Galatians 5:16-26 - ”Walking by the Spirit” - Brent Stephens / December 8, 2024

The amazing reality of the Christian life is that God Himself indwells all those who have looked to His Son by faith through His Holy Spirit. This is truly remarkable if you take a moment to think about it. No other religion in the world believes this. Consider it for a moment: God not only condescended to come from the infinite heights of heaven’s throne to the earth He made in order to redeem sinners through His Son's work, but He also indwells those same individuals through the power of the Holy Spirit, to transform them to be more like Jesus. We call this sanctification. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus by faith, the Spirit of God dwells in you; you are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Are you walking by the Spirit? Paul wants the believers in Galatia to live out this new reality. His thesis statement for this section is found in verse 16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Let’s compare the works of the flesh with walking by the Spirit.