WALKING TO GLORIFY

(I Corinthians 6:20)

   Ephesians 2:10 Paul is describing to us that God has ordained (established, decreed, made a law) that all Christians are to “walk in good works” in order that we might glorify Him (I Cor. 6:20). 

   Matthew 5:16; John 15:8; Romans 15:6 These verses give us some ideas on how we as Christians can glorify God in our body. We can let our light shine by good works, we can bear much fruit, or we can have spiritual unity within the body of Christ, the church.

 WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

   II Corinthians 5:7 It goes without saying that in order for anyone at any time to please God, He requires people to have faith and trust in Him. However, during different dispensations of time God has required people to utilize faith in different ways in order to give Him the glory He desires.  

   The word walk is synonymous with the word 'live' in the bible. Walk is used 95 times in the New Testament and it is no accident that the word is prominent. During the dispensations before Moses and the Old Testament was established, people like Adam, Jonah, and Abraham were to glorify God by  walking by faith. When Moses gave God's law to Israel during the Old Testament the people were to glorify God by walking in the Mosaic Law. Prior to the New Testament no people in history were ever told to “walk in the Spirit.” The primary business of the N.T. believer is to “WALK IN THE SPIRIT”.

   Galatians 5:16 In this verse we can see that Paul is saying that walking in the Spirit will keep us from reverting back to living in the flesh or sinning like we did before salvation.

   Galatians 5:19-26 Here Paul contrasts two different 'walks' that the Christian faces every day. One walk is that of the 'old man' (Eph. 4:22) which does not please God. The other walk is that of 'the new man' (Eph. 4:24) that is available through the Holy Spirit who lives in us from the time of salvation. 

   I Corinthians 6:19-20 Walking in the Spirit glorifies God by giving Him our bodies for His use.

   Philippians 4:6-8 Walking in the Spirit helps mature Christians pray, serve, and worship God.

   Galatians 5:9-10 Walking in the Spirit produces the fruits of the Spirit within the believer and proves that our walk is acceptable to God.

HOW TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT

   DESIRE-- Matthew 5:6 Do we desire to seek righteousness instead of selfishness? Do we desire to pray instead of sleep? Do we desire to study God's word instead of watching television? If we are to walk in the Spirit we must have a desire and a hunger to please God with our life and then we must make the right decisions in order to do what is right. We must choose to pray, choose to put off the 'old man' and choose to 'put on the new man'.

   CONFESSION-- I John 1:9 If we expect to be able to walk in the Spirit we must understand that although all our sins have been forgiven, we still sin every day and must maintain a close, loving fellowship with our heavenly Father in order for Him to help us walk and live a Spirit filled life.

   YIELD-- Romans 6:19 Paul tells us that we should be willing to give ourselves 100% to God just like we gave ourselves 100% over to selfishness and pleasures before we were saved. Yielding to God means to submit to God, to choose God, to present ourselves to God above all else.

   Ephesians 1:13 We know that the Holy Spirit lives within every believer. However, not every believer lives in submission to the Holy Spirit. In Acts 5:3 we find out that possessing the Holy Spirit is not enough, we as believers must allow the Holy Spirit to possess us.