Galatians 5:24 says that people who belong to Christ have already dealt the decisive blow to their old self-centered nature, the part of us that wants its own way and chases whatever it craves. Paul is not describing a future goal here but a settled fact for every believer. The statement is written by the apostle Paul to the churches of Galatia, a group of congregations in what is now central Turkey, who were being pulled toward rules and external practices as a way of gaining God’s approval.
Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
Galatians 5:24 (WEB)
What Galatians 5:24 Means
The phrase “those who belong to Christ” points to identity. Paul is speaking about people who have been joined to Jesus through faith, so their whole allegiance has shifted. The word “flesh” in Paul’s writing does not mean the physical body as such. It refers to human nature turned inward, the self that operates apart from God and seeks its own gratification. “Passions and lusts” describe the strong desires that drive that nature, whether they are sexual, material, or the hunger for status and control.
The verb “have crucified” is the heart of the verse. Crucifixion was a public, final execution, so Paul uses it to describe something decisive and complete. He does not say believers feel no more temptation. Experience shows that desires still rise up. What the verse promises is that the old self no longer has the authority to rule, because it has been put to death in union with Christ.
This verse does not promise that struggle will vanish or that the believer will never sin again. Paul himself, a few verses later, calls his readers to keep walking by the Spirit, which implies an ongoing practice. The verse describes the reality of what God has done in Christ and the direction that life should now take.
The Context of Galatians 5:24
Galatians is a letter Paul wrote to defend the gospel of grace against people who insisted that Gentile believers must accept circumcision and the works of the Law to be fully part of God’s people. Paul argues that justification comes by faith in Christ alone, and that the Spirit, not the Law, produces real holiness. By the time he reaches chapter 5, he has made his case and turns to ethics, showing what life under grace should look like.
The verses just before Galatians 5:24 list the “works of the flesh,” such as envy, drunkenness, and fits of anger, while the verses just after it, starting with verse 22, describe the fruit of the Spirit. Verse 24 sits at the hinge between these two lists. Paul is saying that believers have already put the flesh to death and that the Spirit now bears fruit in them, so the verse reads less as a stern command and more as a reminder of what their new life is built on.
Key Phrases in Galatians 5:24
Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
(WEB)
Paul explains in Romans that the old self was crucified with Christ, which gives the background for the claim in Galatians 5:24. Reading the two together shows that the crucifixion is something God accomplished in the believer’s union with Jesus, not a discipline the believer invents on their own.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
(WEB)
Earlier in the same letter Paul describes his own life as shaped by Christ’s sacrifice and the indwelling of Christ within him. This verse helps readers see that the death to the flesh in chapter 5 flows from a personal relationship with the Son of God who loved and gave himself for them.
A Short Prayer From Galatians 5:24
Lord, thank you that my old self has already been taken to the cross with Christ. Some mornings the old desires still rise up and feel loud, and I confess that I often give them more power than they deserve. Help me remember that they no longer rule me. Teach me to walk by your Spirit today, to notice the pull of my own wants, and to choose what honors you. Let your fruit grow in me in small, faithful ways. Amen.
