walk by the Spirit — Blog

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:8-11 ESV

Peter has encouraged his readers to supplement their faith in Christ with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. That’s quite a list and one that every follower of Christ should desire to see manifested in their own life. These are non-optional attributes that reflect the character of Christ and are available to every Christian through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. So, the only excuse for their absence is a refusal to, as Paul put it, “walk by the Spirit.”

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. – Galatians 5:16-17 ESV

And Paul went on to explain that those who live their lives in reliance upon the power of the Spirit will see the following fruit of the Spirit manifested in their lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV).

Peter picks up on this idea of fruitfulness when he writes, “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ— (2 Peter 1:8 ESV). While his list is slightly different than that of Paul, the overlap is obvious. And when Peter states, “if these qualities are yours,” he is not suggesting that the believers to whom he is writing have somehow missed out on the Spirit’s distribution of fruit. Any absence of fruit in their lives is due to failure to live in obedience to the Spirit. As children of God, they had full access to these Spirit-imbued qualities through willing and humble submission to the Spirit.

It wasn’t a question of whether they had the Spirit or not. It was a matter of obedience. The apostle Paul reminded the believers in Rome that their relationship with Christ had provided them with a formidable capacity to live differently.

…because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. – Romans 8:2 NLT

Because the Spirit lives within the children of God, “these qualities” are theirs by right. But these Spirit-enabled attributes are only theirs in reality if they choose to live in submission to the Spirit’s life-altering power. That is exactly what the apostle Paul told the believers in Ephesus.

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. – Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT

They were to submit to the Spirit’s leading and allow Him to begin His process of behavior modification from the inside out. It would start in the heart and mind. And when a child of God fails to allow the Spirit to renew their thoughts and attitudes, it will show up in the way they live their life. Their behavior will not reflect their beliefs and this grieves the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul went on to warn the Ephesian believers to seek proof of the Spirit’s presence in their outward behavior.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:30-32 NLT

And Peter picks up on this same idea when he writes: “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:9 ESV). Again, his point was not that they lacked the power to produce these qualities. They had the Holy Spirit living within them. Their problem was one of perspective. Peter describes it as a kind of spiritual myopia or nearsightedness. Unable to focus on the long-term implications of the Spirit’s presence, the believer can easily find themselves fixated on the present. They live for the here-and-now, allowing the circumstances of life to determine their actions. They compromise their convictions and fall back into the old habits that marked their former life.

Refusing to understand that sanctification is a long-term process, some believers run out of patience and take their eye off the prize. They develop a shortsighted mentality that demands quick results and immediate gratification. From the content of Peter’s first letter, it’s clear that the believers living in Asia Minor were suffering persecution for their faith, and they were looking for immediate relief. They wanted deliverance from the unexpected trials they were facing. And because their identification with Christ was the cause of their trouble, they were being tempted to alleviate their suffering by returning to their former way of life. Peter had addressed this natural tendency in the opening chapter of that letter.

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. – 1 Peter 1:13-14 NLT

Notice Peter’s emphasis on “the gracious salvation that will come.” He was challenging them to raise their eyes and to focus on the incredible future that God had in store for them. This future-focused way of living was a regular part of the apostles’ teaching. The apostle Paul told the believers in Galatia:

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. – Galatians 6:8-9 NLT

This was the very message Peter had declared in his first letter.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. – 1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT

He wanted his readers to live with the end in mind. Yes, they were having to endure trials and testings that made their present life uncomfortable, but there was hope on the horizon that would make their “momentary light afflictions” (2 Corinthians 4:17) pale in comparison.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. – 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT

In his second letter, Peter reminds his readers to stay the course. Regardless of what they may have been facing, they could rest in the knowledge that God was protecting and preserving them. And it was these Spirit-enabled qualities that would see them through the difficult days ahead.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. – 2 Peter 1:10 ESV

Peter had opened up his letter with the timely reminder that God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3 ESV). They had all they needed to not only survive but thrive in this life. They were more than adequately equipped to handle whatever the world threw at them. But they were going to have to avail themselves of the power that God had provided. By living in the power of the Spirit they would confirm their identity as God’s children. Their Spirit-empowered lives would confirm their calling and help remind them of God’s future plans for them.

For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:11 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. – 1 John 3:8 ESV

When one accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, they receive a new nature. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:4 ESV). Nicodemus was a bit confused by this statement and wondered out loud about just how ridiculous and impossible it sounded. But Jesus responded, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6 ESV). Jesus was letting Nicodemus in on the exciting news that men were going to be able to receive new natures – spiritual natures – made possible when His atoning work on the cross had been completed. To drive home his point, Jesus used an event from the history of the Israelites. Having sinned and rebelled against God, the people of God found themselves under His wrath. They were being attacked by serpents and many were dying as a result. God instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent, put it on a staff and command the people to look at it – when they did, they would be healed. In essence, they had to look at their sin and their punishment in order to receive healing. And Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15 ESV). This statement is followed by the familiar words of Jesus: “For God so loved the world,i that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). When an individual looks on the crucified Christ, bearing his sins on the cross and suffering the punishment for his rebellion against God, and believes that His sacrifice satisfied God, he is born again. He receives new life and a new nature. At that point he becomes a child of God. He not only receives healing from and forgiveness for his sins, he receives the righteousness of Christ. His new nature is a sinless nature. But the problem is that he also maintains his old nature – his sin nature. These two natures are at war within us. But the apostle Paul gives us the key to “making our sinless nature our dominant nature. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:16-17 ESV). Walk by the Spirit. John tells us the very same thing. “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him” (1 John 2:27 ESV). We not only have new natures, we have the Holy Spirit living within us. And the key to sinning less is abiding more.

John reminds us that we are children of God – NOW! It is who we are. And as children of God, we have been given the very nature of God that allows us to live righteously and rightly. But the key is abiding or remaining in Him. We must walk in the light. We must stay attached to and dependent upon the source of our righteousness. Jesus' analogy of the vine and the branches teaches us the undeniable necessity of living constantly attached to and reliant upon Him. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV). Our sin nature sins. That is what it does. But our sinless nature, the one we inherited from Christ, cannot sin. John puts it this way: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning” (1 John 3:5-6 ESV). Jesus died so that we might become righteous, as He is righteous. But we must remain or abide in Him. We must become increasingly more dependent upon the Spirit of God within us if we want to sin less. Every time we sin, it is a reminder that we are living according to our sin nature. We are not abiding. That should drive us back to the cross where our old nature was crucified with Christ. “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6 NLT). We can sin less, but only if we abide in Him more. Sinlessness is not the result of sinning less. It is the other way around. We sin less because our new nature is sinless. Paul tells us, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” (Romans 6:13 NLT). We have new life and a new nature. We have a new capacity to sin less because our new nature is from God and is sinless. We sin when we give in to our old nature. We sin when we stop abiding in and relying on the Spirit within us. We are children of God and we can live like children of God. But we must rely on the power of God.

Future-Focused Living

The Sinless Sin Less.