WALK IN THE SPIRIT

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25).

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16).

Walking is one of the most natural things that we can do.  Usually it is employed just to get us from one place to another.  It is also recommended as an easy form of exercise, and we are all urged to get our 10,000 steps in daily.  The Bible has some very important things to say about walking, but especially about walking in the Spirit.  The Apostle Paul put great emphasis on wanting believers to learn to walk in the Spirit.  In several of his letters to the churches Paul makes a clear distinction between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh.  There are many Christians today, however, who are confused about what it means to walk, or to be led, by the Spirit. 

To begin with, let’s answer this basic question: “Who is the Spirit?”  The answer to this lies in understanding something of the nature of God Himself.  God is a triune being, meaning there are three distinct elements to His nature.  He is God the Father; He is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh; and He is the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).  Though He has three manifestations, yet He is but one God.  Paul acknowledges how difficult it can be to understand the Godhead when he writes, “…without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16).  A simple way of understanding the Trinity is to consider our own nature and how God designed us.  I am one individual; yet, like God I, too, have three distinct parts.  I have a flesh and blood body, a soul, and a spirit.  Each of these three parts has their own unique function and I wouldn’t be complete without all three.  The big difference between God and man is that God is not bound by space or time as we are.  He is both omniscient and omnipresent, meaning He knows all things, and He can be everywhere at once.  God can be in heaven upon His throne and still be in every believer through the infilling of His Spirit. 

In the fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus explains the nature of the Godhead to His disciples.  Philip asks his Lord to, “…show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” (John 14:8 NKJV).  Jesus answers this by saying, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (v. 9).  The Lord is telling Philip that by observing his Lord, he has observed the Father, because Christ was in the Father, and the Father was in Christ.  Jesus said this plainly in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.”

Jesus goes on to tell His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit saying, “…He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” and then says, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:17b, 18).  The Lord is saying to His disciples that the Spirit of God that is in Him and has dwelt among them in the form of the Son of God, will soon be in them as well.  Jesus would not leave His dear ones comfortless, but He would come to them in the form of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, then, is that invisible part of the Godhead that  is sent to those who are born again.  He is a comforter because He ministers hope and comfort to believers when they are in distress, and reminds them of the promises of God.  He is a guide because He speaks God’s will to us to direct us in our decision making when we don’t know what to do or which way to go.  He is our teacher because He leads us into all truth.  He is also our disciplinarian because He chastises us when we stray from the right way or are disobedient to His commands.

In The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee tells the story of a mechanic and his wife whom he led to the Lord during an extended retreat in the hills.  “They were born again, and a new light and joy came into their lives, for theirs was a real conversion,” recalls Nee.  As the weather turned colder, Nee concluded his retreat and returned to Shanghai.  The man who had been saved was in the habit of drinking wine with his meals during the cold winter months, and he would often do so in excess.  It happened, as winter began to settle in, that the wine was brought to the table again.  As it was his custom to give thanks to God for the food, it was met with speechlessness.  He was bewildered as to why he could not pray, and he and his wife searched the Scriptures in vain to discover whether God’s word would shed any light on the matter.  As new believers, they did not know the Bible very well, and they would have no opportunity to consult with Watchman Nee for a few months.  They decided that they would drink their wine for now, but would refer the matter to Nee the next time they saw him. Yet, remarkably no prayer could flow out of the man’s mouth until his wife took away the wine.  Eventually, it came to pass that the man met up with Watchman Nee and told his whole story.  He said, “Resident Boss would not let me have that drink!”  This young Christian brother had discovered something incredibly important about the Christian walk.  He had found that God (his Resident Boss) was living in Him and directing his everyday choices and teaching him how he ought to live.  This is the essence of what walking in the Spirit is all about.  We, too, must learn to discern what the “Resident Boss” is speaking to us.  What God requires of me may not be what He requires of you right now, but I must answer to Him for how He directs me and not to you.

In Galatians 5:25 Paul is urging believers who are living in the Spirit to also walk in the Spirit.  The difference is this: every believer who is truly born of the Spirit has received the gift of the Holy Ghost with all of the comfort, grace, and peace that He brings with Him.  However, not every believer is yielding to and obeying the direction of the Spirit.  Walking together with someone implies that they both want to go to the same place, or in the same direction.  “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).  When Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He called to the fishermen who were occupied with their nets and said, “Follow Me.”  These men who would become His disciples dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus.  It was no longer their decision where they would go – Jesus was making those decisions.  Their part was just to follow.  There are too many Christians who still think that it is they who are to lead and the Lord Who is to follow.  They go through their life making choices for themselves without ever consulting the Lord for His guidance or will on the matter, and then they expect God to bless their choices because they are saved.  If they pray at all about a decision, it is just to ask God to bless the choice that they have made.  How can we think that we can ignore the voice of God our whole lives and expect to hear Him say “Well done, My good and faithful servant” when we stand before Him to be judged?  God will not reward rebellion.

God has awakened our spiritual man by His Holy Spirit residing in us and quickening (or giving life to) our spirit.  As long as we walk in the Spirit, we will have the light of life to illuminate our way through the darkness of this world.  If we disobey and commit sin then we will suffer spiritual death and our vision will become darkened until we repent and amend our way.  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). 

In the beginning, Adam, the first man, walked with God in the Garden of Eden.  They enjoyed sweet fellowship and communion together.  Adam’s heart was pure and innocent, and his character reflected the image of His Creator.  Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and he was plunged into guilt and hid himself from God’s presence.  The communion that he had known with God was broken by his sin and guilt.  God, however, came searching for Adam and called out his name.  When He found Adam, God slayed one of His animals and clothed him with the skins to cover his and Eve’s nakedness. This was a foreshadow of the Father giving His own Son to be slain in order to cover the sins of the world.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, what was lost in Adam is now restored!  We can once more walk with God and hear His voice speaking to our inward man.  Scripture tells us that Enoch was a man who pleased the Lord.  How did he please God?  He walked with God.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4).  The entrance of the Holy Spirit in our life changes everything.  We find that the grace and mercy of the Lord is great toward them who love Him.  We discover that God’s purpose in sending His Son to earth was not to condemn us, but to save us (John 3:17).  We learn that salvation has nothing to do with our own will power, or the strength of the flesh, but it has everything to do with the power of the Spirit working in us.  Finally we find that as we follow the Lord’s lead and learn to walk in the Spirit, then the righteousness of the law begins to be fulfilled and realized in our personal lives.  Day by day we are transformed by the renewing of our minds as we feast on the heavenly manna which is the Word of God.  Mountains and obstacles in our life that used to be so formidable and impossible to move are now swept aside as we follow our Savior.

Zerubbabel was a man who Darius I appointed as governor of the province of Judah some time between 538 and 520 B.C.  Along with men like Nehemiah, Ezra, Joshua the high priest, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and 42,360 other Jews who were part of the Babylonian captivity, Zerubbabel was given the opportunity to rebuild the temple of God that had been demolished in Jerusalem.  Outside of the grace of God, this would have been an impossible task to complete.  The Jews had many enemies in the land who were determined to oppose the work, but God encouraged these men by speaking to them through His holy prophets who were inspired and anointed by the Holy Spirit.  One such prophecy has always inspired me because I believe God intended it, not just for Zerubbabel, but for all those whom God has called to follow Him and labor in the great work that He has for us all.  In the fourth chapter of Zechariah, God speaks through the prophet and says, “This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” (Zechariah 4:6, 7).  Can you hear the voice of our heavenly Father speaking to you and breathing fresh life into these words of the prophet?  God is telling you and me that there is no mountain that He cannot move in our lives if we will only trust and rely on His Spirit working in us.   He will accomplish all that He has called us to do because it is He Who “…worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13).  Grace!  It is God’s grace that saves us!  It is not our might, or our power, or any of the works of mortal flesh which can help us.  We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus so that we can bring forth the fruits of the Spirit.

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:5-9).  We can pursue the things of the flesh in this life, or we can pursue the things of the Spirit.  If we follow the flesh, then we are carnal minded; and the carnal mind breeds spiritual death and is the enemy of God.  They who walk in the flesh cannot please God.   How critical it is for us, then, to walk in the Spirit so that we can enjoy the divine life and peace that our Lord has so dearly purchased for us.  If we have been born again by the Spirit of the Living God, then we have received that same Spirit.  It behooves us to learn to discern His voice and His leading.  If we have not received the Spirit of God, then we need to go back and revisit the commitment that we made to the Savior.  Some teach that we receive the Spirit sometime after salvation when we are baptized in the Holy Ghost.  Others teach that we must speak in tongues, or we don’t have the Spirit.  Both these doctrines are based in error.  Jesus, while explaining the new birth to Nicodemus said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7, 8).  Jesus is clearly comparing receiving the Spirit (likened to the wind) at the time of salvation.

“But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:11-14).  Being led by the Spirit of God should be the goal of every Christian.  As His disciples followed the Lord, they gained a great deal of wisdom and experience by watching and listening to the Master.  Everything that they saw and heard at Jesus’ feet benefited them the rest of their lives.  However, there were things that they had to let go of and leave behind also.  They left their boats, nets, and occupation behind to follow the Lord.  They left their fathers behind also.  Moreover, they left their old lives behind in favor of a new life that promised to be so much more fulfilling. 

When God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, they left the bondage of slavery and the cruel life that they suffered under the hand of Pharaoh behind them.  Once they were out in the wilderness they needed God to navigate for them and show them the path to the Promised Land.  To do this, God used a pillar of cloud that went before them by day and led them in the right direction.  By night, the cloud became a pillar of fire.  If the pillar moved, they moved.  If the pillar stayed put, they stayed put.  Thus, they learned to follow God’s leading across the desert.  This is similar to how we are to learn to be led by the Spirit.  Some days it is necessary to just wait on God, while other days the Spirit directs us to some task.  It is all about keeping our eyes and ears open to God and being willing to follow where He may lead.

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For 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.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16-18).  Consider Jesus’ teaching on the grapevine (See John 15:1-8).  He likened His Father to the vinedresser, Himself to the vine, and us to the branches growing off of the vine.  He said if we abide (remain as one) in the vine, we will bear spiritual fruit; but if we don’t abide in the vine, we will dry up and die.  There is a constant conflict going on between the Spirit and the flesh.  The flesh, with all of its passions and lusts, resists the Spirit’s leading and strives to have dominion over us.  The Spirit of God, on the other hand, promises us mastery over the lusts of the flesh if we will yield to His promptings.  It is the life of Jesus Christ coursing through the True Vine that gives us the power to overcome the flesh and live for God.  Abiding in the Vine is an integral part of walking in the Spirit.  Jesus also said that if a branch isn’t bearing fruit then it is pruned (purged) so that it will bear more fruit.  Pruning involves cutting away parts of the branch which are only pulling strength away from the portions that would bear the best fruit.  In our lives there may be habits or pursuits that are sapping our time and energy away from our service to God.  These are areas that God may wish to cut away so that we can be more fruitful.  After mentioning the pruning, Jesus says, “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:3).  God employs His Word in our lives to keep us pruned and fruitful.

“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” (Galatians 5:5).  As we continue walking in the Spirit, abiding in the Vine, and being pruned by the Word of God, we discover that above everything this is a walk of faith.  We find that as we trust the Lord to lead us and yield to His desires, we begin to be changed into His likeness.  The righteousness of the law which we struggled with all our lives now begins to be fulfilled in us as we rely on the finished work of Christ “…Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10).

Lest there be any confusion, God lists the works of the flesh for us so that we can easily recognize them in our own lives: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, 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 5:19-21).  These things (along with many others – for this is by no means a comprehensive list) are the things that we begin to avoid and overcome by walking in the Spirit.  Paul then lists the fruits of the Spirit for us, which is also not a complete list, but gives us a good idea of what God wants in our lives.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25).  We must put to death, mortify, execute – crucify, if you will - the works of the flesh if we expect to follow Jesus very far.  We must nail the old man to the cross of Christ and then reckon ourselves to be dead indeed to sin.  Jesus settled the issue when He took our sins upon Himself and died in our stead.  How can we escape judgment if we neglect such a great salvation?  When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished!” it truly meant that the work of redemption was complete and that in Him is accomplished everything that we will ever need to enter heaven’s glorious gates.

So, it is not enough for us to just live in the Spirit, we must learn to walk in the Spirit as well.  May God deliver us from the bondage of the flesh and into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!