Walk by the Spirit
Love Your Neighbor
The last thing we want to notice in these verses about “walking by the Spirit” is that it refers basically to one kind of behavior: loving behavior. The first thing mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit is love in verse 22. This is emphasized even more in verses 13 and 14:
You were called to freedom, brethren, only do not use your freedom as an occasion for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Just as the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are contrasted in verses 19–23, so here giving in to the flesh and serving each other through love are contrasted in verses 13 and 14. This shows that love is the all-encompassing lifestyle of one who bears the fruit of the Spirit, is led by the Spirit, and walks by the Spirit. This is confirmed by the reference to the law in verse 14 and verse 18. In verse 18, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” In verse 14, “If you love your neighbor, you fulfill the whole law.” Therefore, loving your neighbor and being led by the Spirit (or walking by the Spirit) are almost synonymous.
“Walking by the Spirit is what we do when the desires of the Spirit are stronger than the desires of the flesh. ”
Almost. But there is a crucial difference which should make us very grateful that Paul taught what he did about the Holy Spirit. If all we were ever told was, “Love your neighbor,” we probably would have set about trying to do it by ourselves and would have turned love into a work of the flesh. We know this happens because of 1 Corinthians 13:3 where Paul says:
If I give away all that I have and if I deliver my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.
Nothing! Listen carefully now. This is utterly important for your life. Yet it is understood by so few. It is possible to undertake the most sacrificial acts imaginable for other people and still not please God. Give away all your goods and your own life, too, and come to nothing in God’s eyes. It is possible to be eulogized by the world as the greatest philanthropist or the most devoted martyr and still not please God. Why? Because what pleases God is walking by the Spirit and being led by the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit!
The great problem in contemporary Christian living is not learning the right things to do but how to do the right things. The problem is not to discover what love looks like but how to love by the Spirit. For Paul it is absolutely crucial that, if we came to life by the free and sovereign work of the Spirit, we learn to walk by the free and sovereign work of the Spirit. In view of the sovereignty of the Spirit who leads us where he wills by the stronger desires he creates within us, what should we do? What, very practically, is involved in obeying the command, “Walk by the Spirit”?
Comments
Post a Comment