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Galatians 5:25

in Galatians 5

Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.

KJV

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

This verse in Galatians 5

Commentary

14 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 420.

(Verse 25.) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us use this testimony against those who do not want to understand the Scriptures spiritually. But who is the one who lives by the Spirit, if not our hidden self, who sometimes tends to live according to the flesh? But when he lives by the Spirit, he walks by the Spirit. When he desires to walk in the flesh, he is alive but dead. The perfect man in Christ always lives in the Spirit: he obeys the Spirit, he never lives in the flesh.

This site's exposition

Since we live by the Spirit

Live and walk use two different verbs, zomen the fact of spiritual life already given, stoichomen the orderly marching that should follow it, a soldier's word for keeping rank. Paul turns the indicative of verse 24, the flesh already crucified, into the imperative that governs the rest of the chapter's practical instructions. The logic is consistent through the letter, that what God has done in Christ becomes the ground for what the believer is now to do.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 550.

proposed

"let us also walk by the Spirit." Therefore we too ought to live according to the will of the Spirit. Since we are going to crucify the flesh of ours once for all, "let us also walk by the Spirit," he says, that is, let …
"We live by the Spirit, and by the Spirit let us come to an end. Let us not be vainglorious, provoking one another, and envying one another." And that a man should live by the Spirit and come to an end by the Spirit cometh …
Now besides this there accompanieth the soul the grace of the spirit which giveth it help and power, if it be that it fulfilleth its good desire, for as when a strong man taketh hold of the hand of a child he carrieth off his …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Galatians 5 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Since then such is the power of the Spirit, let us live therein and be content therewith... being governed by His laws. For this is the force of the words "let us walk," that is, let us be content with the power of the Spirit, and seek no help from the Law. ...

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1107.

proposed

If, he says, such is the power of the Spirit, then by it let us also live, and by it let us be content. For the expression: "let us also walk in the Spirit" is used instead of: let us be content with the power …
7 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then when he says, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit," he mentions the third benefit of the Holy Spirit, namely, the conferring of life. First, he mentions this benefit of the Spirit of God; Secondly, he rejects the …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

If we live by the Spirit - If we are indeed raised from the dead, and are alive to God, by the operation of his Spirit. Let us walk by the Spirit - Let us follow his guidance, in all our tempers, thoughts, words, and actions.
If we live in the Spirit,.... Or "by the Spirit", as all do that are spiritually alive.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

If therefore we would have it appear that we are Christ's, and that we are partakers of his Spirit, it must be by our walking not after the flesh, but after the spirit.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

If we live in the Spirit - See the note at Gal 5:16. The sense of this verse probably is, “We who are Christians profess to be under the influences of the Holy Spirit. By his influences and agency is our spiritual life. We profess not to be under the dominion of the flesh; not to be controlled by its appetites and desires. Let us then act in this manner, and as if we believed this.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

in . . . in--rather, as Greek, "If we live (see on Ga 5:24) BY the Spirit, let us also walk (Ga 5:16; 6:16) BY the Spirit." Let our life in practice correspond to the ideal inner principle of our spiritual life, namely, our standing by faith as dead to, and severed from, sin, and the condemnation of the law.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

If we live in the Spirit - If we profess to believe a spiritual religion, let us walk in the Spirit - let us show in our lives and conversation that the Spirit of God dwells in us.

The words behind it

6 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • εἰIf

    eiG1487 →508 times

  • ζῶμενwe live

    zomenG2198 →139 times

  • πνεύματι,by [the] Spirit,

    pneumatiG4151 →378 times

  • πνεύματιby [the] Spirit

    pneumatiG4151 →378 times

  • καὶalso

    kaiG2532 →9120 times

  • στοιχῶμεν.we shall walk.

    stoichomenG4748 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Galatians 5:16

    So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 5:24–25

      Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

    • Romans 8:12–14

      Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.

    • Galatians 6:8

      The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

    • Galatians 5:19–21

      The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;

  • Through

    Romans 8:2

    For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.

    it leads to

    • Romans 6:14

      For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

    • 2 Corinthians 3:17

      Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

  • Through

    John 6:63

    The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 4:12

      For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

    • Psalms 119:93

      I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me.

Where this verse is studied

About Galatians

The Crucifixion, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Crucifixion, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Chrysostom, Homily on Galatians 5; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 12 -- First Discourse on Fornication; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.