0713. Walking in the Spirit
Walking in the Spirit
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal_5:16).
How many young Christians are very happy in their salvation until, after a few weeks some severe testing comes. Their old nature asserts itself and they fall into sin. Immediately they are prone to think that their salvation was not real. They fear they were not saved because their idea of salvation, was, that they would never sin, nor want to sin again.
Young converts need to know the sinfulness of their carnal nature, and that they, in the flesh, must fail. They need also to know the way to victory which is by walking in the Spirit.
The 7th chapter of Romans which describes the inability of the flesh to keep the Law or to walk in the will and way of God, led to the cry, "O wretched man that I am." Passing from the 7th of Romans into the 8th, we pass from the works of the flesh, to the work of the Spirit. The 8th chapter of Romans, Rom_8:4, explains that the righteousness of the Law may be fulfilled in those "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Let us examine into the word "walk." What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Does it not mean following the voice of the Spirit, yielding to the will of the Spirit, obeying every command of the Spirit?
The story is told of a little girl, who fell out of bed almost every night. One morning her mother said to her, "Darling, what makes you fall out of bed so much?" The little girl answered, "I dess it’s ’cause I goes to sleep too near where I dets in." And is it not true that the reason new converts stumble so frequently and fail in their Christian walk is because they think when they get salvation, that there is nothing that lies beyond. There is no deeper need, today, than to know that the secret of victory, lies altogether in "walking in the Spirit."
The Old Testament gives two beautiful illustrations of the meaning of "walking in the Spirit." First, we quote a familiar passage: "As the hart panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God." The word translated "panteth," is the Hebrew word, "dabeg." Now, let us notice the other Old Testament Scripture. Ruth and Orpah had followed Naomi to the parting of the way. The Bible says–that, "Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her." The Hebrew word for cleave is the same "dabeg." This word "dabeg" translated in one verse "followeth after" and in the other verse "clave unto" is just what it means to "walk in the Spirit."
To walk in the Spirit, then, is to follow hard after the Spirit, even as the famishing hart, follows hard after the water brook. To walk in the Spirit is to "cleave unto" the Holy Spirit, with the same love and devotion that Ruth manifested when she clave unto Naomi.
To those who "walk after the Spirit," victory is assured, "Ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." In those who walk after the Spirit, the righteousness of the Law will be fulfilled. Thank God there is a place of victory. He always causeth us to triumph in Christ; He leadeth in the train of His triumph.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR