As believers in Jesus Christ, we all have the desire to draw closer to God and to please Him with our lives. It doesn’t matter who you are — whether you’ve been following Jesus your whole life or you just started your journey with Christ — we are all called to walk in the Spirit. You never outgrow the need or the command to walk according to the Spirit. As born-again Christians, the Bible says that the Spirit of God is living on the inside of us. Praise God!
However, have you ever said something, and later wished you could take it back? Have you ever done something and later thought, “why did I do that?” Spoiler alert, we all have! But there is a reason. Its because of the tension happening within each and every one of us.
There is a tension taking place within us. There is a part of us that wants to honor God, and there is another part of us that still struggles with sin. We are going to talk about this very thing today. We have to walk by the Spirit!
But what does that mean? Why is it important? How do we walk according to the Spirit? Today we are going to dive into it.
Book
of Galatians Background
We are going to be in the book of
Galatians. This book was written to a group of churches in the Roman Province
of Galatia in what is now modern day Turkey. A man by the name of Paul the
Apostle (whose story is found in the book of Acts) planted these churches on
the first of his three missionary journeys. You can read about it in Acts
13-14. The churches he was writing to were mainly Gentile believers
(non-jewish) who had recently come to faith in Christ.
Paul was writing this letter to the Galatian church because false teachers had come into the church after he left and began teaching things that were not in agreement with the gospel. They were teaching that while faith in Jesus was good, it wasn’t good enough. They taught that they needed to do more in order to validate their faith in Christ. Paul the apostle combatted this notion and taught that faith in Jesus alone is what saves.
Let me state this for the record: Jesus and Jesus alone guarantees our salvation.
Paul was concerned that they were drifting away from the true gospel of grace. So he decided to write this letter.
The heart of this letter is found in Galatians chapter 3
Galatians 3:3 — “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Although they were born-again
Christians through the Spirit of God, they were trying to mature as believers
through the their own human effort (the flesh).
•
Rule keeping
•
Religious efforts
• Legalism
Paul was saying that this was backwards. In the same way that they have been saved by the spirit, they must walk by the spirit.
The
Spirit vs The Flesh
To understand walking by the Spirit, we have to understand a few things:
Every person has been born into sin. Because of this, we have a sin nature on the inside of us. That sin nature is called the “flesh.” This is the part of us that wants to sin.
However, if you received Christ as your Lord and savior, then you are born again (through the spirit of God). Because of this, you were made new!
2 Corinthians 5:17— “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
As new people, the spirit of God was placed on the inside of us. Therefore, we now have a new nature on the inside of us. That is the Holy Spirit.
So as believers, we have two natures within us: the flesh and the spirit.
Galatians 5:17 — “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
So as followers of Jesus, we have two natures that are at odds with one another. The spirit craves the things of God, and the flesh craves the things of this world. There is a hunger for the things of God on the inside of you. As a Christian, you want to please God! You want to do what honors Him. However, the devil wants you to forget that there is another nature at war with the Spirit. There is also a hunger for the things of this world, and that is from the flesh.
They are both hungry. But what you feed most is what will become bigger and stronger in your life. If we are constantly feeding our flesh with stuff that satisfies the flesh, its going to be hard to resist temptation when the time comes, its going to be hard to obey God at times because the flesh is what is dominant in your life. However, if we are feeding our spirit with the things of God, you will find it easier to obey God and resist temptation when the time comes. Why? Because the Spirit of God has been more dominant in your life.
Whatever you feed grows stronger:
•
If you feed the
flesh, sin becomes easier.
• If you feed the Spirit, obedience becomes easier.
Romans 8:5 — “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
Your mind determines what you feed.
The direction of your Christian walk will be determined by what you feed the most.
So how do we ensure that we are feeding the Spirit and not the flesh?
Walk
by the Spirit
Galatians 5:16 — “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
The Bible says that if we walk by the Spirit, then we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The key to feeding the Spirit is by walking by the Spirit.
So what does that mean?
Walk = (PeripateĊ) = To conduct your daily life, follow a path step by step
The word “walk” here in scripture is a metaphor for “practical daily living.” The idea is that the Christian life is a journey that we are called to live out. We are to continuously move forward in this journey to the end goal that is Christ.
In other words, walking in the Spirit means to live out our everyday life under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is a lifestyle of yielding to His control, and following His leading.
Walking with the Spirit = Being led by the Spirit
If we are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, then we are not able to gratify the desires of our flesh. Why?
Galatians 5:17 — “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh…
The Galatians, who were born-again through the Spirit of God, were trying to draw closer to God through the flesh. All they were doing were drawing themselves away from God. They were attempting to get closer to God by “trying harder” and “doing more.”
We often find ourselves struggling to overcome sin in our life because we are simply “trying harder” in our own power rather than leaning on the Holy Spirit. Without us realizing it, we are walking in the flesh by doing so. Why? Because we are relying on our own strength, rather than the power of the Holy Spirit! According to Romans 12, you and I only have the power to conform. The Spirit of God has the power to transform. Therefore, we must lean on the power of the Holy Spirit! We do this by walking with Him.
Truths
Behind Walking in the Spirit
You may say, I can’t do that. But that is not the truth is that through Him you can! Here’s why:
Truth #1 — The Holy Spirit Lives in You
1 Corinthians 6:9 — “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?”
This is such a powerful truth that can be overlooked so easily.
In the Old Testament, the presence of God was located in a specific place. First it was the tabernacle, later it was the temple in Jerusalem. People would have to travel long distances to in order to come near to the presence of God.
But when Jesus came, everything changed. When He died on the cross and rose from the grave, the Spirit of God was poured out at Pentecost. From that moment on, the presence of God was no longer confined to a building or a location. Now the presence of God lives within His people! Incredible!
That means, if you belong to Christ, then the Spirit of God lives within you! Not sometimes, not just when you are worshipping at church, not just when you feel spiritual, but permanently!
The same power that:
•
Rose Jesus from
the grave
•
Empowered the
apostles
• Moved throughout the early church
That power now lives within every believer!
What that means is that walking in the Spirit is not about inviting God into your life on occasion. Instead, it is about learning to live in step with the Holy Spirit who already lives inside of you.
Truth #2 — The Spirit Gives Power to Obey
Ezekiel 36:26-27
“26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you… 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my [decrees].”
Important to note here that God says that He will give us more than just rules, He will give us a new heart. Before salvation, our hearts are drawn naturally to sin (heart of stone). But when we are born again, God performs a spiritual surgery in which He transplants that heart of stone for a new heart that is alive toward God! Through this transformation, He changes the desires of our heart and gives us His Spirit who leads us toward obedience to God.
The Christian life is not about behavior modification, it is about the transformation of the heart. This only comes through the power of the Holy Spirit who transforms us from the inside out.
Philippians
2:12-13
“12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Through the Holy Spirit, God is giving you both the desire and the ability to obey and please Him.
How
to Walk in the Spirit
So how do we do this? How do we walk with the Spirit in our everyday life?
1.
Feed
Your Spirit
Matthew 4:4 — “Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
•
Just like your
physical body needs nourishment to stay healthy, your spirit needs nourishment
— The spirit in you is your inner person that has been made alive by the
Holy Spirit
•
We feed our
spirit-man through the Word of God
•
The word of God
not only feeds our spirit but it also renews our mind
•
If you only open
your Bible once a week on Sunday morning, your spirit is going to be
spiritually undernourished.
•
But when we spend
regular time in God’s Word, it nourishes us and changes us:
‣
Our thoughts
‣
Our perspective
‣
Our desires
•
You strengthen
your spirit as you spend time in His Word
• Anything you consistently feed becomes stronger…
2.
Stay
in Prayer
Jude 20 — “Build yourselves up in your most holy
faith and pray in the Holy Spirit”
•
Prayer is not
just a religious routine, it is communion with God.
•
Prayer is the
place where we seek God and allow Him to conform our hearts to His.
•
Prayer also helps
us to become more sensitive to the leading of the Spirit.
•
When we neglect
prayer, our spiritual sensitivity to the Holy Spirit fades.
•
When we regularly
spend time in prayer, we become more aware of the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our life.
3.
Follow
the Spirit’s Leading
John 16:13 — “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will
guide you into all the truth.”
•
One of the
primary ways we walk in the Spirit is by learning to follow the Spirit’s leadership in our lives.
•
He is actively
working in our life to:
‣
Guide us
‣
Convict us
‣
Shape us
‣
Make us more like
Christ
•
Therefore we must
be aware of when the Holy Spirit is leading us.
•
He often is
leading us through gentle prompts of the heart:
‣
“You should
apologize…”
‣
“You shouldn’t
say that…”
‣
“You should reach
out to this person…”
‣
“You need to
forgive them…”
•
Its important
that we respond when the Holy Spirit speaks to us
•
We have a choice
every time the Spirit leads us:
Obey the Spirit, or
Obey the flesh
•
The more we
follow His leading, the clearer His guidance becomes
4.
Crucify
the Flesh
Galatians 5:24 — “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires.”
•
Crucifying the
flesh simply means to remove things that strengthen sinful desires.
•
If we want to
walk in the Spirit, then we have to identify the things in our life that
feeding our flesh and tell ourselves, “this is not helping my spiritual life.”
•
That includes:
‣
What you watch
‣
What you listen
to
‣
What environments
you place yourself in
‣
What you allow
yourself to think about
•
That means we’ve
got to get rid of things in our life that fuels our flesh!
•
Begin taking
inventory of your routines and habits and ask yourself, is this feeding my
spirit or my flesh?
• Begin to change your routine and give the Holy Spirit more room to operate in your life.
What is winning in your life right now?
What has been getting the most
attention?
What has been getting the most
room?
What has been getting fed the
most?
Because whatever you feed grows
stronger.
If you feed the flesh, the flesh
will lead your life.
If you feed the Spirit, the Spirit
will lead your life.
Maybe today the Holy Spirit is
putting His finger on something in your life.
What is it?
Today is the day to surrender that
to God.
