Being a born-again believer who has been given eternal life and has the Spirit of God dwelling inside them is what it means to live in the Spirit. It is something you offer freely as soon as you let go of your faith in Christ’s completed work.
living in the spirit vs walking in the spirit
The Bible states that you will bear good fruit living in the spirit vs walking in the spirit or if you walk in the Spirit, which is to live out the salvation you received by focusing your mind on the things of the Spirit.
The apostle Paul stated, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the spirit,” after enumerating the blessings that will accompany our walk in the Spirit. This is how we know there is a distinction between the two concepts. (Galatians 5:25)
He took the two apart. In essence, what he was saying was that since this was a given in our existence, we ought to deal with it.
Before I go any further, let me clarify that living in the Spirit and living according to the Spirit are not the same thing; some translations refer to this as “living after the Spirit.” I want to address this because I believe it is a common point of confusion for folks.
As previously indicated, the instant the Holy Spirit becomes a part of you, you are granted eternal life. To walk in the Spirit is to live in accordance with or after the Spirit.
How can we be certain that walking in the Spirit and living after the Spirit are the same thing, with different labels?
because these phrases are used interchangeably by the apostle Paul in Galatians 5.
So I say to you, walk in the Spirit and you will not satisfy your fleshly lusts. Since the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit rebels against the flesh, you are prevented from acting in accordance with your desires. However, you are exempt from the law if you follow the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16–18)
Paul was continuing his discussion of walking in the Spirit when he stated, “but if you are led by the Spirit.”
Thus, keep in mind that the phrases “walking in the Spirit,” “living according to the Spirit,” “living after the Spirit,” and “being led by the Spirit” all relate to the same thing.
However, you must take particular note of how it is phrased, as “living in the Spirit” does not mean “walking” in the Spirit, “according to,” “after,” or “led.”
The former concerns the fact that we are saved, whereas the later is always concerned with demonstrating our salvation.
I tell you all of this so that at last I can explain to you what these two terms signify.
What does walking in the Spirit entail?
Similar to how he did in Galatians chapter 5, the apostle Paul explains the distinction between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh in Romans chapter 8.
Therefore, those who are in Christ Jesus and behave in accordance with the Spirit rather than the flesh are no longer subject to condemnation. I am no longer bound by the laws of sin and death because of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
God accomplished what the law was unable to accomplish due to its weakness in the flesh by sending His own Son to earth in the likeness of sinful flesh. This allowed God to condemn sin in the flesh and fulfil the law’s righteous requirement in those of us who walk by the Spirit rather than the flesh.
“Because individuals who follow their fleshly desires focus on material possessions, whereas those who follow their spiritual guidance prioritise spiritual pursuits.” Because having a carnal mentality brings death, having a spiritual mind brings life and peace. (Romans 8:1-6)
Observe that the apostle Paul states that our thoughts should be focused on the things of the Spirit if we wish to walk in the Spirit, but the things of the flesh if we wish to walk in the flesh.
Thus, we are walking in the Spirit and naturally exhibit the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22–23 when we fix our thoughts on spiritual things (i.e., the word of God, love, prayer, worship, etc.).
What does it mean to be Spirit-filled?
The phrase about living in the spirit vs walking in the spirit apostle Paul starts out by explaining what it means to walk in the Spirit and then moves on to discuss how, because we have the Spirit of God, we should walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh.
If the Spirit of God truly resides inside you, then you are not in the flesh but rather in the Spirit. Therefore, if someone lacks the Spirit of Christ, they are not His.Thus, brethren, we are debtors—not to the body, but to live fleshly lives. Because you will perish if you live according to the flesh, but you will live if you put your body’s actions to death through the power of the Spirit. (Read Romans 8:9–13.)
As you can see, Paul discusses living in the Spirit (i.e., salvation) in the first section of this text. He states, “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,” which lets us realise this. (He said “in,” not “according to,” “after,” or “walk.”
Just after making this claim, Jesus goes on to remark, “If you don’t have the Spirit of Christ, you are not His,” further confirming that he is speaking of salvation.
The apostle Paul then immediately returns, as he did in Galatians 5:25, to walking in accordance with the Spirit a few verses after saying these things.
To put it briefly, one is saved if they live in the Spirit. It is to be saved by having the Spirit of God reside in us via faith.
The peril of having a spiritual life but not walking in it I want to caution you before I get too far about the risks of being saved and continuing to walk in the body rather than the Spirit.
The New Testament is filled with cautions about this from the apostle Paul and others, but since Paul made the comment in the verses I was sharing with you, I felt compelled to bring it up as well.
I don’t say anything to frighten or intimidate you. I mention this to caution and to encourage you. Don’t be someone who prayed ten years ago and then carried on with sin as though you had never been filled with the Spirit of God at all.
According to Hebrews 10:26–31, the Bible refers to this as “trampling underfoot the Son of God” and states that this individual is going to face judgement.
It’s not who you want to be! Return to Jesus if you have been there before reading this post. Tell Him what you have done wrong, and He will pardon you (1 John 1:9). Next, begin to train your mind to focus on the things of the Spirit so that you can endure the
To be clear, what I’m talking about here is a remorseful heart, not perfection or never sinning. I mean to say that one lives as though they are continuously pursuing Jesus, even when they stumble along the way.
These living in the spirit vs walking in the spirit verses warn you that you will not inherit the Kingdom of God if you choose to live in sin—not stumble there, but choose to dwell there—because you are voluntarily engaging in the precise activity that Christ died to save you from. A healthy Christian life requires walking in the Spirit as well as living in the Spirit. They are two sides of the same coin that cooperate to advance our development.
