Galatians 5:13 - Meaning and Application

In the later part of this chapter, the apostle turns to earnest, practical godliness as the best defense against false teachers. He especially presses two things on these Christians. First, they must not fight with each other, but love one another.

He tells them in Galatians 5:13 that they were called to liberty, and he wants them to stand firm in the freedom Christ has given them. But he also warns them not to use that freedom as a chance to please the flesh, the sinful part of human nature. They must not let freedom become an excuse for corrupt desires or practices that would create distance, dislike, quarrels, and conflict among them. Instead, they should serve one another in love, keeping the mutual affection that Christian faith requires.

Christian freedom is not a license to sin. Christ has freed us from the curse of the law, but not from the law’s duty of obedience. The gospel is a teaching that leads to godliness (Titus 1:3), and it does not give even the slightest approval to sin. In fact, it puts us under the strongest obligation to avoid sin and fight against it.

We should stand firm in our Christian liberty, but we must not push it in a way that breaks Christian love. We should not use our freedom as a reason to quarrel with other believers who think differently from us. Instead, we should keep a spirit that leads us to serve one another in love.

The apostle gives two reasons for this. First, the whole law is fulfilled in one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14). Love is the heart of the whole law. Love to God covers the duties of the first part of the law, and love to our neighbor covers the duties of the second part.

He brings up the duty of love here because he is talking about how Christians should treat one another. He also shows that this is a true mark of sincere faith and the best way to heal divisions. People will prove they are truly Christ’s disciples when they love one another (John 13:35). And where that spirit is present, it may not erase every disagreement, but it will soften them and keep them from causing great harm.

The second reason is the danger of the opposite path. Paul says in Galatians 5:15, “If you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not destroyed by one another.” If they act like wild animals, tearing at each other instead of serving one another in love, they can expect only ruin. So they had every reason not to feed quarrels and hostile feelings.

Constant strife among brothers and sisters in Christ often leads to the ruin of all. Those who devour one another are well on the way to being consumed by one another. Christian churches cannot be destroyed except by their own hands. If Christians, who should be a help and joy to each other, act like beasts and tear each other apart, what can be expected except that the God of love will withhold his grace, the Spirit of love will leave, and the evil spirit, who seeks the destruction of all, will gain the upper hand?

Second, they should all fight against sin. The church would be greatly blessed if Christians let all their quarrels be swallowed up by this one struggle, a fight against sin. Instead of biting and devouring one another over different opinions, they should join together against sin in themselves and in the places where they live. This is the main battle we are called to fight, and it should be our chief concern.

To help Christians do this, the apostle shows, first, that there is a struggle in every person between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh, meaning the corrupt and sinful part of us, strongly opposes the Spirit. It resists every move that is spiritual and good. On the other hand, the Spirit, meaning the renewed part of us, opposes the flesh and fights against its will and desires.

This is why we cannot do the things we would. The work of grace in us keeps us from doing all the evil our corrupt nature wants to do. At the same time, because of the opposition within us, we cannot do all the good we would like to do. Even in a natural person, there is some version of this struggle, as conscience and the corruption of the heart fight each other. Conscience tries to restrain sin, while sin tries to silence conscience.

In a renewed person, there is also conflict between the old nature and the new nature, between what remains of sin and the first beginnings of grace. Christians should expect this struggle for as long as they live in this world.

Second, the apostle shows that it is both our duty and our best interest to side with the better part, to stand with our convictions against our corrupt desires and with our graces against our lusts. He gives one general rule that, if followed carefully, would be the best remedy against the power of sin: walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Then you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

By the Spirit here, he may mean either the Holy Spirit himself, who lives in the hearts of those he has renewed and made holy to guide and help them in their duty, or the gracious principle he plants within his people, which fights against the flesh just as the flesh still fights against it.

The duty here is to let the Holy Spirit guide and shape us, in step with the new nature God has placed within us. If we make this our steady habit in daily life, we may trust that, though our sinful nature still stirs and resists, it will not rule us. Sin may remain present, but it will not gain mastery.

This is the best guard against sin’s poison: walk in the Spirit. That means spending much time with spiritual things, giving attention to the needs of the soul more than the body, and placing ourselves under the guidance of God’s word, where the Holy Spirit makes God’s will known. It also means relying on his help as we live out our duties. In that way, we are protected from carrying out the desires of the flesh.

This also shows that we are true Christians. The apostle says, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). We should expect an ongoing struggle between flesh and Spirit while we live in this world. The flesh will keep opposing the Spirit, and the Spirit will oppose the flesh. Yet if the general course of our lives is led by the Spirit, then it is clear that we are not under the law’s condemning power, though we are still under its authority.

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh (Romans 8:1-14). Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. So the Spirit’s leading is both our safeguard and our evidence that we belong to Christ.

The apostle then names the works of the flesh, which must be watched against and put to death, and the fruits of the Spirit, which must be encouraged and brought out (Galatians 5:19-23). He does this to make his point more plain. The works of the flesh are many, and they are obvious.

These are works of corrupt human nature. Most of them are condemned even by natural conscience, and all of them are condemned by Scripture. Some are sins against the seventh commandment: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lustful behavior. This includes not only the outward acts, but also the thoughts, words, and actions that lead toward such sin.

Some are sins against the first and second commandments, such as idolatry and witchcraft. Others are sins against our neighbor and against the law of love, such as hatred, discord, jealousy, anger, and selfish rivalry. These often lead to divisions, false teaching, envy, and even murders, harming not only people’s reputations but sometimes their very lives. Others are sins against ourselves, such as drunkenness and wild partying.

He ends the list with a warning, to show that there are more sins like these. He tells them, as he has before, that those who do such things, no matter how they excuse themselves, will not inherit the kingdom of God. These sins will certainly shut people out of heaven. No one who lives in the filth of the flesh can be comfortable in the world of holy spirits, and the holy God will not receive such people into his presence unless they are first washed, made holy, and made right with him in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Then he names the fruits of the Spirit, or the marks of renewed nature, which Christians should bring forth (Galatians 5:22-23). Sin is called the work of the flesh because corrupt nature drives it. Grace is called the fruit of the Spirit because it comes entirely from the Spirit, just as fruit comes from a root. And while the sins he named earlier mainly damage people and stir up conflict, these fruits help Christians live at peace with one another and with themselves. This fits his earlier warning that they should not use their liberty as an opening for the flesh, but serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).

He especially recommends love, first toward God and then toward one another for God’s sake. He names joy, which can mean cheerful fellowship with others, but more deeply a steady delight in God. He names peace, meaning peace with God and conscience, and also a peaceful spirit toward others. He names long-suffering, which is patience in delaying anger and enduring wrongs.

He also names gentleness, a kindly and gracious spirit, especially toward those below us, and a readiness to be approachable even when we have been wronged. Goodness means kindness and a willingness to do good whenever we can. Faith means faithfulness, justice, and honesty in what we say and promise. Meekness is a gentle control over our passions and resentments, so we are not quickly provoked and are soon calmed. Temperance is self-control in food, drink, and other enjoyments, so we do not become excessive or unbalanced.

Against such things, there is no law to condemn or punish them. This also shows that those who bear these fruits are not under the law, but under grace. These qualities prove that they are led by the Spirit, and therefore not under the law’s condemning power (Galatians 5:18). By naming both the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit, the apostle shows us what to avoid and oppose, and what to seek and grow.

He also tells us that this is the sincere care of all true Christians: those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its desires and passions. They are not perfect, but they have truly set themselves against sin and put it to death with Christ.

As they were bound to this in baptism, for they were baptized into Christ and into his death (Romans 6:3), so they are now sincerely trying to live it out. In union with their Lord and Head, they are seeking to die to sin, just as he died because of sin. They have not yet won a full victory over it. They still have flesh as well as Spirit in them, and the flesh keeps showing its desires and cravings, which trouble them deeply.

Still, sin does not now rule in their mortal bodies, so that they obey its desires (Romans 6:12). Instead, they are working for its complete ruin and destruction, and for it to suffer the same shameful, lingering death that our Lord Jesus suffered for our sake. If we want to prove that we belong to Christ, we must make it our steady duty to crucify the flesh with its corrupt desires and cravings. Christ will never claim as his those who give themselves over to sin.

Yet when the apostle speaks only of crucifying the flesh with its desires and cravings, he also implies the other side of Christian duty. We must also show the fruits of the Spirit that he had just listed. This is just as much our duty, and just as necessary to prove that our faith is real. It is not enough to stop doing evil, we must also learn to do what is good. Christianity calls us not only to die to sin, but also to live for righteousness.

It calls us not only to oppose the works of the flesh, but also to bear the fruits of the Spirit. So if we want to show that we truly belong to Christ, we must sincerely care about both. That the apostle means both can be seen in what follows (Galatians 5:25): “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” In other words, if we claim to have received the Spirit of Christ, or to be renewed in mind and given new spiritual life, then we should show it in the right fruits in our lives.

He had already said that the Spirit of Christ is a gift given to all God’s children (Galatians 4:6). So if we claim to be among them and have received this gift, we should show it by our attitude and conduct. Our outward life will always match the principle that guides and rules us. As those who follow the flesh think about fleshly things, so those who follow the Spirit think about spiritual things (Romans 8:5). If we want it to be clear that we are Christ’s and share his Spirit, we must walk not by the flesh, but by the Spirit. We must seriously set ourselves both to put sin to death and to walk in new life.

The apostle ends this chapter with a warning against pride and envy (Galatians 5:26). He had already urged these Christians, through love, to serve one another (Galatians 5:13), and reminded them what would happen if they instead bit and devoured one another (Galatians 5:15). Now he warns them against wanting empty praise, or letting themselves crave human approval and applause. If that spirit grows, it will surely lead them to provoke one another and envy one another.

When this temper rules among Christians, they begin to look down on those they think are beneath them. They are easily offended if they do not receive the respect they think they deserve. They also start to envy those whose reputation might seem to outshine their own. From there, quarrels and arguments grow. Such things do not fit with the love Christians should have for one another, and they badly harm the honor and usefulness of religion itself. So the apostle wants us to guard against them carefully.

The glory that comes from people is empty glory, and instead of chasing it, we should be dead to it. A wrong desire for human approval is one major cause of the sad fights and divisions found among Christians.