Galatians 5:16-26. Thinking it out

Verse 16 (amplified) “But I say, walk and live (habitually) in the (Holy) Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit); then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).
Living by the Spirit and not gratifying the desires of the flesh. My Rev. Mother, Rev. (Mrs.) Funke Ewuosho of the Fountain of Wisdom Ministries (www.fowm.com) once cautioned us: the devil has manipulated the reality of this scripture (Gal. 5:16) such that, most times we find ourselves struggling and trying not to gratify the desires of the flesh, because we want to live by the Spirit. It is a very delicate and subtle trick of the enemy. Haven’t you struggled to avoid some immoral acts of the flesh so that you can see yourself, or even be seen by others, as a spirit-filled person? The word ‘struggled’ is emphasized. The fact is; the very concept –of avoiding sins to attain spirituality or holiness, is the problem. It is impossible this way. It is also why it becomes a struggle. Truth is, we won’t have to struggle if we use the proper method - the Galatians 5:16 methods. First, we live by the spirit, and then the flesh would naturally be done with. The flesh will die a natural death.

Verse 18 says: if we are guided (led) by the (Holy) Spirit, we are not subject to [or under] the law. The very existence of law anticipates ‘breaking of it’. Paul said [as the bible says], I never knew stealing was sin until the law said “thou shall not steal”. A dear friend of mine, Pastor Olumide Opatunmbi once shared with me thus: “I don’t know what sin is until the Holy Spirit convicts me or cautions me”. It means we ought not to live in fear of [or always guiding against] falling. For when we truly submit to, and live by the Holy Spirit; we will surely not gratify the desires of the flesh. For before we, at any time, are in danger of falling; the Holy Spirit will convict us [remind us, halt us]. This way we’ll save ourselves the stress of always arguing about actions (deeds) that are sinful and those that are not. We are not under the law, that’s why we are not in danger of breaking any; for there is none to break. For in the Spirit, our actions are obviously those that would not attract judges or law enforcement. Yes. The actions are: “Love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. Galatians 5:22-23 –amplified. Again we realize that trying to do these good deeds (actions) is not what will make us live by the Spirit, but living by the Spirit will surely produce these good deeds.

But, it is a double-edged sword situation that we have here. For when we do not live under the influence of (and in submission to) the Holy Spirit, our lives would naturally be by the flesh (human nature without God). And of course the result would be obvious too “…immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like ….” Galatians 5:19-21. I can bet my last bucks that there would be officers from the police, FRSC, VIO, LASTMA, KAI, Task Force, etc, coming after you for most of these deeds first principle, or for offences committed derivable from them. This is being under the law. It is what living by the flesh and not by the Spirit brings. You don’t get arrested for exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit – because for it, there is no law. However, the message to day is that, we don’t acquire these fruit so we can live by the Spirit, as the devil wants us to believe. We can’t. But when we live by the Spirit (which is possible), the fruit will abound in us naturally.

God bless you real good. Just submit to the Holy Spirit, and the rest will be story.

Austin Lohvang Nimmyel
lohvang4@yahoo.com
+234 (0)803 621 6402.