Walking by the Spirit

Walking by the Spirit, not by the flesh

Scripture readings: Rom 8, Gal 5:16-26

The Bible is crystal clear about how our lives should be before God in the above chapters.  We find nothing that condones or rationalizes any sort of wrongdoings, habits or sins, in the name of grace.  Hence, we should be very careful lest anyone deceive us by wrong teachings that might tend to dilute or overlook our indulgences or encourage our careless living as Christians instead of condemning our sinful acts and guide us towards the real path.  This needs to be clear in our hearts because God has given us the Holy Scriptures to understand His good Will and what He expects of us.

  

'Walk by the Spirit and do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.'  

To understand the above sentence, we need to know who the Spirit is and what is flesh? 

Spirit here is the Holy Spirit who is everywhere and also He is living in us.  To walk by the Spirit is to have our living in accordance to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The works of the flesh are fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, divisions, sects, envying, bouts of drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.  The list is elaborate, however, we know that these sinful things arises from the Sin that is in us all (Rom 7:21).  This Sin needs to be dealt with at the cross by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our belief in the Lord's death and resurrection opens us the way of life.  To lead a victorious life in Christ, we need to look away unto Christ.  Our back sliding and leading a carnal life is wasting the precious grace.  Rom 8:8 says that those who are in the flesh cannot PLEASE God.  And what is more important to us in this life than pleasing God?

Hence, Walking in the Spirit is living in accordance to the indwelling Spirit, having a strong and real belief that our God is a living God and He is near us, seeing everything. While living such a spiritual living, we must put to death the practices of the flesh by walking according to the Spirit, so that we may live a Holy life (Rom 8:13). Amen

Grace - meaning & its application in life

>> What is Grace?  Is it a license to Sin?

Rom 6:1-10, Gal 2:20, Col 2:12

There is quite a lot of buzz about this word, ‘Grace’ in the Christian world.  The word ‘Grace’ means experiencing God in Jesus Christ in our lives.  Grace is Jesus Christ dying in our stead, thus we are at peace with the Almighty.  It is something that we received freely.  It is not a license to sin, but rather a provision to lead a holy life.  When I was explaining the meaning of grace years ago to a brother, he was offended thinking that I am proposing some kind of restrictions akin to law.  That was a shallow understanding.  Law has been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus and now we are not in the Law which is the oldness of letter (Rom 7:6), but rather we have been discharged from Law and now we need to serve the Lord in newness of spirit (Rom 7:6). 

We are born in the old man which is the realm of the first Adam.  Then one day we believed in the Lord and proceeded to receive baptism.  This baptism into Christ is, in reality, a baptism into Christ’s death.  We have been buried with Him through the baptism because in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in the newness of life.  If somebody says to you, ‘brother, you took baptism in the Lord, so you ought to walk in the newness of life’, then do not be offended because it is not law.  When we have grown with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.  So walking in the newness of life is grace.  I request all the brothers and sisters to understand this deeply, - 'Grace is experiencing God in Christ and this is possible when we walk in the newness of life.’  Gal 2:20 says, ‘I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.’  Is it Law?  Absolutely not, this is the newness.  Grace does not mean that you can keep sinning because Christ has paid the price for your sins that have been committed and will be committed in the future.  Yes, it is paid in full and then some.  It is the perfect sacrifice to the satisfaction of God.  Therefore, Grace is our reaction to this perfect sacrifice on our behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

How can we walk in the newness of life?

Knowing that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves (Rom 6:6).  Have you come across anywhere written in the Bible that you are free to go around and sin without inhibitions, as the Lord Jesus Christ had died in your stead?  No!  We need to believe that in our baptism, our old man has been crucified with the Lord and we are no longer slaves of sin.  We are free in the Lord and we have newness in life and a responsibility to walk in it.  Further, since we believe that we have been crucified with the Lord, we also believe that we will live with Him.  For the death that the Lord died to sin was once and for all; but the life which He lives, He lives to God.  Hence, we who are in the resurrection of the Lord, live our lives to God.  This is Grace.  Amen.