JUST LIVE WITH IT
Galatians 5:16 “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.”
(25 ) “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
WHAT DOES IT SAY?
“Walk in the Spirit” translated literally says, “I walk, in an ethical sense: I conduct my life, live according to the Spirit of God; to make the best use of my opportunities” so that I am not consumed or pursuing lustful or selfish, self-centered matters.”
It is vitally important to take notice and understand what it means that the Spirit and the flesh are ‘contrary’ to one another.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
To “walk” in the Bible is often a metaphor for practical daily living. The Christian life is a journey, and we are to “walk” it, that is, we are to make consistent forward progress. The biblical norm for all believers is that they walk in the Spirit: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.
The statement that “the Spirit and the flesh are ‘contrary’ to one another”, besides meaning they counteract or repel one another, it literally says the Spirit pushes down on or through the flesh, “so that you cannot do the things you want to do”.
This carries the idea of being double-minded, and, James (1:7)warns that a person “ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, (8)while being double-minded, as they are unstable in all their ways.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
Again, it is vitally important to take notice that the Spirit and the flesh are ‘contrary’ to one another. In other words, they counter act or repel one another “so that you cannot do the things you want to do”. Unless you correct this state of affairs, you are inert and basically, ‘good for nothing but to be trod under foot of man’, as Jesus puts it.
Secondly, and here is where it gets tricky, we are basically back to the principal of “Binding and Loosing”, and this is KEY! (words in parentheses are my notes; words in brackets are footnotes at the bottom of this page)
Matthew 18:18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you [r] bind on earth (*the flesh)[s] shall have been bound in heaven (*the Spirit); and whatever you [t] loose on earth (*the flesh) [u] shall have been loosed in (*the Spirit) heaven.
(19) “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth (*the flesh) about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them [v] by My Father who is in heaven (*the Spirit). 20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
BINDING AND LOOSING – A SERIOUS MATTER. The Bible says that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven; in other words, once a matter is bound in heaven, then it will be manifest on earth. It is a covenant with God and is a serious matter. God is saying that if you are going to enter into a covenant agreement with Him as His disciple, the standards of such a covenant are “high as the heavens are from the earth”, and the discipline necessary is impossibly strict, in the flesh, and can only be done by way of the Spirit of God, and the commitment is for life.
When you make a “causal statement” such as, found in James 4:13, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” (14) Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. (15 ) Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that”, you are, in essence, making a VOW.
(Notice I said C-A-U-S-A-L, not casual. A statement of intent to do or create something)
When you make a statement with your mouth, it is as if you are making a vow before the Lord. (A spoken word, made “by the living voice” is translated as “Rhḗma”, from Strong’s concordance #4483, /rhéō, “to speak”) – a spoken word, made “by the living voice”. See John 15:7).
This is an important point. It is important enough that Matthew 12:36 warns us“…that for every idle (careless, useless, lazy, barren) word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” So, Matthew 5:37 instructs us “But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.”
Now, back to making a CAUSAL statement of a VOW. An idle word, by definition from the Bible, is a word that is careless, lazy, and useless. It comes to nothing except ridicule and humiliation and as the Bible states, by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
BINDING a word, to make it “useful, active and productive”, YOU MUST WALK IT OUT (i.e., “do it”) in the flesh (on earth) by way of the Spirit of God.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Finally, I will attempt to draw a word-picture as an illustration of this profound Truth.
SCENARIO 1.
Assume you are standing on earth, praying or speaking (vowing) a Rhḗma word. God hears your words or ‘vows’ or prayer from heaven and answers you, opening the way for its accomplishment.
But supposing you fail to act on God’s answer to that word, it remains idle, useless and barren, the result of a careless, lazy word; and by this you will be justified, or you will be condemned!
Can you see the importance of every word that proceed out of your mouth?
SCENARIO 2.
Assume you are standing on earth, praying or speaking (vowing) a Rhḗma word. God hears your words or ‘vows’ or prayer from heaven and answers you, opening the way for its accomplishment.
Assuming you act on God’s answer and you and you “WALK IT OUT” (i.e., ‘you do it’) and it is accomplished. The result of a carefully spoken word; and by this you will be justified!
Ephesians 2:10 ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Now, when you read or hear that “All things are possible for him who believes” perhaps you will believe! Matthew 21:22And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
PS: For anyone who immediately begins to pick these verses apart with a “Yeah, But” excuse, I am truly sorry for you.
This is the plain Truth. JUST LIVE WITH IT!
[r] 18 I.e., forbid [s] 18 Gr fut. pft. pass. tense [t] 18 I.e., permit [u] 18 Gr fut. pft. pass. tense [v] 19 Lit from