the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Galatians 5:16
‘Walk in the Spirit’
Read Galatians 5:16 to Galatians 6:10
Paul tells us that if we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And he makes it plain that he is not telling us that we should be seeking some sort of a ‘deeper life experience’. Walking in the Spirit, according to the apostle Paul, is the most practical thing in the world. To walk in the Spirit is to be motivated in life by the Spirit of adoption, faith and love, rather than by legal fear. ‘If ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law’ (Galatians 5:18). Just as an intoxicated man is under the control of wine, the child of God is to be under the control of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). If you and I are led by the Spirit of Christ and under his influence, there are three things which will mark our lives. These are not the works of the flesh. They are not things produced by us. Rather, they are the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
1. Joy in our own hearts. ‘ speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord’ (Ephesians 5:19). Being united to Christ by faith, through the operation of the Spirit of God, the children of God have joy. We rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice in what he has done for us. And we rejoice in what he is doing in the world around us. Our songs of praise are but outward expressions of inward joy.
2. Thanksgiving towards God. ‘Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 5:20). Those who are born of God live by faith and not by sight. This faith, which is the fruit of the Spirit, gives us confidence in God’s power, providence and promises. We therefore give thanks for all things, knowing that God has promised and will accomplish nothing but good for them who are in Christ.
3. Humiliation before our fellow man. ‘submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God’ (Ephesians 5:21). The true believer is one who has learned submission. He submits to Christ as King. And that submission makes him submissive towards others. He does not demand his ‘human rights’. Rather, he submits his rights to the rights of others. ‘This I say, brethren, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.’
