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Scripture Reading: Gal. 5:25; 2:20a; Phil. 1:19-21a; Gal. 5:16a; Rom. 6:4; 8:4; Gal. 6:16; Phil. 3:16
In this chapter we will consider the matter of living and walking by the Spirit. This matter is crucial to the believers and crucial to the Christian life. Our living and walking by the Spirit include three main things — the all-inclusive Spirit, the all-inclusive death of Christ, and the life-releasing and producing resurrection of Christ. Apparently, according to the letter, these three things have nothing to do with one another. Actually, however, these three things are compounded into one. The Spirit in the New Testament is the compound Spirit, even the compounded Spirit. The compound ointment in Exodus 30 is the best type of the compound Spirit. That ointment was not made of only a single ingredient — olive oil — but was made of olive oil compounded with four kinds of spices.
We cannot see the Spirit, because He is invisible. We also have something within us that is invisible to us — our spirit. These two spirits — the Spirit and our spirit — are both invisible, yet they are more than real. According to our experience, we do have a part within us that the Bible calls our spirit (Job 32:8; Prov. 20:27; Zech. 12:1; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 16:18; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:22). Moreover, God is Spirit (John 4:24). Although we cannot understand this, because we have a spirit, we can realize it by our own experience.
The Triune God has gone through all the processes in Christ to become the all-inclusive, compound Spirit. Today this Spirit is marvelous. In Him we have the Triune God, and in Him we also have the uplifted humanity. Without the Bible we cannot understand that in the Spirit, who is the divine Spirit, there is the uplifted humanity, the humanity of the highest standard. Furthermore, in the Spirit there is also Christ’s humanity with His human living. All these items are in this Spirit. Even more, in the Spirit there is Christ’s death. Because this death is not simple, we have called it the all-inclusive death. This death solved the problems and terminated the negative things in the universe, and this death also released the divine life. We need to realize that in the Spirit we have such a wonderful death. Finally, in this Spirit we also have the life-releasing and producing resurrection of Christ.
Galatians 5:16 and 25 speak of both living by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit. Verse 25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” According to this verse, to live is one thing, and to walk is another. It is difficult for Bible translators to decide which spirit is referred to in this verse — the divine Spirit or the human spirit. In the Recovery Version of the New Testament, we made a decision on this verse according to the context. One way to read Galatians 5:25 in its context is to interpret the spirit in this verse as the divine Spirit. However, it is also possible to interpret and apply this verse in another way. The matter of living has two aspects. First, to live means to have life, to receive life. Second, to live is to have a living. To receive life is one thing, and to have a living is another thing. Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, which are quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, say that the righteous “shall have life and live by faith.” According to these verses, we first have life, and then we live. To have life is surely by the divine Spirit, but to live, that is, to have a living, implies our human spirit.
The two spirits are implied also in the matter of walking by the spirit. To walk surely is by the divine Spirit with our human spirit. These two spirits — the divine Spirit and the human spirit — are mingled within us; hence, we call this spirit “the mingled spirit.” Romans 8:4 says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled “in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” Here it is difficult to decide whether our walk should be according to the divine Spirit or according to the human spirit. Actually, it should be according to both of these spirits, that is, according to the mingled spirit.
The Christian life is not simple. When I was a young Christian, I thought that the Christian life is simply a life of being good. However, we should not think that if we are humble, gentle, kind, and tolerant, we are holy and are living the Christian life. The Christian life is to live by the Spirit and then to walk by the Spirit. To walk means to have our being and implies everything in our daily human life. If we are quiet, we should be quiet by the Spirit. If we are quiet by our self, we are not living and walking by the Spirit. To be quiet is not wrong, but we should be quiet by the Spirit. A cemetery is a very quiet place, and none who are buried there make any noise. If we are quiet by the Spirit, we will not be like a dead person buried in a tomb; on the contrary, we will be very active and very living.
To live the Christian life, we must make many subtractions. We must subtract our natural life, our self, our goodness, and many other things. We must subtract everything until we have nothing further to subtract. Then, what is left will be the Spirit. As long as we still have something to subtract, we are still not living by the Spirit.
When we say “Hello” to others, we must do so by the Spirit. When we touch such details of our living, we can see that we are all very natural. After saying “Hello” to someone, we often say “How are you?” out of habit, without any consciousness or intention. We do not say such things by our spirit. However, to walk, to have our being, implies everything in our daily living. This means that we should be a person absolutely living by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit. The apostle Paul was one who practiced this. In 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul charges Timothy to exercise himself unto godliness. Godliness is the manifestation of God (1 Tim. 3:16). Thus, we need to exercise ourselves unto the manifestation of God. When we say “Hello,” we need to ask, “Is this the manifestation of God?” If the answer is negative, we should not say that. Some may feel that this is too much. However, we do need to exercise ourselves to such an extent unto godliness.
When we are asked, “How are you?” most of the time we respond, “Fine.” Such a response may not be by the Spirit. If we exercise ourselves unto godliness, we must hesitate when we answer such a question. In our hesitation we need to consider how to answer in such a way that we exercise ourselves unto godliness, unto the manifestation of God. We must exercise ourselves to such an extent that all day long, whatever we are, whatever we do, whatever we think, whatever we express, and whatever we say must be the expression, the manifestation, of God. This surely must be done by the Spirit.
Thank the Lord that today both the divine Spirit and the human spirit are very definitely located. As believers in Christ, we all have a spirit, and our spirit has been regenerated by the divine Spirit. By this the two spirits have been located — in us. This is a wonder. Both of the two spirits are in us! Hence, wherever we are, these two spirits are with us. They have been located within us.
We, the believers, live the Christian life by exercising our spirit. We should learn to practice one thing: in doing anything, we should not do it hastily. When we are going to answer someone, we should not answer quickly; instead, we should consider whether or not we are answering in our spirit by the divine Spirit. In everything, we need to consider carefully. Of course, this is very difficult, but still we need to learn. I was born a Chinese, and the Chinese language is my mother tongue. When I began to study English, I found that mastering English pronunciation was very difficult for me. This has required much learning over many years. In a similar sense, we were born human, and we were reborn divine. Now, we the human beings must learn to live a human life by the divine life. This requires much learning because we do not know how to live by the divine life.
In learning to live a human life by the divine life, prayer is a great help. By nature I am a quick person. It is difficult for me to be slow and considerate. However, after much prayer I become a very slow and considerate person. Praying slows us down. This means that praying makes us more spiritual. Prayer causes us to live a human life by the divine life. If you come to ask me something and I have not prayed in half a day, I will probably answer you quickly. However, if you come to me immediately after my morning prayer, I will be very spiritual; I will not answer you quickly. Prayer slows us down because to pray is to exercise our spirit, and that spontaneously puts aside our emotion, our will, and our mind. Whenever we stir up our spirit by praying, we become a very careful person.
I have no interest in merely teaching the Bible. My burden is to help the saints to understand what Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16 and 25 concerning living and walking by the Spirit. It is very rare to meet a person who lives by the Spirit and walks by the Spirit. We should not take verses like Galatians 5:16 and 25 for granted. On the contrary, we must endeavor to understand what it means to live and walk by the Spirit.
The matter of living by the Spirit is mentioned in Galatians 5:25. To live by the Spirit equals to have Christ living in us. Although we all are persons, we should not live by our self as the person; we must live by another person. The Christian life is a life in which we live by another person. As long as we live by our self as our person, that is not the Christian life. As Christians, we should not have only one person; we must have two persons. One person is our self, and the other is Christ. This Christ who is our person within us is pneumatic; He is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17).
The Spirit by whom we must live is Christ. As the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), Christ is pneumatic. He is not only our life (Col. 3:4) but also our person (2 Cor. 2:10). To speak of living by Christ as our life may be somewhat abstract, but to speak of living by Christ as our person is more definite. A person is very definite, whereas life is somewhat abstract. Whether we live by Christ as our life or not is difficult to know, but whether we live by Christ as our person or not is very clear. To speak of living by our self or living by Christ means that there are two persons by whom we can live. We should not live by our self; we should live by another person — Christ.
To live by the Spirit equals to have Christ living in us (Gal. 2:20a), that is, to live Christ, the pneumatic Christ in resurrection, that Christ may be magnified in us (Phil. 1:19-21a). For Christ to be our person within us, He surely must be pneumatic, and He must be in resurrection. Before His incarnation He was God as the Spirit already, but the Spirit in the stage before incarnation was not the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit, who is the reality of Christ, is the Spirit after Christ’s resurrection. In His resurrection Christ as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). Today this life-giving Spirit is the pneumatic Christ, the resurrected Christ.
We live Christ that Christ may be magnified in us. To magnify Christ and to live Christ are not two different things; rather, they are one. To live Christ is to magnify Christ, and the magnification of Christ is the real manifestation of God. Without the magnification of Christ, it would be impossible to have the manifestation of God. When we live Christ, surely we magnify Christ.
Our living by our self can be likened to copper. In comparison, our living of Christ can be likened to gold. The best copper may look very much like gold. In the living of some saints it may be difficult to discern whether they themselves are expressed or whether God is manifested. Copper and gold look somewhat alike, but they are different in essence. Because of their quiet and careful natural makeup, some of the saints may resemble Christ in their living. Actually, however, their living may not be the living of Christ but the living of themselves. In contrast, it is easier to discern whether a person who is very active and makes many mistakes is living Christ or living himself.
To live by the Spirit is to take the Spirit — the realization of the resurrected Christ — as our person (Gal. 2:20a). To live by the Spirit equals to have Christ living in us and equals taking the Spirit as our person.
To live may mean to have life, but to walk means to have our being. The Greek words translated “walk” in Galatians 5:16 and 25 are two different words. They signify the two aspects of the Christian walk.
The first word, used in Galatians 5:16a, denotes the general walk in our daily life, implying a common, habitual daily walk. This walk is referred to also in Romans 6:4; 8:4; and Philippians 3:17-18. The walk in all these verses is the general walk in our daily life.
The second word for walk, used in Galatians 5:25, refers to a walk according to rules, that is, the walk in line, in an orderly, regulated manner (6:16; Acts 21:24; Rom. 4:12; Phil. 3:16), referring to a walk that takes God’s unique goal as the direction and purpose of the Christian life, by living in the new creation (Gal. 6:15-16), by pursuing Christ (Phil. 3:12, 16), and by practicing the church life (Rom. 12:1-5; Eph. 4:1-16) so that God’s economy for the church may be fulfilled.
The first kind of walk is the daily walk for our daily living, and the second is a walk according to rules for the church. The church is our goal, and the church is also our purpose. We walk this way and we take this way as a rule because our human life has a goal and a purpose, and this goal and this purpose are to have the church life. The Christian life has two aspects. One aspect is the Christian daily life, the normal, habitual, common living in our daily life, with no particular goal or purpose in view. But we Christians should not be simply for our daily life. We Christians must be persons for the church. The church is God’s goal, and the church is God’s purpose. Because of this, we must have rules to regulate our walk. The three main rules for the second kind of walk are to live in the new creation, to pursue Christ, and to practice the church life so that God’s economy for the church may be fulfilled.
The majority of Christians today do not have the church life. Those who do not have the church life may stay home in the evening to watch television. However, we who practice the church life have a rule, and that rule is to attend the church meetings. To us, to attend the church meetings is a rule. Another rule is found in Philippians 3, that is, to pursue Christ. In verses 12 and 16 Paul made the pursuing of Christ a rule. This rule is for the church life. If we do not live Christ and pursue Christ, it will be difficult for us to have the church life. We are strict in pursuing Christ so that we may gain Him to live the church life.
Every human being has two aspects to his living — his common, daily life and his business life. A person who operates a business or has a job must go to the office every morning by a certain specified time. Thus, he must keep the rule, the regulation, of rising early every morning. Furthermore, he must go to the office five days a week. Then on Saturday morning he is free to remain in bed for a longer time. On Saturday he still lives his life, but he does not live it for his job. Rather, he lives a common, daily life. Thus, every person must live two kinds of lives, one for his ordinary daily life and another for his job, for his purpose, his goal.
We Christians also should have two kinds of walks. The first is the general walk in our daily Christian life. Things such as overcoming our temper are included in this kind of walk. The second is a walk according to rules, a walk in line, in an orderly, regulated manner. This kind of walk includes things such as attending the church meetings and speaking in the meetings for the church life. In our Christian life people may realize that, because we are a Christian, we would not lose our temper. This is the testimony of our general, daily walk. People may know us also as those who attend the church meetings on the Lord’s Day morning and on other nights of the week. This is the testimony of our walk according to rules.
In Galatians 6:15-16 Paul says, “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters. And as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” To live a new creation by walking according to the rule of the new creation is the second kind of walk, the walk by rules. We have been regenerated to be a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17); hence, we must walk by the rule, by the regulation, of a new creation. Because we are a new creation, and because we have a goal, a purpose, there are certain things that we would not do. The new creation is just the church life, the Body of Christ.
To have a goal, a purpose, requires us to live a life by rules. However, the second aspect of the Christian walk must be supported by the first. If we do not live the first kind of walk, we cannot have the second. If we are a loose person, a busybody who gossips all the time, we will not be able to live a life that is for the church. Our walk for a purpose, for a goal, must be supported by our general, daily walk.
To walk by the Spirit is to walk in Christ’s resurrection, through His crucifixion, and by the compound Spirit (Phil. 3:10; 1:19b). Christ’s resurrection, Christ’s crucifixion, and the compound Spirit are one entity. It is impossible to separate these three. This simply means that the compound Spirit in us is the reality of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. Thus, in brief, this compound Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. In a more simple way, the compound Spirit is just the processed and consummated Triune God. This Spirit can never work in anything without the crucifixion of Christ. Hence, this Spirit always puts us to death (2 Cor. 4:10-12). If we desire to have the first kind of walk, we need to be crucified. Likewise, if we would have the second kind of walk, we need to be crossed out, to be crucified. Crucifixion always ushers us into resurrection, and that resurrection is the Spirit. These three things — the Spirit, Christ’s crucifixion, and Christ’s resurrection — are always together. To walk by being crucified, to walk in resurrection, and to walk by the Spirit are the same thing. Our walk by the Spirit is a walk by being crucified and a walk in resurrection. These three are one.
Whether we are walking by the Spirit or not is determined by whether we are crucified or not. We know whether we are walking by the Spirit by knowing whether we are crossed out or not. If you are not crossed out, even if you feel that you are full of the Spirit, you should not do or say anything. Without crucifixion there is no filling of the Spirit. Therefore, we must immediately take the cross to receive Christ’s crucifixion. When we take Christ’s crucifixion, instantly we are in resurrection, and the reality of resurrection is the Spirit.
I can testify that I am learning this kind of lesson every day. Very rarely do I answer people’s letters immediately after receiving them. When we receive letters, we should ask, “Who will answer — me or the Lord?”
If we have the assurance that we are crossed out, immediately we are in resurrection, and the reality of that resurrection is the life-giving Spirit. Then whatever we do, we walk by the Spirit through Christ’s crucifixion and in Christ’s resurrection. This is the Christian life.
