16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
St Paul tells the Galatians to walk in the Spirit. But there are two kinds of spirits in the world. There is the one true and pure Spirit of God, then there is what St Paul refers to as the flesh. The flesh here is the many unclean spirits in the world. These unclean spirits lead us into all sorts of debauchery.
The Holy Spirit does not lead us under the Law but through the grace of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit offers us gifts to help us to walk in the ways of the Lord. He gives us strength to walk past temptation. But there are many unclean spirits in the world desiring to lead us into the various forms of debauchery listed here by St Paul (notice the first on the list is sexual immorality).
These unclean spirits provide us with temptations which we will easily fall back into. St Paul reminds us that these are things of our former life. In Christ Jesus, we have been given true strength because he has provided the sacrifice for our sins. We all have abominations in our past but these have been purified through Christ Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the strength to turn from our former lives of debauchery to a new life in Christ Jesus.
Our debauchery is cleansed through Christ Jesus. He provides us with new birth and new life in him (Christ Jesus).
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