“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” (Galatians 5:16-18 NASB1995)

If we are walking by the Spirit, what should that look like in our lives? Well, our walks have to do with our lifestyles, what we believe and what we do and how we live in daily practice. So if our walks are by the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, then how we live should be in agreement with the teachings of the Scriptures, as taught primarily by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, and as taught to those who are of faith in Jesus Christ. We should be living holy lives, pleasing to God, in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, and sin should no longer be what we practice.

Now this passage of Scripture in the book of Galatians is primarily dealing with the topic of the Old Covenant Law and how a group of people called the Judaizers were trying to convince the Christians that they still had to hold to some of the Old Covenant Law requirements, such as liturgical, ceremonial, circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. And Paul was making a case that, as followers of Christ, we are not under the Old Covenant Law. But he also made a case for the fact that, under grace, we are not free to live as we please, for if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 NASB1995)

So, just because we make verbal professions of faith in Jesus Christ, and we claim Jesus as our Lord, it does not guarantee us salvation from all sin and heaven as our eternal destiny, if we do not deny self, die to sin, and obey God in practice, by his grace and in his power. For just because we claim Jesus as our Lord, it does not mean we are guaranteed entry into his heavenly kingdom. For it is the ones obeying God in practice, and who are not making sin their practice, who have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, as long as they continue in their walks of faith until the end.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24 NASB1995)

So, if we are of biblical faith in Christ, and thus we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, the outgrowth of that faith should be shown in our lives in what is described for us above. We should be walking in the love of Christ which prefers what God prefers. And God prefers what is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to God. And we should be living self-controlled lives in the power of God, by faith in Christ.

And peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness are not qualities which are soft on sin and tolerant of sinful habits in the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ. For it is not kind or loving to be soft on sin and to lie to people to make them feel good and to tell them that their sins no longer matter to God now that they have “believed” in Jesus. There is nothing kind about ignoring sinful addictions in the lives of those professing the name of Jesus, for if sin is what they practice, and not obedience to God, they will not inherit eternal life with God. So kindness speaks truth in love.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Myopic

Based off 2 Peter 1:3-11
An Original Work / August 19, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jesus has given ev’rything
Needed for life and godliness.
His great and precious promises
Free us from our sin and distress.

Add to your faith His goodness;
Knowledge; patience; godliness;
Brotherly love and mutual affection;
Kindness and unselfishness.

If you possess these qualities,
Growing in your maturity,
They will keep you from vanity.
You will bear fruit effectually.

Nonetheless, if you lack them;
Forget you’ve been cleansed from sin,
Nearsighted are you; you can’t see Jesus.
You have closed your heart to Him.

Therefore, beloved, confirm, then,
Your calling and your election.
Do this by showing diligence:
Obey your Lord; be repentant.

Practice all these qualities
God provided on a tree.
He died for our sins so we’d be given
Life with Him eternally.

Walking by The Spirit
An Original Work / April 7, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love