The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: Walk in the Spirit (Part 2 of 4)
"What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?" This question forms the foundation of authentic Christian living, yet many believers remain confused about its practical application. Our conversation explores this vital spiritual concept through multiple perspectives, uncovering the essential elements of a Spirit-led life.
Walking in the Spirit begins with understanding that you must first be in the Spirit—having God's Spirit dwelling within you through salvation. From there, spiritual living involves daily surrender, immersion in Scripture, and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit's guidance. As multiple voices in our discussion emphasize, this guidance often comes through a "still small voice" rather than dramatic supernatural manifestations.
We tackle the controversial topic of modern charismatic practices, particularly speaking in tongues, and examine whether these align with biblical accounts. The discussion draws important distinctions between genuine spiritual maturity and counterfeits that distract from true godliness. Several participants share personal insights about how spiritual growth happens gradually as believers consistently renew their minds through God's Word.
The conversation returns repeatedly to Paul's promise in Galatians 5:16 that walking in the Spirit prevents fulfilling fleshly desires. This isn't about perfection but about a progressive transformation where temptations lose their power as we grow in spiritual maturity. For both new and seasoned believers, this episode offers practical wisdom for living out faith in daily decisions and relationships.
Whether you're struggling with persistent temptations, confused about spiritual gifts, or simply seeking to deepen your walk with Christ, this thoughtful exploration will help clarify what it truly means to be led by the Spirit in today's world. Join our community as we pursue authentic spirituality grounded in Scripture and expressed through Christlike character.
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What does it mean? What does it mean to walk in the spirit? Because here's the thing Paul assumes that we know. If you are a believer, you should know I won't shame you, and no one should shame you if you don't, because we're here right now to learn what that means. What does it mean to walk in the spirit? Because if you do, then you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But if you don't know what it means to walk in the spirit, how do you know that you are not fulfilling the lust of the flesh? And then that creates a bigger problem when someone asks you what it means. So now I'm going to appeal to each one of you and ask you what does it mean to walk in the flesh? No sermons, just give me what does it mean to walk in the flesh. Brother Jeffrey, man of God, what does it mean to you to walk in the flesh?
Speaker 2:First you said walk in the spirit. Now you want to know walk in the flesh.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. Walk in the spirit. I'm sorry, Okay.
Speaker 2:I just want to clarify before I bloviate. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:What does it mean to walk in the spirit?
Speaker 2:Well, what I think it means to me is that you know I keep harping on this. You've got to stay in the word. I mean, you know it's like you've got to read it every day. You've got to read something, you've got to plan on reading it. You've got to read it, read it, read it. That way you know what the word of God is, because it's right there in front of you. It was spirit inspired, you know. You it's basically, if you want to learn something about somebody, read manual. Well, that's our manual, and you know.
Speaker 2:The other thing is is that you know, so we try to stay close to god by being close to getting to know him and understanding what he commands us in his word. You know, follow the commandments, and I don't want and I'm not talking about going back to the law, I'm talking about the, the that Jesus gave us while he was here, and you know it's. You know, love God above all, love others. You know the two greatest commandments, but it's attempting to. You know, making sure that you're not straying away.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like I just heard a brilliant we had evening church just before I came back for here and the youth ran the service man. Let me tell you something. I just heard a sermon by a 19-year-old young man that could have been delivered by Billy Graham, and it was on Matthew, chapter 6, starting at verse 19 through 34. And you know he was saying what are you doing when you first get up in the morning? I mean you go for your phone, start looking at social media news, turn on the tv you know you need to be grabbing that bible and, uh, talk about, talk about he's right on. That's what you got to do, right? So I mean you know that may not be all of it, but that's, that's a big part of it for me because part of the big part for you is, you know, staying.
Speaker 1:Part for you is staying into the Word of God, right, right, exactly. Sister Lisa, what are your thoughts? What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
Speaker 3:Well, for me it's like Brother Jeff said I try to stay close to Jesus. Brother Jeff said I, I try to stay close to Jesus and then, in certain circumstances, when my I know, when my flesh wants to do something and this Holy Spirit will prompt me, don't do it and I and it's I'm obedient to that. You know, there've been times when you know somebody says something really nasty and our first inclination is to respond back with something. And I am so grateful to God himself working in me that it's almost like he holds my lips closed and I just pray and I thank Jesus at the time. So I think, like what Jeff said, when we stay in the word we, we, we start to take on the character of our Lord Um, and it's his work, it's not ours, and I just um, yeah, that's what it is for me to go opposite of what I want to do.
Speaker 1:Excellent God's word. What does it mean? Walk in the spirit. What does it mean to you?
Speaker 5:To me, it means you listen to the voice that is inside us, because we are his temple and he lives inside us. Listen to what he has to tell us to do. And if we try to go astray, he's calling to us hey, don't do that. And if we do stumble and fall and do it that guilt in us that we've done this he's speaking to us saying hey, I told you not to do that, you need to follow me. It's listening and walking in his path. He's leading us to holiness. He's calling us to be holy as he was holy. That's what the Holy Spirit does. It guides us and it causes us to be in a better relationship with him, to get to know him even better.
Speaker 1:I love the word there. Where say he guides us that expression? He guides us, being guided because, remember, there you know, to walk in the spirit. This is an active, this is an active, this is a bird to walk, to walk in the spirit, to be guided by the spirit, to be led by the spirit. Brother jeffrey, encouraging, serving. Walk in the spirit. What does it mean?
Speaker 6:all right, uh, I'm right here. All right, okay, sorry about that. What it means? Very simple. Jesus told us every day, take up the cross and follow him. Okay, after you take that cross up, you take your flesh, the fleshly part, the sinful part, and you nail it to that cross and then you walk. Then you can walk unimpeded in the spirit, because you've taken the flesh man and nailed him up to the cross and you leave him there or leave her there, and you walk in the spirit. You can walk in the spirit then, unencumbered by what the devil or the enemy is trying to put towards you. Okay, so, every day, surrendering to self, get self out of the way, give it to Jesus and walk in the Spirit. That's what I would do.
Speaker 1:All right, sister Candy, your thoughts Walk in the Spirit. What does it mean?
Speaker 7:basically what encouraging just said. You know, we, we die, we unalive daily in the flesh. And then I'm, I have to, I have to say this um jonathan, um wwjd, if you had jesus with you, would you interact or would you do any of the things that are not Christ like? Because if you would, then that's not welcoming the spirit. But if you refuse it, because it's not something that is of him and because he is in us, to me that's the welcoming the spirit. We go against the grain, because if the world thinks it's okay, it's okay, it's not of him and it is not his spirit.
Speaker 1:Amen, Brother Kev, walking in the spirit. What is it? What does it mean to you to walk?
Speaker 8:in the spirit, sacrificing my body and presenting myself holy and acceptable to the Lord, which is a reasonable service, and I think only he can guide me to do that. I don't even know how to sacrifice, you know, he knows. Like he might say, I want you to go up to Walmart. I mean, literally, god is in us. It's not like he's far away and I'm not trying to, like, say this in the wrong way, so please don't nobody think that I'm pointing at them or get or get offended police, but we have it in our mind from Christian or churchy entity that God is far away if we do wrong, and then he's close when we do good, but he can't get no closer than he is right now. I mean, we just got to renew our mind and a lot of people already said getting into that word. That helps you renew your mind listening to his voice, being sensitive to his voice, because he ain't going to be yelling and screaming at you so you can hear.
Speaker 8:You're just going to have to get used to that still small voice and sometimes, god, just I don't know why he gets quiet and you'd be like, but why is he not talking to him? He wants you to be able to be comfortable with what he's already told you to do, with what he's already told you to do. He don't have to keep on every single minute talking to you continuously, just like a parent. If they sit in your room, I mean you would get uncomfortable. He's sitting there all the time telling you every single little detail. No, just walk in the spirit that's in you. I mean, just listen to him and how he guiding you and you'll be all right. You're going to be all right.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, brother, Because I grew up with a mother, you know, without our father, one mother, my mother and four of us, one mother, my mother and four of us and it was tough for her. But my mother didn't take any mess and she would always tell us things and then it came down to us putting what she says into action, right, Obeying her. But what my mother did not like to do was tell us the same thing twice. She did not like repeating herself at all, she didn't go for that.
Speaker 1:And I think that sometimes we think that there's this big old like when we have an encounter with God, brother. That's why I like what you're saying. We think there needs to be a big old parade and fireworks and streamers being popped in the air and everything. So we know that God's dealing with us. But you're right, Sometimes it's just that, and most of the time it's just a still small voice reminding you of what he's already taught you To obey and to listen, because it is a protective measure to keep you from being distracted by the worldly things. The lust of the flesh, because I want to get into that in a second as well. So, Brother Kanan, walking in the spirit, what does it mean to you brother?
Speaker 9:It's a good question and it's our day-to-day responses, our thoughts, our heart, posture all the fruits of the Spirit that are described in Holy Scripture and the only way we can know truly if we're being walking in the Spirit.
Speaker 9:And another word for walk is conduct.
Speaker 9:When I've looked that word up in the past, our conduct, the way we conduct our lives and our thought life and the way we spend our time, and all of those things if it doesn't line up with Holy Scripture, then it is not Holy Spirit, it is something else and it could be the enemy, it could be the flesh, it could be whatever it may be.
Speaker 9:But that is why it's so important for all of us, as Christians, to constantly be maturing and growing in God's word and spending time with the Lord and his word so that he can pour into us, so that we can understand his will fuller and deeper as we progress in our maturity and grow. Because, again, it's like the seed being sown and it takes time to grow and not everyone is at the same maturity. Some are still drinking milk and aspects and some are eating meat, but all in all, god looks at us all the same. We are all his children. No one has more faith than another, but that God has given us specific talents and purpose while we're here and he uses us as the Holy spirit leads us, as we are in obedience and as we are in a right relationship with him, because we have the Holy scripture to look to.
Speaker 1:For that standard, Amen, wow, really good. I mean, you know, I think everybody's on the right track tonight. Sister Mariah, what are you thinking, what are your thoughts? Walking in the spirit, what is it?
Speaker 4:Well, as I'm looking back through and just remembering the chapter in which we were talking about, and in this chapter alone, in the beginning he says stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, that, whatever it is, whether it is circumcision or uncircumcision, nothing avails but faith working in love. And he says you ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? So when we're thinking about all that Paul has said from the beginning, it was for them to stand firm, walking in the correct gospel, to therefore not putting themselves under other things and letting people add in here and there and to go out. We're to go out and make disciples of the world.
Speaker 4:So when we are doing that, what I'm getting is that it's faith working through love, in the accuracy of the gospel. And then, when we get that, we can walk right. But once we get that, you could run. You run full speed and hit everybody less, not a foot, getting your way and stumble you on the truth in which you heard. Now you're no longer persuaded by this truth to obey this truth. You know, that's my thoughts.
Speaker 1:Amen, that's good. And see what you get here when I ask is. One thing that I like about asking everybody these questions is because it's not because I continue to ask the next person, next person, because I haven't heard the right answer, is because I want to complete the picture. Everybody's going to add something to this overall picture and picture, and we build this sort of collage of what it means to walk in the spirit, to walk in the spirit, and so. But what is clear is that Paul says that when you are walking in the spirit, there is no opportunity for you to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And this is what is hard, because this takes a mature Christian to understand, because so many of us struggle with things and we don't understand why the same things keep popping up over and over again with the same degree of intensity. They may come back from time to time, but their presence becomes less frequent when you are walking in the Spirit. It becomes less potent. When you are walking in the Spirit, they become less diminishing in terms of your ability to be able to walk according to the Spirit when you are continually resisting, continually resisting. And so we have an obligation to our Lord and to ourselves and to the brethren, to continue to walk in the Spirit. And see, here's the thing.
Speaker 1:The other thing that Paul assumes here is that you are in the Spirit. You cannot walk in the spirit unless you are in the spirit. In other words, the spirit is within you and you are in the spirit of God. So it is necessary for us to be led by the spirit of God, to subject ourselves to his guidance, to subject ourselves to his influence, ourselves to his guidance, to subject ourselves to his influence, to subject themselves to what we had been taught, to adjust ourselves to what we had been taught. And so it is. The truth of the matter is not far from us. It's not far from us. Sometimes we not far from us. Sometimes we make it difficult.
Speaker 1:Now there's an element of those Christian folk out there who will tell you that walking in the Spirit has something to do with the supernatural, the miraculous secondary works of the Holy Spirit. That is not what he's talking about here. In fact that's not talked about anywhere. But what Paul is talking about here is walking, that daily spiritual life where you are under the influence, under the guidance, under the influence, under the guidance, under the spiritual direction of God's Holy Spirit that he put in you. In John 15, 26, jesus says that he's going to send his Holy Spirit, and he said that the Spirit of God is going to come here to testify of me, to testify of me. And so a significant aspect of what it means to walk into spirit and walking in the spirit is to always be acknowledging the Lord in all of our ways. Be acknowledging the Lord in all of our ways, and you don't have time for the other stuff. There's no room for it.
Speaker 1:The Spirit enables believers, it teaches us to overcome the desires of the flesh. Does it mean that you might succumb from? Does it mean that you will, that you will at times succumb to it? No, sometimes you will. But there's a difference between loving it and embracing it and saying I want to go back there versus stumbling upon it. Later we're going to see Paul talking about those who are overtaken in a fault, and this is what he's going to be talking about, not talking about you saying I want to live this life again. No, but it's that occasional surprise where we get overtaken, like in a race where somebody passes you by. You are overtaken and so you have to run that much faster in order to win God's word. Go ahead, brother.
Speaker 5:We're saying. So many so-called believers think there is something supernatural, like speaking in tongues. That is the big thing that a lot of them think and, as we were warned in the scriptures, you should test the spirits and that senseless babbling they do. That's demonic. That is a demonic spirit.
Speaker 1:It is, brother. I get people that ask me write to me in text messages or comments or whatever, and they always tell me why I talk about this so much. Because it's a lie, because it's a lie, because it's a lie. That's why it's a lie. Tongue speaking is a lie.
Speaker 5:The father of lies.
Speaker 1:That's right Now, so here. So listen. And Paul tells us. We see this in Isaiah 65. We see it in 2 Thessalonians where God says I'm going to send them a strong delusion so that they believe the lie. He's going to send them lying signs and wonders, lying signs and wonders, lying signs and wonders, so that those who do not love the truth will be deceived thereby. Our only objective is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe his word and to love the brethren as we love ourselves.
Speaker 1:My brother says Pentecostalism has hurt this country more than any religion it has. It is the sickness, it is the disease of 21st century Christianity. Pentecostalism and charismatic influence and dispensationalism these are the two most wicked things that pervade Christianity today. I don't care who you are. I don't care who you are. People want to tell you that I am spiritual because I spoke in tongues. It means nothing that you spoke in tongues and even if you did, the tongues you're speaking today what you call tongues. This is not what was in the Bible. From the jump walking in the spirit, meaning subjecting yourself. From the jump Walking in the spirit Meaning subjecting yourself To holiness, to peace and joy In the Holy Spirit, as Paul tells us in Romans 14. It is not acts Of what you think are miraculous acts that somehow aid you in being faithful. They don't. They never did.
Speaker 1:The charismata, the Pentecostalism, the dispensationalism, the prosperity message that my sister Evie's talking about, all of these things are lies. They are lies. They are lies. I can't tell you no other way. Anyone who wants to talk about it, I'm willing to have the conversation. You will ask well, where does it come from? If it's not coming from God, where else can it come from? Belial, satan, abaddon the destroyer, the wicked one making you fall asleep to the lullaby that distracts you from what it really means to walk in the Spirit. You think that is spiritual. It's not. It's not. The church has been inaugurated. It's here.
Speaker 1:We know what the apostles taught. We know the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know what he did at the cross in Calvary. We have a word of God that tells us all that we need to do and furnish every man of God for all good works in Christ. I don't need that stuff, and neither do you Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust him with every fiber of your being, and all that you need will be added unto you and so many people have a problem with this whole like I. Got this one brother here. I'm not going to knock him. He says they began speaking with tongues and praying and prophesying and see, most of this comes down to not knowing how to read, and it's so sad.
Speaker 5:God's word, go ahead, brother he doesn't seem to understand the man in the comments, as they were speaking in a foreign language that they did not understand, nor had they ever been taught so that they could go out and speak the truth to the world, not in a babbling demonic language that nobody could understand.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's exactly what it was. They were languages. They were actual. It drives me bananas. It was an actual languages that people, that the apostles were given, that they were given A language that they weren't born with. They weren't raised speaking Spanish, they weren't raised speaking Chinese, they weren't raised speaking Japanese. They were real, literal languages that people in that day understood and were born with and were naturalized with.
Speaker 1:So when these people talk about, well, this language was a prayer, secret prayer language, so the devil can't understand it. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's stupid. I got to say it. It's stupid. Where in the Bible does it ever say this is a prayer language, so that the devil can't hear what you're saying to God? Because if there was some special secret to be had in speaking in tongues in order to have God only understand and the devil not intercept it, first of all, I don't know what the significance of that is and, secondly, I don't know why God didn't just give that to everybody. It was such an important component, you know. And here's the other thing Christians, let me tell you something While we're on the subject. I'm going to move along because I don't want to labor too long on it. I'm going to move on because I don't want to labor too long on it.
Speaker 1:The speaking of tongues only took place in the book of Acts, number two. There are only three recorded times that anybody spoke in tongues at all. And one guy saying Bernard Henderson says it's not true. It is true Only in Acts. You don't see anybody speaking in tongues in any other book in the Bible. What you see in Corinthians is Paul talking about their abuse of it. You don't see any accounts of anybody speaking in it. You see him complaining about the abuse of it. Now, even in Acts, when it was spoken, what you see here in the three accounts that we have, in each of the three accounts that we actually had, was that it was the apostles. And again another subject for another time. So my brother here says have a nice night. Of course he's going to say have a nice night Because these people they love their little so-called Gifts and miraculous things. They're liars. Brother Jeffrey, encourage the servant, go ahead.
Speaker 6:Describing what tongues is is that it seemingly makes you a better class of Christian, or one that's higher up the spiritual ladder, as I call it. Yeah, exactly. And there is right there, brother, the biggest stinking lie of the whole thing I've had. Charismatics and Pentecostals have told me over and over again if you're not doing this, they will go as far as to say you have to question your salvation. If you're not speaking in tongues, if you're not prophesying, if you're not healing people who are on their deathbed of cancer, you may not be saved.
Speaker 6:And that is a horrendous spiritual trap that a lot of young Christians can fall into. I would rather give them the hard, honest truth that you're giving to us now. Let them start digesting that and chew on that, instead of falling into that trap and then getting into the possibility of never getting out of it. So thank you for giving us what we need to hear tonight, brother. We appreciate it and love you for it. By the way, one more thing when you said this a little bit early, you said also that you got a lot of kickback today. Well, having said this tonight, brother, you're going to get a lot more tomorrow, so just be ready for it, okay. Love you, brother.
Speaker 1:Thank you, brother.
Speaker 7:Brother Katie, go ahead. Love you, brother.
Speaker 9:Thank you, brother, brother Katie, go ahead Stress again that we need to study the word of God and understand it in context with exegesis, with proper, sound theology and doctrine, because people can read a text, they can read a line and use no other part of the Bible and use that as their whole foundation for something they believe.
Speaker 9:And that is the danger that we see with these groups that proclaim these things.
Speaker 9:And it's not to say that God can't do wonderful miracles and things of that nature.
Speaker 9:I mean, he does them all the time and I believe he does them still to a degree. But we have to understand that each thing that God has used in the Bible had a purpose and intent and, like you've already stressed the point, it had a purpose and intent for those who couldn't understand the gospel and so, therefore, god blessed them with the ability to spread the gospel, proclaim the gospel, and when you look at the context of the time, of what was going on, all those things start to slowly fit together as you study the context of it. And that's why showing yourself approved and handling God's Holy Scripture is so paramount for us as Christians, and not just take what somebody says or take what a pastor says but open up your Bible, get the resources you need which many are free, like blueletterbibleorg and all these other resources that are completely free and start digging into the word and seek the Lord first and all of these things, and say Lord, I want to understand your will, I want to understand your word.
Speaker 1:Right, absolutely, brother, brother Jeff, man of God, go ahead.
Speaker 2:What I was going to say is that Satan's a liar, he's a counterfeiter, and this modern tongues thing is a perfect example. If he really wanted to fool everybody or demonstrate that, he'd have these people actually talking in languages. You know what that tells me? He doesn't have the ability to give that gift, so he just has people babble. You know ecstatic utterance. It's just crap.
Speaker 1:Great point.
Speaker 2:I mean the first time I heard tongues I went to this bible study when I was in college. Some girl invited me over to the dorm it's called the way. That was a kind of a group thing back in the 70s and somebody started talking in tongues and I thought I, I thought I was in wacky land, right, I've never heard such a thing in all my life and my inner being said this this is crazy.
Speaker 1:And you know what, brother? Here's the thing the apostles, when they received the gift of speaking in tongues, they knew what languages they were speaking. So when I ask these people that are speaking to me today what language are you speaking? Oh, it's my heavenly language. No, it ain't a heavenly language, it's a language. It's an actual language. It my heavenly language? No, it ain't a heavenly language. It's a language. It's an actual language. Glossalia it's a tongue. It's a language. Is it Spanish, right? What is it?
Speaker 2:Yes, see, they knew that they shouldn't know it. They'd heard Parthians and all these people talk in the crowd. So they kind of recognized you know they're speaking in a language. And then they kind of recognized, you know they're speaking in a language. And then when they started doing it, they go yeah, well, that's a real language. I just heard this guy over here talking the same thing right and you would think.
Speaker 1:You would think that is that it would be more per. It would be more um pervasive if it were needed. But here, here's what it all comes down to. When they spoke in tongues, at that time they did not have what we have now, which is what the word of God In its totality, everything that God intends to convey to us, is in his word. Thing that God intends to convey to us is in his word. His word has been translated into I can't even count how many languages. It's everywhere.
Speaker 1:There's nowhere you can go and preach the gospel and there's not somebody who can interpret what somebody says. So the question is this which would you prefer to have? As a Christian, what would you prefer to have? The word of God, the completed word of God, or the ability to speak in tongues? If you ask me, I'm going to take the word of God all day long.
Speaker 1:I don't need tongues because I can read everything that God says, that he intends for me to understand. I don't need it, and God is not a superfluous God. He doesn't continue with the weak and the beggarly when he has something that is more perfect here, that completes us and round us out in our understanding, but there's nowhere in the world where we can't send missionaries right now, where the word of God cannot be preached. And you don't need tongues, the gift of tongues or the gift of a supernatural language. You don't need it. Like Brother Cain says, is it possible that God could? Sure? It is Sure, it is Sure, it is. But what we're witnessing on TV and all this other nonsense in these churches and whatever, this is not it. But if we heard it, if we heard it, we wouldn't know it as a supernatural gift unless we knew the persons who are speaking it, speaking a language, if we knew it.