The Daily Word of Righteousness

Led by the Spirit, #4

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

The Lord directed the moral behavior of the Israelites by means of the Law of Moses.

The Lord directed the priesthood of Israel by means of the Law of Moses, speaking often to Moses and directing him. Sometimes God sent fire from Heaven and consumed the offering on the bronze Altar of Burnt Offering.

The Lord directed the invasion of Canaan.

Nothing was left to the flesh of man to invent or contrive. When the Israelites obeyed the directions of the Lord they prospered. When the Israelites turned to their own abilities and desires they soon were brought down to destruction.

Let us turn now to the new covenant and consider how the Holy Spirit of God directs us in victory over our own personality and in the operation of gifts and ministries. We shall discuss also the role of the Spirit of God in the future when the saints return with the Lord Jesus and bring the Kingdom of God to the earth.

Led by the Spirit in Personal Victory

Let me remind the reader at this point that it is God's will that people everywhere and at all times live in His Spirit rather than in the human flesh and soul. The Church is a firstfruits of what one day will be true of all of mankind.

There are only two ways in which a person can live: he can live in the flesh or he can live in the Spirit. To live in the flesh is to devote the great bulk of our time and thought to eating, sleeping, working, playing, and reproducing, and to engage in these activities by using our natural thoughts and abilities. This is the life of the animal.

To live in the Spirit is to look always to God in every aspect of our eating, sleeping, working, playing, and reproducing and to give time and attention to praying, meditating in God's Word, assembling with the saints, giving, serving, and obeying God in all matters.

To live in the flesh is to produce spiritual death and the resulting corruption in every area of our existence including our resurrection from the dead.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:8)

To live in the Spirit of God is to produce eternal life and the resulting righteousness, peace, and joy in every area of our existence including our resurrection from the dead.

Now let us think about the new covenant, the Christian covenant. It is not a covenant of the letter of the New Testament, although we must obey the commandments of the Apostles until we are brought fully into the rest of God.

The new covenant is a covenant of the Spirit.

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. (II Corinthians 3:6).

To be continued.