Walk In The Spirit … Just Do It?

Category: Walking In The Spirit

Walk In The Spirit … Just Do It ?

Paul writes:
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” {Gal 5:16 — NIV}
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” {Gal 5:16 — NKJV}

Many Christians who state they live under the New Covenant, have traded one set of LAWS for another.

They have traded the Mosaic Law / the Old Covenant Laws but have put in its place a new set of Laws.

This is evidenced in many Christian circles and pulpits who preach things like:

We shouldn’t watch those kinds of movies or TV programs;
We shouldn’t drink alcohol at all;
We shouldn’t smoke;
Christian women should not dress like that;
We have to turn the other cheek;
We must forgive and not gossip;
And the list goes on and on … full of do’s and full of don’ts.

And while the Epistles are filled with the teachings that the Christian should be living a holy life for Christ … for this is our  “spiritual act of worship” to   “offer (our) bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” {Romans 12:1} … too many Christians are trying to accomplish this through will power, without experiencing the JOY and the Fruit of the Spirit which should be accompanying “Walking In The Spirit”.

But if we look even at just the above two Scriptures which I just quoted, we will start to see the way in which we can actually Walk In The Spirit and thereby produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives … which  isn’t by following a new set of Laws.

Paul writes:

“Walk in the Spirit, and (then) you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” {Gal 5:16}

and he writes

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, (so) that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (or so that you can Walk in the Spirit) {Romans 12:1-2}.

“Walking in the Spirit” comes BEFORE not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh (which actually include discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition and envy, BESIDES the outward impurity, sexual immorality, orgies, and drunkenness, which Christians usually hold up as “Law”)

AND

Being RENEWED in one’s mind comes BEFORE “Walking in the Spirit” or walking in the acceptable, perfect will of God.

The only way that we will be able to Walk in the Spirit therefore, is by being TRANSFORMED and RENEWED in our minds, which comes by reading / meditating on God’s Word and by believing what God’s Word says.

We are NOT walking in the Spirit when we “Just say NO” to temptation.  That is simply living a moral life.  And even non-Christians can do that if they want to.

No, there is more to living a godly life and actually “Walking In The Spirit” than “Just saying NO”.

Walking in the Spirit will produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which is a life filled with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control” {Galatians 5:22-23 — NIV} once we know and believe Who We Are In Christ Jesus, as it is written in God’s Word.

Again, just saying “NO” to temptations does not produce the FRUIT of the Spirit, as listed above.

I tried it.
It didn’t work.

I was cranky while just saying “NO”.
I was frustrated.
And my mind was still squirrelly and un-renewed … desiring to do the things which the Epistles say I shouldn’t do.

Nope.  I definitely was NOT walking in the Spirit.

Jesus said it would be by God’s Word that we would be Sanctified, when He prayed:

“I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest  KEEP them from the evil … SANCTIFY them through Thy truth:  Thy word is truth” {John 17:15-17 — KJV}

But if just READING God’s Word was all that it takes, then every Christian who reads the Bible for any length of time should be free from sin and lust and over-powering temptation, and would be Walking in the Spirit and be producing the Fruit of the Spirit.

But many Christians have proven that just reading the Word is not the way to “Walk In The Spirit” … for if we are honest, we can all admit that we know many Christians who can quote entire passages of the Bible, yet they still walk in lusts of the flesh and/or show no Fruit of the Spirit.

So let’s look for some more light on the subject in the below noted Scriptures:

“I would like to learn just one thing from you:  Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by BELIEVING what you heard?” {Galatians 3:2}

I have touched on this same topic in another post but want to bring it up again, since so many Christians struggle with their flesh and their minds on an ongoing basis.

Paul writes, did you receive the SPIRIT by observing the Law … or by observing/performing ANY PART of the Law … or in other words, by being good and by just saying “NO”?  

Or did you receive the SPIRIT by BELIEVING what you heard?

Of course, our answer will be, “We received the Holy Spirit by believing what we heard”.

So why then,  “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by  HUMAN EFFORT?” {Galatians 3:3} … in other words, why are you then trying to “Walk In the Spirit” and produce the Fruit of the Spirit by “Just saying NO” to temptation and / or by setting up rules of “Don’t do this, don’t do that”?

I think this is the best, most perfect Scripture to answer our dilemma of  HOW SHOULD WE WALK IN THE SPIRIT.

For even as we began our Christian life by BELIEVING the Word of God unto salvation, so we must choose to BELIEVE God’s Word unto Power and unto Freedom and unto Sanctification.

Scripture tells us that we HAVE BEEN {past tense}:

Freed from sin {Rom 6:7,22}
Made the righteousness of God {2 Cor 5:21}
Made victorious {1 Cor 15:57, 1 John 5:4}
Given the mind of Christ {1 Cor 2:16}
Given authority over all the power of the enemy  {Luke 10:19}
Been freed from this present world and its darkness {Col 1:13}
And much more.

But if we don’t BELIEVE these Scriptures in the present tense that they are written in, then we will continue to see ourselves as sinners, as powerless over sin, and as people who have to struggle against sin which continues to grip us, haunt us, and torment us, etc.

In other words, our MINDS won’t be accepting the FACT that we ARE, present tense, FREE from sin and its power and its grip.

In the Biblical wording:  our minds won’t be RENEWED and TRANSFORMED to these Truths.

But how do we get our minds renewed to these Truths?

By quoting these particular Scriptures out loud, every day, which tell us about our freedom.  And by personalizing them while quoting them in the Present Tense Form in which they are written.   For it is only by quoting the Word out loud, that our minds can shut down and be forced to  listen to what our mouths are saying.

As we keep speaking the pertinent Scriptures out loud every day … Scriptures which tell us we ARE free and Scriptures which tell us we DO have authority over sin and the enemy … then our faith can be built to believe God’s Word concerning Who We Are  for it is by hearing God’s Word that faith is built {Romans 1017}.

Then as our faith builds to believe that what the Word says about us is, indeed, present tense Truth, we WILL have the overcoming power of a maturing spirit man residing in us to overcome all the lusts of the flesh and all the temptation that comes at us from the world and from our own thought life.

The Apostle John even tells us that it is this BELIEVING God at His Word which makes us overcomers, when he writes:

“this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our FAITH” {1 John 5:4}.

Again, what overcomes this world with all of its lusts and temptations?

Our FAITH.

Remember what James also  wrote in James 1:14-15:
“each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire (or evil thoughts), he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire (which starts in our thoughts) has conceived, it gives birth to sin …”

So we see here again, the battle to sin starts in our minds.

But if we renew our minds to the Truths that we now have POWER over all sin, then the lure and temptation of sin will not have such a hold over us.

Our FAITH will make us overcomers.

Sure, this “Faith Thing” may not make much sense to our natural minds but the Word promises us that as we renew our minds to God’s Truths, we WILL be conformed into His image and we will then be able to walk as He walked in this world !!  {1 John 4:71, Rom 8:29}.

So choose to renew your mind today to the Truths about “Who You Currently Are in Christ Jesus” now that you are Born Again.

Choose to quote the Scriptures out loud every day to renew your mind to these  Truths which is meditation on the Truth “day and night” so that you will have “good success”  in the  area of  “Walking In the Spirit”  {Joshua 1:8}.

And then watch the Fruit of the Spirit simply begin to produce in your life, thereby enabling you to Walk In The Spirit, with the lusts of the flesh losing its enticing power over your mind and over your flesh.

God’s Word is Truth.
God’s Word is Spirit.
God’s Word is Life.
God’s Word is Powerful.
God’s Word is Alive.

And God has taught us that His Word is to be our two-edged Sword with which we are to fight all of our spiritual battles with (Eph 6:17).

So pick up your Sword of the Spirit and start reminding your mind, your flesh, and satan that it is YOU who has power over all satanic tactics, over all fleshy temptations, and over all sin.

You will see God’s Word remain True, as you  “resist the devil” he will flee from you {James 4:7} and as you actually USE your sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, you will see all disobedient thoughts come in line with God’s Word{2 Cor 10:4-5}.

____

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” {Proverbs 13:3}

“He who guards his lips guards his life” {Proverbs 18:21}

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their MINDS set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” {Romans 8:5 — remember:  quoting the Scriptures out loud keeps your mind “set” on things above and “set” on what the Spirit desires.}

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ” {2 Cor 19:4-5}

_______

.© 2009 LeeAnn Bell, Faith Speaks Inc.

All Comments Welcome
Very small “Comments” button is located directly below