Romans 8 ~ Finally Discovering How to Walk in the Spirit
Having now realized the truth about walking according to the flesh, I began to consider the other aspect of Romans 8:4-5 ….walking according to the spirit. If I had been confused over the exact meaning of the one, I was really in the dark over the other.
Exactly what does walking in the spirit mean? It seemed so elusive, so vague. God had been faithful to bring me this far, so maybe I was about to get some understanding.
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.
This sounded like very encouraging news to me. Finding that my ability to walk according to the spirit appeared to be entirely dependent on where my mind was set flooded me with hope.
So where was my mind set as it related to the spirit? Maybe here I could benefit from the fact that I spent so much of my time studying the Word, seeking God, and searching to discover how to please God. If those who are ‘according to the spirit’ are the ones who thought on spiritual things, then possibly I qualified. Nevertheless, these ‘spiritual’ thoughts of mine had seemingly had little effect on my ability to bear good fruit or exhibit the righteousness God had so graciously bestowed. It left me suspicious that maybe what I believed ‘walking in the spirit’ to be, might not be right at all.
Once again, I consulted numerous commentaries and teachings that all provided the same basic explanation…read, pray, and obey. Oh, how I’d been trying! Then again there was that Romans 8:5 NIV version that translated this verse to say, “those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires”. Seemingly, I, along with the apostle Paul (Romans 7), had definitely done that…but to no avail. Others said to simply trust God’s spirit to obey through you. I could agree that His spirit was now residing in me and was to empower me, but how to tap into that power remained a mystery. I had to be missing something because I was still struggling and nothing seemed to be working. The concept still seemed vague and unclear.
Deciding to let the Bible speak for itself, I re-read Romans 8:5 once again.
“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.”
In researching the word ‘Spirit’ I discovered that the word is not capitalized, meaning it wasn’t necessarily referring to God’s spirit. Could it be that it was referring to mine? It didn’t appear to be a stretch since walking ‘according to the flesh’ involved having my mind set on the things of my flesh; so it stood to reason that, likewise, walking ‘according to the spirit’ could also involve having my mind set on the things of my spirit. What would that entail?
The scripture in II Corinthians 5:16-17 had admonished me to stop recognizing myself after who I was in my flesh, and went on to talk about the new creation and who I now was in my spirit.
From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh…. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The fact that Paul emphasized the reality of our new identity in Christ immediately following his reference to our identity in the flesh seemed to imply that maybe I needed to start recognizing myself after who I was in the spirit. Could that be what setting my mind on the spirit actually meant? Was walking according to the spirit actually as simple as setting my mind on who I was in the spirit? Were the ‘things’ my mind was to be set on those ‘things’ of the new creation that had all become new? Was my mind to be dwelling on the fact that, in Christ, I was now the righteousness of God, recreated in His image and likeness, and totally cleansed from sin? One thing was sure, if I set my mind there, it would no longer be about me and what I must do for Him….now it would be about Him and what He had done for me. It would no longer be about my works, but His. If I did this, would I not only be setting my mind on the things of the spirit, but actually find myself walking in the spirit? Could it be possible…that my footsteps would actually follow my focus?
Hi Lisa, I’m enjoying your lessons sooooo much. “Remember to forget” To me those words bring up the scripture that states “we are to take every thought captive”. When I am successful in the spirit it is because I am not dwelling on the past and I am letting go of what is behind, letting go of my senses and letting God’s love consume my soul. I like what you said about recognizing who we are in the spirit as once again it is almost retraining our thoughts to realize what we do have in Christ. We almost have to protect our thoughts as a mother protects her child. Thanks so much, Pam
Pam, I’m so glad you’re enjoying what you’re reading. Thanks so much for commenting and for sharing your own insight. I totally agree with absolutely everything you said! What a neat thought to compare our attention to our thought life to the care of a mother for her child. If we did that…well, look out devil! You just don’t mess with a mom! Thanks for adding some great stuff to the discussion.
Your words and logic are exactly as mine. Thank you for sharing your journey, it is comforting. My logic tells me the harder I try the closer I will get. Today I was reminded to ask for whatever I wanted, 1 John 5:14. Knowledge and understanding of the Holy Spirit, since it was freely given, seems likely to be within God’s will. The search continues; I am confident that a deeper understanding… and fruit, are soon to follow. How pleased our Father must be that His children seek to be like Him.
Thank you for your postings.
Christopher, I’m so glad you stopped by and that you took the time to comment. Your words reflect a deep longing that reminds me of Jesus’ promise that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. You surely qualify. My greatest fruit has come as a result of realizing what has ALREADY occurred in me. I moved from trying to triumph!
What a blessing to see your comment. Life has prevented my being on my blog for the last year, but I’m sure glad I visited to see that you had. 🙂 Blessings to you, my brother.
I am new to your page and really like how you explain things. I have a question about what you said regarding the word “spirit” not being capitalized. Are you referring to someplace other than Romans 8:5?
Thank you..Sue
Hi, Sue! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed what you’ve found here. I am pretty methodical in my approach to the Word for fear of misinterpreting it, so your taking time to question lets me know we are kindred spirits. 😉
So, here’s how I came to my conclusion about the word “spirit”…
When I looked up the word (in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) as it’s used in Romans 8:5, I discovered that it is no different than the word as it’s used the other 261 times in the KJV of the New Testament (with the exception of 2). Everywhere it’s used it’s the same Greek word (#4154)… “pneuma”, which simply means ‘breathe or breeze’. What really let me know that the word wasn’t necessarily referring to God’s spirit was when I saw the exact same Greek word was used in Mark 1:23 when referring to an unclean spirit and in Mark 9:25 and 26 where Jesus rebuked a dumb and deaf spirit, and the list goes on and on.
Upon further study I learned that the capitalization or lack thereof of the word has been determined over the years by the editors of various translations of the Bible. From what I concluded the most important factor to consider is context, but even then it’s not always obvious…as in the case of Romans 8:5! There, as in all the other 259 places the word is used, the capitalization question was decided on by editors.
Seemingly, whether a verse refers to God’s spirit, an unclean spirit, or our spirit, the same Greek word is used, thus the capitalization of it isn’t predetermined. Does this help?
Besides all this technical stuff, the freedom this interpretation has brought me is the biggest proof I have. Truth sets free and I’m sure feeling free these days.
Again, I’m so glad you’ve stopped by and taken the time to comment and question. Feel free to contact me via the email address on my About page if you have any other questions you’d prefer to keep off the blog. Happy studying, and I pray you find the answers you seek! Let me know if I can help.