How Do We Live to the Spirit?
In Galatians 5:16, the Apostle Paul says that disciples of Jesus Christ should walk by the Spirit so they do not carry out the desires of the flesh. It seems evident that Jesus Christ, our Savior, walked by the Spirit, because He did not carry out the desires of the flesh, which is sin.
To walk by the Spirit is to live to the Spirit, and that Spirit is God (John 4:24). You walk in the Spirit by walking in the commandments. This is what a disciple of Jesus Christ is expected to do (2 John 6). These commandments are not burdensome to keep (1 John 5:3). In fact, they are easy and pleasant to keep (Matt. 11:28-30). They are not the commandments of Moses, but rather the Way of life that Jesus came to tell us about, as found in Matthew, chapters 5, 6 and 7—the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says anyone who lives this Way and teaches it to others will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19).
In order to keep this Way, you must act upon the words of Jesus Christ (Matt. 7:24; Luke 8:21; 11:28). If you look at some of the more modern Bible translations, you will see the phrases, “puts them into practice”; “who hear and practice the word of God”; and “put it into practice.” Yes, God wants you to practice the truth because that’s the key to finding out what the truth or light is (John 3:21). The truth is the sayings of Christ, which we are to put into practice daily in our lives (John 12:47). Those sayings represent the Will of God. You must be willing to do God’s Will in order to understand the teaching (John 7:17). You will be putting to death the deeds of the body as you live to the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). Living to the Spirit, then, is overcoming your evil, human nature by practicing the deeds of Christ (Rev. 2:26).
We must overcome evil by doing good and by being zealous for good deeds (Rom. 12:21; 1 Peter 3:13). We must do these deeds in the name of Christ, which allows God to crush our satanic nature and put it under our control (Col. 3:17; Rom. 16:20). That is fighting the good fight of faith and that’s living by the Spirit (2 Tim. 4:7; Rom. 8:14).