Walk in the Spirit
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal. 5:24–25)
If we walk by the Spirit, if we are willing to forgo what we’ve come to rely on for comfort—and willing, for a time, to experience the discomfort that happens in the letting-go process—our cravings to indulge will diminish. The Spirit leads us out of ourselves so that we are no longer preoccupied with how we feel, what we want, and what we think we need, and as we grow, we begin to see that self-preoccupation is what imprisoned us all along.
As we walk by the Spirit, we are led away from ourselves and directed toward Christ. We become increasingly preoccupied with him. In the process, we come to look more like him. We reflect not the consequences of self-indulgence but the fruit of self-control, along with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness (Gal. 5:22–23).
Paul concludes this section of Galatians with a command: “If we live by the Spirit”—and we do, if we’ve put our faith in Christ—“let us keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25). The Spirit transforms us, but we are not passive in the process. The zeal we once devoted to indulging ourselves, we must now redirect along the path of discipleship.
In his letter to believers in Ephesus, Paul makes a similar contrast between indulging our flesh and walking by the Spirit: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). The point he’s making is about more than just drinking.
In Paul’s day, worshipers of pagan gods thought they could enhance their spiritual experience by consuming alcohol, so Paul wants believers to be aware that Christianity doesn’t work that way. We can’t stuff ourselves with earthly things and simultaneously exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.
Here in Ephesians, Paul goes on to reveal another facet of the Spirit’s fruit—gratitude:
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:18–20)
All forms of sinful self-indulgence spring from an ungrateful heart. If we live to gratify ourselves with comfort or pleasure of whatever kind, it’s because we believe that God is not enough for us.
In some hidden recess of our hearts, we judge him insufficient when he fails to meet our personal expectations of what we want and think we deserve. When we are dominated by this belief, we can’t possibly recognise that everything we have—friendship, food, shelter, work, health, marriage, singleness, fellowship, talent, and eternal salvation, most of all—is a gift.
As we keep in step with the Spirit, our thinking changes, and the craving to self-indulge begins to die. And our hearts are humbled, which enables us to see God for who he is and everything we have as a gift.
If we walk by the Spirit, if we are willing to forgo what we’ve come to rely on for comfort—and willing, for a time, to experience the discomfort that happens in the letting-go process—our cravings to indulge will diminish. The Spirit leads us out of ourselves so that we are no longer preoccupied with how we feel, what we want, and what we think we need, and as we grow, we begin to see that self-preoccupation is what imprisoned us all along.
As we walk by the Spirit, we are led away from ourselves and directed toward Christ. We become increasingly preoccupied with him. In the process, we come to look more like him. We reflect not the consequences of self-indulgence but the fruit of self-control, along with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness (Gal. 5:22–23).
Paul concludes this section of Galatians with a command: “If we live by the Spirit”—and we do, if we’ve put our faith in Christ—“let us keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25). The Spirit transforms us, but we are not passive in the process. The zeal we once devoted to indulging ourselves, we must now redirect along the path of discipleship.
In his letter to believers in Ephesus, Paul makes a similar contrast between indulging our flesh and walking by the Spirit: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). The point he’s making is about more than just drinking.
In Paul’s day, worshipers of pagan gods thought they could enhance their spiritual experience by consuming alcohol, so Paul wants believers to be aware that Christianity doesn’t work that way. We can’t stuff ourselves with earthly things and simultaneously exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.
Here in Ephesians, Paul goes on to reveal another facet of the Spirit’s fruit—gratitude:
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:18–20)
All forms of sinful self-indulgence spring from an ungrateful heart. If we live to gratify ourselves with comfort or pleasure of whatever kind, it’s because we believe that God is not enough for us.
In some hidden recess of our hearts, we judge him insufficient when he fails to meet our personal expectations of what we want and think we deserve. When we are dominated by this belief, we can’t possibly recognise that everything we have—friendship, food, shelter, work, health, marriage, singleness, fellowship, talent, and eternal salvation, most of all—is a gift.
As we keep in step with the Spirit, our thinking changes, and the craving to self-indulge begins to die. And our hearts are humbled, which enables us to see God for who he is and everything we have as a gift.
Gratitude to God—not just words of thanks but a heart-deep belief—makes self-indulgence meaningless. So we aren’t in prison after all, if we belong to Christ by faith. We’ve been set free—gloriously free—from bondage to sin, Satan, and self.
