As a result of revelation, Saul of Tarsus experienced a tremendous upheaval in his personal life

We are all sons o= f God (3:26) having begun in the Spirit. As sons we can walk by the Spirit.&= nbsp; The Greek word for walk in verse 16, peripateo, means to have our being, to live, to deport ourselves, to order our manner of life, to walk a= bout. It is used with respect to ordinary daily life. It denotes a common, habitu= al daily walk. Every family has its ordinary daily life, its habitual daily walk. Within this walk there = is a leading, a guiding, with some direction provided by the parents. Because our heavenly Father is fil= led with desire, purpose and expectation He will arrange everything to accompli= sh this. Eventually, this walk b= y the Spirit will bring us to perfection.

Maturity and= full growth to become the heirs that God the Father desires. The Lord Jesus, our elder brother, lived by His Father. He wants and expects those w= ho believe in Him to live in the same way.

In ver= ses 19 through 23 Paul gives a contrast between the works of the flesh and the fru= it of the Spirit. Because we still have two natures, we can have two walks. These two natures oppose each othe= r. When we begin to walk, to live, to move then we become aware of the source = of our living. Like the observation – “You can’t adjust the wheels until the car is moving.”&nbs= p; We will not know the source of our living until we begin walking. As we are walking it will become e= vident that we have the works of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit. As we are walking then the parents can provide guidance and leading in order to bring= us, the children, unto full sonship.

Today = we have both our spiritual parents and the environment that we live in that are providing the proper leading. The Spirit is leading us mainly in two defini= te ways. The Triune God as the S= pirit within our human spirit is leading us and our Mother, the Jerusalem above, (the saints) is travai= ling until Christ is formed in us completely.&n= bsp; These two are the best parents, with the highest view as to what we = the children need that we might become the full-grown heirs of God. As we walk by the Spirit daily we = will in no way, by no means, fulfill the lust of the flesh.

The works of the flesh are manifest when we fulfill the = lust of the flesh (see chart). The= lust of the flesh in this book is not dealing with a weak backslidden believer’s love of the world, but of religion and traditions that com= e in to replace Christ. The Judais= ers, in their attempt to help the new believers back to the Law produced the wor= ks of the flesh. Mentioned in ch= apter 2, both Peter and Barnabas eventually were carried away in their hypocrisy = and began to shrink back and separate themselves from the brothers in Antioch. This divisive act was clear to Pau= l as he confronted Peter in Antioch= .

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Praise= the Lord for the Spirit! Praise G= od for all that He went through to become the Spirit so that He could come into us= to dwell in us, to lead us as we live daily in our spirit. Praise the Lord for the church lif= e! It is our home where we are nurtured by ones who are living, walking and having their beings in their spirit. These two along with our environment provide a new realm for us to live, move and have our being in today.

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