Led By The Spirit, Not Under the Law. HUH?

~Brandon James Scott Scholl

Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For 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.
Gal 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galations 5:18 is an interesting thing. You are not under the law if you are led by the spirit.
Some people may take that as a total contradiction of the law in the first place but let’s think about what that says for a second here.

Led by the spirit would be referring to seeking and pursuing God. This is something we do out of love and with our entire selves. However, what in the world does it mean when it says that you aren’t under the law when you do this? That means that before you are led by the spirit you worry about following the law. Things like how close you can get to the line without crossing in and breaking the law. How far can you go and still be covered and okay. Or, taking the rules so literally to the point where you’re being legalistic.

When you look at the laws that God put in place and are so strict to them to the point of that is all your focusing on then how are you following the spirit? See, legalism is one of those things where you nitpick everything to the smallest details just to be sure you’re following the rules up to that line that is drawn. The problem is that type of thinking is along the lines of you being able to gain your salvation by keeping those laws. We have to remember that we do not have the ability to gain our salvation. Our salvation is a gift and not something that we worked to receive.

So, bottom line, is this means that if you’re pursuing and seeking God then staying in line will just be natural, like a side-effect.