In 5:11 Paul says, “If I still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been annulled.” Circumcision foreshadowed the dealing with man’s flesh; the cross is the reality of that dealing (Col. 2:11-12). The Judaizers endeavored to bring the Galatians back to the shadow; the apostle Paul struggled to keep them in the reality. Circumcision is a type of the cross of Christ; it typifies the cutting off of the flesh that is accomplished by the cross. Therefore, the cross is the fulfillment and the reality of the type of circumcision.
In Galatians 5:13 Paul says, “For you were called for freedom, brothers; only do not turn this freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” This verse indicates that although Christ has freed us from the slavery of the law, we should leave no occasion for the flesh; rather, we should serve one another through love. On the one hand, Paul tells us that we were called to freedom; on the other hand, he warns us not to use this freedom for an occasion for the flesh. While Paul encourages the believers to enjoy their freedom in Christ, he is also concerned that they may misuse or abuse this freedom. Since we may overindulge ourselves in our freedom, we still need to be limited in the exercise of our freedom. Freedom without limitation always results in the indulgence of the flesh. Therefore, we need to be balanced—free yet restricted. If we are limited in the use of our freedom, we will love others and through love serve them as slaves.
Freedom with limitation leads us to love others and, through love, to serve them as slaves (v. 13). Instead of turning freedom into an occasion for the flesh, we should be limited in the use of freedom and be willing to serve one another as slaves. As Paul says in 5:14, “The whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” In 5:13-14 Paul admonishes us to have a proper walk in the church life. We need to care not only for ourselves but also for others. We may enjoy the freedom we have yet still be restricted in love for the sake of others that the church life may go on in a good way.
Christ has set us free from the slavery of the law that we might walk by the Spirit, not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. In 5:16 Paul says, “Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The Greek word rendered walk means “to tread all around, to walk at large”; hence, to deport oneself, move, and act in ordinary daily life, implying a common, habitual daily walk (cf. Rom. 6:4; 8:4; Phil. 3:17-18).
According to the context of the chapter, the Spirit in Galatians 5:16 must be the Holy Spirit, who dwells in and mingles with our regenerated spirit. To walk by the Spirit is to have our walk regulated by the Holy Spirit from within our spirit. This is in contrast to having our walk regulated by the law in the realm of our flesh.
We should not go back to the law. If we try to keep the law, attempting to do good in order to please God, we will be in the flesh, for the law is related to the flesh. Whenever we try to fulfill the requirements of the law, we exercise our flesh. This means that the flesh is active not only when we do evil but even when we try to fulfill the law. Whenever we in ourselves try to do good works, the flesh is active.
The flesh is the uttermost expression of the fallen tripartite man (Gen. 6:3), and the Spirit is the ultimate realization of the processed Triune God (John 7:39). Because of Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s work of regeneration, we who have received God’s dispensing can walk by the Spirit, by the processed Triune God, instead of by the flesh, by our fallen being. Paul wrote Galatians not only to rescue the distracted Galatian believers from the law, on the negative side, but also, on the positive side, to bring them into the realization that the believers have the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit in their spirit that they may live, walk, and have their being in this Spirit.
Paul goes on to say in 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” The law is related to our flesh (Rom. 7:5), and our flesh is against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Hence, the Spirit is in contrast to the law. When we walk by the Spirit, who is in our regenerated spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh (v. 16); when we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. The Spirit of life, not the law of letters, is our guiding principle, regulating our Christian walk in our regenerated spirit. If we walk by the Spirit, automatically we will no longer be under the law, for the Spirit will lead us away from the law of letters.
In 5:25 Paul continues, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” To live by the Spirit is to have our life dependent on and regulated by the Spirit, not by the law. To walk by the Spirit is to have our daily life guided and ruled by the Spirit, not by the law. Since our life is not by the law of letters but by the Spirit of life, our walk also should be not by the law of ordinances but by the Spirit of Christ.
Both the walk in verse 16 and the walk in verse 25 are by the Spirit and are regulated by the Spirit. The former refers to a general, daily walk; the latter, to a walk that takes God’s unique goal as the direction and purpose of life, and a walk that follows the Spirit as the elementary rule, the basic principle. For the former, the Spirit is our essence; for the latter, the Spirit is our way.
In Galatians, Paul indicates that the law had become not only the essence of the life of the Galatians but also the path for their way; hence, they had to return to the Spirit and leave the law on the cross. Like the Galatians, we may live not according to Christ but according to the law. Instead of having Christ as the unique constituent of our daily walk, we may have the laws of social ethics, the laws of biblical ethical principles, or self-made laws as our constituent. As a result, much of the time we may live according to these laws instead of Christ. Therefore, we need to take the Spirit as the essence of our daily life in place of the law. If we live by the Spirit as our essence, we should also take the Spirit as our pathway to reach God’s goal. Taking the Spirit as our essence and pathway excludes law, doctrine, religion, tradition, and regulations. The processed Triune God who lives in us as the life-giving Spirit should be the essence of our new being and the path for our way. We should walk by the Spirit and live a life which is Christ Himself. Walking by the Spirit as our way, we will be able to reach the goal and gain the prize, which is Christ Himself (Phil. 3:12).