I lifted this article from a much longer Q&A regarding eternal security so that I could add it to the New Testament Bible section.

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar, about which I tell you in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-21 (HCSB)

Once again, this passage has been so totally removed from the driving force of the letter it’s ridiculous. Paul was not engaged in a discussion about who might or might not be going to heaven but was proclaiming why those who were led by the Spirit should not fall prey to the cunning deceptions of those who were trying to get them to live by the law. Who were those who practice such things? It’s not a trick question. Nor is it the relativistic trap taught by religious moralists who have learned how to appear not to be doing such things. Paul had already clearly told them what he referred to, and it had to do with inheritance. This is crucial! Paul did not choose that word accidentally.

For all who [rely on] the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue doing everything written in the book of the law. Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Galatians 3:10-12

This has been an integral part of his whole message to the Galatians as he was battling against the deceptions laid upon them by those who appeared so spiritual to them. These were the men of Law, and these were the traits that followed them around wherever they went. These were also the same traits that had been coming back into play among the believers as they were falling for the twisted message proclaimed by the self-professed Sons of Abraham. The truth was that they were indeed Jews who had come from Jerusalem, sons of Abraham according to the flesh, but the point was that they were standing upon the authority of the flesh. Sons, who are made so by the Law, are the fleshly sons who have no inheritance with the sons of the Spirit.

Why else do you think Paul launched into the powerful story of Abraham’s two sons? Inheritance.

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now. But what does the Scripture say? Throw out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman. Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. Galatians 4:28-31

The whole matter revolves around the distinction between the children of promise and the children of the flesh, the children of the free woman and the children of the slave, the children of the Spirit and the children of the Law. And why would Paul warn them about this? Because they needed to realize what was being offered to them under the premise of righteousness and holiness. Those who live by the Law are described by the list of things Paul detailed. They had been doing well without the demands of these lawmen who pretended they were bringing God’s truth and grace. Paul threw it right in their faces and asked them,

You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5:7

See … we’ve listened far too long to those who talk about obedience so that we have difficulty realizing that they bring anything BUT obedience to the truth. Instead, they have introduced the one thing that gets in the way of true obedience … for obedience is a matter of the working of the Spirit apart from the law.

And while we’re here, let me touch on this misunderstood passage as well, for it ties in directly to the whole.

Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:7-8

This is the exact same matter of inheritance. Notice that it does not say that the one who sows to his flesh will reap hell and the one who sows to the Spirit will reap heaven. Oh, it’s much better than such a pathetic reinterpretation as that. Sowing to the flesh is directly and inherently related to living by law, while sowing to the Spirit is connected to the miraculous working of God’s Spirit within us. The first is the inheritance of the children of bondage, while the second is the inheritance of the children of freedom. His point? Don’t let yourselves be deceived by the twisted message of those who live by the law, for they were to know that God is not served by the flesh … he will not be mocked by the pretense. It can’t happen. …and each produced after its kind. What an amazing reality! What a demand for confidence we have when confronted by those who pretend to understand life. It makes no difference how sincere their reasonings and interpretations sound, for all they can offer is corruption from the flesh. What are we left with?

For by the Spirit we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness from faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love. Galatians 5:5

As Abraham learned, so do we, that God performs his life in us. We wait on him and not give in to all the pleas and demands of the fleshly mind of doing the right thing. Just look what the flesh did with that one in Abraham … it produced the fleshly child of bondage.