Session #6
Some
Fundamentals of Walking in the Spirit
The Work of the Cross
q
The cross must be central to our walks
with the Lord.
q
We
don’t hear about the cross today. This is
why our Christianity is so lop-sided.
Christ as Being Crucified
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
q We preach Christ as being crucified.
q This entails that we enter into his crucifixion
1Co
2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified.
q
The outcome
is to experience the resurrected Christ.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
q The cross is essential because it deadens and stills our natural active life so that we can hear the still small voice of the Lord.
q It causes the self to die so that the person of Jesus Christ may be revealed.
q It sets us free from our sins and hurts through death so that we can hear the Spirit of God, submit to God and follow Him.
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Ro 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
q Any approach that we take in our Christianity must take us to the foot of the cross. It is the instrument of death.
Three Aspects
of the Cross
Matthew
16:24 Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me.
q
Follow
Me”
q
A
union in traveling the same road. It is an oneness in
patterning the life of Jesus, His ministry, and even of His death, if necessary.
q
1
Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. The
apostle Paul said, “Be a mimic of me, even as I am also a mimic of Christ.
Deny
Yourself
q This is our “once and for all confession”
that we have no connection with our interests and ourselves if they are outside
of those of Christ.
q Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me.
q Mt 26:34
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the
cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Forsaketh All That He Has
q This is the act of our biding farewell to,
and renouncing all that will not glorify God.
q It is must be an attitude of the
heart. It is not always physical
q Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot
be my disciple.
q
Mark
6:46 And when he had sent them away>, he departed into a mountain to pray.
The Natural versus the Spiritual Christian
q
The carnal, (sarkikos or fleshly)
q
the natural,(psychikos; man: the man of the
soul, the man of the mind, the
emotions; and the intellect)
q
and the spiritual.(pneumatikos; or spiritual man: the man of the spirit, air, or breath)
q
Believers are spiritual but can act as
natural men if not led by the Spirit of God.
q God desires all of us to be “pneumatic Christians; discerning the breath of the Spirit of the living God.”
Joh
3:8 The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
q 1Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10
But
God hath revealed them(
taking the lid off)
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth(sounds out) all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11
For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
q
These verses
explain to us that the only way for us to know instinctively the things of God
is through our spirit.
14 But the natural man(psychikos) ( receiveth(to welcome with open rams) not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
(to investigate, examine and determine
something so as to render a decision)
15 But he that is spiritual(pneumatikos) judgeth( investigates into) all things, yet he himself is judged of no
man.
q
Only
the spiritual man can accurately investigate the plans of God. Only can he sound them out and render
decisions in line with the will of God.
God can only truly bless what comes from His Spirit. Any work done outside of the Holy Spirit
carries a transitory blessing at best!
Releasing
the Righteousness of God through Faith
Ro 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
q The law is defined as any time we try to work or please God outside of the leading and voice of the Holy Spirit.
q The Law is good.
q It is defined as God’s comprehensive body of rules and regulations for us to perfectly satisfy Him. There were over 600 laws, given in the time of Moses.
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
q If we could perfectly obey God in thought, word, and deed we would not need the Jesus Christ.
q God knew that we could not obey Him. Man cannot obey Him.
q The Law, then, was brought in to show us our sinfulness and bring us to Christ through a desperate need of God through Him.
q We were never supposed to obey the Law.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Ga 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
God’s New
Type of Righteousness
21 But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by
the law and the prophets;
q
Righteousness
is described as the outward or manifested deeds of God for us and on our
behalf.
q
Noticed that
it was witnessed outside of the law.
Ro 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
q
It is a
system of God releasing His deeds and power of God for our benefit through
faith.
q
Faith comes out of our obedience to the voice
of God by the Spirit. It does not
happen through works.
q
We can only
hear the voice of God when we walk in the Spirit.
Ro 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
q
We can step
out of the Spirit and go back into the flesh and the works of the law if we
stop hearing the voice of the Spirit.
q
We start to
operate out duty, performance, church programs, what appears to be right,
guilt, and condemnation.
q
We must solely operate in the Spirit of God.
27Where
is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
q The law of works brings
forth sin and the wrath of God
q The law of faith brings the
righteousness of God.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Ro 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
q
The law is we trying to please and work for God through
our own efforts outside of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
q
Grace is God
doing everything in us, and for us, through the revelation of the person of
Jesus Christ.
Ro
11:6 And if by grace, then is it no
more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace:
otherwise work is no more work.
Gal
3:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
The
Ministry of the Spirit is Released Through Faith
Ga
3:2 This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Ga
3:5 He therefore that ministereth to
you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Our Victory Through The Person of Jesus Christ
Ro 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
q Our victory comes through God doing through us by the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ.
q
It
is through the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ and the grace or help
found in Him that we have the victory.
q
The
more the revelation of Christ, the more our victory.
Rom
8:3 For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: {for sin: or, by a sacrifice for sin}
4
That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
q
Jesus
is the only one who fulfills the 600 or so laws of God.
q
In
His revelation we gradually enter in His fulfillment of the law of God, and our
holiness.
q
Christ fulfills God’s law in us as we yield
in total obedience to Him.
Rom 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Ro
8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.
q
The
law of the Spirit of life is simply hearing and obeying God in the Spirit. Every time that we move in the Spirit it
brings the revelation of the person life and victory of Christ.
q
The
law of sin and death is defined as the one that will continue to produce
continual sin and subsequent death. It
is a law. Christ has set us free
from this law as long as we move in the Spirit.
q
Every
time that we move in the Spirit we see our freedom from the law of sin and
death. This is because Christ has set us
free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:5
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.
q
We
will step out of the law of the Spirit of life if we start to operate back in
the law of works again.
q
We will find ourselves again battling with
sin and reaping spiritual death, even as Christians, if we step out of walking
in the Spirit to doing things through the law or own efforts.
q
Remember
through the law is the knowledge of sin.
q
We
see why our churches so weak because of this.
The end result is sowing much and reaping little. This is because we move by the law instead
of by the Spirit.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: {for sin: or, by a sacrifice for sin}
5
That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.
Bearing Fruit Unto
God
Rom6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
q Sin shall have dominion over us if we do
things after our strength and not after being led by the Spirit.
q If by yielding to the voice of the Spirit
the person of Jesus Christ becomes revealed in us we enter into His victory.
Ro 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised
from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
q Fruit is brought forth as we live our
Christian life being yielded to the voice of the Spirit. This is what it means to be married to
Christ
6
For
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. {
q The more we try
the more we blow it.
q The law activates sin which will bring
forth spiritual death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter.
Walking In the Spirit By The Rhema Word and Faith
Romans
10:5 Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which
doeth those things shall live by them.
6But the righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is,
to bring Christ down from above:)
7
Or,
Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the
dead.)
8 But what saith it? The rhema is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
q
The
righteousness belonging to faith is released through the rhema word of God.
q
The
righteousness of faith brings us a great blessing. It always promises us that the voice of God through that the
rhema word will be near to us. We don’t
have to search for it.
q
The rhema is
the word of faith deposited in our hearts by the Lord, which upon our obedience
will release the righteousness of God.
Ro
1:17 For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by
faith.
q We go from rhema to rhema.
q
Faith is
exercised every time in our hearts through the revelation of the rhema.
q
Wherever God
brings us rhema, He also brings us the grace and the steps of faith to obey it
Rom 10:17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing rhema of God.
q This is a type of hearing God that comes strictly out of faith by the voice of the rhema.
q Faith comes out of this type hearing by the rhema first.
q
As
we obey, God gives us the next rhema revealing Christ more and more.
2Co
3:18 But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord