Galatians 5:16 Meaning: “Walk in the Spirit”

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16, ESV

What does Paul mean by “walk by the Spirit”?

To walk is to live.

So, what Paul’s saying is that if you don’t want to gratify the desires of the flesh as a believer — if you don’t want to sin, then you must live by the Spirit.

“Live by” the Spirit as you “live by” others in this life

If you’re married, you live by your spouse every day. If you have children, you are by them all the time. When you wake up, you’re by each other. When you go to bed you’re by each other. When you eat food, you dine by each other. You go out and do things by each other.

In that sense you need to walk by the Spirit.

We need to always have the Spirit leading us everywhere at all times in our life — always near, always by us, always by our side — when you wake up — as you go to work — as you’re home alone — as you go out with friends — and as you lay your head down to sleep at night.

Jesus walked by the Spirit.

There’s no better way to mortify the deeds of the flesh and to not give in to those sinful desires of the flesh than to live by the Spirit. This means living like a Christian — being led by the Spirit — living upon the grace that God has bestowed upon you.

And if you want to know what that looks like, all you have to do is to look to Christ — who is the very epitome of what it means to walk by the Spirit.

What is the shape and form of Jesus’ life — and how do I make that shape and form mine?

Well, how did Jesus walk by the Spirit?

Live upon the word of God

Jesus lived upon the word of God.

In Matthew 4, Jesus is in the desert. He’s in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights, and he eats nothing. What do you think he’s doing the whole time? He’s cleaving to the word of God.

That’s exactly why the devil in this first temptation knows Jesus is hungry and says, “turn those stones into bread!“

But what does Jesus say? “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.“

Jesus — that ultimate Spirit-filled man — lived by faith, holding on to God’s word always — dwelling with it in him — laying it upon his heart — thinking about it always — always having it upon his lips.

If we want to walk by the Spirit as a Spirit-filled person, then this must be the course of our life as well.

Think about how the Spirit works. He works by the word — in and through the word.

Make use of prayer as a means of grace

Jesus also made use of the means of grace.

• When Jesus was weak he went and prayed.
• When Jesus was overwhelmed by the crowd’s constant attention, he would go off into the wilderness and pray.
• When Jesus was in anguish over his impending death, he went to the garden and he prayed.

He knew that prayer is a remedy against sin and temptation. Prayer is a remedy when we feel weak in the flesh.

Jesus knew to go to his knees… But how much do we lack using the means of grace — and then wonder why we always succumb to sin?

Live in dependence upon the Spirit

Jesus also lived in dependence upon the Spirit.

In Matthew 4, Jesus doesn’t just decide to walk to the wilderness. Rather, the Spirit led him to the wilderness. He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.

How many times do we struggle following someone else’s lead?

• We want to be in charge.
• We want to be in the lead.

How many of us kick against the Holy Spirit’s leading us in our lives? How foolish of us.

When God tells us that this promised Spirit that he’s given you is going to lead you into all truth — that the Spirit he gives you is the one who is going to enable you to obey his commandments and follow his statutes — we need to realize that we are not a better leader of us than the Holy Spirit is!

Resist self, trust the Spirit

We resist sin by resisting ourselves. We resist sin by distrusting ourselves — and trusting that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all righteousness and holiness.

This is why he’s been given to you! In Romans 8:26 we’re told that the Spirit has been given to you to help you in your weakness.

So, humble yourself and realize you are at all times and everywhere weak, so that you would at all times and everywhere live by the Spirit — walk by the Spirit, seeing your great need for him every day of your life.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Why would you resist the Spirit? He’s here to transfer you into the image of Christ!

Why would we resist him? There’s nothing you ought to want more in the Christian life than to be transformed into the image of Christ.

We ask kids what they want to be when they grow up or who they want to be like.

Answers might include:

• Astronaut
• Lawyer
• Doctor
• Entertainer
• Entrepreneur

But when the Christian is asked who we want to be like, our answer ought to be — “I want to be like my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.“

Recognize then that the Holy Spirit has been given to you for the very purpose of accomplishing that inside of you.

Knowing every good thing that’s in you for Christ’s sake

So, walking — or living — by the Spirit also means living every day knowing that because the Spirit has applied Christ’s redemption to you, you have received the full rights of sonship.

Living by the Spirit means knowing that you have peace with God and acceptance with God already because of Christ.

Living by the Spirit means living — not under a spirit of fear, but a spirit of adoption — knowing as you go forth this day, you’re a child of God!

There is nothing anyone can do to take that away. Because your sin has been forgiven and you have the righteousness of Christ draped over you.

And now by faith we ought to trust the Spirit’s work — that the Spirit will do the very things he has been sent forth inside of us to do — to put to death that sin and those wicked inclinations.

Walking by the Spirit also means praising God and honoring Christ for what they have done on our behalf.

Summary of the remedy for sin in Galatians 5:16

So, Christians here are given the remedy and the recipe to fight against sin.

Therefore, go to God and pray for God to help you order your life according to the purposes of the Spirit. Pray that he would put to death those sinful desires in you and cause you to grow in his grace and in the ability to fight against all wickedness and evil in your life — even if you won’t ever do it perfectly in this life.

And the reason for that lack of perfection in our lives is revealed in Galatians 5:17 — that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.