Romans 7: Slaves to Sin or Slaves to Righteousness? (4 of 7)

Gal. 5:16-24

Now, in Gal. 5:16-24 (another set of passages used to support a carnal disposition for the Christian), verses 19-21 are practically affirmed by almost every commentator that I know of as the normal or nominative lifestyle of the unbeliever—and not that of the saint—with verse 21 being the deciding factor of whether we are talking about the lifestyle of the believer, or of the unbeliever. The NASB, ASV, and WEB bibles all translate the word “live” (Gk. prassontes) in the phrase “those who live like this” (NIV), with the translation “practice.” As noted earlier in Rom. 7:15 and 19, the Greek verb prassontes ("prasso" in Rom. 7:15, 19) describes an individual who “habitually” practices these vices. Such individuals, Paul says, “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” And many Pelagians and Arminians build their doctrine around verses similar to this one, using them to justify the idea that unless one practices godly living they will lose their salvation. But the Calvinistic (and I might add, the "biblical") doctrine understands that anyone who is truly born of God will not "habitually" practice such ungodly vices, since God’s seed remains in them, and they cannot and will not continue to habitually live in sin. If they continually sin, then it shows that they were never saved to begin with. Again, the apostle John so adamantly asserts:

…everyone who practices [present active participle] righteousness has been born of Him….No one who abides in Him keeps on [present active indicative] sinning; no one who keeps on [present active participle] sinning has either seen Him or known Him….Whoever practices [present active participle] righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice [present active participle] of sinning is of the devil….No one born of God makes a practice [present active indicative] of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on [present middle indicative] sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice [present active participle] righteousness is not of God” (1Jhn. 2:29; 3:6-10, ESV).

Even the “abiding” is a “present active indicative,” which is something that continually occurs in the life of the believer, and which, as it turns out, is initially wrought and continually upheld by the hand and power of God. Jesus said no one is able to pluck us out of His hands. And John again likewise affirms: “Everyone who [habitually] believes [present active participle] that Jesus is the Christ is [or lit., “has been”; perfect passive indicative] born of God” (1Jhn. 5:1). We continually “believe” or abide in Christ due to the fact that we were first initially born of God. The “perfect passive indicative” denotes a past completed act by a power outside of ourselves (God), and our initial and continual “believing” in Christ is the result of that past completed act of being born by God. We believe because we have been spiritually resurrected (or born of God) from our dead state or condition; and thus the reason for John saying that a believer cannot sin because God’s “seed remains in him.” 1Jhn. 2:9 and 4:7 denote the same thing in the Greek concerning continually “loving” God and continually practicing “righteousness,” and that they are all the natural out-workings of the initial new birthing of God. This “Calvinistic” understanding is what is taught in the last letter of the acronym TULIP, and is known as the Perseverance of the Saints. We keep persevering in our believing in Christ because we have been born of God, and we therefore are not of those who “habitually” practice the vices that Paul speaks of in Gal. 5:19-21. Do you see that? All true saints (who are true believers) will inherit the kingdom of God. Not one of them will be lost or found wanting! But just the opposite is to be said of all "habitual" sinners.

Referring to Paul’s notations in Romans 7, the late William Hendriksen in his commentary says the following with regards to Gal. 5:16-18,

What a battle between the will and the deed! Paul, writing as a converted man (Rom. 7:14-25) and recording his present “state of grace” experiences (for proof see Rom. 7:22, 25), complains bitterly about the fact that he practices that in which his soul no longer takes delight; in fact, practices that which his regenerated self hates (Rom. 7:15).[1] (Bold italicized words mine for emphasis).

Remarkable! All these words of Hendriksen’s fly right smack in the face of what John says of those who are born of God—that they no longer “practice” such things! Yet Hendriksen affirms the very opposite for the apostle Paul! Was he listening to himself when he wrote these words about Paul? We can very well see how one’s presuppositions with regards to the meaning of Romans 7 and Gal. 5 can affect their understanding of how one ought to live out their lives before God, even to the point of claiming that such a person even as the Apostle Paul could be a “practicing” sinner and a “slave to sin,” rather than what Paul affirmed of all saints as being “slaves to righteousness” and “to God” (Rom. 6:18, 20, 22). It just makes no sense, otherwise, of the one who is truly “born of God.”

Which brings me now to the subject, or commentary, on Gal. 5:16-26; and more specifically on the last portion of verse 17, which reads: “…to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Let us stop and take time to analyze this text for one moment. But before we do, let me just say that similar to Heb. 6:9, even though Paul speaks like this, he is persuaded of better things—things that accompany salvation and the practices that lead one to believe they are actually saved, as Gal. 5:18 clearly begins to demonstrate when Paul says that a believer is no longer “under the law.” Believers are no longer “under the law” that Paul had just a few moments earlier spoken to them about in chapter three, verse 23: “before faith came, we were held captive under the law, [and] imprisoned” (ESV). What were they held “captive” to and “imprisoned” to by being only "under the law" and not a people of faith? To the principle of the law of sin as slaves to sin in which the holy Law of God only incited them to do, just as Paul describes for us in Rom. 5:20; 7:5, 8, 10, 11, 21-23 and 8:2. Now as Christians, believers are no longer under the struggles of not being able to do what they want to do anymore, in which being “under the law” exactly produced in all unregenerate individuals being described in Gal. 5:17 and Rom. 7:15-20.

The NLT translates Heb. 6:9 noted above with the words: “even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.” The NIV says, “…better things in your case.” And the Bible in Basic English similarly writes, “…that you have better things in you.” So similar to those exhorted in the epistle to the Hebrews (or to the Jewish Christians), some of the Galatians were “in” and “led” by the Spirit, and not under the dictates of the flesh any longer, no longer “under the law.” But they just needed a little more encouragement and prodding to “keep in step” (see Gal. 5:25, NIV) with this idea of who they really now were living for, and to begin to reckon it as so. If they were truly Christians walking by the Spirit, as they were claiming themselves to be, then, just like in Romans 8, they would not be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh that lust (or war) against the Spirit of all those who are still “under the law,” but manifest just the opposite of the lusts of the flesh mentioned in verses 19-21 and exemplify the fruits of the Spirit that Paul describes for us in verse 22f. Galatians 5:16-26 in the NASB thus reads:

But I say, [continually, present act. imperative] walk by the Spirit, and you will not [Grk. double negative, "no never"] 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 [continually, present act. subjunctive] may not do the things you please. But if you are [continually, present passive indicative] led by the Spirit, you are not under the law [i.e., under the workings of the flesh or sinful nature]. 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 [habitually practice, present active participle] practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 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 [the regenerate] who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified [in the past, aorist active indicative], the flesh with its passions and desires. If we [continually, present active indicative] live by the Spirit, let us also continually, present active subjunctive] walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. [bracketed words, bold lettering and italics mine].

Verse 16 is a little misleading in many translations. As Charles Cousar notes in his commentary:

The RSV translation of verse 16 is a bit misleading. It treats the verbs in the verse as if they were both imperatives, parallel to one another ("Walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh"). The latter clause, however, is an emphatic future negative, conditional on the previous clause. Paul is saying, "Walk by the Spirit, and then you will never gratify the desire of the flesh" (cf. NEB and JB). The way to thwart the self-indulgence and sinfulness constantly at hand is to live by [or “in”] the Spirit (Galatians, pp. 134-135).

Homer Kent in his commentary on this verse in Galatians concurs:

The negative is emphatic in the text. The two procedures are opposites. If one is controlled by the Holy Spirit, he will of a necessity be proceeding in a direction away from the sinful desires of the flesh (The Freedom of God’s Sons, p. 156).

And as Anthony Hoekema likewise notes:

The Revised Standard Version here is mistaken when it translates the second half of the verse as if it were a second command: “and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” In the original Greek the second clause is not a prohibition but a strong negation; it really amounts to a promise: If you walk by the Spirit you shall not in any way fulfill the lusts of the flesh (The Christian Looks at Himself, pp. 50-51).

So, if one is “in Christ” they are walking in the Spirit and no longer walking in the flesh. Many Galatians were not “walking by the Spirit,” as denoted of all true believers in Romans chapter 8, but were still being led by and “under the law,” as denoted of all unbelievers in Romans 7. Indeed, some of them were the very Galatian antagonizers (the Judaizers) that Paul was addressing here, and who did not have the Spirit of Christ in them at all. What Paul is basically saying here to the Galatians is that if you are truly in Christ you will no longer fulfill the desires and passions of the sinful nature (something he reiterates further on just a few verses later in Gal. 5:24; cp. also w/Rom. 6:6).

So, to reiterate all of this again, Paul is saying: If you are “in Christ,” then this will happen; if you are out of Christ, then these other things will be manifest in your lives. If one is “under the law,” he is still in the flesh and being led by his sinful nature; if he is “under grace” he is being led by the Spirit of God and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. The contrast here is being in Christ and "under grace," as opposed to not being in Christ and still "under law." The two are opposing principles, rendering an individual incapable of doing what they truly deep down inside want to do (the very same struggle described in Romans 7) until one comes out from being “under law.” In light of this, Paul’s exhortation in Gal. 5:18 now begins to make all the more sense when he says, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The tension being described in verse 17 is no longer the tension of the saint, but that of the unbeliever who is still under the law and still in the flesh. If this were not the case, then verse 18 would make no sense at all as to why Paul would make such a statement as this. To be not “under law” is tantamount to walking in the Spirit, being "under grace," and no longer walking in the flesh. The one outcome of no longer fulfilling the lusts of the flesh is the natural outworking of the one who is in Christ and walking after the Spirit. No wonder “not gratifying the desires of the flesh” in verse 16 is correctly understood as not an imperative (or, a command). This is because it is the natural outcome or progression of the one who is walking by the Spirit. Who needs a “command” when their bent is now naturally inclined to obey? This is why we really do not need laws, per se; our regenerated born-again hearts are now the law personified. As such we are “living epistles,” written by the finger of God, to be learned and read of all men.

As Paul denoted earlier, perfection never came by being under the law, but by being under grace (3:3). He called such a law-works oriented lifestyle as tantamount to being made perfect “by the flesh” (ibid). Being “under the law” (or in the flesh) does not produce fruit unto life, but only death (see also Rom. 7:5-6 again). But once we walk in the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, sin will never again have dominion over us to produce the desires and lusts of the flesh that war against the Spirit. He who is dead in Christ is freed from sin (Rom. 6:7). Again, sin (or sin in the flesh) “shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14, KJV).

Before moving on, I would just like to add that “walking in or by the Spirit” here in Galatians is not just some subjective, mystical experience that one is just to somehow “sense” what it is that they are to do. The command to “walk in the Spirit” is walking in the Word, just as “praying in the Spirit” is praying according to the Word. Walking and praying in the Spirit is walking and praying according to God’s Word or, His law, as is generally understood when we are talking about keeping His moral laws as a holy way of living for our lives. So, keeping “in step with the Spirit” in Galatians 5:25 is keeping in step with God’s Word (or His law), and it is the same thing as walking “in Christ.” Otherwise, how are we to know what “keeping in step” with the Spirit really is? It is not just a subjective experience in our lives; it is an objective one as well, not so dissimilar to Rom. 7:8-9, 11 which states: “Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worked in me all manner of concupiscence…. when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died….For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (AKJV). This is very important for us to realize when we are discussing verse 17 in Galatians chapter 5. When Paul refers to the Spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit, it is the struggle mainly between the unregenerate Jew in the flesh against the holy and spiritual Word or Law of God (or against the Spirit). When God spoke in Genesis 6:3 about His Spirit not always striving with man, this is what Paul is referring to in Gal. 5:17.[2] It is a striving of the natural man against what the Spirit of God is striving for, with man’s flesh keeping him from doing what he is suppose to be doing. This “striving” continued between God and all unregenerate Jews in the OT, until He would no longer strive with them anymore and eventually judged them like He did with those in the days of Noah.

Verse 17 in Galatians chapter 5 has been the main verse that has been the crucial point of contention for many. And let me just again state right from the beginning that Paul is stating a condition that is not in keeping or in accordance with those who are Christians. He is stating a conflict of interest between the Spirit (or the Word) and the one who is still in the flesh to “keep you from doing the things you want to do.” When such a person is “under the law,” and without Christ, they only keep on not doing that which they want to do. But by being released from “under” this taskmaster, called “the law,” they are now free to serve another who liberates them to walk in the righteous requirements of God’s holy law as delineated in Rom. 8:3. What Paul is stating in these verses in Galatians of the one walking in the Spirit as opposed to walking in the flesh, is the exact same thing that he is asserting in Romans 6 and 8, in opposition to the unregenerate person described in Romans 7, and whom Paul likewise states could not do what he wanted to do after also having shown that being “under the law” was synonymous with one still being under the control of the flesh. See also my article: Gal. 5:24--Those Who Belong to Christ Jesus HAVE Crucified the Flesh. It goes into more detail on verse 17, elaborating on the Greek "hina" clause as either the result of the flesh keeping unbelievers from not being able to do the good that they want to do, verses the purpose of both the flesh and Spirit struggling to vie for control over the believer's life. I argue for the former as "the result" of the flesh keeping unbelievers from doing the good that they want to do, until they come out from being in or of the flesh (or under the law) and under grace.

Like the struggle being described in Gal. 5:17, all that the law could do was only arouse one’s sinful nature (or the flesh) to be more sinful, when the Law was attempted to be obeyed without God’s Spirit within them. To be “under the law,” in this sense described above, was tantamount to still being under the power of sin and in the flesh, and not in the Spirit at all, just as Paul in Romans states to those Jews who use to live under the Laws of Moses:

And the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound.... For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.... For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through [or aroused by] the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been discharged [loosed or delivered] from the law, having died to that wherein we were held [restrained, retained]; so that we serve in newness of the spirit.... For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God [did], sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity [or hostile] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. (Rom. 5:20; 6:14; 7:5-6; 8:3-10; ASV).

Paul says they died to the law so that they were no longer “under the law,” so that they could now serve God in newness of Spirit. And this analogy has been beautifully portrayed for us by Paul in Rom. 7:1-6 under the similitude of a marriage. When the Jew died in Christ they were freed from being “under the law” (who was their former husband) so that they might be free to serve under a new husband, namely Christ.

As William Hendriksen says with regards to being “under the law” in Gal. 5:18, “Being under the law spells defeat, bondage, the curse, spiritual impotence, for the law cannot save” (Galatians, p. 215). Philip Graham Ryken adds here a quotation from another gentleman in his commentary: “Here is the paradox again in its fullness: We are set free from the law in order to produce a righteousness that corresponds to the righteousness that the law demanded” (Galatians, op. cit., p. 225). John MacArthur concurs: “To live under the Law is to live by the flesh, even when one is not actually committing sin, because that is the only avenue available to the legalist. The flesh is powerless to fulfill the Law, and the Law is powerless to conquer the flesh” (Galatians, p. 157). Adam Clarke likewise adds here: “you will not feel those evil propensities [by being under the law] which now disgrace and torment you.” John Wesley also adds here: “Not under the curse or bondage of it; not under the guilt or the power of sin.” Matthew Henry also asserts: “those who desire thus to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to its awful curse. Their hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel.” A. T. Robertson additionally notes here under Gal. 5:18 how that “under the law“ is used “instead of [or in place of] ‘under the flesh’ as one might expect….The flesh made the law weak….They are one and the same in result.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown also remark of how that the Christian is “not working the works of the flesh…which bring one under the law.” And finally, Martyn Lloyd Jones remarks how that “the oldness of the letter is characteristic of being 'under the law,' which is the same as being 'in the flesh.' A man who is 'in the flesh' is 'under the law'" So there you have it! Being "in the flesh" is tantamount to still being "under the law." And in Gal. 5:13, the Galatians were exhorted to not use their new-found freedom in Christ as an occasion (or beachhead) for remaining "under the law," which was tantamount to still being "in the flesh." If they continued to keep the mandates of the Law (such as physical circumcision), Christ was of no value to them; they had fallen from grace revealing that they were never saved in the first place (see my footnote below for more on this idea [3]).

Now before moving on, let me just pause with one more final thought on Gal. 5:17-18, with special attention to be given to verse 18 again. It is worth repeating that in Rom. 6:14, Paul says, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace” (ESV). What Paul is saying here is exactly in line or in agreement with what he has been saying all along in Gal. 5:18. The struggles depicted in Gal. 5:17, and in the parallel passages in Rom. 7:15-20, are no longer ours to contend with when one is no longer “under the law.” Listen to Paul’s words again, in an expanded translation of Gal. 5:18: “But, if you are being [passively] guided, led, impelled and urged by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The one being described here by Paul is not lusting against the Spirit anymore, nor is the Spirit any longer against him; he is being passively “guided, led, impelled and urged” by God to keep in-step with the Spirit. And also notice the bold conjunction “but” here. It could also read: “Except, save, or on the contrary, if you are being led by Spirit, you are not under law.” Any online dictionary will note this understanding of this conjunction “but.” It’s synonyms are also: although, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, or yet. So put any of these words at the beginning of this sentence in Gal. 5:18, and they will show a change of thought of the ones who have just been previously described as being contrary to the Spirit, “but” who are now being led by the Spirit.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones had noted this fact in his commentary on Romans 7 that Rom. 6:14 and Gal. 5:18 are addressing the very same issue at hand, but he had not caught on to the fact that Rom. 6:14 is clearly affirming what Gal. 5:18 does not so “clearly” on the surface affirm: that the dominion and struggle that sin has over the individual described in Gal. 5:17 is no longer the struggle of the one who is now “under grace” and no longer "under law." Dr. Jones understood this with regards to Romans 6-8, but he had not caught on to this fact in Gal. 5:17-18, due to the fact that the word “Spirit” is now introduced into the picture in Galatians, whereas in Romans 7, the Spirit is not, per se; and which has been a conundrum for many. But this obstacle is overcome when one realizes that walking in “the Spirit” in Galatians and the “spiritual Law” (or the Word of God) in Romans are one and the same, but just being described in different ways as I just talked about earlier above. “For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit [i.e., the Spiritual Law, Christ, or the Word], and what the Spirit [the spiritual Law, Christ, or the Word] wants is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so you do not do what you want to do” (ISV trans., words in brackets mine). Now with a proper biblical understanding of the correlation between Gal. 5:18 and verse 17 (as is the case with Rom. 6:14 and Rom. 7:15-20) we can now begin to see how we can do some of those things that we formerly could not do without the help of God’s regenerating influences upon us by His Holy Spirit. We are now passively “led” in Gal. 5:18 (Gk. verb “led” in passive voice) by a power outside of ourselves to do those things that we could not do before we were saved. It is even as the epistle to the Philippians declares: “He which began a good work in you will carry it on to completion….For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (1:6; 2:13). Hallelujah! Are you getting this brethren? Oh, I hope that you are. If you do, then you will be swimming against an overwhelming tide of criticism from those who would take issue with you and say that verse 17 (or even Rom. 7:15-20) is the lifestyle of the saint. But it isn’t! What kind of “saint” is that? It is the lifestyle and struggle of the one who is still “under law,” as verse 18 subtly describes and alludes to for us. This is the gospel of good news brethren! These are glad tidings of great joy. In Christ we can now do the good that we want to do.

Before being in Christ, the text here in Galatians 5:17 says that the Spirit of God and the person wholly in the flesh are “opposed” to one another. The KJV uses the English word to denote that which is “contrary” to one another with the Greek verb antikeimai, which is also sometimes used of Satan as an “adversary”—of one who is opposed to another (see LXX on Zech. 3:1). Interestingly, in Col. 2:14, the KJV again speaks of the Mosaic Law as that which is also “contrary” to us with the Greek adjective hupenantios, and it too is translated in the KJV in Heb. 10:27 as “adversaries” (a cursory reading of Vine’s Expos. Dict. will reveal all this).

To be “adverse” or an “adversary” to someone or something is synonymous to being in “opposition” or “contrary” to them. Gal. 5:17 is not so much describing a battle that is within believers, as it is a battle that is without and of unbelievers who have not the Spirit of Christ within them to help them to do what they should do. This is very important for us to realize if we are to understand this text correctly. This struggle being described by Paul here, according to verse 18, is of those who are still “under the law” and not walking by the Spirit at all—a law-struggle which he now says we are no longer “under.” In verse 18, he says if we are led by the Spirit of God we are not under such an “adverse” conflict that comes from being “under the law,” which takes us back to his original thought in verse 16: “If you are walking in the Spirit, you will never ever fulfill the lusts of the sinful nature (or the flesh)”—its been crucified—as depicted in verse 24! As Hoekema had said with regards to verse 16, it’s “a promise” that arises out of a condition that has been fully met of walking in the Spirit that is only realized of the one who is truly in Christ, just as Romans 8 describes of all such persons. If we are “in Christ,” as opposed to being “under the law,” we will be those who “walk in the Spirit” and will NOT fulfill the desires of the flesh (or the sinful nature); for the sinful nature is no longer privy to us! It is even as Rom. 6:6 now affirms, “We know that our old natures were crucified with Him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin” (ISV). And again, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:2, KJV). In Christ all of the “opposition” and “contrariness” to God’s Law has been removed from us. “He who has died has been freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7).

Online dictionary, Dictionary.com, in its Thesaurus, lends to us some keen insights as to this outward (rather than inward) conflict that I have just described above. It denotes how that “aversion is something that originates from within, whereas adversity is something that originates from without; adverse is usually applied to situations, while averse is used to describe a person’s attitude. Averse means reluctant or disinclined; adverse means hostile and antagonistic.” One has more to do with an inclination that comes from within; the other with conduct that manifests itself without; and this is exemplified in the lifestyles of those who are unregenerate in Paul’s list of vices that are manifest in such a person in Gal. 5:19-21. This is not to say that the unbeliever does not also struggle internally, but only that this opposition being described here is one that is manifested or evidenced externally in how the unbeliever acts and conducts themselves in this opposition towards God. This is why Paul stated, “the acts of the sinful nature are obvious” (v. 19, NIV), or “manifest” in the KJV, ASV, ERV and YLT.

As I said just a little while ago, the Spirit and the Mosaic Law (or the Word) are all one and the same; and they are “contrary” or “adverse” to the one who is not born of God. In Colossians Paul says that Christ nailed this “opposition” or contrariness (this “accuser” if we may) to the cross, taking it out of the way, so that we now serve God and His law in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter, or strictly by the written code. If one is no longer “under law” (under that adverse “contrariness” that the law instilled upon the Jew, or even upon Gentile proselytes) as Paul affirms of those in Gal. 5:18, then they are no longer under the constant conflict of “not” being able to do what they want to do that Gal. 5:17 describes. Again, sin “has no dominion over you, for you are no longer under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Through the Holy Spirit who is now in us we can do what we, and God, want us to do! Wow, now that’s a novel idea these days? I bet I got your attention on that one, didn’t I? And you are probably by now coming around and thinking, “Yeah, that is the apostles’ doctrine! How could I have missed that?” I will tell you why: It is because wrong deceptive teaching only produces wrong thinking. It does what it is suppose to do, deceive you! It bewitches you into believing that the lie being held out to you is the truth! Such incorrect thinking about these verses brethren only tears us down and doesn’t build us up, causing us to think that we are nothing more than a bunch of has-beens and have-nots that will never amount to anything this side of heaven.

The teaching that I, and I believe the apostles are teaching here, is only meant to lift you higher and cause you to reach for the stars—to reach out for that high and holy calling which our thrice holy God has called us to: “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” According to the holy apostles’ teachings everywhere, the continual sins of the flesh that we once use to always do no longer have dominion over us. The key here is “continual” and habitual sins, not occasional sinning that we all sometimes succumb to from time to time, even like David. Yet even his example of failure is not the example that we are to follow, but on the contrary, we are to only follow those as they follow Christ. This is what is called: “reaching for the stars.” If someone is not in step with Christ, then step beside them and move on to the higher calling: “Become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Php. 2:15). It should be even as Paul and his entourage confessed: “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed” (1Ths. 2:10). And so God similarly affirms: “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with Me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me” (Psm. 101:6). Let His (God’s) Word be the last word on all of this. You are the “light” of the world, therefore walk as “children of light” even as He is “in the light.” There is no “flesh” here; no darkness! Just light! Reckon it so and walk in it! And you can take that to the bank! Credit this to your account of faith! Credit such a faith as this to your account!

What follows on the heels of Gal. 5:18 are the vices depicted of the lifestyle of the unregenerate man, with verse 21b affirming, “Those [of the flesh and not of the Spirit] who do [habitually practice] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God [i.e., they are not saved].”[4] This agrees with the apostle John’s statements noted earlier, that are well worth repeating here below one more time. Keep reading these passages over and over again, until the brevity of what John is truly saying to us finally sinks in:

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him….Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1Jhn. 2:29; 3:4-10, ESV).

Now, don’t argue with me, take it up with the apostles! These are the cold, hard facts! Those who continue to sin are not born of God, but are “of the devil.” In a similar fashion to John, Paul is telling the Galatians that if they are “practicing” sinners they have no part or inheritance in the kingdom of God. They are not God’s children (cp. 1Cor. 6:9-11), but children of the Devil who are ruled by the sinful nature (or the flesh). “To inherit God’s kingdom is to come into its rightful possession by receiving the free gift of eternal life…People who perform [habitually] the acts of the sinful nature will not inherit eternal life” (Ryken on Galatians, p. 231) because their fruit manifests what kind of tree they are really made of.

Verses 22-23, in Galatians chapter 5, continue with the thought that Paul is trying to make: “But the fruit of the Spirit [of those passively led by God as noted earlier] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law [no such strivings of the flesh against the Spirit].” And, “those [the regenerate] who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh [or the sinful nature] with it passions and desires [“lusts”, KJV], the very thing that Paul affirms of those in Romans chapter 6, making them no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness and to God so that we can now actually indeed do the things that we want to do, and not “keep on not doing” what we want to do. Elsewhere Paul affirms, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God…” (Gal. 2:20, NIV). And again, “…we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Rom. 6:6-7).

Now, to state otherwise—that Romans 7:15-20 and Gal. 5:17 are depicting the actual lifestyle of the regenerate person—then one would have to affirm just the opposite of what these verses are stating: that such individuals actually keep on doing that which they really want to do, and don't do what they do not want to do. The reason why these words would have to be changed to read like this, is because such a holy lifestyle and conduct would be more in line with the rest of the Scriptures that affirm such a positive lifestyle and practice of all sincere and true believers. We need to ask ourselves this question: “Do we as Christians actually keep on “not” doing that which we really want to do as Galatians and Romans depicts?” Because that is what Romans 7:15-19 and Gal. 5:17 are affirming! The answer of course to this question is quite obvious: “Of course not!” A born-again Christian “cannot keep on sinning,” according to St. John.

Let me just summarize all this again for one moment: Galatians 5:16-18 mirrors Romans 6-8, but only in reverse and in a shorter outline form. Have you ever seen a reflection of an image in a mirror? It is the same reflection, but only in reverse. “Walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the desires of the flesh (or the sinful nature)” in Gal. 5:16 mirrors Romans 8 (esp. vv. 4 and 9). “Continually not doing what you want to do” in Gal. 5:17 mirrors Romans 7 (esp. vv. 15-20). And, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” mirrors Romans 6 (esp. v. 14); with the rest of Gal. 5:19-26 giving a more detailed and fuller report. The man of the flesh (the carnal, sold as a slave to sin, unregenerate man) habitually keeps on sinning (the Romans 7 man); whereas, the one walking in and by the Spirit (the regenerate Romans 6 and 8 man) bears fruit unto God. Clearly, Paul is stating the very same things to the Galatians that he is also saying to the Romans, but only in a condensed manner.

I am truly amazed at how many Christians spend more time thinking about who they aren’t in Christ, rather than on who they are in Christ. Watchman Nee’s treatise on Romans called, The Normal Christian Life, was written for this very purpose of instilling in us such a belief system of exactly who we are in Christ. Though not entirely perfect in his presentation (especially with regards to Romans 7), his book was one of the first books that I ever read after first believing in Christ that instilled within me this new-found heritage that belongs to all of God’s saints. It is high time that we arise to the occasion for which God has called us to, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Awake from the dead, thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give thee light! Just start to “reckon” it so, for our Bible tells us so! (Please click here for part five)



Footnotes:

[1] New Testament Commentary. Galatians, p. 215.

[2] Those commentators that would have anything substantial to say with regards to this passage in Genesis 6:3 are: 1) Albert Barnes: “To strive…to keep down, rule, judge, or strive with a man by moral force. From this passage we learn that the Lord by his Spirit strives with [the natural] man up to a certain point. In this little negative sentence streams out the bright light of God's free and tender mercy to the apostate race of man. He sends his Spirit to irradiate the darkened mind, to expostulate with the conscience, to prompt and strengthen holy resolve, and to bring back the heart, the confidence, the affection to God. He effects the blessed result of repentance toward God in some, who are thus proved to be born of God.” 2) Adam Clarke: “It is only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who willfully resist and grieve that Spirit [similar to natural Israel] must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given.” 3) Keil and Del.: “Men, says God, have proved themselves by their erring and straying to be flesh, i.e., given up to the flesh, and incapable of being ruled by the Spirit of God and led back to the divine goal of their life.” 4) John Gill: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man;…this is to be understood of the Holy Spirit of God, as the Targum of Jonathan, which agrees with 1 Peter 3:18 and to be thus interpreted; that the Spirit of God, which had been litigating and reasoning the point, as men do in a court of judicature, as the word signifies, with these men in the court, and at the bar of their own consciences, by one providence or by one minister or another, particularly by Noah, a preacher of righteousness, in vain, and to no purpose; therefore, He determines to proceed no longer in this way, but pass and execute the sentence of condemnation on them. For that he also is flesh; not only carnal and corrupt, but sadly corrupted, and wholly given up to and immersed in sensual lusts and carnal pleasures, so as not to be restrained nor reformed…”

[3] Many, including myself, have often viewed Christians as being warned against giving place to their so-called “libertine” tendencies in Gal. 5:13. However, there is no absolute certainty that this is really what Paul is talking about here, since I am fully aware that this would be out of character with Paul’s theme of dealing with being under the Law/in the flesh, and not under grace. So shouldn’t we rather see Paul’s main focus in all these chapters as dealing with still being “under the Law” as taught by the Judaizers, and that verse 13 is only a short caveat on the abuses arising from these Judaizers against those who claim such a “freedom” from the Law? I tend to be just a little more inclined to favor this idea. And if this is the case, then the “libertine tendencies” idea will just have to take a back seat for now.

So maybe, just maybe, using our “freedom as an occasion to the flesh” could very well mean, in context, an occasion for still remaining “under the Law,” which, like I said, is tantamount to still being “in the flesh.” And to do so would be akin to one having “fallen from grace” (v. 4) and not really being saved in the first place, as most tend to agree here with regards to this verse. Being “in the flesh,” in verses 16-17, sure seems to include this idea of still being “under the Law” in verse 18, as mentioned already. And in Gal. 5:1, Paul just got through talking about “freedom” from being in a yoke of slavery, which no one doubts was servitude under the Law; so it could stand to reason (in context) that this is also what he is referring to in verse 13. It makes sense. In verse 13cff, it is through “love” that we “serve” (or are “enslaved”) to one another, not by being under the Law. Not that we are lawless, but being strictly under the Law (and not under grace) is not how we “serve” God or one another (cp. the Greek verb douleuo for serving as slaves in verse 13c through “love,” in juxtaposition to the Greek noun douleia for serving as slaves in verse 1 under the “yoke” of the Law). So, in context, being “in the flesh” is synonymous to being “under the law.” And being “under the Law” only “arouses the sinful passions” of the flesh (Rom. 7:5), it “takes opportunity through the commandment to produce sin” (Rom. 7:8, 11), and only incites us to sin (Rom. 7:8). And so when those of us who belong to Christ have crucified our “flesh” or “old man” on the cross with Christ (Gal. 5:24; Rom. 6:6), we have also died to the Law in order to “serve” another, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul also gives the analogy of us dying to the Law and to the flesh in the death of Christ in Rom. 7:1-6, in order that we might “serve (Gk. douleuo) in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter” (v. 6b).

[4] As A. T. Robertson notes: “The habit of these sins is proof that one is not in the Kingdom of God and will not inherit it.”