THE WALK IN THE SPIRIT
September, 1883
By Joseph W. Clift
The
“walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16, 25) is the
walk with God, which Enoch, Elijah and the prophets, apostles
and saints of all ages have taken. It is the consciousness
that God is within as the indwelling God, and without,
all about us, not occasionally, but always.
That we are His and He is
ours, by day and by night, every hour and every moment.
That we are constantly filled and led by God the Spirit.
– (Gal. 5:18.)
That we are “Sons of God,” for as many as
are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.
– (Rom. 8:14.)
That the guidance is so
evident, so convincing, so satisfying, that by faith we
receive an assurance which amounts to absolute knowledge,
since it is more real to us than anything else in or about
us. – (Rom. 8:16.) The walk in the Spirit means
that we are yielding every organ and tissue of the body,
every faculty of mind, every power of the soul, to our
Saviour, our Lord, our Master, our Creator, and our Comforter.
It means that we have His
love, His character and His image restored in and to us.
That we are no longer living the life of the natural man,
but the life of the spiritual man.
That we shrink from impurity and embrace purity of soul.
That we obey and live, for disobedience means sin, sickness,
and death. That where sin abounded “grace doth much
more abound.”
It means a life of trust
for things temporal, and things spiritual, for health
of body, a health of soul, for today, and forever. It
means freedom from cares and sorrows and burdens, since
our Lord, the great Burden-bearer, hath carried all those
for us.
It means the light and joy
and peace of heaven, since God is with us, and we are
with Him. It means anchored in His love, grappled to Him
with hooks of steel.
To all who thus walk,
He gives “power to become the Sons of God,”
“even to such as believe on His name,” and
“walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
– (Rom. 8:1, 4.)
Who would not thus “walk”?
Reader, it is your privilege and mine. |
