Galatians 5:18

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
if	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
led	ἄγεσθε, agesthe	G71	properly · verb — present passive indicative, 2nd person plural
Spirit	πνεύματι pneumati	G4151	a current of air · noun — dative singular neuter
are	ἐστέ esté	G2075	ye are
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
under	ὑπὸ hupo	G5259	under · preposition
law	νόμον. nomon	G3551	law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Romans 6:14-15 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Proverbs 8:20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Galatians 4:5-6 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:13–end

In the latter part of this chapter the apostle comes to exhort these Christians to serious practical godliness, as the best antidote against the snares of the false teachers. Two things especially he presses upon them: - I. That they should not strive with one another, but love one another. He tells them (Gal 5:13) that they had been called unto liberty, and he would have them to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free; but yet he would have them be very careful that they did not use this liberty as an occasion to the flesh - that they did not thence take occasion to indulge themselves in any corrupt affections and practices, and particularly such as might create dista…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:18

"If ye are led (give yourselves up to be led) by (Greek) the Spirit, ye are not under the law." For ye are not working the works of the flesh (Gal 5:16, Gal 5:19-21) which bring one "under the law" (Rom 8:2, Rom 8:14). The "Spirit makes free from the law of sin and death" (Gal 5:23). The law is made for a fleshly man, and for the works of the flesh (Ti1 1:9), "not for a righteous man" (Rom 6:14-15).

Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:18

But, if ye be led of the Spirit - If ye receive again the Gospel and the grace of Christ, and permit yourselves to be influenced by the Holy Spirit whom you are now grieving, ye are not under the law - ye will not feel those evil propensities which now disgrace and torment you; but they must prevail while you are not under the influence of the grace and Spirit of Christ.

John Gill on Galatians 5:18

But if ye be led by the Spirit,.... That is, of God, who is the guide and leader of his people. It is a metaphor taken from the leading of persons that are blind; as such are before conversion, and whom the Spirit of God leads in ways they knew not, and in paths they had not known: or from the leading of children, and teaching them to go; so the Spirit leads regenerate persons, and teaches them to walk by faith in Christ. This act of leading supposes life in the persons led, for dead men cannot be led; the Spirit is first a Spirit of life from Christ before he is a leader; and also it supposes some strength, though a good deal of weakness; were there no spiritual strength derived from Christ…

The Church Fathers

The holy prophets and Moses, walking in the Spirit and living in the Spirit, were not under the law. But they lived as if under the law, so that they appeared indeed to be under the law, but only in order to benefit those who were under the law and spur them on from the lowliness of the letter toward the heights of the Spirit.
— Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 3.5.18

"But if you are led by the Spirit." If, he says, you walk according to the will of the Holy Spirit, you will not go astray. But the one who does not stumble in anything does not need the law and its guidance that follows from it. And the one who does not need it is not under it, as he says elsewhere, the law does not apply to the righteous.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians

He did not say "Walk in the Spirit so that you will not have desires of the flesh" but "so that you will not gratify them." Not to have them at all, indeed, is not the struggle but the prize of struggle, if we shall have obtained the victory by perseverance under grace. For it is only the transformation of the body into an immortal state that will no longer have desires of the flesh.
— Augustine of Hippo, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 47 [1B.5.18]

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Holy Spirit · 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22; — 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22;
Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit, The · Is the means of: Guiding — Is the means of: Guiding

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Galatians 5:18

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:18

Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:18

John Gill on Galatians 5:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Galatians 5:18

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Galatians 5:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Galatians 5:18

Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:18

John Gill on Galatians 5:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Galatians 5:13-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Galatians 5:18