Walk by the Spirit, not under the law

What does it mean to be free in Christ and operate by or walk in the Spirit? 

Are these connected? If so how?

Also, how are the works of the flesh and being under the law tied together? Does this give us a clue on how grace and walking in the Spirit go together i.e. are these opposite parallels? 

To understand the conflict between the law and grace is to understand the conflict between the flesh (human natures inclination to try to earn love instead of receiving it as a gift) and the Spirit i.e. experiencing God's love by grace not by works i.e. not earning it. These are describing and addressing the the opposite sides of the same need for love and the life it brings i.e. the two opposing ways we experience love and life.

In Paul's letter to the Galatians he is addressing how they have ⁵slipped away from grace and back under the law. 

In chapter 5 Paul sums up and zooms in on the practical problems that result.

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

What freedom is Paul talking about? Freedom to do whatever we want or freedom from rejection, condemnation, and disapproval for failure to live according to the law - God's perfect standard of right living? The rest of this chapter will show he is addressing the latter.

And what slavery is Paul speaking of here? As we dig in, we'll discover it is the spiritual-emotional slavery of always trying to gain acceptance and approval from others through our good deeds (and the guilt for failing to do so). This approval comes primarily from God, but also from our fellow ¹image-bearers.  Seeking approval is a yoke that causes bondage - it enslaves us. We are enslaved because when our acceptance is based on our efforts (vs Christ's) we must always seek approval from others but rarely obtain it (and only for fleeting moments) because we never live righteous enough to deserve it. Even in our fleeting moments of living well, it ²never truly satisfies our deep longing and need for acceptance (love). As a result we are on a treadmill of continually seeking it yet never fully obtaining it. 

Gaining this by our deeds doesn’t work ³long term i.e. you never get perfectly approved or feel perfectly accepted-loved because: 

1. You are never good enough - never perfect enough. 

2.  Our need for love is infinite because we're designed for infinite love - i.e. for God, and His acceptance and approval. 

Like an addict enslaved to their addiction, we must go back, again and again, to constantly replenish our need for love, acceptance, and approval so we might be declared righteous-right by God and others i.e. we are always seeking to be told "good job!" We are in bondage to this constant need for acceptance, approval, and praise because we are disconnected from the only true and lasting source of love i.e. God.

Only in Christ are you freed from this bondage because you are fully approved and accepted by God through Christ's efforts on your behalf (vs our own which never work long-term). In Christ, your acceptance is now by grace not works.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be (i.e. attempt to be) justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

“Justified by the law…” What does this mean? It is attempting to use superficial "obedience" of a prescribed behavior (spelled out in God's law) to ⁴gain acceptance and approval (that sense of feeling right and approved i.e. righteous) from God first, but also from others. To be acknowledged as right or righteous makes us feel just and justified. Trying to live "according to the law" is our feeble attempt to be good, righteous - right in the eyes of others - to feel accepted, and approved by God or men.

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

“Obeying the truth…” And what truth is that? To live according to or by genuine approval and acceptance from God Himself i.e. the only true justification comes by faith in the righteousness God provides in and through Christ, not what you and I attempt to earn through our efforts - good behavior.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Once we are in Christ we are free from trying to earn God's approval because we already have it fully in Christ. Once we have it, the love of God becomes the driving force behind true obedience, not our impotent attempts to be lovable and therefore acceptable through right conduct. 

 Obedience matters but not superficial obedience that gives the appearance of righteousness but true submission and allegiance that springs forth from the heart out of love for God i.e. a heart already captured by his love.

True faithfulness and obedience are evidence (fruit) of knowing you are loved i.e. accepted and approved by God in and through Christ. To know this is to be freed in Christ, which is also to operate in the Spirit. We are free because we are moved to action from within and not pressured from without. 

In Christ, we have God's perfect acceptance and approval, i.e. His love. We are freed from trying to earn these by our efforts. 

The love and Spirit of God are directly tied together if not one and the same. The more we understand that God’s love is based on Christ’s performance (not ours) the freer we become, and the more we are driven-moved by that love - i.e. by the Spirit - to love God and others - to fulfill "the law of love."

Keep in Step with the Spirit 

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

"...walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh..."

Walking in the flesh is the opposite of walking by the Spirit. It is seeking to gain the approval of God and man through our good deeds. Walking in the Spirit (to be in and under God's perfect and infinite love-acceptance-approval) moves us to love others – and do good deeds - because we already know we are fully loved in and by Christ. When our conduct is driven by God's acceptance and approval - i.e. His love/Spirit - we will not pursue (or desire) acceptance-seeking behavior i.e. the "desire of the flesh." These two approaches - Spirit vs flesh or grace vs law - are truly opposite and opposed to each other.

Also, note in v 18 that the opposite of walking in the Spirit is being under the law. You would think Paul instead would say this was living by the flesh. And this would also be correct according to v 17. How is this so? Being under the law i.e. seeking approval through obedience to the law is walking in flesh i.e. it is approval-love-seeking behavior. 

Living by the flesh and being under the law are the same thing. Again, this is an attempt to live by the law in order to gain God's acceptance and approval. 

So when Paul says walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh or not under the law, he is saying the same thing.

The desire to serve God because you know you are fully loved by God already (the essence of the gospel of grace), eliminates the need to gain the approval of others through "right" i.e. righteous living. When you are moved by love i.e. the Spirit, you will fulfill the “law of love.” You are not under a requirement to win God's approval through obedience to the law i.e. you are not driven by the need to gain love-acceptance-approval through your own good-righteous deeds. You already fully have this in Christ as a gift (earned by Christ's good deeds and credited i.e. given to you). 

Along with that acceptance and approval, you have God's infinite love. It is already fully and perfectly yours and not something to be striven for (earned or worked for).

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies...” are all the result of seeking to feel loved and gaining a sense of acceptance, approval, significance, value, etc. through our efforts i.e. operating in the flesh. This is a list of what we either do to feel loved or what we experience when we fail to gain it e.g anger, strife, etc. All of these are "works of the flesh" i.e. actions we take to earn anothers approval and acceptance in order to feel good about ourselves.

Spiritual fruit is a byproduct of proper sun(Son) light, rain, and soil. When given these proper ingredients, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are the outcome. 

Not some of these, but all of them. It is not fruits of the Spirit but fruit (singular) of the Spirit, the byproduct of operating under the umbrella of God’s perfect acceptance - love i.e. grace.

This is also not a checklist of things to do, it is who we are when operating in and by the love-Spirit of God. This is why it brings freedom. This is our organic, supernatural state of being when we understand we already have the perfect love, approval, acceptance, and care - Son light - of God. No law - i.e. our attempts to obey it for approval - can or will create these characteristics ("...against such conduct, there is no law"). When we are "in Christ" we are the objects of God's perfect and infinite love. This love fills up, overpowers, and eliminates the need to seek love, acceptance, and approval through feeble attempts to live righteously i.e. through the law. We will not be hungry for love horizontally (from our fellow creatures) when we are full of perfect love vertically...i.e. God’s love.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit..." To live under the blanket of God's love is to operate in and by God's love i.e. it is to operate in and by the Spirit - of love - resulting in right-righteous living i.e. the fruit of the Spirit-love. If we are in Christ, we are in the Spirit - in and under the status of being perfectly loved and approved by God - let us align or keep in step with this status i.e. walk and live according to it. Let us live in and by the Spirit-grace-love of God, not under the law. Let us live in the understanding (by faith) that we are already fully loved, accepted, and approved in Christ, not try to gain theses from God or men through so-called "righteous" deeds.

In summary, walking by the flesh is living to gain the approval (love) of God and others. Walking in or by the Spirit is knowing we already fully have God's love and approval in Christ and being empowered to live righteously by it i.e. by love, by the Spirit (of love). 

Inward motivation and outward behavior.

The outcome of "right living" can look exactly the same with both approaches on the outside, but under the hood what drives our conduct is completely different. In fact, they are the opposite of each other.

For a further discussion on what righteousness is click here. 

For a further discussion on the gospel vs. religion, click here. 

For a further discussion on the definition of flesh, Spirit, law, etc. click here. 

For a further discussion on legalism, click here. 

For a further discussion on cultural Christians and followers of Jesus, click here. 

For a further discussion on how and why were are wired for love, click here and here.  

For a further discussion on how God's Spirit stirs our spirit-love click here.

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¹As God's image-bearer you and I are the closest to being like God (we have the greatest capacity for a relationship with God) more than anyone or anything else in creation and therefore other God-like beings are sought hardest by us for acceptance and approval. Praise from God is most desired, but since most reject God they look for praise, approval, and love from the next best thing - those who are like God i.e. our fellow image bearers of God.

²Only perfect acceptance by God through Christ satisfies our need for perfect love.

³We may experience tiny snippets of approval on occasion, but never permanently. The love we are able to scratch out by our feeble efforts is never great enough to satisfy our infinite need for love nor is it lasting. Which is why we're constantly seeking it. We are a spiritual bottomless pit with an emotional black hole at the core of our being. 

So we have two problems.  

The quantity of love i.e. its permanence and the quality of love i.e. its depth or greatness. 

We are looking to others who can not love us with perfect love - love that is deep enough (quality) or permanent (quantity) - because of their limitations. We are all in the same boat - lacking, wanting, needing, and seeking infinite love. 

And infinite love can only come from an infinite Source. We or others are not that Source (though we can be the conduit through which infinite love can flow...and that is because we were designed that way by the Creator-Source of infinite love).

Infinite love can not and will never be met by a finite source i.e. other image-bearers, including ourselves and our own self-love. 

We were created to be filled with infinite love, not limited, temporary, fleeting love. Only God's love is infinite; man's is not. 

Infinite love can only come from an Infinite Source because only an Infinite Source addresses the depth or greatness of love and the extent or permanence of it, that we need and must have. And we must have it because God created us to have it i.e. To have Him, the only Source of infinite love.

Also, even though God is the only Source of Infinite love, we can never do enough or be good enough to gain it by our efforts. 

Thank God we don't need to because Christ secured this for us by His righteous efforts and assigned to us if we will receive it.

In summary

1. Other fellow image-bearers are finite and can never give us infinite love; in depth (quality) or extent (quantity). 

2. Even if their love were infinite - which it isn't - we can never perform well enough to gain it.

3. We can never perform well enough to gain the Infinite love that is from the only Infinite Source - God. 

⁴To earn infinite love was never the intent or purpose of the law. The law is the owner's manual on how to live to our maximum capacity (how to best flourish) by and out of love for God. This is why Christ told us "If you love me you will obey my commandments" and that all the commands hang on loving God and our neighbor i.e. are about love and loving others not seeking to gain love. The heart's reason (motivation) for living the right way - i.e. as we are designed to - is love, not seeking to win the love of others - i.e. living by the Spirit, not under the law.

⁵Something that apparently, we are all easily inclined to do, hence an entire letter by Paul to the Galatians is included in the Bible for everyone's instruction and benefit throughout the ages.

⁶Desiring love (and approval) is legitimate. We are designed for love (for God who is love). Trying to gain it through our performance is our problem, not our desire for it.