Walking in the Spirit

Walking in the Spirit
Part 2
Galatians 5:1,13-25
1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and those are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness, 20. idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentious, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, 21. envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24. And those who are Christians have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
V.16 "Walk in the Spirit," Even as Christians, as we all know, we are still tempted by the flesh, and occasionally fail to it. What you do when this happens is up to you. It is not God's desire for you to walk in the flesh, but the flesh's desire. Does this mean you have no control over the flesh? Certianly not, we have indeed stepped out of the will of God, but not out of His love. How do we get back in the will of God and out of the will of the flesh? By getting back to what brought you to salvation in the first place, the Spirit of God. Double talk, certainly not, but it is God who initiates the relationship between you and He, it is God who provides the sacrifice needed for your salvation, and it is God who accepts that sacrifice, when offered by you. So confession is the beginning of your journey back into the will of God. By confession, we are allowing God to heal us, reestablishing that relationship with Him that He so desires.
If we fail to reestablish this relationship, we give opportunity to the flesh to be master of our lives, and continue to walk in the flesh. We cannot serve two masters. In Luke 16:13 Jesus says that when we serve two masters that we will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and depise the other. So if we walk in the flesh we will come to depise the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and come to love the temporary comfort that the flesh brings. Is God finished with you at this point? Praise His name that He is not, for His love for us is greater than our love for the flesh, and He will continue to strive for you.
V. 17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." Upon salvation there is a great battle that is unleashed in you. It is the battle for what the flesh knew, and enjoyed, and for what the Spirit of God is trying to do in you. For you are no longer born of the flesh, but born of the Spirit, yet the flesh strives for what was once its own. If we say we have no sin, we make God out to be a liar, so when we walk in the flesh God still strives for you. Without the grace of God we can do nothing, but for the grace of God we are able to come back into the fold. Even though our ability to hear the Spirit of God is diminished by sin, the love of God speaks to the unbeliever and believer alike to bring them out of sin.
In Romans 7:20, Paul talks of this battle when he says; "Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." In verse 24 he cries out for deliverance. "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" We know that our deliverer is alive and well and sits at the right hand of God on high. Paul reconizes this fact in verse 25; "I thank God- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
V. 18 "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." If you once again receive the Gospel, you receive the grace of Christ. Therefore allowing yourself to be influenced once again by the Holy Spirit, which we grieve. If we walk again in grace than we are no longer walking under the penalty of the law. So victroy over the flesh comes not from the will but from grace. Many times I wish that I could cast off this evil flesh and walk fully in the Spirit, only to know that this will not come to fruition till the resurection. In Romans 7:19 Paul speaks words that I hear echo in my own ears time and time again, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."
In verses 20 through 23 we see the weapons of the flesh and the weapons of the spirit. Both are available to us, one leads to death and destruction, and not to victory over the Spirit. The other leads to victory over the flesh. In our war with sin, and we will war, remember this is the church Paul is talking to, we are not unarmed. For in verse 24 it says that those who are Christians have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We have made a decision to allow God to cleanse us from all sin by accepting the only sacrifice able to do this. When we offer the blood of Christ back to God, He is faithful to forgive us. Not because of who we are, but beacause of who He is. Not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross. Verse 25 sums it up well, "If we live in Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit." Amen Paul! Amen!