New Life in Christ – Walking

Once we learn to rest completely and confidently in Christ, we are faced with the challenge of carefully walking with Him throughout every facet and phase of life. Ephesians 5:15-17 tells us to “be careful how we walk! Live purposefully, worthily and accurately… understanding the will of the Lord.” Your “walk” is the way that you live and behave in this life. After we come into this new life in Christ, we want to walk in Christ’s victory, faith, trust and righteousness. The focus of our life is Jesus the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

Ephesians shows many things that we gain in this new life by sitting with Christ.

• Ephesians 1:3 – 4 — God our Father choses us in Christ and blesses us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Him.
• Ephesians 1:7 — In Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
• Ephesians 1:10 — All things in heaven and earth are gathered together in Christ.
• Ephesians 1:11 — We obtain an inheritance in Him.
• Ephesians 1:13 — Those who trust in Christ are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
• Ephesians 2:1 — Although we were dead in trespasses and sins, we are made alive in Christ.
• Ephesians 2:6 — We were raised and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ.
• Ephesians 2:7 — We are shown the exceeding riches of God’s grace in His kindness toward us in Christ.
• Ephesians 2:10 —We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
• Ephesians 2:13 — In Christ, we are brought near by the blood of Christ.
• Ephesians 2:14 — He is our peace.
• Ephesians 2:18 — We have access by one Spirit to the Father through Jesus Christ.
• Ephesians 3:12 — In Him, we have boldness and access with confidence through faith.

After we become proficient in wholly trusting in Christ’s finished work, we must learn to walk.

Sitting with Christ is where we learn how to walk with Him. We cannot walk right if we have not learned to trust in the Lord. Even if we sit with Him in heavenly places, we must walk in this world.

• Ephesians 2:10 — God created us in Christ for good works.
• Ephesians 4:1 — Walk worthy of the calling you received.
• Ephesians 5:2 — Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us…
• Ephesians 5:8 — Walk as children of light.
• Ephesians 5:15 — Be careful how you walk, not as fools but as those who are wise.
• Colossians 1:10 — Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
• Colossians 2:6 — Just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk or live in Him.

Walking is the practical progression and expression of  trusting Christ enough to sit with Him.

Our walk, life, and conduct is changed because we trust and are made to sit with Christ in the heavenly places. The function of the “body of Christ” is dependent on the “mind of Christ” and the “position of Christ.”

Our walk demonstrates Christ’s glorious victory and power and that we have been made to sit with Christ in the heavenly places.

So, how are we supposed to walk?

Ephesians 5:2 NKJV And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

We are to walk in love.

Walking in love is more than having knowledge of God’s love. Walking in love requires us to be imitators of God as dear children, (Ephesians 5:1). As we walk in love as Christ has loved us, our behavior changes so we walk worthy of the Lord, (Ephesians 5:3-7).

This leads to the second way we should walk.

Second, walk in the light of the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8 NKJV For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…

Your exposure to Christ’s victory and glory changes the way you walk.

Children of light give practical proof of the light by demonstrating that they have been sitting with Christ. When you became children of light, you began bearing and sharing the fruit of the Spirit as you walk. Bearing fruit on the inside must have an outward expression. It is no good saying, “I have love, joy, and peace” if we do not have an outward expression of love, joy, and peace. If you need more love, joy, and peace, you may need to go and sit down with Christ some more.

Third, be very careful how you walk, not as fools but as wise.

Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

“Walk circumspectly” means don’t be careless or reckless in the way you walk. We should make the most of every opportunity and redeem the time. We do that by being filled and stimulated by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, ‘When the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth.’ The way to live successfully in evil days is by walking in the Spirit.

In this new life in Christ, how do we walk worthy of the Lord?

First, consider that you have been raised with Christ and have been made to sit with Him in heavenly places.

If you have been raised with Christ and have been sitting with Him, your old ways should be changing. Christ has brought you up and out of your old life of fear, doubt, sin and death. It is impossible to walk in Christ’s victory and continue to practice the old walk of life.

Have you ever tried to walk as Christ walked?

Jesus said, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

How can you do it?

The only way to walk as God’s children is in the power of the Holy Spirit. God has made it possible for everyone who can sit with Christ to walk right.

When Gideon was told to diminish his army, he knew that 300 men could do nothing without God’s help.

The enemy was too strong and Gideon and his army were too small and too weak. Only God could bring them into victory. When they came out against that multitude, their walk depended on God. When the 300 blew their trumpets and broke their lamps, they knew that they depended on the Lord for the victory that was coming, (Judges 7:18-19). They were walking the way God wanted them to walk. Without a sword in their hand, they knew and trusted that God was giving them victory.

After you are made to sit with Christ, then you can walk right.

Walking right is not just personal effort. If you could do this by yourself, Christ died in vain. When we sit with Christ, we learn of His glory, power and authority. When we sit with Christ, we discover new life is in Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 NKJV For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Philippians 2:13 NKJV For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We cannot be successful until we are willing for God to take control and work in us.

Consider the fruit of the Spirit.

Have you tried to live the fruit of the Spirit without God doing it in you? Have you ever tried to be patient when you did not feel patient? In the midst of your struggles, have you tried to show the fruit of joy? We can do this with all of the fruit of the Spirit. Without God working in us, we fall short. It is in His presence where we find fullness of joy. Come and sit a while in Christ’s presence and then the love, joy, peace, and patience begins working. In Christ, we can walk in love and have peace.

How can we walk right?

Ephesians 3:16 NKJV That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

We can walk in what God has put in us.

You can never walk in the victory that is in Christ Jesus until you have Jesus on the inside. This is how it worked with the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul had a revelation of Christ on the Damascus Road that changed his life.

Paul was very zealous and busy trying to do what he thought was God’s will. He did not realize that he was resisting the Holy Spirit and was fighting against the Lord. When the Lord Jesus interrupted his plans and the light of God’s glory shined down on him, he was walking the wrong way and was stopped in his path.

God knows how to alter your path.

He was knocked off his donkey and was stopped until he was filled with the Holy Spirit. After he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he came to realize that Christ was the hope of glory. Before Christ, he struggled to do the right thing but was always a wretched failure. When he came to realize that he was not able to walk right on his own, the Apostle Paul found this secret.

Romans 8:1 NKJV There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Do you see the benefit of walking in the Spirit?

Having the knowledge of Christ is not enough. You need the Spirit of Christ living and working on the inside. The Spirit-filled and directed life produces a new kind of walk. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to live without condemnation because He brings us into the full benefit of new life in Christ. Walk suggests conduct, behavior, and progress. To walk is to proceed or follow on.

What is your goal?

Your walk will be very important in the end.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Have you spent enough time sitting with Jesus? He wants you to have complete confidence in Him. He will finish what He started when you put your trust in Him.