What Must We Do to Walk in the Spirit

Hebrews 4:11 (NKJV)  Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

We have been looking at Hebrews 4 where God tells us there is something called the rest that is available to the people of God.  What is the rest spoken of in this chapter?  I believe it is the rest of relationship with God in Christ.  The word translated rest in Hebrews 4:11 can mean abode.  I believe it is the rest we experience in a good home.  It is the place we can be who we really are.  It is the place where we are accepted and loved no matter what is happening in the world outside.  That is the nature of the rest available to us. 

In the tenth verse, it says that those who enter the rest cease from their own works as God did from his.  Earlier it speaks of the sabbath rest of God in creation.  The word translated rest in the tenth verse is the word translated sabbath in the Greek Old Testament.  It implies harmony.  In this type of rest, all of the elements of our being are working as they should, in the areas they should, and in the order established by God in creation.  I believe that this rest can also be called walking in the spirit as Paul wrote in Galatians 5. 

Galatians 5:16-18 (NKJV) ¹⁶  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

We can see that if we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  Verse 18 says that if we are led by the spirit we are not under Law.  This means that we can live a life of overcoming the flesh without being under the constraints of the law of Moses.  What does it take to come to this place of rest called “walking in the spirit?” 

Of course, we first must be born again.  That is the thing that reunites us in spirit with God and reverses what happened in the Garden of Eden.  I believe 2 Corinthians 17-21 points to an accomplished work that God does in us when we receive Jesus.  According to this scripture, “Old things pass away and all things become new.”  The moment I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, that became reality to me.  Jesus called this being “born again.”  He says that if this does not happen to a person they cannot even see the kingdom of God let alone enter it.  Most people in the world are unaware that there is another reality where we can live in active relationship with God.  Once we are born again we know that is true.  In the spirit it is a reality.

However, very little changes outwardly or in our soul.  Whatever state our body was in before we were saved, it will be in after.  If you were bald before salvation you will be bald after.  If you were overweight or skinny before, nothing will change when you receive Jesus.  The change is inward not outward, but it is a real change.

The same can be said for our soul.  This part of us is made up of our intellect, our consciousness, our emotions and our will.  Although they can be impacted to a point, everything in that part of us does not necessarily become new.  Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we must renew our mind to be totally transformed or completely changed in all parts of our lives.  The mind is the seat of the soul.  So while the new birth is a complete and immediate change of our spirit and our relationship to God, it is not a complete change of our soul or body.  There are habits, weaknesses, and flawed thinking that change over time. 

To walk in the spirit means to walk with that part of us in control.  If my spirit, by the power and action of the Holy Spirit, is in control then the harmony implied by the Greek word for rest in Hebrews 4:10 will be the result.  With my spirit in control, my body will be able to overcome weakness and sin, my soul will begin to think according to the principles and ways we find in the Word of God and I will be in harmony and at home with my Father and my savior. 

Anyone who has been born again knows that this is neither an automatic nor easy process.  Hebrews 4:11 says we must be diligent or labor to enter this rest.  What is the work?  What must we be diligent to do?  We must be diligent in applying the power of the Word and the Spirit of God to bring our soul and body into line with the reality of the new birth in our spirit.  To be effective this process must begin with what we do with our spirit.

There is an illustration I like.  I have traveled a great deal in Africa.  I have seen lions fairly close up.  Of course, I was in the protection of a safari vehicle, but they are still awesome creatures.  If you were to put a lion and a dog, even a very big dog, into a cage and have them fight, which one would win?  There is no competition.  The lion would make quick work of the dog and might well eat it.  However, if you starve the lion to the point of weakness and feed the dog consistently and well, the result would be quite different.  The dog would win the fight.

At the time we are born again, we have been feeding our soul and our body continually.  Some of the food we have put into them has been good, but much of it has been bad.  The soul in particular is troublesome.  We may have been raised by a family who did not know God.  They trained us to think and live in a way that did not include him.  We have been educated by the world system that generally discounts God as a real factor in life.  Everything from the culture we live into the media we hear and see has been feeding our mind, our emotions, and our will with things that, at best, have nothing to do with God and, at worst, tell us that he does not exist.

When we are born again we know that he does exist.  We experience an encounter with him.  Yet much of life experience and training tends to reject the reality of what happened.  We are saved but we know little about the God we have come into relationship with.  We do not know his Word and we do not know his ways.  We may not see right and wrong in how the Bible defines it.  We have been conditioned to see life from the perspective of how we have always lived it.  This is often contrary to God’s ways, but we do not know that and the things we do know are just too strong to allow the spirit to be in control.

What must we do?  We must feed the spirit more than the flesh, which is the soul and body.  We must begin to feed upon the word of God.  We must give time to the things of the spirit through prayer, praise and worship, and meditation in the Word of God.  We must spend time in the presence of God and his people.  All these things will serve to feed the inner man.  The stronger the spirit becomes, the more that part of us will be able to control our decisions, our actions, and our lifestyle.  Here are some scriptures that point to what I am talking about

Colossians 3:1-2 (NKJV) ¹  If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ²  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Mark 4:24 (AMP)  And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

These are just a few of the things that will point us in the right direction in terms of feeding our spirit.  The spirit is most important, but there are things we need to do in our flesh as well.  That is what we will look at next.

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