Have you ever thought about what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:17)? For many, these words conjure up a slightly hazy, unclear sense of walking in obedience—abstaining from sin and perhaps partaking in spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, and bible reading. But is that really what Paul means? Is the call to “walk by the Spirit” primarily a call to avoid sinful behaviours and try really hard to discipline ourselves to live obediently? Many people have understood this passage that way, but when Paul wrote these words, I believe that he had something different in mind.
Throughout the New Testament, the language of “walking” is often used to denote the idea of “living” or “abiding” in the power of someone else. Therefore, to “walk by the Spirit” means to live in light of the work of the Spirit. And what is the work of the Spirit? First, it is to unite us to Jesus and his perfect righteousness, and then, it is to give us supernatural power to live according to God’s ways. In light of this, we can understanding walking by the Spirit in two ways—
First, walking by the Spirit means trusting in the work of Christ on our behalf. It means believing that we are clothed in his righteousness rather than seeking to establish our own. In Romans 8:4, Paul would say that God sent his Son, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” We walk by the Spirit when we believe in the work of the Spirit to unite us to the perfect law keeping of Jesus and when we believe that we could never earn that righteousness on our own.
Second, walking by the Spirit means trusting in the power of Jesus not only to justify us, but to sanctify us. The same power that gives new life is the power that also grows, sustains, and empowers us to walk in obedience to God’s commands. The gospel doesn’t simply wipe our slate clean and give us a fresh start—if that were the case, we would all still be in big trouble! Instead, we trust in the power of Christ in the gospel to empower our obedient living each day and to strengthen us to persevere until the end.
And so, if we want to walk by the Spirit, we ought not to look to our own strength or our own discipline. Paul is not giving us a call to try harder, but a call to trust harder. It is a call to trust, every day, that we are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus and to trust that our union with him empowers our obedience and righteous living. And so, may we all walk by the Spirit, today and every day of our lives!
All the best,
Luke Burrow
