Walking In The Spirit

“Jesus said (John 3:8) that the Spirit’s action is like that of wind. The movements of the wind have a mystery to them. You can’t tell where the end comes from or where it is going. Likewise the Spirit. Indeed the Spirit blows where he wills. No one is master of the Spirit” -Grahan Cole

We tend to take for granted walking until it becomes difficult or impossible. Some people even where devices that track the number of their steps taken in a day as a way to encourage them to live a more active lifestyle. How a person walks is so distinctive that it is even possible for software to identify people based on their gait.

The Bible uses walking as a metaphor for a person’s way of life, encompassing beliefs, attitudes, desires, and actions. This metaphor is used in prominent contexts in the Bible in contrast between two different ways of walking/living (see Psalm 1-6; Proverbs 4:10-19). In Genesis 5 what set Enoch apart was that he “walked with God.” God’s people are called to walk in God’s ways (Psalm 119:3) rather than walk in the counsel of the wicked (Psalm 1-1).

The New Testament expands on the walking metaphor. Because of Jesus’s resurrection, believers “Walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). True believers are called to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

But maybe the expression that stands above them all in the New Testament is the concept of walking in or by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 say,

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

The Apostle Paul uses a similar expression in Romans 8:4,

“The righteousness requirement of the law (is) fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

It doesn’t matter if the New Testament speaks of walking in, by, or according to the Spirit, each expression sets the larger idea that the Spirit is the One who defines how we live.

Walking in the Spirit means living a life that depends on the Spirit’s power to grow in godliness, obey God’s commands and experience increasing intimacy with God.

God’s power to orient all the different aspects of one’s life towards God. According to Romans 8:5, “Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The Spirit helps us direct our thoughts, emotions, inclinations, and desires in ways that are pleasing to God and are consistent with His character. As we depend on the Spirit, He transforms the desires of our hearts to align with God’s heart which enables us to resist sin that is still experienced in the fallen world (Galatians 5:16).