In a Christian’s living, the most important thing is to obey God. However, these words seem very abstract and are not easily realized. Obeying God really means to walk according to the spirit. To obey God is not merely to walk according to the letter of the Bible nor according to the teachings in the Bible. To obey God is deeper than following the letter and teachings of the Bible. It is so deep that it involves the feelings of the spirit, the deepest part of our being. When we walk according to the sense of our spirit, we are obeying God. Hence, in principle, a Christian’s living, walk, motives, thoughts, speaking, and attitude must absolutely follow the sense in our spirit. If we walk in this way, we will be persons who obey God.
Romans 8:6 says that the issue of walking according to the spirit is life and peace. The issue of not walking according to the spirit is death, which often involves the sense of restlessness. In contrast, peace involves calm, comfort, and a sense of rest. This is easy to understand and comprehend. If we follow the spirit, we will have peace. For example, we may want to watch a movie, even though there is a sense in our spirit not to do this. In such a case, we should follow the sense in our spirit and acknowledge that we are consecrated persons and, therefore, obey the sense in our spirit. If we do this, we will immediately sense the peace within. If, however, we do not follow the sense in our spirit and insist on watching the movie, we will lose our sense of peace. On the way to the movie we will sense an inward restlessness that deprives us of our peace. Once we are in the theater, this sense of uneasiness and restlessness will grow stronger. This feeling of unease will not dissipate once the movie is over. Even as we sleep, there will not be peace. Peace is the issue of following the spirit; having no peace is the issue of not following the spirit.
Let us consider another example. A sister may see an inexpensive piece of fabric that she wants to buy. However, because she has already designated the money in her pocket as an offering to the Lord, there is a struggle within her. She may say to herself, “This piece of fabric is so cheap that I should not miss this opportunity to buy it!” However, she also has a sense that she should not use this money because it has already been designated as an offering. If she follows her logical judgment and buys the piece of fabric, she will lose the peace within. She will have no peace on her way home. Even at home, she will still have no peace and be unable to pray. This struggle may continue for a couple of days. After fellowshipping with a sister, she may have a sense to sell the fabric and offer the proceeds to the Lord according to the original plan. Then the inward peace, which she lost by not walking according to the feeling in her spirit, will be restored. Peace always returns when we deal with our disobedience, either through action, as in the case of the sister, or repentance, as in the case of watching the movie.
It is easy to understand the sense of peace, but what about the sense of life? The sense of life involves a sense of satisfaction. It also involves strength as opposed to weakness, and light as opposed to darkness. The sense of life involves satisfaction, strength, and light. If we want to watch a movie but have no sense to do so, we will feel satisfied, strong, and full of light if we follow this feeling. On the contrary, if we disobey this feeling and go to the movie, we will feel empty, dissatisfied, weak, and full of darkness within. The absence of life is death. The issue of obeying the sense in our spirit is satisfaction, strength, light, comfort, peace, and rest. The issue of not obeying the sense in our spirit is emptiness, weakness, darkness, uneasiness, and restlessness. These are the issue of not walking according to the spirit and disobeying the sense in our spirit.
As Christians, it is unnecessary for us to exercise our will to do good, to strive and struggle, or to determine to please God because to will to do good is present with us but to work it out is not (Rom. 7:18). To will, to strive, to determine, and to struggle is the philosophy of moralists and religionists. Being a Christian does not require all these things. A Christian needs only one thing, that is, to constantly walk according to the spirit. We do not need to determine to be humble, to obey our parents, and to love others; all these determinations are futile. Even if we succeed according to our determination, God will not approve of our success because it is not God living out of us.
To be a Christian does not require anything except that one learns to turn to the spirit and walk according to the feeling of the spirit. Day by day he needs to take heed to the inward feeling, and in everything he does, he needs to obey the feeling of the spirit. If we obey the feeling of our spirit in this way, we will not need to make up our mind to be humble; we will spontaneously be humble. We will not need to make a determination to honor our parents; we will do so spontaneously. We will not need to struggle and pursue to love; we will spontaneously be loving. Moreover, this kind of humility, honor, and love surpasses human humility, honor, and love, because they do not come out of us; rather, they are God living out of us.
In the New Testament there are many commands, such as husbands loving their wives, wives submitting to their husbands, and children honoring their parents. These demands are not meant to be fulfilled by our own efforts. Rather, they require us to obey the feeling of the spirit within so that God may be lived out of us. When we walk according to the spirit within, husbands will spontaneously love their wives, wives will submit to their husbands, and children will surely honor their parents. This is not our doing; it is God living out through us. As a result, we live out Christ. In this way Christ not only lives in us, but He is expressed through us.
After salvation, almost every believer determines to do good, to improve himself, to try his best to be humble, meek, and patient, to honor his parents, and to love his neighbors as himself. He does not realize that all these determinations are to no avail. Although these commandments are in the New Testament, we need to realize that they are for man to live out in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. God never requires us to do all these things by ourselves. Rather, He wants us to turn inwardly. He wants us to take care of and obey the feeling of the spirit in our living, our actions, and our walk. When we walk according to the spirit in this way, all the virtues of Christ will be lived out from us. Therefore, to be a Christian requires nothing other than walking according to the spirit.
When a person is willing to walk according to the spirit, he will overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan. If we walk according to the spirit, we will spontaneously overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan with no effort. On the contrary, those who constantly focus on how to overcome sin and the world will easily fall into sin and are bound and entangled by the world. Likewise, the more a person pays attention to overcoming Satan, the easier it is for Satan to attack him. Hence, the secret to living an overcoming life is to walk according to the spirit. As long as we live in the spirit and walk according to the spirit, we will overcome.
We praise the Lord that there is only this one matter in being a Christian. Whether in giving messages, praying, staying at home, doing business, being parents or children, being husbands or wives, being employers or employees, and in relation to our clothing, food, lodging, and transportation, in big things and small things, all we need is to walk according to the spirit. There is no need to will, to run, to determine, or to strive. If we walk according to the spirit, we will overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan; we will be filled with life and peace inwardly. Day by day the life of Christ within us will gradually grow unto maturity. Ultimately, we will be full of the measure of the stature of Christ.