Gospel Outreach International

How can we truly live out the greatest commandments—to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor—in our daily lives? This Bible study on Galatians 5:16-23 provides the answer: we cannot do it in our own strength, but we can through the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. By examining the “seven Ws”—wander, war, willing, warning, wonder, walk, and witness—we discover that Christianity isn’t about legalism or license, but about walking in the Spirit moment by moment as we move through every area of life. The profound truth here is that we’re in a constant spiritual battle, but we have the fruit of the Spirit and divine weapons to help us live victoriously.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

• Paul has already taught the Galatians to avoid the legalism of the Judaizers—a problem with any movement of God is that over time the passion fades and we end up working according to rules, laws, and regulations
• IWhen younger, people wouldn’t kick a football on Sunday—the speaker wouldn’t play football on Sunday, but at one time wouldn’t even kick a ball back to kids in the street, which is legalism
• The problem addressed here is using the freedom we have in Christ wrongly—it’s freedom, not license; the speaker saw a church on YouTube with girls doing cartwheels and showing all their underwear—that’s license, not freedom
• We make the mistake in prayer of saying “we come into Thy presence,” but we’re always in His presence—God’s everywhere, the Spirit dwells in us
• Christianity isn’t “easy believism”
• Once you’re born again you can’t be unborn again), but you lose peace, God’s care, and future rewards
• We’re in constant warfare—it isn’t about everything in the garden being lovely, but a constant battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil
• Ephesians 6 tells us we have armor and weapons—most people stop at the sword of the Spirit, but we also have prayer as a great weapon
• Modern gospel presentations like “the four spiritual laws” talk about the gospel but have no repentance—a teacher of bygone age said “If there’s no repentance, there’s no salvation”
• We were taught “we pray as if it all depends on God and we work as if it all depends on us”
• In disputes, leaders’ meetings tended to be battlefields—one church looking for a pastor wanted someone who was a Bible teacher, evangelist, door-to-door visitor, sick visitor, hospital visitor, organ player, and piano player—”what you’re looking for is Superman”
• That same church split three times before and after the speaker’s time there, all over pastors—”It should never happen”
• The fruit of the Spirit is love (singular)—think of it as an orange: you can’t pick and choose pieces like grapes, you get the whole orange; peel back the love and underneath are all the qualities
• Joy has nothing to do with happiness (which comes from “happy stance”—circumstances that bring pleasure)—even in the midst of sorrow we have a joy that passes understanding
• When we become believers, the fruit of the Spirit in us is agape love—out of that love flow all these things: joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
• People outside have a higher standard for Christians than we have for ourselves—we need to be aware of that

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:18

Christianity is a constant battle! It’s not “easy believism” where you can come to Christ and not change. We’re being changed from glory to glory until we reach perfection in heaven. The battle is against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and honestly, the flesh is probably the biggest battlefield of all. But here’s the good news: we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we have armor, and we have two mighty weapons—the sword of the Spirit and prayer! The fruit of the Spirit is love (singular, like an orange you can’t pick apart), and when you peel back that love, underneath are all those beautiful qualities: joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. As we wander through life—to work, to church, on hobbies, wherever we go—we need to make sure we’re in the Spirit. We’re always in God’s presence anyway! And we need to walk in a straight line, set our eyes on Jesus and follow with no deviation, keep on that narrow path called the highway of holiness. The world is watching, and they have a higher standard for Christians than we have for ourselves. When two brothers in a church don’t speak for 20 years, or two sisters don’t communicate until a family member dies, that’s enmities—works of the flesh. When churches split three times over pastors, that’s a bad witness. We need to demonstrate the agape love of God, not conflict. Remember: we pray as if it all depends on God, and we work as if it all depends on us. That’s the willing spirit we need! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and everything else grows strangely dim!

Bible References

• Galatians 5:16-23
• Galatians 5:25
• Matthew 22
• Ephesians 6
• Romans 7