Galatians 5:17

Galatians 5:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
• New International Version (NIV)For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)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.

Context of Galatians 5:17

15So you must not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you live like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely. 16So this is what I say: Let God's Spirit show you how to live in a good way. Then you will not do the wrong things that you may want to do, as people who are weak and human. The things that you want to do as a weak person are opposite to the things that God's Spirit wants. The things that God's Spirit wants are the opposite of what we want as weak people. Our own thoughts fight against what God's Spirit wants us to do. As a result, you are not free to do the things that you really want to do. 18But if God's Spirit leads you, then the rules of God's Law have no authority over you. 19Everyone knows the kinds of bad things that weak people want to do. They have sex with people that they are not married to. They do things that are bad and disgusting.

Galatians 5:17 word by word

ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκός· ταῦτα γὰρ ἀλλήλοις ἀντίκειται, ἵνα μὴ ἃ ἐὰν θέλητε, ταῦτα ποιῆτε.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• the fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
• lustethἐπιθυμέωepithumeō · to long forG1937
• againstκατάkata · according toG2596
• the Spiritὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the Spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• andδέde · thenG1161
• theseοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• are contraryἀντίκειμαιantikeimai · be an opponentG480
• the one to the otherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• so thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• yeποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• cannotμήmē · notG3361
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ἄνan · ifG302
• ye wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309

Cross-references for Galatians 5:17

• Psalms 19:12Nobody realizes every time they do something wrong. Please forgive me for the sins that I do not know about.
• Psalms 51:1Please forgive me, God, because of your faithful love. Because you are so kind, please clean away my sins.
• Psalms 65:3because of our many sins. Our sins are too heavy for us to carry, but you forgive the bad things that we do against you.
• Psalms 119:5I want to be able to obey your laws all the time.
• Psalms 119:176I have left the right way. Come to make me safe again, like a shepherd looks for his lost sheep. Help me, your servant, because I have not forgotten your commands.
• Ecclesiastes 7:20There is nobody on the earth who is so righteous that they always do what is right. There is nobody who never does a wrong thing.
• Isaiah 6:5Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
• Matthew 16:17Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, God has blessed you! No person on earth taught you that. God, my Father in heaven, has shown you this.
• Matthew 26:41You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do something wrong. You really want to do the right thing, but your bodies are weak.’
• John 3:6People give birth to what is human. But God's Spirit gives birth to spirit.
• Romans 7:18I know that there is nothing good in me. I am weak and human. I want to do what is good. But I am unable to do it.
• Romans 8:5Some people do what their weak human thoughts want them to do. They think about the things that will make themselves happy. But people who live with God's Spirit as their guide think about what will make God's Spirit happy.
• James 4:5The Bible says, ‘God has caused his Spirit to live in us. He wants very much to keep us for himself.’ Do you think that is not true?
• Galatians 3:21So should we say that God's Law works against God's promises? No, certainly that is not true! It is not possible for the rules of any law to give us life with God. If that could happen, then God would have accepted us as right if we obeyed those rules.
• Matthew 12:30If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are really making people run away from me.
• Romans 7:7So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things.

Commentaries on Galatians 5:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit - God still continues to strive with you, notwithstanding your apostasy, showing you whence you have fallen, and exciting you to return to him; but your own obstinacy renders all ineffectual; and through the influence of these different principles, you are kept in a state of self-opposition and self-distraction, so that you cannot do the things that ye would. You are convinced of what is right, and ye wish to do…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit - The inclinations and desires of the flesh are contrary to those of the Spirit. They draw us away in an opposite direction, and while the Spirit of God would lead us one way, our carnal nature would lead us another, and thus produce the painful controversy which exists in our minds. The word “Spirit” here refers to the Spirit of God, and to his influences on the heart. And these are contrary … - They are opposite…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-26Verses 16-26 If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17We cannot just choose to follow the law and not sin. There is a struggle between God's Spirit and our sinful nature (see Romans 7:14–25; 1 Peter 2:11; compare Genesis 4:7). The solution is not trying harder to follow the law, but living by God's Spirit. When we are resurrected, we will finally be free from sin (see Romans 8:18–25).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. For--the reason why walking by the Spirit will exclude fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, namely, their mutual contrariety. the Spirit--not "lusteth," but "tendeth (or some such word is to be supplied) against the flesh." so that ye cannot do the things that ye would--The Spirit strives against the flesh and its evil influence; the flesh against the Spirit and His good influence, so that neither the one nor the other can be fully carried out into…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 5:17

• Depravity of Man
• Holy Spirit
• Self-Denial
• Temptation
• War

In the dictionaries

• Affection
• Bite
• Contrary
• Cross
• Crucify
• Debtor
• Flesh
• Gentleness
• Goodness
• Meekness

Commentaries on Galatians 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings