What does it mean to "walk in the Spirit"?

I have been gathering with a group of young lions and teaching on what it means to walk in the Spirit. I would consider this one thing perhaps THE key to victory and true fruitfullness in the life of a believer. I was curious to hear what everyone thought that looked like in the life of a believer just for the sake of getting everyone to thinking about it.

Travis

The Spirit of GOD dwells within; and HE comforts,
counsels, directs, guides, leads us into a knowledge
of the truth and an understanding of His purpose
and will for us. The Spirit of GOD empowers and
enables us to follow and serve the LORD!

Excellent question Travis. Seems to be the key to New Testament Christian living. I don't have the complete answer, but I will share some thoughts here.
Col. 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
The Spirit gives the believer an inner witness or discernment about whether something is right, good and true and it is received as peace. The greek word which is translated rule in this verse is probably better translated "umpire". Let the peace of Christ umpire in your heart.
James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
If you about to do or say something which does not have the above mentioned qualities, it probably isn't the Lord's leading.
I also an interested in hearing what others have to share on this important topic.
Grace and peace to all.

I think that Paul describes it best in Romans 8. He compares the flesh to the Spirit. We, as humans, walk according to either one, the flesh or the Spirit. The one who is a follower of Christ will live and walk according to the Spirit. I believe that this is what Paul refers to when he talks of walking or praying in the Spirit. There is another form of praying in the Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians 14:13-17 but that is different. He refers to the daily walk that must be led by the Spirit and not the flesh.

Romans 8 (New American Standard Bible)

1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [a]through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Allow the gratefulness which flows forth from objective knowledge of what Christ accomplished on the cross lead you in every area of life.

Anything else is legalism.

It is what the brethren have said. And....
In everyday life, it means listening and heeding when He nudges you, for example, to go greet that new face in church, or give someone money, or refrain from making a not-so-edifying comment or wakes you up @ 5am to pray!
Examples:
Acts 8, He tells Philip to go join the Ethiopian eunuch's chariot
Acts 10:19, He tells Peter to go with Cornelius' servants.

In the above situations, He gave specific instructions to each person and they obeyed resulting in a harvest. As it was in those days, so today. He continually speaks to us, we need to quiet down and listen.

I would consider this one thing perhaps THE key to victory and true fruitfullness in the life of a believer

The Key to victory and true fruitfullnesis in the life of a believer is Holiness....

We are NOT able to be Holy in and of ourselves, and we should not try and discipline ourselfs in the flesh into living as holy that would be foolish and is decepection.

To live a Holy life a life in the Spirit it takes a work of the Holy Spirit to purify us from the filth of the flesh......

The Spirit Alone Mortifies

The Spirit strikes at the very root and habit of sin, the Spirit mortifies sin in us by purifying our hearts.

This work of the Spirit makes us Holy....

EDIT:- Spelling

Hello Travis.I've thought about this alot too.I think the real question is what do we do in order to stop walking in the Spirit? Walking in the Spirit is the starting point. Walking in the spirit is normal christianity. As soon as we go in the direction of self will, walking in the Spirit ceases. Whether self will toward religious laws or temptation.

I appreciate the responses so far and have read through them a couple of times. Keep them coming if you would. I am still very interested to hear everyone's perspective on this topic. I am seeing great fruit of teaching on this topic among the young men of our fellowship. They are hungry for God and are really getting it! I hope to find time to share some of what we have been studying in the articles section before too long.

Travis

To walk in the Spirit is to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit.

With care in Christ...

"walking in the flesh" is a metaphor for selfishness"

"walking in the spirit" is a metaphor for being loving"

I would see it this way

Walking in the flesh is loving yourself.

Walking in the Spirit is loving God.

I appreciate all of the good points that have been made on this topic of walking in the Spirit.

In order to walk in the Spirit, the self life must be dealt with. The cross is at the center of the Spirit led life, and it is by the Spirit that we put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Walking in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit is to follow Jesus, and following Jesus involves denying self and taking up the cross.

Many Christians walk not after the Spirit but are living out of their soul life. It will take a total surrender to the Lord of every area of our lives for us to walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to be in control, but unlike man, He will not force us to do anything. The devil is not the greatest hindrance to us walking in the Spirit. If we are wanting to save ourselves then we will loose out spiritualy. If we loose our self life, then we will gain the life of the Lord. Walking in the Spirit is being crucified with Christ, where it is no longer I that lives, but Christ lives in me.

Mike

Friends,

The most recent episode of the "White Horse Inn" radio show discusses this very topic. They contrast the Biblical concept of "walking in the Spirit" with the idea set forth by the Keswick concept of "walking in the Spirit"...

www.whitehorseinn.org

With care in Christ...

Here's something from Harry Foster that might be helpful in considering this topic...

To walk in the straight path of the gospel we must learn to walk in the Spirit, to be led by Him. What is the truth about the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we should turn to the gospel story and focus our attention on the experiences of Jesus. He began His public life of walking in the will of God at Jordan. And it was then that in a visible way the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Luke tells us that this happened while He was praying. What was He praying for? Surely it was to be guided in the will of the Father, as seems evident by the fact that we are at once told how He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. He had been born of the Spirit; for thirty years He had lived by the Spirit; and now in a more definite way He was to be led by the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit. His prayer was answered.

SO it was that the Lord continued in the straight path of the will of the Father right to the final climax of spiritual maturity. This is God's goal for us all. The Corinthians and the Galatians needed to know -- as we do too -- that spirituality is more than witnessing striking operations of the Spirit or exercising His passing gifts; it means lasting conformity to the will of God in terms of character. This is the path, the straight path of the gospel. But how can we keep to it? It is a well-known fact that a human being cannot walk straight, but will go round in circles if left without landmarks to counter this natural tendency to veer away from the straight line. Well, we have landmarks to help us, for we have the perfect example of a Spirit-filled life in the Gospel description of our Saviour. But more -- much more -- than this, we have the same Spirit who led Him, who is able and willing to lead us. With the Word in our hands and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we too may become spiritual people and make good progress in the straight path of the gospel.

-excerpted from [i]Toward the Mark - Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan. - Feb. 1974[/i]

murrcolr, do you think we should only love God? Or do you think we should love God, neighbor, and self (in the right order)?

You said walking in the Spirit is loving.

A un-converted husband can love there wife, un-converted mother can love there child, un-converted people who live next door can and do love each other...

The converted but still carnal do love others, so the difference between being led by your carnal nature and being led by the Holy Spirit must be of a higher path it must be more than loving.

That path we are to follow must be a complete giving up the love of your self and loving God completely with your whole heart. Some of the ways that love for God would manifest is by keeping his commandments, doing what is pleasing to him, loving others etc...etc.

Hope that explains....

What a wonderful question and I am sure there are many facets to this beautiful diamond, many of which are being expressed in these posts.

Here is how I walk in the spirit. The same way I received the Spirit, "by the hearing of faith." I received the Spirit when I believed "the thing heard", the rhema and logos of Jesus Christ. I now walk in the Spirit in the very same way. The Spirit is sent to guide me into all truth. He speaks, and will never speak on His own, but only what He hears is what He speaks. Walking in the Spirit is simply hearing,receiving and acting upon what the Spirit is speaking - this is the obedience (hearing under) of faith. This is my simple walk in the Spirit, out of faith unto faith. I hear His voice "in the way" and I receive the implanted word and it has been saving my soul. Receiving His word, is receiving His truth, and receiving the love of the truth is setting me free from the vanity of my own mind.

Everytime I am tempted, the Holy Spirit speaks to me, and simply by receiving His word by faith, I overcome the temptation and walk in the way of escape. The way of escape is simply the way the Holy Spirit directs me through His voice. This is how by simply walking in the Holy Spirit we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We are conscious of them, but we choose by faith to receive what the Holy Spirit says and we overcome by faith in the thing heard.

All the words of Jesus are Spirit and life, the Holy Spirit brings all the words of Jesus back to me moment by moment so that I can literally walk by faith, from faith to faith. This is producing the righteousness of God, the rightouesness of God that is by faith. It is simply hearing the voice of God through the word spoken by the Holy Spirit residing in me and guiding my feet into paths of peace. It is wonderfully simple.

makrothumia

Just wanted to highlight some of the points.

SO it was that the Lord continued in the straight path of the will of the Father right to the final climax of spiritual maturity.

To be a Son of God.

The Corinthians and the Galatians needed to know -- as we do too -- that spirituality is more than witnessing striking operations of the Spirit or exercising His passing gifts; it means lasting conformity to the will of God in terms of character.

In terms of character

But how can we keep to it? It is a well-known fact that a human being cannot walk straight, but will go round in circles if left without landmarks to counter this natural tendency to veer away from the straight line.

Natural tendency to veer away from the straight line.

So how do we go from being a Child of God to a Son of God in the terms of character becasue we have a natural tendancy in us to veer away from the things of spirit.

Matthew 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The Spirit of God, the Sanctifier of mens souls who takes away, who destroys the natural veer in us is the one we need to encounter. This work of sanctification which gives us a Godly charcater and will allow us to follow the straight path of the gospel where are the Sons of God...........

i was hoping this thread would go on and on, perhaps with those more seasoned in the faith, sharing their experiences of their daily walk with our Teacher. I know some experiences are too sacred to share, but what little you're allowed to share, would be gratefully received.

SHALOM