A Pivotal Verse

 There are some verses in the Bible that are more important for us to know that other verses. They are the ones that deal with salvation and with living the Christian life once we get saved. Of course, John 3:16 is a pivotal verse for understanding salvation. It gives us the gospel in a single verse. I believe there is another verse that gives us a great insight into living the Christian life, as well.

Paul was very straight forward in his letter to the Galatian believers. He explained how to overcome the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16) Paul was inspired by God to tell us that if we walk in the Spirit we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Think about how much better our Christian life would be, if we never carried out the desire of our flesh, but we always did what the Spirit directs us to do.

The flesh is all of our human nature with its drives and desires. All of those things can be manipulated by Satan, the world, and the flesh to lead us away from the Lord and His will for us. The problem is that we have no power to resist these influences in our own power. We must have the power of God to do that. Therefore, we have to live each day, fully surrendered to the Spirit and allowing Him to direct us.

When we live or walk in the Spirit, this verse gives us a iron clad promise. We will not carry out the desire of the flesh. So, if we are failing the Lord because our flesh is having its way in our life, we know that we are not walking in the Spirit. We must repent of any known sins, confess them to God, and ask the Spirit to fill us. Then, we must stay filled with the Spirit and listen to Him all day long.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Galatians 6 and Ephesians 1-2.