ROAMING THROUGH 

I wish that every Christian would understand the power of walking according to the Spirit. To walk according to the Spirit is to live by the teachings of the Spirit; that is, to live by the gospel of Christ that the Spirit has revealed. It results in being sin free. I don’t mean we never sin. To think that is to deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8-10). What I mean is that we appear before God as if we have never sinned. That is why Paul says there is no condemnation in Christ (ver. 1). Sin is what condemns man. Sin is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). However, when we are walking according to the Spirit, we are holy and blameless before God (Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:21-22). Paul tells us that when we walk according to the Spirit, we fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (ver. 4). The law that Paul is referring to is the Law of Moses which demanded sinless living to escape condemnation. Those in Christ meet that requirement when we walk according to the Spirit, not because we are sinless, or even innocent, but because we have been justified of all our sins. Our sins have been removed by the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 1:5). Thus, we appear before God as if we have never sinned.

Another part of walking or living according to the Spirit is setting our minds on the things of the Spirit (ver. 5), and the result of that is life and peace (ver. 6). That is opposed to the death that comes by living according to the flesh. Living by the flesh means being controlled by the old man who was corrupted by sin. That is the man that Paul tells us he crucified when he obeyed the gospel of Christ (Galatians 2:20), and if we belong to Christ, we too have put that old man to death, along with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). Now that the old man has been put to death, we can walk according to the Spirit and the Spirit will dwell in us because of righteousness (ver. 10), that is, because we have been made righteous or justified (declared not guilty) in Christ. That is why we have life. That is the why we have peace. That is why we are in a state of “no condemnation.” It is the power of walking according to the Spirit. It is the power of truly living in accordance with the gospel that the Spirit has revealed to us. As you wind down for the night, think on these things.