Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

“What does it mean to ‘walk by the Spirit’”? (Galatians 5:16)

My good friend, John Stroud, texted me this question last week as he did his sermon prep on Galatians 5. John and I were partners in ministry for over 10 years and he is now a full time counselor for Grace Ministries and an elder at Mosaic Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. He asked, not because he didn’t know, but because he wanted to hear a variety of perspectives as he prepared his message.  Wow, that’s a big question.

I gave it some thought. And since we’re beginning a sermon series out of Galatians in the new year, it seemed particularly relevant.  I don’t know if I did the question justice, but here’s what I came up with:

Walking by the Spirit means that I am, by the power of the Holy Spirit, living life, making choices and functioning moment by moment from the perspective of my identity in Christ and not my flesh.

To me, the most significant phrase in my definition is ‘moment by moment.’ (It’s even the name of this blog site.) The Holy Spirit wants to walk with me in intimate relationship every moment of every day.  God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) and he meant it. We have the very person of God living within us (1 Corinthians 6:19). But every moment of every day, I have a choice.  Will I walk with a conscious awareness of his presence? Will I trust Jesus in moment-by-moment dependence? Or will I be in-dependent, living life based on how I feel or out of my own strength and meager resources? My choice makes all of the difference, because God’s peace (John 14:27), rest (Matthew 11:28) and the abundant life (John 10:10) are only available to those who are walking by the Sprit. What will I choose in this very next minute?

Walking by the Spirit is not compliance to a list of rules or defined by a set of behaviors.  That’s the Old Covenant.  Before Jesus came, people gauged their acceptance with God based on how they were measuring up to the Mosaic law- the big ten (the 10 commandments) or the 613 (the rest of the commands found in the first five books of the Bible). It was called “walking in the law of the LORD” (Psalm 119:1). But it was an impossible standard to meet. Since no one is perfect, how could anyone ever know if they were truly pleasing to God? How much law keeping makes God happy- 51%, 75%, 99.5%? Jesus came to deliver us from all of that.  He fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17), gave us his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and left us his Spirit as a companion and guide (John 16:7, 13). And “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Galatians 5:13).

I wish I could say, I’ve got all of this nailed down, but I don’t.  Many days I fall flat on my face. I let circumstances dictate my attitudes and allow my flesh to flare up like a petulant preschooler. Sometimes I fall back into old patterns of sin or self-righteousness. Knowing the truth and living it are two different things.  But I’d rather live under grace walking with Jesus than under the law, any day of the week.

Have you joined the adventure of walking in step with the Spirit or are you still under the law?  Being a follower of Jesus is much more than reforming your behavior or just being “good.”  It’s walking in step with the Spirit moment by moment.  It’s an adventure that never gets old.