Living In The Spirit

      As Paul concluded this list of God-glorifying fruit (Galatians 5:22-26), he explained that those who live in the Spirit must walk according to the Spirit.

      Regrettably, because of the great amount of noise made by charismatics, we often misunderstand this kind of language to have some kind of ethereal, touchy-feely meaning.

      On top of that, add in all that Paul says in Galatians 5 about liberty versus law and the evangelicals have a heyday, saying nothing matters as long as we believe in Jesus.

      Paul, in fact, taught the exact opposite. When talking about liberty versus law, he addressed two extremes. Some wanted to be justified by a system of law and rule keeping (vss. 1-6). They were trying to push the Christians to go back under the Law of Moses, by implementing mandatory circumcision.

      Paul said these people were fallen from grace. They had left the liberty they had been given in Christ. In fact, in Galatians 3:21, Paul had explained that no system of law could justify them. If it could, then surely the Law of Moses would have done it.

      But on the other hand, Paul said we must not take our liberty to mean we are allowed to live however we want. In fact, while we have been made free from the law, we are not made free in order to indulge our fleshly desires and appetites. Rather, we are to use our freedom to sacrifice ourselves in the service of others. We are to use our freedom to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:13-18).

      Interestingly, Paul uses two terms for walk, the first in vs. 16 (peripateo), which simply means to walk. However, in vs. 25, the term for walk is actually heightened word (stoicheo), which actually speaks of lining up in rank and marching in time. In other words, when we walk in the Spirit, we are not walking however we want, but stepping in line with what the Spirit wants.

      In Romans 4:5, Paul described it as walking in the steps of faith. The picture presented for us is one of footprints already laid out for us through our lives. Our job is to carefully plant our feet in the footprints already provided.

      When do we stop stepping in line with the Spirit? According to Galatians 5:7, we are no longer marching in the Spirit, when we stop obeying the truth.

      We were set free from the bondage of the law. But we were not set free to do whatever we wanted. We were set free to step in time with the Holy Spirit’s revealed truth, not because that is the rule. Rather, because we have crucified our desires and simply want to do what the Spirit wants (Galatians 5:24).

      Let’s march in the Spirit this week.

Edwin L. Crozier