Fundamentals of Christianity

Walking in the Spirit

Habakkuk 2:4 “The Just shall walk by faith”

Galatians 2:20b “I no longer live but Christ lives in me”

Walking in the spirit means being who you are and doing what you do by faith in Jesus Christ.

As a newborn babe in Christ, God recreated you in Christ to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). There is a part of you that is perfect in God’s eyes and is like Christ.

Romans 12:1-2 exhorts us to put off the body (sin nature) and renew our minds to Gods word so we can grow in him.

It is all about Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:4 “Christ is our life”

What is walking in the spirit?

There are many different theological views on our makeup but we will reveal what God says:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Let your spirit, soul (g), body be preserved blameless”

Matthew 22:37 “love the lord with all thine heart, mind, and soul”

Hebrews 4:12b “Piercing between Soul and Spirit”

Genesis 1:24-26 “He became a living soul (h)”

From God’s word we are a spirit, we possess a soul, and we live in a body.

When we got born again, our spirit got saved. But our mind, will and emotions did not. Our inward man is being renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16)

Our flesh (body) and spirit war each other. Paul even struggled with this (Romans 7)

The term soul includes spirit in the hebrew, but it is distinct in the greek. Soul is used for mind, will and emotions while spirit is used for the inner most part of a human.

Your heart is the seat of your spirit and soul. It is who you are.

Who we are

When we got saved, God sees us like he sees Jesus, righteous in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”

Even when we sin, we have an advocate with the father (1 John 2:1). Jesus is interceding on our behalf. If we confess our sins, he will forgive us and restore us to fellowship with him.

Literally, we are joined in one spirit with him (1 Cor 6:17). We are his children, blood bought by Christ Jesus. We have his nature so we naturally want to please him and follow him.

This is not a license to sin, but a license to righteousness, to follow Christ because of what Jesus has done. Read Romans 6

2 Tim 1:7 “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind”

How God Sees Us

By Faith Hebrews 10:38 Jeremiah 17:7-8

Same way you got saved---by faith Ephesians 2:8-10 Colossians 2:6

Letting Christ rule in your hearts and guide your life Galatians 2:20

If we live in him, we should walk in him Galatians 5:25

Simple Formula (Train):

Let Christ take the wheel and the engine

Your mind, will and emotions follow Christ

Your body is the caboose

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Christ is your life, and his strength is made

Perfect In our weaknesses.

Keep your Eyes on Jesus

So how do we walk in him?

Hebrews 12:1-2

Lay aside every weight and every sin

Crucifying the old nature, and growing in the new

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith and not by sight (flesh, reasoning, feelings, etc)

Ex. Peter Walking on the Water John 6:16-21

Peter focused on Jesus while he walked, until he focused on the waves and he sank

Focusing on Jesus means that we:

1. Focus on his Righteousness Matt 6:33

2. Focus on his goodness (Grace) John 3:16

3. Focus on him eternally Colossians 3:1-4

Focusing on Jesus

• We are the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus 2 Cor 5:21

• Recreated in Christ to do good works, to serve him and others in love Eph 2:10

• Work out our salvation with Godly fear and trembling Phil 2:20

• Put God first and let him be Lord over everything 1 Peter 5:6-7

• Follow him and seek after his righteousness Matt 6:33

• Realize what Jesus did for us and freely give God’s love away Matt 10:8

• Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Prov 1:7

• Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ 2 Pet 3:18

• We Belong to God, so we honor God with our bodies 1 Corinthians 6:14-19

• Don’t focus on your sinfulness, focus on Jesus, your righteousness, and you will not give into sin so easily. (Gal 5:16-17)

• Jehovah Tsidkeneau-Lord our Righteousness (Hebrew)

• God convicts us of righteousness so we can move forward and grow into his image (John 16:12-17).

Focus on His Righteousness

Main Idea: Since you are made righteous, walk in him, do good works (fruit of the spirit), obey his commands because he loves you.

Be who you are and do what you do. Go out and serve God and serve others

No condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Romans 8:1

Stop condemning yourself and see yourself as complete in Christ and eventually, you will move towards that (Colossians 2:10).

Focus on his Righteousness

• God is love and he is good. All his promises are yes, and Amen (so be it, it is done) 2 Corinthians 1:20

• Psalms 136 “For he is good, his love endures forever”

• Ex. Psalms 23 “Lord is our Shepard, I shall not want”

• Ex. Psalm 27 “Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear”

• Ex. Psalm 5:12 “Lord’s favor surrounds me as a shield”

• Ex. Psalm 18:30 “Lord is a shield and buckler to those who trust in him”

• Galatians 5:6 “Faith works through love”

• We trust God because he loves us. We love God and others because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)

• We can trust God because he has, and will do his word. We can name and claim his promises because they are ours in Christ.

Focus on his Goodness

• Many people fear, are angered, worry, and panic because they focus on their problems and external things rather than on Christ.

• Jesus said 365 times in the bible, DO NOT FEAR. God wants us to focus on him and not our issues.

• Phil 4:6-9, 1 Peter 5:6-7 makes it clear that God wants us to surrender everything to him and when we seek him and honor him with our lives, he will give us everything we need and fight our battles for us.

• Since God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good, we need to worship him instead of the circumstances. This gets our mind off of our circumstances and ourselves and on him.

• God created us for his pleasure, to worship him and glorify him and not ourselves. He created us so he can shine through us. So we need to put him first and do everything for him, and not ourselves.

• Faith in Christ takes time and when we know that he is good, we will surrender all to him and follow him with our lives, enjoying his promises and obeying his commands.

• “It is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance” Romans 2:4

Focus on his Goodness

Main idea: God is Good, so focus on him, surrender to him, and let him take care of everything else 1 Peter 5:6-7

In everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. We need to be content in him so that we can experience his fulfillment.

Focus on his Goodness

• Christianity is more than a religion, it’s a relationship with God

• Our lives belong to Christ. We are seated with him in heavenly places and are citizens of his kingdom. Phil 3:20. Eph 2:6.

• When we became Sons of God when we trusted him for salvation, we are forever sons of God John 8:35

• So we should be “eternally” focused, not focused on the things of this earth (Colossians 3:2)

• Instead of living for ourselves, and we belong to Christ, live for God and make him famous. 2 Corinthians 5:15

• Focus on things that matter, not on things that will pass away

• Heaven and earth will pass away, but God and his word will never pass away. Matthew 24:35

Focus on him eternally

• Invest your life for eternity by serving God in this world

• Go on missions trips, love those around you

• Do not get ensnared into the things of this world (riches, fame, popularity, trying to meet needs you do not need, etc). Be content with what God has given you (Phil 4:11-13).

• The most important thing is love, love God and love each other as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39)

• We need to focus on God and make Jesus our daily focus and realize that he is all we need since he is our great Shepard.

• Meditate on Scripture, Grow in Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ

• Continue to make an impact for the kingdom, with pure motives

• Spend time with God on a daily basis since we are joined with him. Develop intimacy with God and learn to know him more on a daily basis.

• Remember, heaven and earth will pass away, but God lasts for eternity.

Focus on him eternally

Main Idea: 2 Corinthians 5:5-7 “We are absent from the body and present with the Lord, and when we are present in our bodies, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight”

We walk by faith, and not by sight. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Our spirit is in heaven, but our soul and body is on earth, we just have to be heavenly minded so we can enjoy everything God has for us. We communicate with God through our spirit, not the flesh, and we grow in God by the spirit, and not the flesh. So we need to continually be growing by walking by faith in Christ Jesus.

Focus on him eternally

John 10:10 Jesus came so we may have life and that more abundantly

We as Christians can live the abundant life when we focus on how good God is and give him glory in everything we do. This means we are obedient to him and we serve him out of love and serve others out of love.

We just have to continue to walk by faith and not by sight so we can know God more on a daily basis and be more like him.

We just have to keep calling those things that be not as though they are (Romans 4:17) in order to move from point A to point B in our Christian life. We have to believe God’s promises as being done in our lives before they can become a reality.

Bottom Line

Ask: God wants us to ask him in faith so that we can receive what we ask for

Believe: This is the whole crux to faith. We have to know in our hearts that what God says is true for us despite our situations. We have to believe that we have received it, and he will grant it (Matthew 11:24)

Confess: From Salvation to living the Christian life, faith involves our speech. When we confess Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that he is risen, we will be saved. It is that simple to be saved. Now we just have to confess God’s word AND believe it in our hearts and it will be a reality.

Demonstrate: When you truly believe something without wavering, you will demonstrate that faith through action, or walk it out. Not only will you believe and confess God’s word, but it will come to fruition in your life.

Endure: No matter what the trials and tribulations, we continue to trust God and not the circumstances, calling things that be not as though they are. In the natural, we have plenty to be afraid, but with God, all things are possible.

Appendix: ABC’s of Walking by Faith

True

Noble

Reputable

Authentic

Compelling

Gracious

Best, Not Worst

Beautiful, Not Ugly

Things of Praise, not to curse

Appendix: What to Think (Phil 4:8)

Do an inventory and make a list of sins and weights that so easily beset you and cause you to stumble. Do this prayerfully. Let the holy spirit point out areas where you are not surrendering over to him. Let him point out any unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness. This can block God from working in your life.

Pray over this list and ask God to complete the work in you. Ask God to take the wheel and help you bear much fruit.

Rely on his grace instead of your own power to live the Christian life. Let Christ live through you.

Start where you are at in your faith walk, and go from there. Be patient and allow God to work in your life.

Challenge