But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- BSB But if you are led by the Spirit, you 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 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
- Rom 6:14–15For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
- Prov 8:20I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:
- Gal 5:25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
- Gal 4:5–6To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
- Ezek 36:27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
- Gal 5:16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
- Rom 7:4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
- John 16:13Howbeit 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 hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
- Isa 48:16–18Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
- Ps 25:4–5Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
- 2 Tim 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
- Ps 143:8–10Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
- Ps 25:8–9Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
- 1 Tim 1:9Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
- 1 Jn 2:20–27But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
- Rom 8:12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
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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