New Living Translation
Galatians 5:16
16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
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.
- New International Version (NIV)So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires 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.
Context of Galatians 5:16
14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
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 3:17This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.
- 1 Corinthians 7:29But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage.
- Galatians 5:25Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
- Galatians 6:8Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
- Romans 8:1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
- 1 Peter 1:22You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
- 1 Peter 4:6That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.
- Jude 1:19These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
- Galatians 5:19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
- Romans 6:12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
- Romans 13:13Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
- Colossians 2:11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
- Colossians 3:5So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
- 1 Peter 1:14So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
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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