suggests division and the second cliques caused by a party spirit  Divisions and factions would be a fair translation.  These are the result of church leaders promoting themselves and insisting that the people follow them not the Lord (The word heresy in the Greek mans “to make a choice).  Envyings suggests the carrying of grudges, the deep desire for what another has (Proverbs 14 verse 30).

Murders and drunkenness need no elucidation.

The person who practices these sins shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  Paul is not talking about an act of sin but a habit of sin.  There is a false assurance of salvation that is not based on the Word of God.  The fact that the believer is not under law but under grace, is no excuse for sin (Romans 6 verse 15).  If anything, it is an encouragement to live in obedience to the Lord.

But how does the believer handle the old nature when it is capable of producing such horrible sins? T he law cannot change or control the old nature.  The old nature must be crucified (Galatians 5 verse 24).  Paul explains that the believer is identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6).  Christ not only died for me but I died with Christ.  Christ died for me to remove the penalty of my sin but I died with Christ to break its power.  Paul has mentioned this already in Galatians (chapter 2 verses 19 and 20) and he will mention it again (chapter 6 verse 14).  He does not tell us to crucify ourselves, because this is impossible (Crucifixion is one death a man cannot inflict on himself).  He tells us that the flesh has already been crucified.  It is our responsibility to believe this and act upon it.  (Paul calls this “reckoning in Romans 6 – you have the same truth presented in Colossians 3 verse 5).  You and I are not debtors to the flesh but to the Spirit (Romans 8 verses 12 – 14).  We must accept what God says about the old nature and not try to make it something that it is not.  We must not make “provision for the flesh” (Romans 13 verse 14) by feeding it the things that it enjoys.  In the flesh dwells no good thing (Romans 7 verse 18) so we should put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3 verse 3).  The flesh is not subject to God’s law (Romans 8 verse 7) and it cannot please God (Romans 8 verse 8).  Only through the Holy Spirit can we “put to death” the deeds that the flesh would do through our body (Romans 8 verse 13).  The Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of life (Romans 8 verse 2; Galatians 5 verse 25), but he is also the Spirit of death; he helps us to reckon ourselves dead to sin.  The Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of life (Romans 8 verse 2; Galatians 5 verse 25), but he is also the Spirit of death; he helps us to reckon ourselves dead to sin.  We have seen 2 ministries of the Spirit of God; he enables us to fulfil the law and he enables us to overcome the flesh.  He has a third ministry as well.

3.      The Spirit Enables us to Produce Fruit – verses 22 and 23, 25 and 26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.  If ye live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another It is one thing to overcome the flesh and not do evil things but quite something else to do good things.  The legalist might be able to boast that he is not guilty of adultery or murder but can anyone see the beautiful grace of the Spirit in his life?  Negative goodness is not enough in a life, there may be positive qualities as well.

The contrast between works and fruit is important.  A machine in a factory works and turns out a product but it could never manufacture fruit.  Fruit must grow out of life and in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit (Galatians 5 verse 25).  When you think of “works” you think of effort, labour, strain and toil, when you think of “fruit” you think of beauty, quietness, the unfolding of life.  The flesh produces “dead works” (Hebrews 9 verse 14) but the Spirit produces living fruit.  And this fruit has in it the seed for still more fruit (Genesis 1 verse 11).  Love begets more love!  Joy helps to produce more joy!  Jesus is concerned that we produce “fruit ... more fruit ... much fruit” (John 15 verses 2 and 5) because this is the way we glorify him.  The old nature cannot produce fruit, only the new nature can do that.

The New Testament speaks of several different kinds of “fruit” people won to Christ (Romans 1 verse 13), holy living (Romans 6 verse 22), gifts brought to God (Romans 15 verses 26  -28), good works (Colossians 1 verse 10) and praise (Hebrews 13 verse 15).  The “fruit of the spirit” listed in our passage has to do with character (verse 2 and 23).  It is important that we distinguish the gift of the Spirit which is salvation (Acts 2 verse 38, 11 verse 17) and the gifts of the Spirit, which have to do with service (1 Corinthians 12) from the grace of the spirit, which relate to Christian character.  It is unfortunate that an over emphasis on gifts has led some Christians to neglect the graces of the Spirit.  Building Christian character must take precedence over displaying special abilities.

The characteristics that God wants in our lives are seen in the ninefold fruit of the Spirit.  Paul begins with love because all of the other fruit is really an outgrowth of love.  Compare these eight qualities with the characteristics of love given to the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4 – 8). This word for love is agape which means divine love (The Greek word eros meaning “sensual love” is never used in the New Testament.  This divine love is God’s gift to us (Romans 5 verse 5) and we must cultivate it and pray that it will increase (Philippians 1 verse 9).

When a person lives in the sphere of love, then he experiences joy – that inward peace and sufficiency that is not affected by outward circumstances (A case in point in Paul’s experience recorded in Philippians 4 verses 10 – 26).  This “holy optimism” keeps him going in spite of difficulties.  Love and joy together produce peace, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4 verse 7).  These first  qualities express the Godward aspect of the Christian life.

The next 3 express the manward aspect of the Christian life: longsuffering (courageous endurance without quitting), gentleness (kindness) and goodness (love in action).  The Christian who is longsuffering will not avenge himself or wish difficulties on those who oppose them.  He will be kind and gentle, even with the most offensive and will sow goodness where others sow evil.  Human nature can never do this on its own, only the Holy spirit can. 

The final 3 qualities are selfward: faith (faithfulness dependability); meekness (the right use of power and authority, power under control) and temperance (self control).  Meekness is not weakness.  Jesus said “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11 verse 29) and Moses was “very meek” (Numbers 12 verse 3) yet no one could accuse either of them of being weak.  The meek Christian does not throw his weight around or assert himself.  Just as wisdom is the right use of knowledge, so meekness is the right use of authority and power.

It is possible for the old nature to counterfeit some of the fruit of the Spirit but the flesh can never produce the fruit of the Spirit.  One difference is this, when the Spirit produces fruit God gets the glory and the Christian is not conscious of his spirituality; but when the flesh is at work, the person is inwardly proud of himself and is pleased when others compliment him.  The work of the Spirit is to make us more like Christ for his glory, not for the praise of men.

The cultivation of the fruit is important.  Paul warns that there must be a right atmosphere before the fruit will grow (verses 25 and 26).  Just as fruit cannot grow in every climate so the fruit of the Spirit cannot grow in every individual’s life or in every church.

Fruit grows in a climate blessed with an abundance of the Spirit and the Word.  “Walk in the Spirit” (verse 25) means “keep in step with the Spirit” – not to run ahead and not to lag behind.  This involves the Word, prayer, worship, praise and fellowship with God’s people.  It also means “pulling out the weeds” so that the seed of the Word can take root and bear fruit.  The Judaisers were anxious for praise and “vain glory” and this led to competition and division.  Fruit can never grow in that kind of an atmosphere.

We must remember that this fruit is produced to be eaten, not to be admired and put on display.  People around us are starving for love, joy, peace and all the other graces of the Spirit.  When they find them in our lives, they know that we have something they lack.  We do not bear fruit for our own consumption; we bear fruit that others might be fed and helped that Christ might be glorified.  The flesh may manufacture “results” that bring praise to us, but the flesh cannot bear fruit that brings glory to God.  It takes patience, an atmosphere of the spirit, walking in the light, the seed of the word of God and a sincere desire to honour Christ.

In short, the secret is the Holy Spirit.  He alone can give us that “fifth freedom” – freedom from sin and self.  He enables us to fulfil the law of love, to overcome the flesh and to bear fruit.