How to Walk with God

A further part of our wisdom is to know how to walk with God.

If we would walk with God, six things are necessary:

(1) If we would walk with God, it is necessary that we agree with Him (Amos 3:3). By nature, God and man are enemies (Rom. 8:7, 8). Walking with God is the last thing an enemy of God seeks. Only in Christ can foolish men learn the wisdom of walking with God.
Christ takes away the cause of the enmity between God and man, which is sin and the curse of the law (Dan. 9:24; Gal. 3:13).
Christ has destroyed him who would continue the enmity between God and man (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15).
Christ made reconciliation for the sins of the people ( Heb. 2:17; 2 Cor. 5:19). He reconciled God to man.
Christ reconciles man to God by slaying the enmity on our part (Rom. 5:11; Eph. 2:18). Only in Christ is this reconciliation to be found. Out of Christ, God is a consuming fire.

(2) If we would walk with God, it is necessary that we be friends of God. Strangers do not walk together. Not only must our enmity be taken away, but we must also know God as our friend. This also is hidden in Christ, and comes from Him (1 John 5:20; John 1:18). Only in Christ can we know God and know Him as our friend and no longer our enemy.

(3) If we would walk with God, it is necessary that we walk with Him in the way of holiness. This way is hidden in Christ and can only be learned from Christ (Heb. 10:20; John 14:6; Isa. 35:8; 42:16).

(4) If we would walk with God, it is necessary to be strong. We need strength to walk in the way of holiness. In ourselves we have no strength (Rom. 5:6). All strength comes from Christ (Phil. 4:13). Our sufficiency is in Christ (2 Cor. 3:5). In Christ we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). Any step taken in this way without Christ is one step to hell. He takes us by the arm. He teaches us the way to go. He leads to perfection. So 'be strong in the Lord and in His almighty power' (Eph. 6:10).

(5) If we would walk with God, it is necessary to walk with confidence. We need confidence to walk with God, who is a consuming fire' (Heb. 12:29). Only in Christ have we boldness and confidence to walk with God (Eph. 3:12). This boldness comes from faith in Christ's blood (Heb. 10:19). Christ takes away the spirit of fear and bondage and gives us the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry 'Abba, Father' (Rom. 8:15). Now as there is no sin that God will more severely punish than any boldness to walk with Him apart from Christ, so there is no grace more acceptable to Him than boldness to walk with Him in Christ through faith in the blood of Jesus.

(6) If we would walk with God, it is necessary to have the same purpose and aim as God. This also is to be found in Jesus. God's purpose is to glorify Himself and none can aim at this purpose except those who are in Christ Jesus. 

So the whole wisdom of our walking with God is hidden in Christ and come to us from Him alone.


John Owen
Communion with God, pp. 97-98