The old axiom regarding Walking the Walk rather than just Talking the Talk certainly applies in the church today. We have a lot of believers running around going through the motions but never really getting anywhere. In my opinion this is one of the biggest challenges facing the bride of Christ today. If each and every believer were to get in his or her place and start walking out God’s perfect plan for their life, there would be such an overwhelming change in the body of Christ that those on the outside couldn’t resist finding out what it was all about.
The most noticeable change would be the confidence believers would walk in. Have you ever been around someone who really had that kind of confidence? I don’t mean the ones who are trying to make themselves believe something but the ones who truly know who they are and where they’re going. When you meet someone like that there is a quiet confidence in their demeanor, not a forceful drive to accomplish some personally set goal. Someone who knows that path they are on is the one that God ordained from the beginning of time is a spiritual force to be reckoned with.
I have met these believers in all walks of life and they all share one common element; they have learned the secret to freedom in life. Each one has come to that time and place where a conscious decision was made to “take their hands off the wheel” for good. We have all done that many times only to grab control once again when it suited our needs. What makes these believers different is that they have learned “not” to grab the wheel when the urge arises. It takes a commitment, but more than that it takes a burning desire inside to serve the one in control. Unless we have that desire we won’t be able to stand up to the pressure of the flesh, the pressure that wants to be the captain of its own destiny.
So how do we walk out this path that God has prepared for us? We’ve looked at discerning, understanding and accepting His perfect will, but how do we put that into action? In this study we’ll look at how we can walk the walk with confidence in knowing we are at His side. First let’s look at how we can Walk In Fellowship.
Walking in fellowship is very pleasant experience but we all have experienced those times when we have walked out of fellowship and boy is that ever uncomfortable. You are forced to go somewhere with someone that you don’t even want to be with, let alone talk to. That’s not the kind of walk Enoch had and it isn’t what God has in mind for us … with Him or our brothers and sisters in Him.
Fellowship in the Greek is koinonia, which means in communion with another. Just like we have communion with Jesus we are supposed to walk with Him in the same way; intimately. Let’s explore this concept of walking in communion together and see what it involves. The first ingredient is the most obvious; love.
Walk In Love
Eph 4:2-3 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Notice the virtues mentioned in verse 2, which can only come from the Sprit of God within us. The first two, lowliness (tapeinophrosune; humiliation of mind) and meekness (prautes; mildness), go absolutely cross-grain to our flesh and pull at every natural tendency within us. We might better understand their meaning if we substitute the words “humility” and “gentleness.” Paul then shows us how to employ these virtues in our daily lives; with longsuffering and forbearance in love.
Longsuffering (makrothumia; patience) means to keep an even temperament under adverse conditions such as personal conflict. We are to be patient with the faults and failings of other members of the body and be slow to anger. Each of us has a different temperament and if we are to walk for any distance together these differences are guaranteed to show up. The best example of this is between a husband and wife as they grow and mature as two becoming one. They can choose to magnify each other’s imperfections or they can “forbear” them.
To forbear (anechomai) means to bear with, endure or suffer. This most often involves those little things that are important to one and insignificant to the other. When there is no “forbearance” there is irritation and intolerance, which is manifested in faultfinding and a bad temperament. The answer, however, is to forbear in love. Remember that love is not a feeling but a choice and so we need to choose to forebear.
The love ascribed to here is agape and as we see before, it only comes from God through the Holy Spirit released within us. We are reminded that others are required to bear with our faults in the same way and therefore the common bond of the “God kind of love” allows us to endure or suffer with one another. Then in verse 3 we see the purpose for exhibiting these virtues; unity henotes; oneness).
It is not always possible for one person to maintain unity and therefore we are all admonished to attempt to keep it. In this context the word endeavor carries with it the implication of “diligence.” It is not possible for even all members of the body to stay in unity without the Holy Spirit. He accomplishes this through the manifestation of these virtues in each member. Our part as the bride of Christ is to be diligent in our obedience to the Spirit as we interact with our brothers and sisters. With our hearts adjusted to each other in love we will see the unity that Christ desires in His bride. When we all are filled with His love, joy and peace the result is unity or oneness.
To put this in perspective look at the audience Paul was addressing in Ephesus; converted Jews and Gentiles. They had each been brought up in a different manner, which was bound to result in conflict. If there were ever two that found it difficult to walk in fellowship it was the Jew and the Gentile and it’s still true today. The Jews came from a strong background of the law and the Gentiles from the perspective of grace. Here they were, all regarded equally in the eyes of God but not necessarily in the eyes of man. That is why Paul encouraged them to exercise humility and gentleness in dealing with each other. To be patient with one another’s views by laboring together in God’s love. In this way they will all be working to keep unity within the body. That unity will be “bonded” or cemented by the Holy Spirit and the evidence will be peace within the body of Christ.
This message needs to be heard and headed by the bride today more than ever. We all seem to have gathered into various corners with different doctrines, which cause separation and division. Jesus is not coming back for a bride that is all divided and torn with confusion and dissention. This unity of spirit has to come from within and not merely be a coat we put on before going to church. It has to come from the inside and be orchestrated by the Holy Spirit or there will not be the love of God that results in the “bond of peace.” It is an integral part of our walk with the Lord. Both the Old and New Testaments contain many examples of men and women who chose to walk in love with their brothers and sisters. They were challenged and often failed but they knew the way back to unity always went through forgiveness and repentance. When these two are wrapped up in God’s love, peace will always follow. It is His will for us to walk as one in love by the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same Father:
Mt 22:37‑39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
In Support Of One Another
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
In this letter to the Galatians Paul showed us the contrast between two approaches to the law. First we have the Law of Moses, which was described as a burden (Acts 15:10). It is described as a yoke, which the Jewish fathers couldn’t bear and neither can we. On the other hand we have the Law of Christ, which is not a burden (1John 5:3). In Matt 11:30 Jesus told us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
This follows along with the previous section in which we looked at “forbearing” one another in love. Rather than being selfish and ignoring each other’s burdens we are to come alongside like the Holy Spirit and help bear them up. Pastor Ray Bentley once painted a great word picture concerning Jesus’ yoke as described Matt 11:30. It was of an older ox being yoked with a younger one. The yoke of the older ox was made to carry the burden and the yoke of the younger ox was just designed to keep it alongside. In that process the older one took on the workload and the younger one observed and learned. Jesus is the older and wiser of the two and He tells us to just come alongside because He is shouldering the entire burden and the yoke will not even chafe us. We can just walk alongside Him and learn — if we don’t fight the yoke.
We each have our own sins that are our personal burden and when we reach out to each other in love we are, in the same manner as Jesus, sharing one another’s yoke. In so doing our heavy burdens become lighter and easier to bear. When we do this we fulfill the “Law of Christ.” Let’s look at some scripture regarding His Law to get the full meaning and understanding (the emphasis is mine):
John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
1John 2:8 again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
1John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
1Cor 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.
1Cor 13:4-7 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Paul gave us such a wonderful example when he compared the church to the human body. If one part hurts the whole body hurts. Can you imagine stubbing your toe without any pain in your foot? The Law of Christ doesn’t allow for us to be critical of one another, to find fault or to take pleasure in another’s failings. If we are to attend to His Law then our actions necessarily include helping our brother pick up his load and encouraging him with our words, deeds and prayers.
Going back to the first verse in this section (Gal 6:2) consider what Paul is said to the Galatians. Since you desire the law then you should fulfill the Law of Christ. They had it in their hearts to be obedient to the law but being critical of a brother who failed to follow it was being judgmental. If we look at verse 3 we see the implication: for if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. We are most deceived when we act out in judgment rather than reach out in love. They are mutually exclusive because we cannot love God without loving our brother; And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also (1John 4:21).
If my toe hurts I can’t ignore the pain and continue on at full strength. I need to stop and address that pain right away or else limp along at something less than full potential. The Body of Christ was not designed as a group of independent members. We are not Lone Rangers; we are “individually” and “collectively” the bride of Christ!
In Confession
Jas 5:13-16 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
If we consider James’ intent here we should note that he referred to 3 types of confession and prayer. The first in verse 13 directs us to pray for ourselves, the second in verse 14 directs us to have the ministers pray and the third is contained in verse 16 were we are told to pray for each other.
He did not tell us here to indulge ourselves in confessing our faults publicly or generally one to another. He did not refer, as some believe, to confessing our sins to a priest. Rather he referred to confiding in one another that we may pray for the healing of each other’s faults. The word faults (hamartia) means those that are both intentional and unintentional. This is an area in which men seem to fall far short of women. A man needs a brother to whom he can be accountable for his spiritual growth and maturity. Women seem to be able to do this almost unconsciously and are much more open to confiding in one another. Perhaps it is because they are generally more in tune with their spiritual side than we men are.
The Lord is faithful to establish that type of relationship if we will just ask Him. There is nothing more comforting than a fellow believer who is committed to pray for us in our times of difficulty. James tells us that those effectual fervent prayers are powerful and unwavering. They are “energetic prayers” that have power. They aren’t prayers that just go through the motions but ones that come from the heart and are earnest and sincere; those of a righteous man. These prayers are the same whether they come from a minister, a brother or us. In all three cases the only requirement is that they come from a righteous man. These prayers availeth much or have great strength and prevail by overcoming resistance. Someone once said that prayer moves the hand that moves the world. Well we certainly know that if anything moves the hand of God it is a simple, earnest and fervent prayer. We can’t control God or dictate to Him but we are told to ask Him, in which case He has said that those prayers may effect much. An old Hebrew axiom says “the prayers of the righteous are short.” There may be some real truth there. This is an example of James 2:18 whereby we are able to show our faith by our works.
If you are not in a relationship of accountability with a trusted believer I would strongly urge you to ask the Lord to lead you to someone. We simply weren’t made to walk through this life and carry all of our burdens alone. God will be faithful to bring us someone to stand with us in our struggles and we will stand with them. Remember that this is not a substitute for casting our cares upon Him (1Pet 5:7) but rather it is a way for God to minister His love and mercy to us through another.
As the bridegroom has “called” the bride to come into fellowship with Him so He calls those who are His bride to come into fellowship with one another. We cannot allow the chaos being generated in the world around us to destroy our fellowship. The bride in America is facing a growing challenge that she cannot face without fellowship; with the bridegroom and with all those who are the true bride of Christ. The enemy will use anything that “we allow” to disrupt our relationship with one another and we must be vigilant for the attack. When one member of the body is hurting we “cannot” fail to stop and tend to that hurt as likewise we must walk in love to ensure that we are not the source of that hurt. After all … love is what walking the walk is all about.
Part 2 of This Article Series: Walk The Walk (Part 2) Four Part Harmony