Galatians 5:16-18
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The day you came to believe in Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord may not be the same day you had started living by the Spirit of the LORD. Living by the Spirit is your conscious effort not to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you. You could one day live by the Spirit and on another day be doing just the opposite. It's possible. The war would have started in your inner-self but that may not mean that you had obeyed the leading of the Spirit of the LORD in you, each time the war goes on inside of you. You may not see some of the sins of the sinful nature of the Devil in you as your enemy, even though it has been identified as an enemy of the Spirit of God in you. It may take a while before you realize what is happening inside of you. On the outside, for a show to others, you might have pretended like you have obeyed the leading of the Spirit of the LORD, but inside what happens, only you and the LORD would know. That's your secret life with Him. You would have to answer to Him, one day! No one else in this world would know whether you did obey Christ and everything He had commanded or you chose to obey the urges of the sinful nature of the Devil in you.Only He knows and only He can judge you for that. What you may have shown on the outside may not be what had happened inside of you. God is more concerned about what had happened in the inside of you, but men are more concerned about what you show on the outside of you. God the Holy Spirit knows all things about you and me. We cannot lie to Him. We can lie to man and get away with it, but we cannot lie to God the Holy Spirit who dwells in the inside of us. He will search us inside out. But, there is nothing like living by the Spirit of the Lord in you- to be led by Him at all times. We struggle to do so, but we can win that war. Living by the Spirit is the same as being led by the Shepherd. God the Holy Spirit brings everything Christ had commanded to us. He leads us to full Christformation in us by doing so, when we obey His leading.
Romans 8:13-14
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The day you came to believe in Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord may not be the same day you had started living by the Spirit of the LORD. Living by the Spirit is your conscious effort not to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you. You could one day live by the Spirit and on another day be doing just the opposite. It's possible. The war would have started in your inner-self but that may not mean that you had obeyed the leading of the Spirit of the LORD in you, each time the war goes on inside of you. You may not see some of the sins of the sinful nature of the Devil in you as your enemy, even though it has been identified as an enemy of the Spirit of God in you. It may take a while before you realize what is happening inside of you. On the outside, for a show to others, you might have pretended like you have obeyed the leading of the Spirit of the LORD, but inside what happens, only you and the LORD would know. That's your secret life with Him. You would have to answer to Him, one day! No one else in this world would know whether you did obey Christ and everything He had commanded or you chose to obey the urges of the sinful nature of the Devil in you.Only He knows and only He can judge you for that. What you may have shown on the outside may not be what had happened inside of you. God is more concerned about what had happened in the inside of you, but men are more concerned about what you show on the outside of you. God the Holy Spirit knows all things about you and me. We cannot lie to Him. We can lie to man and get away with it, but we cannot lie to God the Holy Spirit who dwells in the inside of us. He will search us inside out. But, there is nothing like living by the Spirit of the Lord in you- to be led by Him at all times. We struggle to do so, but we can win that war. Living by the Spirit is the same as being led by the Shepherd. God the Holy Spirit brings everything Christ had commanded to us. He leads us to full Christformation in us by doing so, when we obey His leading.
Romans 8:13-14
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.