Walking in the Spirit
Gal 5:16 I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.MKJV
Gal 5:16 This then is what I mean. Let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and then you will certainly not indulge the cravings of your lower natures.
Gal 5:17 For the cravings of the lower nature are opposed to those of the Spirit, and the cravings of the Spirit are opposed to those of the lower nature; because these are antagonistic to each other, so that you cannot do everything to which you are inclined.
Gal 5:18 But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not subject to Law.
Walking according to the Spirit is contrasted in these verses with walking or living according to the craving of the flesh or the lower carnal nature. The only way to gain the victory over the carnal nature dominated by sin and Satan is to walk a life that is Controlled and Guided by the Holy Spirit. He will never allow you to be dominated by the sinful nature with which we were born.
J.Gill, “The advice the apostle thinks fit to give, and which he would have observed, is, to "walk in the Spirit", that is, after the Spirit of God; making the word inspired by him the rule of behaviour, which as it is the standard of faith, so of practice, and is the lamp unto our feet, and the light unto our path; taking him himself for a guide, who not only guides into all truth, but in the way of holiness and righteousness unto the land of uprightness; and depending upon his grace and strength for assistance throughout the whole of our walk and conversation: or in the exercise of the graces of the Spirit of God; as in the exercise of faith upon the person and grace of Christ, of which the Spirit is the author; and in love to God, Christ, and one another, which is a fruit of the Spirit; and in humility, lowliness of mind, meekness and condescension; all which is to walk in the Spirit, or spiritually, and strengthens the argument for love the apostle is upon: and this he encourages to by observing,
A. Clark says,”Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh - If the Spirit of God dwell in and rule your heart, the whole carnal mind will be destroyed; and then, not only carnal ordinances will be abandoned, but also the works and propensities of the flesh.”
Notes on Romans 8 How to Walk and to Please God.
H.C.G. Moule DD says “Here is the way how, not the victims of ‘the body’, and the slaves of ‘the flesh,’ but to’ do to death the bodys’ practices in a continuous exercise of inward p
ower, and to ‘walk after the Spirit’. ….. in the all sufficient strength of the “holy Spirit given to us.”We need the Fulness of the PRESENCE and POWER of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish this walk.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Note :
1. WE shall find that the practices of the Body still have to be dealt with. (The Body being dead because of sin and mortal.) Examine yourself and deny self and take up your Cross and follow Jesus.
2. Moule’s translation of Verse 1. So no adverse sentence is there now, in view of this great fact of our Redemption, for those in Christ Jesus, (mysterious union, blessed fact, wrought by the Spirit who linked us sinners to the Lord.)
Rom 8:2 But the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
RWP : The law of the Spirit of life (ho nomos tou pneumatos tēs zōēs). The principle or authority exercised by the Holy Spirit which bestows life and which rests “in Christ Jesus.”
Made me free (ēleutherōsen me). First aorist active indicative of the old verb eleutheroō for which see note on Gal_5:1. (Aleph B have se (thee) instead of me). It matters little. We are pardoned, we are free from the old law of sin and death (7:7-24), we are able by the sin and death the Holy Spirit to live the new life in Christ.
Freed from the Law of Sin and Death by the Spirit.
Now we are ready to hear verse 2 for all it is worth and to understand its logical relationship to verse 1. Paul signals with the little word "for" at the beginning of verse 2 that he means to give the basis or foundation of verse 1. He is answering the question why those in Christ Jesus shall experience "no condemnation." His answer is, "Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." The liberating law of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the enslaving law of death-giving sin.
The term law in verse 2 does not refer primarily to any written code, but mainly to authority or power. The law of the Spirit is the authority and power of the Spirit; the law of sin is the authority and power of sin. We can see more clearly what Paul means if we look back at Romans 7:21–25:
So I find it to be a law that even when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the lawof sin which dwells in my members.
We can see from this section that the "law of sin" is the power and authority that sin has in Paul's body, rather than any written law. He continues with a holy rebellion against his own remaining sinful tendencies.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
I conclude, therefore, that the "law of sin and death" in verse 2 of chapter 8 is the power and authority of sin which rules in a life where God does not have the upper hand but where flesh is dominant. Flesh is the old nature which refuses to rely on God and delight in his ways. And verse 13, you recall, says, "if you live according to the flesh you will die." That is why the "law of sin" is called in verse 2 the "law of sin and death." The person whose flesh dominates his life is ruled by the law of sin and will die. There will be condemnation for those who walk according to their old nature ruled by the law of sin and death.
http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/the-liberating-law-of-the-spirit-of-life
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;
Notes :For what the law could not do - The Law of God, the moral law. It could not free from sin and condemnation. This the apostle had fully shown in Rom. 7.
In that - Because.
It was weak - It was feeble and inefficacious. It could not accomplish it.
Through the flesh - In consequence of the strength of sin, and of the evil and corrupt desires of the unrenewed heart. The fault was not in the Law, which was good Rom_7:12, but it was owing to the strength of the natural passions and the sinfulness of the unrenewed heart; see Rom_7:7-11, where this influence is fully explained.
Rom 8:4 so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. MKJV
HCG Moule: That the righteous demands of the Law might be fulfilled in us, us who walk not flesh-wise, but Spirit-wise
Moule continued : “ that we, accepted in Christ, and using the Spirit’s Power in our daily ‘walk’ of circumstance and experience, might be liberated from the life of self-will, and meet the will of God with simplicity and joy.”
JFB Commentary That the righteousness of the law — “the righteous demand,” “the requirement” [Alford], Or “the precept” of the law; for it is not precisely the word so often used in this Epistle to denote “the righteousness which justifies” (Rom_1:17; Rom_3:21; Rom_4:5, Rom_4:6; Rom_5:17, Rom_5:18, Rom_5:21), but another form of the same word, intended to express the enactment of the law, meaning here, we believe, the practical obedience which the law calls for.
might be fulfilled in us — or, as we say, “realized in us.”
who walk — the most ancient expression of the bent of one’s life, whether in the direction of good or of evil (Gen_48:15; Psa_1:1; Isa_2:5; Mic_4:5; Eph_4:17; 1Jo_1:6, 1Jo_1:7).
not after — that is, according to the dictates of
the flesh, but after the spirit — From Rom_8:9 it would seem that what is more immediately intended by “the spirit” here is our own mind as renewed and actuated by the Holy Ghost.
Rom 8:5 For they who are according to the flesh mind the things of flesh, but they who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Moule :” For they that are flesh-wise, the unchanged children of the self-life, think,”mind”. have moral affinity and converse with, the things of the flesh; but they who are Spirit-wise, think the things of the Spirit, His Love, joy, peace and all the holy “FRUIT”. Their liberated and Spirit-bearing life now goes that way, in its true bias.”
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
Rom 8:7 because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be.
WNT Rom 8:6 Because for the mind to be given up to earthly things means death; but for it to be given up to spiritual things means Life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Abandonment to earthly things is a state of enmity to God. Such a mind does not submit to God's Law, and indeed cannot do so.
Note. to be carnally minded — literally, “the mind” or “minding of the flesh” (Margin); that is, the pursuit of fleshly ends.
is death — not only “ends in” [Alford, etc.], but even now “is”; carrying death into its bosom, so that such are “dead while they live” (1Ti_5:6; Eph_2:1, Eph_2:5) [Philippi].
but to be spiritually minded — “the mind” or “minding of the spirit”; that is, the pursuit of spiritual objects.
is life and peace — not “life” only, in contrast with the “death” that is in the other pursuit, but “peace”; it is the very element of the soul’s deepest repose and true bliss.
Rom 8:8 So then they who are in the flesh cannot please God.
GW Rom 8:8 Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God.
Cannot please God (theōi aresai ou dunantai). Because of the handicap of the lower self in bondage to sin. This does not mean that the sinner has no responsibility and cannot be saved. He is responsible and can be saved by the change of heart through the Holy Spirit.
Rom 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ is in you, indeed the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
Rom 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
GW Rom 8:13 If you live by your corrupt nature, you are going to die. But if you use your spiritual nature to put to death the evil activities of the body, you will live.
Rom 8:14 Certainly, all who are guided by God's Spirit are God's children.
MKJV Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment