Galatians 5:16-25
16 I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.
18 But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,
21 occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ (Jesus) have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
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On 5/4/08, I wrote this the Daily email about this passage:
The fruit of the Spirit (verses 22 and 23) is what I want. Christ isn’t calling us to live a boring, dull life that’s no fun. Rather, he came that we could have an abundant life. So … how do I get this abundant life? What exactly does it mean to live by the Spirit? In my opinion this is a very difficult question. I’d hoped to sit down and write a description of how you live in the Spirit, but the scriptural basis is literally all over the New Testament. Just compiling it takes hours/days. Let alone understanding it and trying to put it into personal terms.I’m convinced one can devote a lifetime to answering this question, and I’m also convinced that God is calling me to do just that. I'm going to be spending some time on this question going forward.
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Since that time I've written 30+ of these messages on this point. My testimony to you is that pursuing this question -- what does it mean to live by the Spirit -- will transform your life.
If you want to see how it played out for me in the Daily messages, click here:
Daily Messages on Life in the Spirit
The blog messages are saved chronologically, with the most recent at the top. So to trace the path, you need to scroll down to the bottom, then read the earliest message. Just keep scrolling up and reading. When you get to the top of the page, you'll have read 15 messages. To get to the most recent 15, which reflect more spiritual growth, you have to scroll back down to the bottom and click "Newer posts". Sorry this is so convoluted, it's just the way blogs work.
To be clear ... I'm putting this out there because pursuit of this subject has been life changing for me, and I've tried to share it in these messages to help anyone interested in walking that path. The theme of dying to the flesh and living in the spirit is woven throughout Paul's epistles. If you stick with this subject in Scripture, you will see Paul describe what I call "transcendent faith." That faith is there for all of us, if we choose to pursue it.
