Walk By The Spirit

Andrew Das, commenting on Galatians 5:16 (“But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not satisfy the desire of the flesh”), wrote:

Christians will still sin (thus [Galatians] 6:1), but they will not live their lives from the vantage point of an age that is passing away. The Christian walk is always directed forward, that is, toward the full dawning of the “new creation” ([Galatians] 6:15); cf. “running” in [Galatians] 5:7). That age is already exerting itself in the present. “Spirit people” simply march to a different drummer, and their behavior represents a decided break from their non-Christian, flesh-driven pasts. Paul expresses walking by the Spirit in [Galatians] 5:16 as being led by the Spirit in [Galatians] 5:18. In [Galatians] 5:25a Paul speaks of living by the Spirit and in [Galatians] 5:25b of keeping in step with the Spirit. The Spirit impels action, motion forward!

Das. A. Andrew Concordia Commentary: Galatians 562-563