The Inescapable Conflict Series

Study in the Book of Galatians

The Inescapable Conflict

Galatians 5:16-21

Father, help us now, as we turn to your Holy Word, to be able to concentrate. Free us from distractions and turn our gaze to Christ. For it’s in his name we pray. Amen.

I. Introduction

A. Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia because they were beginning to drift from the true gospel.

1) After he had preached Christ to them and established congregations throughout the region, other teachers arrived and began promoting what Paul calls “a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6–9).

2) These Judaizers insisted that faith in Christ was not enough—that salvation required faith plus obedience to the law.

3) Paul would not tolerate that message.

4) He argued with all his strength that we are justified by faith alone, and that good works flow from faith but never contribute to our standing before God.

B. In the opening chapters of the letter, Paul defends his calling as an apostle and recounts how the gospel he preached came directly from Christ (Gal. 1–2).

1) Then, in chapters 3 and 4, he unfolds the nature of saving faith and the freedom believers have as children of God.

2) By the time he reaches chapters 5 and 6, Paul begins applying these truths to the everyday lives of Christians.

C. The passage before us—Galatians 5:16–21—shows how the Holy Spirit works within believers.

1) Paul explains that the Christian life is not lived in our own strength but by walking in step with the Spirit.

2) And he contrasts the Spirit’s work with the destructive patterns that come from the flesh.

3) This section prepares us to see the difference between a life shaped by our sinful nature and a life shaped by the Spirit of God.

D. Beloved, we come today to a passage that is perhaps one of the most practical, yet profoundly theological, sections in all of the Pauline epistles. We are looking at the very mechanics of the Christian life.

E. Many people view the Christian life as a sort of "moral self-improvement project," where you pull yourself up by your own spiritual bootstraps.

1) But the Apostle Paul shatters that legalistic delusion.

2) He presents us with a battlefield—an internal, relentless war between two diametrically opposed natures.

F. Christians often feel as though they are walking a narrow high wire, suspended between two deadly extremes—legalism on one side and licentiousness on the other.

1) Legalism calls out to us with the promise of safety: “Stop risking the freedom Christ purchased for you. Come back to rules you can measure and control.”

2) Licentiousness whispers the opposite: “Stop restraining yourself. Give in. Chase whatever your heart craves.”

3) But God has not called us to either bondage or recklessness.

i. He calls us to keep walking in the freedom of Christ—steady, balanced, and dependent on Him.

ii. And if we’re honest, that path can feel frightening. It can feel impossible.

4) That is why Paul lifts our eyes to the deeper reality beneath our daily choices.

i. He presents us with a battlefield—an internal, relentless war between two diametrically opposed natures.

ii. The flesh pulls one way, the Spirit pulls the other.

iii. Yet Paul assures us that this conflict does not have to end in despair.

iv. If we walk by the Spirit, if we yield to His leading, our steps can be marked not by fear but by peace.

G. Contemporary Connection

1) We live in a cultural moment that constantly pulls us in opposite directions.

i. On one side, our world celebrates unrestrained self-expression—“Be true to yourself,” “Follow your heart,” “Do whatever feels right.”

ii. On the other side, we’re surrounded by voices demanding moral performance, public virtue, and flawless behavior.

iii. Social media has become a courtroom where people are judged, measured, and shamed for not living up to ever-changing standards.

2) Both pressures—self-indulgence and self-righteousness—mirror the very extremes Paul warns against. And both leave people exhausted.

3) Paul cuts through the noise by reminding us that the real struggle isn’t merely cultural—it’s spiritual.

i. The battle is not ultimately between us and society, or us and other people, but within us.

ii. The flesh pulls us toward self-centered desires; the Spirit pulls us toward Christ.

iii. Walk in the Spirit

II. The Divine Command

Galatians 5:16 (Keep in Step with the Spirit)

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

A. Paul writes, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

a. The word Spirit is rightly capitalized because Paul is speaking of the Holy Spirit Himself.

b. If you have been born of the Spirit and the Spirit of God dwells within you, then your daily life must be shaped by His leading rather than by the impulses of the flesh.