III. TWO KINDS OF WALK BY THE SPIRIT
[In Galatians 5 Paul speaks twice about walking by the Spirit.]
A. Walking About—the First Walk
[The Greek word for walk in verse 16, peripateo, means to have our being, to deport ourselves, to order our manner of life, to walk about. It is used with respect to ordinary daily life. It denotes a common, habitual daily walk. This understanding of walking by the Spirit is confirmed by verses 22 and 23, where Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. The various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in these verses are not unusual things; they are aspects of our ordinary daily life. Therefore, the walk in verse 16 is our habitual and common daily walk.]
B. Walking in Line—the Second Walk
[The Greek word for walk in verse 25, stoicheo, has a very different meaning. It is derived from a root which means to arrange in a line. This may be illustrated by the movement of traffic in designated lanes on a highway. Thus, the Greek word for walk here means to walk in line. It also means to march in military rank. Walking in this way, like soldiers marching in rank, requires that we keep in step.
As we compare these two kinds of walk, we see that the second is more regulated than the first. In the second walk we need to walk like an army and keep in step, whereas in the first kind of walk we are free to walk about. However, both kinds of walk, the common, ordinary walk and the walking in line or in rank, are by the Spirit.]
[In our daily living as Christians, we need to have two kinds of walk by the Spirit. The first is a general walk, whereas the second is the walk according to a certain rule or principle for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. In the first kind of walk, we need to display the fruit of the Spirit, the virtues listed in 5:22 and 23. However, we are not here simply to exhibit such virtues as love, joy, and peace. We are here for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Thus, we need to walk according to certain rules or principles for the fulfillment of this purpose. For God’s purpose, we need to have a walk that is orderly, a walk that is according to certain elementary rules or basic principles. Loving and being joyful are not basic rules or principles. These are simply different aspects of our daily life as Christians, not the characteristics of the walk which leads to the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This walk, the second kind of walk by the Spirit, requires that we walk according to basic principles and elementary rules.
We may use the daily life of a young sister who is a student to illustrate the two kinds of walk by the Spirit. On the one hand, this sister lives with her family at home. If she truly lives Christ, she will show forth the virtues of Christ to the members of her family. On the other hand, she needs to be a proper student at school and fulfill all the requirements leading to graduation. At home she needs to walk as a daughter and sister, but at school she needs to walk as a proper student. She needs to have both the general walk at home with her family and the more specific walk at school according to basic rules and elementary principles.]
(Lesson Book, Level 3: Two Spirits—Two Spirits - the Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit, Chapter 20, by Witness Lee)
