-9-
Walking in the Spirit
In the previous chapter we closed with this verse:
4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
In this chapter the following verse will be our theme:
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
As we ended the last chapter we noted that Paul talked about freedom … and then he gave us God’s advice: Walk in the Spirit. As long as we are walking in the Spirit, our acting in freedom will not result in our doing anything stupid.
5:1 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
So there it is again … stand. As far as salvation is concerned … it was God’s wonderful grace that lifted us out of sin’s sinking sand, and placed our feet on Christ, the solid Rock.
It is as if we hear Jesus say the words to us, “There. Now you are free from that which was pulling you down to death. You are no longer in danger of sinking down into hell.” And the further advice that Paul adds to that: Do not present salvation as something that requires law-keeping. You are saved and set free of condemnation. Don’t add anything to this
God has given freedom. He does not override it. He first granted freedom to the angels. And then to mankind. And for God to do that, involved tremendous risk on His part. He FORCES no one to acknowledge Him or to place their faith, hope and allegiance in Him.
He INSTRUCTS and even COMMANDS everyone, on the other hand, to bow their knee to Him. And Paul tells us that one day every tongue will confess …
Ro 14:11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Tragically, for the vast majority it will be too late.
In a few verses Paul is going to talk about what it looks like to NOT walk in the Spirit. But before he does that, one more time, Paul warns them not to add any extra requirements to getting saved.
He leads with this; do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
I repeat … if a person gets saved and then becomes ‘entangled with a yoke of bondage’, it does not mean that now he has lost his salvation, but what it does create is a confused gospel when it comes to his sharing the salvation story with an unbeliever.
And just what does being entangled again with a yoke of bondage, mean?
Paul gives only one example of adding something from the Old Testament law to the original gospel of grace; and that is circumcision.
For those of you who have never heard of this, I suppose I better elaborate just a little.
It was a part of God’s plan in creating a people, a race that was to be Godly, evangelistic in the sense of telling the nations about the one and only true God, and He wanted them to be physically ‘marked’.
This physical mark was performed on males only. On the eighth day of a baby boy’s life, he was to have the foreskin of his male organ cut off.
This rite, or practice, was religiously performed. It was never overlooked. The Jews would refer to other men of other nationalities as being filthy and unclean. And that term fits .. spiritually. We were all filthy and unclean outside of Christ.
In Deuteronomy 10:16 Moses says, Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. The physical foreskin was considered to be the dirtiest part of a male body, but here, God is pointing out that it is not physical filthiness that condemns a person. God looks at the heart.
In the New Testament God, through Paul says, But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Romans 2:29
So here is the situation, the Christians in all the churches of Galatia had been taught by these false ‘super-teachers’ that along with other Old Testament laws, circumcision must be added to their gospel.
Most of the laws are pretty much invisible because they involve attitudes and inward actions, but circumcision is unmistakable. So as new people were coming to be saved and become part of the church fellowship, if they were men, they would have to step into a side room and have a little ceremony.
Paul says,
2 Listen! I, Paul, say this to you: if you consent to be circumcised then Christ will be of no use to you at all.
3 I say this solemnly again to every one of you: every man who consents to be circumcised is bound to obey all the rest of the Law!
4 If you try to be justified by the Law you automatically cut yourself off from the power of Christ, you put yourself outside the range of his grace.
5 For it is by faith that we await in his Spirit the righteousness we hope to see.
6 In Christ Jesus there is no validity in either circumcision or uncircumcision; it is a matter of faith, faith which expresses itself in love. (Philips Translation)
So, enough about that. Paul interjects a little personal feeling of disappointment right here. He says,
7 You were making splendid progress; who stopped you from obeying the truth?
Paul knows and the Galatians know exactly who Paul is talking about and he is shaming them for who they chose to listen to. He adds,
8 That sort of persuasion does not come from the One who is calling you. In simple language he is saying, It sure wasn’t God.
9 Alas, it takes only a little leaven to affect the whole lump!
So, if you add circumcision as a requirement for salvation, you have just spoiled the gospel completely.
The province of Galatia was not a Jewish settlement. Apparently, however, some Jews lived there and had established synagogues from which to teach Judaism. So when Paul first preached the gospel in that area, as his custom was, he would start by preaching to Jews. As some of these Jews accepted Christ, they became a wonderful basis with which to form a church. The heathen who accepted Jesus would come in with no background of who God is, and it would be these Jews who now trusted Christ who could do a lot of teaching of the basics. Their knowledge of the scriptures would be very complete.
But now that these super-teachers have added circumcision to their gospel, all new gentile believers would have to be circumcised before becoming part of the church.
Verse 10 I feel confident in the Lord that you will not take any fatal step. But whoever it is who is worrying you will have a serious charge to answer.
As we have noted already, none of those already saved are taking ‘a fatal’ step and losing their salvation, but Paul is very, very upset if not angry toward these ‘super-teachers’.
Next Paul opposes one of the arguments that these teachers had spread around Galatia. They had been saying that circumcision absolutely must be added to the gospel … even Paul teaches that. “You must have not been hearing him right”, they said.
And Paul says, NO, I never said that.
11 And as for me, my brothers, if I were still advocating circumcision, why am I still suffering persecution? I suppose if only I would recommend this little rite all the hostility which the preaching of the cross provokes would disappear!
So, No, Paul clearly has not been advocating that circumcision was essential for salvation.
Paul is very upset with false teachers. He adds a thought here that shows it. He is saying something like, ‘They want to push for cutting off the foreskin? You know what, while they are at it, why don’t they just cut it all off!’ Here are his words from the ESV.
12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Strong words.
And as I have been saying, by grace God saved you, He set a path of life for you … and, although you are free to do as you please … don’t. Walk in the Spirit!
Paul makes that very clear in the next verse.
13 ¶ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
So walking in the Spirit is … walking in love. That love will be very evident as you relate to every believer in the body of Christ. You won’t avoid some of them. You won’t talk behind their backs. You will take an interest in their lives. You will be unselfish and un-self-protective. In addition you will show love to those outside the church.
And then he implies, Here is something to tell those ‘law-keeper’ teachers.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
I can imagine what church life might have been like in some, or even all, of the Galatian churches.
This new distorted gospel has been introduced. Many are adopting it without even questioning it. Obviously some are not. They are remembering how Paul taught them what grace was. They can still hear Paul saying that we are saved by grace through faith.
But now arguments are happening. Feelings are rising. So Paul says there is right and a wrong way to go about settling this in church, 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
Well, I think we can picture that.
Now Paul gives us the key verse that we have been working with right up to this point: 16 But I say, walk by (or in) the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
And he adds:
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
It is about decisions. When you first realized that you were lost, condemned and without hope, you made a decision and turned to Christ. You called out for salvation. You confessed your sinfulness and asked for mercy. That was a decision. And that decision placed you on the Rock, on Jesus. Jesus became that foundation for you, upon which you would build your life.
So whether I use the analogy of building or whether I talk about walking on the pathway that God sets before you, this also involves a decision … more accurately, it involves decisions.
To walk in the Spirit today, you have to decide to do so in the morning before you move on with your day. When, at some point during your day some driver cuts you off … you have to make a quick decision to walk in the Spirit.
How do you know when you are no longer walking in the Spirit? Is it just a ‘feeling’? Maybe … but to help us know explicitly, clearly and plainly … Paul spells it out.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What a gruesome list! I am sure Paul is not saying that all unbelievers do all of these things. As a matter of fact, I have neighbors who do not claim to be believers in God, and they seem to be nice people. But I believe these are tendencies that can be expected when God’s Spirit is not present.
We perhaps expect some of these to be present in unbelievers … but the truth is, when we do not walk in the Spirit we too can have some of these popping up.
These can be seen in our actions, but they can also happen in our thought lives, and no one can see them … other than God.
Allow me to add Paul’s words from two other letters:
Col 3:5 ¶ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry
Put to death … Here is that daily decision that I was referring to.
This next verse could be construed to imply works for salvation, but I believe this verse refers back to that initial decision to take Christ as Lord and Savior.
Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Look at how Paul lived his life, how he built on the foundation, how he traveled his pathway:
I Corinthians 9:26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
… Back to Galatians chapter 5, when you make a decision at the outset of your day to walk in the Spirit … here are some of the responses and evidences that you will encounter all day long.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Looking over the list of fruit that comes from walking in the Spirit, I see some that seem to come naturally for some people. I see some that are very difficult for some people. But all this means is that I am not looking at the fruit of the Spirit … I am looking at natural personality traits.
Patience, for example, seems natural for some and impossible for others. And that is exactly right. Not all temperaments and personalities are alike.
The Apostle Peter was very impatient and impulsive. The apostle Paul could be very aggressive. But after following the steps of the Holy Spirit for a while, both these men had changed lives.
Walking in the Spirit is a decision. Many of your daily decisions are not put into words. We think they are automatic. And even if they seem automatic, our brain, without using words, is saying, I will do this or that. Some simple examples: I will sit down now. My scalp is itching, I will scratch it now. We never think about automatic decisions, our brains just make these choices automatically.
But when it comes to walking in the Spirit, these decisions have to be more conscious. For example, someone insults you or offends you, you make the decision, ‘I will love them’.
Maybe at some point, walking in the Spirit will become automatic. I certainly hope so.
The list of the works of the flesh has to do with our walk. And it is interesting, that these works of the flesh are things that law-keeping hopefully could or would keep under control.
But law-keeping, in the Galatian setting, was not about keeping them under control, it was about acquiring salvation. But acquiring salvation is a positional thing. We could say, or ask it this way … what does it take to go from being lost in sin, condemned to hell …. to getting onto the foundation, which is Jesus Christ? Moving from the mire of sin onto the rock is a change of position.
I Corinthians 3 talks about building on the foundation. Paul says, we get onto the foundation by faith … by believing only Jesus has the power to forgive sin, by believing that we are as lost as He says we are, by believing that we have to ask for forgiveness, by believing that he forgave us. That puts us on the foundation.
How do we stay on the foundation? We really do not have to worry about that. God keeps us there. A better question is, how do we build on the foundation?
Law-keeping does not put us on the foundation. But when it comes to building on the foundation, what we do, right or wrong, directly affects the ‘building’.
If we are building with ‘wood, hay or stubble’, we are not walking in the Spirit. If we are building with gold, silver and precious stones … we are walking in the Spirit. (I Corinthians 3:11-15)
Just like the decision Billy Graham made, we too must make a decision to believe. Believe there is a God. Believe the Bible is his complete word to us and it is for us today. We believe it to be true and without error.
But we have another decision to make. The decision to live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit involves a decision. You may have made this at salvation, but likely not. You may need to make this decision daily or hourly, 'as needed'.
4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
In this chapter the following verse will be our theme:
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
As we ended the last chapter we noted that Paul talked about freedom … and then he gave us God’s advice: Walk in the Spirit. As long as we are walking in the Spirit, our acting in freedom will not result in our doing anything stupid.
5:1 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
So there it is again … stand. As far as salvation is concerned … it was God’s wonderful grace that lifted us out of sin’s sinking sand, and placed our feet on Christ, the solid Rock.
It is as if we hear Jesus say the words to us, “There. Now you are free from that which was pulling you down to death. You are no longer in danger of sinking down into hell.” And the further advice that Paul adds to that: Do not present salvation as something that requires law-keeping. You are saved and set free of condemnation. Don’t add anything to this
God has given freedom. He does not override it. He first granted freedom to the angels. And then to mankind. And for God to do that, involved tremendous risk on His part. He FORCES no one to acknowledge Him or to place their faith, hope and allegiance in Him.
He INSTRUCTS and even COMMANDS everyone, on the other hand, to bow their knee to Him. And Paul tells us that one day every tongue will confess …
Ro 14:11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Tragically, for the vast majority it will be too late.
In a few verses Paul is going to talk about what it looks like to NOT walk in the Spirit. But before he does that, one more time, Paul warns them not to add any extra requirements to getting saved.
He leads with this; do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
I repeat … if a person gets saved and then becomes ‘entangled with a yoke of bondage’, it does not mean that now he has lost his salvation, but what it does create is a confused gospel when it comes to his sharing the salvation story with an unbeliever.
And just what does being entangled again with a yoke of bondage, mean?
Paul gives only one example of adding something from the Old Testament law to the original gospel of grace; and that is circumcision.
For those of you who have never heard of this, I suppose I better elaborate just a little.
It was a part of God’s plan in creating a people, a race that was to be Godly, evangelistic in the sense of telling the nations about the one and only true God, and He wanted them to be physically ‘marked’.
This physical mark was performed on males only. On the eighth day of a baby boy’s life, he was to have the foreskin of his male organ cut off.
This rite, or practice, was religiously performed. It was never overlooked. The Jews would refer to other men of other nationalities as being filthy and unclean. And that term fits .. spiritually. We were all filthy and unclean outside of Christ.
In Deuteronomy 10:16 Moses says, Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. The physical foreskin was considered to be the dirtiest part of a male body, but here, God is pointing out that it is not physical filthiness that condemns a person. God looks at the heart.
In the New Testament God, through Paul says, But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Romans 2:29
So here is the situation, the Christians in all the churches of Galatia had been taught by these false ‘super-teachers’ that along with other Old Testament laws, circumcision must be added to their gospel.
Most of the laws are pretty much invisible because they involve attitudes and inward actions, but circumcision is unmistakable. So as new people were coming to be saved and become part of the church fellowship, if they were men, they would have to step into a side room and have a little ceremony.
Paul says,
2 Listen! I, Paul, say this to you: if you consent to be circumcised then Christ will be of no use to you at all.
3 I say this solemnly again to every one of you: every man who consents to be circumcised is bound to obey all the rest of the Law!
4 If you try to be justified by the Law you automatically cut yourself off from the power of Christ, you put yourself outside the range of his grace.
5 For it is by faith that we await in his Spirit the righteousness we hope to see.
6 In Christ Jesus there is no validity in either circumcision or uncircumcision; it is a matter of faith, faith which expresses itself in love. (Philips Translation)
So, enough about that. Paul interjects a little personal feeling of disappointment right here. He says,
7 You were making splendid progress; who stopped you from obeying the truth?
Paul knows and the Galatians know exactly who Paul is talking about and he is shaming them for who they chose to listen to. He adds,
8 That sort of persuasion does not come from the One who is calling you. In simple language he is saying, It sure wasn’t God.
9 Alas, it takes only a little leaven to affect the whole lump!
So, if you add circumcision as a requirement for salvation, you have just spoiled the gospel completely.
The province of Galatia was not a Jewish settlement. Apparently, however, some Jews lived there and had established synagogues from which to teach Judaism. So when Paul first preached the gospel in that area, as his custom was, he would start by preaching to Jews. As some of these Jews accepted Christ, they became a wonderful basis with which to form a church. The heathen who accepted Jesus would come in with no background of who God is, and it would be these Jews who now trusted Christ who could do a lot of teaching of the basics. Their knowledge of the scriptures would be very complete.
But now that these super-teachers have added circumcision to their gospel, all new gentile believers would have to be circumcised before becoming part of the church.
Verse 10 I feel confident in the Lord that you will not take any fatal step. But whoever it is who is worrying you will have a serious charge to answer.
As we have noted already, none of those already saved are taking ‘a fatal’ step and losing their salvation, but Paul is very, very upset if not angry toward these ‘super-teachers’.
Next Paul opposes one of the arguments that these teachers had spread around Galatia. They had been saying that circumcision absolutely must be added to the gospel … even Paul teaches that. “You must have not been hearing him right”, they said.
And Paul says, NO, I never said that.
11 And as for me, my brothers, if I were still advocating circumcision, why am I still suffering persecution? I suppose if only I would recommend this little rite all the hostility which the preaching of the cross provokes would disappear!
So, No, Paul clearly has not been advocating that circumcision was essential for salvation.
Paul is very upset with false teachers. He adds a thought here that shows it. He is saying something like, ‘They want to push for cutting off the foreskin? You know what, while they are at it, why don’t they just cut it all off!’ Here are his words from the ESV.
12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Strong words.
And as I have been saying, by grace God saved you, He set a path of life for you … and, although you are free to do as you please … don’t. Walk in the Spirit!
Paul makes that very clear in the next verse.
13 ¶ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
So walking in the Spirit is … walking in love. That love will be very evident as you relate to every believer in the body of Christ. You won’t avoid some of them. You won’t talk behind their backs. You will take an interest in their lives. You will be unselfish and un-self-protective. In addition you will show love to those outside the church.
And then he implies, Here is something to tell those ‘law-keeper’ teachers.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
I can imagine what church life might have been like in some, or even all, of the Galatian churches.
This new distorted gospel has been introduced. Many are adopting it without even questioning it. Obviously some are not. They are remembering how Paul taught them what grace was. They can still hear Paul saying that we are saved by grace through faith.
But now arguments are happening. Feelings are rising. So Paul says there is right and a wrong way to go about settling this in church, 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
Well, I think we can picture that.
Now Paul gives us the key verse that we have been working with right up to this point: 16 But I say, walk by (or in) the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
And he adds:
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
It is about decisions. When you first realized that you were lost, condemned and without hope, you made a decision and turned to Christ. You called out for salvation. You confessed your sinfulness and asked for mercy. That was a decision. And that decision placed you on the Rock, on Jesus. Jesus became that foundation for you, upon which you would build your life.
So whether I use the analogy of building or whether I talk about walking on the pathway that God sets before you, this also involves a decision … more accurately, it involves decisions.
To walk in the Spirit today, you have to decide to do so in the morning before you move on with your day. When, at some point during your day some driver cuts you off … you have to make a quick decision to walk in the Spirit.
How do you know when you are no longer walking in the Spirit? Is it just a ‘feeling’? Maybe … but to help us know explicitly, clearly and plainly … Paul spells it out.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What a gruesome list! I am sure Paul is not saying that all unbelievers do all of these things. As a matter of fact, I have neighbors who do not claim to be believers in God, and they seem to be nice people. But I believe these are tendencies that can be expected when God’s Spirit is not present.
We perhaps expect some of these to be present in unbelievers … but the truth is, when we do not walk in the Spirit we too can have some of these popping up.
These can be seen in our actions, but they can also happen in our thought lives, and no one can see them … other than God.
Allow me to add Paul’s words from two other letters:
Col 3:5 ¶ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry
Put to death … Here is that daily decision that I was referring to.
This next verse could be construed to imply works for salvation, but I believe this verse refers back to that initial decision to take Christ as Lord and Savior.
Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Look at how Paul lived his life, how he built on the foundation, how he traveled his pathway:
I Corinthians 9:26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
… Back to Galatians chapter 5, when you make a decision at the outset of your day to walk in the Spirit … here are some of the responses and evidences that you will encounter all day long.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Looking over the list of fruit that comes from walking in the Spirit, I see some that seem to come naturally for some people. I see some that are very difficult for some people. But all this means is that I am not looking at the fruit of the Spirit … I am looking at natural personality traits.
Patience, for example, seems natural for some and impossible for others. And that is exactly right. Not all temperaments and personalities are alike.
The Apostle Peter was very impatient and impulsive. The apostle Paul could be very aggressive. But after following the steps of the Holy Spirit for a while, both these men had changed lives.
Walking in the Spirit is a decision. Many of your daily decisions are not put into words. We think they are automatic. And even if they seem automatic, our brain, without using words, is saying, I will do this or that. Some simple examples: I will sit down now. My scalp is itching, I will scratch it now. We never think about automatic decisions, our brains just make these choices automatically.
But when it comes to walking in the Spirit, these decisions have to be more conscious. For example, someone insults you or offends you, you make the decision, ‘I will love them’.
Maybe at some point, walking in the Spirit will become automatic. I certainly hope so.
The list of the works of the flesh has to do with our walk. And it is interesting, that these works of the flesh are things that law-keeping hopefully could or would keep under control.
But law-keeping, in the Galatian setting, was not about keeping them under control, it was about acquiring salvation. But acquiring salvation is a positional thing. We could say, or ask it this way … what does it take to go from being lost in sin, condemned to hell …. to getting onto the foundation, which is Jesus Christ? Moving from the mire of sin onto the rock is a change of position.
I Corinthians 3 talks about building on the foundation. Paul says, we get onto the foundation by faith … by believing only Jesus has the power to forgive sin, by believing that we are as lost as He says we are, by believing that we have to ask for forgiveness, by believing that he forgave us. That puts us on the foundation.
How do we stay on the foundation? We really do not have to worry about that. God keeps us there. A better question is, how do we build on the foundation?
Law-keeping does not put us on the foundation. But when it comes to building on the foundation, what we do, right or wrong, directly affects the ‘building’.
If we are building with ‘wood, hay or stubble’, we are not walking in the Spirit. If we are building with gold, silver and precious stones … we are walking in the Spirit. (I Corinthians 3:11-15)
Just like the decision Billy Graham made, we too must make a decision to believe. Believe there is a God. Believe the Bible is his complete word to us and it is for us today. We believe it to be true and without error.
But we have another decision to make. The decision to live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit involves a decision. You may have made this at salvation, but likely not. You may need to make this decision daily or hourly, 'as needed'.