To walk according to the basic principle of the new creation is to walk in a regulated way like soldiers marching in cadence. It is this kind of walk which causes the churches to have impact. The reason the so-called church is weak is that the believers do not have the second kind of walk by the Spirit. They have no real concern for the practice of the church life. But if in a locality there are even a small number of saints who have the second walk and march together in cadence, the church there will have impact. Those saints will not simply be sons of God; they will truly become the Israel of God.
Do you know who defeated the Canaanite tribes, took possession of the good land for the building up of the temple, and brought God’s kingdom to earth? It was the Israel of God. Israel in the Old Testament is a type of the church in the New Testament. Thus, the church today must be the Israel of God in reality. Praise the Lord that in God’s New Testament economy we have been made both the sons of God and the Israel of God!
At the very end of Galatians Paul says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (6:18). The grace of Christ is with our spirit. However, many Christians know only of the Holy Spirit; they do not know anything of the human spirit. For this reason, whenever they see the word spirit in the New Testament, they assume that it refers to the Holy Spirit. They are ignorant of the fact that besides the Spirit of God, the Bible speaks of the human spirit. Three verses in the New Testament mention these two spirits. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”; John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit”; Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.”
The Spirit of God and our spirit are both crucial for God’s economy today. The Spirit is the very Triune God who has passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This life-giving Spirit now dwells in our spirit and witnesses with our spirit that we are sons of God. First Corinthians 6:17 tells us that he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. This is a clear indication that the two spirits have become one.
According to Paul’s word in 6:18, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit. Grace here is Christ Himself as our enjoyment. Today Christ as the Spirit is in our spirit for our experience and enjoyment. This enjoyment of Christ is the very grace that is with our spirit. In this enjoyment and by this enjoyment we may walk by the Spirit to live Christ and to live the new creation and the Israel of God. Both kinds of walk by the Spirit are in the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ in our spirit.
We may enjoy the Lord in our spirit simply by calling on His name. Do you know why we enjoy the Lord when we call on Him? We enjoy Him in this way because by calling on the Lord we automatically exercise our spirit. For example, even though I may not have the intention to exercise my legs and feet, I spontaneously exercise them whenever I walk. In like manner, whenever we call on the Lord from deep within, we automatically exercise our spirit. Anywhere and at any time we may enjoy the riches of Christ by calling on the Lord’s name. By calling on the Lord in this way we walk by the Spirit. Calling on the Lord also defeats the negative things within us.
Suppose a young married sister has a problem with her temper. She earnestly desires to be a good wife and mother, and she loathes her temper. However, she has no way to overcome it. Years ago, I did not know how to advise someone plagued by the problem of temper. Now I know that the best cure for this plague is to call on the name of the Lord with the exercise of the spirit. By calling on the Lord in this way we breathe in a spiritual element which subdues our temper. After more than fifty years of experience and after having contacted many different aspects of organized Christianity, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to enjoy the Lord is to call on Him.
As Christians we should be known by the fact that we call on the name of the Lord Jesus. We know that this was a mark of believers in the first century by the fact that Saul of Tarsus was given authority by the chief priests to bind all those who called on the Lord’s name. Calling on the name of the Lord Jesus should also be a mark of believers today. The church people especially should be known as those who call on the Lord.
Like breathing, calling on the name of the Lord is a simple matter. But just as we cannot stay alive if we “graduate” from breathing, so we cannot live spiritually if we stop calling on the name of the Lord. Often the most needful things in life are the most simple. What is more necessary to maintain life than breathing? Yet, breathing is so simple. In contrast to cooking, it does not require a great deal of labor. Likewise, how simple it is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus! However, many learned ones do not care for such a simple practice, preferring instead to do things that are much more complicated. Some even criticize us and defame us for calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. For them, this practice is a form of chanting. Calling on the Lord has nothing to do with chanting, for calling is a practice altogether according to the Bible. Oh, how we need to call on the Lord Jesus that we may enjoy Him as our grace and have the two kinds of walk by the Spirit! I encourage you to breathe spiritually by calling on the Lord Jesus. By calling on the Lord we enjoy Him. Let us, then, walk by the Spirit in the enjoyment of Christ in our spirit.