Walking in the Spirit

With all that's been going on in recent circles, I'd like to address something of the utmost importance for every Christian: walking in the Spirit. If there's any key factor in our walks with the Lord, it's this. Too often we all get caught up in the small details - obedience, is this a sin/is that a sin, rules, condemnation, all the natural things our fallen state gravitates to. If we learn to walk in the Spirit, everything else goes away. I'll be taking a look at Romans chapter 8, and some other verses as they come to me. Hopefully this comes out pretty organized, it's a lot to tackle and I'm sort of doing it on the fly!

So what Spirit are we talking about here? The Holy Spirit of course. Now before I get into how to walk in the Spirit, do you know that you're born again? Jesus gives us valuable insight in John chapter 3:

[3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
[4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
[5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
[7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
[8] 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.

What is the role of the Holy Spirit? Quickly, John 14:

[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the Teacher. He reveals Jesus Christ to us on a personal level. Assures us of our faith. He opens our eyes to the Truth so that we may see it plainly. He manifests the love of God in our hearts.

If you're not sure that you're truly born again, stop reading this and pray. :) Do you have conviction of sin? A desire to learn about the Lord and read the Bible? Do you display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24)? We all stumble and fall from time to time, but when you fall do you get back up? Does your walk get stronger as time goes on? If you show signs of these things, you're most likely born again of the Spirit. With that being established, let's move on!

With being born again comes a desire to obey the Lord and please Him, to mortify the deeds of the flesh and live for Him. That's an excellent way to be, but it can play tricks on us. Human nature causes us to try and earn love. To get rewarded for doing good, and to get down on ourselves for not measuring up. We have to remember a very important verse from Isaiah 64:

[6] But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

There is nothing we can do to please the Lord. Nothing at all! If you're getting worried, you shouldn't be. This is where Jesus Christ comes in. Romans 8:1-17:

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
[2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
[3] 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:
[4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
[5] 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.
[6] For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
[7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
[8] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
[9] 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.
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
[11] 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.
[12] Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
[13] 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.
[14] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
[16] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Some of the most important verses we can read here. First verse:

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

There is no reason to feel condemned! No feelings of guilt for not living up to expectations. If we have faith in Jesus and are born of the Spirit, we are free of these feelings.

[2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
[3] 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:
[4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Some heavy stuff here! What's it saying? Life in the Spirit through Jesus frees us from the law of sin and death. Jesus defeated sin and death at the cross. God no longer sees our iniquities and shortcomings, He sees the righteousness of Christ in us.

[9] 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.
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
[11] 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.

If we are truly born again, the Spirit of God lives inside us. We are a temple to the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor. 6:19-20
[19] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
[20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Back to Romans 8:
[15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
[16] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Any time we feel fear we can know it is not of the Lord. We don't worship Him in fear, we worship Him in love. We are adopted sons and daughters, and He loves us! We are joint-heirs with Christ, through His righteousness. Very important to keep reminding ourselves of this!

So how do we walk in the Spirit? It's really quite simple. Once we are truly born again, we're already doing it. If we have the Spirit of God in us, the righteousness of Christ acts as a cloak for our sins, and the Father sees them no more. We are freed from bondage, have no reason to fear, and are loved as the Lord loves His Son. Now, we are definitely not to take advantage of this and sin at will, and I may get more into that in a future blog or two, we'll see. For now, I hope this has been encouraging and I hope you can take something good away from it. Thanks for reading!