As a young boy I always wanted to know about the
Holy Spirit. I asked priests and ministers for the answer, all I ever received
was, you just have to read the bible. I never gave up in my quest for Truth. It
was God that answered my prayer. I am convinced that without the Holy Spirit,
we walk in darkness, we sleepwalk.
I hope that the reader of this short paper will
discover what he needs, so that he can walk in the Spirit and joy of God. God
be with you.
"What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?"
"What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?"
Those
who believe have the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the Comforter who proceeds
from the Father (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit assists believers in prayer (Jude
1:20) and “intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God”
(Romans 8:27). He also leads the believer into righteousness (Galatians
5:16–18) and produces His fruit in those yielded to Him (Galatians 5:22–23).
Believers are to submit to the will of God and walk in the Spirit.
A “walk”
in the Bible is often a metaphor for practical daily living. The Christian life
is a journey, and we are to walk it—we are to make consistent forward progress.
The biblical norm for all believers is that they walk in the Spirit: “If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25, KJV; cf.
Romans 8:14). In other words, the Spirit gave us life in the new birth (John
3:6), and we must continue to live, day by day, in the Spirit.
To walk
in the Spirit means that we yield to His control, we follow His lead, and we
allow Him to exert His influence over us. To walk in the Spirit is the opposite
of resisting Him or grieving Him (Ephesians 4:30).
Galatians
5 examines the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. The context is freedom
from the Law of Moses (Galatians 5:1). Those who walk in the Spirit “eagerly
await by faith the righteousness for which we hope” (verse 5) and are free from
the Law (verse 18). Also, those who walk in the Spirit will not gratify the
desires of the flesh (verse 16). The flesh, fallen nature under the power of
sin, is in direct conflict with the Spirit (verse 17). When the flesh is in
charge, the results are obvious (verses 19–21). But when the Spirit is in
control, He produces godly qualities within us, apart from the strictures of
the Law (verses 22–23). Believers “have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires” (verse 24), and now we walk in the Spirit (verse 25).
Those
who walk in the Spirit are united with Him and the bearers of the fruit the
Spirit produces. Thus, those who walk in the Spirit walk in love; they live in
love for God and for their fellow man. Those who walk in the Spirit walk in joy,
they exhibit gladness in what God has done, is doing, and will do. Those who
walk in the Spirit walk in peace—they live worry-free and refuse anxiety
(Philippians 4:6). Those who walk in the Spirit walk in patience—they are known
for having a “long fuse” and do not lose their temper. Those who walk in the
Spirit walk in kindness—they show tender concern for the needs of others. Those
who walk in the Spirit walk in goodness—their actions reflect virtue and
holiness. Those who walk in the Spirit walk in faithfulness—they are steadfast
in their trust of God and His Word. Those who walk in the Spirit walk in
gentleness—their lives are characterized by humility, grace, and thankfulness
to God. Those who walk in the Spirit walk in self-control—they display
moderation, constraint, and the ability to say “no” to the flesh.
Those
who walk in the Spirit rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them in thought, word,
and deed (Romans 6:11–14). They show forth daily, moment-by-moment holiness,
just as Jesus did when, “full of the Holy Spirit, He left the Jordan and was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness” to be tempted (Luke 4:1).
To walk
in the Spirit is to be filled with the Spirit, and some results of the Spirit’s
filling are thankfulness, singing, and joy (Ephesians 5:18–20; Colossians
3:16). Those who walk in the Spirit follow the Spirit’s lead. They “let the
word of Christ dwell in them” (Colossians 3:16), and the Spirit uses the Word
of God “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2
Timothy 3:16). Their whole way of life is lived according to the rule of the
gospel, as the Spirit moves them toward obedience. When we walk in the Spirit,
we find that the sinful appetites of the flesh have no more dominion over us.
In Gal
5:16 Paul says, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of
the flesh.”To walk in or by the Spirit is to allow Him to direct the way in
which we live our life; it is to make decisions in the light of His holiness;
it is to remain in communion with Him; it is to be occupied with Christ,
because the Spirit’s ministry is to engage us intimately with Jesus.
Walking
by the Spirit is not a mystical, trans-like state in which one enters and
mysteriously lives; nor is it some kind of far out, ethereal experience as some
have postulated–any such thinking along those lines is completely “cultic” in
its orientation. To walk by the Spirit
is to live under the direction of the Holy Spirit and to walk by faith in God’s
Word. Jesus taught His disciples the night before He went to the cross that He
was going to return to heaven, but would send His Spirit to live within them to
guide and instruct them in much the same way
He had. (John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26; 16:13-15). Scripture tells us it is only by the
indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that we are able to grasp and understand
spiritual truth (Acts 16:14; 1Cor 2:12-14).
So to walk in the Spirit is to live in the light of truth, and walk by
faith in God’s Word.
When we
walk in the Spirit, the attachment to the physical is transcended. We cannot be
occupied with both Christ and our matter body at the same time; so being led by
the Spirit means, being lifted above the body. Walking in the Spirit involves a
conscious awareness of His presence and a conscious reliance and dependence
upon Him to guide and direct our lives. The knowledge of His abiding presence,
and this reliance and dependence is clearly taught in Scripture. Since the parameters of walking in the Spirit
are revealed to us in God’s Word, we embrace these truths by faith and we act upon
them with an attitude of submission to God’s will (Jam 1:22).
Therefore
to be occupied with the things of the Spirit, is to be occupied with “living a
life of faith. The walk of faith is one in which we submit to the truths of
Scripture which amounts to studying, believing, trusting, obeying, and affirming
those truths. When we fully affirm truth it will lodge confidently and
peacefully in our soul.
Paul
said, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Eph 5:18), and “Let the Word of Christ
dwell in you” (Col 3:16); essentially, the Spirit and the Word are direct
equivalents in these two verses. Paul
said, “the life I now live, I live by faith”(Gal 2:20). We live and walk by
faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). We live and walk by the Spirit, not by
feeling. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:24). We
were “justified by faith” (Gal 3:24); we live by faith” (Gal 3:11); and we
received the promise of the Spirit by faith”(Gal 3:14). “Faith is the victory
that overcomes the world!” (I John 5:4).
We walk in the Spirit (live by faith in the Word) when we obey Christ
from the heart (Gal 5:8-10). We are to live life by being occupied with the
things of Christ in every respect–“to live is Christ, says Paul
(Phil1:21).
We are
transformed by the “renewing of our minds”– by faith (Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23).
Paul, “Keep seeking those things which are above, where Christ is; set your
minds on things above, not on the things
of this world” (Col 3:1-2). We are transformed and renewed through a
true knowledge of Christ (by faith) (Col3:10).
The goal
of our instruction, writes Paul, “is love from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim 1:5). We are to “fight the good fight of
faith” (1 Tim 6:12). Only a life of faith “pleases God” (Heb11:6). We are to be doers of the word and not merely
hearers” (Jam1:22).
Paul
made “walking in the Spirit” the central element of the believer’s
responsibility. The Old Covenant saints
were expected to glorify God by living in conformity to the Mosaic Law; today,
God’s children are required to glorify God by walking in the Spirit. Paul
teaches us that the Holy Spirit lives within every born-again believer, but not
every believer lives in submission to the Spirit; possessing the Holy Spirit is
not sufficient, believers must allow the Spirit to possess them. To walk in the
Spirit means to live in complete submission to the control of the indwelling
Spirit of God (Rom 6:12-13). “Walking in the Spirit” is the opposite of
“walking in the flesh” – Paul contrasted the results of these “two walks” in his
letter to the Galatians (5:19-23). Walking
in the Spirit accomplishes the following: 1. It prevents walking in the
flesh, which is our “default mode” (Rom 6:12-13; Gal 5:16). 2. It proclaims
God’s glory because we submit to His stewardship in this economy (1 Cor
6:19-20). 3. It preserves the grace principle, which we forfeit if we default
to the flesh (Gal 5:4; Jam 4:3-10). 4. It prevents death, the natural result of
anything accomplished in the flesh (Rom 6:23; 7:5, 24; 8:2-7). (The fruit of the flesh is death; nothing of
the flesh has any eternal value; it is simply matter}.
JUST LIKE A
CHILD
Just like a
child,
So humble
and mild,
Jesus
said," Come unto Me."
And forever
be free.
When we seek
His face,
And trust in
His grace,
His Spirit
lives in our hearts,
And will
never depart.
If we walk
by His side,
And if on
Him we rely,
We who are
weak are made strong,
And to Him,
we'll belong.
But many He
wishes to save
From the
depths of the grave,
Have
forborne to come,
And, He
leaves them alone.
For we all
have free will,
And though
He loves us all, still,
Only those
who will hear,
Does our
loving LORD draw near.
So, we give
God the glory and praise,
For all His
good ways-
We who were
vain and selfish ones,
Are now His
precious daughters and sons.
-Jennifer D.
Wenzel
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