“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). To live in the Spirit is to be controlled by the love of God. This new life we have been raised to walk in is faith in Jesus Christ expressed in love to others.
Through His Spirit, God has poured His love into our hearts and has given us the desire to walk by faith in Jesus. As we do, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Learning to say “no” is the by-product of saying “yes” to the Spirit.
It is important to understand this distinction. So many well-intentioned believers spend a life time trying to overcome sin in their lives. They wake up each morning with this prayer on their lips: “Lord, please help me to not sin today.” At the end of the day, all they have is another unanswered prayer.
A better prayer is this: “Lord, teach me to abide in you and to follow the leading of God’s Spirit in my life.” God’s Spirit is never going to lead you into sin. He leads you to trust in the Lord, to live righteous and upright lives. He leads you to love and serve others. If living out the Spirit’s work in your life, you will automatically be saying “no” to sin. Peter put it this way:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4
Walking in the Spirit is trusting God to complete the work He began in you. You can count on Him to complete this task, even when you do not fully cooperate. This is His promise: “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son…”
When we do get off course, and we will, the Holy Spirit merely recalculates our journey and continues His work in conforming us to the image of His Son. He does so without condemnation. Nor does He manipulate us with fear and guilt to get us back on track. He uses our mistakes, reminding us of the forgiveness we have in Christ, and works them together for our good. He comforts our hearts with this amazing promise: “that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
You are not alone on your journey. Jesus is there with you every step of the way. Trust Him, rely upon Him, and live out what He is working in your life. When you do you will be saying “no” to sin and “yes’ to the will of God.
The center of God’s will, that’s the place where believers are to live their lives. Temptation may look exciting; the world makes sure of that. But it has nothing on its menu that can satisfy the soul and bring contentment to the heart.
The world promises happiness, but delivers pain, sorrow and misery. There is only one person who does deliver on his promises, Jesus. And He gives so much more than mere happiness. Peace, contentment, a life of godliness and love: these are His gifts of grace to us.
And there is nothing more rewarding than experiencing Jesus living His life through you.
It is time for us abandon ourselves to Jesus, to put all that we are in His hands. It is time for us to live out Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Let’s walk by the Spirit and discover that His will is good, pleasing and perfect for us.
I’m already dead to sin, so there is nothing for me to say to it. I don’t say “yes” and I don’t say “no”. Sin and I no longer have a relationship.
Walking in the Spirit has nothing to do with me and sin, it has to do with me believing what Jesus has already finished concerning sin. I am already complete in Him. I have no expectations that God is going to “conform” me into the likeness of His Son, for He already has.
The above message sounds way too much like behavior modification from self-examination and an expectation to perfect the flesh, which Paul says is another gospel.
Amen Sister, put short and true, and not that Bob meant that, yet I see your perception in Spirit and truth it is what it is
That is the truth that sets one free, no second guessing, no doubt as was put in front of Eve and Adam and they doubted
Thank you for that short answer in truth completed
“To walk in the spirit you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh.”If Adam’s desire of the flesh was to gain the knowledge of how he could produce righteousness and therefore to attain eternal life,then wouldn’t” to walk in the spirit” mean to acknowledge that Christ has already produced all righteousness(since all the law,prophets,and psalms point to Christ’s righteousness.. the gospel of his death,burial, and resurrection,and the gift of eternal life,and
None of it points to our cleaning up our flesh.I agree that would be another gospel.