Blessings of Walking in the Spirit
Blessings of Walking in the Spirit EBC Col. 3:10
The key to the believer’s life of power is to walk in the Spirit instead of walking in the flesh. The first essential for the believer is the absolute yielding of himself to God.
These truths are set forth in the word of God.
I. Walking in the Spirit causes us not to Sin (Gal. 5:16)
A believer can no more live the Christian life by his own resources any more than he could have saved himself by his own resources.
A. John MacArthur - Holiness comes only from the Holy Spirit. Holy living does not come from our performance for God but from His performance through us by His own Spirit.
1. Eph. 3:16- It is to live in continual consciousness of His presence and will.
a. The Saintly missionary George Bowen talking to one of his missions classes said,” young men the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ in my heart is more real than the bodily presence of you who set before me this morning”.
2. C.I. Scoffield gives this vivid description,” The problem of the Christian life is based on the fact that so long as the Christian lives in this world he is, so to speak, two trees—the old tree of the flesh, and the new tree of the divine nature implanted by the new birth; and the problem itself is, how to keep barren the old tree and to make fruitful the new tree. The problem is solved by walking in the Spirit.
B. Although the Spirit uses Scripture to assist believers to grow in truth and holiness, He Himself is the supreme source of those virtues.
C. Walk – way of life. In every instance definitions explain the verb
1. Present tense- continuous regular action. It means progress, going from where we are to where we ought to be. As we submit to the Spirit’s control we move forward in our spiritual life.
2. Imperative mood –a command (for the Christian that is not an option)
D. Col. 1:29-
E. – John MacArthur - the power for Christian living is entirely from the Holy Spirit, just as the power of salvation is entirely in Jesus Christ. But both in the justifying work of Christ and in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, man’s will is active and commitment is called for. The Christian is not to sit on the sidelines, as it were, and simply watch the Holy Spirit do battle for him. The believer who is led by the Holy Spirit must be willing to go where the Spirit guides him and do what the Spirit leads him to do. . Life walked by the Spirit is life patterned after the teaching and example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. Walking in the Spirit causes us to be like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)
A. Changed – present passive – a continuous action
1. This is refers to as the believer’s progressive sanctification. The Christian life is a continual process of growing into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Phil. 3:14- our high calling is to be like Christ.
B. John MacArthur- As believers single-mindedly focus on the Scriptures, they will see God’s glory reflected in the face of Jesus and be transformed into His image by the powerful internal work of the Lord, the Spirit.
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