The law and the flesh go together; and the application of the law is the provocation of the flesh. As Paul has elsewhere written, “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:77What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. (Romans 7:7)). This accounts for the fact that the revival of the law among the Galatians was attended by a very vigorous manifestation of the works of the flesh (See Gal. 5:15-2115But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:15‑21)). As a corrective, the apostle shows first that power has been given in the Spirit to resist and overcome the flesh. “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (vs. 16); then, that the Spirit and the flesh must of necessity be in constant antagonism; they “are contrary the one to the other.” The flesh always opposes the action of the Spirit, and the Spirit always resists the desires of the flesh.
Then Paul reminds the Galatians that if they were led of the Spirit, as they doubtless claimed, they were not under the law, as they were insisting through their love for circumcision. Thereon the apostle presents a contrasted description of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. He seems to say, put these two catalogues in parallel columns, and then ask yourselves to which, as to your practical walk and conduct, you belong. And then, to leave them without a single excuse, he tells them, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Does he mean that every Christian has done this? No, for this would miss the whole point of the observation. What he signifies is rather that to have done this is the distinguishing mark of a Christian, and that it belongs, it might almost be said, to the very claim to be Christ’s. Certainly it indicates the normal state of the believer. This will be perceived at once when it is noted that it is not God’s action here, but what “they that are Christ’s” have themselves done. It is thus beyond a question that “crucified” in this scripture has a practical bearing; it implies the application of the cross to the flesh with all its “passions” and lusts.
Christian Friend, 1894