Week 65: Walk In The Spirit

In the last discussion, we spoke about the Holy Spirit, our Helper. He is sent to us to help us and bring our remembrance to our Lord, Jesus.We left the discussion with the question "How do we walk in the Spirit?" What does it mean by walking in the Spirit?

Let dive right into the Word to get some answers on this.

Galatians 5:16-18

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Notice the word "Spirit" and "flesh", they are opposite to each other. Interestingly, verse 18 says when we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law! We have discussed about Grace and Law previously, so we are not going into it here. But, notice that when we are in the flesh, we are under the law. Of course, we know by now that the law will put us on self-focus "You shall not...you shall not.." Nothing wrong with the law. The law is perfect, just and holy. But, it cannot make us perfect, just and holy. On the contrary, the law will point us to our sins. The Bible says in 1 Cor 15:56 " the sting of sin is death, the strength of sin is the law,"

So what exactly is this "flesh" we are talking about? When we know what the "flesh" is all about, then we will know the opposite is true for the "Spirit". Agree? Let continue the passage and find out.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice the flesh is of the works. This speak of human effort. The results of human effort are all these negative, toxic emotions and behavior. That's why the law cannot help us because it is dependent on human effort, self focus. The law can only point us to our sin and only when we realize that we can never keep the law, we will then know that we need help, we need a Savior and His name is Jesus! Amen! Hallelujah!

Let's continue...

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self- control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 

Notice the difference? When it is of the flesh, it is " the works of the flesh", when it is of the Spirit, it is " fruit of the Spirit," Why does the Bible refer to the "fruit of the Spirit" instead of the "works of the Spirit" to match "works of the flesh"?

In view of what we have seen so far, I believe God wants to avoid giving any impression that what the Spirit produces is our work. It is NOT our work; it is His fruit. What we do when we walk by the Spirit is simply fulfill the desires produced by the Spirit. And what better way is there to describe the ease of following our strongest desires than to say it is like having the Spirit's fruit pop out in our attitudes and actions? Therefore, just like the phrase "led by the Spirit," so also the phrase "fruit of the Spirit" stresses the Spirit's initiative and empowerment to fulfill God's law.

When we want a harvest of apples, we don't focus on the apple, we focus on the apple trees, We tend the soil, water the plant and fertilize the soil. Likewise, when we want to have love, joy, peace in our lives, we don't focus on love , joy, peace, we focus on the tree of life. And that is our Lord, Jesus! Amen!

Remember, "flesh" is the old, ordinary human nature that does not relish the things of God and prefers to get satisfaction from independence, power, prestige, and worldly pleasures. When we "walk by the Spirit," we are not controlled by those drives. This is what verse 17 means: the flesh produces one kind of desires, and the Spirit produces another kind, and they are opposed to each other. 

Walking by the Spirit is what we do when the desires produced by the Spirit are stronger than the desires produced by the flesh. This means that "walking by the Spirit" is not something we do in order to get the Spirit's help, but rather, just as the phrase implies, it is something we do by the empowerment of the Spirit.

If the tree is to produce fruit, walking by His Spirit will produce in us the good fruits, Amen! The Spirit will produce the fruit; the Spirit will empower us to love, to be in joy all the time, to experience the peace in the midst of a storm! Amen!

Therefore, "walking by the Spirit" is something the Holy Spirit enables us to do by producing in us strong desires that accord with God's will. This is what God said He would do in Ezekiel 36:26-27:

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Thus when we "walk by the Spirit," we experience the fulfillment of this prophecy. The Holy Spirit produces in us desires for God's way that are stronger than our fleshly desires, and thus He causes us to walk in God's statutes.

Ultimately, all the good inclinations or preferences or desires that we have are given by the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Spirit we are mere flesh. Paul said in Romans 7:18, "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing." Apart from the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, none of our inclinations or desires is holy or good, "for the mind of the flesh is hostile to God's law and does not submit to it because it cannot" (Romans 8:7). The new birth is the coming into our lives of the Holy Spirit to create a whole new array of desires and loves and yearnings and longings. And when these desires are stronger than the opposing desires of the flesh, then we are "walking by the Spirit." For we always act according to our strongest desires.

Now that we know what is walking by His Spirit, how do we do it?  How do we align ourselves in the Spirit at all time? We can't deny at some point in our lives, we may be subjected to the desires produced by the flesh. For example, we may be feeling bitter or envy at times, the negative emotion may be overwhelming. Though we may be conscious of our state, we may find it difficult to align ourselves to the Spirit.

As much as our immediate response should be to pray and read the Word of God. Taking every opportunity to confess the promises of God over our situation. Sometime the circumstances could be so overwhelming that is beyond our reach to speak the Word of faith. Do we submit ourselves to the lust of the flesh then? Or is there a way out to overcome the flesh? We shall discuss this in the next session.

Grace and peace be with you.