“The Holy Spirit is the eternal third member of the Trinity. He is the person who convicts of sin and who indwells Christians. He regenerates believers and empowers them to live the Christian life, to understand the Scriptures, and to worship Jesus Christ. He is the sovereign God who equips believers with gifts of service to do ministry in the church” (The Doctrines of the Holy Spirit, The Standards of the Doctrine of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors). The Holy Spirit was present on earth at creation (Genesis 1:2) and was able to influence certain individuals in the Old Testament (Exodus 31:3; Numbers 24:21 Samuel 10:10; 16:13), but it wasn’t until Jesus’ ministry was completed that the Holy Spirit entered the world (Acts 2:1-4) and began to permanently indwell believers who were destined for eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples all things and remind them of the words he had spoken to them (John 14:26). Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth and said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit shows believers the way they are to go in their journey through life (G3394). Somewhat like a drill instructor who trains and commands every movement that his new recruits make, Paul tells believers in Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”  

Paul was concerned for the Galatians because false doctrine had influenced them to become legalistic and to think that they needed something more than to be justified by faith in order to be truly saved. Paul said, “For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore and do not submit to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Paul referred to the Mosaic Law as slavery because it obligated a person to live a perfect life, something that was humanly impossible. Paul argued that a believer who was attempting to be justified by the law had fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4). Paul explained, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision not uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Galatians 5:5-6).

Paul made it clear that salvation is not something that we achieve. Salvation is a gift from God that believers in Christ do not experience the full effect of until they get to heaven. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the future effects or inheritance of salvation. Paul indicated that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until we acquire possession of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, we should be eagerly waiting for the justification we have received from God to take effect and not try to achieve righteousness on our own (Galatians 5:5).

Paul said the only thing that counts for anything in the life of a believer is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). Paul was talking about the fact that it is possible for believers to experience some of  the effects of salvation while they are still alive. The working or empowering of the Holy Spirit is the result of believer’s actions being guided by the truth of God’s word. When believers walk by the Spirit they are operating on what God says, the mind of Christ.

Paul said the reason why believers do not automatically operate on what God says is because, “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” (Galatians 5:17). Paul indicated the works of the flesh are evident, a person knows immediately if he or she is walking in the flesh. It is not so clear when a person is walking in the Spirit, the evidence, the fruit of the Spirit is not typically produced right away. It takes time to develop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul associated the fruit of the Spirit with believers who have put to death the flesh with its passions and desires and are keeping in step with the Spirit in their daily lives.

The Greek verb that is translated keep in step, stoicheō (stoy-khehˊ-o) is in the present active subjunctive form suggesting that Paul was attempting to move his hearers to action, in a similar fashion to a drill instructor barking out an order to his recruits. The message that Paul likely wanted to convey was that keeping in step with the Spirit requires us to be alert, continually paying attention to the Spirit’s leading, and immediately responsive to the Spirit’s commands. Paul told the Corinthians, who were prone to walking in the flesh, “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34). Jesus used a similar approach in his letter to the church in Sardis. Jesus said, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you” (Revelation 3:2-3).