Message Ten

Two Kinds of Walk by the Spirit

Scripture Reading: Gal. 5:16, 18, 25; 6:8, 15-16

1. The Spirit in Galatians 5:16 and 25 is the processed Triune God:
   1. In these verses the Spirit refers to the Spirit indwelling our spirit and mingled with our spirit—3:2, 5, 14; 6:1, 18.
   2. Instead of trying to fulfill the law, we should walk by the Spirit, by the processed Triune God:
      1. When we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law, for the Spirit of life is our guiding principle, regulating our Christian walk in our regenerated spirit—Rom. 8:2, 4.
      2. To live by the Spirit is to have our life dependent upon the Spirit and regulated by the Spirit, not by the law—Gal. 5:18.
   3. The believers have the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling in their spirit, and they should live, walk, and have their being by this Spirit.
   4. God’s New Testament economy is wholly a matter of walking by the Spirit to live Christ—vv. 16, 25; Phil. 1:21a.
2. According to the Bible, every believer in Christ should have two kinds of walk by the Spirit—Gal. 5:16, 25:
   1. Because God is purposeful and seeks to reach His goal, He charges us to have two kinds of walk by the Spirit: the walk which builds up a proper daily living and the walk in line with the divine rules and principles to reach the goal established by God and to fulfill His purpose—vv. 16, 25.
   2. The Greek word for walk in verse 16, peripateo, denotes the daily, ordinary, regular walk; it means to move, to deport oneself, to act in ordinary daily life, implying a common, habitual daily walk—Rom. 6:4; 8:4; Phil. 3:17-18:
      1. The first kind of walk by the Spirit is a walk in which we are one spirit with the Lord—1 Cor. 6:17.
      2. In Galatians 5:16 to walk by the Spirit actually means to live Christ—Phil. 1:21a.
      3. To walk by the Spirit in Galatians 5:16 equals to live by the Spirit in verse 25.
      4. In the first kind of walk by the Spirit, we take the Spirit as the essence of our life—v. 16:
         1. This means that our essence is the Triune God as our constituent.
         2. Whatever we are, whatever we do, and whatever we have will be by the Spirit as our essence.
         3. If we take the Spirit as our essence and crucify our flesh (v. 24), every aspect of our daily walk will be by the Spirit.
      5. If we would be sons of God in reality and practicality, we must walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh—3:26; 4:6; Rom. 8:14:
         1. Because we are sons, God wants us to walk by the Spirit as His sons.
         2. If we would trust in the Spirit, we must stand on the ground of being God’s sons, not on the ground of being God’s creatures—Gal. 4:6.
         3. Because we are God’s sons and because the processed Triune God is working within us toward the goal of sonship, we should walk by the Spirit—3:26; 5:16.
   3. The Greek word for walk in Galatians 5:25, stoicheo, denotes an official walk, a walk to carry out a certain commission; it means to walk according to rules—to walk in line, to march in military rank, to keep in step and, thus, to walk in an orderly manner—6:16; Rom. 4:12; Phil. 3:16:
      1. If we would have the second kind of walk by the Spirit—the walk for the fulfillment of God’s purpose—we need to learn to walk by the Spirit as our way, rule, and principle—Gal. 5:25.
      2. The unique pathway toward God’s goal is the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit; He alone should be the principle, the rule, the path, according to which we should walk.
      3. By uttering this word about walking by the Spirit as our rule, Paul eliminated law, religion, tradition, doctrine, and regulations as the rule.
      4. The second kind of walk by the Spirit is intimately related to the new creation—6:15-16:
         1. Paul connects the second kind of walk with “this rule”—the rule of being a new creation—v. 16.
         2. The rule by which we should walk is the rule of being a new creation—2 Cor. 5:17.
         3. In Galatians 5:25 to walk by the Spirit is to walk in the new creation:
            1. 1) Anything in our daily life that does not have God in it is in the old creation, but what has God in it is part of the new creation—6:15.
            2. 2) We need to walk by the rule which is the Triune God to be our life and our living; to live in this way by the new creation is our rule.
            3. 3) The new creation is a matter of God’s chosen people taking the all-inclusive Spirit as their goal, aiming at Him, being one with Him, and, as a result, having the divine element transfused into them to reconstitute them and make them new—v. 8.
            4. 4) We should walk by the principle of the new creation—vv. 15-16:
               1. a) The basic principle of the new creation is that we should live by the divine life—2:20; John 6:57.
               2. b) To live the new creation is to walk by the divine life and divine nature as a governing principle—Gal. 6:15-16.
               3. c) Walking by the principle of the new creation is mysterious because it is an organic matter altogether related to life—John 3:8.
               4. d) If we would live the new creation, we must do everything in oneness with the Triune God—15:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:17.
         4. To live the new creation is to live, walk, have our being, and do all things, great or small, with the element of God—Gal. 6:15-16.
         5. If we “walk by this rule,” we will live neither a religious life nor an unreligious life, but we will live a new creation as sons of God—v. 15; 3:26.