Galatians 5:16-18 (NIV): So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Paul has often been misquoted, both in verse 18 here and in Romans 6:14. Many quote these verses as if Paul had said that Christians have no obligation to live in accordance with God’s commands, because we are “not under law, but under grace.” But a more in-context reading shows how this interpretation is inaccurate.
Most people who believe that Christians are “not under law” will agree that people who claim to know Jesus are not allowed to lie, or steal, or covet, or commit murder, or dishonor their parents, or engage in idolatry. So the question naturally arises: what part of the law do we not have to follow? One answer commonly given, and correct as far as it goes, is the sacrificial law; that was fulfilled by Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. But even that answer misses Paul’s intent.
Paul’s context indicates that he is not talking about obeying or not obeying God’s commands. He takes obedience for granted in all of his letters, and clearly calls disobedience to God’s commands sin. (See the impressive list of disobediences that disqualify people for the kingdom of God in Galatians 5:19-21!) Instead, Paul is talking about the fact that too many who go by the name of Christ attempt to obey God’s commands in their own strength, and fail miserably. The contrast to this is the person who is “led by the Spirit.” This Spirit-led person so lives in God’s presence through the indwelling Holy Spirit that they instinctively obey God’s commands. They do not need the law as a schoolmaster to try to keep them in line. Instead, their love for God, the transformation of their inner selves by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, their commitment to God’s agenda, and their gratefulness for the grace and mercy that He has show to them through their salvation drives them from within to obey all that God has commanded them to do. (cf. Ezekiel 36:25-27; Romans 6:18; Galatians 5:24-25.)
The one who loves God and serves Him out of a transformed heart by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is done with striving, done with legalistic righteousness based on conformity to an external standard. Instead, driven by an internally righteous orientation of their entire life, they will find that the right thing, the righteous things, the genuinely holy thing, become for them the instinctual thing to do. And, when that happens, sin is no longer their master, and they live their lives not under the law, but in the true freedom of grace.
Father, thank You for all You have done to make this true righteousness a reality for Your people. Thank You that we really can live as children of light, in the glorious freedom of true holiness. And not just for brief moments, but for all the rest of our lives (cf. Luke 1:74-75). All glory goes to You! Amen.
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