Walking in the Spirit

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Is there any doubt as to whether or not we live in the Spirit?—Not the slightest, nor is there any implied. Because we live in the Spirit, we are in duty bound to submit to the Spirit. Only by the Spirit’s power—the same Spirit that in the beginning hovered over the face of the deep and brought order out of chaos—can any person live. “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4. By the same breath were the heavens made. Psalm 33:6. The Spirit of God is the life of the universe. The Spirit of God in our nostrils (Job 27:3) keeps us in life. The Spirit is the universal presence of God, in whom “we live, and move, and have our being.” We are dependent on the Spirit for life, and therefore should walk according to, or be guided by, the Spirit. This is our “reasonable service.”GTI 227.1

What a wondrous possibility is here set forth! To live in the flesh as though the flesh were spirit. “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which is spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 15:44, 46. The natural body we now have; the spiritual body all the true followers of Christ will receive at the resurrection. See 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50-53. Yet in this life, in the natural body, men are to be spiritual,—to live just as they will in the future spiritual body. “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” Romans 8:9. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them; because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things.” 1 Corinthians 2:14, 15.GTI 227.2

“Except a man be born again [from above], he can not see the kingdom of God.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:3, 6. By our natural birth we inherit all the evils enumerated in this fifth chapter of Galatians, “and such like.” We are fleshly; corruption rules in us. By the new birth we inherit the fullness of God, being made “partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4. “The old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22), is crucified, and “put off,” “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6). Abiding in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, the flesh with its lusts has no more power over us than if we were actually dead and in our graves. It is then the Spirit of God alone that animates the body. The Spirit uses the flesh as an instrument of righteousness. The flesh is still corruptible, still full of lusts, still ready to rebel against the Spirit, but as long as we yield our wills to God, the Spirit holds the flesh in check. If we waver, if we in our hearts turn back to Egypt, or if we become self-confident, and so relax our dependence on the Spirit, then we build again the things that we destroyed, and again make ourselves transgressors. But this need not be. Christ has “power over all flesh,” and He has demonstrated His ability to live a spiritual life in human flesh.GTI 228.1

This is the Word made flesh, God manifest in the flesh. It is the revelation of “the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God.” With this Spirit of love and meekness ruling us, we shall not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. All things will be of God, and this will be acknowledged, so that none will have any disposition to boast over another.GTI 229.1

This Spirit of life in Christ—the life of Christ—is given freely to all. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “For the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”GTI 229.2