Walking by the Spirit

Up to here we have pondered that the Spirit of God does a special work when a man repents and is born again. The love of God is then poured out in his heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This is of great significance, because

  • therefore, the believer primarily has a relationship of love with the Lord Jesus, his Savior and with God the Father.
  • Secondly, from this flows love and obedience to the Word of God and
  • in the third place, this includes that the believer loves his brothers and sisters, all who are born of God.

These things are inextricably linked. Not just at the beginning of the Christian life, but throughout our lives. We have received the Holy Spirit so that He can continue to do His work in us, so that we “walking to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1 ESV). Therein lies the key to the whole Christian life: the constant love for the Lord Jesus and the communion with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

Romans 8

In Romans 8, Paul continues to teach about the work of the Spirit in the heart and life of a believer. In this chapter the Holy Spirit is mentioned many times (about 17 times). You can safely say that Paul is here giving essential teaching about the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Personally, I find this one of the most difficult subjects to grasp. It is not just about the human spirit: that in itself is an incomprehensible miracle of God. But then, as a believer, you have also received God's Spirit. Then it becomes even more incomprehensible. But what does that mean and what do I notice about it? And do my personal experiences match up with what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit? It is also probably the subject where the most deceptive teachings and practices are going on in Christianity. Therefore, the subject is of great importance, both for our personal faith life, and also to discern what false teaching about the Spirit is being brought today.

As we go through this chapter, we should keep in mind what it means “that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). Because that is also the starting point for Romans 8.

A choice: walk after the flesh or after the Spirit

The chapter makes it clear that there is a choice. The believer still has his old nature ('the flesh') in him, but he has also received the Holy Spirit and with it the new life in which he should walk (6:4). Paul assumes that the believer lives out this new life and does not live for himself ('after the flesh'). He wonders whether someone has received the Spirit and has been born again when such a person as a Christian does not walk in the Spirit.

“But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9).

In other words, he repeats what he also said earlier (Romans 6):

“Well, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh.” (Romans 8:12).

Walking After the Flesh: Enmity Against God

Let's look again at what is written in this chapter about 'the flesh'.

  • If a man lives according to the flesh, he is under the yoke of the 'law of sin and death' (8:2)
  • One who walks after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh, not the things of the Spirit (8:5)
  • The conception of the flesh is death (8:6) and not life and peace as the Spirit produces.
  • The flesh cannot adhere to God subjects. It is enmity against God (8:7)
  • One who is in the flesh cannot please God (8:8)

So it is no wonder that Paul assumes that a believer does not live according to the flesh. After all, that would only be enmity against God and lead to death. That's not how God intended it, that's why He gave us His Spirit.

Walking by the Spirit[1]

A 'walk in the Spirit' is primarily that we live out the 'love of God' daily. That begins, as we have seen before, with loving the Lord Jesus, our Savior. This is communion with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. God's Spirit wants to guide and grow us every day in those three interrelated aspects:

  • The love of Christ and the communion with God the Father
  • Love and obedience to the Word of God
  • Love to all who are born of God.

As a believer, if I love the Lord Jesus, give thanks and honor to Him and the Father, and occupy myself with God's Word, the Spirit of God will work in my heart. That is a law in the sense of: “when I do A, the Spirit does B”. In 8:2 it therefore becomes 'the law of the Spirit'[2] mentioned, which applies to a 'life in (union with) Christ Jesus'. The latter shows that it is about a love-based relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Thus, one who is "in Christ Jesus" is’ (8:1), through the work of the Holy Spirit 'in Christ Jesus to live' (8:2). This activity of the Spirit is also mentioned in this chapter:

  • Walking in the Spirit (8:1)
  • Being after the Spirit (8:5)
  • Being in the Spirit (8:9)
  • Having the Spirit of Christ (8:9)
  • Christ in you (8:10)
  • Being led by the Spirit (8:14)

'Walking in the Spirit' is therefore not the experience of supernatural things such as visions, prophecies, miracles or tongues. But 'walking in the Spirit' is simply that we love the Lord Jesus and grow in the knowledge of and love for Him. A love that also extends to God's Word and to our brothers and sisters. It also means above all that it is the source of the offerings of praise and thanks which we may bring to God the Father.

In the letter to the Galatians, Paul again reminded them of these things when he writes:

“(…) serve one another through love. . . . Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and they oppose one another, so that you do not do what you would. However, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. It is known what the works of the flesh are . . . . The fruit of the Spirit, however, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. The law does not address that. But those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:13-25).

The Consequences of the Work of the Spirit

You can see from the consequences that God's Spirit does His work in your heart and life, as these are also discussed further in this chapter. They are things in which we – if it is good – grow in our spiritual life.

  • Free from the law of sin and death (8:2). It is no longer a law that you live your life for yourself. The things of the Lord have priority; He determines the nature, purpose and direction of your life.
  • Your life is in accordance with the righteous requirements of the law (8:4). Your life will show practical justice.
  • Your thinking is determined by the things of the Spirit (8:5). Your thinking is transformed into 'the thinking of Christ' (1 Corinthians 2:16), so that our thinking is no longer determined by 'the old self', the natural man in me.
  • The result is 'life and peace' in your heart. That was also what the Lord had in mind for the priests in the Old Testament: 'life and peace' (Malachi 2:5b).
  • The certainty that you are Christ's property (8:9)
  • The certainty in the (near) future to get a resurrection body through the work of the Spirit (8:11).
  • It is the Spirit who makes us "kill the deeds of the body" (8:13). A somewhat puzzling sentence. In chapter 7, Paul wrote about "my members" and "the body of this death." This body can still produce 'deeds', that is, a believer can still sin. John makes it clear that when we confess our sins, God forgives us and cleanses us from them (1 John 1:9). Confession is our responsibility to do. But at the same time that is not something that comes from our old nature (from the flesh), it is a work of the Spirit.
  • The Spirit gives you assurance that you are a child of God (8:16)
  • God's Spirit guides you as a child of God in the things of God (8:14). The Spirit guides you in spiritual things; He takes it from that which is Christ's and leads us into all the truth (John 16:13,14)
  • The Spirit brings us into a loving relationship with God the Father and draws us closer to Him: Abba, Father (8:15)
  • The certainty that a great future lies ahead: we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (8:17).
  • The Spirit Himself prays for us with groans unspeakable; He pleads according to the will of God for the saints (8:26, 27). A promise we can be sure of, even though we cannot perceive this work of the Spirit ourselves.
Suffering and Glory

These are the 'firstfruits of the Spirit' (8:23) that we already have. They are the first fruits of the work of the Spirit. They are the guarantee that the full harvest will come when also 'our bodies are redeemed' (8:23) and 'the glory will be revealed to us (8:18). Even now in the life of the believer there is suffering and sighing.

All creation also groans, suffers from futility (8:20) and is bound by 'the bondage of destruction' (8:21). Creation too looks forward – 'desires eagerly' – to the time when the believers will be revealed. That is when the glory of the Lord will be manifested to them and creation will come “to the freedom of the children of God” (8:21).

We suffer and sigh and look forward to the future! But in the meantime nothing can separate us

  • of the love of Christ (8:35)
  • of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (8:39).
Come, Lord Jesus!

Isn't it unimaginably great when you see together what the Spirit does in us? Isn't it reason to give thanks to God, also for the gift of His Spirit that He has given us? He sees to it that we arrive safely at our destination, just as Abraham's servant brought Rebekah to Isaac. Desiring to be taken by him to Isaac, Rebekah answered when asked, "I will go with you" (Genesis 24:58). In this way we may let ourselves be led by God's Spirit until we will be with our 'true Isaac', our Lord Jesus.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! (…) Yes, come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:17,20)

A short introduction (in English) to the letter to the Romans can be found in the video below.

Footnotes

[1] We start from the translation as given in KJV and KJV, who add in verse 1 “(…) who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. This also gives a logical transition to verse 2 ff

[2] The Naarden Bible translates 8:2 as: “For the law of the Spirit, of living in union with Christ Jesus (…)”. As far as I'm concerned, this is an enlightening translation.