But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- KJV But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
- NKJV But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- NASB But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
- NLT But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Those led by the Spirit are not under the law. Spirit-led living frees believers from the law as a condemning, enslaving system.
Overview
Paul ties together his teaching on the Spirit and freedom from the law. To be 'led by the Spirit' is to live under grace, no longer bound to the law as a means of righteousness or as a master. This does not mean lawlessness, for the Spirit produces true holiness, but it confirms the believer's liberty in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Rom 8:14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
- Rom 6:14–15For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- Prov 8:20I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
- Gal 5:25Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.
- Gal 4:5–6to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.
- Ezek 36:27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
- Gal 5:16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Rom 7:4Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
- John 16:13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.
- Isa 48:16–18Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit.
- Ps 25:4–5Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
- 2 Tim 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
- Ps 143:8–10Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- Ps 25:8–9Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way.
- 1 Tim 1:9We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,
- 1 Jn 2:20–27You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- Rom 8:12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 5:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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