I met a young woman on a plane and when she noticed I was writing devotionals on my iPad, she said, “I’m a Christian too, only I’m not a legalist.” I asked her what she meant, and she said, “I’m living after the Spirit and I’m not under the law.” Her comment piqued my interest. I asked “What does that mean?” She explained that many rules in the Bible were outdated, and she was “living by the Spirit,” and thus free to do things like live with her boyfriend and engage in other activities that were contrary to God’s outdated rules. I smiled and said, “that is an interesting interpretation.” There was a pause in the conversation as the safety instructions were being broadcast loudly and drowned out the possibility of further conversation.
She began texting someone and I turned back to my writing. But I couldn’t shake her commentary and so looked up Galatians 5:18:
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18
It struck me as I read that in the verses immediately preceding the statement she quoted in defense of her chosen lifestyle, Paul explained the war between our flesh and—the desires of our born-again spirit when under the influence of the HOLY Spirit. Clearly there is a battle over who is going to most influence the wishes of our soul! It is an impossibility that the HOLY Spirit would ever lead us to engage in behavior that is sinful and separates us from His own HOLY presence. And why would Jesus snuggle up to the sins that crucified Him?
So, I wondered, what does the Bible mean when it says we are “not under the law?”
I know from years of practicing law [and from common sense] that laws are to protect individuals and communities from the chaos of evil. Human tendency towards selfishness forces cultures to create restraints on behavior. If I think it’s okay to murder my neighbor, the consequences of the law restrain my actions. We live under all kinds of laws—speed limits, taxation, house rules, etc. I knew the Bible was NOT sanctioning lawlessness in these verses.
But rather, Paul, led by the Spirit, was making a remarkable point. He was saying if we are led by the Holy Spirit, which, according to Galatians 5:22-23, produces “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” then we are fulfilling the law through the influence of God in our INNER man instead of by being forced by fear to follow the law by disciplining our OUTER man (the flesh) to obey. Paul concludes in these verses that “against such [the fruits of the Spirit] there is no law.”
When God is our center, our desire is to act in love instead of the selfishness of our sinful flesh.
When our soul and spirit are led by the HOLY Spirit, we are not controlled by the lusts of our flesh, the desires of our eyes, and the voracious appetite of our pride. Thus, we don’t NEED to be outwardly constrained by the law because the inward influence of Christ is causing us to live after the desires of the Spirit. The antidote for the flesh is not found in the law, but in the Spirit. The horrors of the “works of the flesh” are described as:
“adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness and revelries.”
Galatians 5:19-21
If we are being led by the Spirit, we fulfill the will of God through the inner influence of the Holy Spirit instead of being forced by the outer influence of the law. The disastrous mistake made by many religions is substituting obedience to Biblical law for the restraint of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, IF we LOVE Him we will OBEY Him.
We obey Jesus’ commandments because we love Him, not because we are afraid of Him.
I had been somewhat lost in my study of this passage. In the meantime, the plane had taken off. I closed my eyes and smiled to myself and said a prayer for the Spirit to influence the lady next to me. When I opened my eyes a few minutes later, I could feel her looking at me. I turned and smiled at her and she blurted out, “you looked so peaceful just then, I sure wish I had that kind of peace.” I said, “Ah, but you can…” and we continued the conversation.
God answered my prayer. During the rest of the flight I shared the story of how I surrendered my heart to Jesus, my Prince of Peace. I shared how He drew me from living by my own rules and changed my desires to make Him the center of my life. I shared how HE freed me from the horrible chains of anxiety caused by my sin. His love led me to desire His truth and gave me more peace than I’d ever had. As we were taxiing to the gate, she was thoughtful. I could tell the Spirit was working in her because I had also shared the Gospel as part of my story. As we were about to part ways, she gave me a hug with tears in her eyes and said, “thank you.” The seeds of truth had been planted in love. You see, when God changes us from the inside, His love flows through us and provides an amazing conduit for truth.
