"For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bit and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another."
How do I walk by the Spirit that I might not gratify the desires of the flesh? By acting in love manifested in serving one another we nip the opportunities for flesh-living in the bud. We have freedom, but we use it to serve in love, otherwise we could use it for selfishness; how then manifesting? well instead of love in service, biting and devouring one another. That sounds violent eh? Hateful, strife, bitterness, anger, jealously towards one another, but I would assume it includes other things in the list of fleshly manifestations: sexual immorality, sensuality, idolatry, impurity, and even sorcery - things not typically coming to mind when we read about biting and devouring one another. It can be even a desire to consume the other, to take from them, control them, to deify them, and be deified by them.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." If in our freedom, we are to be careful not to give opportunity, and this opportunity is canceled by serving one another through a heart of love, then let us examine the nature of our new heart in the Lord. From this we will start dropping fruit from our trees, fruit like love eager to serve, effervescent joy, peace will release in our hearts, patience unthreatened by any fearful thought, kindness as we have our needs already taken care of that we can seek to be kind to others, goodness with out the shame of indulging deviance, faithfulness with an allegiance to the one we are under current submission, gentleness again unthreaten by anything that we might need to defend ourselves against - especially accusation, self-control that will give no quarter to a fleshly rebellion that seeks to preserve itself. There is no law, no guilt, no condemnation, no charge to be levied against these things.
"Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." They are mutually exclusive. you cant have dead people living in graves. "For the desires of the flesh are against the desires of the Spirit; and the desires of the Spirit are against [not simply 'uncomfortable around'] the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing what you want to do."
And what should we fail? Should we take steps with our flesh, we know that "if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law." Therefore the shame and guilt and naturally demanded condemnation that the law carries does not stick when come under submission to the Spirit. We repent and led the flood of Jesus' blood cascade over us to shed our guilt. We come under the Spirit. Remember, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
