During military training, soldiers are required to march in formation, to march in line. This requirement is probably to get certain behaviors consistent among troops. Carpenters use a plumb line to get boards straight, etc. When this writer and his father attempted to put new shingles on a house without a chalkline, it became quite apparent why they made a chalkline in the first place!
There is as much false teaching rampant in the church today and out of the church on the subject of the Holy Spirit as there is on any other subject. In Galatians 5:25, we are told to “march in step with the Spirit.” In fact, the theme of Galatians is contrasting following after the Law of Moses versus walking in step with the Spirit.
Observe Paul’s emphasis in Galatians relative to the Spirit. He says, “Walk in the Spirit” 5:16; “Be led of the Spirit” 5:18; “Live in the Spirit,” 5:25; and “Walk in the Spirit” 5:25. This latter verse uses a different word for “walk” and is consequently translated by the NASV as “follow in the steps of the Spirit.”
This original word found here in 5:25 is stoikeo, which means “orig. ‘be drawn up in line,’ fig. ‘be in line with, stand beside, hold to, agree with, follow” (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Greek Lexicon, 769). We therefore get a picture of marching in formation (we are, after all, soldiers – 2 Timothy 2:3-4) or a little boy walking in step with his father, following his footsteps through the garden.
Later, in Galatians 6:16 and Philippians 3:16, we find another word associated with the concept of “marching in step with the Spirit.” In Galatians 6:16, Paul says, “Walk according to this rule” (vs 15 – the rule of being a new creature). And in Philippians 3:16, Paul says, “Walk by the same rule.” The word “rule” here is kanon – “rule or standard” (BAG, 403). It originally meant a reed, cane, or stalk of grain used in measuring. The word came to refer to the totality of the inspired Word of God – the Canon.
This rule or standard is broader than simply what it takes to be a Christian (a new creature – Gal. 5:15) for in Galatians 2:14, Paul rebuked Peter for not “walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel.” Peter’s error was in being a hypocrite! Thus the “Gospel” is the kanon, the standard, the rule by which we “march in step with the Spirit.”
The point to be emphasized is this: with all the talk about the Holy Spirit today, if one is not teaching and/or practicing exactly with the Holy Spirit told us to believe, teach, and practice, then that one is NOT “marching in step with the Spirit.” The New Testament does not teach that the Holy Spirit guides, leads, instructs, etc. except through the New Testament.
The New Testament is from the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2:13, Paul says, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (NKJV). “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That’s why John wrote in Revelation 2 & 3 to the seven churches of Christ in Asia, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Because the New Testament is the Word of God, guided by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:3-5), then we absolutely must take it seriously! To do otherwise is to fail to “march in step with the Holy Spirit.” What Paul wrote to us are the commandments of the Lord (1 Cor. 14:37). If one refuses to listen to the word of the Spirit as penned by His inspired penmen, he has lost fellowship with God. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:14, “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.”
It is therefore imperative that our Christian universities, preacher training schools, and other leadership training programs teach preachers to preach only New Testament doctrine, nothing more, nothing less. 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” To do otherwise is to fail to “march in step with the Spirit.” Romans 16:17: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them” (cf. 2 John 9).
When one, either in the church or out of the church, claims to be led by the Spirit in a direct way, all the faithful child of God has to do is compare the doctrine and/or practice with what the New Testament already teaches. He would of course know immediately that the Spirit did NOT speak in a direct way (as we have already pointed out). But when the doctrine and/or practice is not found to be consistent with the New Testament teachings, the faithful child of God will then know “that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken” (Deut. 18:22).
This was an article I wrote 25 years ago in the bulletin for the Seibles Road church of Christ.
Paul Holland
