How Do We Walk in the Spirit?

In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.  Here is this week’s question: Dear Tom and Dave, I have a question about something that I’ve never been able to quite get a handle on in all of my many years as a Christian.Tell me your understanding of these verses and how we are to practically fulfill them: Romans:8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
See All..., 4 and Galatians:5:16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
See All..., 25.

Tom:

Dave, before I mentioned thoughtful questions.This is one that I think every Christian has from time to time because there’s always tension there between “Wait a minute, is this the Lord?Am I doing this for the Lord?I want to fulfill his will; I want to do what he wants, but am I really doing it?

Dave:

Well Tom, the answer I think is fairly straight-forward.If there were some technique for doing this—

Tom:

Yes, some methodology, ritual whatever.

Dave:

Right and Paul in Galatians 5 when he said, “This I say therefore walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh,” he would have said and now here is the way you do it.But he didn’t.And of course, Romans 8, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”Well it doesn’t tell you how, so I guess it’s a matter of the will.I guess it’s a matter of saying “Lord, this is what I want; now I may make some mistakes, but will you teach me and guide me?” We have to learn to you know, heed the voice of the Spirit in our conscience, in his Word first of all, but it comes from a real passion, a real longing, a real desire to be what God wants us to be rather than being deceived by the promises of this world, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world, the world passeth away.Much of it is through an understanding.I’ve used many different illustrations I guess.You are a family of runners Tom, not everyone in your family; you’re not one of the runners.Your wife—

Tom:

I watch them run.

Dave:

Right, okay, you’re a fan and your youngest daughter has been breaking records, she’s fantastic.So here’s a good illustration for you.This fellow trained for four years to get in the Olympics.It’s the 800 let’s say which Emmy does very well—

Tom:

Yes, she just won the state championship.

Dave:

Right.And he takes off, he’s leading the pack and he’s going to win.I mean everybody knows he’s favored but half way down the track he smells the delicious aroma of hamburgers and to the astonishment of everyone and the shock of his coach, he pulls off the track and heads up into the stands to get a hamburger.You’ve got to be insane, what are you doing up here?Well, I mean hamburgers are good for you, I mean why not have a hamburger?This is not the time.You’ve trained all this time and look!So it helps us to have some understanding you know.Paul said, “So run I not as one that beats the air, I keep my body and bring it into subjection.”He says everybody runs but only the one that wins gets the prize, so run that you might obtain it.So part of it is some understanding, recognizing what the issues are, recognizing there’s only one life and it will soon be past and I see that more now that I did when I was a child.This is a very fleeting existence.Recognizing that you know the things of this world, they don’t mean anything.Now that’s the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit, from the Word of God that shows us.I mean what do I want from this world?Do I want the acclaim of men?Jesus said, “Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, so spake they of the false prophets that were before you.”There is so much wisdom in the Word of God, in the Book of Proverbs that if we would pay some attention—

Tom:

Be thoughtful as we’ve been saying throughout the program.

Dave:

—Pay some attention to it, we would have some motivation for being led of the Spirit and realizing that eternity is forever, time is very short, wow there’s all the reason, one major reason.The stakes are very high.Why would I throw away four years of training for the Olympics and a gold medal that was within my grasp to go up into the stands to get a hamburger?It doesn’t make sense and if we had an eternal perspective, if we saw things through the eyes of God, through the eyes of his Holy Spirit, through the eyes of the Word of God, it would change our lives really.So how am I going to walk in the Spirit?Well, I need some understanding.I have to have a passionate desire to please God, but then I could be deceived as to whether this is important or not, whether it really matters and so forth.I get that from the Word of God.We need some wisdom; we need some understanding, but most of all we need to recognize that look, one day all that matters is: What is God going to say?Never mind what my friends will say now.That is not going to count for eternity.Furthermore, human beings change their opinions.What am I going to be—a hero for men?Am I going to serve men or am I going to serve God?It’s very logical; it’s very rational, it’s reasonable.“Come now, let us reason together saith the Lord.”

Tom:

Dave, I agree.You know the scripture I think about is: “If any man wills to do my will he will know.”If we are willing, God will enable us to do the things that we have to grow in that may be difficult for us, but he will enable us.He has given us his Holy Spirit to do just that.