Walking in the Spirit

(Galatians 5:16-18) "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill 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." In one of the previous posts, I was mentioning that no man is justified under the law. Under the law man is condemned. The law reveals the sinfulness of mankind and therefore man is classified guilty before God. II Corinthians 3:6 says that the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life. Those that don't know God have to be restrained by the law. Why was the law given? To restrain those that are carnal and sinful. Also the law was given to man to show that man is indeed sinful. Sin is made manifest when the law reveals that mankind has sinned. The law is a mirror reflecting your sins before you. However, Jesus died on Calvary's cross to pave the only way to salvation. Mankind is saved by grace through faith, plus nothing minus nothing. When God saves a man, He changes him and the Spirit of God makes his abode into the new believer's heart. That man becomes a new creature in Christ as II Corinthians 5:17 bears out.

Some church leaders misinterpret verse 18 when it says that if ye are led of the Spirit, you aren't under the law. Some misinterpret that as saying that you are free to do whatever you desire. It's true when you aren't under the law you'll do what you desire. However, the flip side of that is that you'll possess new desires. Your desires will change when you become saved. If you were a drunkard prior to salvation, then God will save and deliver you from liquor. He'll also change your desires. You'll no longer have the desire to drink liquor and perform any ungodly act. That's a miracle of the new birth. We're made a new creature. God says in Psalms to delight ourselves in the Lord and He'll give us the desires of our heart. If we delight ourselves in the Lord, then our desires will mirror God's desires. The closer we become to God, the more we'll become like God. The Bible says we are to be conformed to the image of Christ. That doesn't mean we're perfect nor does it mean we don't battle with the flesh. We still have that fleshly nature when we are saved. However, the new man desires to walk with God. It desires to please God.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17 that he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. God didn't abolish the law. The law is perfect, holy and just. There are teachers in the church that will label a preacher a legalist whenever he preaches separation to the child of God. Whenever a man of God preaches there are certain activities we shouldn't be participate in as children of God, then he's labeled a legalist. That's twisting scripture. Legalism is adding law to grace. It's saying you're saved by grace through faith plus something. The issues on separation is to help the children of God in their walk before the Lord as well as the type testimony they're to have before the world. Christians are to walk examplary before the world. If we claim to be a Christian and we fill our minds with filth from Hollywood, for example, how can we be conformed before the image of Christ. Our flesh is already carnal. When you add more carnality to it, it becomes difficult to maintain a right relationship with God. If we desire to live for God, there are certain things we shouldn't occupy our minds with. If we do, we'll struggle in serving the Lord. Our carnal minds are at enmity with God. Allowing your mind to be bombarded with sinful things makes it increasingly difficult to serve the Lord and please Him. There are some "do's" and "don'ts" for believers. However, laws don't save a man nor make him righteous. The law of God is for our own well-being as fellow believers. The Bible says the Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth. We have the law to teach us how to live and to appear before the world. For example, if we adorn ourselves with apparel that's not modest, that's a poor testimony before the world. It's a poor testimony on how a Christian should live for God. The law is necessary. The Holy Spirit will use the law to teach us things. But we aren't redeemed by the law.

What does it mean in Galatians 5:18 that if we are led by the Spirit we aren't under the law. When a sinner is saved, the Spirit of God takes abode in their hearts. The Spirit of God through the Word of God itself and the preaching of the Word of God, will lead and guide into all truth. Jesus says that "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." A new believer is made into a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold all things become new. That's what takes place at conversion. God changes the desire of those that are saved. There is a deep desire within a beliver's innermost being to walk with and serve God. It's not about rules and regulations following salvation. Instead of saying, "I have to", it's now becomes, "I desire to." God writes the laws of God into our hearts so we will want to live for God. God knows our heart and knows it's carnal. That's what the law was given to Moses at Mount Sinai. Man's nature was sinful and he needed the law to restrain him. A beliver in Christ has the Holy Spirit to restrain him. Instead of being under a set of rules, you have the Holy Spirit that abides within you that will lead you. There's a still small voice that says, "This is holy, this is unholy." The Spirit of God says, "This is what you need to do. This is what you shouldn't do." The believer has the responsibility to submit to the Spirit.

That doesn't mean Christians don't need to read their Bible nor sit under preaching at church. However, there's a still small voice inside them that will lead and guide them. The Spirit of God will work in a believer's life to make him/her more like Jesus. A sinner is in misery because he has to rely on the law to keep him out of trouble. There's nothing inside of the sinner compelling him to live for Jesus. He has to have the law to tell him what to do. When Jesus enters the picture, that changes. The Holy Spirit comes in and he will lead you and conform you to the image of Christ. How far the Spirit will go with you depends on how submissive you are. The more you submit to truth, the more the Spirit of God will work in your life. The problem is some Christians will only allow the Spirit to work in their lives to a point and that's it. However, it's God's intentions we be like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He isn't going to force us to be something if we won't submit to his leadership. However, if we walk in the Spirit and follow God, we won't be fulfilling the lust of the flesh.

The reason why so many Christians struggle with the flesh is because we aren't walking in the Spirit like we ought to be. When we refuse to submit to God, then we're allowing our flesh to have its way in our lives. The only way we won't fall prey to sin is for us to be obedient to the Spirit of God. As a result of our lack of obedience, that's why we struggle in areas we shouldn't. A spirit-led life is a life of joy, peace, happiness, and victory. Those that don't allow the Spirit of God to lead them in every aspect of their lives are going to face trouble with their flesh. In order to be the complete, entire man that the book of James speaks of, we must live a life yielded to the Spirit. We must walk in the Spirit at all times. If we don't then we'll fulfill the lusts of the flesh. That's why we make so many terrible decisions. We don't walk in the Spirit continually. Those that choose to submit their ways unto God will live a life of victory. The only way for a child of God to have victory in their lives is to walk in the Spirit, so they don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.