New International Version
Galatians 5:16
16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
- New Living Translation (NLT)So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Context of Galatians 5:16
14For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For 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. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Read all of Galatians 5Galatians 5:16 word by word
Λέγω δέ, πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς οὐ μὴ τελέσητε.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 5:16
- Galatians 3:17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
- 1 Corinthians 7:29What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not;
- Galatians 5:25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
- Galatians 6:8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- Romans 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
- 1 Peter 1:22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
- 1 Peter 4:6For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
- Jude 1:19These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
- Galatians 5:19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
- Romans 6:12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
- Romans 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
- Colossians 2:11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,
- Colossians 3:5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
- 1 Peter 1:14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
Commentaries on Galatians 5:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Walk in the Spirit - Get back that Spirit of God which you have grieved and lost; take up that spiritual religion which you have abandoned. Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh - If the Spirit of God dwell in and rule your heart, the whole carnal mind will be destroyed; and then, not only carnal ordinances will be abandoned, but also the works and propensities of the flesh.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16This I say then - This is the true rule about overcoming the propensities of your carnal natures, and of avoiding the evils of strife and contention. Walk - The Christian life is often represented as a journey, and the word walk, in the scripture, is often equivalent to live; Mark 7:5. See the notes at Romans 4:12; Romans 6:4, note; Romans 8:1, note. In the Spirit - Live under the influences of the Holy Spirit; admit those influences fully into your…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. 16-26A faith without laws will not cause moral ruin. The Holy Spirit guides people, changing their hearts to follow God's will and not sin (see Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1816. This I say then--Repeating in other words, and explaining the sentiment in Ga 5:13, What I mean is this." Walk in the Spirit--Greek, "By (the rule of) the (Holy) Spirit." Compare Ga 5:16-18, 22, 25; Ga 6:1-8, with Ro 7:22; 8:11. The best way to keep tares out of a bushel is to fill it with wheat. the flesh--the natural man, out of which flow the evils specified (Ga 5:19-21). The spirit and the flesh mutually exclude one another. It is promised, not…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 5:16
In the dictionaries
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
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