by Women’s Pastor Gail Collins
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For 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 things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:16-26
It is both the right and the responsibility of the authentic spiritually born-again child of God to walk or live a life that honors Jesus Christ. We have been designed in The Spirit to walk both in Him (God The Holy Spirit) as we are empowered by Him to obey the commands of Jesus Christ and live a life that brings Him the maximum glory. Apart from the saving grace of God, humanity is incapable of walking in The Spirit. Additionally, when we are separated from the Spirit of God, our sin nature or sin state, known as the flesh, is revealed. The apostle Paul gives us the above Scripture that further explains the practicality of walking in the spirit versus walking in the flesh.
Authentic believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ live according to God The Holy Spirit. We have surrendered our lives to His leading and the results are the fruit of The Spirit. This is a sign that we are truly God’s children and our eternal destiny is heaven.
In Colossians Paul reveals that surrendering to God The Holy Spirit is a choice. He encourages us through Colossians to choose to walk or live in The Spirit by destroying the fruit of the flesh.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practicesand have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:5-10
God is only able to command us as authentic followers of Christ to do what nonbelievers cannot do because of 2Corinthians 5:17. God commands us to put sin to death, because Jesus has already done that on the cross. Because we , as authentic children of God have God The Holy Spirit living inside us, we are able to surrender to God and He in turn will reveal in us and through us, that which He has already accomplished. All we have to do is believe and surrender.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2Corinthians 5:17
And so, because we are true followers of Christ, because we have been spiritually re-born, because we have been made new by the indwelling Spirit of the One True Living God, we have the power to choose to walk in the Spirit by surrendering to God The Holy Spirit and having Him take control of our lives. The result is a supernaturally empowered life that honors Christ and brings Him great glory and honor.
We encourage you, authentic follower of Christ, to choose to walk in The Spirit, by the power of our risen King Jesus!
