Living by the Spirit

The following an expert from the book “Living in the Heavenly Realms” by Steve Bray, chapter entitled - Your Choice - The Flesh or the Spirit.

Living by the Spirit

 

In the plan that God originally had for man, there was absolute unity and harmony in the human personality. The Spirit of God and the spirit of man were one with each other, as the Father and Son are one with each other. (John 17:22-23) The human spirit, as it remained under the dominion and direction of the Holy Spirit, was supreme in authority over the soul and the body. The soul and body were receptive. They did not control the activities of man. Thus, the Holy Spirit through the channel of the human spirit, made and kept the whole being in a spiritual union with God.

But man, with his free will, is able to reject this dominion of God’s Spirit over his activities. And so, when Adam and Eve chose to live by their own will, which resulted in the departure of the Holy Spirit, their spirit became separated from God. And without this union of the Holy Spirit and the human spirit, there was a spiritual death. At that point, there was nothing left but the soul and body to control the activities of man. Human desires then began to dominate and dictate what man did. We therefore find fallen man living by the flesh and producing the works of the flesh.

And you He made alive {by giving you the Holy Spirit}, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world…fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath {separated from God because you lived by the desires of the flesh}, just as the others. (Eph. 2:1-3)

We can now see what it means when the Scriptures speak of everyone being born “in sin.” Everyone without the Spirit naturally lives by their own desires. (2 Pet. 1:4) Adam passed this “body of sin” on to his lineage by separating all of mankind from the indwelling Spirit. And since only what the Spirit does through man is “good,” fallen man without the Spirit cannot help but be a sinner, regardless of how moral he chooses to be. Because he is still living by the flesh according to his own earthly desires, he cannot receive the heavenly life that comes from above. The Spirit can only manifest this heavenly life within the temple of our body after we have rejected the flesh-life and have chosen to walk in the Spirit. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:25)

When the Son came into the world, He “condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3) Even though He lived as a man with both a soul and a body, He did not live by His human desires. In contrast to Adam’s lineage, He was born with the Holy Spirit in Him. And by always yielding to the movements of the Holy Spirit, He reestablished the dominion of the human spirit over the body and the soul. Yes, He had natural desires such as hunger and the need to protect his body. But he never permitted these desires to usurp the leading of the Spirit.

Thus, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh—the self-originated form of life that comes from self-will—by choosing to always be led by the Spirit. He revealed how God had originally intended for man to live. And having reestablished in bodily form the eternal life that Adam lost, He can now give this same overcoming life to those who will choose to walk by the Spirit as He did. (Rom. 5:17)

Once Christ had actually paid the penalty for sin by dying on the cross, He was in a position to breathe the Spirit into His followers. (John 20:21-22) This gift of the indwelling Spirit is what results in the new birth. Only through this means is it possible to overcome the flesh and the world. Those without the Spirit of God cannot help but live on the natural plane. Although they can come under the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and be moved to straighten out their lives in a certain fashion, they still cannot relate to the supernatural life that comes down from above.

We need to distinguish between the Spirit being “with man” and being “in man.” In reality, the Spirit of God is in everyone, “since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:25) Everyone would dry up and return to dust if it was not for God’s Spirit. But Jesus spoke of the Spirit as only being “with” His first disciples prior to His death and resurrection. They were able to respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit under law. And they conformed fairly well. But, as they revealed over and over again, they were still dominated by their old self-seeking and self-exalting flesh-life. They were still under the influence of the world and walking as mere men on the natural plane.

This is why Jesus said it would be better for everyone when He went away. Even if the Son of God would have remained here on the natural plane, His outward presence could not help anyone when it comes to revealing the eternal “light of life.” It was not until He went away and became a “life-giving spirit” in the heavenly realms that He could truly become the source of this divine life “within” His disciples. (1 Cor. 15:45) We need to know this indwelling life before we can truly teach others about the true salvation of the Lord. Paul said, “It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…” (Gal. 1:15-16)

Much of Christianity today, because it is on the natural plane, places a great deal of emphasis on the Spirit of the Lord coming into church services to touch the emotions of the people. But this form of help is similar to what Jesus provided when He was still walking with His disciples in the natural realm. This kind of “presence” provides very little help in the long run. It is the reason why the spiritual life drains out of people so quickly after they leave the church building. Even if Christ was to manifest Himself outwardly, as He did to Paul on the road to Damascus, it would not make His heavenly life of holy love known within the heart.

The earnest seeker of the life of God needs to realize there are various stages in God’s work of salvation. For example, Jesus said that His true followers were reconciled to God even before He breathed the Spirit into them on the day of His resurrection. He said they were already “clean” in God’s sight. (John 13:10) Everyone who is following the Lord and is fully persuaded that He is the One—the Seed—who has come to establish His Kingdom-life within their heart, can know they are in a justified state. (John 6:66-69; Rom. 4:20-22) But they must not stop at these first steps in His work of saving their soul.

It will be helpful to look at how the Spirit works in the lives of people in several different ways. As long as they are responding to His current level of work, where they are walking in all revealed light, they can depend on Christ’s shed blood to cover any error in their life. But we must remember that only those who are being led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. (Rom. 8:14)

The Spirit has always been working on the conscience of people all over the world, telling them to say “no” to ungodliness. (Titus 2:11-12) We therefore find people naturally developing moral religious systems and governments to constrain sin. The Spirit is working on their conscience and telling them to say “no” to everything that is a sin against love. But that does not imply they are sharing with Christ in His life of holy love.

When a believer chooses to become a Spirit-led follower of Jesus, he receives the gift of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit quickens the believer’s spirit at this new birth. There is then a movement of the Spirit within the heart providing an inward motivation to become like God in His nature of holy love. The Spirit then leads these earnest souls into the wilderness testing period where He begins to work with the individual’s spirit {through their yielded “will”} to gain complete dominion over the fleshly desires of the body and the soul. A real war takes place when the believer begins to fight this “good fight of faith.” Those who go on to allow Zion to be fully established within the heart, where there is a complete dominion over the desires of the flesh and the mind, can expect to go through some difficult battles with the powers of darkness.

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh {in dying to the old self-originated form of life} has ceased from sin {he has stopped living by his own will}, that he no longer should live…for the lusts {desires} of men, but for the will of God. (1 Pet. 4:1-2)

But now having been set free from sin {self-will}, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (Rom. 6:22)

Every enemy that prevents Christ from establishing His undivided rule within the heart must be overcome. And this war with the old flesh-life will go on until either the individual turns away from this Spirit-directed way of life, or until the Spirit has gained complete dominion so that every moment is under His control and power. Given the opportunity, the Lord will gain a complete victory.

{He came} To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies {everything that keeps us from walking by His Spirit alone}, might serve Him without fear {of the old carnal nature}, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (Luke 1:74-75)