Today’s Passage: Galatians 5:16–25
This is the final day of our nine days on the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the churches in Galatia to answer a practical question. He spends four chapters proving that rule-keeping never makes anyone right with God. Now he explains how a Christian actually lives on an ordinary Tuesday. The answer comes down to this: the Spirit grows one fruit in you, and you do not make it yourself.
Context Walking, and why Paul gives two lists
In the ancient world, to walk described how you live. It covered how you speak at home, how you handle business in the market, and how you carry yourself all day long. Teachers in Galatia pushed more rules on these churches to fix their behavior. Paul answers them by holding up two lives side by side so they can see the evidence for themselves.
Galatians 5:16–18 (BSB)
¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
¹⁷ For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Look at the command: walk by the Spirit. Paul uses a plain, everyday word to describe how you get through a Monday morning. Verse 17 states the facts. A Christian faces a real internal pull going two ways at once. Verse 18 draws a clear line, placing the Spirit on one side and law-keeping on the other. With the line drawn, Paul points to what grows.
Galatians 5:19–21 (BSB)
¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
²⁰ idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul calls these acts obvious. Notice the word he chooses: acts, plural. These behaviors scatter a person’s life in multiple directions. The warning at the end addresses a settled pattern of living. The evidence of a life apart from God is clear.
Galatians 5:22–23 (BSB)
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Look at the exact contrast Paul sets up. He uses the singular karpos, pronounced kar-POSS. Strong's G2590, fruit, what a tree or vine produces. Fruit grows on a vine as one whole unit. These nine qualities grow together out of one life. A branch simply stays joined to a living source, and the vine produces the fruit. . He is describing one complete thing.
Galatians 5:24–25 (BSB)
²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.
Verse 24 identifies these people: they belong to Christ Jesus. The belonging comes first. Verse 25 presents your responsibility: let us walk in step with the Spirit. This describes a marching formation. You keep time with the One who sets the pace.
Study notes Where fruit comes from
Jesus taught the exact same truth on the night before His crucifixion.
"I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (BSB)
A branch remains joined to the vine, and fruit appears in its season. These nine qualities are the fruit of the Spirit because He provides the life inside the branch.
The fruit is His to grow. The walking is yours to do. Keep both halves together. Keeping in step puts you in the place where the fruit grows. Identify the hardest hour of your upcoming week, and name it out loud or write it down. Before that hour arrives, stop and ask the Spirit to walk it with you.
Pray to Close
Thank God that the fruit He requires is the fruit He grows inside you. Acknowledge the times you try to manufacture these qualities on your own strength. Ask the Holy Spirit to keep you in step with Him this week, one ordinary hour at a time.
Worship for Today
Song: Build My Life, Pat Barrett, Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple & Matt Redman, sung by Pat Barrett
This song asks God for a life built on Him. Keeping in step looks exactly like that when stretched over a whole week. It ends these nine days well by pointing you forward.
Listen: