How to Walk in the Spirit of God

I’ll go out on a limb and assume that you, at one point or another, heard a sermon or teaching on walking in the spirit. The preacher will give examples but at the end of the sermon you are left confused and wonder if you even got a satisfactory definition. We will examine what walking in the spirit means and how to do it. First, we must examine a few commands given to a believer in regards to the holy spirit.

1. Quench not the spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
2. Grieve not the holy spirit (Ephesians 4:30)
3. Walk in the spirit (Galatians 5:16)

Once we accomplish the first two (negative principles, do not) commands we are well on the way to walking in the spirit. Walking in the spirit is essential for a mature believer. It is a constant moment by moment act.

Old Testament Ways

Before we get to the nitty gritty let’s examine what the old testament has to say about this topic. Often times we see that the old testament lays out the pattern while the new testament expounds or elaborates on the old. “I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Leviticus 26:11-12. Compare this verse to what is written in, 2 Corinthians 6:16; “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Did anyone catch that? Where God once walked among them, He now will walk in them. God wants us to live on a higher plane; no longer by the mosaic system. “Christ has become of none effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:4. Are we beginning in the spirit and ending in the flesh? Galatians 3:1-3. Years ago Christians thought that not wearing jewelry, or cologne, or dressing a certain way would prove the inward change. Remember, we are saved by grace, we don’t do anything to earn our salvation. How many Christians rebel against this truth? We are saved by faith we must walk by faith.

The Law

At this point I must give some balance. Although we are saved by grace the apostle Paul says, “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.” Galatians 6: 1-2. The ten commandments are known as the moral law and even as a Christian we cannot trample on them. Can you think of one commandment that we can ignore? They were written in stone by the hand of God and we know sin by the law. We came to Christ because we are condemned by the law; we have violated his law and if he is to judge us by the ten commandments we would fail. Humanity must throw itself on the mercy of God’s court.

The good news is, two thousand years ago Jesus took our punishment on the cross that whoever shall repent and believe shall be saved from the wrath of God. Furthermore, God gave his promise that the moment we believe we will be given a new heart and new desires to please him. A born again Christian starts off as a baby wanting the milk of the word but as he reads and obeys he grows and matures. He is not just saved but a hearer of the word; not just a hearer of the word but a doer. As we grow we will fail from time to time but God gives us grace that we can continue. He doesn’t cast us aside and promises to bring us to completion. Philippians 1:6.

Step One

The first step to how to walk in the spirit is to acknowledge your sin. If you ask anyone on the street they will acknowledge their own goodness. Everyone thinks they are good but the Bible says, “there is not one good, no not one.” Realizing our sin is the most difficult step. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8. When we begin to admit our sin our old nature becomes more active.

Before conversion we had no idea how evil we are; now we begin to resist our sin and the battle begins. In fact, the longer we go without sinning or feeding our flesh the pressure to sin builds. We cannot overcome it by physical efforts or will power but by walking in the spirit. The best saints saw themselves as the biggest sinners.

Once you realize your sin you’ve taken your first step and you are in good company.

Step Two

The second step on how to walk in the Spirit, which I alluded to is, realizing that we cannot live the Christian life.  We must acknowledge our weakness in the flesh. The commands that pertain to the holy spirit are on a higher plane and if the Jews could not keep the law of Moses how are we to keep such lofty spiritual commands? I’ll just give you a few examples below;

1. 1 Peter 2:9 “Show fourth his praises.”
2. Colossians 1:10 “Walk worthy of the Lord, to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work; and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
3. 1Thessalonians 2:12 “That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you to his kingdom and glory.”
4. John 13:34 “Love one another as I loved you.”
5. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “Bring every thought to obedience of Christ.”

I’ll save us both some embarrassment and stop here with the commands. If we are being honest, we must agree with Psalm 139:6, “I cannot attain unto it.” We are therefore faced with a dilemma: I have been given commands that I cannot achieve. Does this mean we give up and become like most Christians that say they live in a perpetual struggle and failure? These commands can cause most of us to just give up and stop growing but we should rely on the Holy Spirit. This is the most humbling step, not being to do it out of our flesh. But relying on the Spirit to walk in the Spirit

Step Three

The final step is resting in the Holy Spirit. We have just examined by the first two steps our inability to keep the spiritual commands but because they are spiritual they can be lived out by the one who lives in us. Remember, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. At our conversion we have been born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants to use our vessels for his glory and our mouthpiece to speak the gospel. He has promised to be with us and never forsake us because he was forsaken by the father on our behalf.

When we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. When we acknowledge our sin and our weakness Jesus can live out the commands through us, we are to totally rely on our savior. Can you think of anything better? By walking in the spirit we are yielding to Christ, he’s here with us and in us.

Imagine a man with broken legs and crutches. He cannot walk by his own strength, his legs are broken but, he can with the help of the crutches. The moment that man lets go of his crutches he falls down. Now I’m not saying that the Holy Spirit is a crutch, He’s the third person of the trinity; this is just an illustration. Just as a man with broken legs depends on crutches to walk so we depend entirely on the Holy Spirit to walk through a fallen world. He keeps us holy in an unholy world.

Use these three actions to help you walk in the Spirit;

1. Acknowledge your sin
2. Acknowledge your weakness in the flesh
3. Rest on the Holy Spirit

Be blessed.