Scripture Reading: Gal. 5:25; 6:15-16
We have pointed out that the book of Galatians presents a comparison of God’s two economies: the economy in the Old Testament, which concerns the law, and the economy in the New Testament, which is centered on Christ Himself. According to His New Testament economy, God’s intention is to dispense Christ into us and to make Christ one with us and us one with Him. This is altogether different from our natural concept. For this reason, I am rather concerned that many of us still do not fully realize that as those who are saved and regenerated by the Spirit of God with the divine life and nature, we are now one spirit with God. Before we were saved, we and God were separate, far removed from each other. But when we were saved and regenerated, God was conceived in us and born into us. By the new birth we and God have become one spirit. How marvelous!
We may read the Bible again and again without being impressed with God’s intention as revealed in the Bible. Instead, we may pay our attention to such things as Paul’s commandment for husbands to love their wives, or for wives to submit to their husbands. Matters such as love and submission fit our natural concepts. But the mystery of God dispensing Himself into us to make us one with Him is contrary to our natural concept. This is the reason that even though this is revealed in the Scriptures, we do not have the ability to comprehend it. How we need the Lord’s mercy that we may know His intention!
Recently I have begun to pay attention to the fact that in the book of Galatians Paul uses two different Greek words for walk. In 5:16 he says, “Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Here the Greek word is peripateo. In 5:25 Paul goes on to say, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Here the Greek word is stoicheo, the verbal form of the Greek word for element used in 4:3 and 9, and Colossians 2:8. Galatians 4:3 speaks of “the elements of the world,” and 4:9, of “the weak and poor elements.” Colossians 2:8 also refers to “the elements of the world.” These elements denote basic, rudimentary, or elementary principles. For example, in mathematics there are the elementary principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Likewise, philosophy and ethical teachings are also composed of rudimentary elements. There are also elements, basic principles, elementary rules, in God’s economy.
As we have indicated, in Galatians 5:25 the Greek word for element is used as a verb. The same word is also used in 6:16, where Paul says, “And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” It is difficult for translators to find an English equivalent for this Greek verb. If we say, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also element by the Spirit,” no one will be able to understand what we mean. Thus, translators are forced to use the word “walk.” Yes, according to Greek usage, the word does convey the thought of walking. However, it is not to walk in a general way, in the sense of walking about, but to walk in a specific way according to a certain rule, principle, or lane.
This Greek word is used in Acts 21:24 with the meaning of walking orderly with respect to the teachings of the law. The expression “walk orderly” in this verse is the translation of the Greek word stoicheo. It is used to denote a walk that is in order or in line. For example, when soldiers march, they walk in order, keeping rank and walking in line. This is an illustration of what it means to walk orderly.
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.
In the first three chapters of Galatians, we see that Christ is revealed in us (1:15-16), that Christ lives in us (2:20), and that Christ has been put upon us (3:27). Christ is thus our inward content and also our outward expression. Furthermore, we are all “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:26), and the Spirit of the Son of God has been sent into our hearts (4:6). Praise the Lord that we are now sons of God! As God’s sons, we need a walk by the Spirit to express Christ in all His virtues. We also need another kind of walk by the Spirit, the walk according to certain rules or principles, leading toward the goal for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. If we have the second kind of walk by the Spirit, we shall be not only sons of God, but also a new creation and the Israel of God. We need to live the new creation and as the new Israel of God. In order to live a new creation and live as the Israel of God, we need the second kind of walk. We need to walk orderly according to the elementary principles of God’s economy.
In chapter four we see that we are sons of God with the Spirit of the Son of God in our hearts. In chapter five we see that we need two kinds of walk by the Spirit, a general walk to express Christ and a purposeful walk toward the goal. The second kind of walk constitutes us those who live a new creation and who are the Israel of God. To live a new creation and to live as the Israel of God, we need to walk in such a way as to observe all the basic principles of God’s New Testament economy.
According to 6:15 and 16, the second kind of walk by the Spirit is intimately related to the new creation. Verse 15 declares, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Verse 16 goes on to speak of walking by “this rule.” The rule here is that of being a new creation. This new creation is equal to the Israel of God, also mentioned in verse 16.
The Judaizers boasted in circumcision. According to 6:13, they wanted the Galatian believers to be circumcised so that they could boast in the flesh of the Galatians. As a work carried out in the flesh, circumcision is wholly related to the old creation. Even though a person may bear the mark of circumcision on his body, he is still part of the old creation. Whether or not one has been circumcised in the flesh, he is part of the old creation. Both circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles are in the old creation. In the eyes of God, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. God wants a new creation. The old creation is our old man in Adam (Eph. 4:22), our natural being by birth, without God’s life and divine nature. The new creation is the new man in Christ (Eph. 4:24), our inner being regenerated by the Spirit (John 3:6), having God’s life and the divine nature wrought into it (John 3:36; 2 Pet. 1:4), with Christ as its constituent (Col. 3:10-11).
The difference between the old creation and the new creation is that in the old creation God was not added to man, but in the new creation He is dispensed into His chosen people. No matter how good Adam might have been before the fall, God had not been added to Adam. Adam was good, but he did not have the divine element within him. He was simply the old creation, the creation without the element of God.
We may liken this old creation to a glass of plain water and the new creation to a glass of tea. Tea is formed by the mingling of tea with water to make tea-water. The water in the glass of plain water may be pure. But the fact remains that there is no element of tea in this water. This illustrates the fact that even if the old creation were pure, it still would not have the element of God. Only when God’s element is added to His creation and mingled with it does that creation become the new creation. Because God, the heavenly “tea,” has been added to us, we are no longer the plain water of the old creation, but the “tea-water” of the new creation. In a sense, we have been “tea-ified.” Using another expression, we may say that we have been “God-ified.” God has been added to us to mingle with us and to saturate us and thereby to make us a God-man. God’s desire is not simply to have a good man or even a pure man — His intention is to have a God-man.
If we as Christians live merely according to the law or according to ethical standards, we shall live without God. In our living God will not be mingled with us or saturated with us. Even though we may love others, this love will be in the old creation. But if we are enlightened, we shall see that as Christians we must walk by the basic principle of the new creation. This basic principle is that God is mingled with us. If we love others according to this principle and not merely according to ethics, God will love in our loving. We shall love others together with God.
The submission a sister renders to her husband may be either of the old creation or of the new creation. On the one hand, in her submission there may be nothing of the mingling with God. Such a submission may simply be according to the standard of a particular culture. In certain cultures, women are taught to be very submissive. This submission, however, is of the old creation. To use the illustration of water and tea, this submission is nothing more than a glass of plain water. It is utterly lacking in the element of tea. How much different is a sister’s submission when she lives according to the basic principle of the new creation, the mingling of God with man! Such submission is truly the expression of Christ. It is not simply pure water — it is water mingled with tea. In the case of submission in the old creation, the sister walks according to certain principles or rules assimilated from her culture. But in the case of submission in the new creation, the sister walks according to the basic principle of the new creation. By walking in this way, she lives the new creation. Her walk is not simply according to ethical principles, but according to the principle of the new creation, the principle that man should live by the divine life. Therefore, to live a new creation is to walk by the divine life and divine nature as a governing principle.
This matter of walking by the principle of the new creation is mysterious, and not many Christians have seen it. Walking by the principle of the new creation is mysterious because this is an organic matter altogether related to life. Life is mysterious and abstract. We can see a person’s skin, but we cannot see the life in him.
In this walk by the principle of the new creation, we experience Christ much more than in the first kind of walk. When we have this walk, we are a new creation not only in position and nature, but also in daily practice. The new creation becomes very practical in our daily living.
As we have pointed out, the basic principle of the new creation is that a human being lives the divine life. Our daily walk should be regulated by this principle, the principle of living by the divine life. The more we walk according to this principle, the more we shall be the new creation in a practical way. Then others will realize that in our living there is something higher than ethics. They may find it difficult to designate this mysterious element, for it is actually the wonderful Person of Christ living in us. All those who love the Lord Jesus should be mysterious in the eyes of others. Unsaved parents should be able to say of their daughter, “What a wonderful person she is! However, we are not able to describe accurately just what kind of person she is. She is able to suffer what we cannot suffer and to live in a way that we cannot live.” This is the new creation. Unbelievers have no concept of a new creation, but as believers we need to live this new creation.
If we live a new creation, we shall be the real Israel of God. According to the book of Genesis, Jacob, a heel-holder, a supplanter, was transformed into Israel, a prince of God and a victor. As a prince and a victor, he could overcome all negative things. Today we need to be such an Israel, a prince to execute God’s government on earth. If we have the second kind of walk by the Spirit, an orderly walk according to God’s eternal purpose, we shall become a new creation in a very practical way, and we shall also be the Israel of God, representing God, exercising His authority, and carrying out His administration on earth for the fulfillment of His purpose. Ultimately, this Israel of God will become the New Jerusalem.
The new Israel of God must be a new creation. For this we need God Himself to be wrought into us, to saturate us, and to make us one with Him. Then we need to live such a mingled life. By living the mingled life of the new creation, we shall be the Israel of God on earth today, His princes and victors executing His authority and representing His government. Today’s Israel of God is a miniature of the coming New Jerusalem, which will be the ultimate consummation of the new creation and of the Israel of God. May we all see this and walk according to it!
