“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him “

The “as” refers to the point when we received Christ as our Savior. The “so” refers to continued trust in the ongoing principles of Scripture about Christ for our daily walk with him. Spiritual life begins with faith, and it continues by faith in him.

“so walk in Him”

The point of this verse revolves around two monosyllables — “as” and “so.” The point of the “as…so” clause is comparison. The “as” refers to the point when we received Christ as our Savior (John 1:11,12). The “as” refers to the truth that we receive Jesus Christ’s death for our sin by faith. The “so” refers to continued trust in the ongoing principles of Scripture for our daily walk with the Lord. Spiritual life begins with faith, and it continues on faith. The correlation between becoming a Christian and continuing as a Christian is faith.

“Walk” means live carrying the idea of the whole round of life activities. The word “walk” comes from two words, “to walk” and “around,” “to walk around.” This word conveys the idea to live as a course of life. We are to live the entire course of the Christian life by faith. The conduct must accord with the truths of our faith.

As we had received Christ by faith when we became a Christian, so we need to walk day-by-day by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” The daily Christian life rotates around faith. That is how it begins; that is how it should continue. God delivers us day by day from the power of sin by faith.

Faith, not feeling, is the basis of spiritual victory. Some folks attempt to verify their walk with God by feeling. However, we are a Christian as much when we do not feel like a Christian as when we do feel like it. We live the Christian life by faith, whether we feel like it or not. Our feelings have very little to do with it. I am still married, whether I feel like it or not!

The Exodus generation in the Old Testament failed to mix God’s promises with faith (Heb. 3:7-4:16). We cannot live the Christian life if we do not claim the promises by which we live it. If we do not know the promises, how can we claim them? The Exodus generation had a great future, a land flowing with milk and honey. For forty years, they wandered in the desert of carnality because they did not apply enough of God’s Word by faith to seize the future God promised them.

Principle:

We utilize the same faith by which we became a Christian to live daily before God.

Application:

A growing faith staves off spiritual retrogression. Feelings are fickle. They can lead us astray. Some people say, “I read the Bible, and I do not feel anything.” When we read a letter from a loved one, we may feel some things in the letter, and in other aspects of the communication, we may not. Some components of the letter may state a simple fact. Other elements of the letter may involve emotion. That does not mean that the parts of the letter that contain emotion are the only valid part of the letter. When we read the Bible, we may feel something, and we may not. Feelings are not the issue of mature spirituality. When we read the Bible, we read communication from our heavenly Father. We welcome (“received”) what he wants us to know.

The Christian grows one day at a time. Through our choices about the Word, the Word assimilates into our lifestyle. As we appropriate the provisions of God by faith, God’s Word takes hold of our soul.