16. The flesh and the Spirit
The main emphasis of the second half of the epistle to the Galatians is that in Christ life is freedom. We were in bondage under the curse or condemnation of the law, but Christ has set us free from it. We were slaves of sin, but now we are God’s children.
Yet each time Paul writes about freedom he adds a warning that it can very easily be lost. Some relapse from freedom into bondage (5:1); others turn their freedom into licence (5:13). This was Paul’s theme in the last two paragraphs which we have considered. In particular, in verses 13–15, he has emphasized that true Christian freedom expresses itself in self-control, loving service of our neighbour and obedience to the law of God. The question now is: how are these things possible? And the answer is: by the Holy Spirit. He alone can keep us truly free.
This section in which Paul develops this theme is simply full of the Holy Spirit. He is mentioned seven times by name. He is presented as our Sanctifier who alone can oppose and subdue our flesh (16–17), enable us to fulfil the law so that we are delivered from its harsh dominion (18) and cause the fruit of righteousness to grow in our lives (22–23). So the enjoyment of Christian freedom depends on the Holy Spirit. True, it is Christ who sets us free. But without the continuing, directing, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit our freedom is bound to degenerate into licence.
The theme of this paragraph may be divided into two and entitled ‘The fact of Christian conflict’ and ‘The way of Christian victory’.
1. The fact of Christian conflict (5:16–23)
The opponents in the Christian conflict are called ‘the flesh’ and ‘the Spirit’: Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh (16–17). By the flesh Paul means what we are by nature and inheritance, our fallen condition, what we might call our ‘lower nature’. By the Spirit he seems to mean the Holy Spirit himself who renews and regenerates us, first giving us a new nature and then remaining to dwell in us. More simply, we may say that ‘the flesh’ stands for what we are by natural birth; ‘the Spirit’, for what we become by new birth, the birth of the Spirit. And these two, the flesh and the Spirit, are sharply opposed to each other.
Some teachers maintain that Christians have no inner conflict, no civil war within them, because (they say) the flesh has been eradicated and the old nature is dead. This passage contradicts such a view. Christian people, in Luther’s graphic expression, are ‘not stocks and stones’, that is, people who ‘are never moved with anything, never feel any lust or desires of the flesh’. Certainly, as we learn to walk in the Spirit, the flesh becomes increasingly subdued. But the flesh and the Spirit remain, and the conflict between them is fierce and unrelenting. Indeed, we may go further and say that this is a specifically Christian conflict. We do not deny that there is such a thing as moral conflict in non-Christian people, but we assert that it is fiercer in Christians because they possess two natures – flesh and Spirit – in irreconcilable hostility.
We must consider now the kind of behaviour to which the two natures are predisposed.
a. The works of the flesh (5:19–21)
The acts of the flesh, Paul says, are obvious. They are clear to all. The flesh itself, our old nature, is secret and invisible, but its acts, the words and deeds in which it erupts, are public and evident. What are they?
Before looking at his list of ‘the acts of the flesh’, something further needs to be said about the expression the desires of the flesh. It is unfortunate that this has come to have a connotation in English which its Greek equivalent did not have. Paul’s meaning is much wider than the sins connected with our bodily appetites. For him they represent all the sinful desires of our fallen nature. His ugly catalogue of ‘the acts of the flesh’ puts this beyond question.
This is not to say that his list is complete, for he ends it by saying and the like (21). But those he includes seem to belong to at least four realms: sex, religion, society and drink.
First, the realm of sex: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery (19). The word for immorality means sexual intercourse between unmarried people, but may refer to any kind of unlawful sexual behaviour. Perhaps impurity should be rendered by ‘unnatural vice’ and debauchery by ‘indecency’ (neb). These three words are sufficient to show that all sexual offences, whether public or private, whether between the married or the unmarried, whether ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural’, are to be classed as acts of the flesh.
Second, the realm of religion: idolatry and witchcraft (20). It is important to see that idolatry is as much an act of the flesh as immorality, and that thus the works of the flesh include offences against God as well as against our neighbour or ourselves. If idolatry is the brazen worship of other gods, witchcraft is ‘the secret tampering with the powers of evil’.
Third, the realm of society. Paul now gives us eight examples of the breakdown of personal relationships: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy (20–21).
Fourth, the realm of drink: drunkenness, orgies (21).
To this list of the acts of the flesh in the realms of sex, religion, society and drink, Paul now adds a solemn warning: I warn you, he writes, as I did before [when he was with them in Galatia], that those who live like this [the verb prassontes referring to habitual practice rather than an isolated lapse] will not inherit the kingdom of God (21). Since God’s kingdom is a kingdom of godliness, righteousness and self-control, those who indulge in the acts of the flesh will be excluded from it. For such works are clear evidence that they are not in Christ. And if they are not in Christ, then they are not Abraham’s seed, nor ‘heirs according to the promise’ (3:29). For other references to our inheritance in Christ, expected or forfeited, see Galatians 4:7, 30.
b. The fruit of the Spirit (5:22–23)
Here we have a cluster of nine Christian graces which seem to portray a Christian’s attitude to God, to other people and to him- or herself.
First, love, joy, peace. This is a trio of general Christian virtues. Yet they seem primarily to concern our attitude towards God, for our first love as Christians is love for God, our chief joy is our joy in God and our deepest peace is our peace with God.
Next, forbearance, kindness, goodness. These are social virtues, directed towards other people rather than God. Forbearance is patience towards those who aggravate or persecute. Kindness is a question of disposition, and goodness, of words and deeds.
The third triad is faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Faithfulness appears to describe the reliability of a Christian man or woman. Gentleness is that humble meekness which Christ exhibited (Matt. 11:29; 2 Cor. 10:1). And both are aspects of the self-control which concludes the list.
So we may say that the primary direction of love, joy, peace is towards God; of forbearance, kindness, goodness, towards other people; and of faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, towards ourselves. And all these are the fruit of the Spirit, the natural produce that appears in the lives of Spirit-led Christians. No wonder Paul adds again: against such things there is no law (23). For the function of law is to curb, to restrain, to deter, and no deterrent is needed here.
Having examined ‘the acts of the flesh’ and ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ separately, it should be even clearer to us than before that ‘the flesh’ and ‘the Spirit’ are in active conflict with one another. They are pulling in opposite directions. There exists between the two ‘an interminable, deadly feud’. And the result of this conflict is the need to stress that you are not to do whatever you want (end of 17). The parallel between this little phrase and the second part of Romans 7 is, in my judgment, too close to be accidental. Every renewed Christian can say that ‘in my inner being I delight in God’s law’ (Rom. 7:22). That is, ‘I love it and long to do it. My new nature hungers for God, for godliness and for goodness. I want to be good and to do good.’ That is the language of all born-again believers. ‘But’, they have to add, ‘by myself, even with these new desires, I cannot do what I want to do. Why not? Because of sin that dwells within me.’ Or, as the apostle expresses it here in Galatians 5, ‘because of the strong desires of the flesh which battle against the Spirit’.
This is the Christian conflict – fierce, bitter and unrelenting. Moreover, it is a conflict in which Christians simply cannot be victorious by themselves. We have to say, ‘I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out’ (Rom. 7:18), or, speaking as it were to ourselves, ‘you are not to do whatever you want’ (Gal. 5:17).
‘Is that the whole story?’ some perplexed reader will be asking. ‘Is the tragic confession that “I cannot do what I want to do” the last word about a Christian’s inner moral conflict? Is this all Christianity offers – an experience of continuous defeat?’ Indeed it is not. If we were left to ourselves, we could not do what we would; instead, we would give in to the desires of our old nature. But if we live by the Spirit (16), then we shall not gratify the desires of the flesh. We shall still experience them, but we shall not indulge them. On the contrary, we shall bear the fruit of the Spirit.
2. The way of Christian victory (5:24–25)
What must we do in order to control the desires of the flesh and to bear the fruit of the Spirit? The brief answer is this: we must maintain the proper Christian attitude towards each. In the apostle’s own words, we must crucify the flesh and live by the Spirit.
a. We must crucify the flesh
The phrase occurs in verse 24: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This verse is frequently misunderstood. Please notice that the ‘crucifixion’ of the flesh described here is something that is done not to us but by us. It is we ourselves who are said to ‘have crucified the flesh’. Perhaps I can best explain the popular misunderstanding by saying that Galatians 5:24 does not teach the same truth as Galatians 2:20 or Romans 6:6. In those verses we are told that by faith-union with Christ we ‘have been crucified’ with him. But here it is we who have taken action. We ‘have crucified’ our old nature. It is not now a ‘dying’ which we have experienced through union with Christ; it is rather a deliberate ‘putting to death’.
What does it mean? Paul borrows the image of crucifixion, of course, from Christ himself, who said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34). To ‘take up the cross’ was our Lord’s vivid figure of speech for self-denial. Every follower of Christ is to behave like a condemned criminal and carry his or her cross to the place of execution. Now Paul takes the metaphor to its logical conclusion. We must not only take up our cross and walk with it, but actually see that the execution takes place. We are actually to take the flesh, our stubborn and wayward self, and (metaphorically speaking) nail it to the cross. This is Paul’s graphic description of repentance, of turning our back on the old life of selfishness and sin, rejecting it finally and utterly.
The fact that ‘crucifixion’ is to be the destiny of the flesh is very significant. It is always dangerous to argue from analogy, but I suggest that the following points, far from being fanciful, belong to the idea of crucifixion and cannot be separated from it.
First, as Christians our rejection of our old nature is to be ruthless. Crucifixion in the Graeco-Roman world was not a pleasant form of execution, nor was it administered to nice or refined people; it was reserved for the worst criminals, which is why it was such a shameful thing for Jesus Christ to be crucified. If, therefore, we are to ‘crucify’ our flesh, it is plain that the flesh is not something respectable to be treated with courtesy and respect, but something so evil that it deserves no better fate than to be crucified.
Second, our rejection of the old nature will be painful. Crucifixion was a form of execution ‘attended with intense pain’ (Grimm–Thayer). And which of us does not know the acute pain of inner conflict when ‘the fleeting pleasures of sin’ (Heb. 11:25) are rejected?
Third, the rejection of our old nature is to be decisive. Although death by crucifixion was a lingering death, it was a certain death. Criminals who were nailed to a cross did not survive. John Brown draws out the significance of this fact for us: ‘Crucifixion . . . produced death not suddenly but gradually . . . True Christians . . . do not succeed in completely destroying it [that is, the flesh] while here below; but they have fixed it to the cross, and they are determined to keep it there till it expire.’ Once criminals had been nailed to the cross, they were left there to die. Soldiers were placed at the scene of execution to guard them. Their duty was to prevent anyone from taking the victims down from the cross, at least until they were dead. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus, Paul says, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The Greek verb is in the aorist tense, indicating that this is something we did decisively at the moment of conversion. When we came to Jesus Christ, we repented. We ‘crucified’ everything we knew to be wrong. We took our old self-centred nature, with all its sinful passions and desires, and nailed it to the cross. And this repentance of ours was decisive, as decisive as a crucifixion. So, Paul says, if we crucified the flesh, we must leave it there to die. We must renew this attitude towards sin of ruthless and uncompromising rejection every day. In the language of Jesus, as Luke records it, all Christians must ‘take up their cross daily’ (Luke 9:23, emphasis added).
This biblical teaching is so widely neglected that it needs to be underlined further. The first great secret of holiness lies in the degree and the decisiveness of our repentance. If we are persistently plagued by besetting sins, it is either because we have never truly repented, or because, having repented, we have not maintained our repentance. It is as if, having nailed our old nature to the cross, we keep longingly returning to the scene of its execution. We begin to embrace it, to caress it, to long for its release, even to try to take it down again from the cross. We need to learn to leave it there. When some jealous, or proud, or malicious, or impure thought invades our mind we must kick it out at once. It is fatal to begin to examine it and consider whether we are going to give in to it or not. We have declared war on it; we are not going to resume negotiations. We have settled the issue for good; we are not going to re-open it. We have crucified the flesh; we are never going to pull out the nails.
b. We must live by the Spirit
We turn now to the attitude which we are to have towards the Holy Spirit. This is described in two ways. First, it is to be led by the Spirit (18). Second, it is to live by the Spirit (16, 25). In both expressions in the Greek text ‘the Spirit’ comes first for emphasis, a simple dative is used (there is no preposition) and the verb is in the present continuous tense. At the same time there is clearly a distinction between ‘being led by the Spirit’ and ‘living by the Spirit’, for the former expression is passive and the latter active. It is the Spirit who does the leading, but we who do the living.
First, then, Christians are described as being led by the Spirit. The verb is used of a farmer herding cattle, of a shepherd leading sheep, of soldiers escorting a prisoner to court or prison, and of wind driving a ship. It is used metaphorically of both good and evil spirits – of the evil power of Satan leading people astray (e.g. 1 Cor. 12:2; Eph. 2:2), and of the Holy Spirit leading Christ during his temptations in the wilderness (Luke 4:1–2) and leading the children of God today (Rom. 8:14). As our ‘leader’ the Holy Spirit takes the initiative. He asserts his desires against those of the flesh (17) and forms holy and heavenly desires within us. He puts this gentle pressure upon us, and we must yield to his direction and control.
It is a great mistake to suppose that our whole duty lies in passive submission to the Spirit’s control, as if all we had to do was to surrender to his leading. On the contrary, we are ourselves to live, actively and purposefully, in the right way. And the Holy Spirit is the path we walk in, as well as the guide who shows us the way.
This becomes clear when we look carefully at verse 25. The word stoicheō, translated as keep in step with, refers literally to people being ‘drawn up in line’. It is used of believers who by sharing Abraham’s faith are said to ‘follow in’ his footsteps (Rom. 4:12). Similarly, it describes Christians who ‘live up to’ the stage they have so far attained (Phil. 3:16), the requirements of the law (Acts 21:24) or the truth of the gospel (Gal. 6:16). In each of these cases there is a rule, a standard or a principle which is being followed. In Galatians 5:25 this ‘rule’ or ‘line’ is the Holy Spirit himself and his will. So to ‘live by the Spirit’ is deliberately to walk along the path or according to the line which the Holy Spirit lays down. The Spirit ‘leads’ us; but we are to ‘live by’ him or according to his rule.
As, therefore, we ‘crucify the flesh’, rejecting what we know to be wrong, so too we must ‘live by the Spirit’, setting ourselves to follow what we know to be right. We reject one path to follow another. We turn from what is evil in order to occupy ourselves with what is good. And if it is vital to be ruthless in turning away from the things of the flesh, it is equally vital to be disciplined in turning towards the things of the Spirit. Scripture says we are to ‘have [our] minds set on what the Spirit desires’, to have a ‘mind governed by the Spirit’, to ‘set [our] minds on things above’, to ‘think about such things [i.e. whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable]’.
This will be seen in our whole way of life – in the leisure occupations we pursue, the books we read and the friendships we make. Above all, it will be seen in what older writers called ‘a diligent use of the means of grace’: that is, in a disciplined practice of prayer and Scripture meditation, in fellowship with believers who provoke us to love and good works, in keeping Sunday special, and in attending public worship and the Lord’s Supper. In all these ways we occupy ourselves in spiritual things. It is not enough to yield passively to the Spirit’s control; we must also walk actively in the Spirit’s way. This is how the fruit of the Spirit will appear.
3. Conclusion
We have seen that the works of the flesh are many and evil, that the fruit of the Spirit is lovely and desirable, that flesh and Spirit are in continuous conflict with each other so that by ourselves we cannot do what we want to do, and that our duty is to crucify the flesh, rejecting its evil ways, and to live by the Spirit, fostering his good ways.
This victory is within reach of every Christian, for every Christian has ‘crucified the flesh’ (24) and every Christian ‘lives by the Spirit’ (25). Our task is to take time each day to remember these truths about ourselves, and to live accordingly. If we have crucified the flesh (which we have), then we must leave it securely nailed to the cross, where it deserves to be; we must not fiddle with the nails. And if we live in the Spirit (which we do), then we must live by the Spirit. So when the tempter comes with evil suggestions, we must be firm and say to him: ‘I belong to Christ. I have crucified the flesh. It is altogether out of the question that I should even dream of taking it down from the cross.’ Again, ‘I belong to Christ. The Spirit dwells within me. So I shall set my mind on the things of the Spirit and live by the Spirit, according to his rule and line, from day to day.’