Walking in the Spirit is the normal Christian life. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). We will experience victory over sin. And we will experience the abundant life that Jesus promised us (John 10:10).
How do we actually walk in the Spirit?
The first step to walking in the Spirit is being born again. We are born again when we believe in Jesus Christ. When we accept that he took away our sins on the cross, died in our place, and through him we have eternal life; then we will repent and give our lives over to him. We will be born again and the Holy Spirit comes inside us.
Jesus said that everyone who is born again is like the wind – you hear it’s sound but can’t tell where it’s coming from and where it’s going (John 3:8). Living in the Spirit is unpredictable. Those who live in the Spirit are guided by the wind of heaven. They are not guided by the ways of the world. Walking in the Spirit is something the world cannot understand. If we want to live like this, according to God, walking in the Spirit, then we must be born again.
The second important step to walking in the Spirit is being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were already born again before the Day of Pentecost, because they believed in Jesus. But they were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). On the Day of Pentecost, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they were transformed into powerful witnesses for God (Acts 1:5-8). God wants each of his children to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, so they can experience more of his presence and power in their lives. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit operate through us more fully, and we can be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit more clearly.
After being baptized in the Holy Spirit, there are times in our lives when we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit afresh. Throughout Acts, the same disciples who were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost were filled again with the Holy Spirit later. This filling gave them supernatural power to work miracles and press onward for God’s kingdom (Acts 4:31). Every Christian is commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again (Ephesians 5:18).
Obedience to God is the ground from which walking in the Spirit is possible. We need to obey the Bible, and we also need to obey the specific instructions God has for us. When we obey God’s word, then we abide in Christ, and his life flows into us. We are in the spiritual place where God can use us. God pours out his Holy Spirit on those who obey his words (Acts 5:32).
There are two forces in us, the flesh and the Spirit. Through the Spirit, we are to dominate the flesh and live a life for God.
Jesus said we need to take up our cross daily and follow him. This means that we need to obey his word.When we obey God, our flesh is crucified. The only solution for the flesh is crucifixion. Then we need to put off the flesh. We must put off the old man and put on the new man.
Do not make provision for the flesh to satisfy its lusts (Romans 13:14). If we are tempted by alcohol or other things, we need to cut these things out of our lives. We don’t want a provision for our lusts sitting in the corner of our lives that we can access whenever we want to. We need to throw that stuff away.
Paul said he disciplined his body and made it his slave (1 Corinthians 9:27). To discipline means to box or beat. These are strong words. This doesn’t mean Paul literally beat himself, but it means that he ruthlessly dominated his flesh by the Holy Spirit, even when his flesh was like a squealing pig that wanted to run to eat pig slop and roll around in the mud.
To walk in the Spirit, we need to pray. When we pray, we commune with God. We receive strength and instructions from heaven. Jesus sometimes prayed all night (Luke 6:12). He needed to receive guidance from his Father so he could walk in the Spirit and do what his Father wanted. If Jesus needed to pray in order to walk in the Spirit, how much more do we need to pray if we want to walk in the Spirit?
To walk in the Spirit we need to be part of a Biblical church. We need to consistently fellowship with the saints of God. Something happens in the atmosphere of fellowship, when Jesus is in our midst, that will quicken us spiritually and help us get in tune with God. If we cut ourselves off from regular fellowship with God’s people, we will not be able to live in the Spirit. We will slide into the flesh, into the ways of the world, and we will become darknened, sad, and depressed.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites could only enter the Promised Land together. They moved together through the wilderness, and defeated vast armies together. There was power in their unity. Alone, they would die in the wilderness. But together, they could accomplish awesome things.
In the New Testament, the church was strong and powerful when the believers were together with one accord in one place. That unity was the basis of their corporate walk in the Spirit together. God is raising up a people in the end times who will hear his voice and walk in his Spirit. They will not walk according to the ways of the world or according to their own minds, but according to the inspiration of heaven. These people will receive input from God and speak and act according to divine revelation. This body of Christ is going to transform the world.
“The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’sfeet,And He will make me walk on my high hills” (Habakkuk 3:19).
God has called us to walk in the heavenly places, in the Spirit. We are called to live above the world, impacting the earth with the power and light of heaven. God will make our spiritual feet able to walk in these high places.
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