Galatians 5:16-26 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.  

            It's been my experience that many believers today have this concept backwards. Verse 16 states; "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." How many people today are trying to stop walking in the flesh so that they can fulfill the fruit of the Spirit? Trying to obey commands and sermons that tell us to stop this, quit that, change this, fix that, or stop giving the attention of your mind to one thing or another. Somehow we believe that if we can do, or stop doing, all of those things above that we'll obtain a more spiritual life, or even find more favor with God.

            In John chapter 15, Jesus tells the disciples "abide in me, and you will bear much fruit." This statement of our Lord in conjunction with the verses in Galatians chapter 5, show us that the key to overcoming our flesh and to walking a more spiritual life, are found by feeding the spiritual man. This is done by connecting with God through prayer and reading of God's word as well as a lifestyle of daily discipline towards following God's perfect plan. Yes the Scripture says that to repent and turn from our sins and to ask God's forgiveness are all elements of being born again. So yes, we do have to forsake the works and the deeds of the flesh, which hinder the spirit from growing but the paradox is that we can't forsake the flesh if we are not living in the Spirit.

            Verse 18, says but if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Does that mean that the law is done away with, or does it mean that if we're led by the Spirit, we won't need a written law in order to live right? On the other hand, if we're not led by the Spirit the written law will be just that. It will be a written rule book that seems to be here just to mess with everything that we like to do. The list of the works of the flesh versus the fruits of the spirit see in verses 19 through 23, are in contrast with each other. In other words, it's hard to be driven by the works of the flesh when you're led by the Spirit and it's hard to be led by the Spirit, when you're constantly giving into the works of the flesh. Remember, Jesus' words in John 15. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. What does the word abide mean? The picture Jesus gives is that of a branch drawing it's vitality from a vine. Without the resources of the vine readily accessible and flowing through the branches, branches dry up and wither away.

            The key to a successful Christian walk is to abide in Christ in the same manner as a branch abides from the trunk of a tree or the trunk abides from the roots of the tree. In other words, successful and victorious Christians walk in the dynamics of the relationship with our Lord and Savior of the daily giving and taking, transference of spiritual nutrients, so to speak. The function is a little more than transference of spiritual nutrients because it also involves the removal of toxic substances and the replenishing of new life as needed.

           Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This makes it pretty clear that we are to die to the works of the flesh. In Romans it says that we died with Christ and are raised with him into a new life. And, if the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, he will give life to your mortal body. This brings us back to verse 25 of today's text where it says; "if we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit."

            What does it mean to live and walk in the Spirit? I think that in order to do this successfully prayer must become something that is offered from our heart rather than from a scripted paper. Prayer is conversation with God. That means there should be time in our prayer to listen to God's voice, silence to contemplate what his word or his spirit may be speaking to your innermost being. The Christian life is a spirit led life so reading the Bible is designed to be a spirit led activity. During prayer time ask God to speak to you through his word. Ask Holy Spirit to teach you and instruct you through the reading of God's Holy Scriptures. Several times throughout the New Testament Gospels and in the book of Revelation when Jesus speaks to the seven churches he uses the phrase "he who has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says". I think that's a good prayer for each individual to call out to God, Lord, give me ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking to me.