Galatians 5:16

Walking by the Spirit means living moment by moment submissively trusting in the Holy Spirit rather than in self.

"’Walk by the Spirit’ means ’let your conduct be directed by the Spirit.’" [Note: Bruce, p. 243.]

"To ’walk by the Spirit’ means to be under the constant, moment-by-moment direction, control, and guidance of the Spirit." [Note: Fung, p. 249.]

"Walking is a metaphor used from time to time in Scripture to denote spiritual progress. People in the first century could not travel as fast as we do, with our cars, planes, trains and the like, but even so, for them as for us, walking was the slowest way of going places. But even though walking was slow and unspectacular, walking meant progress. If anyone kept walking, she or he would certainly cover the ground and eventually reach the destination. So for the apostle walking was an apt metaphor. If any believer was walking, that believer was going somewhere." [Note: Morris, p. 167.]

We could translate the Greek present tense imperative "Keep on walking." To the extent that we do this we will not at all (Gr. ou me, the strongest negative) carry out our fleshly desires. This is a promise.

This does not mean that one must be constantly thinking about his or her dependence on God to be walking in the Spirit. It is, of course, impossible to be thinking about this all the time. Nevertheless we should be trusting in Him all the time. The more we think about our dependence on Him the more consistent we will be in trusting in Him and in walking by the Spirit.

"The contrary way of living is to fulfil the lust of the flesh. The flesh is the physical part of our being and stands accordingly for that which is opposed to our spirit as well as to the divine Spirit. Our flesh is characterized by lust, which stands for the strong, but sometimes evil, desires that are associated with bodily living." [Note: Ibid., p. 168.]

This is one of the most important and helpful verses on Christian living in the Bible.