Basic Truths That Set Me Free

Three years ago, God opened my eyes, through a Sunday morning sermon, to the Truth of what His Son did for me on the cross. Knowing this Truth, and committing to know nothing else (1 Cor 2:2, Gal 6:14), made me free from a 14-year pornography addiction and a seemingly lifelong struggle with anger. Continuing to know nothing else everyday has completely revolutionized my life in so many other ways since then. Where I was once living a defeated Christian life, I am now living in ever increasing victory.

I’ve written many posts aimed at sharing this Truth and trying to show from Scripture that it is, in fact, the Truth. In this article, my goal is to state, very simply, some of the foundational truths that comprise the Truth that made me free. Here they are:

• The old man or “the flesh” (according to Jn 3:6, the old man is flesh) cannot be rehabilitated. It will forever be dominated by sin (Rom 7:25). As such, no process of counseling, no program, and no amount of works can defeat it. The only freedom from the old man is the death of the old man (Rom 6:7). It must be crucified (Rom 6:6-7, Gal 5:24). This was accomplished by Christ when He died as my representative (Rom 6:6-7, Gal 2:20, 6:14). The moment I placed my faith in Christ and His death, I was immersed into Christ into His death (Rom 6:3) (the spiritual truth water baptism represents, not the act of being water baptized). At that point, the old man was crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6, 7:4, Gal 2:20, 6:14). Now, to live in freedom from the old man daily, I don’t try to rehabilitate it. Instead, I take up my cross (the death of the old man that occurred when the old man was crucified with Christ) daily (Luke 9:23, Gal 6:14). Taking up my cross daily simply means I reckon myself dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God daily (Rom 6:11). As well, my death to sin and being alive unto God is THROUGH CHRIST, not through my own efforts (Rom 6:11, Gal 6:14).

• The dominion of the sin nature is broken only under GRACE (Rom 6:14). Grace comes only through faith, not of works lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 4:4-5, 16, 11:6, Gal 6:14, Phi 3:3). Grace, one aspect of which is the power of the Holy Spirit that reigns over the law of sin in my flesh, is something I can’t earn, can’t work for, and don’t deserve (Rom 4:4, 5:21, Gal 5:16). It comes to me on the basis of Christ and His Work alone, through faith in Christ and His Work alone (Eph 2:8-9, Gal 3:2-3, 6:14, Rom 11:6).

• It is my responsibility to stand fast in the grace of God (Gal 5:1). Just because I’m saved doesn’t mean I’m living under grace (Gal 1:6, 2:14, 3:1-3, 5:7). If I begin to depend on works, meaning I look to anything other than Christ and His Finished Work for righeousness or victory over sin, then I am living under law, God’s grace is frustrated, the power of Christ in me is made of none effect, and the sin nature, which was de-throned when I was saved, revives and begins to rule over me once again (Gal 6:14, 2:21, 5:1-4, Rom 7:8-9, 1 Cor 15:56).

• Living under grace is all about my object of faith (Gal 6:14). My faith must be in the finished work of Christ alone (Gal 6:14, 1 Cor 1:18, 24, 2:5). I must not mix anything with the finished work of Christ as my singular object of faith (Gal 5:4,9, Rom 11:6). There are many good, bibilical things I ought to be doing as a Christian, but I must not make anything that I do my object of faith (Gal 6:14). That means the things I do, I don’t do for the purpose of attaining righteousness or overcoming sin (Gal 2:21, Rom 6:6-7,11, Heb 4:10-11). Instead, I do things for the purpose of stengthening and maintaining my faith in Christ and His Work and simply to take advantage of my relationship with God, which I have by grace alone through faith alone. This all means I don’t put my faith in Bible reading, prayer, fasting, confession/quotation of Scripture, willpower, resolve, lists of steps for me to accomplish, accountability programs, reminders, fear of being discovered, consecration, how much TV I watch or don’t watch, what kind of TV I watch or don’t watch, what I do or don’t listen to, or anything other than CHRIST and HIS Finished Work (Gal 6:14, 1 Cor 2:5 w/ 1:18, 24). I will do/not do some of the things I listed, but NOT for the purpose of finishing what CHRIST and already FINISHED (Heb 4:10-11).

• One of the things Christ already finished, that many don’t know about, is breaking the power of the sin nature (Rom 6:6-7). Many know He paid the penalty for sin on the cross, but few know that He also defeated the sin nature at Calvary. His death on the cross was a double cure. When He died as my substitute, He took the penalty for my sins. When He died as my representative, in the mind of God He died as me, meaning God so identifies His death as being my death that I can say, “I am crucified with Christ.” (Gal 2:20). When the old man was crucified with Christ, the sin nature was not eradicated, insofar as the flesh still serves the law of sin (Rom 7:25). As such, the sin nature continues to be the entity at war with the law of my mind, which serves the law of God by virture of God’s laws having been written on it (Rom 7:22-25, Heb 8:10, 10:16). What did happen when the old man was crucified with Christ, however, is that I became dead to the sin nature (Rom 6:2, 11). It wasn’t eradicated (Rom 6:12, 7:25), but I died to it, and He that is dead is FREE from sin (Rom 6:7). Not just free in principle, but FREE INDEED! (Rom 6:11, John 8:36). The sin nature once enslaved me and reigned over me, but when got saved, it was de-throned and stripped of its dominion over me! (Rom 5:21, 6:14, 18).

• Putting this last point together with the previous point, that means I won’t do anything for the purpose of defeating, becoming dead to, or attaining freedom from the sin nature (Heb 4:10-11). Instead, I will reckon myself dead indeed unto sin by virtue of what CHRIST did for me to defeat sin and de-throne the sin nature (Rom 6:11).

• If I change my object of faith, meaning I look to ANYTHING other than Christ and Him crucified (including spiritual disciplines) as the means of attaining righteousness or living in victory over sin, then I am committing spiritual adultery against Christ (Rom 7:3-4). When I was crucified with Christ, I died to the law and was espoused to Christ (Rom 7:4, Gal 2:19-20, 2 Cor 11:2) . If build again those things which were destroyed, meaning I look again to the law (anything other than the finished work of Christ) for righteounsess or victory, Christ is of NONE EFFECT to me in my struggle against sin (Gal 2:18, 5:4, 6:14). By living under law, I have frustrated God’s grace, I have quenched the Spirit, and as such, I am left to battle sin by the power of self, and I will lose every time (Gal 2:21, 3:3, 5:4, Rom 7:15,18). This being this case, sin revives, meaning it regains dominion in my life, ruling and reigning over me just as it did before I was saved (Rom 7:9 KJV).

• I’m not going to experience victory over sin just because I’m saved, just because I have the Holy Spirit, or just because I’m in Christ (Rom 6:13). I must walk in the Spirit, I must abide in Christ, I must continue in the faith, I must stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made me free, and I must reckon myself, daily, to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Gal 5:1, 16, 25, John 15:4-5, Col 1:23, Rom 6:11). All of theses commands are really saying the same thing, which is that I must continue daily in what first set me free. What first set me free was faith in Christ and Him crucified exclusively. When I surrendered to Christ by placing all my faith, hope, and trust solely in who He is and what He did for me, the grace of God, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, made me free from the law of sin and death, referring to the double cure: the wages of sin (death) and the law of sin in my members producing all manner of evil desire in me and warring against the law of my mind (Rom 6:23, 7:23-25, 8:2). Now, to continue in, stand fast in, and walk in this freedom, I must maintain the same object of faith through which I was first set free (Col 2:6, Gal 3:2-3). As I maintain the same object of faith, the Holy Spirit is free to continue His work of conforming me into the image Christ and giving me victory over the sin nature (Gal 3:2-3). As I maintain the same object of faith, I’m walking in the Spirit, I’m abiding in Christ, I’m standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made me free, and as such, I am receiving the Spirit’s help and I will not fulfill the lust of flesh (Col 2:6, Gal 5:16, 6:14).

• None of this means I can have sinless perfection (1 John 1:8-10, Phi 1:6, 3:12). Fighting the fight of faith (the fight to keep the faith - 2 Tim 4:7, meaning the fight to depend constantly on Christ alone - Gal 6:14, Phi 3:7-9) is a never ending fight that I will lose at times (1 John 1:8-10, 1 Tim 6:12). When I do, sin will be the result. Through faith in the blood of Jesus, I can confess my sins, repent, and know that I am forgiven (Rom 3:25 KJV, 1 John 1:8-10). I can then continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will strengthen my faith in Christ, and I will experience ever increasing victory over sin (2 Pet 3:18, Col 2:6-7, 2 Cor 3:18 w/ Col 1:27). This ever increasing victory isn’t the result of great effort on my part. Instead, it’s the result of a greater surrender to Christ, meaning a greater dependence on Christ, on my part (Rom 11:6, Gal 3:2-3).

• Yes, as I depend more fully and more consistently on Christ and His Work alone, the result of GOD WORKING IN ME, through faith, will be that I work hard, exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and remain faithful to spiritual disciplines (Phi 2:13, Heb 13:20-21, Ezk 36:27, James 2:18). I am free from works as a means of righteousness or victory over sin (Gal 2:21, Rom 6:11, Heb 4:10-11), but I’m not free from works as the only evidence that I’m allowing God to work in me (James 2:17, Matt 7:17), which I do by maintaining MY my faith in Christ and Him crucified alone (Gal 3:2-3).

All of that is a basic summary of truths I’ve learned over the last three years, all of which are really just a long way of explaining one simple truth that God showed me that Sunday morning three years ago, which is this:

The power to live in freedom from sin, the power to escape every temptation, and the power to experience love, joy, and peace, is not in what I do. It’s in what CHRIST has DONE. CHRIST is the Power of God (1 Cor 1:24). CHRIST is the Wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24). In CHRIST dwells all the power of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9). I am complete in CHRIST (Col 2:10). I am victorious in CHRIST (2 Cor 2:14). I am free in CHRIST (Rom 8:2). In CHRIST are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). On the cross, CHRIST was made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption (1 Cor 1:30). The preaching of THE CROSS is the Power of God. Paul determined to know nothing save CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED. God has forbidden that we should glory, boast in, or trust in anything other than THE CROSS (1 Cor 1:18,22-24, 30, 2:2, 5, Gal 6:14, Col 2:8-10). Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the wisdom of men, and not after the Wisdom of God found exclusively in CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED (Col 2:8, 1 Cor 1:22-24). Let me repeat the statement that opened by eyes again:

The POWER to live in freedom from sin, the POWER to escape every temptation and lust of the flesh, and the POWER to experience the fruit ofthe Spirit is not in what I, a weak fleshly human being, do. The POWER OF GOD is exclusively in CHRIST and what He has DONE.

My part in attaining righteousness or victory over sin isn’t to do anything. My part is to trust in, depend on, and maintain my faith in what has been DONE.

Do you hear that brothers and sisters? It is DONE. There’s nothing left standing between me and the power of Christ. No work left for me to accomplish. It is FINISHED (John 19:30, Heb 4:3). I can now access the all-sufficient, bondage-breaking grace of God simply by faith in what Christ has done (Rom 5:1-2, 6:14). It’s a free gift, paid for by the precisous blood of God’s own Son (Rom 5:15,16,18). I can now come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16). When I’m tempted, there’s grace to escape (1 Cor 10:13, Rom 6:14). When I seem to just do bad things without a moment to think about it, there’s grace to will and do right. When it seems like there’s no hope, no way of victory, and no way of escape, I can look to Jesus, and receive grace (something I can’t earn, can’t work for, and don’t deserve) to help. I don’t need to work harder. I just need some HELP from my SAVIOR because I can’t do it! Thank God that JESUS paid the price for me to get some help whenever I need it! And I can say for sure, there’s never a time when I don’t need it! (John 15:4). I need GOD WORKING IN ME both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and by grace through faith, not of works, lest I should boast in myself, I can walk in the place where God never stops working in me! (Phi 2:13, Heb 13:20-21, Col 2:6, Gal 3:2-3, 5:16, Phi 1:6). What I do is the fruit, aka the result, of what God is doing in me through His Spirit (John 15:4, Phil 2:13). He doesn’t do it just because I’m saved, and I won’t experience it just because I have the Holy Spirit. Why? Because He will never do it for me on the basis of works (Rom 11:6). I cannot earn His help (Rom 4:4). He will not be indebted to me for something Christ already paid for (Rom 4:4). Nor will He do the work in me when I am trusting in myself, trying to do myself what only He can do (Gal 3:2-3, 5:4,9). God resists the proud (James 4:6). Those who think they can earn righteousness, establish it themselves, or produce righteous living themselves, are opposing the redemption plan of God, and God is resisting them for their own good, saved or not, in order to bring them to a place of complete dependence on His Son and HIS defeat of sin at the cross (Gal 2:21, James 4:6, Gal6:14). God only gives grace to help in time of need to those who remain surrendered to Christ, meaning they surrender the battle to Him by trusting in what He did on the cross to win it (Rom 4:16, 5:1-2, Gal 5:4, 6:14). Depending on Christ and Him crucified alone is the true, biblical definition of humility, and God only gives grace to the humble (Gal 6:14, James 4:6). Unless we’ve started in this place of humility (complete and utter dependence on Christ and Him crucified), we have never been saved (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 11:6, Gal 5:9). Even if we’ve started there, however, if we don’t continue there, and instead we pridefully begin to depend on ourselves and our own works, we will not have access to the grace we need to live in freedom (Gal 1:6, 2:21, 5:1-4, 7, 9, Rom 6:14). God will oppose even the saved if they don’t remain humble and surrendered to Christ (Gal 5:1-4, James 4:6). Stop trying to add to what Christ has done and start reckoning His Work as SUFFICIENT to give you access to the help you need. God will not allow you to finish what Christ has already finished (Rom 11:6). He will not allow you, the one for whom Christ died, to share the glory with His Son (Gal 6:14). You can do NOTHING without Jesus, and ANYTHING you do that’s not the fruit of what He’s doing in you, through faith in what He’s done for you, is not pleasing to God, no matter how good it looks (John 15:4, 2 Tim 3:5 w/ 1 Cor 1:18,24, Phi 2:13, 3:3-9 1 Cor 1:29). I woke up this morning feeling discouraged and distant from God. I decided to review some of the foundational truths that set me free, and I have to say, looking again at what Christ has done for me has the fire burning bright again. Can I preach to you for just a couple minutes? Can I tell you what my Jesus has done for me? Can I tell you that old, old story of Jesus and His love? Can I talk to you for a minute about how my Savior came from glory to save a wretch like me? That’s right, He plunged me to VICTORY beneath the cleansing flood! He BOUGHT ME with His REDEEMING blood! I was without hope and without God in the world, dead in trespasses in sins, enslaved to my own evil nature, an ungodly sinner deserving of death and Hell, but my Jesus came from Heaven to save me. He loved me, and gave Himself for me, that He might DELIVER ME from this present evil world! (Gal 1:4). He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against me and nailed it to His cross! (Col 2:14). He, who knew no sin, became sin, that I might become the righteousness of God in Him! (2 Cor 5:21). He bore my sin, crucified who I was, and made me into a new creation! (Eph 2:16, Is 53:6, 2 Cor 5:17). He SPOILED principalities and powers, and MADE A SHOW of them openly, TRIUMPHING over them in it! (Col 2:15).

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! (Rom 8:3) That means He, by representation, became the old condemned man for me, and took the condemnation I was owed, that I might live in Him without condemnation! (2 Cor 5:21, Rom 6:6-7, 8:1-2). He didn’t become a sinner, but He bore my sin and died the death I deserved as a sinner! (Is 53:6, Rom 5:8). As such, I’m now crucified to that old man, dead to the condemnation he accrued under the law, dead to the sinful nature that dominated him, and dead to the world he lived in! (Rom 6:2,6-7,11, 7:4, Gal 2:19-20, 6:14). It is finished! The old man is dead and I’m free from sin! (Rom 6:6-7). Hallelujah to the Lamb of Glory! I am CRUCIFIED with with Christ, and it’s no longer I who live! (Gal 2:20). It is CHRIST who lives in me, and the life I now live in flesh, I don’t live by self-effort, self-dependence, or self-glorying! NO! I live by the FAITH of the Son of God alone! (Gal 2:20-3:3, 6:14). I do not frustrate the grace of God! For if righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain! (Gal 2:21). Righteousness comes by the cross alone, so God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is (right now) crucified unto me, and I unto the world! (Rom 4:2, Gal 2:21, 6:14). That means I’m dead to all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life! (1 John 2:16). And the good news is, he that is dead is free! (Rom 6:7). I’m dead and therefore I’m free! (Rom 6:6-7, 11, Gal 2:20, Col 3:3). I died with Christ, the work was finished when I died with Him, and as such, no work is left unfinished in order for me to experience death to sin! (John 19:30, Heb 4:10-11, Rom 6:11). Now, instead of working for victory, I must cease from my works and REST in the work that was finished for me, meaning I work for another purpose and reckon the work of Christ on the cross as complete and sufficient, in and of itself, to give me victory over sin (Rom 6:11, Gal 6:14, Heb 4:10-11). There is one last truth I haven’t covered yet, and it’s really just I re-statement of what I’ve already said, but in another context. Paul told the Galatians, who had begun in the Spirit but then tried to be made perfect by the flesh (Gal 3:3), “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16). Walking in the Spirit means walking in the place where the Spirit of God is working in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure, quickening my mortal body with Life that makes me free from the law of sin and death, and causing me, through the regenerative work I’ve just described, which is renewed day by day, to walk in God’s statutes, to keep His judgments, and do them (Phi 2:13, Heb 13:20-21, Rom 7:6, 8:2,11, Ezk 36:26-27 KJV, 2 Cor 4:16, Heb 8:10, 10:16). In short, walking in the Spirit means walking in the place where the Spirit is free to work in me that which is well-pleasing in His sight (Gal 3:2-3, Rom 7:6, Heb 13:20-21). It’s about walking in the sphere of the Spirit and not the sphere of flesh. This place where the Spirit works goes by many names, some of which are: in Christ, under grace, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, in the faith, and in the Spirit (Col 2:6, Rom 6:14, Gal 5:1,25, Col 1:23). So how do I enter this place and how do I walk in it? “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6 (emphasis added) I walk in Christ as I received Christ. I received Christ, referring to the Spirit of Christ in me, ONE Way: by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9, Gal 3:2, Rom 10:17). It was a free gift. I didn’t work for it, I didn’t earn it, and I didn’t deserve it (Rom 4:2-4). All I did was surrender my Salvation wholly to Christ by making who He is and what He did for me my only object of faith. In short, I gave up on my works and trusted exclusively in Christ and the Cross (Rom 3:25 KJV, Gal 6:14). I may not have thought about it in those terms, but that’s what happened. Anyone who hasn’t gone the Narrow Way of grace alone through faith alone in Christ and His Cross alone has yet to be saved (Jn 10:1, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 11:6, Gal 6:14). The moment I made Christ and Him crucified my only object of faith, I received the Spirit, and here is one of the things that happened when I received the Spirit: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, He is none of His.” Romans 8:9

The moment I placed my faith in Christ, I entered into the Spirit (i.e. the place where the Spirit works in me, gives me Life, and thereby gives me victory over sin).

Is that it then? I received the Spirit so I’m good now and I don’t even have to fight the fight of faith or worry about standing fast in the libery where Christ made me free? No. That is absolutely not how it works. As I’ve stated, there’s a requirement to continue, abide in, and stand fast in this place of victory (John 15:5, Gal 5:1, 25). That’s why Paul didn’t tell the Galatians, “You’re saved, so you are now automatically walking in the Spirit.” Instead, he commanded them to walk in the Spirit, which means they, and we, have a responsibility as it pertains to walking in the Spirit. Romans 8:9 says we’re in the Spirit if we’ve received the Spirit, but notice what Paul says here:

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 (emphasis added) Only saved people live in the Spirit. As such, it is saved people who are commanded to also walk in the Spirit.

It’s important here to understand what sort of “living” Paul was talking about when he said,

“If we live in the Spirit.” Jesus said, “I am . . . the Life.” (John 14:6) (emphasis added) The Bible says, “. . . the Spirit is Life . . .” (Rom 8:10) (emphasis added) The Spirit of Christ in us is Life. This is also what Paul was talking about when he made the following statements: “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20) (emphasis added)

“we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4) (emphasis added) “we shall also be in the likeness of His Resurrection” (Rom 6:5) (emphasis added) “Reckon yourself . . . alive unto God . . .” (Rom 6:11) (emphasis added) “yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead” (Rom 6:13 )(emphasis added)

CHRIST is our newness of life! CHRIST is our resurrection from the dead as a new creation in Christ! CHRIST is our peace with God, and CHRIST is Life to our members. The Spirit is Life and Christ is in us through the Spirit! Now notice one of the results of the Life of Christ in me:

“For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Rom 8:2 (emphasis added) “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is Life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (give resurrection life to) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom 8:10-11 (parentheses mine)

One aspect of the Life of Christ in me is freedom from the law of sin! According to Romans 7:23, together with Romans 7:8, the law of sin is that entity in my members which wars against the law of my regenerated mind (Heb 8:10, 10:16) by producing in me all manner of evil desire. The Life of Christ makes me free from that! Doesn’t mean I won’t have evil desires ever again (Rom 7:25, Gal 5:17), but it does mean I’m free from their dominion and rule, and by grace through faith, I don’t have to obey them (Rom 6:14, 1 Cor 10:130. There is a Way of Escape from evil desires and His name is Jesus Christ! (Jn 14: 6, 1 Cor 10:13).

When Christ quickens my mortal body, the result is that grace reigns over sin and the Spirit reigns over the flesh (Rom 5:21, Gal 5:16). In other words, the deeds of the body (referring to the law of sin in my members) are mortified through the Spirit (Rom 8:13). So back to how I walk in the place where Christ does this for me, that place being “in the Spirit.” Colossians 2:6 says I walk in Christ just as I received Him. We know Christ is at the right hand of the Father, but through the Spirit, He is also in us. It was really the Spirit of Chirst we received and it’s the Spirit we are to walk in. So how do I walk in the Spirit? JUST AS I RECEIVED HIM. Did I earn the Spirit? Did I do something to merit His is entrance into my life? Did I do anything to receive Him, or did I simply surrender my Salvation to Christ by placing my faith in who He is and what He did for me on the cross? (Gal 3:2-3). As I have already stated repeatedly, we receive the Spirit, who is the seal of our Salvation, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ and the Cross alone, lest we should boast in our own works, which means boasting in anything other than the cross (Eph 2:8-9, 6:14). So I walk in the Spirit simply by maintaining the same object of faith through which I first received Him, which means maintaining my faith in Christ and Him crucified ALONE. In other words, I remain in a place of humble dependence on Christ and what He’s done for me, believing His Finished Work is sufficient to give me continual access to the work I need Him to do for me and in me. To say it another way, I walk in the Spirit by obeying Romans 6:11 and Galatians 6:14, which both direct me to complete and utter dependence on the cross alone. Anyone who separates Gal 2:20 and Gal 6:14 from Gal 5:16/25 is making a huge mistake and they will not be able to understand what Paul meant when he said “walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 3:2-3, 5:1-4, and Romans 7:6 show us the connection between walking in the Spirit and walking in a place of being dead the law through faith in Christ and Him crucified. When I walk in this position of victory (in the Spirit), where it’s the Spirit, not me, who does the work, fights the battles, and brings about victory, the result will most definitely be obedience to God’s New Covenant commands and evidence of spiritual fruit (Phi 2:13, Ezk 36:27). However, walking in the Spirit is done by faith alone (Col 2:6, Gal 3:2-3). The doing is the result of walking in the Spirit, not the practice of walking in the Spirit. Good works, obedience, and fruit are always the fruit (aka the result) and never the root (the means of accessing grace to help in time of need, which includes grace to be free sin and not fulfill the lust of the flesh). Grace to help refers to the power of the Holy Spirit, as He is our Helper, and one aspect of God’s grace is the help He gives us by working in us to both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Heb 13:20-21, Phi 2:13). All of this could be be summarized like this: The Holy Spirit works exclusively within the parameters of finished work of Christ. If you get outside those parameters, meaning you put your faith in something other than the cross, or mix something with the cross, then you limit what He can do (Gal 2:21, 5:1-4, 9). Having tried to access His power apart from faith in the cross exclusively, you will be deined access because the Holy Spirit works only through grace, which comes only through faith alone in the cross alone (Gal 2:21,5:4,9). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, self will be your only power source, and you will be overcome by sin because self has no power over sin (Rom 7:18).

The Bible has a lot to say about what a Christian ought to do, but it only gives One Way of doing it. That’s why there is One Gospel, One Lord, One Faith, One Hope, One Truth, and One Life. His name is Jesus Christ, and we receive His help only by faith in what He did for us (Rom 4:16). Obedience, holiness, and worship (all in spirit and in truth) are the what to do. By grace (God working in us through the Spirit) through faith (dependence on Christ and Him crucified exclusively) is the “how” to do it (Col 2:6, Eph 2:8-9). If you read this and realize your faith has been in Bible reading, prayer, fasting, church attendance, accountability programs, self effort, willpower, resolve, or anything else that you do, rather than in what Christ has done and only in what Christ has done, I invite you today to do what I did three years ago. Repent of your spiritual adultery against Christ. Repent of your self-dependence, self-righteousness, and self-glorying. Repent of believing your Savior’s sacrifice on cross is not sufficient to give you freedom. Repent of trying to finish what Jesus already finished for you. Determine today, that henceforth, you will know nothing save Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). Determine today, to follow God’s command not to glory in anything other than the cross of your Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 6:14). Admit today that you’ve been spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and not after Christ (Col 2:8). Begin today, to count all other means of righteousness or victory over sin as dung, abandoning them all, that you may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, but instead having the righteousness which of God by faith (Phi 3:3-14). Then tomorrow, and the next day after that, and the next day after that, and every day until you die or Jesus returns, continue in, abide in, stand fast in, and walk in this same faith, depending on Christ and Him crucified to meet every need, defeat every foe, and bring about every victory (Luke 9:23, Gal 5:1, 25). When temptation comes, keep looking to Christ and Him crucified. Because the work is finished, and the Spirit’s help is freely received through faith in the cross, He will come to your aid as you rest in what Jesus did for you on the cross.