Notes:

Walking In the Spirit – Galatians 5:13-18    See Session Slides Here

• Gal. 5:13. There’s a difference between ‘freedom’, and being ‘free indeed’.
• Our freedom in Christ is a freedom from sin; not a freedom to sin.
• If you hear a message of the grace of God and you want to go off and sin, this will not bring into question whether God loves you. The question is: do you really love God?

Gal. 5:16. The term flesh is a reference to man, as he is apart from God.

• The unbeliever is someone who is in the flesh. That’s how we were born (Jn.3:6; Rom.8:9).
• When we are born again we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. We are a new creation. By means of our union with Christ the flesh has been crucified (Gal. 5:24), and Adam’s life is no longer our true source of life.
• Yet, although we no longer live in the flesh we can still walk according to the flesh.

Fleshly behaviour manifests in different ways:

• Sins against the body (physical sins): e.g. “adultery”, “fornication”, “uncleanness”, “lewdness”, “drunkenness, “revelries”. These are sins against one’s own body (1 Cor.6:18).
• Sins against God (spiritual sins): e.g. “idolatry”, “sorcery”, etc.
• Sins against others (social sins): g. “hatred”, “contentions”, “jealousies”, “envy”, “outbursts of wrath”, “selfish ambitions”, “dissensions”, “heresies”, etc.

• Every Christian is a walking civil war. The flesh wants us to behave in the same way we did before we were in Christ. But the Spirit wants to live Christ’s life through us.
• This conflict should not bring condemnation. Whenever we succumb to the flesh we must not mistake the works of the flesh as tokens of our true identity. Rom.7:22-23.

• Gal. 5:21b. Those who practice these things forfeit their inheritance in the kingdom of God.
• Gal. 5:5;  1 Cor.6:9-12. Not inheriting the kingdom does not equate to losing your salvation.
• 1 Cor.5:1-5; 3:12-17.  2 Tim.2:11-13. Overcomers reign with Christ.

Gal. 5:16-18. The flesh will be with us until the day we die.

• The flesh is incapable of being reformed or maturing. In our flesh dwells no good thing.

• The Judaizers taught that the law was a means of restraining the flesh.
• Paul said that this is now the role of the Spirit, (Gal. 5:16).
• Those who walk in the Spirit have finished with their relationship to the law (Gal. 5:18).
• Under the new covenant we have obligation to the Spirit, not to the Law.

• But, how, without the law, will I know what sin is?
• Gal. 5:19. The Spirit makes us aware of sin by warring against such works of the flesh.
• We now come to Christ for holiness.
• Gal. 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is the life of Christ which is produced in the believer by the indwelling Spirit. If we abide in Him we will bear much fruit.
• What is it to abide in Christ? A realisation of, and living out from, our new creation identity.
• Only about 5% Christians know their new creation identity.
• When we received Christ we received love, righteousness, holiness, etc.

Gal. 5:25. Being alive in the Spirit is no guarantee that we will automatically live from the Spirit’s power. This is still a choice for each believer – day by day and moment by moment.


# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.