Walking in the Spirit can be a very vague concept for many believers even after listening to sermons and reading books on the subject. This is by no means an exhaustive discourse, but I hope to shed some light and bring emphasis to a very important aspect of this subject.
Under the Old Covenant, God led His people through many supernatural and spectacular means- a thundering voice from a mountain on fire, stone tablets with words written by the very finger of God, prophetic voices that prophesied things that came to pass, a cloud by day and fire by night etc. All these spectacular acts weren’t that effective in transforming lives though. Sure, the Israelites honored God with their lips but their hearts were notoriously far from God. In this dispensation of the New Covenant, God still leads His people through spectacular means; however, He now also leads His people in a more fundamental way that also brings about true transformation.
31Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV
Instead of thundering from burning mountains, God has decided to put his law in our minds and in our hearts. What does this mean? Jesus introduced this concept when He spoke of adultery (Mat 5:27-28) and murder. Under the Old Covenant I could technically lust after a woman all I want and as long as I don’t commit the act, I will be blameless. In other words, I really want to commit adultery but an external factor (the written law on stone tablets) discourages me from acting on my desires. However, when the law is written on my heart, it’s no longer a dead letter on a stone or a scroll but a living passion in my heart. “Thou shall not commit adultery” on the stone tablet becomes a desire in my heart to treat every woman or man with purity rather than lust. This is a more fundamental level of guidance and why it is said that God is at work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:13)
Now, the agency that accomplishes this task of writing the law of God on our hearts is the Holy Spirit. Remember that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit (Rom 5:5) and the sum total of the law is love. Therefore, the law is written in our hearts by the Spirit; or we can say that the Spirit transforms those words written on stone tablets into righteous desires in our hearts. This is the law of the Spirit of life that makes us free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). This law of sin and death is a law resident in our members (Rom 7:23) and, just like the law of God on our hearts, also translates to desires. Hence, this law of sin in our members is essentially the desires of the flesh. This is what Paul talks about in Galatians 5.
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Gal 5:16-18 NKJV
This passage ends with, “but if you are led by the Spirit…” Given the context, this “led by the Spirit” obviously means being led by the desires the Spirit gives us which are contrary to those of the flesh. As we yield to those righteous desires, the bible says that our steps become ordered by the Lord. It’s an unconscious but very real and valid level of guidance. We don’t always have to worry about specific directions as we go about our day. When it comes to major decisions though, by all means we should seek God’s counsel. However, if at any time we don’t know what to do, we can just work righteousness and trust that God is ordering our steps.
Now, it is God’s responsibility to write His law on our hearts by His Spirit but it is our responsibility to put to death the law of sin (aka. the lusts of the flesh which are contrary to the Spirit). This is why Paul later says that those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24). This is also why we cast down every imaginations that exalts itself above the knowledge of Christ. When we choose one, we reject the other. We put on the new man and put off the old man (Eph 4:22-24). We choose the righteous desires of the Spirit and become slaves of righteousness while we crucify the lusts of the flesh and die to sin. It’s our responsibility to make this decision and one important tool with which we distinguish the desires of the flesh from those of the Spirit is our conscience.
who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
Rom 2:15 NKJV
Without going into other implications of the context of this particular passage, suffice to say that the conscience as an important compass needful for navigating the realm of being led by the Spirit. The summary of what I have said so far in so many words is this: we walk in the Spirit by walking with a pure conscience and the responsibility of this choice is on us. This is the essence of the Christian life as we can see in the following passages:
holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
1 Tim 3:9 NKJV
This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
Acts 24:16 NKJV
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
2 Tim 1:3 NKJV
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith
1 Tim 1:5 NKJV
There are many believers who will try to persuade us that it’s impossible to consistently walk with a clear conscience, but we see here that it was the norm for Paul and even a requirement for becoming a deacon. There were even men under the Old Covenant (or even before that) who walked with pure consciences.
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
Job 27:6 NKJV
My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.
Job had a testimony from God that there was none like him on the face of the earth. It’s not hard to see why- he had purposed in his heart that he would never violate his conscience as long as he lived. What a man! What an example! This passage is also a good segue into the next school of thought. Here, Job uses heart instead of conscience and the apostle John also does the same in one of his epistles (1 John 3:21). Obviously, there’s a close relationship between the heart and the conscience. Some believe the conscience is a part of the heart, some believe it is separate. Regardless of what you believe, we can all agree that it is hard to claim to be pure in heart if your heart condemns you. When it comes to intimacy with God, purity of heart is critical. Jesus said it is the pure in heart that will see God.
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Psalm 24:3-6 NKJV
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah
If we want to “see God,” if we want to go far in the things of the Spirit, if we want to hear His voice, if we want to be a real threat to the kingdom of darkness, a pure conscience is not optional. Without it our spiritual efforts would be like trying to fell a tree with a blunt axe- very tedious. Oh I believe in righteousness by faith, but the blood of Jesus doesn’t pay for everything. The apostle Paul makes it clear that we have to purify ourselves in order to be vessels unto honor useful for the master and prepared for every good work (2 Tim 2:21). As for His voice, does it not say that His sheep hears His voice? Before we talk about the voice of many waters, are we hearing the voice of righteous desires and conscience originating from His Spirit?
This that has been outlined in this article is the foundation of walking in the Spirit. At the end of the day, whether it’s a voice, a vision, a prompting or desires, it is our conscience that will bear witness whether we are walking in the Spirit or not. Now, the conscience is not the end all be all. If we’ve done our part but our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things (1 John 3:20). On the other hand, there are those that indulge in sinful acts simply because their conscience does not condemn them. There is such a thing as ignorance, a seared conscience and the need of a conscience to be purified from dead works. As we grow in Christ, our conscience will become more and more sensitized by the Spirit in concert with the word. Just because our conscience doesn’t condemn us doesn’t mean we are right (1 Cor 4:4). However, as we are filled with the Spirit and the word of Christ richly dwells in us, we will grow in the accuracy of our walk with God and in the effectiveness of our service to Him.
Disciples of the Holy Spirit 