Galatians 5:16-26 English Standard Version

Keep in Step with the Spirit

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

At the end of a long list of bad behavior is a generalization, “things like these.” That means that there are sinful behaviors that are not listed. Verse 26 tells us not to become conceited which looks like this; “At least I am not like that!” We tend to ignore those “other things” that are still a hindrance in walking hand in hand with the Spirit.

Remember how it feels to walk hand in hand with someone you love. In taking hands and walking together the hands will move in rhythm with your steps. When you are not in step with the Spirit the hands will tend to move against one another. If we are being led by the Spirit, our hands, those things we do, will not resist being led.

• Romans 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

When we walk in step with the Spirit we do not tell the Spirit “Let’s do this!” He leads us, we do not get to choose where we go and what we do. When we do, we fall out of step and go our own way. That is how we got in trouble in the first place and needed to be saved from sin.

When we believe sin is fun we have forgotten what it felt like to be a slave to sin. Stay there and we will forget before too long what it feels like to walk in step with the Spirit. Love will let us do what we want, but we will feel alone once again. He didn’t let go, we did.