September 12, 2017 WHO’S LEADING ?
Romans 8:2, 12-14 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for 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. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”
As believers, we must live with the realization that we are more than flesh and blood-we are spiritual beings who temporarily have a fleshly body, and we must also realize that at any given moment, we are living either according to the Spirit, or according to the flesh. Before we came to know Christ as Savior, our only choice was to live according to the flesh, unredeemed, and in bondage to sin and death. Christ came and suffered, and gave His life in order to free us from sin and life according to the flesh. Only in Christ do we find true freedom and only in Him can we experience life to the fullest. When we live according to our own dictates, when our focus is on self-fulfillment, and when we live according to our own understanding, we are living according to the flesh-or self. When we are sensitive to the leading of the Spirit within us, when we are desiring to do the things that please the Lord, when we acknowledge that we are not our own but that we belong to Him-then we are walking according to the Spirit. We cannot walk according to the Spirit by our own strength and will power, but only by the power of the Spirit of God that indwells us. What a blessing that we have been adopted into God’s family, have been made new creations with new hearts and minds, have been given a new nature, and have been joined to God for all eternity! No longer are we in bondage to sin; now we have power over sin (Romans 6:6). The key is that we have the power to recognize, and to put to death the deeds of the flesh-the old person we use to be. (The ‘flesh’ as used in scripture is referring not to our physical flesh, but to rule of self in place of the rule of God.) It’s all about who is leading, or who we are following-self, or the Spirit. The truth we must grasp is that living according to the flesh always leads to death- emotional, mental, spiritual, even sometime physical death, and a void of life as God intended, whereas living according to the Spirit always leads to life-life free from sin and spiritual death, and free to live as unto the Lord, enjoying life to the fullest. Notice that it is when we are “putting to death the deeds of the body,” that we live. The point is that we must continually be dying to self and continually be walking or living by the Spirit. In fact, the hallmark of being the sons and daughters of God is that of being led by the Spirit of God. Let us make certain that we are putting to death the deeds of the body (the old self) and that we are being led by the Spirit—if we do, we will experience life just as God intended.
Romans 6:6-8 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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