Walking in the Spirit
In 1 Tim 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and [of] a good conscience,and [of] faith unfeigned.
Micah 6:8” He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? “
I love these verses, they are summations, and they show us the end of our faith, the thing that we are called to.. In just a few words.
Have you ever noticed how God will highlight a word to show you something? It seems in all your reading, there it is, that word. Over and over it jumps out at you until you start to think….
THE CONSCIENCE
A while back a friend asked me “How do you walk in the spirit?” Now the answer that came to me was the word conscience, so I started reading every passage where conscience was mentioned, for this was one of those words that kept coming up every place I turned, if I was reading in Romans, I always ended up somewhere else because the conscience was the key to everything I read.
Here is a mini definition:”The soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other.”
Rom 2:15 “Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness , and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”
In Hebrews 10:1-2 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins?”
Now the conscience needs to be informed, needs to see what is right and what is wrong.
Jesus told us “you must be born again or you cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus put the emphasis on seeing; why is seeing important to the kingdom of God? What is it we are to see?
Why was the first message Jesus preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand? He was pointing to the work of the Holy Spirit in purifying and perfecting the child of God.
In Hebrews 4:12-13” For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
In Romans 2:15 Paul tells us that the conscience is always showing us things that are either good or bad, The word of God [Jesus is the word of God] and the Spirit of God working together to cleanse and purify, and make us one with our Father.
The Spirit of God works through our knowledge, revealing the thoughts and intents of our hearts, for Jesus told us it is not outward things that defile the temple of God but it is the inward heart that is important. It is what comes out of us that is important. [Mark chapter 7] For out of the heart the mouth speaks.
Only by the indwelling of the Spirit of truth can we see, and seeing is everything, for we cannot repent of what we cannot see. In 1 Jn 1:9 we are told If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.
First I would like to point out to you that we are not told to ask for forgiveness, we are told to confess, now why confess? Because by confession we are admitting to seeing, acknowledging, yes this is true, I see it.
Now the thing seen to be wrong can be repented, that is turned away from. The Holy Spirit of truth has revealed sin to you, you in turn have confessed it, and now Jesus can deliver you from it. Now he can cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
For to reveal sin is the work of the Spirit, obeying the revealed word is your work.
Rom 2:9 “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immorality, eternal life”
If you are seeking to walk in the Spirit, If you are born of the Spirit of God, He will lead you into all truth.
In 1 Jn 3: 2-5 is a summing up of that walk in the spirit..”Beloved now we are the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever commits sin transgresses the also the law; for sin is transgression of the law. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.”
I could go on all day quoting verse after verse for all the scriptures of truth point to this seeing and repenting and confessing, turning from the sin we know and see. And God is so faithful and so kind, He does not reveal all our sin at once, He knows how much we can bear,
He will not go faster then we are able, but once seen He will not relent, For our God is a consuming fire. And the only thing He would take from us is sin, for sin is a darkness and a bondage, a wall that keeps us from our only home, our only place of rest…The heart of our loving Father.