Summary:
Our “walk” (Col. 2:6) is how we behave (Ps. 101:2), our manner of life (Gal. 2:14), i.e., how we live our lives. God has always wanted His people to walk in ways that please Him, but as we rightly divide the Word, we know that how to walk to please Him changes dispensationally.
For instance, God told Israel to walk in the law (Ex. 16:4), because they got saved by the law. But He tells us to walk as we received Christ (Col. 2:6), and we received Him by faith, by believing something (Acts 16:31). So we should walk in Him by believing some things!
What things? Well, Paul uses the word “walk” often, so let’s let him tell us. First, he says to walk in “newness of life” (Rom. 6:2-4). If you believe you died and rose with Christ and have been given a new life, you should walk in it.
Paul gloried in the cross (Gal. 6:14) because the Galatians were glorying in circumcision. The Jews walked in circumcision (Acts 21:21), that was their rule, but we walk in the “rule” that only the newness of life of the new creature matters (Gal. 6:15,16).
We’re spiritually circumcised (Col. 2:10,11), so we have what the symbol of circumcision symbolized. We also rest in Christ, which the sabbath symbolized, and we have the cleansing that water baptism symbolized (Tit. 3:5). See how rightly dividing makes our walk different that 7th Day Adventists and Baptists?
Paul also says to walk in the Spirit so you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). How? By believing that we’ve already crucified the flesh (v. 24,25)! If God sees you as sinless, why not walk that way, if you believe it.
Paul also says to walk “honestly” by not sinning (Rom. 13:13). If God sees you as sinless, and you sin, you’re not being honest with yourself. The way to stop that is to put on Christ (v. 14). How? By believing that you already have put Him on (Gal. 3:27). He’s the “new man” you put on when you trusted Christ (Col. 3:9-12).
Paul also says to “walk by faith” (II Cor. 5:7). Isn’t that what we’ve been talking about, walking in Christ by believing some things? He had to add “not by sight” because that’s how the Jews walked. God saved Abraham by faith (Gen. 15:5,6), but he didn’t have to take God’s word for it that he was saved. God gave him wealth he could see (Gen. 13:2) to prove he had the salvation that he couldn’t see. He did the same for Job, who lived around the same time (Job 1:3). But we don’t walk by sight like that, for God doesn’t enrich His people financially today.
God also enriched the Jews (Deut. 8:18), and gave them other things to see, like parting the Red Sea. They didn’t have to walk by faith when they saw that, but we do, for God isn’t doing miracles like that any more.
Rightly dividing also affects our “walk” (I Cor. 7:17) when it comes to the subject of divorce (v. 12). Paul says to stay married to an unsaved wife, but under the Law God told the Jews it would give Him “pleasure” if they would divorce their unsaved wives (Ezra 10:2-11).
Rightly dividing also affects our walk in that the Lord said not to work for food and clothing, that God would provide it (Mt. 6:25-33). The Jews to whom He said that were heading into the Tribulation, when God would feed them with the “daily bread” He taught them to pray for (Micah 7:14,15), But Paul says we should work for our bread (I Thes. 4:11,12).
Can you see why Paul tells us to walk as he walked, and mark them which walk otherwise, so we have him as an example (Phil. 3:17)?
You hear a lot about identity theft these days, but you didn’t steal Christ’s identity, God gave it to you as a gift. Men who steal your identity don’t love you so they charge things to your account, knowing you’ll have to pay for them. When you sin, you’re acting like you don’t love the Lord, charging things to His account that He’s already paid for. Why not “walk worthy of the Lord” instead (Col. 1:10)?
Video of this lesson is available on YouTube: What Difference Does Rightly Dividing Make to My Walk? – Colossians 2:6
