The believers also enjoy the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation by walking according to the spirit and walking by the Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16, 25). If we live to Christ, we will walk according to the spirit and by the Spirit. Romans 8:4 says, “The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” Here walk denotes living, action, and behavior, indicating that we should do everything in spirit. This is to walk according to the spirit in our daily life.
Galatians 5:16 also says, “Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The word walk here includes everything that we do and say; hence, it covers our entire daily life. In this verse Paul charges us to have our daily life—to live, walk, and have our being—by the Spirit. According to the context, the Spirit in verse 16 must be the Holy Spirit who dwells in and mingles with our regenerated spirit. Thus, the Christian walk must be totally by the Spirit, meaning that our walk must be regulated by the Holy Spirit within our spirit.
In Galatians 5:25 Paul speaks again of walking by the Spirit: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” To live by the Spirit is to have our life dependent upon the Spirit and regulated by the Spirit; to walk by the Spirit is to let the Holy Spirit regulate our walk from our spirit. Since we live by the Spirit, our daily walk should also be by the Spirit.
In verses 16 and 25 of Galatians 5, Paul uses two different Greek words for walk. This indicates that in the New Testament there are two kinds of walk by the Spirit. The Greek word for walk in verse 16 means “to tread all around, to walk at large; hence, to deport oneself, move, and act in ordinary daily life, implying a common, habitual daily walk.” The Greek word for walk in verse 25 means “to march in military rank, to keep in step, and derivatively, to walk in an orderly, regulated manner.” This kind of walk is more regulated than the former. In the first walk we walk at large, but in the second walk we must walk as in the military—orderly and in step. Both kinds of walk should be by the Spirit. Every believer in Christ should have these two kinds of walk by the Spirit.
In the first walk by the Spirit, we take the Spirit as the essence of our life; in the second walk by the Spirit, we take the Spirit as the path for our way so that we may accomplish God’s purpose and reach the aim of our living on earth. The first walk is for the second walk. When we take the Spirit as the essence of our life, we are able to take the Spirit as the path for our way. If we have these two walks by the Spirit, we will reach God’s aim, and His purpose will be accomplished.
To walk according to and by the Spirit is to walk according to the mingled spirit—our spirit mingled with the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:2, 9, 16). The Spirit of life is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. This threefold Spirit has been mingled with our spirit to become a mingled spirit.
Translators of the Bible realize the difficulty in determining whether spirit in Romans 8:4 and in other verses in this chapter refers to the Holy Spirit or to our human spirit. In some portions, such as verses 9 and 16, the Holy Spirit and the spirit of man are clearly differentiated. The spirit in verse 4 denotes our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. Actually these two spirits have become one, as seen in 1 Corinthians 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We have a wonderful mingled spirit, a spirit that has been regenerated by the divine Spirit and is indwelt by the divine Spirit. The New Testament charges us to live, move, and walk according to this mingled spirit. The more we are willing to take the cross, remain in the Lord’s death, and be constrained by the Lord’s love, the more we will be strengthened by the resurrection life to walk according to the mingled spirit. This is the highest kind of walk.