Spirit vs. Flesh: Your Practical Guide to Christian Living
Two natures, one believer
One of the most crucial parts of the Christian walk is understanding the difference between operating in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. Every believer carries both. And the whole of ordinary Christian living — how you speak to your family, what you do with an hour, whether you keep your word when it costs you — is decided by which of the two is running the day. Paul does not soften it: 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 [Galatians 5:17 KJV]. Contrary the one to the other. Not two shades of the same thing, but two natures pulling opposite ways inside the same man — which is why you can genuinely want to do right and still find yourself not doing it.
Operating in the flesh means living by our natural desires and impulses, and Scripture is not vague about what that looks like: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like [Galatians 5:19-21 KJV]. Read that list again and notice how many of them cost nothing and show nothing. Hatred. Variance. Emulations. Envyings. Strife. A man can look respectable for a month and be walking in the flesh every day of it.
Walking in the Spirit produces something else entirely: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law [Galatians 5:22-23 KJV]. Works of the flesh — fruit of the Spirit. Works are manufactured; fruit is grown. You can produce a work tonight if you try hard enough, but fruit comes from what the branch is joined to, and it comes slowly. That difference is this whole teaching in one line.
Five honest tests
So how do you tell which one you are operating in? Not by how spiritual it feels at the time — the flesh is perfectly capable of feeling righteous. Scripture gives us better tests than that, and there are five of them.
The motive underneath it. In the flesh our actions come out of self — pride, personal gain, or being seen to have done it. The Holy Spirit moves a man to act out of love for God and for people, and often where nobody is watching: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God [Romans 8:14 KJV]. Led, not driven. There is a world of difference between the two, and you can usually feel which one you are under.
What it leaves behind. Fleshly choices deliver something quickly and leave you emptier than they found you. Spiritual living builds, and it keeps building: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace [Romans 8:6 KJV]. Death and life are not exaggerations — they are the two directions of travel, and every choice is on one road or the other.
Whether it squares with the Word. The Holy Spirit never leads against Scripture, because He gave it: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path [Psalm 119:105 KJV]. This is the plainest test of the five. When we are in the flesh we find ourselves explaining why the verse does not quite apply here — and the moment you catch yourself building that case, you already have your answer.
Peace or strife. The Spirit brings peace, and not only when circumstances are easy: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus [Philippians 4:7 KJV]. Fleshly decisions leave a churn in a man that no amount of reasoning settles. That unrest is not weakness; it is often the Spirit refusing to sign the paperwork.
Whether anything is actually changing. Walking in the Spirit makes a man different over time: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord [2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV]. From glory to glory — gradually, in stages. If nothing has changed in a year, that is worth being honest about, because the Spirit does not leave a man where He found him.
Keeping in step with the Spirit
None of this is kept up by willpower, and Paul's answer to the flesh is not to fight it harder but to walk somewhere else: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh [Galatians 5:16 KJV]. The means of walking are ordinary rather than dramatic. Stay in contact with God — Pray without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV] — which is less about long sessions than about never really leaving the room. Work at the Word rather than skimming it: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV]. A workman. That is labour, and it is the only way a believer ever learns to tell flesh from Spirit for himself instead of borrowing somebody else's judgement.
Then do the thing nobody enjoys: Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves [2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV]. Not morbid introspection — an honest look, regularly. And do not do any of it alone: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another [Hebrews 10:25 KJV]. The flesh thrives in isolation, where there is nobody close enough to say the one sentence you need to hear.
Growing in discernment, day by day
This discernment grows. It is not issued complete at the new birth, and that is worth knowing before you judge yourself for finding it hard: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil [Hebrews 5:14 KJV]. By reason of use. The senses are exercised — trained by being used, the way anything else is learned. You get better at this by doing it badly for a while and not giving up.
And when you get it wrong, and you will, there is a way back and it has not changed: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [1 John 1:9 KJV]. Faithful and just. Not reluctant, not grudging, and not conditional on how well you have done lately. So the aim is not a man who never feels the pull of the flesh. It is a man who knows which pull is which, and who has learned to go with the Spirit often enough that it becomes the way he lives — That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God [Colossians 1:10 KJV].
Key Takeaways:
- Two natures pull against each other in every believer, and they never agree — [Galatians 5:17 KJV]
- Most works of the flesh are invisible and cost nothing; a respectable man can be full of them — [Galatians 5:19-21 KJV]
- Works are manufactured; fruit is grown — the Spirit produces what effort cannot — [Galatians 5:22-23 KJV]
- Sons are led, not driven, so check the motive underneath the action — [Romans 8:14 KJV]
- Every choice travels one of two roads: death, or life and peace — [Romans 8:6 KJV]
- The Spirit never leads against the Word, and unrest after a decision is often Him refusing to agree — [Psalm 119:105 KJV], [Philippians 4:7 KJV]
- The Spirit changes a man from glory to glory; if nothing has changed in a year, be honest about it — [2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV]
- Walk in the Spirit through prayer, the Word, honest self-examination and fellowship — [Galatians 5:16 KJV], [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV], [Hebrews 10:25 KJV]
- Discernment is trained by use, and when we fail, He is faithful and just to forgive — [Hebrews 5:14 KJV], [1 John 1:9 KJV]
Where to go from here:
Read Galatians 5:13-26 slowly, and make two columns as you go — what the flesh produces, and what the Spirit grows. Then take today's step: one real decision, put through the five tests, and acted on before the day is out. Start small and start today.
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➡️ Next — Thursday: Messages from the Outpost — I Hope, I Think, I Know
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