The Bible tells us that if we walk after the Spirit then we will not fulfill the desires of the carnal nature or our physical senses. What does it mean to walk after the Spirit?
(Romans chapter 8)
To “walk after” actually means to be joined to or with. Paul differentiates between living in the Spirit and walking after the Spirit. (Gal. 5:25)
A believer can be made alive by the Holy Spirit and “live in” the Spirit or be baptized in the Spirit but not actually walking after the Spirit or walking in the spiritual realm.
Some Christians are still allowing their carnal nature to lead them. They trust in man’s word more than God’s word and they mind the things of the world rather than the things of the Spirit.
Some believers try following the law and discipline of the body to control their carnal nature . This route eventually leads to defeat because while the law many contain sin it cannot conquer it.
God gives us the remedy in his word to crucify the flesh. He says to be filled with the Spirit and then walk after the Spirit. This is not not just a one time thing. We see in Acts chapter 2 that when believers got the Holy Spirit power from on high they waited on the Lord again concerning Peter in Acts chapter 4 and they were all filled with the Spirit again.
This is important to take note of. Believers need to he continually filled with the Spirit in order to overcome the carnal nature and the world. Being filled with the Holy Spirit means to be immersed in or supplied with the Holy Spirit on a continual basis. This comes by seeking God in prayer and spending time in God’s word. When we seek the Lord and call on him to empower us to walk in his Spirit he will always answer!
Just because we got the Holy Spirit one time does not mean that the Holy Spirit is activated in our lives on a continual basis. A good analogy would be that if we are a cell phone and have a battery inside us that does not mean that battery is charged. We have to plug it in to charge it. This takes time. It’s the same with our bodies. The amount of time we spend charging our battery will be the amount of power we get in our lives.
So when we are filled with the Spirit then we can be led by the Spirit. This means that once our spirits are charged up in the Holy Spirit we become more sensitive to the things of the Spirit and can hear his voice and feel his promptings.
As we fill up with the Holy Spirit each day that old person will soon die and be rendered in operative. As we pray in the Spirit and sing in the Spirit which Paul recommends that we do then we will be empowered by the Spirit. That means when we get to the place where our spirit man is more dominant than our carnal nature we will actually be able to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit according to our gifts and callings.
Born again believers live in varing degrees of the Spirit. None of us have managed to be as yielded to the Spirt like Enoch where we walked with God straight into glory but we should be moving closer in that direction all the time.
If we are filled with the Spirit then we can walk in the Spirit. When we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways he will direct our paths and then we are guaranteed to be successful by God’s standards. Then we can live as overcomers in this world.
If through the supply of the Spirit we are controlled by the Spirit then it will be automatic to yield to the Spirit. Our spirits being joined to God’s Spirit will enable us to live holy lives.
Those who are led by the Spirit scriptures tell us are the children of God but those who live according to the carnal nature will be defeated. Paul was talking to believers when he said that.
The unregenerate cannot reign in God’s kingdom. The carnal nature must be overcome and the way that we do it is not through rigorous religious exercise but through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5 tells us that our carnal nature will always fight against the Spirit but there is a remedy and that is being led by the Spirit of God. Being led by the Spirit can only come by being filled with the Spirit. When we fill up on the Holy Spirit every day then the Lord will direct our lives every day.
It is the Spirit that gives us life. It is the Spirit that enables believers to be salt and light in the earth. Without the Spirit we can do nothing for the flesh profits nothing. So as Paul says, let us put off the carnal nature and put on Christ. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit like Jesus was and let us be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in victory every day!
When our carnal nature becomes so subdued that Jesus is truly Lord of our lives then as Jesus testified in his word, “Greater works shall you do because I go to the Father. “
Be filled with the Holy Spirit today!
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