Walking the Walk

Jan. 5, 2022

Transformed Life; Lesson 3

Read: Romans 8:12-17, Galatians 5:16-25

Walking the Walk

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God.” (v.4)

To truly be the children of God, we must be LED BY the Spirit, not our bodies and not our minds. The spirit of man, brought to life by God and given the Holy Spirit becomes the conscience that guides us and refines us in everyday life. Our enlivened spirit (or conscience) is what will allow us to “put to death the deeds if the body”. (v.13) Why is this crucial? “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (v.12,13) There is no true life… no lasting life for those who are led by the flesh.

Galatians tells us that, “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 (fleshly / inappropriate) things you want to do.” (Gal. 5:16-25) Fullness in this life and the affirmation of eternal life in us that will guide us into the next life comes when we “walk by the Spirit” of God within us. For if you “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” and “The Spirit himself will bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” This is fullness and joy in this life and confidence in the next… those “better days ahead”.

We cannot walk in the Spirit until we learn to be led by the Spirit which takes place through our own spirit. We must learn to listen to and follow the conscience God put in us. The scriptures use the “heart of a man” and the “spirit” interchangeably. (cf.Ezekiel 36:26-27, 1 Peter 3:4, 2 Cor. 4:16) In Christ we experience the fulfillment of God’s prophecy which reads: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:26,27) When we receive the Holy Spirit, it is God’s way of “putting his law within us” as he prophesied in through Jeremiah, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” ( Jer. 31:33, Heb. 10:15,16)

What if we began to listen to our conscience that has been put in us… written on to our spirits / hearts? What if we became a people led more by the Spirit than by our emotions, own harebrained ideas, or the fleshly desires of our carnal bodies. Galatians gives us a pretty clear picture of what that looks like. (See todays reading.) It is actually a process to learn how to listen to one’s conscience. It takes practice. We have much more practice listening to our flesh… I mean come on!… how often every day do we get hungry and then eat or get thirsty and then drink!?! We need to practice listening to and obeying the Spirit via our spirit. If we don’t - we will continue living in a way that is opposed to Christ, void of life, and hopeless / unsure of the future that we are “heirs of” in Christ. Tomorrow we will look at how we can strengthen our spirits to better enable us to be led by them. Today, I want you to try to listen for the voice of the Lord… the voice of your conscience that he has given you and then “walk in the Spirit”. Why? “ all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God.” You ARE a loved child of God, now it is time to start living like one! Love you guys. - JDP