Eph 1166, 499, 179; PPG 23; Rev 135
A. The Concept of Walking.
1. Walking in the New Testament can be classified by two different categories.
a. Literal walking is the locomotion of biped homo sapien propelling himself with the use of legs and physical energy.
b. Spiritual walking is the modus operandi of the Church Age believer in executing the protocol plan of God which requires spiritual energy.
2. By way of analogy, in literal walking, you are moving forward. In spiritual walking, you are advancing in the protocol plan of God. In literal walking, you are using physical energy. In spiritual walking, you are using divine energy, i.e., the omnipotence of God.
3. Spiritual energy or spiritual power for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God originates from available divine omnipotence and the creation of the new spiritual species for its utilization.
4. In the function of physical walking, body energy is utilized in two ways: for locomotion or advance, and for the heating of the body.
5. Therefore, physical walking is defined as a person putting one foot in front of his body so that weight of his body is shifted to that foot. The act of shifting weight from the back foot to the forward foot pushes the body forward.
6. The physical act of walking has many analogies in the spiritual life. Therefore, the Greek verb for walking, PERIPATEO, is used quite frequently in the New Testament. This study will deal only with spiritual walking.
B. Walking in the Light.
1. The concept of walking in the light is found in Eph 5:8, “You were once in darkness [spiritual death], but now you are light in the Lord. Begin walking as children of light.” a. This command is a reference to experiential sanctification.
b. Just as walking in the darkness is incompatible with walking in light, so Christian degeneracy is incompatible with the modus operandi of the protocol plan of God.
c. Walking in the light is compatible with the status quo of being in the light. Walking in darkness is incompatible with the status quo of being in the light. Walking is darkness is Christian moral and immoral degeneracy.
d. Walking as children of light is tantamount to executing the protocol plan of God. The concept of walking in the light is used for Christian modus operandi related to the protocol plan of God. “Walking in the light” is a term used specifically for the believer’s execution of God’s will, plan and purpose for the Church Age. Therefore, walking in the light is synonymous for the Christian way of life.
e. The command to walk in the light is a mandate to be filled with the Spirit and learning Bible doctrine under the filling of the Spirit.
2. The precedence for walking in the light is found in 1 Jn 2:6, “The person who says he abides in Him, he himself ought to keep walking in the same manner as He walked.”
a. Our precedence begins with our Lord Jesus Christ during the Hypostatic Union, and not with the Old Testament believers. All precedence for the protocol plan of God is derived from our Lord’s walk on this earth during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. This means that no precedence is derived from the dispensation of Israel.
b. Our Lord walked in the prototype divine dynasphere; we are to walk in the operational type divine dynasphere.
c. Walking as children of light means we are to become spiritually mature believers, invisible heroes.
3. The power for walking comes from the utilization of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere, Gal 5:16, “walk by means of the Spirit.” This is a command to remain in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. Being in fellowship is the only way we can execute God’s plan.
4. Walking describes the purpose of living in the operational divine dynasphere to glorify God in the great power experiment of the Church Age.
a. We are commanded in 1 Thes 2:12, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God who elected you into His kingdom and glory.” This is a general reference to the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.
b. If we are going to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord after we believe in Christ, then we must be inside the integrity envelop, filled with the Spirit, and expose ourselves to the teaching of the Word of God.
c. If we do all of this, then we fulfill 1 Jn 1:7, “If we keep walking in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” Walking in the light is residence, function, momentum in divine dynasphere. Walking in the light means problem solving along the way.
5. The challenge of walking in the light is found in Rom 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism [of Holy Spirit], in order that as Christ has been raised from the dead, so that we too might walk in newness of life.”
a. Walking in newness of life means we walk in the light of the Word of God.
b. We walk in newness of life because we are in union with Christ.
c. Walking in newness of life means utilization of all of the invisible assets God has provided for us: the availability of divine power; the indwelling of the Trinity; the computer assets of predestination and election; our portfolio of invisible assets; our universal priesthood and ambassadorship, etc.
6. The faith-rest drill is also a mandate of walking. The faith-rest drill is the poise of the Christian life. It is the control of your own life under God’s plan for your life.
a. 2 Cor 5:7, “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”
b. Col 2:6, “As you have received Christ Jesus to yourselves, so keep walking by means of Him.” We received Christ by faith; so now we walk by faith.
7. Walking is used for the function of problem solving devices.
a. Eph 5:1-2, “Become imitators of your God as beloved posterity, and begin walking in the sphere of virtue-love,...”
b. Learning and using the problem solving devices moves you along in executing the protocol plan of God, which is walking in the light.
c. Eph 4:1-2, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, continue to encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life [royal family of God with protocol plan of God] into which you have been called with all humility and true sensitivity with perseverance, tolerate one another by means of virtue-love.”
8. Walking is used for perception of doctrine.
a. 3 Jn 4, “I was very pleased because I discovered that some of your children keep walking by means of doctrine even as we have received a mandate from the Father.”
b. Eph 5:15, “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.”
c. All of these mandates to keep walking are commands to keep learning doctrine, to keep advancing spiritually in the Christian way of life.
9. Negative Walking Passages.
a. Psychological living in Satan’s system is called walking in Phil 3:18-19. “For many [believers] keep walking, concerning whom I have often told you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Whose termination is destruction [the sin unto death], whose God is their emotions, whose fame comes by means of dishonor, who keep on thinking about earthly things.”
b. The same concept is also found in 1 Jn 1:6, “If we contend that we have fellowship with Him and keep walking in darkness, we lie and do not live the truth.”
c. 1 Cor 3:3, “For you are still carnal, since there is jealousy and strife. And you keep walking in accordance with men.”
d. Walking is used as a warning against the cosmic system. Jn 8:12 is the prophecy of this.
e. Life in the cosmic system is called walking in darkness, Jn 11:9-10. Eph 4:17 provides the analogy.
10. Walking is related to the execution of the protocol plan of God. Eph 2:10, “For we are His creation, having been created in Christ Jesus for good of intrinsic value achievements, which God has prepared in advance that we should be walking by means of them.”
a. At salvation we became His creation, a new spiritual species.
b. The good of intrinsic value achievements is the execution of the protocol plan of God resulting in becoming an invisible hero.
c. We are to walk by means of the things prepared by God for us in eternity past, such as the problem solving devices.
d. Col 1:9-10, “For this reason, we also, from the day we heard, do not stop praying for you. In fact, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge [metabolized doctrine] of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, for the purpose of pleasing Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good of intrinsic value achievement; in fact, constantly growing spiritually by means of metabolized doctrine from God.” This is the point at which you fulfill all the walking mandates.
e. Walking is used for a mandate to advance to the objective of spiritual maturity. 1 Thes 4:1, “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you have received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually walking), that you may advance still more to the objective.”
C. Spiritual Walking.
1. Walking has a double connotation in the New Testament.
a. The utilization of divine power to advance in the Christian life.
b. The utilization of human energy related to the old sin nature which results in retrogression or reversionism.
2. Hence, these two categories of walking are related to Church Age believers in advance or in retreat.
3. To advance in the spiritual walk and be a winner, there must be residence, function, and momentum inside the divine dynasphere. To retreat in the spiritual life and be a loser, there must be residence, function, and retrogression in Satan’s cosmic system.
4. Therefore, walking denotes numerous functions, both pro and con, regarding the spiritual life.
5. Living in the divine dynasphere is the source of spiritual energy or the use of divine power to execute the protocol plan of God, as mentioned in Eph 2:10 with the phrase “good of intrinsic value achievements,” which refers to the use of divine power in the momentum of the spiritual life.
D. New Testament Words for Walking.
1. The Greek word PERIPATEO means to walk or to walk around. It is used for literal walking in Mt 4:18. But it is used primarily for the function of the protocol plan of God in the Church Age in such passages as Rom 6:4; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:2. It is used for the modus operandi of the carnal Christian as well in 1 Cor 3:3 and Phil 3:18. It is used for the modus operandi of the unbeliever in Eph 2:2 and Col 3:7.
2. The Greek word STOICHEO means to march in step, to march in rank, to walk in agreement with, to function in a system, to follow a leader from the ranks. It is used in the New Testament primarily for functioning in a system and advancing in that system to spiritual maturity. It is used for living under the omnipotence of God in Gal 5:25. It is used for the pattern of salvation by faith in Christ (walking by faith) in Rom 4:12. It is used for following the rules of the new spiritual species in Gal 6:16 and Phil 3:16.
3. The Greek word POREUOMAI means to go, to proceed, to travel, to conduct oneself in a certain manner, to live, and to walk. It is used for national degeneration in Acts 14:16. It is used for the carnal life pattern of the unbeliever in 1 Pet 4:3; Jude 16,18; 2 Pet 2:10, 3:8. It is used for occupation with the person of Jesus Christ on the part of believers in Acts 9:31.
4. The Greek word ANASTREPHO originally meant in the Attic Greek to upset, to overrun, or to associate. Its figurative meaning was to behave or to function in terms of human conduct; also used for the practice of principles. It is used for the conduct and the modus operandi of the unbeliever in Eph 2:3. It is used for motivation for Christian integrity in Heb 13:18. It is used for the modus operandi of the old sin nature in Eph 4:22. It is used for life and conduct in the divine dynasphere in 2 Pet 3:11.
5. The Greek word ORTHOPEDEO means to walk straight. It is used for legalistic modus operandi and resultant hypocrisy in Gal 2:14; in other words, they were not walking straight.
E. The Pattern for the Spiritual Walk: the Great Power Experiment of the Hypostatic Union.
1. The pattern for the spiritual walk is given in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union of our Lord.
2. The humanity of Christ was impeccable during His thirty-three years of the First Advent. This means He remained absolutely perfect because He resided inside the prototype divine dynasphere, functioning under the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and God’s perfect happiness.
3. Through the virgin pregnancy and virgin birth, our Lord’s humanity was born without the genetically-formed old sin nature, thus excluding any imputation of Adam’s original sin at our Lord’s birth. This means He was born as Adam was created, perfect in a state of impeccability.
4. Because of the availability and utilization of divine omnipotence, our Lord’s humanity continued in the state of impeccability under maximum temptation and under maximum pressure. 5. The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere empowered our Lord’s humanity to resist every temptation, far beyond anything we could ever imagine.
6. His state of impeccability was absolutely necessary for our Lord to go to the cross. The justice of God the Father poured out on Jesus Christ every sin in the human race and judged them. During that entire time of judgment, our Lord remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere and so was sustained by the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and His maximum utilization of God’s perfect happiness.
7. The First Advent is called an “experiment” in the sense of a demonstration. First was the demonstration of the power of God the Holy Spirit. Second was the demonstration that any believer who advances to maturity, acquiring +H, can endure anything in life. Because of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and +H, our Lord was able to endure the cross.
F. The Necessity for the Spiritual Walk.
1. The problem is that the Church Age believer continues to possess the old sin nature after salvation and so continues to sin. The pattern of the believer’s sinfulness or carnality depends upon the amount of time he spends in the cosmic system instead of in the divine dynasphere.
2. There are three patterns of sinfulness.
a. Frequent sinning is from too much time in the cosmic system.
b. Occasional sinning is from life in the divine dynasphere under epistemological rehabilitation, but you still have an area of weakness.
c. Sporadic sinning is from life as a spiritual adult. But even in spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity, we still fail and sin. That’s why 1 Jn 1:8 says, “If we allege that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the doctrine is not in us.” 1 Jn 1:10, “If we contend that we no longer sin, we are liars.”
3. However, because of the creation of the new spiritual species (Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:10), the old things of the sin nature and real spiritual death have lost their power. They have been replaced by the provision of a new power: divine omnipotence in the great power experiment of the Church Age.
4. A new spiritual species had to be created to utilize the same divine power that the humanity of Christ used in a state of impeccability. We are not impeccable like the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union. Our old sin nature continues to function in many different forms after salvation.
G. Walking as an Analogy to Life inside the Divine Dynasphere.
1. Rom 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism [of Holy Spirit], in order that as Christ has been raised from the dead, so that we too might walk in newness of life.”
a. Newness of life was first experienced during our Lord’s thirty-three years on earth. During the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord provided a new system of walking, a new system of spiritual momentum.
b. Since the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has been extended into the Church Age, walking becomes an analogy to the execution of the protocol plan of God.
c. The fact that we can walk in newness of life means that everything we have in this unique Church Age never existed before in the Old Testament. There was no baptism of the Spirit; no new spiritual species; no universal royal priesthood; no indwelling of the God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and no 100% availability of divine omnipotence.
d. So great, marvelous, and fantastic is walking in newness of life that God stopped all prophecy in the Church Age. The only Church Age prophecies concern its beginning and its end. Walking in newness of life carries far greater power and dynamics than any system of eschatology in all of human history.
2. The prototype divine dynasphere was used by our Lord in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and has now become the operational- type divine dynasphere for us, according to 1 Jn 2:8. “That we should walk in the same manner as He has walked.”
3. The utilization of the omnipotence of God Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere is the walking of Gal 5:16, “Walk by means of the Spirit.” Cf. Rom 8:2-4, “to walk in newness of life.”
H. Each divine dynasphere gate is referred to in walking passages.
1. Gate 1, the power gate of the filling of the Spirit: Rom 8:1-4; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:15 cf 5:18. 2. Gate 2, basic Christian modus operandi: 2 Cor 5:7, “For we walk by faith and not by sight.” Col 2:6, “As you have received Christ Jesus to yourselves, so keep walking in Him.” We received Christ by faith; so now we walk by faith.
3. Gate 3, basic virtue and objectivity from enforced and genuine humility: Eph 4:1-2, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, continue to encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life [royal family of God with protocol plan of God] into which you have been called with all humility and true sensitivity with perseverance, tolerate one another by means of virtue-love.”
4. Gate 4, momentum gate in the function of operation Z: 3 Jn 4, “I was very pleased because I discovered that some of your children keep walking by means of doctrine even as we have received a mandate from the Father.”
a. Walking is related to epistemological rehabilitation in Eph 5:15-18.
b. Walking is related to momentum in metabolized doctrine in Col 1:9-10.
c. Walking is related to the application of metabolized doctrine in Col 4:5-6. “Keep walking in wisdom toward outsiders; keep purchasing the time. Your doctrine must always be applied in grace, having been seasoned with salt, so that you should know how to respond to every person.”
5. Gates 5 and 6, including spiritual self-esteem, are referred to in Eph 5:1-2. “Become imitators of God . . . keep walking in virtue-love.”
6. Gate 7, momentum testing: Rom 13:13-14; Jn 8:12, 11:10; Eph 4:17; Phil 3:18-19. 7. Gate 8, spiritual maturity, the winner’s gate, Rev 3:4.
_________________________
Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740
© 1990 by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------