Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Hello readers, hope you had a good week! It’s time for a new blog today. The Bible says in Romans 8 to walk after the Spirit. But yet there’s no “how to” manual in this chapter. It just says to walk after the Spirit. And if you do, there’s no condemnation, and you fulfill the righteousness of God. But it’s such a matter of fact statement, like we already know what that means. If your understanding and thinking hasn’t been transformed by the Spirit of God via having truly been saved, then you won’t ever get it. God isn’t something we “do” or “practice”, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he’s alive forever more… we live like he’s dead. We live like God is dead, and we walk in our flesh.

Romans 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So he leads, and we follow. You see there is no “how to” when it comes to the Spirit of God. Because it’s not us doing the leading, we just do the following as he leads. So in order for that to happen, you’ve gotta have him in you! See, if all you’ve got is dead religion, then this chapter isn’t alive to you at all. What Romans 8 is talking about is someone who has been born again.

I was reading this and not quite getting it. And then this verse… Romans 8:9 – But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. See, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, and he is received and dwells in our hearts by faith, you of course cannot do this. There are no steps to take, because there is no way around the fact you either got him or you don’t.

If you are saved, you are in the Spirit. If you are not, you are not, you are none of his. A Christian trying to live this verse and chapter out in the energy of flesh… that Christian will meet failure after failure. Because being led the by the Spirit presupposes that he’s there, that you have been saved. If you haven’t, then he’s not there, so how are you going to walk after the Spirit?

Romans 8:6 – For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. We need our minds changed to even understand this truth. See when you’re saved, you are placed in Jesus Christ, and he dwells in you by his Spirit which he gives us. That happens the moment we are saved. He’s God you see, he knows when someone repents and calls upon him. He hears that person. And he comes and makes his abode with that person forever. When that person is in you, what we have to do is walk after him.

Romans 8:4 – That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. What this verse is saying is that your life will only be righteous when you walk after the Spirit. Often we try to establish our own righteousness, than the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ, which is by the faith of Christ. You see, what really matters is Christ’s faithfulness to us. That’s what makes being saved and sanctified alive. Because it relies on him far more than it does on us. They asked Jesus what they might do that they might work the works of God… and Jesus said this is the work of God that you believe on him who he hath sent (that’s Jesus). Our part is to have faith… and God’s word is the object of our faith. Lot’s of people have a faith, but it’s a faith not placed in God’s word at all. It is in God’s word where you get to know God, you get to know what he wills, what he wants, what he says… who he very well is.

Many people have a “my faith journey”, but not a “the faith of Christ” testimony. It’s such a big difference. When people talk about “my faith”, they really don’t get it at all. See if you are a child of Abraham, and that’s who the promises are to, and who God performs his promises to… that’s a person who hears God’s word and obeys it out of a heart belief that carries a conviction of the truth and authority of the word of God.

Walking in the Spirit is Christ leading us. That doesn’t take our list of dos and donts and our performance, but it takes faith, trust, yielding, submitting, obeying. Such hard things to do because our flesh doesn’t want to do any of that. Often we start in faith, but then we move into living in the energy of our flesh. But faith isn’t just required to be saved, it’s also required for sanctification, ongoing day by day life. We aren’t just required to have a shard of faith at one point in life to be saved and then take it from there, we are meant to yield to God’s word every day, believing in his word. Under the law it’s us doing our best, but when you are born again it’s us following Christ.

Romans 8 really loses people because to understand it you need to have a real relationship with God. Until you are actually saved, till he’s actually in you, you cannot grasp what it’s saying. That’s why people twist what it says, because in their flesh they can’t get it. This chapter is only possible if you have repented of your sin and placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You believed God’s word, you believed the report, you believed the prophets, you surrendered all your philosophy, wisdom, and goodness and bowed to the authority of God’s word. Abraham had a conviction that God’s word was true, that’s why he did what he did. Belief produces change, God is looking for people that will believe him, that will take him at his word, not just to be saved, but to live the saved life.

Jesus doesn’t just forgive you, he comes to dwell in you, to lead you day by day. Just as that pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness. Move when he moves. The pillar gave them light, it protected them. If the Holy Spirit isn’t first in you, how can he tell you this? Romans 8:16 – The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. He’s not going to bear witness with your spirit if you are not saved. See, only a saved person is led by the Spirit of God. Hence that verse again… Romans 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

To walk after the Spirit of God, he’s first gotta be there. This all has to be more than intellect and knowledge. We can live so dead in the mind to God. We got through the motions… yet all there is is death. Remember Aaron’s rod that budded? It had life in it, but we so often are just dead sticks, sticks cast forth from the vine, because we don’t abide in the vine. Most people’s lives don’t have life, because there is no life there. There is no Holy Spirit. Sure they replicate it by living Christian and doing Christian, but it’s not arising from the power of the Spirit, but from the energy of the flesh. That’s why they’re defeated, because the flesh can’t do it. The flesh is dead because of sin. You have to die to yourself to be risen with Christ. Christ died for your personally, he took your penalty, and when you believe in him to save you, your flesh dies with him, but you’re spiritually resurrected with Christ. Sure, it’s hard to understand, but the Bible says that, so believe it and reckon it to be so.

You can’t walk after the Spirit if the Spirit is not in you, if you haven’t been born again. We try to fulfill scripture without having a real vital relationship with our Saviour. He’s not just disappeared for the last two thousand years, he ever liveth to make intercession for us. He lives on our behalf. He’s doing a work in us. What’s better than him being in you, than you being united in him by faith? It’s his faith that gives us faith to believe him. Because he performs what he says. So you hear the gospel, you believe on Jesus Christ, and he saves you. Then you grow in grace, Christ is formed in you, as you go along in life reading the word, praying, trusting the word of God as you live your life. And Christ leads the way. The flesh does get in the way of that, because we still have it, but we have to cast it out. Remember Abraham, he had to cast out Ishmael, because Ishmael and Isaac can’t co-exist. We’ve got to practically die with Christ daily, we have to ask God to mortify our flesh, to help us, to lead us. We can live a Christian life so devoid of spiritual reality, so devoid of the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus. Jesus spoke of his relationship with his Father, it was so close, and had in such oneness… we need to have that with our Saviour.

If you haven’t been saved, you can’t walk after the Spirit, because he’s not there. It’s only possible to walk after the Spirit if you’ve been saved, if you are his. Because if you aren’t his, you aren’t his. God only gave that pillar of cloud and fire after the blood had been applied. He led them, and they followed. There’s a pillar we need to follow, the pillar of the word of God. Josiah stood by a pillar and read the book to the people as he led Judah out of ruin into repentance and revival. The Holy Spirit and the word of God work together, he always leads us in accordance to God’s word, so the closer you get to God’s word, the more you pray and the truths of his word actually take place in your heart, not just your head, well then this whole thing will become alive to you. It’s by faith folks. Walking after the Spirit is faith, because it’s trusting God’s leading. It’s not our way, it’s God’s way. It’s not our word, it’s God’s word. It’s not our glory, it’s God’s glory. See, we just get in the way of ourselves, and as God leads us along, we just learn how fallen and sinful we are and how great his love, grace and mercy are. His grace is sufficient for the whole journey, we don’t exhaust his grace, we cannot. Moses tried delivering the people in his strength, and he failed, but the next time, he followed God’s leading. God told him who he is and what to do, and Moses walked in step behind him. And God really came through didn’t he, look at all that God did. People thought Moses gave the bread from heaven, but Jesus said… God gave you that bread. We need to take intellectual knowledge to heart belief, to have the conviction of God’s word as truth and the authority, and when we truly believe, God promises to lead and fulfill his promises. And he did, and he will.

The key to the Christian life is the Holy Spirit of God. He’s received by faith. And we follow him by that same faith. We believe God’s word, and God transforms our life. Jesus said he would come and make his abode with those that believe him. Jesus didn’t commit himself to those people doing lip service but who’s hearts were far from him… but he does commit himself to someone that truly repents and believe. Him coming to dwell in your forever is him committing himself to you. Romans 8, walking after the Spirit, it’s only possible if you have reality… if it’s not just dead religion that you got. If it’s not just a whole work of the flesh. That human nature has got to be put to death, and nailed to the cross of Christ, and God promises right now to raise you in newness of life. Do it by faith. It’s ok not to understand, you think Abraham understood it all when God said go and take your son and sacrifice him to me on Mount Moriah? No he didn’t understand it all, but he did believe, if he didn’t believe God’s word, he surely would not have been willing to kill his only son. It starts with simple faith, and it never stops. We must decrease and he will increase. Don’t trust in your flesh, trust in God and his word. Then you’ll be well on the way to walking after the Spirit.

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