Living “in the Spirit” is not a mystical slogan—it is the only way to break free from the tyranny of self. Paul writes in Galatians 5:16, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The “flesh” is not just the body, and it is not limited to sensual sins. In Paul’s vocabulary, “the flesh” is the self-centered nature we were all born with—the inner voice that constantly asks, “What do I want? What do I feel? What do I deserve?” It is life turned inward. Steven Lawson describes it well: “The flesh refers to man limited by his physical constitution, his culture, his moment in history, the impulses of biology, stimuli of the senses, instinct for self-preservation, drive for power, and lusts for self-satisfaction.” In other words, the flesh is what makes life all about me—my appetites, my cravings, my ego. Left unchecked, it always pushes us toward selfishness and destruction. It is like gravity—it never stops pulling down.
And that is why human discipline alone will never conquer the flesh. We have laws. We have therapy. We have self-help seminars, motivational posters, New Year’s resolutions, and apps that track our progress. None of them can produce real freedom from self. They may reshape behavior temporarily, but they cannot change the heart. Lawson points out that human philosophies come up empty. Freud said we are prisoners of our subconscious drives. Marx said we are controlled by economic systems. Skinner said we are conditioned by our environment. The Eagles tell us in Hotel California that we are all prisoners of our own devices. Paul respectfully steps forward with a divine rebuttal: You can be free—but only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Spirit, freedom is an illusion. With the Spirit, freedom is a promise.
Paul explains the battle clearly in Galatians 5:17–18: “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh… to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Every Christian knows what that means. There is a battle inside us that we did not have before we were saved. The flesh pulls us toward selfishness; the Spirit pulls us toward love. The flesh says, “me first”; the Spirit says, “serve others.” The flesh craves control; the Spirit invites surrender. The flesh produces guilt and frustration; the Spirit produces freedom. “But if you are led by the Spirit,” Paul concludes, “you are not under the law.” That is the key—not stronger rules, but a stronger relationship. We do not break free through willpower—we break free through the Spirit’s power. Or as Lawson beautifully states: “What is needed is freedom from myself—the freedom that love expresses and the Spirit grants.” When the Spirit leads, self loses its grip—and love becomes our new way of life.