Galatians 5:16-26
"walking in the spirit"
Paul instructs the Galatian church to live life following God instead of following the world and the flesh. why is this? the world/flesh and the Spirit of God are opposing each other, with the spirit setting us free from the law that we are subject to as sinners.
Paul also gives us a very nicely detailed outline of what the fruits of the flesh are and what the fruits of the spirit are - this means, basically, the results from a life spent satisfying one or the other. The fruit of the flesh are all things spoken against elsewhere in the bible, subjecting us to law. The fruits of the spirit, however, do not have a single law against them. is it ever a sin to show self-control, peace or kindness?.
The bible says elsewhere that people will be known by the fruit they produce. a non-christian cannot truly produce the fruit of the spirit that a true christian does. likewise, a true christian seeks to minimise and even remove the fruits of the flesh that are present in his or her own life. now, i know that there are good non-christians and bad christians, but overall, the truth of the fruit will out.
so, as christians, we should strive to exhibit the fruits of the spirit in our lives and, with that, remove the fruits of the spirit. this is not easy. in fact it is one of the hardest parts of the christian's walk. it is, however, our challenge and our goal in how we live.
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