Walking by the Spirit: How to abstain from sin and remain on the constricted path of salvation.

When we repent and believe in Jesus, we are freed from the flesh and the condemnation incurred through the Law of Moses, so that we may serve God in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit becomes our new Law; the Law of Christ.

[Rom 7:6 NASB95] 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.



As long as you are walking by the Spirit, you are abstaining from the flesh and fulfilling God's plan of salvation.

[Gal 5:16 NASB95] 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.



We walk by the Spirit simply by keeping our minds focused on the spiritual things of God.

[Rom 8:5-7 NASB95] 5 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. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 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,]



We keep our minds focused on the spiritual things by simply thinking about spiritual things and doing them. The more you study and pray, the more deeply you can think, and the more you can know to do.

[Eph 5:18-21] 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.



The two greatest enemies of a spiritual mindset are double-mindedness and anxiety. These will divide your attention and can ultimately tempt you into sin by distracting you from the Law of Christ in the Spirit.

[Phl 4:6-9 NASB95] 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.



When anxieties arise, let body tremble, but do not let your mind drift from the the Spirit. The ability to face and set aside one's own emotions is key for cultivating self-control and having clarity in times of uncertainty.

[Psa 4:4-5 NASB95] 4 Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD.

Great thread. Thanks!

Seek ye first the Kingdom...

Sermon on the Mount
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,n ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’*
22* But I say to you, whoever is angry* with his brother will be liable to judgment,o and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
23Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,p
24leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.q Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
26Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

Teaching About Adultery.
27* “You have heard that it was said,r ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29* If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.s It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

Teaching About Divorce.
31* “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’t
32But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.u

Teaching About Oaths.
33* v “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’
34w But I say to you, do not swear at all;* not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
35nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
37* Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.

Teaching About Retaliation.
38* “You have heard that it was said,x ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
39y But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
40If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
41Should anyone press you into service for one mile,* go with him for two miles.z
42Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.a

Love of Enemies.*
43b “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’c
44But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,
45that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
46For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors* do the same?
47And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?*
48So be perfect,* just as your heavenly Father is perfect.


As spoken by Jesus and if you can fulfill those laws, you actually dont need Jesus, if you cant, you do
So, like me, I rely on Jesus not my capacity to follow the laws
Faith and Grace its called in the church, not works

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I gotta go with Leonard Cohen on this one… I hate to see temptation caving in when it’s literally what gets us thru this world. Imagine going thru this world under the whip alone without a single carrot. We can’t do it and we’re not supposed to. The flesh is weak for a reason, and no amount of pulpit preaching is going to change that. All it does is paint us guilty of a crime we never committed.

a reply to: Raggedyman

I was speaking of the Spirit, not the Law of Moses.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

so was I

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

You cant stop anxiety, feelings, fear, nor sin
Jesus didnt expect that from us, He said love others have faith in His grace

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Sounds like a spiritual law to me

a reply to: Raggedyman

Verses 28-33 are the shema' from the Law of Moses. Our Law is the Spirit, and it involves loving our brothers as Jesus loved us. That's more than your neighbor as yourself.

We don't have to stop anxieties. We just have to detach from them and shift our focus to the spiritual things. Nevertheless, sin is not an inevitability for the believer in Christ, who has been freed from slavery to sin.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

For me, reading a chapter from The Book of Proverbs daily helps me, as well as daily thanking God and acknowledging all He has done for me.

That's the glue that keeps me from falling apart.

SPAM

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: Raggedyman

Verses 28-33 are the shema' from the Law of Moses. Our Law is the Spirit, and it involves loving our brothers as Jesus loved us. That's more than your neighbor as yourself.

We don't have to stop anxieties. We just have to detach from them and shift our focus to the spiritual things. Nevertheless, sin is not an inevitability for the believer in Christ, who has been freed from slavery to sin.

I think if we love ourselves as Christ loved us, its enough.
And in my opinion, sin is inevitable, hence faith and grace, what would be the point of faith and grace if we didnt need it?

Paul was very clear
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me (Romans 7:15-20).

As I understand it, sin is not of a christian, no longer a part of our natural body, like a virus, invading the christian.
Born again, free of sin and anew in Jesus but with sin, like a virus, invading us

Texta reply to: Raggedyman

The entire point of faith and grace is so that we might stop sinning by walking in the Spirit. Why do you think God gave us the Holy Spirit? Not so that we walk around telling ourselves that sin is inevitable. That's not the attitude Peter told us to have.

[1Pe 4:1-3 KJV] 1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of [our] life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:


You're taking Romans 7:15-20 out of context. Read the whole chapter Paul is clearly talking about his experience under the Law. But he spent all of chapter 6 and the first half of chapter 7 explaining that we are dead to the Law and no longer slave to sin.

[Rom 7:6 KJV] 6 But now we are delivered from the Law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.

[Rom 7:9-15 KJV] 9 For I was alive without the Law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me]. 12 Wherefore the Law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

We can't use Romans 7:15-20 as an excuse for sin. Verses 6 & 9-15 show that you're taking the passage out of context. We need to burn the bridge to the flesh and recognize that we absolutely can stop sinning, and this inevitability mindset does not help us.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

It's as if this place was set up to ruin and defile the Holy Spirit, then Jesus came along.

That's what it takes to understand morality to life? Learning old sayings?

No, you cannot and will never have the ability to do right by logic. Logic is not a reason. That's why a true purpose in life fulfills you, not correct acts.

How about simply saying to use your creativity to grow life and not waste it to only get pleasure?

Learning to enjoy life is the goal. Distractions are "sin". Until you know what it is that you're willing to dedicate your life to, you cannot grow.

When you put your mind to creating happy moments, completing task that gets you closer to promotion, lifting someone's mood with a chocolate, thinking of someone and contacting them, planning your day to benefit you to do more things, looking after your body with some exercise.

You don't have to be a saint or religion fanatic with proof in text to tell how to live right. The more you do for yourself to be happy, the more creative you get. And it's a loop.

You have to experience it, you cannot achieve enlightenment by chance even if you win the lottery. You need to earn it by staying true to yourself.

Some say it's the matrix, I look at it as a tree in a bottle. What can you find in yourself strong enough to lift that lid? Only a piercing dedication to life itself has the willpower to throw the rocks aside and let you grow have full potential.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

We don't have to repent of sin to be saved, and the Law of Christ defined in Galatians 6 is to take on the burdens of others so they may be saved... That's what Jesus did on the cross, that's not my burden for salvation, you are way off..

a reply to: ThyJudgeCometh
It's strange that you would bring up Galatians in your argument, because that entire book was a call for the believers of Galatia to repent for their salvation. Their return to the Law of Moses had severed them from Christ.

You won't have protection against the second death if you don't overcome. And whether you're a believer or not, you can't overcome if you refuse to abide in Christ.

That means you need to repent as often as you sin.