Galatians 5:16-25 NASB But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Philippians 3:17

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

Indeed nothing makes a man more unpopular in the controversies of the present day than an insistence upon definition of terms... Men discourse very eloquently today upon such subjects as God, religion, Christianity, atonement, redemption, faith; but are greatly incensed when they are asked to tell in simple language what they mean by those terms.

- J. Gresham Machen

Walking by the Spirit

… is when the Spirit empowers you to understand and believe the promises of God to be more valuable than anything sin can offer.

… is walking by faith Biblically defined.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

1 Corinthians 4:16-17

I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

1 Thessalonians 1:6

You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit...

"... the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

2 Timothy 1:12

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 1:8

...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory...

John 14:1

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

2 Peter 1:2

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Walking by the Spirit involves saturating my life with the person of Christ. He should dominate my thought patterns as I live in the consciousness of His presence. Since the Spirit's work is to point to Christ, walking by the Spirit means that my life is patterned after the Lord Jesus Christ. The more I studied the Gospels and came to know Jesus Christ, the more fulfilling the Christian life became to me. Paul had the same goal. He said, "That I may know him."

- John MacArthur

Gordon Haddon Clark

"Sin will keep you from this Book, and this Book will keep you from sin." The Spirit who gave the Scripture uses the Scripture to sanctify, but He does not so use it with those who refrain from reading. No neat and pretty or petty rules for sanctification are needed or even useful. Certainly no superstitious practices. Nor does Bible reading always seem to give help. Sanctification is not completed in one hour…

But if one has daily read a chapter or even a smaller section of the Bible, and he finds in it nothing of unusual importance, yet in the hour of trial and temptation the Spirit will not only recall the words in his memory but will also disclose to him their immediate import….

As others, wiser than I, have said: You do not get into a jam, open the Bible at random, and put your index finger on the left hand column of the right hand page, and find the solution you need. You must depend on the Spirit to cause you to remember what you read seven months ago. It may have made little impression then; but the alarm clock you wound up then goes off with a great clanging now.

Gordon Haddon Clark

1. Know the Word and especially the promises of God to His people.

2. Ask the Spirit to help you both understand and believe the promises.

3. Judge whether Biblical faith is truly present by noting whether or not you are being changed into the image of Christ.

4. If the answer to #3 is yes, you are learning to walk by the Spirit.

5. If the answer to #3 is no, confess that you do not yet believe in the way the Bible uses the term and go back to #1 and start over again.