LIVING IN THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT

“If we LIVE in the SPIRIT, let us also WALK in the SPIRIT” – Galatians 5:25

There are only two ways a person can be born and LIVE: either in the flesh or IN THE SPIRIT. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jh.3:6). To be born of the flesh is to be born naturally, and live by the adamic nature. To be born of the Spirit is to be “born again” – to become spiritually alive by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Each thought we think, each word we speak, and each deed we perform, is from either the adamic nature or the Spirit of God. It is His Will that every saved person thinks, speaks, and acts in the Spirit. Jesus is our perfect Pattern in walking and living in the Holy Spirit: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was LED by the SPIRIT in the desert” (Lk.4:1).

In order to truly live in the Spirit, we must have accurate understanding of the Person and Acts of the Holy Spirit. He is God – the Third Person of the Triune God, along with the Father and the Son. Although the Holy Spirit is an integral part of the one Godhead, He is an individual Person in His own right: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Mt.12:32). To live in the Spirit therefore implies Walking in the Spirit; walking in intimate relationship with the Person of the Holy Spirit: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (v.16). Living in the Spirit means manifesting the character and characteristics of the Holy Spirit: His Purity and Power – the fruit and gifts of the Spirit (v.22-23; 1Cor.12: 4-11).

The Holy Spirit is God; He is not a feeling, manifestation, prophecy, or tongues; though all of these are relevant and real. The Holy Spirit is pleased when we exalt the Lord Jesus and pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. He has the Father’s mandate to form a perfect Bride and bring her to the Lamb. The Lord Jesus has ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. God has sent the Holy Spirit into the world as our Helper and Counsellor, to take of the things of Christ and give to us (Jh.14:16-17,26). The Holy Spirit guides and leads us in our Christian walk: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom.8:14). He guides us “into all truth” (Jh.16:13). This is similar to how the Israelites were led by the cloud and the fire in the wilderness (Num.9:15-23). If God would lead His people under the Old Covenant in such a remarkable manner, how much more will His Spirit lead us today if we learn to cherish His leading?

We are challenged each day to turn away from the fallen nature and choose to behave in the Spirit of God: “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal.6:7-8). The Holy Spirit dwells in everyone who belongs to Christ (Rom. 8:9). What a glorious reality this is, that the Spirit of the Almighty dwells in me! The flesh is still in the best of believers, but we are not in the flesh (Rom. 8:9, 12-13). It is our privilege, in the Spirit’s power, to crucify the flesh and have consistent victory over sin. But the victory is not in our selves or in any strength of our own. It is all in the Spirit’s power. Praise God, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom.8:2).