Living by the Spirit.
Text: Romans 7:18 – 8:11
When discussing life as a Christian, or when discipling believers, you are inevitably faced with, usually by very sincere, desperate Christians, the infamous question “How do i do that?”, “How do i just abide in Christ”, or “How do i walk in the Spirit?”. These question although possible to answer Biblically, are usually the wrong question to be asking, at least at first. That being said, they should not be casually brushed off because their reason for asking is generally because these sincere, desperate Christians at times find themselves presenting their members to sin (Rom. 6:13) and experiencing condemnation, shame, and guilt. (*They could also be experiencing self-righteousness, pride, and arrogance but generally when Christians are having these experiences they are not asking anybody any questions because they think they have arrived. I digress.)
The christian how questions, in my mind, are like someone asking me how to breath. “How do you get the air to fill up your lungs? I get so out of breath and i just know that all i need to do is to take a big, deep, breath. You make it seem so easy, like you’re not even trying.”
To anyone who has ever breathed before, the question is pretty silly, even though there is a factual answer.
We generally link “things we do”, that are as important as breathing or living in the Spirit, with an absolute necessity for us to be sure and “get it right”. With something this essential, yes it needs to be right that’s for sure but is it really a question of us “getting it right”. Yes i can consciously take breath at this very moment but if i was responsible for every breath that i had to have every time i had to have it, lets just say we would have to seriously redefine things like cat nap, and multi-tasking, not to mention, concentration would take on a whole new meaning.
Think for a moment what it would be like if breathing was a conscious act with no natural instincts involved. How would you even know when you needed a breath?
If we are breathing, we are alive. If we belong to Jesus Christ, we are in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9), this is an eternal reality that cannot be altered – in Christ we are eternally alive (John 3:16, Col. 3:4). When, however, we are not walking according to the Spirit when in fact we are living in the Spirit, we are being rebellious, wether it be conscious rebellion (we all know what this looks like), or subconscious rebellion (i.e. ignorant disobedience, dead works, etc.) it makes no difference because the remedy is the same – repentance, a changing or renewing of the mind and moving in the other direction.
Walking according to the flesh when we are in the Spirit is like holding our breath, when we are now created to breath. Don’t quickly forget that there is no neutral, in other words, if we are not walking according to the nature that we now posses, it is active rebellion any way we try and spin it.
So when i understand the phrase “walking in the Spirit” for what it actually is – my new nature in Jesus Christ, i easily equate it to the second-nature, or automatic work of breathing, and yes it is an action, a work, which by the way isn’t a bad thing (James 2:17-18).
As we continue with the thought, holding our breath when we are now created to breath, is not something that can be subconsciously done (unless you are sick, in that case my point is simply reinforced), it is an active rebellion. When we work in, and of ourselves trying to accomplish something, we are rebelliously holding our breath, now whether our motives are right or wrong at this point, it makes no difference because we are depriving ourselves of oxygen, we are disobeying our nature. This is obviously not a good thing and can hardly be deemed accomplishing anything, and as we all know, it cannot be sustained for very long. In fact it is impossible to hold our breath and die, we pass out and immediately start to breath again, it’s like a built in fail-safe.
For the sake of discussion lets say that holding your breath equals your fleshly “accomplishments” and the longer you are able to sustain yourself without oxygen the more you are “accomplishing”. Now at the point of you passing out because of your hard work, you become un-conscious, and instinctively and completely apart from your will, take a breath. Everything you had been working to “accomplish” is now destroyed and you are completely incapable of sustained control of the situation – being your life as it pertains to breathing, and it makes no matter how strong your will.
Read through the gospels and repeatedly you will see the words of Jesus proclaiming our fruitfulness if we belong to Him – if we are in Him, it is not a question of if we will bear fruit but rather when we will and very possibly how much we will bear (John 15:5, Luke 8:8,15, Mark 4:8, 20).
This is how the vertical or spiritual reality and the horizontal or natural reality correspond, the spiritual reality is worked out in our natural lives. Our christianity, not might be, but will be perceived in one way or another by the world, not sometimes but all the time.
This may be alarming for some but the good news is if we have been born-again, made new creations in Christ Jesus through our death and resurrection with Him, we are abiding in Him, we belong to Him. That is salvation, that Christ has saved us from ourselves (2 Cor. 5:17), from our first father Adam in whom all died (1 Cor. 15:22), and given us new life in Him (1 Cor. 15:22) Dying so we may die, and living so we may live.
Everything in the natural order speak of, and glorifies Christ, and thus is directly tied to the spiritual reality. The spiritual is always the foundational or original reality; it always comes first followed by the natural outworking.
This working out process is the same kind of work as breathing. Paul in his letter to the Philippians sheds some light on this process.
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you , both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:9-13
It is God who works in us for His good pleasure, this is how we work this reality of salvation out. This is how we breath; this is how we bear fruit, this is how we abide, God in His grace, works in us for His good pleasure and we trust and believe that He is (Gal. 2:20, Gal. 3:3-6, John 6:28-29). The same way that we trust and believe and even know that our next breath is going to come even if we forget to “do it” or even if we don’t will or desire it to. We can rest easy knowing, trusting that our Head will keep our bodies doing what it must do to continue living.
Stop holding your breath trying to accomplish things, breath easy, knowing that it is God who is willing and working in you for His own good pleasure. If we have been made new creations – made to breath, we are partakers of that pleasure with every breath drawn.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:34-36