For instance, there is the word “peripateo.” It speaks of a person’s manner of life, that which characterizes one’s life before others. The Christian is challenged to walk in newness of life --
… “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”(Rom 6:4 NIV)
The believer is to walk in honesty --
… “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.”(Rom 13:13 KJV)
The Christian life is a walk of faith --
… “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
(II Corinthians 5:7 NASB)
Paul also presents negative admonitions concerning the spiritual walk. The believer is not to walk according to the flesh --
… “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”(Romans 8:3 - 4 NASB)
The walk of a Christian is not to be characterized by craftiness --
… “but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”(II Cor 4:2 NASB)
His walk is not to be disorderly --
… “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.”(II Thessalonians 3:6 NABS)
The Old Testament also speaks of walking. Enoch is commended for having walked with God, speaking of closeness, fellowship and intimacy. David desired to walk before God so that there would be no evil hidden before men in his heart. The commitment of King Josiah and the people of Judah to walk after the Lord is recorded in Scripture --
… “Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.”(II Kings 23:3 NKJV)
Of course the question arises, how can any individual believer walk effectively? It is impossible in our own strength. When we placed our faith in Christ for salvation, believing that He bore our sins on the Cross, each one of us was given a new nature, a spiritual nature that could respond to the things of God. That new nature could now respond to His Spirit that indwells us and the teaching of the Word of God. These are God’s provisions, but we must choose to use them. A believer in fellowship, because of no unconfessed sin, and who is learning His Word and applying it by faith, experiences a spiritual walk that honors Christ and brings great inner happiness regardless of the external difficulties of life.