Life truly begins as we die to ourselves and trust in Christ.

Once we receive Jesus into our lives, His Spirit joins with our human spirit, and we become born again as new creations in Christ. Our sinful life is exchanged with the righteous life of Christ. Our lives take on new meaning and true purpose, but this does not mean we are always living according to this newness of life. This is why Paul says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25, NKJV).

The Apostle Paul understood that we still have a natural selfish bent in life that gives us the potential to act according to our fallen nature, which can affect both our personal walk with God and the kind of fellowship we will have with other believers. Our family upbringing, fallen nature and personal choices have predisposed us to act and react in certain ways based on our previous conditioning. Sometimes, we try to excuse our behavior and bad habits by telling others, “This is just who I am.” Our insecurities and personal hang-ups still need to pass through the cross, so that we don’t let our past identity affect our new identity in Christ.

Of all the battles being fought in our world, the believer’s battle between the flesh and the Spirit is the most critical. Our personal holiness and influence on others depend on our victory in this area. Therefore, we must learn to appropriate Christ’s finished work on the cross and learn to walk in the newness of the Spirit.

Paul the Apostle said,

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:16-18, NKJV).

To be led by or to walk in the Spirit means to be governed and guided by His Spirit. This has to do with right belief more than right behavior. It is having a Gospel-centered way of thinking where we rely on God more than trying harder.

In our daily practice, it means choosing God’s will over our own will, so that we “do not do the things that [we] wish.” Only then can we overcome evil with good and be “the salt and light” we are called to be.

The Gospel takes us directly to the cross where both sin and the sinner were judged, forgiven and graciously exchanged for an entirely different way of life based on what Christ has done and continues to do through us!

Here are three essential ways to explain and maintain our daily walk in the Spirit:

1. Acknowledge God’s Presence in your life and your absolute need for His grace.

This begins by thanking God for His abiding presence and realizing that we always need God. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (emphasis mine)

Since we all gravitate toward the appetites and confidence of our flesh, whether rebellious or religious in nature, our natural inclination can still be to solve our own problems and fulfill our own desires. But victory comes as we look to Christ for our sufficiency and satisfaction. David wrote in his famous shepherd’s psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). It is only as we are communing with God and aware of His presence that we will no longer need to rely on ourselves or look elsewhere for fulfillment.

The Apostle Paul makes a very important distinction in Galatians 5:19-21 when he calls our former sinful practices “the works of the flesh,” emphasizing what we naturally do apart from God, but when speaking of the life of the Spirit, he changes his verbiage and uses the term “the fruit of the Spirit.” Notice that it is no longer our works but His work in us that makes all the difference for us to become more like Christ. We are called to work out what God has already worked within, even as Paul reminds us, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, NKJV).

Paul further explains that the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE – expressed in joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. Thus, walking in the Spirit will result in abiding in Christ’s love. This is possible only as we are rooted and connected to the life of Christ – since there can be no real FRUIT without the right ROOT.

2. Believe in God’s Promises and look past your own perspective.

Regardless of what we are going through, we must know what God reveals to us in His living Word. The Word of God declares who we are, how we are to live, and what we shall become.

With Christ living in us, we can heed God’s wisdom in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Although it is natural for us to lean on our own understanding in order to explain a situation or solve a problem, we are called to trust in God by learning and leaning on what He says to us. He will direct our paths as we acknowledge Him in all of our ways.

We must remember that there are no ties when it comes to the flesh battling against the Spirit. We are either under the influence of the Spirit or being governed by the flesh. Jesus said, “the spirit gives life and the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). We are either carnally minded which leads to death or spiritually minded which leads to “life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

Thus, God’s promises are the right starting point for every situation we find ourselves in. His promise should be the premise of every process. Rather than always needing an explanation for our present circumstances, we should learn to live with an expectation of God’s promised conclusions.

Therefore, it is wise for us to learn and memorize the promises revealed in God’s treasure chest of Scripture and to unlearn what it means to be wise in our own opinions (Romans 12:16).

3. Rely on God’s Power and His sufficiency for our lives.

Even with a right spiritual mindset, we must not try to do the right thing in our own strength. Since we live in a fallen world that is constantly working against us and wearing us down, we must come to Him to find His rest for our souls. In order to walk in the Spirit, we must STOP TRYING and START DYING to be regularly RELYING on God!

We must believe that Christ has already given us the means and the motive to do all that He asks of us. With His every command comes the necessary grace to fulfill what He asks of us. It is His strength and power that matters. We are no longer living our own life but His. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Our victory lies in believing the Gospel and living in the present reality of who Christ is in us!

Paul puts it this way to Timothy, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1). This means that we are to be strong in the strength that we do not have. Walking in the Spirit requires us to turn to God in the Spirit, surrender our will to His, and receive by faith what He alone is able to provide.

The human spirit fails unless the Holy Spirit fills!

Wars have been fought for almost every reason: land, resources, honor, greed, politics, religion…They are costly in human lives and for local economies. At times, the best the victors can hope to gain is a stronghold, a place to anchor down, to set up base and to continue their operations.

For some winning a stronghold is worth the fight.

If they win the battle, perhaps a greater gain not yet visible may be obtained. One such place is a piece of rock stretching from the sea to the sky. It boasts a total area of a little under three square miles and a population of 30,000. This is probably one of the most fought over cities outside of Rome, the city of Gibraltar.¹

Gibraltar, which gets its name from the Moors, means Mountain of Tabir (Jabal Tabir) for the general who took it in 711 A.D. Although the Rock of Gibraltar is not ideal for cultivating crops, it’s a strategic vantage point because it overlooks the 7.7 nautical miles that separate Europe from North Africa and the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. It has been attacked by the Phoenicians, Catharginians, the Romans, the Iberian Visigoths, the Moors, the Spanish, the British and in more modern times the Italians, Germans and French.² Not bad for a piece of limestone jetting out of the sea.

Today the English territory boasts of a flourishing economy based on online gambling, financial services, tourism and a refueling depot for ships going to and from Europe. Though the population is self-governed and has twice voted to remain under the Crown, this has not been without contention. Wars, embargoes, economics and politics have been forcefully used in many attempts to pry the rock from British hands to return it to Spain.³ All of these have failed; Gibraltar remains an English stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, visible from the coast of Andalusia.

A look at a map places London about 1,500 miles from Gibraltar, so how did this long fought over bolder become British? The answer is simple: war and compromise. In 1704, the aging Spanish King Charles II was childless. Europe expected him to choose an heir within his close family, the Habsburgs, and maintain the current balance of power. He, in an act of surprising independence, chose a more distant cousin, Philip of Anjou, a Bourbon, of the royal family of France. The English, the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), Austria and Holland joined forces to change his mind by pressure or all out war. The 12-year war to follow was called the Spanish Succession. Spain got their choice of king, but they lost most of their European territories and brokered a deal with England for that rock in the ocean.⁴

Thus Gibraltar has been in British hands ever since. In fact, there is a legend that it will remain British as long as there are monkeys roaming free on its cliffs. Oddly enough during World War II, when the monkey population dwindled to only a handful, Winston Churchill replenished their population with imports from Algeria and Morocco.⁵ Thus he legitimized the legend and even in this way made the stronghold secure.

This story reminds me of another one that is far too common in our spiritual lives. Although the illustration is imperfect because the English Crown is no more a picture of evil than the Spanish can perfectly represent good, it is rather a story of struggle, compromise and strongholds.

The Apostle Paul speaks of a war within our members in Romans 7. He struggled to do good but found that the willingness in his heart was thwarted by sin living within him. In the end he did the evil thing he didn’t want to do, instead of the good deed that was in his heart. At one point it almost seemed he was going to give up until the apostle moved into a whole new chapter about the victory he had in the Spirit. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Through the years, our own private war of succession from the flesh rages on, and our will to fight can grow dull.

The sin that so shocked us years ago can now be relativized, justified and compromised. Compromise and concession are forms of bargaining. Though I don’t think many people consciously negotiate with their flesh, compromise and concession slip into our lives without the slightest warning. Before too much time has passed, we may find that we’ve given over to a stronghold.

This is where the story of Gibraltar breaks down. The answer isn’t politics or economics. It isn’t self-help, and it surely isn’t surrender. We need a rescuer, a Mighty Redeemer who alone through the power of His Cross will come to free us. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). The fresh strength to wage the war and win comes from Jesus. He is the Victorious One who defeated sin and death and gave us His Spirit. Sure, He may use different methods for different people that may inflict some amount of suffering, as we’re being sanctified through His redemptive purpose. But we must remember the source of His power, for He is seated at the right hand of all power, and He is unstoppable.

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation,my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence” (2 Samuel 22:2-3).

¹ The Encyclopedia Britannica
² The Government of Gibraltar
³ Ibid.
⁴ Gascoigne, Bamber. “The War of the Spanish Succession” HistoryWorld. From 2001, ongoing.
⁵ Alvarez, Lizette.“Where the British May Reign but the Monkeys Rule” New York Times. 28 June, 2005.