WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

The Book of Galatians is an epistle written by Paul and it is addressed to the churches of Galatia, with a spirit of discontentment. This church which he had birth through the guidance of the Holy Spirit was experiencing some outside interference, which was causing them to regress in their knowledge of the kingdom of God. Paul reminded them that he was "an apostle sent not by men, but by God." Paul clearly tells them, "My call is from Jesus Christ himself, and from God the Father who raised him from the dead" (Galatians 1:2). You see, there were some false teachers who were attacking Paul and he wrote to defend his apostleship and to defend the authority of the gospel.

As usual, he renders grace and peace unto them from the Father, and reminded them of the salvation of the Lord which was done on the behalf of all humanity. He rebuked them about their behavior. How could they have turned to another gospel, which was no gospel at all? The Galatians were beginning to turn from faith to legalism. The problem was the Judaizers, who were going behind him, telling the people they had to hold onto the law as they received Paul's teaching. The Judaizers were a group of Jewish Christians who insisted that in order for a Christian to be right with God, they must conform to the Mosaic Law. So these Jewish Christians disagreed with Paul's statements that the Gentiles did not have to follow many of the religious laws which the Jews had obeyed. Some of Paul's accusers told the Gentiles coverts that they had to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved. In short, in order for them to be saved, they had to become a Jew. Paul knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and that grace had replaced the law. The two were of a different economy and could not be mixed. So he called them out, "I am amazed that you are turning away so soon from God who, in his love and mercy, invited you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ; you are already following a different "way to heaven," which really doesn't go to heaven at all. For there is no other way than the one we showed you; you are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7).

What a change of events for Paul, the Galatians had accepted his teaching and Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, but now they were listening to someone else. The evidence was, when Paul was with them, they had examined their lives, repented of their sins, and were baptized. When the first elation of conversion was over, the question arose in which we are all too familiar with, "Where does my faith fit into the endless routine of family, earning a living, raising children, paying taxes, and etc?"

Well the Judaizers, that came down from Jerusalem, gave a crisp, clear, and what appeared to be some intelligent answers, so they thought. The answer to all their questions were, "to obey the law." Paul in this teaching had shown them how inadequate that answer was. Paul wanted them to accept grace and not be shackled by trying to keep the law, which they could not keep anyway. By accepting grace in its fullness, they were acknowledging the freedom and liberty that comes with it. Whereas the Old Testament saints were saved by their faith plus works, it was now different, "for it is by grace through faith," and simply stated, faith plus nothing else.

Paul could not understand why they would choose a path that was different from what they had received. Yet he wanted them to move forward and show the evidence of their growth. How could this be done? By "walking in the spirit."

Walking is a familiar term to all of us. In a lifetime we will have walked thousands of miles. just going to and fro. But it is our Spiritual walk that will allow us to enter the kingdom of eternity. Enoch was a spiritual walker, who walked with God. He had a plain, simple, and humble life, yet each day, he walked with God. The Bible says that Enoch lived 365 years in constant fellowship with God. "Enoch walked with God: and he was no more; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24).

When we think of the Spirit, immediately we know He is the third person of the trinity of the Godhead. The term Godhead is used to refer to the Triune God, one God in three Persons, that includes God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is both Christ's presence in our lives and our response of faith to His divine grace. "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater that the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

So Paul reminds them that Christ has made them free and they need to make sure that they stay free and not to get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to Jewish laws and ceremonies. He told them, "I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit's instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do" (Galatians 5:16). It was now time for them to move in their Spiritual growth, which would be evident in their Spiritual walk. He exhorts them to be producers of spiritual fruits. This could only be done by submiting to the will of God. The evidence of Christian growth will always be evident in the fruit produced. When we accept God in our lives, there will be fruit, fruit, and more fruit. Paul was expressing the principle of fruit bearing so all could understand what is expected. By yielding to the Holy Spirit, we are able to grow and mature, our fruit will be evident in our Spiritual walk.

Paul states, "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws" (Galatians 5:22). The fruit of the Spirit should characterize the lives of all believers. The Holy Spirit himself, will make known to us if others are sincere producers of righteousness. However, the best thing we can do is to be open for self-examination. This will call for us to concentrate on our own selves. As Christians, we are license Fruit Inspectors, with all rights and privileges granted by the Holy Spirit; therefore, let us be wise in all we do, and not spend any time in judging the fruit of others.

Walking in the Spirit means, living each moment with the knowledge that Christ's presence is above us, around us, and within us. We have to acknowledge that this walk is filled with many obstacles. The way is never easy. The earthly reward of our service may be a crown of thorns. The Lord when He was departing from His disciples, reminded them, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" (John 15:18).

The biggest obstacles we face in our Christian development are those within. We come into this world as biological children of Adam. Our acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior, transforms us into Spiritual children of God. From that time, the Spirit comes to dwell into our spiritual bodies. From which proceed all sorts of temptation to sin, this does not come from the Sprit, but the flesh. Paul tells us, "For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures" (Galatians 5:17). The fight of our life is in that struggle, to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We are to know that it is not the body that is sinful. When God created it, He declared that it was good, but its chemical combinations, frequently produces smoldering wrath and blazing lust with its temptation to sin.

It is refreshing to turn back to the Apostle Paul, who assumes that most of his readers are grown-up, morally responsible, and hence to be entrusted with the dangerous gift of freedom. To them he admonished, "walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." When Paul talks of sin, he speaks frankly about the sin that rises from our physical constitution, but he lays the stress where Jesus does also, "But when you follow your own inclinations your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group - and there will be wrong doctrine, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing" (Galatians 5:19-21). Today we call these the "sin of the Spirit." From the human spirit, uncontrolled by Christ, proceed all manner of evil. When life is not consciously directed toward God, the result is disastrous.

When we choose to walk in the Spirit, our walk will enable us to overcome those fleshy desires. While we are on this journey, it should be all about taking our faith seriously, and this will influence our walk. Too often we thought that self-improvement would be the solution, only to find ourselves back in the same place, always falling short. This was the problem the Galatians were having. The Judaizers wanted to reduce Christianity to external things, do this and do that, be circumcised, eat kosher foods, say certain prayers each and every day, and finally, obey the law.

A person who obeyed the law was less harmful to society than one who flaunted the law. Their heart may have been completely out of touch with God, but at least they were not openly destructive.

Paul answer to this human dilemma is only for those who are morally serious, who have repented of their sins, and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and have been adopted into the family of God. To them he says, "Walk in the Spirit," and you shall not fulfill your evil desires, your flesh.

Most Christians today, as in Galatia, live moderately respectable lives, yet knows all the downward drag of the flesh, which is that continuous war with the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit requires that one knows the difference between right and wrong.

The life that has been unified with Christ, as the center of their lives, produces a harvest of love, which has many expressions. In order to produce good fruit, the old nature must be crucified and the flesh becomes dead to sin. We must stop blaming the flesh for all our short comings. The body is not necessarily sinful. Jesus lived a truly human life, in a human body. He was subject to all the temptations that rise from human physiology without succumbing to sin. Our flesh is made by God, declared good by God, good in itself, but subject to inevitable limitations.

The human spirit controlled by the Holy Spirit is contrary to the human spirit not controlled by the Holy Spirit. Remember the words of Paul, "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other" (Galatians 5:16-17).