In this final episode of the Start Strong companion podcast series, we walk through Galatians 5:13–24 to answer a question every new believer eventually asks: if I'm no longer under the law, what's actually going to stop me from going backwards? The answer, Paul argues, is not going back to the Law. It's the Spirit of God.
Key Takeaways:
- Freedom from the law is not a license to sin. It's freedom to pursue holiness for entirely new reasons.
- The "flesh" in Paul's writing means everything we are apart from God, including our "broken choosers" that naturally incline toward selfishness and sin.
- The law can restrain behavior from the outside, but only the Spirit can change who you actually are on the inside.
- Walking by the Spirit is not a technique to master. It is a fundamental posture of trust that God is at work in your life.
- The works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are polar opposites pointing in opposite directions, and the pattern of your life reveals which one is at work in you.
- Loving your neighbor as yourself is the practical summary of how Spirit-led freedom actually looks in daily life.
Background: What Was Happening in Galatia
Paul wrote this letter to the churches in Galatia because those churches were in danger of losing their way. Some in those churches had come to believe that faith in Jesus was not enough. They had been taught by a group called the Judaizers that Gentile believers must also keep the Mosaic law.
Paul writes to correct that view directly.
- Chapters 1-2: Paul defends his authority as an apostle and argues that his gospel is completely trustworthy.
- Chapters 3-4: Paul builds a series of five arguments for why we are justified by faith alone. Every one of those arguments arrives at the same conclusion: no one will receive eternal life because they kept the law, and only those who have faith in Jesus will receive eternal life.
- Chapters 5-6: Paul gives four practical directives for how to live in light of that gospel, and Galatians 5:13–24 is the first one.
Paul's critics claimed his gospel was dangerous because he did not teach people to pursue goodness. Their argument went something like this: yes, believing in Jesus is a good start, but it is not enough. Without the law, Gentiles will backslide. The Mosaic law is what keeps people safe and in God's favor.
In this passage, Paul counters that charge head-on.
The Law Versus the Spirit
Paul's answer to his critics is blunt. The Law is not what keeps you from pursuing evil. It is not even the best option available. You do not need the Mosaic covenant to tell you not to pursue sin because, as a believer, you have something far better. There is a new voice in your life teaching you not to pursue evil: the voice of the Spirit of God.
Think of a child who only behaves when mom is standing in the doorway watching. He does not grab the cookies or hit his sister because mom is watching. That kind of obedience is external. It restrains him, but it does not change him. What mom really wants is for her child to become the kind of person who shares and acts kindly because he has learned to love what is good.
That is the difference between the law and the Spirit. The law stands over you like mom in the doorway and says, "Behave."
But only the Spirit can change you so that slowly but surely you begin to want to do what pleases God.
The "Flesh"
Before diving into the passage, it helps to understand what Paul means by the word "flesh." The Greek word literally means meat or human flesh, just as we think of it in English. Paul tends to use it in one of three ways.
Sometimes he means the literal human body. Sometimes he uses the phrase "according to the flesh" to mean from a human point of view. But the most common usage in Paul, and the one we see in Galatians 5, is a moral and ethical one. When Paul speaks of the flesh here, he means everything we are apart from God. It is the moral condition of fallen humanity before any work of God has intervened.
The Broken Chooser
A helpful way to picture this is to think of it as a "broken chooser." The thing inside us that makes us choose what we choose, the thing that makes us prefer ice cream over broccoli, also makes us choose wrong over right and selfishness over generosity. We cannot just decide to choose what is right because our chooser is broken. And a broken chooser cannot fix itself. It cannot simply choose to be repaired. We need God to fix it.
To walk by the flesh, then, means pursuing life and holiness on your own resources through self-effort.
The Pharisee who walks in the flesh may have impeccable religious credentials, but he is pursuing God through self-reliance. He believes holiness is somewhere inside himself, and he only needs to keep the law the right way to dredge it out. That is what legalism is. Legalism is the pursuit of holiness through the flesh.
By contrast, the person who walks by the Spirit recognizes that the chooser is broken. There is no holiness inside to dredge up. We have to look outside ourselves, place our trust in God, and acknowledge that we do not have what it takes on our own.
Freedom From the Law Is Not a License to Sin
For you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' - Galatians 5:13-14
Paul's first exhortation is straightforward: do not use your freedom from the Mosaic covenant as an excuse to indulge your selfish nature. Just because you no longer face the punishment of the law does not give you a reason to pursue evil.
He then immediately pivots to the positive. Instead of using your freedom selfishly, use it to love your neighbor.
Coming to faith involves a monumental worldview shift. You realize that you are not the center of the universe and your needs do not automatically take priority over everyone else's. God is the center. All human beings stand equal before Him. When you look at your neighbor, in a very real sense it is like looking in a mirror. Your neighbor is equally made in God's image, has the same problem with sin, and needs the same solution.
That creates a practical test for everyday decisions. In any situation, ask yourself: if the roles were reversed, how would I want to be treated? Then do that.
Paul is drawing a contrast between two responses to freedom from the law.
- On one side, you could take your freedom as an opportunity to be entirely selfish and put yourself first in every situation.
- On the other side, you can enjoy your freedom and express it by loving others.
You are free to love because you are secure in the fact that God is taking care of you. You are free to be forgiving because you know how much you yourself have been forgiven.
Biting and Devouring: The Fruit of Legalism
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. - Galatians 5:15-16
Their insistence on law-keeping had probably led to a kind of competition where people were fighting about who was keeping the law properly and who was not. Instead of encouraging one another, they were rebuking and belittling each other.
The Judaizers claimed that striving to keep the laws of the Old Testament would keep people from indulging their selfish nature. But Paul's point is that striving to keep the law actually promotes strife. It turns people into competitors, each judging the others over who is or is not doing it right.
What actually curbs those natural inclinations toward evil is the work of the Spirit. And that is an entirely different mechanism.
Walking by the Spirit: Not a Technique, But a Posture
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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. - Galatians 5:17-18
When people hear the phrase "walk by the Spirit," they often start thinking they need to channel the Spirit, the way Luke Skywalker used the Force in Star Wars. They assume there must be a secret to tap into that power, like learning to play the piano. But that is not how the Spirit works.
When Jesus explains the Spirit to Nicodemus (John 3), he compares the Spirit to the wind. You cannot see the wind, but you can e the branches swaying. You cannot stop the wind or make it go where you want, but you can experience the changes it makes and see the results. The wind is invisible and beyond your control, and yet you feel it on your face and see its effects everywhere.
07 Nicodemus: You must be born again (John 3:1-13)
The Spirit works the same way. We do not control Him. We cannot see Him, but we can see the changes He makes in our lives. And in Greek, "wind" and "spirit" are actually the same word, which makes the analogy even more intentional.
Walking by the Spirit is not a technique to learn. It is a fundamental attitude of heart and a posture of trust, a belief that God is in control and that He will bring about the changes He wants to bring about through the Spirit working in your life.
08 Nicodemus: For God so loved the world (John 3:14-21)
Works of the Flesh and Fruit of the Spirit
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 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. - Galatians 5:19-21
Paul then gives two contrasting lists.
Notice that the vast majority of the works of the flesh are relational: factions, jealousies, rivalries, infighting. That is likely a clue about what was actually happening in the Galatian churches. The teaching of the Judaizers had not produced unity and harmony. It had produced the very things on this list.
Paul's warning in verse 21 can sound frightening at first: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the context matters. He is not saying one moment of jealousy or anger puts you outside God's mercy. He is describing a pattern of life.
These are the behaviors that define the broken chooser left to itself. If this is the consistent trend of your life, if these are the things you genuinely want at your innermost being, then that calls into question whether the Spirit of God is at work in you at all. Wake up and repent.
Then Paul gives the contrasting list.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." - Galatians 5:22-24
"Against such things there is no law." The law simply cannot produce this kind of fruit. You can find commands that tell you how to treat your neighbor and what justice requires, but following those commands on the outside will not make you joyful, peaceful, patient, or self-controlled. External rule-keeping does nothing to change who you are on the inside.
The law is like a thermometer. A thermometer tells you that you have a problem, but it cannot make you well. The law can teach you that you have a sin problem, but it cannot heal you from it. Only the Spirit of God can do that.
What Repentance Looks Like
Paul closes with a striking image. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
When you decided to become a disciple of Jesus, you metaphorically crucified your broken chooser and all the things it desired. Part of repentance is crying out to God: I do not want to be that kind of person anymore. I agree that I am sinful and worthy of condemnation. I long to be holy and I ask that you make me holy. I recognize I cannot fix the problem myself. I ask for mercy and grace because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
That is what saving faith is. To be crucified with Christ is a metaphor for repenting and making that kind of about-face.
And thanks be to God, He forgives and gives us His Spirit. The result is a new worldview, a new vision, and a deeper level of righteousness than the law could ever produce.
Those who belong to Jesus will not use their freedom as an excuse to sin. They have metaphorically crucified those desires. They have abandoned that kind of lifestyle and are now seeking the things of God. Not because the threat of the law hangs over their heads. But because faith in Jesus has changed what they actually want.
That is what keeps you on the straight and narrow. Not the law. Faith in Jesus, and the Spirit He brings with Him.
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Series: Start Strong: A New Believer’s Podcast
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Photo by Sergei Lisovskiy on Unsplash
Season 27, Episode 15