Walking By the Spirit

This past May, my community group finished a six-week walkthrough of the book of Galatians. We found ourselves convicted of our pride, encouraged by the free grace of Jesus, and occasionally perplexed by some of Paul’s statements. We were especially mystified by the words of Galatians 5:16: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” When we came to that verse, there was a heavy pause in the discussion until someone very astutely asked, “So how exactly do we walk by the Spirit?”

It sounds so simple on the surface: do this good thing (walk by the Spirit) and then you won’t do that bad thing (indulge your sinful desires). But oftentimes, Simplicity is a mask worn by the Complex and Nuanced - and that certainly seems to be true of Galatians 5:16. 

Paul appears to take it for granted that the Galatians know how to walk by the Spirit, as if it was as normal as putting on a pair of shoes and walking out the door. He issues the command, and then seemingly fails to offer any further instruction for immediately carrying it out. Which, of course, leaves us wondering: are we left in the dark? Did the Galatians possess a secret knowledge that helped them walk by the Spirit - a knowledge we no longer have access to? 

Hardly.

Believing What You Heard

Earlier in this same letter, Paul subtly answers the question of how to walk by the Spirit.

“So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard” (Galatians 3:5, emphasis mine)?

If the Galatians had once known how to walk by the Spirit, they’d evidently forgotten it. They’d been bewitched, led back into an old legalistic religion that bound them in chains of slavery (Galatians 3:1-2, 5:1). So Paul attempts to break the spell with a firm reminder: we do not receive God’s Spirit by works of the law, but by believing what we heard - namely, the good news of Jesus Christ and all of the promises that God has given to us in his word (2 Corinthians 1:20)!

To put it another way: God supplies the Spirit to us when we hear the word of God, put all of our trust in Jesus Christ, and believe in all of the promises that he purchased for us by his blood. We walk by the Spirit by clinging to and acting on God’s promises! 

Depths and Riches

I think one of the most anemic tendencies of the Western church is to only dwell on the most “general” characteristics about God: God is just. God is holy. God is merciful. All gloriously true! But he has revealed his justice and his holiness and his mercy in deeper and richer ways through specific promises, and our hearts are filled with the hope of the Holy Spirit by believing them (Romans 15:13). In other words, we are keeping in step with the Spirit and walking by the Spirit, by clinging to and acting on God’s promises. 

Here is an example of how this plays out in my own life. On weekends that I preach, as I am walking up to the platform and my heart is thundering in my chest, I rehearse 1 Corinthians 3:7-8 in my head: “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.” 
 
God is the one who ultimately brings about fruit and growth; I simply plant or water as best I can. I receive the inexplicable hope of the Holy Spirit through those God-breathed words, and I am strengthened by the Holy Spirit to perform the task at hand. Fear takes flight when my heart is rooted in the soil of God’s promises; or, to paraphrase parts of Galatians, I walk by the Spirit by clinging to and acting on God’s promises.   

God's Precious Promises

I heartily encourage you to take up this life-giving practice. When you’re reading your Bible, take note of the precious and great promises that God makes to his people (2 Peter 1:3-4). Memorize them. Write them down. Learn more about the context and situations in which they were given. Believe them. Here are some that I find myself returning to time and time again; maybe they will be a good starting point for you too:

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 
Isaiah 41:10

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 
Psalm 34:18

Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hebrews 7:25

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:32