Keeping in Step with the Spirit

Reorienting the Course

Thanks to the Lord for His gracious guidance! The start of the new school year in August 2023 marked the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary reorienting its course under the guidance of the triune God. I must once again thank the two vice presidents, Prof. Fook-kong Wong and Prof. Nathan Ng. They have worked together in harmony, willingly taking on leadership work at the seminary. Recently, they also prepared a self-study report for the seminary to apply for the accreditation of our degree programs by the Association of Theological Education in Southeast Asia. They have devoted themselves to the seminary, serving with a sense of diligence and purpose, for which I am truly grateful. This allows me to devote more time and energy to external contacts and fundraising for the seminary, further promote theological education and research work for churches, and establish an appropriate theology for the seminary.

In November last year, I lectured at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, guiding Th.D. students in studying contemporary theologies and supervising their dissertations. They belong to the younger generation of the Chinese church and are diligent, humble, and thoughtful. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to participate in this important ministry in recent years, sharing in training the future theologians of Chinese churches.

On December 4 and 11 last year, we held two mini-seminars at the Grand Conference Hall on the third floor of the new academic building, inviting Dr. King-tak Ip and Dr. Teck-peng Lim to share on the topics of “suicide” and “Christian education” respectively with our alumni. Both of them are dear friends of mine. Although we do not meet often, they have always been there to support me through different significant moments and challenges in my life, providing sincere help and encouragement, and also assisting in promoting the development of theological education. In addition, in January this year, the seminary will hold another mini-seminar on the pastoral work of “emerging adulthood,” hoping to help youth pastors better understand their pastoral work.

Born of the Spirit

Lately, the following verses and thoughts keep reoccurring in my mind: the righteous are “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Ps 1:3); the righteous’ “delight is in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night” (Ps 1:2) and the Holy Spirit dwells within them, bearing the fruit of life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In addition, I often think about the Holy Spirit. When I think of the Holy Spirit, it reminds me of the story of Pentecost and drives me to ponder upon the meaning of Galatians 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

According to Acts 2, the church was born on the day of Pentecost. That day, the disciples of Jesus gathered in a house, exhausted and disheartened, feeling defeated because they lived in a world falling apart and their leader Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven and was no longer with them.

However, something extraordinary happened! A sound from heaven, like a mighty rushing wind, filled the entire house, and tongues of fire appeared and rested on each disciple. It was as if the disciples were baptized by the wind and fire—all filled with the Holy Spirit and gaining the power to change the world for the better. This power was not money, nor was it systems or influence, but the breath and power of God. The disciples began to speak in other tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. People from all over the world heard the disciples speaking in their native languages about the mighty power and works of God.

Before Pentecost, the disciples seemed to be foolish and weak, fleeing at the first sign of trouble. After Pentecost, not only were their lives changed, but they were also about to change the world! They became new people, filled with joy and vitality. Starting from Jerusalem, they set out in the name of Jesus Christ to all nations, proclaiming the story of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.

The disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, behaved peculiarly, leading some to think they were drunk. Peter stepped forward to refute this, citing the prophecy of the prophet Joel: God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh. The Holy Spirit can change everyone’s life. According to Acts 2, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, the church was born; therefore, the church is born of the Spirit and acts in the Spirit, sent to all corners of the world to bring about change.

Live by the Spirit

As for the Holy Spirit, when Paul “came to Ephesus, he found some disciples and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit’” (Acts 19:1-2). Faced with the same question, many modern Christians might respond the same as the church at Ephesus in Paul’s time, perhaps saying, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” In this technologically advanced age, we rarely mention the significance of the Holy Spirit and hardly believe that the Holy Spirit is the giver of life. Therefore, our connection with the Holy Spirit is weak; our lives lack drive and vitality, relying only on ourselves, facing stress, emptiness, loneliness, and separation day after day.

The good news is: the Holy Spirit is real. The Holy Spirit worked then, works now, and works in your and my personal lives. The Holy Spirit has liberated us so that we may have our strength renewed. Thus, Paul reminds us: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). This phrase can be translated as “If we live by the Spirit, let’s also follow the Spirit” (NASB), or “If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit” (NET). Regardless of the translation, “we live by the Spirit” is an indicative statement. “Living by the Spirit” is about the new life that is born of the Holy Spirit, the new way of living in the Holy Spirit for believers.

Paul points out that “living by the Spirit” is an established fact; the early church “lived by the Spirit.” These established facts form the premise of Paul’s statement. Paul here appeals to readers not to deny the fact that they already have the Holy Spirit. Once upon a time, the Galatians were pagans, dominated by idols, blindly superstitious, and endlessly greedy. Later, they believed in the gospel, obtained true freedom, and experienced peace. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit; the Galatians were born of the Spirit and lived by the Spirit.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

Galatians 5:25’s latter half, “let us also keep in step with the Spirit,” is an imperative sentence, indicating an instruction. Paul’s meaning is: since we indeed live by the Spirit, then we should and must also keep in step with the Spirit. In other words, the fact of living by the Spirit must be turned into the external action of “keeping in step with the Spirit.”

“Keeping in step with the Spirit” can be translated as “following the Spirit.” The verb “keep in step with” (stoicheō) basically means “stand in line” or “walk in a straight line or in file (as of a row of soldiers),” indicating that we should walk lined up with the Holy Spirit’s steps. As we keep walking with the Holy Spirit, like soldiers marching according to the general’s orders, we will find the fruit of our lives multiplying (5:18-23). We will have more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and will be able to hear and heed God’s commands, becoming morally responsible and discerning, and able to put the truth into action.

Subsequent verses, starting with verse 26, provide specific guidance for “keeping in step with the Spirit”: “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (5:26). “Becoming conceited” is an expression of pride, self-conceit, excessive self-love and a kind of self-inflation that leads to “provoking one another” and “envying one another.” Provocation and envy are two kinds of “work of the flesh” (5:19-21a), referring to comparing with others, competing with others, and even harboring resentment toward others. People choose to nurture their anger and end up being controlled by it.

Hope of the Cross

In fact, Paul has already said in Galatians 5:16-17: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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.” Paul’s meaning is: Christians have two life centres, one is the new life received through the Holy Spirit, and the other is the old, self-centred life of the flesh. The two lives continue to clash: the desires of the flesh fighting against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit against the flesh.

In this battle, people often feel defeated. As our inner noise makes it difficult to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, we cannot do the good things we want to do. Paul points out that the only hope is in the cross. He declares that disciples belonging to Christ are willing to crucify “the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:24). Paul was “crucified with Christ,” resulting in Christ living in him (2: 19-20). The disciples’ old lives were crucified, and the evil powers were crucified as well (6:14).

This is a paradox of grace. The power to change life is given by the Holy Spirit and is unique to God, but we also have the responsibility to reject the desires of the flesh and crucify them. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we crucify the desires of the flesh and be liberated.

Yes, the same Holy Spirit that turned the early church into a miracle throughout the ages also exists in today’s churches and seminaries. The Holy Spirit is already here which is an ironclad fact. The questions we must ask are: “Are our lives blocked by the desires of the flesh? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit?” We pray for the Holy Spirit to bless us, fill us, and make us truly one family, filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We live by the Spirit and must also keep in step with the Spirit. Amen.

^* Unless otherwise noted, all scriptures are from the ESV.

Feb 2024