Living in The Spirit

“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 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, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:3-11

When the Holy Spirit imparts the gift of eternal life to the believer, far more has transpired than the mere possession of unending spiritual life. That is because the Holy Spirit brings to every Christian an entirely new quality of life that is divine, supernatural, and God-like.

Through the Holy Spirit, the born-again man or woman can enjoy a new way of living. Since the Holy Spirit allows us to share in the life of Christ, He opens up a radical new lifestyle that is conformed to God’s commands and ways; not culture.

We must remember that much of worldly behavior and methodology is based on wisdom that is flawed and tainted by sin. The Spirit of God reprograms our minds and transforms our attitudes with His wisdom; dramatically altering our habits, rearranging our priorities, and establishing new standards.

At the same time, the Holy Spirit gives us a new power for living. The new lifestyle that the Spirit provides comes with the power to succeed. You are no longer limited to fighting your problems with your own resources. You have God and the fullness of His Spirit to help you and deliver you.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17