In | Workbook: The Spirit and the Flesh in Galatians

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Paul’s emphasis on the “fruit of the Spirit” is contrasted in Galatians with the life in the flesh. This contrast is central to the way he thinks about conversion. In fact, the shortest definition we might give of Paul’s idea of conversion is the transition from one to the other—from life in the flesh to life in the Spirit. We’ll talk more about this in future lessons, but at the moment it would be helpful to get a feel for Paul’s use of these terms.

Read Galatians 5:13–6:10

2. If you are logged into a YouVersion account, highlight all the phrases that are identified with the Spirit in one color and the ones identified with the flesh in another color. If you don’t have a YouVersion account, use your workbook to note phrases identified with both the Spirit and the flesh.

At the center of the contrast between Spirit and flesh is a juxtaposition of behaviors associated with the Spirit and the flesh in Galatians 5:19-23. 

3. Identify two pairs of the behavior Paul mentions, and contrast them with a brief explanation of how each corresponds to the flesh and Spirit respectively. For example, you might contrast peace with discord, and explain Paul’s connection of peace with the Spirit on one hand, and of discord with the flesh on the other.  

See the table below for a list of phrases related to both Spirit and flesh from Galatians 5:13–6:10.

Table quoted from: Merrill C. Tenney, Galatians: The Charter of Christian Liberty, 1961, p. 181.