I.　To walk worthily of God's calling is to walk in the truth—2 John 1-2, 4; 3 John 3-4:

A.　Truth in 2 and 3 John denotes the divine reality of the gospel, especially concerning the person of Christ as revealed in John's Gospel and first Epistle:

1.　Christ is both God and man, having both deity and humanity, possessing both the divine nature and the human nature, to express God in human life—John 1:14; 14:9-11; 1 John 1:1-2.

2.　Christ accomplished redemption with divine power in human flesh for fallen human beings so that He may impart the divine life into them and bring them into an organic union with God—John 1:29; 3:14-16; 15:4-5; 1 John 2:2.

B.　We need to have the truth wrought into us and constituted into our being— 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 1-2, 4; 3 John 3-4:

1.　To be constituted with the truth is to have the intrinsic element of the divine revelation wrought into us to become our organic constitution.

2.　The solid truth that is constituted into us becomes in us a constant and long-term nourishment—1 Tim. 2:4; 4:6.

3.　We need to pay the price to learn the truth—Prov. 23:23.

II.　To walk worthily of God's calling is to walk by the Spirit for the fulfill-ment of God's eternal purpose—Gal. 5:25; Eph. 1:11; 3:11:

A.　In Galatians 5:16 and 25 there are two kinds of walk by the Spirit:

1.　In verse 16 walk (peripateo) means to deport oneself, move, and act in ordi-nary daily life, implying a common, habitual daily walk—Rom. 6:4; 8:4; Phil. 3:17-18.

2.　In Galatians 5:25 walk (stoicheo) means to walk according to rules—to walk in line, to march in military rank, to keep in step and, thus, to walk in an orderly, regulated manner—6:16; Acts 21:24; Rom. 4:12; Phil. 3:16.

3.　Both kinds of walk are by the Spirit and are regulated by the Spirit:

a.　The walk in Galatians 5:16 is a general, daily walk.

b.　The walk in verse 25 is a walk that takes God's unique goal as the direction and purpose of life, and a walk that follows the Spirit as the elementary rule, the basic principle.

4.　Every believer in Christ should have these two kinds of walk by the Spirit—vv. 16, 25:

a.　In the first kind of walk we take the Spirit as the essence of our life in our daily living—v. 16.

b.　In the second kind of walk we take the Spirit as the path for our way so that we may fulfill God's purpose and reach the goal of our life on earth—v. 25.

B.　Because God is purposeful and seeks to reach His goal, He charges us, first, to have a walk by the Spirit that builds up a proper daily living and, second, to have a walk by the Spirit in line with the divine rules and principles to reach the goal established by God—Eph. 4:16; Rev. 21:2:

1.　God has an eternal purpose, and His intention is that we live for His pur-pose; thus, our lives on earth are not aimless but have a definite purpose— Eph. 1:11; 3:11; Rom. 8:28; 2 Tim. 1:9.

2.　We have been given life by the Spirit so that we may walk by the Spirit to fulfill God's purpose—Gal. 5:16, 25.

3.　We must have the second kind of walk by the Spirit—a walk to fulfill God's purpose and to reach the goal of our life on earth—v. 25.

4.　The first kind of walk by the Spirit is needed as a support for the second— v. 16:

a.　To fulfill God's purpose, we need the second kind of walk by the Spirit, but in order to have the second walk, we need the first walk.

b.　If we do not have the first kind of walk by the Spirit, we are not quali-fied to have the second.

c.　A proper daily walk by the Spirit will qualify us and equip us for the second walk by the Spirit, the walk that accomplishes God's purpose.

C.　In order to walk by the Spirit for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, we must practice living one spirit with the Lord—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4.

D.　Only by the Spirit can we have a proper daily life, and only by the Spirit can we walk toward God's goal and fulfill God's purpose—Gal. 5:16, 25.