Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:
Let me tell you about some of the walks I’ve taken.  These are real and personal.  But they will likely bring to your mind memories of walks you’ve taken:
~ As a boy of 8-9 I actually did walk 1/4 mile to the bus stop.
~ I went for walks with one of my early girl friends.  I can still remember the warmth of those talks.
~ I remember walking from the car up to the door of one of my girl friends to meet her father and mother.
~ I remember walking to get gas after I ran out.

Gal 5:16-18 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Relationship with the Holy Spirit = Going for a walk
Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”
A disciple is one who takes personal responsibility for his/her own spiritual relationship and development.

Relationship with God inside you is about letting Him choose which direction. At Westhaven Circle which way are you going to go?

Spiritual growth
Hebrews 5:11 “We have much to say to you but you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teaches but you have need for someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again.”

Involves three things
I. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit.  (chain of events)
What does it mean to “walk by the Spirit”?

Many think this is primarily a subjective experience–trying to intuitively sense God’s presence and guidance. Now, there is a subjective dimension involved in walking by the Spirit, and we will discuss this.  But this is not what Paul focuses on here.

Others think this is primarily about behavioral change. Now, walking according to the Spirit will produce behavioral change. But if we equate walking by the Spirit with behavioral change, we’re back to serving God under the law.

Rom. 8:5-7; Colossians 3:2 “For 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. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because 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 . . .

According to Paul, the primary element in walking according to the Spirit is “setting our minds on the things of the Spirit.”

To set your mind on something involves rational, volitional reflection, on what you think about and the perspective from which you view the different facets of your life.  Spiritual growth doesn’t begin with our behavior (what we do) or with our experiences (what we feel)—but with our minds (how we think). That’s why he says in

Rom 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”
As we learn to set our minds on what God wants them set on, the power of the Holy Spirit is unleashed to gradually transform our characters and behavior and to increasing experience of God’s peace.

What are the “things of the Spirit” that we should be setting our minds on? Some Christians might assume that the “things of the Spirit” refer to messages given to us through heavenly voices or visions or dreams.

This is not what Paul means.

Definition: The “things of the Spirit” are the truths concerning what God has freely given us through Christ–truths which have been revealed through the apostles and recorded in their writings.

In other words, the “things of the Spirit” refer primarily to the New Testament teaching on God’s grace. That’s why Paul calls this serving God “under grace” Romans 6:14 “Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit” is choosing to look at every major area of your life in the light of God’s grace. The more we learn about what Christ has given us, and the more we consciously view every area of our lives from His “mindset” His perspective, the more God’s Spirit will transform our lives.

Col 3:1-3 “Since you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. “

This is a spiritual learning process
1 Cor. 2:12-13 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

Eph. 4:20-25 “But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH, EACH ONE of you, WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.”

Paul contrasts this mind-set to a mind-set on the “things of the flesh.” This refers to the perspective we adopt on things apart from and contradictory to God’s revealed grace.

Flesh / the old self: This is our mental “default setting”– which is why we must choose to “set our minds on” God’s perspective.
Note: This is why we emphasize biblical content (and especially what it teaches about God’s grace) so much: going to Bible studies, taking courses, discussing scripture with one another, evaluating your thought-life and the messages coming at you from the world in light of what God says (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

What you think…what you feel…what you do!

The flesh often by-passes the mind to move to feeling / doing
And this is why we emphasize New Testament more than OT –because it teaches God’s grace more clearly and fully.

Key mind-set areas
1. Your Relationship With God
How you view God, and how you think God views you, are the most foundational and important spiritual things we can think about.

According to the flesh: We naturally assume that God’s acceptance and approval is based on our performance. We tend to view God primarily as a strict parent/principal/supervisor–ready to pounce on every mistake we make. This is why we will tend to avoid God–especially when we think our performance has been poor – or (worse) become dishonest with ourselves and God.

According to the Spirit: But what does God say? Read Rom. 8:1–God will never condemn me.  Read 8:15-17–God does not want me to relate to him as a slave in fear of his rejection, but as a son and heir who is confident of his love. Read 8:38,39–nothing (including my own sins) can separate me from God’s love. To the extent that we set our minds on this great truth, we will tend to relate to God more frequently and more honestly. (Rom. 8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:15-17 “For 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!”  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…”

Romans 8:38,39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2.         Your self-image – your view of yourself!  Distorted mirrors!
1 Corinthians 4:7 “7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

3. Your Difficult Circumstances
It is inevitable that we think about our circumstances–where we work, our state of health, our finances, etc. And because we live in a fallen world, sometimes these things are quite painful and negative.

According to the flesh: If we have a legalistic relationship with God, we will tend to interpret bad circumstances as God’s punishment. If we view our happiness and security as contingent upon our circumstances, we will tend to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy worrying about them, or trying to change things we can’t change, or blaming our unhappiness on them.

According to the Spirit: We will feel the impact of negative circumstances, and we will often try to improve them when possible. But, more fundamentally, we will remember two crucial biblical truths: Read 8:18,23-25.

a. My negative circumstances are only temporary, to be removed in the next life and replaced by glory.
When we view our negative circumstances in this light, God grants us resilience and hope.
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:28,29.  “God works all things together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose”

b. God is sovereignly involved even through my negative circumstances for his glory and my growth. In other words, nothing can prevent God from accomplishing the most important goal in my life. This frees us from victimhood to thankful, creative cooperation.

Our prayers will change from “Get me out of this!” to “What do you want me to learn from this?”

Rom. 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

4. Your Close Relationships
Most of us think a lot about the other people in our lives–especially close dating relationships, spouses, children, parents, friends, work associates, etc.

According to the flesh: Left to our own perspective, we will tend to believe that we will be happy when they love us the way we want to be loved. In other words, we look to these people to give us security, meaning, and identity. But this will always disappoint us sooner or later, because they are finite and fallen–only God can provide these things. So we will become disappointed, outraged, try to manipulate, reject them, etc. After years of this, many get cynical about relationships and just use people where possible and avoid them otherwise.

According to the Spirit: As we draw our lives from God and his love for us, we discover a reliable source of security, meaning, and identity. On this basis, we can approach relationships with others in a very different way. We are able to enjoy people and bear their burdens instead of measuring ourselves by comparison to other people (Gal. 6:1-4). We are grateful to receive love from them — but we don’t have to demand it because we know God will be there. In fact, we see their love ultimately as an expression of God’s love for us.

When they hurt us, we can extend forgiveness–because we’re so aware and appreciative of how much God has forgiven us.
We begin to be able to give love to others sacrificially and without strings–because we are secure in God’s love.

Gal. 5:26-6:4

II. Keep in step with the Spirit
Gal. 5:18 speaks of being “led by the Spirit” is part of “walking by the Spirit” (vs 16).
Rom. 8:14 speaks of “being led by the Spirit” as part of walking according to the Spirit.

Notice what Paul says in Gal 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

The verb (stoichew) is different than the general verb “walk” (peripatew) in 5:16. It means to “walk in a line, to proceed under another’s direction.” It was sometimes used to describe soldiers who marched in response to the directions of their commanding officer.

A. Definition: To “keep in step with the Spirit” means to be alert and responsive to the Spirit’s personal guidance in your life.
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal Force that you learn to tap into and use to accomplish your agenda for your life. The Holy Spirit is a Person who personally guides you into God’s will and then empowers you to accomplish this as you choose to respond to his guidance.

God does not simply throw you the rules and expect you to learn them and carry them out in an impersonal, mechanical way (“I’LL WORK ON RULES 1-5 TODAY, 6-10 TOMORROW . . .”). He gives you his Spirit to apply his will to your life in a very personal way

There are two ways to tour the EAA Museum or Gettysburg battlefield:
On your own or rely on the help of a knowledgeable personal tour guide.

B. Avoid 2 dangerous extremes:
1. Being led by the Spirit is ONLY a supernatural event – it is a substitute for using the mind and common sense — the need to find supernatural explanation for everything that happens.” “God led me to spend two hours sharing Christ with my co-worker instead of doing my job.”

2. Others, the leading of the Spirit has NO supernatural component at all.
Those usually more cerebral by temperament, feel uncomfortable with any subjective or unpredictable feature of Christianity, reducing spirituality to a recipe of Bible verses and safe formulae. This leads to a “Christianity” that is safe, predictable, boring–and (sometimes) autonomous from God with no room for spontaneity and no room for risk-taking.

Since God wants us to “keep in step with the Spirit,” there must be a way to recognize his guidance

Recognizing the Spirit’s guidance
God’s Spirit will never guide us in a direction that contradicts God’s Word

Moral correction (Read Gal. 5:26).

Sinful attitudes actions such as LYING; GETTING HIGH, having a CRITICAL SPIRIT, sold out to worldly rather than Godly priorities,
servant direction (Read Gal. 6:1,2).

III. Sow to the Spirit
Paul began using an agricultural picture in Galatians 5, describing the results of walking by the Spirit as the “fruit of the Spirit.”
After explaining how to “keep in step with the Spirit” in Gal.5:25-6:5,

Galatians 6:7-9 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

You reap what you sow does not = karmic law (what goes around comes around), but rather a basic principle of cause and effect in spiritual growth.

If you sow to your own fallen nature, you will reap “corruption”–which is not damnation, but the lifestyle described in Gal. 5:19-21a as the “deeds of the flesh”.  If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap “eternal life”–which refers not to heaven, but to the “fruit of the Spirit” as described 5:22,23. If you want to reap a good spiritual harvest in your life, you must sow consistently to the Spirit.

The key principle here is that the results don’t show up immediately, but later—but they always show up.

A. Definition: “Sowing to the Spirit” is participating regularly in the “means of growth.”

]Theologians often call these activities the “means of grace.”
We like to call them the “means of growth.”

John Stott, one of the greatest Bible teachers of the 20th century, says about this passage:
John R.W. Stott) “a disciplined use of the means of grace. That is, daily prayer and meditation on the Scriptures, . . . reading Christian books, making Christian friends, and getting engaged in Christian service. It is by a disciplined use of these means of grace that we grow in grace, and the Holy Spirit within us is able to produce the beauty of holiness.” “The Unforbidden Fruit”, Christianity Today, Aug 17, 1992, p. 36)

B. The means of growth are:
Acts 2:42  ”They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Notice what they sowed:
1, “The apostles’ teaching”
2. “Fellowship”
3. “Prayer” – individual and corporate
4. “The breaking of bread”
This is a little ambiguous. It may refer to the Lord’s Supper, which then connects it to prayer and emphasizes thanksgiving. Or it may refer to having meals together (Acts 2:46), which then connects it with fellowship.  Or broadly to corporate worship.

5. “Discipline of the Holy Spirit”

Summary: “Sowing to the Spirit” means building a lifestyle that centers around these means of growth.

Summary Of Walking By The Spirit:
Learning to walk by the Spirit is an art that takes practice. It’s a lot like learning to ride a bike which is difficult because you have to simultaneously do three things: balance, steer, and pedal.

Similarly, walking by the Spirit involves the three things
1.         Set your minds on the things of the Spirit
2.         Keep in step with the Holy Spirit
3.         Sow to theSpirit