Living and active

We have all been given the same commission “that if we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh”. This is rather a thought-provoking phenomenon when we consider how daunting the task actually is. But before we unpack the application behind it all, it would be good to dissect our thoughts over our intentions which can only ever be tested by the Word of God; “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)  

Our carnalities have some stubborn deep rooted pre-conceived ideas that keep us chained instead of finding freedom in Christ; “It ort not to be so brethren”! I will not and cannot claim to have conquered in all areas of my life, I am far from that objective, however we are called to walk circumspectly; the Apostle Paul had this to say; “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27) – I would love to conclude that I have finally arrived in this area of my life, but that would be a stretch of what is actually true. However there are most certainly areas in my life that have strengthened in discipline by the grace of God. And yet when I gaze into the mirror the remaining quests that needs work seems daunting and a lost cause, but I now know better than to believe that I cannot attain all things in Christ who strengthens me. It’s all about being honest with ourselves and finding grace to overcome in time of need. This is the theory: we must now make every effort in the Spirit to walk in such a manner that we can echo the words of Paul. This then is our goal! But before we can achieve a favourable outcome, we must understand how to apply ourselves to a constructive solicitation.

Honesty is the first step, God sees us for who we are but do we see ourselves as we are?

The flesh and the Spirit are made up of differing substances; just like water and oil cannot mix, so too must we understand that we cannot mix the Spirit and the flesh. Unfortunately this is where we often go wrong. We try and apply our carnalities to the instructions given to us by the Spirit. We often try to fix ourselves up from the outside in instead of from the inside out. If I have a virus that gives my body a rash, I then seek out medication that heals the rash instead of going to the root cause of the problem. I need to eradicate the virus and the rash will then take care of itself. Get the point?

The bible is full of illustrations that teach us these lessons; “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'" (Luke 5:37-39)

This is why we are taught by the Lord Jesus this very valuable lesson; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) – We now have a dilemma; we are Christians who have been born again, our spirits have been quickened by the Spirit of God but we have a flesh and blood body that houses His Spirit.       

       

This is why we must learn to walk in the Spirit and not under the earnestness of our old natures. There is a simple test that proves our application within our daily walks. It’s rather simple when viewed correctly through the eyes of faith.

Examine the fruit of your life and it will soon become apparent how we walk. Do you suffer from anxiety and is your life still filled with rebellion, or are you at peace in every area of your life? One may say, I am at peace in certain areas of my life but not others. Well then, we may still be a work in progress which we all are. However, this is obviously the evidence of walking in the flesh as to the contrast of walking in the Spirit. It can be easily tested.

Is my life filled with these attributes; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Or is my day filled with; “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.”

Now back to my first point; let us not make the mistake of singling out the obvious sins that we so easily pick upon whilst turning a blind eye to others, which have been equally mentioned in this text. Is your life free from sexual immorality but you habitually have “fits of anger”? Then sir, you are walking in the flesh and not the Spirit. And as we move through the list we will soon see where we are failing as Christians. This is a very hard text to get our heads around, but the point of any text is not to swallow us up but to free us and the only way this will ever be achieved is if we are honest with ourselves and with God, seeking out His forgiveness where we have erred. It is a continuous way of life for the Christian; we will have to be a person filled with self- reflection until the day we die.

But let us not lose sight of my main point and it is this; “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

In conclusion let me leave you with this very valuable portion of scripture whilst we remember that it will soon become obvious where we stand before our holy God and Father and what is required from us; “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:9-18)

Now it is up to us to find grace by the Spirit in time of need and to view all sin in the same category and not give some sins a pass.

Signing off

Tyrone