To walk in Christ means not to have any substitute for Christ. Because of man’s fall, culture replaces God in man’s life. Man was made for God and needs God to be his life, his enjoyment, and everything to him. But because man lost God, he invented culture as a substitute for God. Now in His economy God has ordained that Christ, His Son, should accomplish redemption, bring man back to God, and then replace all the substitutes with Himself. We have seen that the various factors and elements of our human life are all replacements for Christ. But the factors and elements that have become substitutes for God must now be replaced by Christ. In order for this to be our experience, we need to walk in Christ.

In the matter of shopping we should simply live Christ and not care for anything other than Christ. Do not consider what items are on sale or how much you have in your checking account. Instead, simply live Christ and care for Christ. If a brother lives in oneness with the Lord, he will walk in Christ whenever he gets a haircut. Spontaneously he will know how his hair should be cut. Christ is not only the sphere, the realm, in which we walk, but He is also every factor and element of our human life. To have Christ in this way in our experience is to walk in Him.

I appreciate the fact that so many brothers love Christ and the church and are absolute for the Lord’s recovery. Nevertheless, instead of walking in Christ, they walk in their dignity. They may condemn pride, but they treasure their dignity. A brother who is a leading one in the church life may enjoy acting dignified. Even young brothers, those recently married, may behave according to their own sense of dignity instead of walking in Christ. With their wives, they may exercise themselves to maintain their dignity as husbands. They may become very unhappy should their wives do anything to dishonor their dignity. They may regard such behavior as an insult to their headship and a lack of respect for their dignity. Their attitude is that God has ordained them to be the head over their wives and that their wives should respect them and honor them. Therefore, instead of walking in Christ, they walk in their dignity.

Instead of walking in Christ, others walk according to the tide of their emotions. When the tide is low, they are cold, silent, and unconcerned for the needs of others. But when the tide is high, they become active and very talkative. They talk according to their mood, not according to Christ. Many saints walk in their moods instead of in Christ. If they feel happy, they are willing to help others. But if they do not feel happy, they become withdrawn and disinterested, unconcerned about those around them. This indicates that, although these saints may love Christ and the church, they do not walk in Christ.

According to the extensive revelation of Christ in the book of Colossians, we should not walk in anything other than Christ. This means we should not walk in philosophy, in tradition, or in the elements of the world. Neither should we walk in certain observances or ordinances.

It is also easy to walk in our habits instead of in Christ. By nature, we all live, walk, and have our being in our habit, not in Christ. During times of prayer, we may pray ourselves into the spirit and, at those times, have our being in Christ. But as soon as prayer is ended, we turn back to living and walking in our habit. Thus, instead of walking in Christ, we walk in our culture.

How much have you walked in Christ today? How much of your talk, actions, and attitudes have been in something other than Christ? We must admit that instead of walking in Christ, we walk in many other factors or elements of our living that are replacements for Christ. But according to the book of Colossians, we should walk in the extensive Christ, in the Christ who is universally vast and who is everything to us. We do not need philosophy—Christ is our philosophy. We do not need tradition—Christ is the best heritage. We do not need the elementary principles—Christ is every principle to us. What we need to do is to take Christ as everything and walk in Him.

We have to admit that even in the local churches nearly all of us walk in something other than Christ. We love the Lord and His recovery, but we live, walk, and have our being in things that are not Christ Himself. Because a certain brother walks in his timidity, not in Christ, he is not willing to speak the truth to others frankly in love. However, this illustration should not be taken to mean that we should walk in boldness instead of timidity. The point is that we should walk in Christ. Very few saints among us walk in things that are sinful. But a great many walk in things that are good, moral, and ethical. They walk according to their own manner of life. If we truly walk in Christ, there will be times when we shall boldly rebuke others. According to Galatians 2, Paul openly rebuked Peter when Peter withdrew from eating with the Gentiles. The point here is not that we should go around rebuking others. It is that all our behavior should be in Christ.

We need to live and act in Christ. The young people should not say that they cannot help being young, and the old ones should not say that they cannot keep from being old. Whether we are young or old, we all must live and act in Christ. In the church there are no young ones or old ones, no timid ones or bold ones. There is only Christ, who is all the members of the new man and in all the members. Therefore, we all should walk in Christ and not live according to any element of culture. I repeat, not only should Christ be our sphere, the extensive realm in which we walk; He should also become all the elements and factors of our daily living.

We admit that it is not easy to walk in Christ. After charging us to walk in Christ, Paul immediately adds the words, “having been rooted and being built up in Him.” If we would walk in Christ, we must fulfill the conditions of having been rooted in Him and being built up in Him. Our basis for walking in Christ is that we have been rooted in Christ. On the one hand, we have already been rooted in Christ; on the other hand, we are in the process of being built up in Him. The rooting, which has been accomplished, is one condition for walking in Christ. Being built up, which is taking place, is another condition. For being rooted, Paul uses the illustration of plants rooted deeply in the soil. As an illustration of our being built up in Christ, Paul uses the example of stones.