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WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
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| WALKING IN THE SPIRIT: CONFESSION: (Ps. 73:1): “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.”. One of the important requirements for walking in the Spirit is confession of sin. Sin must be confessed in order to keep a healthy fellowship and walk with God. (1Jn. 1:5-10). Confession means that one agrees with God about sin and is willingly prepared to turn away from it to God’s righteousness then with genuine sorrow for his sinfulness penitently ask God for His forgiveness. It does not mean that the one could never fall into such same sin again in the future but, it does show an attitude of hatred towards sin and of love and willingness to submit to God’s Holiness and the leading of His Spirit. We could come to God in confession and for cleansing each time we fall into sin. God is never tired of forgiving us. (1Jn. 1:9). His mercy endures forever. The most important thing He looks at is if our heart is genuinely geared towards repentance. No one can attain the state of sinless perfection in this life in the flesh. (1Jn. 1:8, 10). The Christian life is of a progressive sanctification until we attain a state of sinless perfection when Yeshua shall appear to bring us into glory in His Holy Kingdom. (Phil. 3:13-14, 20-21). But the truth remains also that a Christian who is walking in the Spirit and who love to maintain his close and warm fellowship with God cannot sin wilfully and deliberately. But will always be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit. He will continually remain sensitive to the inner voice and the leading of the Holy Spirit living in the temple of his heart. (1Jn. 3:6-10; 5:18; Eph. 4:27,30; 1Cor. 3:16-17). Confession should be made immediately when the Christian becomes aware of his sin: there should be no delay, sin must never be harbored unconfessed by a Christian. In fact the truth is that there is no genuine Child of God who could deliberately live with his known sins unconfessed to God without losing his peace and rest. This has being practical experience in my Christian walk. Private sin should be confessed unto God privately. And sins involving against others should also be confessed both to God and to those wronged. (Mt. 5:23-24; Jas. 5:16). WALKING IN THE SPIRIT: YIELDING: (Rom. 12:1-2); “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Confession of sins is not automatically enough to enable one to walk in the Spirit. There must be yielding and submission of one’s will, desire and whole being also. One must let go of his life into God’s hand to be possessed, used and controlled by Him for His purposes. (Jas. 4:7; Rom. 6:3; 1Cor. 6:19-20; Rom. 8:14). Both the body and the mind must be willingly and reverently yielded to unto God for His total and complete rule and control. The body is the vessel from which actions are carried out while the mind is the original source chamber where all the actions carried out by the body are planned and sorted. So it is important that God’s Spirit be in charge of them to us. Yielding to God does not simply mean to be willing to do some specific things God directs. But it must involve whole hearted devotion and dedication to do all whatever the Lord commands selflessly. It also involves separation. We are instructed not to compromise or be conformed to the world but to be transformed and to be renewed in the mind (Rom. 12:2). Since the world with it’s pleasured and standards does continually and entirely opposed to God’s way and holiness, one cannot rightly claim to be yielded to God where as he still indulges in reveling in worldly lusts. (1Jn. 2:15-17). The concept of separation involves being unfashionable in spirit, thoughts, expressions, values and actions according to the worldly designs and sinful standards. (Eph. 4:17-5:11). The mind must be transformed from sin and former lusts in the flesh. Sin darkens the mind and makes it wicked and opposed to God. (Rom. 8:7; Phil. 1:21). It must be renewed in order to resemble God’s. (Eph. 4:23-24). The renewing of our mind will come from constant meditation on God’s Word and through continual prayers of worship to God at all times. (Ps. 119:1; Phil. 4:6-7). The process of yielding and renewing of our mind is a life long process that will last til we are taken out of the world. It is a continuous and progressive process which would be completed when we shall be with our Lord Yeshua and have attained ultimate sinless perfection in glory. (Phil. 1:6; 1Jn. 3:2). To maintain our walk in the Spirit with God, let’s continually yield ourselves wholly unto God and selflessly submit to His absolute rule and control of our lives. WALKING IN THE SPIRIT: FILLING: (Eph. 5:18); “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”. To be filled with the Spirit simply means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. The need to be filled with the Spirit is very vital and crucial to living a successful Christian life. Unlike the indwelling of the Spirit which every Christian experienced at conversion, being filled with the Spirit is a repeated experience. The expression here “be filled”, is in the present tense (Eph. 5:18); there are other examples in the Scriptures where the disciples were filled repeatedly in different occasions. (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31). We must note that the need for every Christian to be filled with the Spirit is a command not an option. In order to be effective and fruitful every Christian must be filled with the Spirit, not being oblivious of what would become of the one who fail to be fruitful. (Jn. 15:2; Mt. 25:30). For one to be filled with the Spirit the prerequisites are simply confession of sins and yielding to God. These mean to agree with God about our sins and to completely submit our whole being - body, soul and spirit in willing and conscious dedication and obedience to Him. When the believer takes this step his life will be conformed to God’s purpose and he could begin to bear Spiritual fruits and to manifest Christ-like character. The certain that a believer is filled with the Spirit could be seen in his daily life and conduct. The one that is filled with the Spirit will continually and evidently exhibit a life and the character that matches the fruits of the Spirit described in Gal. 5:22-23. Every Christian must long and desire to be filled with the Spirit, for in this experience lies the sweetness and the key to Spiritual blessings available in the realm of God’s gracious and generous provisions for all His children. The power of the new life is made evident and effectual through Spirit filled life in Yeshua. The genuiness of our faith, relationship and identity with Christ could only be attested to or approved by our continual Spirit filled living. Some people think that the sign of being a true Christian is by speaking in tongues. This thought is widely held and even taught by some Pentecostals. Speaking in tongues is not a sign of being filled with the Spirit. Rather, tongues is a sign to the unbelievers to the reality of the gospel to change life. (1Cor. 14:22). Personally I know of many Pentecostal believers who speaks in tongues but their lives are not sound and lacks the mark of a Spirit filled life. |
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