‘Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.'
This statement applies to the whole of Galatians 5:13 to Galatians 6:7. He has already given a stern warning in Galatians 5:21. Now he repeats it even more strongly. He warns them against the danger of being deceived, this time not by false teachers but by themselves. They must not treat lightly what he has taught them, for its consequences are real. We cannot turn our nose up at God. Let us be sure of this. Whatever we sow we will reap.
How easily men convince themselves that ‘God is love' so that they do not have to worry too much about their behaviour. How easily the ease of forgiveness makes us think lightly of the sin. So Paul warns us that we may be mocking God by our attitude. And he warns us that we will not get away with it. Forgiveness may give us a new start, but to continue in sin regardless will mean that we suffer the consequences. That is an inexorable law.
‘He who sows to his own flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.' The flesh ‘longs' against the Spirit, and those who go on yielding to it with little regard will reap corruption. That is the law of creation. He who sows to the satisfaction of the desires of his flesh will discover that it has inevitable consequences, possibly in the shorter term, certainly in the longer term. In many cases their lives and their health will be ruined by excess, in others the corruption may come in the judgment when they weep and gnash their teeth at what they have lost. God's judgment may seem delayed, for He is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But it will surely come. And the corollary of comparison with the next phrases is that such a person will not inherit eternal life.
‘But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap eternal life.' Paul shows clearly that in the struggle between flesh and Spirit we are not dealing on the one hand with weak Christians and on the other with strong ones, but we are dealing with all men who are affected by the Spirit. Those who follow the flesh do so because they are not Christians. They reject the working and pull of the Spirit. But those who respond to the Spirit's prompting and let Him produce within them His perfect fruit, will reap eternal life. And here eternal life refers to the life to come, as usually in Paul. It is our certain hope (1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 3:7).
So there is no middle way. Either the flesh is lord, or the Spirit is Lord. The one will produce unpleasant physical and spiritual consequences in this life and finally the corruption of eternal death, the other will result in the joy and blessing in this life and in the life of eternity. To be free from the Law as Paul describes it is not an excuse for lawlessness. It is to be responsive to the Spirit of God. Those who are not responsive to the Spirit of God cannot claim to be Christ's, for their faith is a sham, as they may well discover too late.
This does not, of course, mean that the Christian cannot enjoy some of the pleasure that man's make up provides. Kept within bounds and subject to God's teaching and will, such pleasure is not a ‘lust of the flesh'. It is enjoyment of God's generous provision. It is when it gets out of bounds, when the flesh is given control, that it becomes sinful.
‘Mocked.' The word means to turn the nose up at something. Thus when men sin and live after the flesh they are basically turning their noses up at God.