Walk by the Spirit
Led by the Spirit and Not Under Law
This, then, explains the two parts of the next verse in Galatians 5, verse 18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” It is easy to understand, in view of what we have seen, how Paul could shift from the phrase “walking by the Spirit” in verse 16, to “being led by the Spirit” in verse 18. The phrase, “being led by the Spirit,” simply makes more explicit the initiative of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. We don’t lead him; he leads us. We are being led by him through the stronger desires he awakens within us. “Walking by the Spirit” and “being led by the Spirit” refer to the same thing. “Being led by the Spirit” stresses the Spirit’s initiative and enablement. “Walking by the Spirit” stresses our resulting behavior. The Spirit leads us by creating desires to obey God, and we walk by fulfilling those desires in action.
This explains, then, why we are not “under the law,” as verse 18 says. “If you are led by the Spirit (i.e., led by him to obey the law), then you are not under law.” You are not “under law” in two senses. First, you are not under the law’s condemnation because you are fulfilling the just requirement of the law. That’s what Paul meant in Romans 8:4 where he said that Christ died “in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit.” When you walk by the Spirit, you fulfill the basic requirement of the law and so you are not under its condemnation.
The second sense in which we are not under law when we “walk by the Spirit” or are “led by the Spirit” is that then we don’t feel the pinch or burden of the law demanding of us what we have no desire to do. When the Spirit is leading us by producing godly desires, then the commands of God are not a burden but a joy. So in that sense too, walking by the Spirit frees us from being under the law. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Works of the Flesh and Fruit of the Spirit
Now, if we look at verses 19–24 which follow, we will find one more expression about the Spirit which confirms and expands what we have seen so far about “walking by the Spirit.” In these verses Paul contrasts the “works of the flesh” (19–21) with the “fruit of the Spirit” (22–23). The opposite of doing the “works of the flesh” is “bearing the fruit of the Spirit.” This is exactly the same contrast we saw in verse 16: “Walk by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The “works of the flesh” are what you do when you “gratify the desires of the flesh.” The “fruit of the Spirit” is what appears in your life when you “walk by the Spirit.” Therefore what we have in these verses are three images of the Spirit’s work in our life: “walking by the Spirit” in verse 16, “being led by the Spirit” in verse 18, and bearing “the fruit of the Spirit” in verse 22.
Why does Paul refer to the “fruit of the Spirit” instead of the “works of the Spirit” to match “works of the flesh”? In view of what we have seen so far, I think the reason is that Paul wants to avoid giving any impression that what the Spirit produces is our work. It is not our work; it is his fruit. What we do when we walk by the Spirit is simply fulfill the desires produced by the Spirit. And what better way is there to describe the ease of following our strongest desires than to say it is like having the Spirit’s fruit pop out in our attitudes and actions? Therefore, just like the phrase “led by the Spirit,” so also the phrase “fruit of the Spirit” stresses the Spirit’s initiative and enablement to fulfill God’s law.
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