Is there a higher walk for believers in Christ?

[Eternally Grateful]

Living in the Spirit
…7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. 9You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.…
Berean Standard Bible

This verse is clear, that there is a division and if we do not walk in the Spirit aka babes in Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

yes they do belong in christ.

Thats why they need milk of the word. To understand their identity in Christ. a baby does not do thinks to please its parents. It must learn their parents love.. Until then, it serves self. Because it is all it knows how to do. It must learn to trust.

Some parents do not earn that trust. And they instill fear.. do this or else.

A godly parent earns trust. And the child will follow them more and more as they learn to trust.

 

[Peterlag]

We can still have darkness in us. A born-again person in the faith of Christ Jesus will be lured to the things of the world and can still do the same things people who are lost in the world do. It's a battle between the old man/woman and new man/woman.

I believe the spirit of Christ is my new nature and therefore I have been able to function in it. To live in it, walk by it, and be in it. When I finally figured this out is when the lights turned on. Most of my life I believed I was in a battle between what I thought was my old man fighting against what I thought was my new man. Now I'm not fighting. I moved right in the darn thing. It seems to me one cannot walk in or by the spirit if our old nature (which is dead) thinks it's fighting against our new nature.

 

[Hepzibah]

yes they do belong in christ.

Thats why they need milk of the word. To understand their identity in Christ. a baby does not do thinks to please its parents. It must learn their parents love.. Until then, it serves self. Because it is all it knows how to do. It must learn to trust.

Some parents do not earn that trust. And they instill fear.. do this or else.

A godly parent earns trust. And the child will follow them more and more as they learn to trust.

Sorry no. There is no growing from flesh to Spirit in scripture it is one or the other. No tap has dirty and clean water at the same time.

 

[Lizbeth]

The problem is you have 3 people all who believe the Bible says something and they all claim they were told by the Spirit.

I mean look at eternal life. Look at how many views there are of what it means.. And all of them say God told them that.

can they all be right? Is eternal life really that difficult to understand?

Brother, to me everything is not always cut and dried since we're all individuals, who are growing at that. It's the flesh and carnal mind really that wants everything to be cut and dried, wrapped up and tied with a bow. We only understand in part and improve and refine our understanding as we go along, as well as dropping things that weren't true. One day at a time with the Lord. We don't have to know all because our God who we are following knows all. The foundation however, is non-negotiable. Christ and Him crucified and repenting of dead works. A hill to die on, as someone put it recently. We must not move from the foundation, but as we build up from it the reality is that there are things we each will need to tweek or dismantle and fix from time to time as we go along, building ever upward. That's how I think of it, just in my own words. Not as to make light of it though.....we don't want to be building with wood hay and stubble...it is important how we build and we want to be diligent and sincere, not being careless.

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Interesting you mention water. I wrote this a few years ago...

If a canal by which water flows down to a place is considered pure. And then an influence comes into the water that has the idea of muddying the water. Then it's the defiling influence, the disturbance that has flowed upon the creation of God.

There is no mud in what God created in Christ Jesus that was placed inside of our new nature. None. Thus, it's impossible for me to bring this mud forward when I'm in Christ.

John told the lady, ask and I will give you living water flowing to eternal life.

As part of the walk through john, this water is part of our identity in christ we must take to heart. The water God said willnever become tainted or muddy, It is the pure water that will sustain us forever.

 

[Episkopos]

The true Christian life is lived in the Spirit of Father God via his Son's spirit that is given to those upon genuine conversion after spiritual baptism.

Through my personal experience(s) there is only one growth and maturation in spiritual and mental life as the walk of life we have today, in his Son, as the life of the world fades further and further into the background. It is only the deeper and 'high(er)' walk in God via his Son! There is no other life and interaction with the Spirit that is possible for genuine believers.

We began this Christ life at conversion, our transition to the new life, the new initial experience of the deeper or 'higher' life in Christ. Some as I, was immersed and on fire in the Spirit for days, weeks and months upon conversion. I believe you wrote you experienced days of this at your conversion.

I was possessed by the Spirit. And during my life I've experienced these clearly spiritual episodes throughout it all. My bass note or lower gear stays in this deeper and higher life mode and rhythm in Christ today. I experience more and more of them over the years like 'good' migraines for the soul. They feed it. It is now my modus operandi and my way of living, of giving and loving although to not compromise the desires of Holy Spirit within me. It has taken been many years for God to mold me in such a way, and yet I'm still human, with human traits and imperfections, who sometimes gets ahead of the plan and 'falls,' and to be expected.

So, it is not just a question of, is there a higher walk in Christ for 'genuine' believers. It is not a choice for a true believer. And I say this very strongly. God is continually redefining me everyday, through his Son's spirit in this deeper and higher life. It has overtaken me, possessed me.

I assume and its obvious there must be a 'lower' walk in Christ you might define, based on your title question. And that would be undefined for a genuine believer who does not 'serve' the flesh and carnalities of the world. That 'lower' walk would only apply to fake and/or religious individuals who think they are genuinely converted into Christ and possess the Kingdom. They still try yo obtain and seek the Kingdom as only seekers and unbelievers still do today. Those dry-fire or 'blanks' shooters you mentioned.

I'm in it for the rest of this life and the next, and I cannot separate myself from it anymore. I'm now waiting to have my ticket punched any time, as planned, to my next life in the New Jerusalem and begin to live in this Kingdom of God's rule. I'm been a member of it since I was 19 years old, and I will leave this world without dragging this human body around anymore that still aches and weighs me down.

Amen. However there is a lower walk for genuine believers. False converts are not in any walk with Christ. These walk in the futility of their own minds...with whatever religious slogans they have adopted for themselves.

The difference is that in the lower walk we still sin at times. Do we walk even as John the Baptist with his single eyed focus. The lower walk requires effort on out part...seeking, meditating, praying, making conscious decisions to avoid sinful behaviour etc...

The higher walk is to be fully possessed of Christ. As such one is constantly in the Lord....stuck there, as it were, by the keeping power of God. No sin is there as one is walking in a holy union with God. The temptation from the devil is to return to the carnal life by adopting cares for the world. When the love of something other than God is present we fall out of the Spirit. Like a magnet on a fridge with too many papers in between.

So then the lower walk is easier to get into as it takes constant maintenance. So then the difficulties of dragging the flesh around are apparent....very apparent.

The higher walk is very hard to get into but from there it is easy. "My burden is light".

 

[Lizbeth]

I agree without him we can do nothing.


2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified

What does this mean? faith, disqualified, Christ in us?

Sounds to me like Paul was challenging some who were erring. Disqualified means not having Jesus Christ in them (His Spirit)....either because they never did receive Him yet, or because they have fallen away from Him and the Spirit departed (ichabod).

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Sorry no. There is no growing from flesh to Spirit in scripture it is one or the other. No tap has dirty and clean water at the same time.

again, jesus said to ask and he will give us living water

he also told the disciples they were all clean (except one)but they needed to wash from time to time.

The living water saved us thats why they and we are clean

But we need washed from time to time because we can dirty ur selves int he flesh.. Paul spoke of the war between the flesh and spirit. If we deny we have this war. We are in danger of thinking we are what we are not. And worse yet. Stunting our own growth

 

[Hepzibah]

again, jesus said to ask and he will give us living water

he also told the disciples they were all clean (except one)but they needed to wash from time to time.

The living water saved us thats why they and we are clean

But we need washed from time to time because we can dirty ur selves int he flesh.. Paul spoke of the war between the flesh and spirit. If we deny we have this war. We are in danger of thinking we are what we are not. And worse yet. Stunting our own growth

You are talking about the time before the disciples were baptized in the Spirit which changed things drastically. There is a war yes but it is prior to this baptism as seen in the disciples.

 

[Peterlag]

To my understanding the imagery/allegories of scripture need to be taken as God intended, not literally, or necessarily in a linear way, but as spiritual language, which can be multi-dimensional so to speak. We are married to Him, because as believers we have received His seed in us. That is what marriage is, the two becoming one. And having His seed in us spiritually means we are pregnant. Our task now is to grow/gestate that seed and give birth to the Son (in us) as it were. (Mary being a type/shadow/allegory of the church.) Spirit giving birth to spirit. And every time we are in the spirit or God does something in or through us, we are in fact giving birth to Him. AKA manifesting Christ. And this can at different times be in a less deep/high or more deep/high way. Though in an overall way we are on or should be on, a growth trajectory. Sometimes the Lord may do something utterly amazing, and sometimes He may do things that are wonderful but not as deep/high. Sometimes He may not be doing much at all that can be seen on a given day...just like life......there is a time/season to everything under heaven. I don't see this as being a one and done linear one-dimensional thing. And I wonder if our growth is not the only factor, surely His will plays a part too. Think I've mentioned this as an example before, but even though Paul was taken up to the third heaven, God didn't keep him there at that time.

I read nothing in the New Testament about a marriage. We are the body of Christ. Not the bride.

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Brother, to me everything is not always cut and dried since we're all individuals, who are growing at that. It's the flesh and carnal mind really that wants everything to be cut and dried, wrapped up and tied with a bow. We only understand in part and improve and refine our understanding as we go along, as well as dropping things that weren't true. One day at a time with the Lord. We don't have to know all because our God who we are following knows all. The foundation however, is non-negotiable. Christ and Him crucified and repenting of dead works. A hill to die on, as someone put it recently. We must not move from the foundation, but as we build up from it the reality is that there are things we each will need to tweek or dismantle and fix from time to time as we go along, building ever upward. That's how I think of it, just in my own words. Not as to make light of it though.....we don't want to be building with wood hay and stubble...it is important how we build and we want to be diligent and sincere, not being careless.

Oh i agree. We do not want a building of wood hay and stubble. And we do not want to move from the foundation.

But remember, even those who only recieved wood hay and stubble were saved, even as through fire.

And as for the foundation. If we do not understand this foundation of being in Christ.. That Christ will never leave nor forsake us. That we have the gift of life because we drank from the well of live or ate the bread from heaven. Then as believers we will most likely earn more reward that will be burnt, than precious stones..

Paul said he considered all his hardship a momentary light affliction. Why? because he understood eternity was forever. And he was assured if his inheritance.. So he could focus on doing all he could hear. Knowing nothing could seperate him from God.

I wish we all could be there. sadly most believers will never reach that state

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Sounds to me like Paul was challenging some who were erring. Disqualified means not having Jesus Christ in them (His Spirit)....either because they never did receive Him yet, or because they have fallen away from Him and the Spirit departed (ichabod).

so again what is the standard.

how can a person fall away and become disqualified? And what qualifies a person to be in christ?

 

[Ritajanice]

Sorry no. There is no growing from flesh to Spirit in scripture it is one or the other. No tap has dirty and clean water at the same time.

Amen!!..well said!

 

[Eternally Grateful]

You are talking about the time before the disciples were baptized in the Spirit which changed things drastically. There is a war yes but it is prior to this baptism as seen in the disciples.

No. His words still are in effect today.

The living water was the Holy Spirit which would be given to them, It is also the word which the HS is giving us through christ.. of the food which endures forever.

We are sealed with the spirit until the day of redemption.. That is the living water than endures to eternal life

 

[Hepzibah]

No. His words still are in effect today.

The living water was the Holy Spirit which would be given to them, It is also the word which the HS is giving us through christ.. of the food which endures forever.

We are sealed with the spirit until the day of redemption.. That is the living water than endures to eternal life

They are still in effect, as we are to be baptized in the Spirit, and the example of the disciples walk from being told to Follow Me till Pentecost is for our education in learning the way of the cross. The truth of this can easily be seen in those who have not been baptized yet came to Christ for forgiveness yet sin is not dead in them. I have my own testimony of this of 17 years before God revealed it to me.

 

[Peterlag]

This is exactly what Satan wants a believer to see.. To feel we are not worthy and because of it. We can not find God.

The Fact is, we are not worthy. None of us are.. But we should not look to that. we should look to Christ. sitting at the right hand of God making intercession for us.

We should know we have eternal life. and based on this knowledge we can continue to have faith. because we are continually looking to him. the founder of our faith. and not to our self..

Anyone who looks to self and think they are worthy. has not found God or his or her truth

Yeah satan and the Catholic church both want us to believe we are sinners saved by grace.

 

[Eternally Grateful]

They are still in effect, as we are to be baptized in the Spirit, and the example of the disciples walk from being told to Follow Me till Pentecost is for our education in learning the way of the cross. The truth of this can easily be seen in those who have not been baptized yet came to Christ for forgiveness yet sin is not dead in them. I have my own testimony of this of 17 years before God revealed it to me.

Sin is not dead in them. Can you explain this to me?

David was called a man after Gods own heart as a teenager.. Was sin dead in him.

Abraham was said to be righteous based on his faith. Was sin dead in him

Moses was chosen.. was sin dead in him?

Paul was baptised int he spirit. Was sin dead in him

Peter was called the rock. was sin dead in him?

 

[Peterlag]

You did not get this from the word of God.

The higher walk is living out your identity of being in Christ.

the lower walk is living out your flesh..

Boy did you nail it @Eternally Grateful

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Yeah satan and the Catholic church both want us to believe we are sinners saved by grace.

What is the defenition of a sinner?

 

[Hepzibah]

Sin is not dead in them. Can you explain this to me?

David was called a man after Gods own heart as a teenager.. Was sin dead in him.

Abraham was said to be righteous based on his faith. Was sin dead in him

Moses was chosen.. was sin dead in him?

Paul was baptised int he spirit. Was sin dead in him

Peter was called the rock. was sin dead in him?

Those who have not been illumined into the higher walk, do not understand this point. It is, that man can fall from that lofty position on occasion (not a daily habit) and hopefully be restored as we see in the examples quoted by you apart from your own understanding of Romans 7 which incidently was unknown until Augustine came along with his Greek philosophy and brought it in to the church aka Calvinism.