Walk in the Spirit is the path the believer is told to travel. As a believer we should live our lives pleasing to God. However, many Christians believe a successful path to pleasing God is to live a moral life.
There is nothing wrong with trying to live a moral life. However, anybody can attempt to live a moral life. It does not matter whether you are saved or not. As believers our responsibility is to shine the love of Christ to a lost world. Sadly many people feel the focus of being a Christian is wearing a coat of self righteousness.
We tend to think we can whip our old nature into shape and control our sin by living the good life or by demonstrating to the world what good Christians we are based on are actions. We tend to put the attention on us by bragging about our deeds (look I don’t steal, lie, have envy, etc.). Instead, we should be putting the focus on Christ. Only by walking in the Spirt will we be able to please God.
—Philippians 2:13 NKJV “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Focus on the Spirit
As believers, it is profitable to put our focus on living a Spiritual life. Many believers pour too much energy into trying to live a righteous life through their own will power. Where we need to focus are attention is on Christ. We need to learn to give control to the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is a significant key to living the Christian life.
It is consequential to realize that Christ lives within us. Our success isn’t measured by how morally we look to the world or our effort to clean up our old nature. It is not by our vigorous attempts to be better people which leads to a successful Christian life but it is by giving control to the indwelling Spirit. The more we give control to the Spirit the more we will feel its influences. This will cause us to develop a desire to please the Spirit and cease to want to fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Spiritual Battle
Prior to being saved we could only serve ourselves but once we were saved we have the ability to serve God. Until we inherit our new bodies we will have the self-serving Old Man and our New Man occupying our human body. Because of this believers are engaged in a ongoing conflict.
Positionally, we are completely victorious over sin but experientially just like unbelievers we will struggle against temptations. It is when we resist the Spirit that we are overcome and give into the temptations around us.
The enemy loves when we stop reading the Bible, praying, etc. It gives Satan joy anytime a believer stops putting focus on the Word of God and instead focuses on the things of this world. When that happens, we are no longer producing good works for God, no matter outwardly how moral our lifestyle may appear.
—Ephesians 6:12 NKJV “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Keep our Mind on Christ
Knowing this battle between our Old Man and New Man is taking place, we need to keep our mind on Christ. The scriptures tell us to grow in Christ. The more we grow in Christ by absorbing His Word the more we produce good works for Christ and reflect to the world what is true in us positionally.
Sin is no longer our master. By our position in Christ, we are completely victorious over sin, We stand before God declared righteous in Christ. We have been completely cleansed from the stain of sin. The sin issue was dealt with in finality at the cross.
To live the Christian life we need to reflect on our position in Christ and yield to the Spirit, so God can use us as His tool in this God hating world. Our Christian life should be a continual growth so that we begin responding more and more to our new nature each day. Even though we can not evict our old man from us on this side of heaven, we should begin to develop a similar mind set of Christ where we loath sin and continually strengthen our desire to please God and do His will.
Walk in the Spirit
The Bible tells us “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” In order to keep the Old Man from taking us down destructive paths and controlling our actions, we should keep our attention on Christ and always being thankful for the indwelling Spirit and the new life we have in Christ.
—Romans 13:14 NKJV “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
—Galatians 5:16–18 NKJV “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
As believers, we have been blessed with a new nature that is completely free from sin. Our new nature is not under the curse of sin. Not only that but it hates sin and desires after holiness.
—Romans 6:10–11 NKJV “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Believers Should Have a Grateful Heart
Before we were saved we wanted nothing to do with God. We were actively hostile toward Him. He could have easily destroyed us but instead through Christ he was restoring relations with mankind. Through Christ our sins were being forgiven by the blood of Christ.
This indeed should make us grateful. Not only is God offering us salvation but we shall be kept safe with Him for eternity. This is powerful motivation for the Christian to desire to “Walk in the Spirit”.
Our lives were purchased for a price and we are to live for God. For this to happen we need to walk in the Spirit. We need to feed control to our indwelling Spirit by absorbing ourselves in the Word of God.
Restore your Relationship with God
If you have not yet accepted Christ as your savior, please consider doing so now. Christ has already paid the debt for your sin, By trusting in Him you will no longer be living under the condemnation of sin. You will no longer need to fear the judgement for sin, as the judgment has already been rendered and paid for by Christ. God wants to restore His relationship with you. All you need to do is put your faith in Christ and you will be saved.
—Romans 5:10 NKJV “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”