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"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Gal.5:25). What is it for us to 'walk by the Spirit'? Is it about speaking in tongues or having special experiences? No. It is for us to live every moment of our life according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. After we are born again and we grow up to become mature sons and daughters of God, our daily life is expected to be 'led' by the Spirit of God (Ro.8:14). In other words, what we do, speak, think and plan will all come increasingly under the control of the Holy Spirit. But unfortunately because of wrong teachings many receive these days, they imagine that Jesus has taken care of everything for them, and all they have to do is to have a certain level of religious activities such as Bible reading, prayer and church activities. For the rest they can just go on enjoying life doing what they like!

Isn't this tragic? It was to save us from our sins and our self-centred life that Jesus came and died. If we aren't being saved from the power of sin increasingly in practical life and we are not becoming more like Jesus in the way we think, speak and behave, we have not understood the Gospel!

Some people even think that since Jesus has kept the Law, we don't have any more law that we need to keep. And, they say that Jesus had brought us into freedom, which they interpret as being free to do what they feel like. No, we have not been made lawless. Our freedom is from the guilt of sin and the bondage to sin that compelled us to sin. Now we are free to do what we know to be right and good and are not under compulsion to follow the desires of our flesh (Ro.8:12). We need the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the temptation of giving in to our flesh and to do the will of God in our life (v.13).

When we have the Holy Spirit living in us, He makes our conscience become more sensitive than before. In our old life, when we felt the pull of temptations, we just gave in to it, only making sure that we would not get caught. Now the new life is not that after we give in to sin we ask for forgiveness. Now we don't want to sin. We find that we are not strong enough to resist the temptation always, and so we try to learn to lean on the strength from the Holy Spirit more. This gives us more and more victory in daily situations.

We also see that the Holy Spirit takes us to a higher level of laws compared to the old covenant. The old covenant would consider someone blameless as long as he kept the Law externally. If he committed adultery he would be punished, but he would be considered 'not guilty' if he lusted after a woman in his heart but kept himself from the physical act. But the standard of the Spirit is higher (Mt.5:27,28). So, if we are led by the Spirit, we would become very sensitive not just about what we speak and do, but also about our thoughts and intentions. Now we can see what it is for us to walk by the Spirit. We follow His laws and lean on His strength.

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