Spiritual Growth

Paul has been answering the false claim that to live a life apart from the law and only live by grace one would go into all kinds of sin. He did this by showing us that every believer has a conflict within. The desires of the flesh are at war with the desires of the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill those desires of the flesh. So we have to make a conscious daily decision to walk in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is not something that is mystical or taboo. Its basic Christianity 101. The Spirit is already blowing we have to put up our sails to catch the wind. We do that through basic Christian practices of reading God’s Word, prayer and worship. Paul said it was important for us to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit (5:16,18). The result of being led by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit becomes evident in our lives. This is a result of the Gospel that has taken root in our hearts. You cannot have the fruit of the Spirit apart from knowing Christ as your Savior. As we grow and mature in Jesus, that fruit should be more and more evident in our lives as we make the decision to walk in the Spirit day by day. That’s real spiritual growth.