Galatians 5:24-26 Podcast
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:24-26)
When we chose to believe the Gospel, Christ, through His Spirit, took possession of our spirit. As a result, we are being trained by the Lord to crucify the passions and drives of the flesh.
When believers “walk by the Spirit,” we are not controlled by the flesh. Walking by the Spirit is what we do when the desires, produced by the Spirit, are stronger than the desires produced by the flesh. This means that “walking by the Spirit” is not something we do in order to get the Spirit’s help, rather, it is something we do by the enablement of the Spirit.
If it is by the Holy Spirit that our "born again" life came into being, then the way our life should be lived is by the same Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit” means do what we do each day by the Spirit; live our lives by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
In v.25, Paul writes: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." The phrase "keep in step with the Spirit" gives us the picture of a soldier keeping the cadence of his commander. Paul uses the Greek word stoicheĊ to provide the imagery.
We should never take credit for the expression of the Spirit in and through our lives, because He is the One producing the life. We are merely yielding to Him and experiencing eternal life, the life of God in our lives now.
Another translation of v.25 reads, "If we come alive by an act of the Spirit, so now let us go on walking in reliance on the Spirit." We are not only born again by the Holy Spirit, we also experience sanctification due to the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls (minds, wills, emotions). The battlefield for the believer's sanctification (the process whereby we are trained to think God's thoughts and subsequently being defined by His culture) is the believers' soul.
In v.26 Paul's command addresses our inward attitude in two ways. First, "Let us not become conceited." Let us not be driven by the love of praise and glory. Second, "provoking and envying one another."
This is how the flesh is given life, by feeding the ego that has been given success by the Spirit. The believer must be forever on guard, for the flesh is always laying in wait for the perfect moment to take advantage of the successes of God in our lives.
