Faith is not just a one- time thing. As believers, we are to live a life of faith. Our daily life should be lived out by faith. Enoch is one man who understood what it means to live the faith life. He walked with God and he lived for God. Notice what are text says in Hebrews 11:5-6: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death: and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” We find the account of the life of Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24. In those verses we find that what Hebrews says is true. Enoch lived such a life that God was so pleased with that He did not allow Enoch to face death, He simply translated Enoch to heaven. Imagine having such a close relationship with God, that one day God just simply allows you to walk into heaven. Enoch had a real intimate relationship with God. He walked with God. He lived for God. So, how does this apply to us today? How can we live the faith life as Enoch did? What does it mean to walk with God?
First of all, walking with God means that we walk in knowledge and in wisdom. Remember, our faith is not a blind faith. It is an intelligent faith. It is a faith that is based on fact, on evidence, in which we have a confident expectation. That evidence, that fact, is based on the Word of God. Therefore, to walk with God, to live the faith life, we must have the knowledge and wisdom of God’s Word. The word ‘knowledge’ simply refers to what we know. It is important that we know God’s Word. We must be students of the Bible. Read it, memorize it, meditate upon it, study the Bible. This is why we have Bible drills at our church for children. We want to pour into them the Bible. They need to learn how to read the Bible and how to use it. They need to be able to summarize the Bible. Do you know your Bible? How many Bible verses have you memorized? Do you read your Bible every day? To walk with God and live the life of faith, we must have the knowledge of God’s Word. The word ‘wisdom’ goes beyond just knowledge, it is applying the knowledge that you have, it is doing something with it. You know, I have seen some really smart people in my day that do not have a lick of sense. In other words, they know a lot of stuff, but they do not know how to do anything with what they know. You see, we need more than just the information of God’s Word, we also need the wisdom of God’s Word. We need to apply God’s Word to our lives. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Look at Proverbs 1:1-7. As believers, we must desire to be wise, we must seek after wisdom. Where does wisdom begin? It begins with knowing God. The wisest thing you can ever do is to give your life over to God and trust in Him for salvation. ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” It all begins with your relationship with God. As a believer, we should strive to learn more, to gain the wisdom of God’s Word. Living the faith life requires that we walk in wisdom.
Secondly, walking with God means that we walk in liberty. Galatians 5:13 says, “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Christian liberty is a very important doctrine and should not be taken lightly. Those who live a life faith live in liberty. There are two things we need to see here, first of all, what liberty is not. Liberty is not freedom to sin. Yes we are free in Christ, yes we are free from the law. However, freedom from the law does not mean that we can do whatever we want to do. Look at Romans 6:1-2. Just because we have the grace of God in our lives, does not mean that we can go and live a life of sin. Since liberty is not freedom to sin, what exactly is it? Liberty is freedom from sin. To live in Christian liberty means that we are living in freedom from sin. In other words, we are free from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and one day, free from the very presence of sin. Christian liberty is living in that freedom from sin, it’s understanding that sin has not control over us and we have the power to live in freedom. When we live the faith life, we will experience true Christian liberty.
Not only does walking with God mean that we walk in knowledge and wisdom, not only does it mean that we walk in liberty, but walking with God also means that we walk in purity. The Bible says that we are to be holy as He is holy. We are to strive for perfection. This is a great struggle for the believer. In our world today, it is harder than ever to live in purity. We are constantly bombarded with temptations and worldly desires. Living in purity is becoming harder and harder for believers today. The question is, ‘how can we be pure?’ There is only one simple answer, and that is the Word of God. Look at Psalms 119:9. The Bible is the only thing that can keep us from an impure life. To walk in purity, requires that we hide God’s Word in our hearts. The Bible must be at the very core of our lives. We should constantly meditate on His Word. We must understand that we cannot be pure on our own, we must have the Word of God, and we cannot live a life of faith unless we are walking in purity.
A fourth way in which we walk with God as Enoch did is that we must walk in humbleness. Micah 6:8 tells us that we are to ‘walk humbly with our God’. Living a life of humility is a must in order to walk with God and to live the faith life. The Bible teaches us that pride is the cause of many of the sins in our lives. When we start thinking that we doing good and we begin to feel good about ourselves and how we are living, then we better watch out. The scripture says that ‘if you think you are standing, take heed, lest you fall.’ It is important that in order to live the faith life, we must remember who we are. We must remember that we are sinners and that it is only by the grace of God that we can know Him and live a life of faith. There is no room for pride and arrogance in the life of a believer. Our entire thought should be on pleasing God and glorifying Him and not on what we do or how good we think we are. Humility is vital to living a life of faith.
A final way in which we walk with God as Enoch did is that we are to walk in faith. Enoch did not face death because of his faith. It was his faith that caused him to have such a close relationship with God. He had such a strong confidence in God and His Word that it became such a reality to Him in so much that God allowed him to go straight to heaven without facing death. In verse six of Hebrews eleven it tells us that ‘without faith it is impossible to please Him.’ We cannot walk with God apart from faith. We cannot please God apart from faith. Do you have such a confident expectation in the Word of God that it becomes a reality for you? Do you trust in God so deeply that you are walking with Him daily? To live the life of faith, we must walk with God.