The thought which is but touched upon here is set forth more largely,
and if we may so say, profoundly, in the Epistle to the Romans (chap.
viii.). There, to walk after the flesh, is substantially the same as to
be carnally minded, and that 'mind of the flesh' is regarded as being by
fatal necessity not 'subject to the law of God,' and consequently as in
itself, with regard to future consequences, to be death. The fleshly
mind which is thus in rebellion against the law of God is sure to issue
in 'desires of the flesh,' just as when the pressure is taken off, some
ebullient liquid will bubble. They that are after the flesh of course
will 'mind the things of the flesh.' The vehement desires which we
cherish when we are separated from God and which we call sins, are
graver as a symptom than even they are in themselves, for they show
which way the wind blows, and are tell-tales that betray the true
direction of our nature. If we were not after the flesh we should not
mind the things of the flesh. The one expression points to the
deep-seated nature, the other to the superficial actions to which it
gives rise.
And the same duality belongs to the life of those who are 'after the
Spirit.' 'To walk,' of course, means to carry on the practical life, and
the Spirit is here thought of not so much perhaps as the path on which
we are to travel, but rather as the norm and direction by which we are
to travel on life's common way. Just as the desires of the flesh were
certain to be done by those who in their deepest selves belonged to the
flesh, so every soul which has received the unspeakable gift of newness
of life through the Spirit of God will have the impulses to mind and do
the things of the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit we shall also--and
let us also--walk in the Spirit.
But let us make no mistakes, or think that our text in its great
commandment and radiant hope has any word of cheer to those who have not
received into their hearts, in however feeble a manner and minute a
measure, the Spirit of the Son. The first question for us all is, have
we received the Holy Ghost?--and the answer to that question is the
answer to the other, have we accepted Christ? It is through Him and
through faith in Him that that supreme gift of a living spirit is
bestowed. And only when our spirits bear witness with that Spirit that
we are the children of God, have we a right to look upon the text as
pointing our duty and stimulating our hope. If our practical life is to
be directed by the Spirit of God, He must enter into our spirits, and we
shall not be in Him but in the measure that He is in us. Nor will our
spirits be life because of righteousness unless He dwells in us and
casts forth the works of the flesh. There will be no practical direction
of our lives by the Spirit of God unless we make conscience of
cultivating the reception of His life-giving and cleansing influences,
and unless we have inward communion with our inward guide, intimate and
frank, prolonged and submissive. If we are for ever allowing the light
of our inward godliness to be blown about by gusts, or to show in our
inmost hearts but a faint and flickering spark, how can we expect that
it will shine safe direction on our outward path?