Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Rom. 14:23. We walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor. 5:7.

We do not know how strong our dependence on self is until the Holy Spirit seeks to replace it. The substance of Christianity is the complete supremacy of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Our primary problem is how to walk this way every day.

Sometimes we hear men speak of salvation by character, but there is no such salvation. The character we develop as we walk in the Spirit is not our own. It is not the result of our education and discipline. Christian character is Christ's and the result of Christ's living in us by the power of the Spirit. It is Christ's hatred of sin that expresses itself through us. It is Christ's love of righteousness that is lived in us by Him. The Holy Spirit builds us up into the fullness of Christ. We are "rooted and built up in him" (Col. 2:7).

Walking by the flesh determines our destiny on the side of sin, self, and death. Walking by the Spirit determines our destiny on the side of eternal life. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17). We are transformed into Christ's likeness only as far and as fast as we walk in the Spirit.

The Spirit sets our affections on things above. The flesh sets them on things on the earth. As we walk by the Spirit, we become clearly aware of the change in our lives. The still small voice of God daily reminds us that we are never to depend on ourselves; but always to depend on Him, give place to Him, trust Him, commit ourselves to His guidance and control. There is no part of our lives at any time, day or night, that is to be kept apart from Him.

Therefore we waste no time depending on ourselves, no time on worthless or corrupting things in the life. We learn the way of life in the Spirit. He is always before us and with its.

The Holy Spirit pervades our whole life. He ignores no part of us. The whole life is brought into harmony with God. Any attempt to keep the law on our own is out, not because the law no longer applies, but because the Holy Spirit within us answers to all the demands of the law. Saving righteousness is always in Christ, not in us, even when we are made partakers of it by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.