Many want to do God’s work but are unable, because of the ‘flesh’ in their lives.”. Paul wrote that he would “pray with my spirit—by the Holy Spirit that is within me; but I will also pray intelligently—with my mind and understanding” (I Cor. This is not to discourage us in any way but to help us to settle down with our sights on eternity, by faith “apprehend[ing] that for which also … [we are] apprehended of Christ Jesus… Press[ing] toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. “By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (5:19). Yes, there is going to be deep, thorough and long preparation if there is to be reality—if our life is to be Christ-centered, our walk controlled by the Holy Spirit and our service glorifying to God. In other words, Calvary is as much the foundation of sanctification as of justification. Too many want to preach without being the thing themselves, but in the long run it is what we are, and not simply what we do or say, that matters with God; and the difference lies in the formation of Christ within” (Watchman Nee). General conference Committee Annual Council. And as the Lord Jesus is allowed to express Himself through our personality, this poor, sin-sick world will see “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible” (I Pet. Christian fellowship is mandatory for Christian growth. I could not be true or happy in praying otherwise” (Stoney). Then it can be, if necessary, “disallowed [rejected] indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious” (I Pet. The third step naturally follows the second – after confession should come repentance. “When you fight to get victory, then you have lost the battle at the very outset. For the preacher matters to God at least as much as the thing preached. And so, for the making personal of the Divine among men, the first thing needed is one in whom the principle of the Divine life has become personal. The Law made man’s blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so,—in proper measure.”. Our hope for victory over sin is not ‘Christ plus my efforts,’ but ‘Christ plus my receiving.’ To receive victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely by His grace He is, this moment, freeing us from the dominion of sin. It yields to nothing less than the death of the cross. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Let us take Him at His Word, and leave the fulfilment of it to Him.”. This learning by heart-breaking experience of the utter sinfulness and reigning power of self in the everyday Christian life is the means whereby we come to know the Lord Jesus beyond the birth phase—as our Saviour; on to the growth phase—as our Lord and Life. “It is a mistake to measure spiritual maturity merely by the presence of gifts. “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. It is from measure to measure: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, an hundredfold. Andrew Murray: “Like Christ, the believer too has died to sin; he is one with Christ, in the likeness of His death (Rom. The open secret of healthy spiritual growth is to know and settle upon this fact as set forth in Romans 8:28, 29. 2:19). He seeks to struggle forward via the love motive; i.e., He did for me, so I must do for Him. This is why so many people with all sincerity walk down the aisles again and again, consecrating uncrucified self to God” (H. Duncan). Watchman Nee: “The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man.’ It needs the cross to crucify me … the sinner… Our sins are dealt with by the Blood, but we ourselves are dealt with by the Cross. He has but one way, and it is on the basis of all His other ways: the principle of the finished work. 31,32). Second Peter 1:5-7 continues, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”. It all happened at Calvary: Our sins were paid for, our sinfulness was dealt with, and both by the ultimate—death. Humility. This is important to see, since in most instances when seeming declension begins to set in, it is not, as so many think, a matter of backsliding. With this decision of faith a completely new life begins. “All the powers of Deity which have already wrought together in the accomplishment of the first part of the eternal purpose, the revealing of the Father’s perfect likeness in the Man Christ Jesus, are equally engaged to accomplish the second part, and work that likeness in each of God’s children.”, William Law agrees: “A root set in the finest soil, in the best climate, and blessed with all that sun and air and rain can do for it, is not so sure a way of its growth to perfection, as every man may be whose spirit aspires after all that which God is ready and infinitely desirous to give him. 5:7) and “live” (Gal. One does not enough go forth to work in the joy and strength of one who comes out from his home to run his course. Many believers are simply frantic over the fact of failure in their lives, and they will go to all lengths in trying to hide it, ignore it, or rationalize about it. 15:45). By faith I must reckon him to be in the place that God put him—crucified with Christ. Our intelligent faith, standing on the facts of Calvary, gives the Holy Spirit freedom to bring that finished work into our daily lives. Thus we will continue because we know that He ever continues to work in and through us that which He began and finished on our behalf in our Lord Jesus Christ. In every area of our life, there should be signs of growth. Second, as we hold to this fact by faith, we are brought into the practical reality of it day by day in our experience. 1:23). 3:14); “That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 6:6). First of all, we must remind ourselves that “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. “One day in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Disraeli made a brilliant speech on the spur of the moment. ), in the hope that something will change—but it rarely does, and then not for long. We must act on the fact that we are dead in reference to sin. Simply remember that Romans 8:28 and 29 go together, and thank Him for Philippians 1:6.”. Thus we must learn, and then leaning on the Lord we can with more maturity, and more experientially, deal with souls.”, Since the Christian life matures and becomes fruitful by the principle of growth (see II Pet. “Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ, the Messiah, advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity. Therefore it produces nothing. After we have seen our possessions in Christ and become aware of our need, then we must give Him the necessary time to work the appropriation into our everyday walk. ‘I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. Our consecration, surrender or commitment will never hold up if it is our responding to Him from any other motivation than the response of His life in us. Here in America radio, TV and movies contribute to a rising generation of young people who try to emulate their entertainment heroes. Was it not true in the matter of our justification? We diverge from it; and the tendency is to suppose that the blessed God has altered toward us. 78,79). Both gifts spring from the same work and are two aspects of the same salvation. All is now centered in the Last Adam, our Lord Jesus. And now Christ lives in me, and ‘the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me’ [Gal. It is not that I abhor my sins; indeed I may have been walking very well; but it is ‘I abhor myself.’ This is how the Holy Spirit reasons; He shows us what we are, and that is one reason why He often seems to be very hard and does not give peace to the soul, as we are not relieved until we experientially, from our hearts, acknowledge what we are. Five Principles of Spiritual Growth. “The seed corn may be beautiful, but it is hard. Many Christians mourn over their weakness, thinking that if only they were stronger all would be well. Unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation or presumption. “Through the crucifixion of the old man with Christ the believer has been made dead unto sin, he has been completely freed from sin’s power, he has been taken beyond sin’s grip, the claim of sin upon him has been nullified. There are laborers for sanctification—after personal holiness—after riddance of the power of the old Adam; and to such, as well as to those who are seeking after salvation, Christ promises, with this great ‘I will’ (Matt. God has a natural law in force to the effect that we are conformed to that on which we center our interest and love. J. C. Metcalfe faithfully writes: “It is more than comforting to realize that it is those who have plumbed the depths of failure to whom God invariably gives the call to shepherd others. For believers to ‘consecrate themselves to God’ ere they have learnt their union with Christ in death and resurrection (identification) is only to present to God the members of the natural man, which He cannot accept. When the grain of corn is buried it dies, and that hard exterior surface softens and decays, in order to give nutriment to the young sprout, which would otherwise die and thus cause a crop failure. “But this is altogether wrong; this is not Christianity. When, through our failures and struggles, He has taught us about the natural, we will be ready to learn of our spiritual Source. Here is the “good” for which God is working all things together—His original purpose of making us in His image, which is centered and expressed in His Son, Christ who is our life. For the sun meets not the springing bud that stretches toward him with half that certainty as God, the Source of all good, communicates Himself to the soul that longs to partake of Him.”. ‘It is finished.’ God hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies! Ruth Paxson: “The old ‘I’ in you and me was judicially crucified with Christ. In a revelation, which is really to translate the Divine into man’s individual personal life, in truth, to form men of God, the Divine as such—that is, as a personal life—must first be embodied in a personal center in humanity. He knows what the cross is going to mean in our lives. As we thus follow in the steps of those who ‘by faith and patience inherit the promises,’ a new divine thing will happen within us. Jesus taught the disciples by word and... And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Without personal needs, we would get nowhere in our Christian life. The increasing revelation proves the surrender to the cross to be real, because the Holy Spirit takes us at our word and reveals all that He has seen lying underneath—reveals it that it may be dealt with at the cross. 11:6) Moreover, and this is all important, true faith must be based solely on scriptural facts, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. He creates a situation with which you cannot possibly deal. Consecration; … By the attitude you have taken you have relinquished it to the Enemy. God’s means of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger, but by making us weaker and weaker. “This is the true place of consecration. Pastor Lee also offers Biblical Life Coaching via telephone, Zoom, and in-person sessions. You have found everlasting life! And as we exercise faith in God’s fact, we begin to receive the benefits of that finished work in experience. Much of the mere begging type (though of course asking is always in order, for the Lord says, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive’ [John 16:24]) gives away to a positive and unspeakably joyous appropriation. This subject of consecration seems to be badly misunderstood by so many believers. “It is true that the intellect is stumbled by the cross; yet the antagonism to the cross is mainly moral, both in the sinner and in the saint, for its message is only welcomed by those who desire freedom from the bondage of their sins, and who hunger and thirst after the experiential righteousness of God.” Yes, the need must be intense, as Norman Douty says: “The Divine way (via the cross) for spiritual emancipation is just as offensive to the child of God as the Divine way for salvation is to the lost.”. Spiritual growth will propel our souls to reach out to others with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Theodore H. EppDirectorBack to the Bible Broadcast. It is from stage to stage: ‘first the blade, then the ear, and after that, the full corn in the ear.’ And it is from day to day. It is necessary to remember a fundamental principle in the spiritual life: that God only reveals spiritual truths to meet spiritual needs. Power! But when they are stumbling and everything seems dry and hard, then they feel that He does not love and accept them. It is the man who is conscious of his own impotence as a believer who will learn that by the Holy Spirit he can lead a holy life.” Now and then one is called on to speak out against something that is good in order to present His best. A serious problem with many Christian leaders is that of organizing and managing these spiritual resources. The more you find Him in your sorrows or wants, the more you will be attached to Him and drawn away from this place where the sorrows are, to Him in the place where He is.” “Set your affection on things above” (Col. 3:2). In this condition Adam “begat a son in his own likeness, after his [fallen] image” (Gen. 5:3). Not many people can say that on the day they were saved, someone explained the steps to spiritual growth. This is not a call given to the gifted, the highly trained, or the polished as such. In I Corinthians 15:49 Paul gives us the heartening promise: “As we have borne the image of the earthy [Adam], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ].”. And for this the Lord Jesus clearly states that each must take up his cross. We trust there will be a wide distribution of these truths. Spiritual Growth To Walk in the Spirit is to Obey the Initial Promptings of the Spirit Who do you turn to for daily guidance on how to live or what decisions to make? “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is by far the most dangerous and pathetic trap of all, as it is simply self, neurotically and religiously rampant. These principles, when understood, can bring a sense of clarity as to whether we are truly realizing the mission of the church. The Holy Spirit has Paul write to each of us: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (II Cor. “I must recognize that the enemy within the camp—the flesh, the old nature, self, I, the old Adam is a usurper. Not out of duty, but out of love for Him. ‘Lord, I am faced with a situation that I cannot possibly meet. So it is not merely that a man does certain things or speaks certain words, but that he is a certain kind of man. 2:12,13. We may be forgiven because He died in our stead; we may be delivered because we died with Him. Make it to be a medium, not of Biblical scholarship, but of fellowship with Christ. 4:19), how can we beg for help? And this acceptability to Him is my reward: ‘Wherefore we labour that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him’ (II Cor. George Mueller said, “Impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do with faith. 2:20). 6:13). 6:6); “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God” (v. 11). 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