The holy spirit and purity

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND PURITY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Galatians 5:16 "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you
will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
New Living Translation, "So I say, let the Holy Spirit
guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your
sinful nature craves."
Amplified: But I say, walk and live[habitually]in the
[Holy] Spirit [responsiveto and controlledand guided
by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the
cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature
without God). (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay:I tell you, let your walk and conversationbe
dominatedby the Spirit, and don’t let the desires of
the lower side of your nature have their way.
(WestminsterPress)
Question:"How is the Holy Spirit like a fire?"

Answer: The Bible describes Godas “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29), so it
is not surprising that fire often appears as a symbol of God’s presence.
Examples include the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), the Shekinahglory (Exodus
14:19;Numbers 9:15-16), and Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel1:4). Fire has many
times been an instrument of God’s judgment (Numbers 11:1, 3; 2 Kings 1:10,
12) and a sign of His power (Judges 13:20;1 Kings 18:38).
For obvious reasons,fire was important for the Old Testamentsacrifices. The
fire on the altar of burnt offering was a divine gift, having been lit originally
by God Himself (Leviticus 9:24). Godchargedthe priests with keeping His
fire lit (Leviticus 6:13) and made it clearthat fire from any other source was
unacceptable (Leviticus 10:1-2).
In the New Testament, the altar canserve as a picture of our commitment to
the Lord. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are calledupon to offer our bodies
as “living sacrifices”(Romans 12:1), engulfed by the divine gift: the
inextinguishable fire of the Holy Spirit. At the very beginning of the New
Testament, the Holy Spirit is associatedwith fire. John the Baptist predicts
that Jesus will be the One to “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”
(Matthew 3:11). When the Holy Spirit beganHis ministry of indwelling the
early church, He chose to appear as “tongues of fire” resting on eachof the
believers. At that moment, “allof them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
beganto speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:3-4).
Fire is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is like a
fire in at leastthree ways: He brings God’s presence, God’s passion, and
God’s purity. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God as He indwells the heart
of the believer (Romans 8:9). In the Old Testament, GodshowedHis presence
to the Israelites by overspreading the tabernacle with fire (Numbers 9:14-15).
This fiery presence provided light and guidance (Numbers 9:17-23). In the
New Testament, Godguides and comforts His children with the Holy Spirit

dwelling in our bodies—the “tabernacle” andthe “temple of the living God”
(2 Corinthians 5:1; 6:16).
The Holy Spirit creates the passionof God in our hearts. After the two
traveling disciples talk with the resurrectedJesus, theydescribe their hearts
as “burning within us” (Luke 24:32). After the apostles receive the Spirit at
Pentecost, they have a passionthat lasts a lifetime and impels them to speak
the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31).
The Holy Spirit produces the purity of God in our lives. God’s purpose is to
purify us (Titus 2:14), and the Spirit is the agent of our sanctification(1
Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians2:13;1 Peter1:2). As the silversmith uses
fire to purge the dross from the precious metal, so God uses the Spirit to
remove our sin from us (Psalm 66:10;Proverbs 17:3). His fire cleansesand
refines."
EDITOR'S NOTE.
There are so many greatsites for Bible study, but I find that there are just two
that provide almostall that you ever need. I illustrate this in the study on this
text in Galatians. Below are all that is available on these two sites called
BIBLEHUB AND PRECEPT AUSTIN.
BIBLEHUB.COMRESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christian Progress RealizedThroughAntagonism
Galatians 5:16-26

R.M. Edgar
We must not suppose, however, that the love which God gives us as our liberty
can work out its will without experiencing opposition. Opposition we know it
will meet in the world of selfish men; but Paul here points out the antagonism
it meets within our ownpersonalities. The flesh antagonizes the Spirit. Love
does not getits own sweetwayas often as we would. Selfbecomes a battle-
ground, and God contends with the flesh for the supremacy of the soul. So
violent is the contention that the flesh is actually "crucifiedwith its affections
and lusts." We are introduced, therefore, to the law of Christian progress
which, because ofour sinful nature, has to be through antagonizing the sinful
tendencies in the interest of love. Observe -
I. SIN LEADS MAN TO FALL OUT WITH HIMSELF. (Ver. 17.)As
Ullmann has beautifully said, "Man forms a unity, which is, however, only the
foundation of that higher unity which is to be brought about in him, as a being
made in the Divine image, by means of communion with God. Now, sin does
not merely obstruct this unity, but sets up in its place that which is its direct
opposite. He who has fallen awayfrom God by sin, does, as a necessary
consequence,fall out both with himself and with all mankind. True unity in
man is possible only when that which is Godlike in him - that is, the mind -
acquiescesin the Divine order of life, and governs the whole being in
conformity therewith. But when he has once severedhimself from the true
centre of his being, that is, from God, then also does that element of his being,
his mind, which is akin to God, and which was intended to be the connecting
and all-deciding centre of his personallife, lose its central and dominant
position; he ceasesto be lord of himself and of his own nature; the various
powers which make up his complex nature begin to carry on, eachfor itself,
an independent existence;the flesh lusteth againstthe spirit, and the spirit
wages a fruitless war with the flesh (ver. 17); sinful desire becomes dominant,
and while the man seems to be in the enjoyment of all imaginable liberty, he
has lostthe only true liberty and has become a slave to himself; for '
whosoevercommitteth sin is the servant of sin' (John 8:34; Romans 6:16-23).
He is the dependent of self; and being thus the slave of self, he is also the slave
of pleasure, and of all those objects which it requires for its satisfaction."Man
becomes thus a distracted manifold, insteadof a God-centred unity.

II. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST ANTAGONIZES THE DISTRACTING
TENDENCIESAND REDUCES MAN TO A UNITY AGAIN. The way in
which we are united in heart and being is by having Jesus Christpressed
resistlesslyupon our attention. Faith realizes in Christ not only a perfect
personalIdeal, but also a Saviour on whom man may evermore depend. "The
Christ of Christendom is not simply a Masterto be loved and revered; he is a
Saviour to be leanedupon. His followers are to have that profound sense of
their own weakness andsinfulness which renders them sensitive to the
purifying and reforming influences that radiate from the personality of Jesus.
Without this, their love for the ideal would lead to no practical results;it
would be merely an aesthetic sentiment, expending itself in a vague and
fruitless admiration. But combine the two and you have the most effective
reforming influence that the world has ever known." Christ is not only the
unifying element in Church life, but in the individual life as well. He fuses all
the distractedfaculties into a glorious unity, and makes man his ownmaster
instead of his own slave. Hence, to quote the writer lastreferred to,
"Christianity alone among all religions maintains a constant antagonismto
the specialtendencywhich controls the nature of its followers."
III. BUT POSITIVE FRUIT IS PRODUCED BYTHE ANTAGONIZING
SPIRIT AS A GLORIOUS SET-OFF TO THE WORKS OF THE FLESH
WHICH HE DESTROYS. (Vers. 19-24.)Religionis not to be regardedas a
negative thing, contenting itself with antagonisms, but has positive and most
important fruits. It is not a system of severe repressions, but a system full of
stimulus towards a better and fuller life. It does not merely forbid
"fornication, uncleanness,"etc., under the penalty of exclusionfrom the
kingdom of God, but it produces "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness,
goodness,faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Whata catalogueofvirtues!
What a contrastto the works of the flesh! Thus is man restoredto something
like his true and better self. The gospelof Christ is not a weary round of
prohibitions, but is a glorious systemof positive attainment, in a Divine life,
which is loving, joyful, peaceful, and humane to its deepestdepths.
IV. AGAINST SUCH SPIRITUALLY MINDED ONES THERE CAN BE NO
LAW OF CONDEMNATION.(Vers. 18-23.)Law, when translatedinto love,
becomes light. God's commandments are not grievous to the loving soul. In

the keeping of them there is a greatreward. Hence the Law presses heavily
and hardly upon no loving spirit. "There is therefore now no condemnationto
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit" (Romans 8:1). It is to such a blissful experience we arc askedto come. -
R.M.E.
Fleshversus Spirit
Emilius Bayley, B. D.
A GalatianChristian might argue that the religion of Christ had not wrought
for him the deliverance which he had expected; that whereas he had been
taught to believe in the Almighty powerof Christ, and of Christ's grace, he
found that there yet abode within him another powerof a wholly different
kind, a powerantagonistic to the grace of Christ, a powerconstantly inclining
him to evil. How was he to accountfor this state of things? was it that Christ's
gospelwas ineffectual;or that he had not rightly apprehended it?
I. THE ABIDING PRESENCEOF THE LAW OF SIN IN THE BELIEVER'S
SOUL. Scripture everywhere assumes andasserts this (James 3:2; 1 John
1:8).
II. ITS HOSTILITY TO GOOD. Compromise is impossible. If sin be false to
everything else, it must be true to its own nature; it must be hostile to that
principle which aims at its destruction.
III. NOTE CERTAIN FEATURES IN THE ACTION OF SIN.
1. It is secret.
2. It is constant.
3. It is subtle.Seeksto discoverthe weakestparts in the soul's defences;to
deceive and beguile the soul, and so lead it captive.
IV. THE MAINTENANCE OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

(1)The spirit acts upon the soul as the Revealerofspiritual truth; and
(2)as the Giver of spiritual power.
(3)There must be co-operationonour part. No tampering with evil. A
circumspectwalk.
(Emilius Bayley, B. D.)
Twofoldnature of man
A. Boyd Carpenter, M. A.
Man's nature presents two sides. On the one hand the body, with all its
physical needs, desires, impulses; on the other hand that spiritual nature
which distinguishes him from the animal creation. These two sides are often
found in collision, warring againsteachother; the question is, how shall they
be adjusted, and which ought to rule? The two extremes of crushing out one
or the other entirely, are both wrong. The Christian method does no violence
to any true part of human nature. It respects allparts; but gives special
emphasis to the highest, not by crushing out the lower, but by bringing it into
proper subordination, so that there shall be harmony, due proportion, and
complete unity.
I. THE SPIRITUAL NATURE MUST HAVE THE FIRST PLACE. It is the
most noble, and therefore the most worthy of attention.
II. THE SPIRIT IS TO BE THE DIRECTING AND RULING ELEMENT. It
is to swaythe body, not the body to swayit.
III. THE PHYSICAL NATURE IS TO BE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE ITS
NATURAL RIGHTS, BUT UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND CONTROLOF
THE SPIRITUAL. How practicalis all this! St. Paul does not content himself
with taking up a merely negative attitude. To have simply forbidden this or
that, or to have told his readers that they were to exercise a restraint upon
their passions, wouldhave been at bestonly a partial and an unsatisfactory
way of dealing with their danger. He was far too true a master of the human

heart to fall into the error that nothing more than prohibition was needed. If
man is to be savedfrom evil thoughts, habits, passions, he must be given
definite and positive duties to fulfil. This is true both of
(a)the body, and
(b)the mind, as wellas
(c)the soul.Be up and doing. Don't be idle. Let your life have definite aims;
your heart and mind definite impulses, desires, principles. In this way will you
be better able not only to resist what is evil but to grow in what is best.
(A. Boyd Carpenter, M. A.)
The appealto the spiritual nature
A. Boyd Carpenter, M. A.
Such is St. Paul's method, and it is the one which treats man with the greatest
respect, and is calculatedto effectthe desired end most completely. Man is not
a machine to be regulatedonly by external influences. He has reason, will,
conscience, love;in a word, a spiritual nature. To appeal to this spiritual
nature, to place it in its proper position of authority and rule, is to treat man
as man, and to do so with the greatesthope of success. Law alone will not
succeedunless there is a response from within. Self-restraint will not be
sufficient. What is needed is the creationof an inward power of good;a self-
acting principle that shall love and will and strive after what is highest and
best, and from the innermost citadelof the spirit rule every thought, word,
act. This is what St. Paul advocates whenhe says, "Walk in the Spirit." He
contends for voluntary service as againstenforced;for spiritual obedience as
againstthe mere living by rule. It is the life of love and purity and wisdom
that he advocates as the life, as againstthe impulses, desires, passions ofthe
physical nature. And in doing this he not merely respects man as spiritual, he
not merely points out the superiority of the spiritual, but he seeks to base
thought and word and deed, and the whole tenor of the life, upon a heart
loving what is goodand hating what is evil. Service, with St. Paul, is spiritual,

free, spontaneous, high-minded. The higher desires and spiritual forces for
what is goodnot only check whatis baser, but, influencing the whole
manhood, lift up every faculty, power, impulse into a purer atmosphere.
(A. Boyd Carpenter, M. A.)
The spiritual walk
T. Manton, D. D.
In these words observe —(1) A duty enforced;(2) The consequentand fruit of
it.
1. The duty is to walk in the Spirit, which is the sum of all Christian piety.
2. The motive is takenfrom the consequentand fruit of it: "and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh." Let us fix the sense.
1. Forthe duty, "to walk in the Spirit." Walking implieth the tenor and course
of our actions, in all which we should follow the direction and inclination of
the Spirit. Therefore by flesh and spirit is meant the old man and the new, and
so by spirit is meant the renewedpart, or the new man of grace in the heart
(John 3:6, "Thatwhich is born of the Spirit is spirit"); that is, there is a work
of saving grace wroughtin our hearts by the Spirit of God, which new nature
hath its motions and inclinations which must be obeyed and followed by us.
And by flesh, is meant inbred corruption, or the old man, which is "corrupt,
with his deceivable lusts" (Ephesians 4:22). Now, then, you see what it is to
walk after the Spirit, to direct and order our actions according to the
inclinations of the new nature.
2. Forthe consequentfruit of it: "and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."
Here two things must be explained: —
(1)The lust of the flesh.
(2)Fulfil.

1. "The lust of the flesh." By it is meant the inordinate motions of corrupt
nature. The flesh doth not considerwhat is right and good, but what is
pleasing to the senses,and craveth their satisfactionwith much importunity
and earnestness, to the wrong of God and our own souls; especiallyin youth,
when the senses are in vigour, and lust and appetite in their strength and fury.
2. Ye shall not fulfil; that is, accomplishand bring into complete act,
especiallywith deliberation and consent. Mark, he cloth not saythat the
lusting of corrupt nature shall be totally suppressed, but it shall not be
fulfilled. The best of God's children feel the motions of the flesh, but they do
not cherishand obey them. The lusts of the flesh may be said to be fulfilled
two ways —(1) When the outward act is accomplished, or"when lust hath
conceivedand brought forth (actual) sin" (James 1:15).(2)When for a
continuance we obey the flesh, usually accomplishits motions without let and
restraint, and with love, pleasure, and full consentof will; this is proper to the
unregenerate. The flesh doth reign over them as its slaves;this is spokenof
(Romans 6:12), "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof." Let it not have a powerover you as slaves. The doctrine,
then, is this: That the more Christians set themselves to obey the new nature,
the more is the power of inbred corruption mortified and kept under.To
understand this point, let me lay down these propositions.
1. That there is a diversity of principles in a Christian — flesh and spirit.
2. That there is a liberty in a Christian of walking according to eachprinciple,
either the spirit or the flesh.Application:
1. It showethwhat necessitythere is that we should look after conversionto
God, or a work of grace wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, for the apostle
supposeth they had the Spirit. There is no walking without living, for
otherwise our motions are but the motions of puppets, not proceeding from
internal life, but actedfrom springs and engines;no subduing the flesh
without setting up an opposite principle.
2. Being renewedby the Holy Ghost, that is, having our minds enlightened
and hearts inclined, we must obey this inclination; for life is not given us that
we may have it, but that we may actby it, and do things suitable to that life

which we have. Grace is not a sluggish, idle quality, but is always working and
warring on the opposite principle.
3. Though at first we are pesteredand encounteredwith the lusts of the flesh,
which divert us from God and heavenly things, yet we should not be
discouragedby every difficulty; for difficulties do but inflame a resolved
spirit, as stirring doth the fire.
4. The carnal life is not of one sort. Some wallow in sensualpleasures, others
have head and heart altogethertakenup with the world and worldly things.
Now if God hath put a new bias upon our wills and affections, we must show it
forth by a heavenly conversation;for they that mind earthly things are carnal,
and the greatinclination of the new nature is to carry us unto God and the
things of another world (2 Corinthians 5:5).
5. They are much to blame that complain of sin, and will not take the course
to get rid of it by obeying the instincts of the Holy Ghost, or the motions of the
new nature. The Lord's spirit is a "free spirit" (Psalm51:12.), and His "truth
maketh us free" (John 8:32).
6. How much we are concernedin all conflicts, especiallyin those which allow
deliberation, to take part with the Spirit, and obey His motions rather than to
fulfil the lusts of the flesh: otherwise, by consentand upon deliberation, you
are unfaithful to Christ and your own souls. Your business is not to gratify the
flesh, but to crucify it, to overrule sense and appetite, and cherishthe life of
grace (Galatians 5:24).
7. It is of greatuse and profit to us to observe which principle decayeth, the
flesh or the Spirit; for thereby we judge of our condition, both in order to
mortification and comfort.The increase ofthe flesh may be known —
1. By your backwardnessto God. Grace is cloggedwhenyou cannot serve
Him with sweetness anddelight (Romans 7:18).
2. When the heart growethcarelessofheaven, and your life and love is more
takenup about things presentthan things to come.Onthe other hand, the
prevalency and increase ofthe Spirit is known —

1. By a humble contentedness andindifference to plenty, pleasures, and
honours.
2. When your delight in God, heaven, and holiness is still kept up.
3. When the heart is kept in a preparation for the duties of your heavenly
calling.
(T. Manton, D. D.)
Walking in the Spirit
J. Venn, M. A.
I. WE ARE TO INQUIRE WHAT IT IS TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT. I
scarcelyneedto observe, that the Spirit of God is always representedin the
New Testamentas the Author of all holiness in the hearts of Christians;
whence the Christian dispensationis eminently styled "the ministration of the
Spirit."
1. And first I imagine, that a regardto all the greatevangelicalprinciples is
implied in the words, "walk in the Spirit." In the Epistles to the Romans and
the Galatians, in which the phrases of walking "in the Spirit" or "after the
Spirit" are chiefly used, the apostle takes much pains to weanthe Judaizing
converts from a servile spirit of dependence upon the law, and to instil into
them a spirit of liberty in Christ Jesus. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is
liberty.
2. By walking in the Spirit may be also implied habitual dependence upon His
help. To walk in the Spirit, therefore, is to acknowledgewith the heart our
own weakness andinability to serve God; to expectvictory over sin only by
the gracious operationofHis Spirit.
3. To walk in the Spirit implies also, that we use the means by which the Spirit
has promised to convey His influence, in the humble hope of thus receiving it.
Bible-reading, attendance on the preaching of the gospel, receptionof the
Holy Communion, and especiallyprayer.

4. I observe, further, that to walk in the Spirit implies the exercise ofa holy
fear of Him; which will manifest itself by avoiding those things which would
grieve Him, and by complying with His holy motions.
II. If we thus walk in the Spirit, we shall NOT FULFIL THE LUSTS OF THE
FLESH. This is the secondpoint which I proposed to illustrate. There is a
certain degree to which victory overthe sinful desires of the flesh is obtained
by every realChristian; and this degree is, perhaps, proportioned to that in
which he walks in the Spirit.
(J. Venn, M. A.)
How may we be so spiritual as to check sinin the first risings of it
John Gibbon, B. D.
? —
I. The principle and root of sin and evil — the flesh with its lusts.
II. The opposite principle and root of life and righteousness — the Divine
Spirit.
III. The terms and bounds of a Christian's conquest, how far he may hope for
victory — "Ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh."
IV. The method and wayof conquering — "Walk in the Spirit." The best
expedient in the world not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, is to walk in the
Spirit; which what it imports, I come now to show.
1. "Walk in the Spirit;" that is, in obedience to God's commandments, which
are the oracles of the Spirit (see Psalm119:1-3).
2. "Walk in the Spirit;" that is, as becomeththose in whom God's Spirit
dwells. As if the apostle had said, "The part which ye are now to act, O ye
Christian Galatians, it is that of new creatures — see that ye keepthe
decorum. Demeanyourselves like the children of God who are led of the Spirit
of God" (Romans 8:14).

3. "Walk in the Spirit;" that is, Fulfil the counsels and advices of the Spirit,
and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. But if these three rules are too
generaland remote, I shall now lay down some more particular and exact
directions for checking the beginnings of sin.Rule
I. — Before the paroxysm cometh, prepare and antidote thy soul againstthese
lusts of the flesh, by observing these advices.
1. That notable counselof Eliphaz to Job: "Acquaint now thyself with God,
and be at peace" (Job22:21).
2. Stir up spiritual and holy lastings in thy soul after the love and favour, the
grace and image, of thy God; and thou shalt not fulfil the lastings of the
flesh.Rule
II. — Study thoroughly the unchangeable natures, the eternallaws and
differences, of moral goodand evil. The sum of this rule then is: Deeply
possessand dye thy soul all over with the representationof that everlasting
beauty and amiableness that are in holiness, and of' that horror, and ugliness,
and deformity that eternally dwell on the forehead of all iniquity. Be under
the awe and majesty of such clearconvictions all day long, and "thou shalt not
fulfil the lusts of the flesh."Rule
III. — Understand thyself; be no strangerto thy own breast; know the frame,
and temper, and constitution of thy mind. See whatgrace is principally
wanting in thee, which is weakest, in what instances thy greatestfailure
betrays itself, in which of thy passions and affections thou art most peccable,
and what lastings of the flesh they are which give thee the frequentest alarms,
and threaten the greatestdangers.Rule
IV. — Get and keepa tender, conscience. Be sensible ofthe leastsin. The most
tender-hearted Christian — he is the stoutestand most valiant Christian.
"Happy is the man that feareth always:but he that hardeneth his heart shall
fall into mischief."Rule
V. — Keep an exactguard upon thy heart (Proverbs 4:23). Let the eyes of thy
soul be open and awake, uponall the stirrings of thy thoughts and
affections.Rule

VI. — Be daily training and exercising all thy graces. Have them always in
battle-array.Rule
VII. — Be well-skilledin the clenchs of temptation. I mean, in unmasking the
sophistry and mystery of iniquity, in defeating the wiles and stratagems ofthe
tempter, and in detecting and frustrating the cheats and finesses ofthe flesh
with its deceitful lusts (Ephesians 4:22; 2 Corinthians 2:11). No small part of
spiritual wisdom lies in the blessedart of discovering and refuting sin's
fallacies and impostures.Rule
VIII. — Withdraw thyself, if possible, from the occasions ofsin. Be thou as the
deaf adder to that greatcharmer: the best entertainment thou canstgive him
is, "Getthee behind me, Satan!"Rule
IX. — Bind thyself beforehand With the severestofthy resolutions, not to
trust thy judgment, when the temptation begins to get within thee. "A man in
passionis not himself."Rule
X. — Awe them with the authority of thy reasonand understanding. It is
infinitely unbeseeming a man, that his lowerappetites should grow mutinous
and untractable, that "the inferior and brutish faculties of our soul," should
rebel against"that sovereignfaculty of reason." How soondoth the presence
of a grave magistrate allay a popular tumult, if he comes in soonenough, in
the beginning of the riot? God hath made reasonthe magistrate of the little
world; He hath given it a commissionto keepthe peace in our souls.Rule
XI. — If thy distempered affections and lusts slight the authority of thy
reason, as thou art a man; bid thy consciencedo its office, as thou art a
Christian. Try to awe them with God's written Word. Bring out of the register
of consciencethe laws of Him that made thee; oppose some cleartext of Holy
Writ, that comes into thy mind againstthat very lust that is now rising.Rule
XII. — If all this effectnothing, then draw the curtain, take off the veil from
before thy heart, and let it behold the God that searchethit (Jeremiah17:10;
Hebrews 4:13). Show it the majesty of the Lord; see how that is described
(Isaiah 6:1-3).Rule

XIII. — If these greatreal arguments be slighted, try whether an argument,
ad hominem, drawn from sense, will prevail. Awe thy lusts with the bitterness
of thine own experience. Considerhow often thou hast rues their disorders;
what dismal consequences have followedupon their transports, and how
dearly thou hast paid heretofore for thy connivance at them.Rule
XIV. — Labour to cure thy justings and affections in the first beginning of
their disorders, by revulsion, by drawing the streamand tide another way. As
physicians stop an hemorrhage, or bleeding at the nose, by breathing the
basilic vein in the arm, or opening the saphaena in the foot; so may we check
our carnalaffections, by turning them into spiritual ones:and those either —
1. Of the same nature. For example: catchthy worldly sorrow at the rise, and
turn thy mourning into godly sorrow. If thou must needs weep, weepfor
something that deserves it.
2. Turn thy carnal affections into spiritual ones of a contrary nature. For
example: allay thy worldly sorrow by spiritual joy. Try whether there be not
enough in all-sufficiency itself to compensate the loss of any outward
enjoyment; whether there will be any greatmiss or want of a brokencistern,
when thou art at the fountain-head of living waters;whether the light of the
sun cannotmake amends for the expiring of a candle. Chastise thy carnal
fears by hope in God. Set on work the grace contraryto the lust that is
stilting; if it be pride and vain-glory in the applause of men, think how
ridiculous it were for a criminal to please himself in the esteemand honour his
fellow-prisoners render him, forgetting how guilty he is before his judge. If
thou beginnestto be poured looselyout, and as it were dissolvedin frolic,
mirth, and joviality, correctthat vainness and gaietyof spirit by the grave and
soberthoughts of death, and judgment, and eternity.Rule
XV. — If this avail not, fall instantly to prayer.Rule
XVI. — When thou hast done this, rise up, and buckle on the shield of faith
(Ephesians 6:16). Go forth in the name and strength of the Lord, to do battle
with thy lusts. Conclusion:Let me now persuade the practice of these holy
rules. Let us resolve, in the strength of Christ, to resistthese lustings of the
flesh. Let me press this with a few considerations.

1. The more thou yieldest, the more thou mayest. Sin is insatiable; it will never
say"enough."Give it an inch, it will take an ell.
2. It is the quarrel of the Lord of hosts in which thou tightest. A cowardly
soldier is the reproach of his commanders. Thou hasta noble General, O
Christian, that hath done and finished perfectly whatevercon. terns thy
redemption from the powers of darkness.
3. The lusts of the flesh are thy greatestenemies, as wellas God's. "They war
againstthy soul" (1 Peter2:11). To resistthem feebly, is to do not only the
work of the Lord, but of thy soul, negligently.
4. It is easyvanquishing at first in comparison. A fire newly-kindled is soon
quenched, and a young thorn or bramble easilypulled up.
5. If thou resistestthe victory is thine (James 4:7). Temptation puts on its
strength, as the will is. Cease but to love the sin, and the temptation is
answered.
6. Considerwhat thou doest. If thou fulfillest the lusts of the flesh, thou
provokestthy heavenly Father, rebellestagainstHim (and "rebellion is as
witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry"), thou "crucifiestJesus Christ
afresh, and puttest Him to an open shame." Is this thy love and thanks to thy
Lord, to whom thou art so infinitely beholden? Canst thou find in thy heart to
put thy spear againin His side? Hath He not suffered yet enough? Is His
bloody passionnothing? Must He bleed again? Ah, monster of ingratitude!
Ah, perfidious traitor as thou art, thus to requite thy Master!Again, thou
grievestthy Comforter:and is that wisely clone? Who shall comfort thee, ii
He depart?
(John Gibbon, B. D.)
The renewedman
H. Melvill, B. D.

If, therefore, you would judge of the life in the soul by the command which is
exercisedoverthe body, you must bring into accountthe agencyemployed, as
well as the result effected. You must calculate whether the non-fulfilment of
the lust of the flesh be in consequenceofa radical change of the heart, or
nothing more than the proud device of a weak, andself-sufficient nature.
1. It is not necessarythat a man should be what Scripture calls a renewedman
in order to his effecting a vast reformation in his ordinary conduct.
Reformation, indeed, will unavoidably follow on renewal;and when thus
produced, will be far more vigorous and decided than when tracedto any
other origin. But Satan, yea, oven Satan, can busy himself with the reforming
of a man; for has the devil nothing to do with self-righteousness?has he
nothing to do with the substitution of morality for faith? There will, indeed,
have been all this outward change if an individual has been renewedby God's
Spirit; but, alas!it is not true, that because there is a change there must have
been renewal!For you should remember that there follows, in the chapter
from which our text is taken, a catalogue ofthe works of the body; and this
catalogue contains "emulations, wrath, strife" — though these may have
seemedto be mental rather than bodily actions. We are bound, therefore, to
setdown as works of the body many works whichare not wrought by the
agencyof our corporealmembers. Pride, for example, is classedas a work of
the flesh, though it passes ordinarily as a disease ofthe mind. We argue,
therefore, that since a man may gratify his pride by the higher discipline
which he exercisesoverappetite and passion, he may be fulfilling, in one
sense, "the lust of the flesh," whilst to others he may seemto be mortifying
that lust. Pride is emphatically a sin of the devil, and, therefore, to trace the
actionof pride is to trace it to the devil. Thus, we think our first proposition
sufficiently established. There may be a struggle with "the lust of the flesh"
where there is no "walking in the Spirit," and, therefore, well might the
apostle fix our thoughts on the agencyas well as on the result. — "This I say,
then" — oh! be not content with the appearance ofresistance to the
corruption of nature without searching into the origin of that resistances"this
I say, then, Walk in the Spirit," then, and then only, shall you really and
actually "not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

2. We proceedto set more definitely before you our secondposition, that there
can be no effectual non-fulfilment of the lust of the flesh — none such as shall
prove spiritual — unless there be "walking in the Spirit." It is unquestionable,
as we have already admitted, that a man may mortify many deeds of the body.
He may climb the mountains, and there, far awayfrom all companionship
with his fellows, the rock for his couch, and the wild fruits for his sustenance,
he may live down the fierceness ofpassion, and win over carnal desires so
effective a sovereignty, that though they have heretofore been most imperious
in their cravings, they shall ever after yield obedience to the severercalls of
the Divine law. We know of nothing that may more confound those who have
embracedtrue religion — who prefer deliverance through the satisfactionof
Christ — than the ready submission to every kind of toil and privation which
is presented by the votaries of false systems of theology. But, whateverthe
appearance, there is no thorough mortification of "the lust of the flesh" unless
it be with the heart that the mortification begins. Yes, when the flesh is
coveredwith the ashes and torn with the stripes, may pride be abroadin its
strength, and man be regardedby the Holy Spirit of God as cherishing that
self-sufficiencywhich it is the first objectof the gospelto eject, and which
must be subdued ere there can be admission to the kingdom of heaven. And if
it be thus true that "the lust of the flesh Scannel be thoroughly unfulfilled
unless the heart be overcome and brought into subjection, then no
withstanding of the lusts can be that which proves a man quickened from the
death of "trespasses andsins," unless effectedby the Spirit of God. As to
outward conduct, a man may change it for himself, and, even as we have
shown you, be assistedby Satan;but an internal change, the bringing order
and harmony out of confusionand discord in the human soul, the crucifixion
of the flesh, the renewalof the heart, can only be brought about by the Holy
Ghost. See, then, whither you must turn for instruction and strength if you
would live and not die. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
His." Oh I not to be Christ's, after Christ has taken flesh, and sorrowed, and
suffered, and died in order to make us His! Oh! not to be Christ's, though
redeemedby Christ at the untold costof His agony and His blood! And what
is wanting to make us Christ's? Just that we have His Spirit, that Spirit which
is freely promised to all by whom it is earnestly sought.

(H. Melvill, B. D.)
Bishop F. D. Huntington.
As having a steady forward movement, as requiring not only an actionof the
will, but purpose, strength, and circumspection, the Christian life is very well
conceivedin figure as walking. Now, there are two ways or roads on either of
which we may be walking — a way of life and a way or death. And the way of
life is not easyto find. It is full of questions. The paths divide and diverge at
all angles. We do not travel by trains. The apostle uses the more accurate
word. It is a "walk" — step by step— an individual, personal thing, with free
choice, continual effort, and an onwardmovement. If it is to be worth
anything, if it is to come to anything noble here, or immortal hereafter, life is
costly. We must pay; we must think; we must watch and work, and perhaps
suffer. We are equal to it, not in our own strength, but by a Powergivenus
from above. What is the Power? Where is the Guide? To have the life that is
glorious and eternal — all its failures forgiven, and its end perfect — perfect
victory and perfect peace — we must "walk" — in that way? We come back
to St. Paul He answers, "This I saythen, Walk in the Spirit." He is positive
and peremptory. "This I saythen, Walk in the Spirit." There is one wayto
take and follow. There is a guide for this life. Walking is living; it is our life's
movement forward in this world. But how that shall be "in the Spirit" is what
we want to know more perfectly. And here, as often happens, we are helped
by contrasts. Throughout all this writing to the Galatians, and through all his
preaching of the gospelof Christ, we find this grand expounder of it pointing
out two opposite forces in the nature of every man. He has various names for
them — "the law of the members and the law of the mind" — "the old man
and the new man" — but oftenest"the flesh and the spirit." It is popular
language:we all know wellenough what he means, not because the terms are
precise, but because we are all conscious ofhaving in ourselves the two things
— if not always at work or at war, yet always there, ready to start up at any
time and renew their battle. Take notice, the New Testamentnever says that

the worse force ofthe two is wholly evil, or the better one wholly good. The
gospeldoes teacheverywhere that the spirit in man is the natural organof
what is highest and best in him, while the flesh is the natural organof what is
lower— the one connecting with the spiritual world above us, the other with
the world below. St. Paul does preach, plainly and with all his might, that
there is a struggle of eachof these two forces forthe mastery, and that it is a
desperate fight till the right one gets the upper hand and rules. There are only
two ways anywhere. It is one thing or the other. If we are not living in the
spirit, we are living as part and parcel of a material world, which then
overgrows andstifles the spirit, absorbs all interests into its outside show and
passionalcomforts, then runs down, perishes, and has no immortality but the
lingering one of the seconddeath. If it is inquired then, What is our spiritual
life? it is that within us which feels God to be a Father, which seeks and
follows what is goodin itself, which chooses whatis lovely in conduct and
generous in judgment, which tests friendships by their purity, and pursuits by
their righteousness, whichhas faith in the unseen, which worships, which is
touched and sometimes enraptured by the beauty of holiness. The spirit is that
in us which would rather suffer than do wrong, and rather be crucified than
mistake Caesarforthe Saviour or Mammon for its maker. It would choose
truth before falsehood:no matter what bribe is put into the balance with the
lie. It is that by which we forgive injuries, and confess our own sins, and are
willing to be made poorer for the kingdom of heaven's sake, andtake in the
glorious sense ofthe encomium on charity in 1 Corinthians 13. There is
another contraststill. St. Paul, through all this passage, has in mind not only a
comparisonof the spiritual mind with the sensualand selfish mind, but of the
life lived in the spirit and a life which looks somewhatlike it, but at heart,
under the surface, is a very different thing: — i.e., a life lived under a setof
rules formed by external regulations, fashioned, piecedtogether, cut and dried
by the law. You know how determined his assaults were always,in every
sermon and every epistle, from his conversionat Damascusup to his
martyrdom at Rome, on the system which sees nothing in religion but rule.
The reasonis that in a charactershapedby outside rules you will never have
anything deeper than an outside piety. It will not be characteratall, but only
the shell of it. The heart of love has not begun to beat, the Spirit of Christ has
not begun to breathe in them. Whoeverwould be a Christian must be one

heartily and cheerfully, not grudgingly or of necessity. The Christian life must
spring and bubble up from within, not be fitted on from without.
(Bishop F. D. Huntington.)
The positiveness ofthe Divine life
Phillips Brooks, D. D.
There are two ways of dealing with every vice that troubles us, in either
ourselves or others. One is to setto work directly to destroy the vice; that is
the negative way. The other is to bring in as overwhelmingly as possible the
opposite virtue, and so to crowd and stifle and drown out the vice; that is the
positive way. Now there canbe no doubt about St. Paul. Here comes his poor
Gatatianfighting with his lust of the flesh. How shall he kill it? St. Paul says
not, "Do as few fleshly things as you can," setting him out on a course of
repression;but, "Do just as may spiritual things as you can, opening before
him the broad gates ofa life of positive endeavour. And when we have
thoroughly comprehended the difference of these two methods, and seenhow
distinctly St. Paul chose one instead of the other, we have laid hold on one of
the noblestcharacteristicsofhis treatment of humanity, one that he had
gained most directly from his Lord. I should despair of making any one see
the distinction who did not know it in his ownexperience. Everywhere the
negative and the positive methods of treatment stand over againsteachother,
and men choose betweenthem. Here is a man who is besetby doubts, perhaps,
about the very fundamental truths of Christianity. He may attack all the
objections in turn, and at last succeedin proving that Christianity is not false.
That is negative. Or he may gatherabout him the assurance ofall that his
religion has done, and sweepawayall his doubts with the complete conviction
that Christianity is true. That is positive, and that is better. We see the same
principle, the superiority of the positive to the negative, constantlyillustrated
in matters of opinion. How is it that people change their opinions, give up
what they have steadfastlybelieved, and come to believe something very
different, perhaps its very opposite? I think we all have been surprised, if we
have thought about it, by the very small number of cases in which men

deliberately abandon positions because those positions have been disproved
and seemto them no longertenable. And even when such casesdo occur, the
effectis apt to be not good, but bad. The man abandons his disproved idea,
but takes no other in its stead;until, in spite of their better judgment, many
goodmen have been brought to feel that, rather than use the power of mere
negation, and turn the believer in an error into a believer in nothing, they
would let their friend go on believing his falsehood, since it was better to
believe something, howeverstupidly, than to disbelieve everything, however
shrewdly. But what then? How do men change their opinions? Have you not
seen? Holding still their old belief, they come somehow into the atmosphere of
a clearerand a richer faith. That better faith surrounds them, fills them,
presses offthem with its ownconvincingness. Theylearn to love it, long to
receive it, try to open their hands and hearts just enoughto take it in and hold
it along with the old doctrine which they have no idea of giving up. They think
that they are holding both. They persuade themselves that they have found a
way of reconciling the old and the new, which have been thought
unreconcilable. Perhaps they go on thinking so all their lives. But perhaps
some day something startles them, and they awake to find that the old is gone,
and that the new opinion has become their opinion by its own positive
convincing power. There has been no violence in the process, norany
melancholy gap of infidelity between. It seems to me that there is something so
sublimely positive in Nature. She never kills for the mere sake ofkilling, but
every death is but one step in the vastweaving of the web of life. She has no
process ofdestruction which, as you turn it to the other side and took at it in
what you know to be its truer light, you do not see to be a process of
construction. She gets rid of her wastes by ever new plans of nutrition. This is
what gives her such a courageous, hopeful, and enthusiastic look, and makes
men love her as a mother and not fear her as a tyrant. They see by small signs,
and dimly feel, this positiveness ofher workings which it is the glory of
natural science to revealmore and more. We find the same thing in the New
Testament. The God there revealedto us is not a God of repression, or
restraint, but a God whose symbols should be the sun, the light, the wind, the
fire — everything that is stimulating, everything that fosters and encourages
and helps. Such is the God whose glory we see in the face of Jesus Christ. The
distinction is everywhere. Notby merely trying not to sin, but by entering

farther and farther into the new life, in which, when it is completed, sin
becomes impossible;not' by merely weeding out wickedness,but by a new and
supernatural culture of holiness, does the saint of the New Testamentwalk on
the ever-ascending pathway of growing Christliness, and come at last
perfectly to Christ. This is the true difference betweenlaw and grace, add the
New Testamentis the book of grace. And this characterof the New Testament
must be at the bottom in conformity with human nature. The Bible and its
Christianity are not in contradictionagainstthe nature of the man they try to
save. Let us never believe they are. They are at warwith all his corruptions,
and, in his own interest, though againsthis stubborn will, they are for ever
labouring to assertand re-establishhis true self. And in this fundamental
characterof the New Testament, by which it is a book not of prohibitions but
of eagerinspirations, there comes out a deep harmony betweenit and the
heart of man. For man's heart is always rebelling againstrepressionas a
continuous and regularthing. Man is willing to make self-sacrificesfor a
certain temporary purpose. The merchant will give up his home, the student
shut his books, the mother leave her householdfor a time, to do some certain
work. The world is full of self-sacrifice,ofthe suppressionof desires, the
forcing of natural inclinations; but all the while under this crust the fire is
burning; all the time, under this self-sacrifice, there is a restless, hungry sense
that it is not right, that it cannot be final; there is a crying out for self-
indulgence. All the time there is a greathuman sense that not suppressionbut
expressionis the true life. And what has Christ to say to one, who, acting on
this prompting of his nature, gives up restraint and tries indulgence? My
brother, I can hear him say, you are not wholly wrong. Nay, at the bottom,
you are right. Self-mortification, self-sacrifice, is not the first or final law of
life. You are right when you think that these appetites and passions were not
put into you merely to be killed, and that the virtue which only comes by their
restraint is a poor, colour-less, andfeeble thing. You are right in thinking that
not to restrain yourself and to refrain from doing, but to utter yourself, to act,
to do, is the purpose of your being in the world. Only, my brother, this is not
the selfyou are to utter, these are not the acts you are to do. There is a part in
you made to think deeply, made to feel nobly, made to be charitable and
chivalric, made to worship, to pity, and to love. You are not uttering yourself
while you keepthat better self in chains, and only let these lower passions free.

Let me renew those nobler powers, and then believe with all your heart and
might that to send out those powers into the intensestexercise is the one
worthy purpose of your life. Then these passions, whichyou are indulging
because you cannotbelieve that you were meant to give your whole life up to
bridling them, will need no forcible bridling, and yet, owning their masters in
the higher powers which come out to act, they will be content to serve them.
You will not fulfil your passions any longer, but the reasonwill not be that
you have resumed the weary guard over your passions which you tried to keep
of old. It will be that you have given yourself up so utterly to the seeking after
holiness, that these lowerpassions have lost their hold upon you. You will not
so much have crushed the carnal as embracedthe spiritual. I shall have made
you free. You will be walking in the Spirit, and so will not fulfil the lusts of the
flesh. Is not this Christ's method? Is not this the tone of His encouraging
voice? "Whosoevercommitteth sin is the servant of sin," but "Ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free." It is the positive attainment and
not the negative surrender. It is the self-indulgence of the highest, and not the
self-surrender of the lowest, thatis the greatend of the gospel.
(Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
The spiritual walk
J. Hambleton.
I. THE POINT FROM WHICH WE HAVE TO START — "Walk in the
Spirit." In every walk there is a place from which we first proceed. The
starting-point for every man in the spiritual walk is a state of unrenewed
nature, an unconverted, unregeneratedcondition.
II. Let us now proceedto our secondpart: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
not fulfil the lust of the flesh." We have seenthe point from which, we now
considerTHE COURSE BY WHICH WE ARE TO WALK — "Walk in the
Spirit." But here there must first of all be life in order to our obeying this
exhortation. A dead man walks not, moves not, from whence he is. But to walk
not only requires life, there must be strength, and willingness to exert

strength. The sick man often cannot walk, the slothful man often will not; the
spiritually diseasedand slothful walk not in the Spirit; but the Holy Ghost
infuses an energy into the soul of man. But in walking beside life, strength,
and willingness, there must likewise be a constraining motive to induce man to
walk in the road marked out for his path. The constraining motive in the
spiritual walk is the love of the Lord Jesus Christas our Saviour and
Redeemer. But still there must be a road marked out for walking. There is one
marked out for eachof you by the Holy Spirit; there is a way, little trodden
indeed by the multitude, but well known to all who have gone, and who are
going to heaven. It is a straight and a narrow way; it has its difficulties.
III. Our third part yet waits. A walk, we have seen, has a point whence, a way
by which, and now A PLACE WHITHER MEN ARE WALKING. The point
to which the spiritual walk is intended to lead is perfect holiness, meetness for
heaven, yea, heavenitself.
(J. Hambleton.)
The spirit and the flesh
C. Kingsley, M. A.
When St. Paul talks of man's flesh, he means by it man's body, man's heart
and brain, and all his bodily appetites and powers — what we calla man's
constitution; in a word, the animal part of man, just what a man has in
common with the beasts who perish. To understand what I mean, consider
any animal — a dog, for instance — how much every animal has in it what
men have, — a body, and brain, and heart; it hungers and thirsts as we do; it
can feelpleasure and pain, angerand loneliness, and fear and madness: it
likes freedom, company, and exercise, praise and petting, play and ease;it
uses a greatdeal of cunning, and thought, and courage, to getitself food and
shelter, just as human beings do; in short, it has a fleshly nature, just as we
have, and yet, after all, it is but an animal, and so, in one sense, we are all
animals, only more delicatelymade than the other animals; but we are
something more — we have a spirit as well as a flesh, an immortal soul. If any

one asks, whatis a man? the true answeris, an animal with an immortal spirit
in it; and this spirit can feel more than pleasure and pain, which are mere
carnal, that is, fleshly things; it can feeltrust, and hope, and peace, and love,
and purity, and nobleness, and independence, and, above all, it can feelright
and wrong. There is the infinite difference betweenan animal and a ,,nan,
betweenour flesh and our spirit; aa animal has no sense ofright and wrong; a
dog who has done wrong is often terrified, but not because he feels it wrong
and wicked, but because he knows from experience that he will be punished
for doing it: just so with a man's fleshly nature; — a carnal, fleshly man, a
man whose spirit is dead within him, whose spiritual sense of right and wrong,
and honour and purity, is gone, when he has done a wrong thing is often
enough afraid; but why? Not for any spiritual reason, not because he feels it a
wickedand abominable thing, a sin, hut because he is afraid of being punished
for it. Now, in every man, the flesh and the spirit, the body and the soul, are at
war. We stand betweenheaven and earth. Above us, I say, is God's Spirit
speaking to our spirits; below us is this world speaking to our flesh, as it spoke
to Eve's, saying to us, "This thing is pleasant to the eyes — this thing is good
for food— that thing is to be desiredto make you wise, and to flatter your
vanity and self-conceit."And where man's flesh gets the upper hand, and
takes possessionofhim, 1t cando nothing but evil — not that it is evil in itself,
but that it has no rule, no law to go by; it does not know right from wrong;
and therefore it does simply what it likes, as a dumb beastor an idiot might;
and therefore the works ofthe flesh are — adulteries, drunkenness, murders,
fornications, envyings, backbitings, strife. When a man's body, which God
intended to be the servant of his spirit, has become the tyrant of his spirit, it is
like an idiot on a king's throne, doing all manner of harm and folly without
knowing that it is harm and folly. This is not its fault. Whose fault is is it,
then? Our fault, — the fault of our wills and our souls.
(C. Kingsley, M. A.)
Canon Tristram.

I. WE ARE TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
II. HOW ARE WE TO KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE SPIRIT?
1. Notsimply by natural conscience.
2. By the effectof the Spirit on the Christian life.
3. By a life that has an uniform God-wardtendency.
III. THE SPIRIT MUST INFLUENCE OUR DAILY LIFE AND ACTIONS.
1. The Spirit comes to young and old.
2. The Spirit influences in different ways.
3. His operation is necessary.
4. His operation must be deep and permanent.
(Canon Tristram.)
The life and warfare of the Spirit in the soul
J. Morgan, D. D.
I. THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER.
1. We live in the Spirit.
(1)He begins the new life.
(2)Sustains it.
2. We walk in the Spirit. Activity the first symptom of life. This
(1)reminds us of our dependence on the Spirit.
(2)Implies our consistency. Deportmentmust harmonize with character.
(3)Is significant of progress.
3. We are led by the Spirit.

(1)An entire surrender to His authority.
(2)Following Him in the path of duty, we find the truest happiness and perfect
safety.
II. THE REASONS WHY THE BELIEVER SHOULD BE URGED TO
MAINTAIN IT.
1. We shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
(1)We shall be kept from sin.
(2)We shall grow in grace.
2. We are not under law. Freedomfrom
(1)the law of sin;
(2)the law of death.
3. We shall be victorious in the greatbattle betweenthe flesh and the Spirit.
(1)Indwelling sin is strong.
(2)The Spirit makes us conquerors.
(J. Morgan, D. D.)
The marks of a Christian
I. HE "WALKS IN" AND IS "LED BY THE SPIRIT," i.e., he has —
1. A heart always open to Divine influence.
2. A life subordinate to Divine rule.
II. HE CONQUERSTHE FLESH.
1. In the inward strife described here, and in Romans 7., the Christian is not
under the law of the flesh, but subdues the corrupt nature and brings it into
subjection to the Spirit.

2. He does this daily.
III. HE BRINGS FORTHTHE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. Examine yourself
by the list (vers. 22, 23).
The principles and method of Christian life
S. Pearson, M. A.
I. THE PRACTICALPRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
1. The virtues which are God-derived and God-ward.
(1)Love, the tie which binds us to God as a Father.
(2)Joy, the glad emotion which makes music in the renewedsoul.
(3)Peace, the summer calm which settles upon the conscience.
2. Those whichrefer to our fellow-men — "longsuffering meekness."
(1)They are the counterpart of the Divine virtues.
(2)Are derived from the same spring.
3. These belonging to the generaldisposition and habit of the soul, "Faith
temperance."
II. THE METHOD BY WHICH WE APPROPRIATE THESE PRINCIPLES
AND MAKE THEM EFFECTIVE IN OUR CHARACTER.
1. Negatively:the apostle does not
(1)throw us back on our own will;
(2)hold up minute regulations and restrictions.
2. Positively:he tells us to "walk in the Spirit."
(1)Notsimply after a spiritual manner,
(2)by a mere Divine influence; but

(3)by personalpower of the Holy Spirit.
III. REMEMBERTHE TRUE ORDER OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AS HERE
UNFOLDED.
1. The bad is not overcome by mere abstinence from evil.
2. Be filled with the Spirit and evil will be overcome.
(S. Pearson, M. A.)
The non-fulfilment of the lust of the flesh without the Spirit
H. Melvill, B. D.
I. When man trusts in anything he has done it cannot be God's Spirit who
leads to the doing of it.
II. No non-fulfilment of the lust of the flesh, which is not the result of walking
in the Spirit, affords any proof of life in the soul.
III. The operations of grace may be closelyimitated, though no change may
have passedover the heart.
IV. In his endeavour to destroy men the devil may employ morality as well as
villainy.
V. It is not enough for the mortification of the deeds of the body that the lusts
of the flesh should appear unfulfilled.
VI. If, therefore, you would judge of the life in the soul by the command which
is exercisedoverthe body, you must bring into accountthe agencyemployed
as well as the result effected.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
Fleshand Spirit

DeanStanley.
Thou hast a double nature. Choose betweenthe worst and the better that is
within thee. Thou hast it in thy power to become the slave of passion, the slave
of luxury, the slave of sensualpower, the slave of corruption. Thou hast it also
in thy powerto become the free masterof thyself, to become the everlasting
benefactorof thy country, and the unfailing champion of thy God.
(DeanStanley.)
The Divine rule
Bp. Huntington.
Keep the spiritual nature uppermost. Give the spiritual man the advantage.
Settle every accountin the Spirit's favour. It will not make everything
convenient, or merry, or prosperous. There may be mistakes of judgment; life
may seemlike a strain of bad music pitched to a minor key; your ideals may
not be attained. Nevermind that. The voice rings out over all the
contradictions and ruins, "This I saythen, walk in the Spirit." "To be
spiritually minded is life and peace" — life now and peace at last.
(Bp. Huntington.)
The Pauline ethics
Paul of Tarsus.
are as stern and strict as those of any system which has ever been
promulgated. The liberty on which he insistedwas no cover, no apology, no
defence for licence, for those wild and profligate excesses whichthe fanatics'
faith has sometimes permitted. The extravagancesofthe Adamites, of the
Cathari, of the Anabaptists, have been quoted as a reproachon the genius of
Christianity. In reality they are a homage to it. The claim of Christianity on
the allegianceofmen has been so strong that they who have repudiated its
spirit have affectedto call themselves by its name. The Israelites often fell into

that idolatry which the law donounced, condemned, chastised. Butthere is no
reasonto think that they forgottheir nationality in their sin.
(Paul of Tarsus.)
Value of spirituality of mind
S. J. Wright.
A beautiful flower — the woodsorrel — grows among the trees in some parts
of England. It has shining greenleaves, and transparent bells with white veins.
When it is gatheredroughly, or the evening dew falls, or the clouds begin to
rain, the flower closesand droops; but when the air is bright and calm, it
unfolds all its loveliness. Like this sensitive flower, spirituality of mind, when
touched by the rough hand of sin, or the cold dews of worldliness, or the noisy
rain of strife, hides itself in the quietude of devout meditation; but when it
feels the influence of sunny and serene piety, it expands in the beauty of
holiness, the moral image of God.
(S. J. Wright.)
Entire consecrationnecessary
S. Jones.
Suppose you were to buy a ouse and lot and an elegantresidence, pay the
money and get the deeds, and the day you were to go in the gentlemansaid,
"Here's the key to eight rooms, I have reservedtwo rooms." "Didn't I buy the
house?" "Yes" "Well, whatdo you mean?" "I want to keepfour tigers in one
room, and the other I want to fill with reptiles. I want them to stay here." You
say, "Well, my friend, if you mean what you sayI would not have your house
as a gracious gift. You want me to move my family into a house where one
room is full of tigers and the other full of snakes." Manya time we turn over
our whole heart to God, and when He comes in we have reservedsome rooms
for the wild beasts of pride and the hissing serpents of iniquity. Let me tell

you, brethren, I won't ask God to come and live in a house that I won't let my
family live in. Empty every room in the house, and then the heart is the centre
of gravity to Jesus Christ, and He will come in and live with you.
(S. Jones.)
How to overcome temptation
T. Guthrie, D. D.
"Flee youthful lusts." Fight not, but flee;or if fight you must, copy the old
Parthians, who, seatedon fleetcoursers and armed with bow and arrows, shot
from the saddle, flying as they fought. If you cannot flee, then in Christ's
name and strength face round on the foe, and make a bold stand for God; and
the virtues of youth shall rebuke the vices of age, and hoary sin shall go down
before you armed with God's word, as did the Philistine before the young
shepherd and his sling.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
How to vanquish sin
John Bunyan.
Prudence: "Canyou remember by what means you find your annoyances at
times as if they were vanquished? "Christian: "Yes, when I think what I saw
at the cross, thatwill do it; and when I look upon my broidered coat, that will
do it; also when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that. will do it;
and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, that will do it."
(John Bunyan.)

COMMENTARIES
EXPOSITORY(ENGLISHBIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(16-26)To follow the guidance of the Spirit is to obtain a double release:on
the one hand, from the evil appetites and passions of the flesh or of sense—
which is the direct antithesis to the Spirit—and on the other hand, from the
dominion of the Law. It is easyto tell which has the upper hand—the flesh or
the Spirit. The flesh is knownby a long catalogue ofsins, the Spirit by a like
catalogue ofChristian graces, the mere mention of which is enoughto show
that the Law has no power over them. Those who belong to Christ have got
rid of the flesh, with all its impulses, by their union with a crucified Saviour.
All the Christian has to do is to act really by the rule of the Spirit, without
self-parade or quarrelling.
(16) Walk.—Conductyourselves:a metaphor very common in the writings of
St. Paul, but not peculiar to them. It occurs three times in the Gospels, once in
the Acts, thirty-three times in St. Paul’s Epistles, once in the Hebrews, ten
times in the Epistles of St. John, and once in the Apocalypse.
In the Spirit.—Rather, by the Spirit—i.e. by the rule of the Spirit, as the Spirit
directs. “The Spirit” is here undoubtedly the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of God,
not the spirit in man.
MacLaren's Expositions
Galatians
‘WALK IN THE SPIRIT’
Galatians 5:16We are not to suppose that the Apostle here uses the familiar
contrastof spirit and flesh to express simply different elements of human

nature. Without entering here on questions for which a sermon is scarcelya
suitable vehicle of discussion, it may be sufficient for our present purpose to
say that, as usually, when employing this antithesis the Apostle means by
Spirit the divine, the Spirit of God, which he triumphed in proclaiming to be
the gift of every believing soul. The other member of the contrast, ‘flesh,’ is
similarly not to be taken as equivalent to body, but rather as meaning the
whole human nature consideredas apart from God and kindred with earth
and earthly things. The flesh, in its narrowersense, is no doubt a predominant
part of this whole, but there is much in it besides the material organisation.
The ethics of Christianity suffered much harm and were degradedinto a false
and slavishasceticismfor long centuries, by monastic misunderstandings of
what Paul meant by the flesh, but he himself was too clear-sightedand too
high-toned to give his adhesion to the superficial notion that the body is the
seatand source ofsin. We need look no further than the catalogue ofthe
‘works of the flesh’ which immediately follows our text, for, although it begins
with gross sins of a purely fleshly kind, it passes onto such as hatred,
emulations, wrath, envyings and suchlike. Many of these works of the flesh
are such as an angelwith an evil heart could do, whether he had a body or
not. It seems therefore right to say that the one member of the contrastis the
divine Spirit of holiness, and the other is man as he is, without the life-giving
influence of the Spirit of God. In Paul’s thought the idea of the flesh always
included the idea of sin, and the desires of the flesh were to him not merely
rebellious, sensuous passion, but the sinful desires of godless human nature,
howeverrefined, and as some would say, ‘spiritual’ these might be. We do not
need to inquire more minutely as to the meaning of the Apostle’s terms, but
may safelytake them as, on the one hand, referring to the divine Spirit which
imparts life and holiness, and on the other hand, to human nature severed
from God, and distracted by evil desires because wrenchedawayfrom Him.
The text is Paul’s battle-cry, which he opposedto the Judaising disturbers in
Galatia. They said‘Do this and that; labour at a round of observances;live by
rule.’ Paul said, ‘No! That is of no use; you will make nothing of such an
attempt nor will ever conquer evil so. Live by the spirit and you will not need
a hard outward law, nor will you be in bondage to the works of the flesh.’

That feud in the Galatianchurches was the earliestbattle which Christianity
had to fight betweentwo eternaltendencies of thought--the conceptionof
religion as consisting in outward obedience to a law, and consequentlyas
made up of a series ofpainful efforts to keepit, and the conceptionof religion
as being first the implanting of a new, divine life, and needing only to be
nourished and cared for in order to drive forth evils from the heart, and so to
show itself living. The difference goes very far and very deep, and these two
views of what religionis have eachtheir adherents to-day. The Apostle throws
the whole weightof his authority into the one scale, andemphatically declares
this as the one secretof victory, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the
lusts of the flesh.’
I. What it is to walk in the Spirit.
The thought which is but touched upon here is set forth more largely, and if
we may so say, profoundly, in the Epistle to the Romans {chap. viii.}. There, to
walk after the flesh, is substantially the same as to be carnally minded, and
that ‘mind of the flesh’ is regarded as being by fatal necessitynot ‘subject to
the law of God,’ and consequentlyas in itself, with regardto future
consequences, to be death. The fleshly mind which is thus in rebellion against
the law of God is sure to issue in ‘desires of the flesh,’ just as when the
pressure is taken off, some ebullient liquid will bubble. They that are after the
flesh of course will ‘mind the things of the flesh.’ The vehement desires which
we cherish when we are separatedfrom God and which we callsins, are
graver as a symptom than even they are in themselves, for they show which
way the wind blows, and are tell-tales that betray the true direction of our
nature. If we were not after the flesh we should not mind the things of the
flesh. The one expressionpoints to the deep-seatednature, the other to the
superficial actions to which it gives rise.

And the same duality belongs to the life of those who are ‘after the Spirit.’ ‘To
walk,’of course, means to carry on the practicallife, and the Spirit is here
thought of not so much perhaps as the path on which we are to travel, but
rather as the norm and direction by which we are to travel on life’s common
way. Justas the desires of the flesh were certainto be done by those who in
their deepestselves belongedto the flesh, so every soul which has receivedthe
unspeakable gift of newness oflife through the Spirit of God will have the
impulses to mind and do the things of the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit we
shall also--andlet us also--walk in the Spirit.
But let us make no mistakes, orthink that our text in its greatcommandment
and radiant hope has any word of cheer to those who have not receivedinto
their hearts, in howeverfeeble a manner and minute a measure, the Spirit of
the Son. The first question for us all is, have we receivedthe Holy Ghost?--and
the answerto that question is the answerto the other, have we accepted
Christ? It is through Him and through faith in Him that that supreme gift of a
living spirit is bestowed. And only when our spirits bear witness with that
Spirit that we are the children of God, have we a right to look upon the text as
pointing our duty and stimulating our hope. If our practicallife is to be
directed by the Spirit of God, He must enter into our spirits, and we shall not
be in Him but in the measure that He is in us. Nor will our spirits be life
because ofrighteousness unless He dwells in us and casts forth the works of
the flesh. There will be no practicaldirection of our lives by the Spirit of God
unless we make conscienceofcultivating the reception of His life-giving and
cleansing influences, and unless we have inward communion with our inward
guide, intimate and frank, prolongedand submissive. If we are for ever
allowing the light of our inward godliness to be blown about by gusts, or to
show in our inmost hearts but a faint and flickering spark, how can we expect
that it will shine safe direction on our outward path?
II. Such walking in the Spirit conquers the flesh.

We all know it as a familiar experience that the surestway to conquer any
strong desire or emotion is to bring some other into operation. To concentrate
attention on any overmastering thought or purpose, even if our objectis to
destroy it, is but too apt to strengthenit. And so to fix our minds on our own
desires of the flesh, even though we may be honestly wishing to suppress them,
is a sure way to invest them with new force; therefore the wise counsels of
sages andmoralists are, for the most part, destined to leadthose who listen to
them astray. Many a man has, in goodfaith, sethimself to conquer his own
evil lusts and has found that the nett result of his struggles has been to make
the lusts more conspicuous and correspondinglymore powerful. The Apostle
knows a better way, which he has proved to his own experience, and now, with
full confidence and triumph, presses upon his hearers. He would have them
give up the monotonous and hopeless fight againstthe flesh and bring another
ally into the field. His chief exhortation is a positive, not a negative one. It is
vain to try to tie up men with restrictions and prohibitions, which when their
desires are stirred will be burst like Samson’s bonds. But if once the positive
exhortation here is obeyed, then it will surely make short work of the desires
and passions whichotherwise men, for the most part, do not wish to get rid of,
and never do throw off by any other method.
We have pointed out that in our text to walk in the Spirit means to regulate
the practicallife by the Spirit of God, and that the ‘desires of the flesh’ mean
the desires ofthe whole human nature apart from God. But even if we take
the contrastedterms in their lowerand commonly adopted sense, the text is
true and useful. A cultivated mind habituated to lofty ideas, and quick to feel
the nobility of ‘spiritual’ pursuits and possessions, willhave no taste for the
gross delights of sense, and will recoilwith disgust from the indulgences in
which more animal natures wallow. But while this is true, it by no means
exhausts the greatprinciple laid down here. We must take the contrasted
terms in their fullest meaning if we would arrive at it. The spiritual life
derived from Jesus Christ and lodged in the human spirit has to be guarded,
cherishedand made dominant, and then it will drive out the old. If the Spirit
which is life because ofrighteousness is allowedfree course in a human spirit,
it will send forth its powers into the body which is ‘dead because ofsin,’ will

regulate its desires, and if needful will suppress them. And it is wiserand
more blessedto rely on this overflowing influence than to attempt the hopeless
task of coercing these desires by our own efforts.
If we walk in the Spirit, we shall thereby acquire new tastes and desires ofa
higher kind which will destroythe lower. They to whom manna is sweetas
angel’s food find that they have lost their relish for the strong-smelling and
rank-flavoured Egyptian leeks and garlic. A guest at a king’s table will not
care to enter a smoky hovel and will not be hungry for the food to be found
there. If we are still dependent on the desires of the flesh we are still but
children, and if we are walking in the Spirit we have outgrown our childish
toys. The enjoyment of the gifts which the Spirit gives deadens temptation and
robs many things that were very precious of their lustre.
We may also illustrate the greatprinciple of our text by considering that when
we have found our supreme objectthere is no inducement to wander further
in the searchafterdelights. Desires are confessions ofdiscontent, and though
the absolute satisfactionofall our nature is not granted to us here, there is so
much of blessednessgivenand so many of our most clamant desires fully met
in the gift of life in Christ, that we may well be free from the prickings of
desires which sting men into earnestseeking afteroften unreal good. ‘The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,’and surely if we have these we may well
leave the world its troubled delights and felicities. Christ’s joy remains in us
and our joy is full. The world desires because itdoes not possess. Whena
deeper wellis sunk, a shallowerone is pretty sure to give out. If we walk in the
Spirit we go down to the deepestwater-holding stratum, and all the surface
wells will run dry.
Further, we may note, that this walking in the Spirit brings into our lives the
mightiest motives of holy living and so puts a bridle on the necks and a bit in
the mouths of our untamed desires. Holding fellowshipwith the divine

Indweller and giving the reins into His strong hand, we receive from Him the
spirit of adoption and learn that if we are children then are we heirs. Is there
any motive that will so surely still the desires of the flesh and of the mind as
the blessedthought that God is ours and we His? Surely their feet should
never stumble or stray, who are aware ofthe Spirit of the Son bearing witness
with their spirit that they are the children of God. Surely the measure in
which we realise this will be the measure in which the desires of the flesh will
be whipped back to their kennels, and cease to disturb us with their barks.
The whole question here as between Pauland his opponents just comes to this;
if a field is coveredwith filth, whether is it better to set to work on it with
wheel-barrows and shovels, orto turn a river on it which will bear awayall
the foulness? The true wayto change the fauna and flora of a country is to
change the level, and as the height increases theychange themselves. If we
desire to have the noxious creatures expelledfrom ourselves, we must not so
much labour at their expulsion as see to the elevationof our own personal
being and then we shall succeed. Thatis what Paul says, ‘Walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.’
III. Such a life is not freed from the necessityof struggle.
The highest condition, of course, wouldbe that we had only to grow, not to
fight. It will come some day that all evil shall drop away, and that to walk in
the Spirit will need no effort, but that time has not come yet. So in addition to
all that we have been saying in this sermon, we must further say that Paul’s
exhortation has always to be coupled with the other to fight the goodfight.
The highest word for our earthly lives is not ‘victory’ but ‘contest.’We shall
not walk in the Spirit without many a struggle to keepourselves within that
charmed atmosphere. The promise of our text is not that we shall not feel, but
that we shall not fulfil, the desires of the flesh.

Now this is very commonplace and threadbare teaching, but it is none the less
important, and is especiallyneedful to be strongly emphasisedwhen we have
been speaking as we have just been doing. It is a historicalfact, illustrated
over and over againsince Paul wrote, and not without illustration to-day, that
there is constantdanger of lax morality infecting Christian life under pretence
of lofty spirituality. So it must ever be insistedupon that the test of a true
walking in the Spirit is that we are thereby fitted to fight againstthe desires of
the flesh. When we have the life of the Spirit within us, it will show itself as
Paul has said in another place by the righteousness ofthe law being fulfilled in
us, and by our ‘mortifying the deeds of the body.’ The gift of the Spirit does
not take us out of the ranks of the combatants, but teaches us to fight, and
arms us with its own swordfor the conflict. There will be abundant
opportunities of courage in attacking the sin that doth so easilybesetus, and
in resisting temptations which come to us by reasonof our own imperfect
sanctification. But there is all the difference betweenfighting at our ownhand
and fighting with the help of God’s Spirit, and there is all the difference
betweenfighting with the help of an unseen ally in heavenand fighting with a
Spirit within us who helpeth our infirmities and Himself makes us able to
contend, and sure, if we keeptrue to Him, to be more than conquerers
through Him that loveth us.
Such a conflict is a gift and a joy. It is hard but it is blessed, because itis an
expressionof our truest love; it comes from our deepestwill; it is full of hope
and of assuredvictory. How different is the painful, often defeatedand
monotonous attempt to suppress our nature by main force, and to tread a
mill-horse round! The joyous freedom and buoyant hope taught us in the
gospelwayof salvationhave been cramped and confined and all their glories
veiled as by a mass of cobwebs spun beneath a golden roof, but our text
sweeps awaythe foul obstruction. Let us learn the one condition of victorious
conflict, the one means of subduing our natural humanity and its distracting
desires, and let nothing rob us of the conviction that this is God’s way of
making men like angels. ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of
the flesh.’

BensonCommentary
Galatians 5:16-18. I saythen — He now explains what he proposedGalatians
5:13; Walk in, or by, the Spirit — Namely, the Spirit of God: follow his
guidance, exercise his graces, andbring forth his fruits: at all times endeavour
to conduct yourselves as under his influence, and in a way agreeable to the
new nature he hath given you. We walk by the Spirit, when we are led, that is,
directed and governedby him as a Spirit of truth and grace, ofwisdom and
holiness. And we walk in the Spirit when, being united to him, or, rather,
inhabited by him, we walk in faith, hope, and love, and in the other graces,
mentioned Galatians 5:22. And ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh — Ye
will not gratify any sinful appetite or passion, any corrupt principle of your
nature or disposition, which may yet have place in you; such as envy, malice,
anger, or revenge. For the flesh lusteth — Επιθυμει, desireth; against the
Spirit — Your corrupt nature, as far as it remains corrupt, and is unrenewed,
has inclinations and affections which are contrary to, and oppose the
operations and graces ofthe Spirit of God: and the Spirit againstthe flesh —
The Holy Spirit, on his part, opposes your evil nature, and all your corrupt
inclinations and passions. These — The flesh and the Spirit; are contrary to
eachother — There can be no agreementbetweenthem: so that ye cannotdo,
&c. — Greek, ινα μη, α αν θηλητε, ταυτα ποιητε, that what things you would,
or may desire, or incline to, these you may not do, that is, connecting it with
the clause immediately preceding, “though the flesh lusteth againstthe Spirit,
yet the Spirit desireth againstand opposes the flesh; that, being thus
strengthenedby the Spirit, ye may not do the things ye would do if the Spirit
did not thus assistyou.” This seems to be the genuine sense ofthe passage.But
if ye be led by the Spirit — Of liberty and love, into all holiness; ye are not
under the curse or bondage of the law — Not under the guilt or power of sin.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
5:16-26 If it be our care to act under the guidance and powerof the blessed
Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the
corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us.
Believers are engagedin a conflict, in which they earnestlydesire that grace
may obtain full and speedyvictory. And 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 exposedto its awful curse. Their hatred of sin, and desires after
holiness, show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel. The works
of the flesh are many and manifest. And these sins will shut men out of
heaven. Yet what numbers, calling themselves Christians, live in these, and
say they hope for heaven! The fruits of the Spirit, or of the renewednature,
which we are to do, are named. And as the apostle had chiefly named works of
the flesh, not only hurtful to men themselves, but tending to make them so to
one another, so here he chiefly notices the fruits of the Spirit, which tend to
make Christians agreeable one to another, as well as to make them happy.
The fruits of the Spirit plainly show, that such are led by the Spirit. By
describing the works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, we are told what to
avoid and oppose, and what we are to cherishand cultivate; and this is the
sincere care and endeavour of all realChristians. Sin does not now reign in
their mortal bodies, so that they obey it, Ro 6:12, for they seek to destroy it.
Christ never will own those who yield themselves up to be the servants of sin.
And it is not enough that we ceaseto do evil, but we must learn to do well.
Our conversationwill always be answerable to the principle which guides and
governs us, Ro 8:5. We must set ourselves in earnestto mortify the deeds of
the body, and to walk in newness oflife. Not being desirous of vain-glory, or
unduly wishing for the esteemand applause of men, not provoking or envying
one another, but seeking to bring forth more abundantly those goodfruits,
which are, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
This I say then - This is the true rule about overcoming the propensities of
your carnal natures, and of avoiding the evils of strife and contention.
Walk - The Christian life is often representedas a journey, and the word
walk, in the scripture, is often equivalent to live; Mark 7:5. See the notes at
Romans 4:12; Romans 6:4, note; Romans 8:1, note.
In the Spirit - Live under the influences of the Holy Spirit; admit those
influences fully into your hearts. Do not resisthim, but yield to all his
suggestions;see the note at Romans 8:1. What the Holy Spirit would produce,

Paul states in Galatians 5:22-23. If a man would yield his heart to those
influences, he would be able to overcome all his carnalpropensities; and it is
because he resists that Spirit, that he is ever overcome by the corrupt passions
of his nature. Neverwas a better, a safer, or a more easyrule given to
overcome our corrupt and sensualdesires than that here furnished; compare
notes, Romans 8:1-13.
And ye shall not fulfil ... - Margin, "Fulfil not" - as if it were a command. So
Tyndale renders it. But the more common interpretation, as it is the more
significant, is that adopted by our translators. Thus, it is not merely a
command, it is the statementof an important and deeply interesting truth -
that the only way to overcome the corrupt desires and propensities of our
nature, is by submitting to the influences of the Holy Spirit. It is not by
philosophy; it is not by mere resolutions to resist them; it is not by the force of
educationand laws;it is only by admitting into our souls the influence of
religion, and yielding ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. If
we live under the influences of that Spirit, we need not fear the power of the
sensualand corrupt propensities of our nature.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
16. This I say then—Repeating in other words, and explaining the sentiment
in Ga 5:13, What I mean is this."
Walk in the Spirit—Greek, "By(the rule of) the (Holy) Spirit." Compare Ga
5:16-18, 22, 25;Ga 6:1-8, with Ro 7:22; 8:11. The best way to keeptares out of
a bushel is to fill it with wheat.
the flesh—the natural man, out of which flow the evils specified(Ga 5:19-21).
The spirit and the flesh mutually exclude one another. It is promised, not that
we should have no evil lusts, but that we should "not fulfil" them. If the spirit
that is in us canbe at ease under sin, it is not a spirit that comes from the Holy
Spirit. The gentle dove trembles at the sight even of a hawk's feather.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Walk in the Spirit; the apostle having, Galatians 5:13, cautioned them against
turning the grace of God into wantonness, by using their liberty as an

occasionto the flesh; here he directeth them to the bestmeans for the avoiding
thereof, viz.
walking in the Spirit. Where by Spirit he doth not mean our own spirits, or
the guide and conduct of our own reason;for the term Spirit, set (as here) in
opposition to the flesh, is in no place of Scripture understood of any other
than the Holy Spirit of God, which dwelleth in and influenceth believers,
guiding them both by a rule from without, (which is the word of God, given by
its inspiration), and by its inward motions and operations. Walking, signifieth
the directing of their whole conversations. The phrases
in the Spirit, and after the Spirit, Romans 8:1, seem to be of the same import,
uuless the alterationof the preposition signifieth, that Christians are not only
to look to the word of God dictated by the Holy Spirit as their rule, and to
listen to its dictates, but also to look up to the Holy Spirit for its strength and
assistance;and implieth a promise of such assistance.The sense is:Let your
whole conversationbe according to the external rule of the gospel, and the
more inward motions, directions, and inclinations of the Spirit of Christ,
dwelling and working in you, and moving you to the obedience ofthat word.
And ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh; this doing, though the flesh be yet
in you, and you will find the lustings and warrings of it, yet you shall not fulfil
the sinful desires and lustings of it; that is, sin, though it be in you, shall not be
in dominion in you; it shall not reign in your mortal bodies:Romans 6:12: Let
not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
This I say then, walk in the Spirit,.... The advice the apostle thinks fit to give,
and which he would have observed, is, to "walk in the Spirit", that is, either
after the Spirit of God; making the word inspired by him the rule of
behaviour, which as it is the standard of faith, so of practice, and is the lamp

unto our feet, and the light unto our path; taking him himself for a guide, who
not only guides into all truth, but in the wayof holiness and righteousness
unto the land of uprightness; and depending upon his grace and strength for
assistancethroughoutthe whole of our walk and conversation:or in the
exercise ofthe graces ofthe Spirit of God; as in the exercise offaith upon the
person and grace of Christ, of which the Spirit is the author; and in love to
God, Christ, and one another, which is a fruit of the Spirit; and in humility,
lowliness ofmind, meekness and condescension;all which is to walk in the
Spirit, or spiritually, and strengthens the argument for love the apostle is
upon: and this he encouragesto by observing,
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh; he does not say there shall be no
flesh, nor any lust of the flesh in them if they walk spiritually; or that the flesh
should not act and operate in them; or that they should do no sinful action;all
which is only true of Christ; and the contrary is to be found and observedin
all true Christians, though ever so spiritual; but that they should not fulfil or
perfect the lust of the flesh; should not give up themselves entirely to the
powerand dictates of the flesh, so as to be under it and at its command, and
be obedient servants and slaves unto it; for, in this sense only, such that are
spiritual do not, commit sin, they do not make a trade of it, it is not their
constantemploy or course of conversation.
Geneva Study Bible
{15} This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the
flesh.
(15) He acknowledgesthe great weaknessofthe godly, because they are but in
part regenerated:but he exhorts them to remember that they are endued with
the Spirit of God, who has delivered them from the slavery of sin, and so from
the Law, inasmuch as it is the powerof sin, so that they should not give
themselves to lusts.
Meyer's NT Commentary

Galatians 5:16. With the words “But I mean” (Galatians 3:17, Galatians 4:1)
the apostle introduces, not something new, but a deeper and more
comprehensive exhibition and discussionof that which, in Galatians 5:13-15,
he had brought home to his readers by way of admonition and of warning—
down to Galatians 5:26. Hofmann is wrong in restricting the illustration
merely to what follows after ἀλλά,—a view which is in itself arbitrary, and is
opposedto the manifest correlationexisting betweenthe contrastof flesh and
spirit and the ἀφορμή, whichthe free Christian is not to afford to the flesh
(Galatians 5:13).
πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε] dative of the norma (κατὰ πνεῦμα, Romans 8:4). Comp.
Galatians 6:16; Php 3:16; Romans 4:12; Hom. Il. xv. 194:οὔτι Διὸς βέομαι
φρέσιν. The subsequent πνεύματι ἄγεσθε in Galatians 5:18 is more favourable
to this view than to that of Fritzsche, ad Rom. I. p. 225, who makes it the
dative commodi (spiritui divino vitam consecrare), orto that of Wieseler, who
makes it instrumental, so that the Spirit is conceivedas path (the idea is
different in the case ofδιά in 2 Corinthians 5:7), or of Hofmann, who renders:
“by virtue of the Spirit.” Calovius well remarks: “juxta instinctum et
impulsum.” The spirit is not, however, the moral nature of man (that is, ὁ ἔσω
ἄνθρωπος, ὁ νοῦς, Romans 7:22-23), which is sanctifiedby the Divine Spirit
(Beza, Gomarus, Rückert, de Wette, and others;comp. Michaelis, Morus,
Flatt, Schott, Olshausen, Windischmann, Delitzsch, Psychol, p. 389), in behalf
of which appealis erroneously(see also Romans 8:9) made to the contrastof
σάρξ, since the divine πνεῦμα is in factthe powerwhich overcomes the σάρξ
(Romans 7:23 ff., Romans 8:1 ff.); but it is the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is given
to believers as the divine principle of the Christian life (Galatians 3:2;
Galatians 3:5, Galatians 4:6), and they are to obey it, and not the ungodly
desires of their σάρξ. Comp. Neander, and Müller, v. d. Sünde, I. p. 453, ed. 5.
The absence ofthe article is not (in opposition to Harless on Eph. p. 268)at
variance with this view, but it is not to be explained in a qualitative sense
(Hofmann), any more than in the case ofθεός, κύριος, and the like; on the
contrary, πνεῦμα has the nature of a proper noun, and, even when dwelling
and ruling in the human spirit, remains always objective, as the Divine Spirit,

specificallydifferent from the human (Romans 8:16). Comp. on Galatians 5:3;
Galatians 5:5, and on Romans 8:4; also Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 78.
καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε] is takenas consequenceby the Vulgate,
Jerome, Theodoret, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Estius, Bengel, and
most expositors, including Winer, Paulus, Rückert, Matthies, Schott, de
Wette, Hilgenfeld, Wieseler, Hofmann, Reithmayr; but by others, as Castalio,
Beza, Koppe, Usteri, Baumgarten-Crusius, Ewald, in the sense of the
imperative. Either view is well adapted to the context, since afterwards, for
the illustration of what is said in Galatians 5:16, the relationbetweenσάρξ
and πνεῦμα is setforth. But the view which takes it as consequence is the only
one which corresponds with the usage in other passagesofthe N.T., in which
οὐ μή. with the aoristsubjunctive is always used in the sense ofconfident
assurance, andnot imperatively, like οὐ with the future, although in classical
authors οὐ μή is so employed. “Ye will certainly not fulfil the lust of the
flesh,—this is the moral blessedconsequence, whichis promised to them, if
they walk according to the Spirit.” On τελεῖν, used of the actual carrying out
of a desire, passion, or the like, comp. Soph. O. R. 1330, El. 769;Hesiod, Scut.
36.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Galatians 5:16-24. MEN WHO REGULATE THEIR LIVES BY THE SPIRIT
WILL NOT CARRY OUT DESIRES OF THE FLESH. FOR GOD HAS SET
THESE TWO FORCES IN MUTUAL ANTAGONISM WITHIN OUR
HEARTS FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF KEEPING DUE CHECK
UPON THE WILL. SO IF YE BE GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT, YE ARE NOT
SUBJECT TO LAW: FOR THE SPIRIT MASTERS UNLAWFUL LUSTS
BEFORE THEYISSUE IN ACTION: AND ITS FRUITS ARE SUCH AS NO
LAW CAN CONDEMN.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
16–26.The spiritual life of liberty inconsistentwith the indulgence of the
works of the flesh

16. This I say then] After affirming the greatlaw of Christian perfection in
Galatians 5:14 and pointing out the effects of its violation, St Paul proceeds to
shew how alone the former may be obeyedand the latter escaped. The
controversies andheartburnings from which the GalatianChruch was
suffering were due to the lusts of the flesh (comp. James 4:1-2). There was
only one means by which the tyranny of these lusts could be resistedand
broken—by the guidance and powerof Him Who is the Spirit both of love and
of liberty.
Walk in the Spirit] R.V. ‘Walk by the Spirit.’ This is differently explained, (1)
by, or according to the rule of the Spirit, comp. Galatians 5:18; Galatians
5:25; Galatians 6:16; (2) by the guidance of the Spirit; (3) by the help of the
Spirit; (4) spiritually. For eachview something is to be said grammatically. All
togetherdo not exhaust the fulness of the expression. The points to be noted
are (a) The antagonismbetweenthe Spirit—the Holy Ghost in all that He is,
and works and produces, and the flesh with its appetites and works. (b) The
absolute certainty of victory over the flesh to all those who walk in or by the
Spirit. Unspeakablygreat as is the blessing of pardon and justification by
faith, it would be an incomplete blessing but for the assurance ofthis verse.
Freedomfrom condemnation cannot satisfythe conscience whichGod’s Spirit
has touched without the assuredhope of victory over the lust of the flesh.
Walking denotes activity. The metaphor is very common in St Paul and in St
John. To walk in truth, in darkness, according to the flesh, &c., are familiar
instances. The word in the original is not the same as in Galatians 5:25, where
not mere activity, but deliberate movement is intended.
ye shall not fulfil] The strongestnegationpossible. ‘Ye shall in no wise fulfil.’
Blessedassurance!
Bengel's Gnomen

The holy spirit and purity

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to The holy spirit and purity

Similar to The holy spirit and purity (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (19)

The holy spirit and purity