Welcome back, so glad to be studying today with you.
Question 1. In the previous lesson, we talked about the first foundational principle of freedom, do you remember what it is?
In the previous lesson, we understood that we have a need for cleansing and that God has opened a “fountain” at the cross, where we might daily come and receive fresh grace and new cleansing. And this washing at the cross makes us not only clean but also free from guilt.
In this lesson, we will learn the second principle of freedom, and it is “Walking by the Spirit.”
During my time of bondage to overeating, it seemed my whole life revolved around gratifying my flesh. It was all about the adrenalin rush of gorging on food, all about experiencing fleshly pleasures. I ran to food for comfort, to alleviate boredom, and any other reason I could find.
And this is captivity! The world calls it “addiction”, but the Scriptures tell us that when we commit sin habitually, we are “trapped” (Isaiah 42:22), in “bondage” (Psalm 107:10-11), a “captive” or “slave” (John 8:34), in rebellion (Proverbs 17:11), and disobedient (1 John 3:4). It is serious.
This is why God must change our hearts, give us new desires, cause us to begin to detest our previous life of self-gratification, for if He doesn’t, we will live and die in sin’s captivity and darkness.
But there is a way to be free from sin’s slavery. It’s not by trying harder, promising to stop or deciding to be free, etc. The following passage tells us how to be free:
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:16-18 (NIV)