Berean - Our Father in Heaven, Allmighty YAHWEH. ThankYou for this Shabbat you have brought us to, and the fellowship you give us in Your name.
Berean - ThankYou Father, for the teaching, the lessons, and the trials You give us. We ask Father, that you help us, and guide us , that You teach us, to learn and listen in all that You bring us through, that we may constantly question, Father, what are you teaching me?
Berean - Father, we ask that You teach us to be thankful, in all things, and that You grant us diiscernment, that we may follow Your teaching in Truth.
Berean - Father, thankYou for the message we will see tonight, and we ask for Your blessing on it, and on us and our families, as we begin Shabbat
Berean - we also ask Father, that you bless those who were not able to make it, or those who do not have fellowship this Shabbat
Berean - we pray Father, that in all things, that Your will be done.
Berean - we give thanks, and ask, in Your Son's name, Yahshua.
Berean - HalleluYAH!!
Tonite I would like to talk about "Walking in the Spirit."
There are some who believe walking in the Spirit is something completely different walking in obedience to the law of Yahweh.
Indeed, those who believe in keeping the law of Yahweh often hear something like "I don't have to keep the law, I walk in the Spirit."
Let's begin by looking at a few scriptures that deal with this:
Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in the Messiah Yahushua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.Whatever it means to walk according to the Spirit, it sure sounds wonderful because there is no condemnation to them as long as they are in the Messiah Yahshua!
Also it certainly does not mean to walk in our own spirit:
Ezekiel 13:2 - Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of YAHWEH;
Ezekiel 13:3 - Thus saith the Master YAHWEH; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!I am convinced that there may be a multitude of people who follow their own spirit but claim it is Yahweh's Spirit. We should beware of this also!
Here is a promise to those who do walk in the Spirit:
Galatians 5:16 - I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.A beautiful promise! We need only to walk in the Spirit and we will not obey or fulfill the temptations and desires that our flesh causes us to endure.
So one thing is certain, walking in the Spirit can't be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.
What types of things would be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh?
Could there be some who claim to know Yahshua but are really walking in the lusts of the flesh?
2Peter 2:1 - But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Redeemer who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
2Peter 2:2 - And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
2Peter 2:3 - By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
2Peter 2:4 - For if YAHWEH did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
2Peter 2:5 - and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the wicked;
2Peter 2:6 - and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live wickedly;
2Peter 2:7 - and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked
2Peter 2:8 - (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
2Peter 2:9 - then YAHWEH knows how to deliver the righteous out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
2Peter 2:10 - and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
2Peter 2:11 - whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before YAHWEH.
2Peter 2:12 - But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,
2Peter 2:13 - and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
2Peter 2:14 - having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and [are] accursed children.
2Peter 2:15 - They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2Peter 2:16 - but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
2Peter 2:17 - These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
2Peter 2:18 - For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.
2Peter 2:19 - While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.It is demonstrated very clearly, "Liberty" does NOT mean we should sin!
Liberty is freedom from the penalty of sin, not freedom from having to refrain from sin!
James 1:25 - But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.It is sin that corrupts and puts us into bondage.
2Peter 2:20 - For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of YAHWEH and Savior Yahushua the Messiah, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
2Peter 2:21 - For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
2Peter 2:22 - But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."This is a powerful condemnation against the doctrine of accepting Yahshua as the Messiah but turning away from the ways of righteousness and rejecting the holy commandment of Yahweh.
What other scriptures reveal what walking in the lusts of the flesh would be?
Romans 13:8 - Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:9 - For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Romans 13:10 - Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Romans 13:11 - And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Romans 13:12 - The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Romans 13:13 - Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Romans 13:14 - But put ye on Yahushua the Messiah, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.Again we see that walking according to the flesh is the direct opposite of fulfilling and keeping the law of Yahweh.
Ephesians 2:2 - in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
Ephesians 2:3 - among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.So a third witness confirms that walking in the lusts of the flesh is disobedience!
How about a fourth?
1Peter 4:1 - Therefore, since the Messiah suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
1Peter 4:2 - that he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of YAHWEH.
1Peter 4:3 - For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
1Peter 4:4 - In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.
1Peter 4:5 - They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.So it is very crystal clear that walking in the lusts of the flesh is the same as walking in disobedience.
Could we not then conclude that walking in the Spirit would be... "Obedience"?
Yes
Yahweh prophesied through Ezekiel that in the end times He would put His Spirit in His people and a wonderful outward transformation would take place:
Ezekiel 36:25 - Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Ezekiel 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27 - And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.HalleluYah! Indeed we can see that walking in the Spirit would be walking in obedience!
Now let's look into some of Paul's writings:
Galatians 5:13 - For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galatians 5:14 - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Galatians 5:15 - But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Galatians 5:16 - I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.Now based on what we have learned thusfar, we cannot possibly conclude that walking in the Spirit of Yahweh has anything to do with disobedience to Yahweh's law.
Rather, to the contrary! So let us with this in mind examine the following verses:
Galatians 5:17 - For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:18 - But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.Now if we were to take the conclusion that many would love to take in this verse, we would be saying "If we are led by the Spirit, we don't have to be obedient to Yahweh's law"
But how can this possibly be? Every verse we have examined thusfar has said just the opposite.
Let's examine the meaning of this phrase "Under the law".
Clearly a person who is NOT under the law is set free from sin.
(for sin is disobedience to or transgression of the law)
1John 3:4 - Whoever commits sin trangresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.Indeed even the following verses prove that one who is walking in the Spirit is NOT free to be flagrantly disobedient to His law again!
Galatians 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
Galatians 5:20 - idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21 - envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of YAHWEH.All these things are condemned in the law of Yahweh. So not being under the law must clearly mean something else!
But what does it mean?
It cannot mean "one who has sinned" because we know that Yahshua did not sin:
Galatians 4:4 - But when the fullness of the time had come, YAHWEH sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,It is clear that those who are NOT under the law are set free from its penalties:
Galatians 6:14 - But YAHWEH forbid that I should boast except in the offering of our Master Yahushua the Messiah, by whom the world has been impaled to me, and I to the world.wrong verse..
Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under favor.Those who are NOT under the law are set free from its penalties. Or, based on what we have seen thusfar we could say
"Transgressions of the law will not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace"
Those who are under grace are forgiven for their transgressions!
They are set free from the power that sin has over us! That power is eternal death and damnation!!
Therefore we cannot deny that one who is under the law is one who has to live up to its standards perfectly.
Yahshua was born under the law and lived up to its standards...
..but we have failed!
Indeed, this is why we need Him so! He is our only
hope! HalleluYah!!
Yahweh's standard is perfection. We have failed to live up to it.
Therefore we cannot be saved or receive justification in the law. How can we? We have not kept it!
The law cannot justify us or make us free from its penalty of eternal death and damnation.
I believe that this is the key to understanding the writings of Paul and what He was dealing with in those days.
He was dealing with those who believed that they could be saved apart from Yahshua because they have kept the law. But NO MAN has ever kept it.
We need Yahshua!
Now let's look again at the previous verse we examined:
Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under favor.
Romans 6:15 - What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under favor? By no means!!
Romans 6:16 - Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?Do you want to be a servant of sin unto death? Then keep on blatantly breaking His law and teaching men so!
Romans 6:17 - But YAHWEH be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Romans 6:18 - Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.With this understanding, O how his writings become so much clearer!
And now we can understand why Paul said:
Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 - gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 - And those who are the Messiah's have impaled the flesh with its passions and desires.So here we are back to our original question. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
I think we have answered this, but I would like to share one more scripture to furthur solidify things:
Romans 7:24 - O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Romans 7:25 - Thanks be to YAHWEH through Yahushua the Messiah our Saviour. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of YAHWEH; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:26 -
Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in the Messiah Yahushua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahushua hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:3 - For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, YAHWEH sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:The law could not make us righteous. We need Yahshua for that.
We need Him to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law where we have failed.
But we now need to walk in the Spirit!
We need to walk in obedience if we hope to have the righteous requirements fulfilled for us by Yahshua!
Romans 8:4 - That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 - For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:6 - For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.We have already established that walking according to the flesh is disobedience to Yahweh's law and walking in the Spirit is obedience to Yahweh's law.
Wages of sin (transgression of the law) is death
Romans 8:6 - For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 8:7 - Because the carnal mind is enmity against YAHWEH: for it is not subject to the law of YAHWEH, neither indeed can be.So there we have it. Walking according to the flesh cannot be referring to those who observe the law of Yahweh.
To be walking according to the flesh is equal to being carnally minded.
(according to the above passage)
To be carnally minded is equal to not being subject to the law of Yahweh!
(again according to the above passage)
Therefore, those who are in Yahshua are walking in the Spirit are subject to keeping the law of Yahweh.
We can not continue to blatantly sin (break the law of Yahweh) so that grace may abound.
May we all walk in Yahweh's Spirit. For Yahweh's word IS Spirit!
John 6:63 - It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.In Yahshua was this Spirit..and no disobedience was found in Him
Yahshua is the Word!
We can look at His life as our example because He kept ALL of Yahweh's commandments perfectly.
And it is through the blood of Yahshua that we can be cleansed from all sin.
1John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yahushua the Messiah His Son cleanses us from all sin.And this thing we have in common, we have all been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, HalleluYah!
Therefore we can all have fellowship with one another.
We are all free from our sins and we all are free to leave behind our old ways where we had ignored and broken Yahweh's perfect law.
Titus 3:3 - For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Titus 3:4 - But after that the kindness and love of YAHWEH our Saviour toward man appeared,
Titus 3:5 - Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Set-apart Spirit;
Titus 3:6 - Which he shed on us abundantly through Yahushua ha Mashiach our Saviour;
Titus 3:7 - That being justified by his Favour, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.In all things let's seek the will of Yahweh in our lives
In all things let's praise Yahweh for now we can walk a path that is narrow, pure and new...walking in the Spirit!
May Yahweh bless you all!
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