Exploring the invitation to Follow Jesus - to ‘Walk by the Spirit not the flesh’ and ‘Bear fruit for the kingdom’
Introduction
In this series we are building what we will refer to as the ‘One Page New Testament’ - #onepagenewtestament. Our approach is building a pictorial summary of the main messages for disciples of Jesus in a systematically derived, structured form. We aim to keep the descriptive text to a minimum and share with you the different Themes that are being created. We will consider the scriptures on their own merit, Theme by Theme, without introducing much in the way of theology. Within each Theme, we will let the scriptures speak for themselves - hopefully in a way that demonstrates the validity of the analysis.
This article is the eighth in a series that is unpacking some of the analysis work currently being undertaken to draw out the main teachings from the New Testament from a personal discipleship perspective. The previous articles can be found in the reference at Note [1] and focus upon the New Testament’s teaching that corresponds to the challenges of what we have called ‘Kingdom Fundamental 1 [KF1]’ - ‘Love God’, and ‘Kingdom Fundamental 2 [KF2]’ - ‘Follow Jesus’.
We have previously introduced that we consider that there are four Kingdom Practices under the invitation to Follow Jesus [KF2]:
Submit to Jesus’ Lordship - [KP3] (explored previously in Systematic Discipleship Parts 3 to 7 and considered further here)
Pursue Holiness - [KP4]
Live out kingdom values - [KP5]
Exercise discernment - [KP6].
In the previous article (Systematic Discipleship - Part 7) we explored New Testament teaching around what we have called Kingdom Action 9 [KA9] - (Receive the benefits of the kingdom (forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, eternal life …)) and the more detailed analysis that sits underneath it.
For completeness we remind regular readers that we have introduced eight Kingdom Actions under KP3 as follows:
Recognise that we all need a Saviour - Kingdom Action 5 [KA5]
Believe / have faith in Jesus / God - [KA6]
Count the cost of discipleship - [KA7]
Be born again / made a new creation in Christ (repent and be baptised) - [KA8]
Receive the benefits of the kingdom (forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, eternal life …) - [KA9]
Walk / live by the Spirit not the flesh (in accordance with scripture) - [KA10]
Bear fruit for the kingdom - [KA11]
Persevere in personal discipleship - [KA12].
In this Faith Article we will explore Kingdom Action 10 [KA10] (Walk / live by the Spirit not the flesh - in accordance with scripture) and Kingdom Action 11 [KA11] (Bear fruit for the kingdom). We have derived four sub-Themes under the KA10 heading:
Let the Holy Spirit set us free / give us life - [KP10.1]
Live by faith - [KP10.2]
Do not be worldly / nor walk unspiritually - [KP10.3]
Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us in time of testing - [KP10.4].
The elements we will cover in this article are shown in light blue (encouragements) and pink (warnings) in Figure 1.
If readers take away nothing else from these articles than the sense, logic, and directive actions in the Figures - for disciples to put into practice in the strength God gives - we will hopefully have achieved our initial objective.
Figure 1 - New Testament Themes about the need to ‘Walk / live by the Spirit not the flesh (in accordance with scripture) - [KA10]’ and ‘Bear fruit for the kingdom - [KA11]’
Kingdom Action 10 [KA10] - Walk / live by the Spirit not the flesh (in accordance with scripture)
Walking and living by the Holy Spirit is much easier said than done - as is trying to live out the Christian life! Our prior analysis of the roles of the Holy Spirit, as described in the New Testament, can be found in this earlier Faith Article [2].
There are several Greek words we can consider in the context of an encouragement for Jesus’ followers to ‘Walk / live by the Spirit’ [3], [4].
Pneuma (4151) which is defined as ‘wind, spirit’ and appears in translations as ‘wind, breath, spirit’ [5]. In its broader use, it appears 383 times [6].
Pneumatikos (4152) meaning ‘spiritual’ and used to refer to instances of ‘spiritual’. There are 26 instances.
Peripateó (4043) which describes ‘to walk’ and is translated as ‘I walk, hence Hebraistically (in an ethical sense): I conduct my life, live’. This word appears 96 times.
Mimeomai (3401) meaning ‘to imitate’ and describes context like ‘I imitate, follow’. It is only found in 4 places.
Below we present some of the verses where these words appear [7]:
John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk (4043) in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Romans 2:29 - No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit (4151), not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk (4043) not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (4151) (This is the King James Version as the verse is not fully rendered in the NIV).
Romans 8:4 - in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live (4043) according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (4151).
Romans 8:5 - Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit (4151) have their minds set on what the Spirit (4151) desires.
1 Corinthians 3:1 - Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit (4152) but as people who are still worldly--mere infants in Christ.
Galatians 5:16 - So I say, walk (4043) by the Spirit (4151), and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 6:1 - Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit (4152) should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
3 John 1:3 - It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk (4043) in it.
3 John 1:11 - Dear friend, do not imitate (3401) what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
There are something like 77 verse references that support this Theme.
Kingdom Action 10.1 [KA10.1] - Let the Holy Spirit set us free / give us life
Looking back to Reference [2] (below), we drew out from the scriptures that one role of the Holy Spirit is to set us free / give life.
In addition to the word Pneuma (set out above) there are ten other Greek words that we can consider relevant, and some are presented here:
Zóé (2222) which means ‘life’ and is rendered in translations as ‘life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence’. There are 135 occurrences in the New Testament.
Zóopoieó (2227) defined as ‘to make alive’ and used to describe ‘I make that which was dead to live, cause to live, quicken’. It appears 11 times.
Psuché (5590) meaning ‘breath, the soul’ having some five different uses (a) the vital breath, breath of life, (b) the human soul, (c) the soul as the seat of affections and will, (d) the self, (e) a human person, an individual. There are 103 appearances.
Eleutheria (1657) representing ‘liberty, freedom’ and is translated as ‘freedom, liberty, especially: a state of freedom from slavery’. There are 11 instances.
Zaó (2198) defined as ‘to live’ and used to describe ‘I live, am alive’. This word occurs 141 times in the New Testament.
Sarx (4561) meaning ‘flesh’ and used to describe ‘flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred’. There are 149 places where it is used.
Here we identify verse references that use the words above which relate to this Theme:
John 6:63 - The Spirit (4151) gives life; the flesh (4561) counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit (4151) and life (2222).
Romans 8:2 - because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit (4151) who gives life (2222) has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:10 - But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit (4151) gives life (2222) because of righteousness.
Romans 8:11 - And if the Spirit (4151) of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to (2227) your mortal bodies because of his Spirit (4151) who lives in you.
1 Corinthians 15:45 - So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being (5590)“; the last Adam, a life-giving (2227) spirit (4151).
2 Corinthians 3:6 - He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit (4151); for the letter kills, but the Spirit (4151) gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit (4151), and where the Spirit (4151) of the Lord is, there is freedom (1657).
Galatians 5:25 - Since we live (2198) by the Spirit (4151), let us keep in step with the Spirit (4151).
1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive (2227) in the Spirit (4151).
1 John 3:24 - The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit (4151) he gave us.
There are around 44 verse references which include these words under this heading.
Kingdom Action 10.2 [KA10.2] - Live by faith
There are a few Greek words that collectively convey the sense of walking and living by faith:
Pistis (4102) defined as ‘faith, faithfulness’ and used to render text as ‘faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness’. This is found 243 times in the New Testament.
Zaó (2198) - described in KA10.1 above.
Katoikeó (2730) meaning ‘to inhabit, to settle’ and translated as ‘I dwell in, settle in, am established in (permanently), inhabit’. This is found 45 times in the New Testament.
Kardia (2588) which is the ‘heart’ and used to describe ‘the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center’. There are 158 instances.
Menó (3306) which means ‘to stay, abide, remain' and rendered in texts as ‘I remain, abide, stay, wait; with acc: I wait for, await’. This word appears 118 times.
Peripateó (4043) describing ‘to walk’ and used to describe ‘I walk, hence Hebraistically (in an ethical sense): I conduct my life, live’. There are 96 appearances in the New Testament.
There are 7 relevant verses that use these words that relate to this Theme.
Romans 1:17 - For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith (4102) from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live (2198) by faith (4102).”
2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we walk (4043) by faith (4102), not by sight.
Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live (2198), but Christ lives (2198) in me. The life I live (2198) in the body, I live (2198) by faith (4102) in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 3:11 - Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live (2198) by faith (4102).”
Ephesians 3:17 - so that Christ may dwell (2730) in your hearts (2588) through faith (4102). Then you, being rooted and grounded in love.
1 Timothy 2:15 - Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue (3306) in faith (4102), love, and holiness, with self-control.
Hebrews 10:38 - But My righteous one will live (2198) by faith (4102): and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.
Kingdom Action 10.3 [KA10.3] - Do not be worldly / nor walk unspiritually
We have identified 12 Greek words that we can associate with walking in an unspiritual or fleshly manner. Some of these are outlined below:
Sarkikos (4559) which is defined as ‘pertaining to the flesh, carnal’ and transcribed as ‘fleshly, carnal, earthly’. There are 7 New Testament instances.
Sarkinos (4560) meaning ‘of the flesh' and translated as ‘fleshly, consisting of flesh, carnal’. It appears 4 times.
Sarx (4561) - covered in KA10.1 above.
Kosmikos (2886) meaning things ‘pertaining to the world’ and used to describe ‘earthly, worldly (belonging to the present earthly world as opposed to the heavenly and future)’. There are only 2 appearances in the New Testament.
Kosmos (2889) describes ‘order, the world' and is used in translations to explain ‘the world, universe; worldly affairs; the inhabitants of the world; adornment’. It appears 186 times.
Palaios (3820) refers to ‘old, ancient' and is translated as ‘old, ancient, not new nor recent’. There are 19 occurrences.
Pneumatikos (4152) - set out in KA10 above.
Peripateó (4043) defined as ‘to walk’ and used to convey the sense ‘I walk, hence Hebraistically (in an ethical sense): I conduct my life, live’. There are 96 appearances.
Example scriptures that include these words and support this Theme include:
Romans 6:6 - For we know that our old (3820) self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
Romans 8:9 - You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh (4561) but are in the realm of the Spirit (4151), if indeed the Spirit (4151) of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit (4151) of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Romans 13:14 - Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh (4561).
1 Corinthians 3:1 - Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit (4152) but as people who are still worldly (4560)—mere infants in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:3 - You are still worldly (4559). For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly (4559)? Are you not acting like (4043) mere humans?
1 Corinthians 3:19 - For the wisdom of this world (2889) is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”.
1 Corinthians 5:7 - Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old (3820) bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
2 Corinthians 1:12 - Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly (4559) wisdom but on God’s grace.
Ephesians 4:17 - So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live (4043) as the Gentiles do (4043), in the futility of their thinking.
Colossians 3:9 - Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old (3820) self with its practices
Galatians 5:16 - So I say, walk by the Spirit (4151), and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (4561).
Galatians 6:14 - May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world (2889) has been crucified to me, and I to the world (2889).
Titus 2:12 - It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly (2886) passions, and to live (2198) self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
1 Peter 2:11 - Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful (4559) desires, which wage war against your soul.
1 John 1:6 - If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk (4043) in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
1 John 2:16 - For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh (4561), the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world (2889).
Our analysis has identified 85 verse references that reflect instances of all the Greek words that can be related to this Theme.
Kingdom Action 10.4 [KA10.4] - Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us in time of testing
There are only three verse references where Jesus specifically advises His followers that the Holy Spirit (4151 - defined in KA10 above) will speak through them when they are arrested or subjected to some other form of testing:
Matthew 10:20 - For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit (4151) of your Father speaking through you.
Mark 13:11 - But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit (4151).
Luke 12:12 - for the Holy Spirit (4151) will teach you at that time what you should say.
Kingdom Action 11 [KA11] - Bear fruit for the kingdom
Our responsibility as Christians is to help God’s kingdom expand in terms of the number of people within it and to promote increasing obedience and holiness. The New Testament, and Jesus in particular, refers to this as bearing fruit. There are two words that mean ‘fruit’ and ‘bearing fruit’ that are translated from the Greek:
Karpos (2590) defined as ‘fruit’ and translated as ‘(a) fruit, generally vegetable, sometimes animal, (b) met: fruit, deed, action, result, (c) profit, gain’. It occurs 66 times.
Karpophoreó (2592) meaning 'to bear fruit’ and reflected in texts as ‘I bear fruit’. It is seen 8 times.
There are around 53 verse references that we have assessed to support this Theme:
Matthew 3:8 - Produce fruit (2590) in keeping with repentance.
Matthew 3:10 - The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit (2590) will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 13:8 - Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop (2590)—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Luke 6:44 - Each tree is recognized by its own fruit (2590). People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
Luke 8:15 - But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop (2592).
Romans 7:4 - So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit (2592) for God.
Ephesians 5:9 - (for the fruit (2592) of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).
James 3:17 - But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit (2590), impartial and sincere.
Summary
In this eighth Faith Article we have investigated the Greek words (presented in Louw and Nida’s [2] and Mounce’s [3] reference materials) and scriptures that can be used to support two Kingdom Actions where these words appear:
KA10 - Walk / live by the Spirit not the flesh (in accordance with scripture) and four related sub-Themes that we have derived through our detailed analysis.
KA11 - Bear fruit for the kingdom.
Just as with many English words, Greek words can have more than one meaning and consequently when translated into Biblical texts can be used to convey several different sentiments. Which is used is dependent upon the context.
Ultimately, this analysis and these groupings are subjective, as will be the inclusion (or exclusion) of many verses within each Theme and sub-Theme. We should note that some verses have a much stronger relevance to the derived Themes than others.
During this analysis, the aim has been to restrict the number of Themes that can be associated with any specific Greek word to eight or less - as any more implies poor analysis technique and the wrong heading choice / naming process.
In the next Faith Article, we shall consider some of the other Themes and scriptures that we can derive under Kingdom Action 12 [KA12] (See Figure 1). As ever, the aim will be to try and make it informative, but manageable in terms of the time and effort needed to look at and understand each area.
Any constructive thoughts on this Article, the process being undertaken, and related feedback are welcome.
Notes:
[1] - All previous Faith Articles focusing on the One Page New Testament can be found at this page: www.teachthemtoobey.co.uk/blog/
[3] - “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, based upon Semantic Domains” Volumes 1 and 2 - Louw and Nida - Published by and © United Bible Societies - 1988
[4] - “Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words” - © William D Mounce, 2006 - Published by Zondervan
[5] - biblehub - https://biblehub.com/greek/
[6] - The number of instances of specific Greek words can vary considerably depending upon the Greek manuscript(s) that is / are referenced by the data underpinning a particular program or website. For example, there can be differences in the number of instances of a Greek word depending upon whether your information source is, say: biblehub.com, blueletterbible.org, or Accordance Bible software. For example: the word Kurios (Lord) appears:
722 times according to biblehub
748 times in the Textus Receptus (TR) Greek for the blueletterbible
717 in the Morphological Greek New Testament (MGNT) in the blueletterbible
717 times for the Legacy Standard Version in Accordance
711 times for the ESV in Accordance.
In general, we have used the biblehub.com counts for the number of instances of the Greek words we are presenting. If there are major discrepancies with the other resources we are using we will try to highlight these explicitly.
[7] - Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.TM.
The Bible references presented are illustrative rather than aiming to be ‘proof texts’. They are examples only as there are, generally, many more we could look at. Please note that when looking at any Bible verse references, you should ideally consider more than one translation / respected version to get a more rounded view, and look at the wider context for each verse too. When Greek words are translated, Bible scholars do not always use the same English word every time it appears in the Greek. This is why it is useful to look at more than one Bible version.
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Reading the articles will take only a little time to study - more if we look up the Bible references - and probably a lifetime to work out in practice. Hopefully they will help make each of us ‘Become more like Jesus’!
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