A Spirit-Filled Life

One hard question is being posed during the 6am Men’s Bible Study last Friday. What are the practical ways which we as Christians can be living a spirit-filled life?

I believe all true Christians know the importance of living a spirit-filled life. A student of The Bible knows many verses which talks about the importance of living a spirit-filled life. One of which is these verses:

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of the sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6

But the question which slapped the men in the faces is HOW?

We see Paul himself struggling with sin in Romans 7:7-25. He concluded by saying, “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” After which, he opened Romans 8 with “Therefore, there is now no condemnsation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Hebrews 12:4 tells us, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

In my own personal struggle against sin, I do realize that many times when I sinned against God, I am at a crossroad. This means that I do have a choice to make at the point of either sinning or obeying God’s command. Sad to say, I often make the wrong choice.

In reading Hebrews 12:4, I know that indeed in my struggles against sin, I have never yet resisted to the point of shedding my blood. This literally means that I have not lost even a pint of blood so as to prevent myself from sinning against the God whom I love.

Therefore, I know that the practical ways of living a spirit-filled life is to be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit whom is in us from that day when I believe and place my faith in Jesus Christ, our LORD.

Living a spirit-filled life is definitely not restricted to simply not sinning against God. It however means to be living a life which glorifies God, acknowledging His Amazing Grace of offering His Salvation to us and reconciling us back to Him to a perfect relationship.

There is a choice to make to fear God and obey His commands at all costs. In our struggles against sin, we may be entangled in all kinds of sin for many years to come but ultimately, we want to be seeing progress in our fight against sin till the day Christ returns to give us a brand new glorified body in Him.

And this is the spiritual growth in our souls.

Amen.