Where Christendom Is Deceived
Perhaps the greatest failure to make the great discrimination with which we are concerned is in relation to the difference between mysticism and spirituality. It is here that not only the world is mistaken but Christendom is deceived. Indeed, an overwhelmingly large proportion of those who would regard themselves as Christians are unable to distinguish between mysticism (pertaining to the sense of the beautiful_ or asceticism (the practice of self-denial) on the one hand and spirituality on the other. The fact is that these belong to two entirely different realms, and the Word of God cuts clean in between them, dividing them asunder.
When we speak of Cain and "the way of Cain," we are accustomed to recall immediately his act of murder, born of jealousy and malice. We remember his peevish, querulous, petulant, ill-tempered or even insolent manner with God. But there is another side to remember, and we must be fair to Cain, or we miss the whole point. Cain did not exclude or ignore God. He was not in the usual sense of the word a godless man. He acknowledged God. Then he built an altar to God. Further, he no doubt selected the best of the products of his hard toil as worthy of God, and brought them. Here was devoutness in religion. Cain worshiped with his whole aesthetic sense, and Cain - murdered his brother! The Jews did the same in Christ's day. Christendom is largely constituted by this sense - its architecture, its ritual, its music, its adornment, its lighting (or lack of it), its tone, its atmosphere, its vestments and so forth. All are of the soul. But Cain did not get through to God! Neither did the Jews! Spiritual death marks that realm, and while there may be intense emotions which make for resolves, 'high' thoughts and desires, there is no genuine change in the nature of those concerned, and repeated doses of this must be taken to maintain any measure of soul-self-satisfaction which makes them feel good. All religions have this soulish feature in common, more or less, and it is here that the fatal blunder has been made by many religious people who contend that other religions, which are undoubtedly devout and sincere, should not be interfered with, but the good in them should be recognized and accepted. It is the confusing of religion with what the Bible means by being spiritual. Religion can rise to high levels and sink to terrible depths. It is the same thing which does both. But that thing never rises above the human level; it never really reaches God. Religion can be the greatest enemy of God's true thought, because it is satan's best deception. Asceticism is no more truly spiritual than aestheticism. There is no more a brief with God for rigors, denials, fastings, puritanic iciness, etc., as such, than for the opposite. Simplicity may give God a chance, but it is not necessarily spiritual. It may be a matter of taste. What sublime thoughts and ideas, in poetry, music and art often can go hand in hand with moral degeneracy and profligacy!
How near to the truth in perception and interpretation can the mystical go! What wonderful things can the imagination see, even in the Bible! What thrills of aw, amazement, ecstasy, can be shot through an audience or congregation by a master soul! But it may all be a false world with no Divine and eternal issues. It may all go to make up this life here, and relieve it of its drabness, but it ends thee. What an artificial world we live in! When the music is progressing and the romantic elements are in evidence - the dress and tinsel - and human personalities are parading, see how pride and rivalry assert themselves, and what a power of make believe enters the atmosphere! Yes, an artificial world. We have been in it and know the reactions afterward.
How hollow, how empty; Dead Sea fruit! The tragedy in this melodrama is that it is 'real life' to so many. This soul-world is the devil's imitation. It is all false, wherever we may find it, whether associated with religion or not.
Those of us who have tasted of this world's springs have recognized the kinship between what is there and what is in religion so far as that soul-nature is concerned. It is only a matter of difference of realm not of nature. What the music and drama of the world produce in one way - the soul-stirring, rousing, craving: the pathos, tears, contempt, hatred, anger, melancholy, pleasure, etc. - are all the same, only under different auspices and in a different setting, and the fact is, that it passes and we are really no further on. A little better music, a change of preacher, a less familiar place, a few more thrills, will perhaps stimulate our souls, but where are we, after all? How satan must laugh behind his mask! Oh, for reality, the reality of the eternal! Oh, that men might see that, while a highly cultured soul with a keen sense of the beautiful and sublime is immeasurably preferable to a sordid one so far as this world is concerned, it is not necessarily a criterion that such has a personal living knowledge of God - of God as a Person - and has really been born anew! Occultism - the power to see deeper than the average, to sense what most do not sense, to handle the abstruse, to touch unseen forces, - is not spirituality in the Divine sense. The soul realm is a complex and dangerous one, and can take most people out of their depths, but then land them into moral, mental and physical ruin, with all hope gone.
When we pray for 'Revival' let us be careful as to what we are after and as to what means we use to promote it, or carry it on.
Having been more precise as to the functions of the soul, we must go a little further at this point, as to those of the spirit.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 13 - "The Attributes of the Human Spirit")
Thursday, May 23, 2013
A Caring Church
Do you realize that believers should not have to look beyond the body of Christ to have their needs met? We are meant to be a self-sustaining body. After several decades in ministry, I have seen only one way for the church to function as it should: believers must commit to give of themselves on behalf of others.
For example, a man determines to pray and struggle alongside a hurting brother until the burdensome situation is resolved or peace returns. Or a woman makes herself available to answer a new Christian's questions about the weekly sermon--the two ladies search the Bible and fill their minds with Scripture. And there are countless other ways to serve others, such as driving an elderly member to the service, teaching a Sunday school class, or visiting a weary single mom and listening to her concerns.
Before you become overwhelmed by the variety of needs in your church, let me remind you that loving each other is meant to be a body-wide effort. One person cannot meet every need. But suppose you commit to serving a small group of folks whom God brings into your sphere of influence. If, in order to care for them, you surrender self-focused preferences about resources and time, the Lord will bless you with more joy and contentment than you've ever known.
To serve others before serving yourself is to practice authentic Christianity. I'm certain that if believers commit to meeting as many needs as the Lord brings to their attention, then a lazy church can be transformed, becoming a true body of believers who function together for the glory of God.
~Charles Stanley~
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Now Man Another Species Than God Created # 11
The Nature of Sanctification
The usual way through the apparent dilemma is to correct the translation, and this is certainly a help; but it does not give anything like a final clearance. Let us get the help that lies in that course by trying to retranslate the passages more accurately and literally. The reader of the English will understand that different Greek words are used for one common English word in certain laces, and certain Greek words mean more than the English word employed for them.
1 John 2:29, "Everyone that practiceth (or, is practicing) righteousness is begotten of Him."
1 John 3:4, "Everyone who practiceth (or, is practicing ) iniquity practiceth lawlessness."
1 John 3:6, "Whosoever abideth in Him does not wander from (or, miss) the right path" ("sinneth not", Greek harmartano = to miss the mark or the right way). Or, "Whosoever abideth in Him is not missing the mark."
1 John 3:7, "He that doeth (or, is practicing) righteousness is righteous."
1 John 3;9, Whosoever hath been born of God is not practicing sin (or, is not missing the mark) because a seed of Him abideth in Him and He cannot be practicing sin" (moral aberration).
The help given by a knowledge of the actual words employed lies mainly in the word "practice" as representing both an habitual course and a present - ever-present - conduct.
The Real Key to Sanctification
But all this does not settle the whole matter. We therefore submit that the key to this dilemma is the difference between soul and spirit. We have said that what begins in regeneration proceeds in sanctification. The carry-over of the atonement as a sanctifying power is thus: there is in the born-again spirit a striving after holiness as well as a new desire for the Lord. When the spirit is renewed and quickened, something happens. That spirit itself is that in man which is the image or likeness of God (spirit). It has been dead - that is, it has been severed from its life in God, and has ceased to function in any Divine way. The Holy Spirit, in virtue of the atonement, first renews it by cleansing and quickening, and also imparts Divine life (eternal life) in Christ to it, thus making it one in nature and fellowship with God. The spirit, when thus dealt with, is that seed or has that seed of God which is said by the Apostle to be unable to practice sin - "cannot sin." This new "inner man" cannot be committing or practicing sin. The dilemma of many is that there are two natures and two springs of life in believers. One gives forth sweet water and the other bitter, and the Bible says that a fountain cannot do this. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jeremiah 13:23). Therefore there must be two fountains.
The soul, which is the fountain of the natural life, is poisoned and impure. It is ever prone to evil, like the "flesh" in it. The soul is that which has to be continually subdued, won and eventually saved )Hebrews 10:39).
The renewed spirit is prone to good; its course is naturally upward. The life in it makes it gravitate to its source - God. It judges and condemns all the motions of the flesh. It strives, as energized by the indwelling Holy Spirit, to make the whole man go Godward. Its nature is Divine, although it does not become the Divine Person. It is here that 'there is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and that which "is being renewed ... after the image of Him that created Him" (Colossians 3:10).
As we have pointed out elsewhere, this is all a deeper reality than the life and motion of the soul, and registers itself continually against ourselves in the natural. There are stages in spiritual experience, more or less pronounced in different cases for certain reasons. The first phase may be a great and overflowing joy, with a marvelous sense of emancipation. In this phase extravagant things are often said as to total deliverance and final victory. An earnest of the ultimate is often given with the incoming of the Holy Spirit. He is that earnest, and His advent in the human spirit is celebrated with glory.
Then there may, and often does, come a phase of which inward conflict is the chief feature. It may be very much of a Romans 7 experience. This will lead under the Lord's hand to several things; firstly, to the fuller knowledge of the meaning of identification with Christ, as in Romans 6. Happy the man who has been instructed in this from the beginning.
Sanctification and Education Go Together
Then it will introduce to the way of spiritual education. Sanctification and spiritual education are one, as Hebrews 7:1-13 makes clear. The advance in this double course is marked by the growth of the spirit. When the spirit is first quickened, it is barely able to show its existence. It is far from able to show its mastery over soul and body. The advance of sanctification is marked by a growth of the spirit. It begins to assert its supremacy, to compel the physical and animal life to know their bounds, and to obey God. The more sanctification advances, the more marked is the spiritual intelligence, power and life, until at last it reaches its coming-of-age in "the revealing of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19, 29). This education and sanctification is the result of walking, "not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Such a walk leads away from carnality and babyhood, as 1 Corinthians 3 shows.
There may be crises in this course marked by definite and tremendous experiences. But no such crises is final: every one has to have an outgrowth leading to greater fullnesses. It is fatal to relate everything to a crisis or experience of years ago, and to stop there.
So the distinction between soul and spirit is the true key to sanctification, for sanctification must not be negative like innocence, but positive in the sense that it goes along with spiritual understanding and responsibility. Sonship, which is all of a piece with sanctification (see Romans 8) is a matter of spiritual and moral responsibility in God's house. We are born "children;" we are adopted "sons." "Adoption" in the New Testament is not bringing an outsider into the family, but the born one reaching his majority and being made his father's responsible representative with 'rights.'
Romans 7 has to do with condemnation by the law, and the big question is that of deliverance from the death which has become such a real, terrible and intolerable things because of spiritual awakening. Romans 6 shows that such deliverance from death and condemnation is by union with Christ's death and resurrection. Romans 8 transfers the law from the outside as an obligation imposed, to the inside as a power imparted. Thus, in the spirit, the new covenant is written by the Spirit of the living God (2 Corinthians 3 and 4).
It will help us if we get Paul's mental picture again. He had in mind the gladiators in the arena. When the victorious gladiator had been given the 'thumb-down' signal from the judge, which meant 'kill', it was incumbent upon him to drag his victims' body around the arena for the spectators to applaud. It was a horrible and loathsome thing, and the one who had to do it would be longing to reach the exit. Paul imagined such an once saying to himself, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this dead body?" and then, espying an exit, he cried, "Thank God, through here!" This was carried over into Christian truth, and the way out for the "wretched man" was "through our Lord Jesus Christ." This has been more fully explained as being through the death, burial and resurrection. So then, the death of Christ is something to be made good in a believer's life by the Holy Spirit, through faith's deliberate identification. Then the resurrection of Christ is likewise proved to be a present mighty, delivering power; or the power by which the believer, by the spirit, puts to death the doings of the flesh.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 12 - "Where Christendom is Deceived")
The usual way through the apparent dilemma is to correct the translation, and this is certainly a help; but it does not give anything like a final clearance. Let us get the help that lies in that course by trying to retranslate the passages more accurately and literally. The reader of the English will understand that different Greek words are used for one common English word in certain laces, and certain Greek words mean more than the English word employed for them.
1 John 2:29, "Everyone that practiceth (or, is practicing) righteousness is begotten of Him."
1 John 3:4, "Everyone who practiceth (or, is practicing ) iniquity practiceth lawlessness."
1 John 3:6, "Whosoever abideth in Him does not wander from (or, miss) the right path" ("sinneth not", Greek harmartano = to miss the mark or the right way). Or, "Whosoever abideth in Him is not missing the mark."
1 John 3:7, "He that doeth (or, is practicing) righteousness is righteous."
1 John 3;9, Whosoever hath been born of God is not practicing sin (or, is not missing the mark) because a seed of Him abideth in Him and He cannot be practicing sin" (moral aberration).
The help given by a knowledge of the actual words employed lies mainly in the word "practice" as representing both an habitual course and a present - ever-present - conduct.
The Real Key to Sanctification
But all this does not settle the whole matter. We therefore submit that the key to this dilemma is the difference between soul and spirit. We have said that what begins in regeneration proceeds in sanctification. The carry-over of the atonement as a sanctifying power is thus: there is in the born-again spirit a striving after holiness as well as a new desire for the Lord. When the spirit is renewed and quickened, something happens. That spirit itself is that in man which is the image or likeness of God (spirit). It has been dead - that is, it has been severed from its life in God, and has ceased to function in any Divine way. The Holy Spirit, in virtue of the atonement, first renews it by cleansing and quickening, and also imparts Divine life (eternal life) in Christ to it, thus making it one in nature and fellowship with God. The spirit, when thus dealt with, is that seed or has that seed of God which is said by the Apostle to be unable to practice sin - "cannot sin." This new "inner man" cannot be committing or practicing sin. The dilemma of many is that there are two natures and two springs of life in believers. One gives forth sweet water and the other bitter, and the Bible says that a fountain cannot do this. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jeremiah 13:23). Therefore there must be two fountains.
The soul, which is the fountain of the natural life, is poisoned and impure. It is ever prone to evil, like the "flesh" in it. The soul is that which has to be continually subdued, won and eventually saved )Hebrews 10:39).
The renewed spirit is prone to good; its course is naturally upward. The life in it makes it gravitate to its source - God. It judges and condemns all the motions of the flesh. It strives, as energized by the indwelling Holy Spirit, to make the whole man go Godward. Its nature is Divine, although it does not become the Divine Person. It is here that 'there is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and that which "is being renewed ... after the image of Him that created Him" (Colossians 3:10).
As we have pointed out elsewhere, this is all a deeper reality than the life and motion of the soul, and registers itself continually against ourselves in the natural. There are stages in spiritual experience, more or less pronounced in different cases for certain reasons. The first phase may be a great and overflowing joy, with a marvelous sense of emancipation. In this phase extravagant things are often said as to total deliverance and final victory. An earnest of the ultimate is often given with the incoming of the Holy Spirit. He is that earnest, and His advent in the human spirit is celebrated with glory.
Then there may, and often does, come a phase of which inward conflict is the chief feature. It may be very much of a Romans 7 experience. This will lead under the Lord's hand to several things; firstly, to the fuller knowledge of the meaning of identification with Christ, as in Romans 6. Happy the man who has been instructed in this from the beginning.
Sanctification and Education Go Together
Then it will introduce to the way of spiritual education. Sanctification and spiritual education are one, as Hebrews 7:1-13 makes clear. The advance in this double course is marked by the growth of the spirit. When the spirit is first quickened, it is barely able to show its existence. It is far from able to show its mastery over soul and body. The advance of sanctification is marked by a growth of the spirit. It begins to assert its supremacy, to compel the physical and animal life to know their bounds, and to obey God. The more sanctification advances, the more marked is the spiritual intelligence, power and life, until at last it reaches its coming-of-age in "the revealing of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19, 29). This education and sanctification is the result of walking, "not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Such a walk leads away from carnality and babyhood, as 1 Corinthians 3 shows.
There may be crises in this course marked by definite and tremendous experiences. But no such crises is final: every one has to have an outgrowth leading to greater fullnesses. It is fatal to relate everything to a crisis or experience of years ago, and to stop there.
So the distinction between soul and spirit is the true key to sanctification, for sanctification must not be negative like innocence, but positive in the sense that it goes along with spiritual understanding and responsibility. Sonship, which is all of a piece with sanctification (see Romans 8) is a matter of spiritual and moral responsibility in God's house. We are born "children;" we are adopted "sons." "Adoption" in the New Testament is not bringing an outsider into the family, but the born one reaching his majority and being made his father's responsible representative with 'rights.'
Romans 7 has to do with condemnation by the law, and the big question is that of deliverance from the death which has become such a real, terrible and intolerable things because of spiritual awakening. Romans 6 shows that such deliverance from death and condemnation is by union with Christ's death and resurrection. Romans 8 transfers the law from the outside as an obligation imposed, to the inside as a power imparted. Thus, in the spirit, the new covenant is written by the Spirit of the living God (2 Corinthians 3 and 4).
It will help us if we get Paul's mental picture again. He had in mind the gladiators in the arena. When the victorious gladiator had been given the 'thumb-down' signal from the judge, which meant 'kill', it was incumbent upon him to drag his victims' body around the arena for the spectators to applaud. It was a horrible and loathsome thing, and the one who had to do it would be longing to reach the exit. Paul imagined such an once saying to himself, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this dead body?" and then, espying an exit, he cried, "Thank God, through here!" This was carried over into Christian truth, and the way out for the "wretched man" was "through our Lord Jesus Christ." This has been more fully explained as being through the death, burial and resurrection. So then, the death of Christ is something to be made good in a believer's life by the Holy Spirit, through faith's deliberate identification. Then the resurrection of Christ is likewise proved to be a present mighty, delivering power; or the power by which the believer, by the spirit, puts to death the doings of the flesh.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 12 - "Where Christendom is Deceived")
Choose to Love
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust'" (Matthew 5:43-45).
These are not suggestions to be considered, they are commands to be obeyed. "A pretty tall order," you say. Perhaps, but definitely within the realm of possibility.
Jesus would never tell us to do something we could not do. That would be unjust. We can bless, we can do good, we can pray for and forgive those who have wronged us.
When people say, "I can't forgive," that generally means, "I won't forgive." The ability to love, bless and forgive is within us—because God is within us. Learn to let His nature of love dominate you. Choose to love. Let what God has put on the inside come out.
The world needs to see real love—the kind of unconditional love that brought us into God's family. And they need to see it in us. If we really are the children of God, then His nature should be displayed in us and through us. The most outstanding feature of God's nature is love. God is love.
One last thing. When you choose to love and forgive those who have wronged you, you set a prisoner free. The prisoner is you.
~Bayless Conley~
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Man Now Another Species Than God Created # 10
"What Is Man?"
The Nature of Sanctification
The Effect of Spiritual Awakening
Thirdly (and this is a fairly strong point) writing many years later the Apostle said that in his unregenerate days his position as to the righteousness which is of the law was "found blameless" (Phil. 3). He puts himself into Romans 7 and there says that the law was too much for him; it smote him; it slew him; he could not stand up to it. Under the burden he cried "O wretched man," not "found blameless." Something must have happened to disturb his complacency and make him such a divided man with civil war raging within. In the unregenerate man conscience was hiding behind the ritual and observance of the law. Rigid observance of its forms and rites made conscience play deceiving tricks, saying peace, peace, when there was no peace. But then the time of spiritual awakening comes, this kind of thing can go o no longer. It cannot play deceit any more, and, while there may be some flirting with sin on the part of the soul, the awakened and quickened spirit hates and loathes its own soul and calls a spade a spade - that is, calls sin sin! Instead of treating the ceremonial law as an offset to the moral, it sees that the latter is the important one, and that "to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (2 Samuel 15:22).
Two Possible Evils - Romans 7, or Antinomianism
Unless the meaning and value of the death and resurrection of Christ is known, and the truth of identification by faith therewith, one of two terrible things will follow. Either there will be a history such as is set forth in Romans 7, a history of struggle, longing and defeat: fear of going back on faith in Christ, and yet deep disappointment with the Christian life: leading ever nearer to despair and gloom; or else there will wet in that terrible, conscious-searing, spirit-deadening evil known as antinomianism. It might be useful to state what that doctrine is. The word is "anti", against, and "nomos", law. The term was first used by Luther as a designation of the followers of John Agricola, who maintained that the moral law was not binding, as such, upon Christians. But the thing itself existed long before Luther's time or the name given to it. From the earliest Christian times, there have been those who have denied that the law was of use or obligation under the Gospel dispensation. It would appear from several passages in the New Testament (Rom. 3:8; 6:1; Eph. 5:6; 2 Peter 2:18, 19), that the principle was at work even in Apostolic times, for in those passages the Apostles warn their converts against perversions of their teaching as an excuse for licentiousness. At the heart of this doctrine there lies a mistaken interpretation of the doctrine of justification by faith. Some have in the past even taught that, being spiritual, their nature could not be corrupted, whatever their moral conduct might be; or that an elect person did not sin even when he committed actions in themselves evil.
Now, no one would sponsor such a doctrine deliberately, but the principle may operate all the same. Justification by faith: having finality and fullness of perfection in Christ: Final Perseverance, i.e. once in grace always in grace: and suchlike beliefs, can - strange to say - produce a hard and legal kind of Christianity if wrongly held, and result in many things which may be either positively evil, questionable, or other than according to the graciousness of Christ.
Two Doctrines of Sanctification
From the Scriptures it is possible to frame two mutually exclusive doctrine of sanctification. One is that our sanctification is in Christ Jesus, complete and perfect, and, having taken Him as our holiness objectively, we must just trust that He answers for us in all Divine demands and requirements. We in ourselves are not holy, and it can only be contrary to faith, and an unhealthy introspection or subjectivity, if we become intensely occupied with the matter of personal holiness. We must believe that His Cross has done something which hold good in the sight of God in spite of our state, and "looking unto Jesus," or the attitude of faith, is the way, and the only way, of deliverance from despair or unrest. We have no hesitation in saying that such is a mixed and indefinite position. It uses certain glorious truths to obscure other equally glorious truths. This is a position which makes it necessary for those who hold it to keep ever on their guard lest their defenses are broken down. They are always having to go around to see if their position is intact. It really does not settle the question when they either fall into sin and its resultant shame, or meet another and more desirable position in teaching, or those who have it. They know that they cannot accept an alternative position which to them goes to the other extreme, and so they have to dig themselves into that which is not perfectly satisfactory.
The other doctrine is that which, with varying forms of words and phraseology, and minor shades of differences,means that sanctification is the rooting out, eradication, cleansing, destroying of all sin, so that a sanctified person does not sin, and cannot sin; the sin nature has been fully dealt with. To those who hold this view, sanctification - in this sense here mentioned - is an act, a conclusive experience at a given moment, just as is new birth; and it is to be taken as such by faith.
Here, again, we have to say that there is mixture and a position which has brought a very great number of believers into confusion and despair. We say that both of these positions have Scripture used for their support, and when you look at the Scriptures, on the face of them, there seems to be such support.
The passages cited from John's Epistle appear to present a contradiction:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." "He that doeth sin is of the devil." "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not." "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin: ... he cannot sin."
These words must be regarded as all addressed to Christians. This seems proved by Chapter 1:7:
"If we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Here, then, is the position. A child of God has to walk in the light, confess his sins, acknowledge sinfulness, and, as he does so, the Blood keeps on cleansing. At the same time "He that doeth sin is of the devil," and "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." And yet, again, at the same time "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin ... he cannot sin."
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 11 [an apparent dilemma]
The Nature of Sanctification
The Effect of Spiritual Awakening
Thirdly (and this is a fairly strong point) writing many years later the Apostle said that in his unregenerate days his position as to the righteousness which is of the law was "found blameless" (Phil. 3). He puts himself into Romans 7 and there says that the law was too much for him; it smote him; it slew him; he could not stand up to it. Under the burden he cried "O wretched man," not "found blameless." Something must have happened to disturb his complacency and make him such a divided man with civil war raging within. In the unregenerate man conscience was hiding behind the ritual and observance of the law. Rigid observance of its forms and rites made conscience play deceiving tricks, saying peace, peace, when there was no peace. But then the time of spiritual awakening comes, this kind of thing can go o no longer. It cannot play deceit any more, and, while there may be some flirting with sin on the part of the soul, the awakened and quickened spirit hates and loathes its own soul and calls a spade a spade - that is, calls sin sin! Instead of treating the ceremonial law as an offset to the moral, it sees that the latter is the important one, and that "to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (2 Samuel 15:22).
Two Possible Evils - Romans 7, or Antinomianism
Unless the meaning and value of the death and resurrection of Christ is known, and the truth of identification by faith therewith, one of two terrible things will follow. Either there will be a history such as is set forth in Romans 7, a history of struggle, longing and defeat: fear of going back on faith in Christ, and yet deep disappointment with the Christian life: leading ever nearer to despair and gloom; or else there will wet in that terrible, conscious-searing, spirit-deadening evil known as antinomianism. It might be useful to state what that doctrine is. The word is "anti", against, and "nomos", law. The term was first used by Luther as a designation of the followers of John Agricola, who maintained that the moral law was not binding, as such, upon Christians. But the thing itself existed long before Luther's time or the name given to it. From the earliest Christian times, there have been those who have denied that the law was of use or obligation under the Gospel dispensation. It would appear from several passages in the New Testament (Rom. 3:8; 6:1; Eph. 5:6; 2 Peter 2:18, 19), that the principle was at work even in Apostolic times, for in those passages the Apostles warn their converts against perversions of their teaching as an excuse for licentiousness. At the heart of this doctrine there lies a mistaken interpretation of the doctrine of justification by faith. Some have in the past even taught that, being spiritual, their nature could not be corrupted, whatever their moral conduct might be; or that an elect person did not sin even when he committed actions in themselves evil.
Now, no one would sponsor such a doctrine deliberately, but the principle may operate all the same. Justification by faith: having finality and fullness of perfection in Christ: Final Perseverance, i.e. once in grace always in grace: and suchlike beliefs, can - strange to say - produce a hard and legal kind of Christianity if wrongly held, and result in many things which may be either positively evil, questionable, or other than according to the graciousness of Christ.
Two Doctrines of Sanctification
From the Scriptures it is possible to frame two mutually exclusive doctrine of sanctification. One is that our sanctification is in Christ Jesus, complete and perfect, and, having taken Him as our holiness objectively, we must just trust that He answers for us in all Divine demands and requirements. We in ourselves are not holy, and it can only be contrary to faith, and an unhealthy introspection or subjectivity, if we become intensely occupied with the matter of personal holiness. We must believe that His Cross has done something which hold good in the sight of God in spite of our state, and "looking unto Jesus," or the attitude of faith, is the way, and the only way, of deliverance from despair or unrest. We have no hesitation in saying that such is a mixed and indefinite position. It uses certain glorious truths to obscure other equally glorious truths. This is a position which makes it necessary for those who hold it to keep ever on their guard lest their defenses are broken down. They are always having to go around to see if their position is intact. It really does not settle the question when they either fall into sin and its resultant shame, or meet another and more desirable position in teaching, or those who have it. They know that they cannot accept an alternative position which to them goes to the other extreme, and so they have to dig themselves into that which is not perfectly satisfactory.
The other doctrine is that which, with varying forms of words and phraseology, and minor shades of differences,means that sanctification is the rooting out, eradication, cleansing, destroying of all sin, so that a sanctified person does not sin, and cannot sin; the sin nature has been fully dealt with. To those who hold this view, sanctification - in this sense here mentioned - is an act, a conclusive experience at a given moment, just as is new birth; and it is to be taken as such by faith.
Here, again, we have to say that there is mixture and a position which has brought a very great number of believers into confusion and despair. We say that both of these positions have Scripture used for their support, and when you look at the Scriptures, on the face of them, there seems to be such support.
The passages cited from John's Epistle appear to present a contradiction:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." "He that doeth sin is of the devil." "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not." "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin: ... he cannot sin."
These words must be regarded as all addressed to Christians. This seems proved by Chapter 1:7:
"If we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Here, then, is the position. A child of God has to walk in the light, confess his sins, acknowledge sinfulness, and, as he does so, the Blood keeps on cleansing. At the same time "He that doeth sin is of the devil," and "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." And yet, again, at the same time "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin ... he cannot sin."
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 11 [an apparent dilemma]
Do Not Neglect Your Spiritual Gift
Every Christian is given at least one spiritual gift with which to serve the Lord and build up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7). But many believers neglect this special empowerment of the Spirit. Although Timothy had some good reasons to forsake his calling from God, Paul advised him to "take pains with these things" and "be absorbed in them" (v. 15). As you look at Timothy, ask yourself if either of the following situations are hindering you from fully serving the Lord.
Age: No matter how old we are, the Lord wants us to use our spiritual gifts. Because Timothy was young, he could easily have been intimidated by those with more experience. However, youth isn't our only excuse. Some believers think they're too old to serve the Lord. Even though our areas of ministry may change over the years, we're never called into spiritual retirement.
Inadequacy: Have you ever avoided a service opportunity simply because you felt totally unqualified? That's probably how Timothy felt about leading the church at Ephesus. Our spiritual gifts rarely come to us fully developed. God often requires that we step out in faith and trust Him to work in and through us. Over time, as we obey and serve Him in our areas of giftedness, He increases the effectiveness of our ministry.
Is anything keeping you from using your spiritual gifts? Though given to us, these abilities aren't for us; they're for the church. To neglect them would not only deprive fellow believers but also rob ourselves: there is joy and blessing in serving others anddoing the work God has designated for us.
~Charles Stanley~
Monday, May 20, 2013
Man Now Another Species Than God Created # 9
"What Is Man?"
The Nature of Sanctification
While we cannot extend ourselves to a comprehensive consideration of the subject of sanctification, we are sure that a very great deal of confusion through false conceptions would be removed if it were seen in the light of the difference between soul and spirit. For, indeed, this is the key of the matter. As sanctification is but the continuation of regeneration, because regeneration is but sanctification begun, it has to be seen as in the same sphere as new birth. We have said that in a new birth it is not the soul but the spirit that is born from above - or born again.
The soul remains prone to evil to the end. This fact constitutes the basis for the whole doctrine of sanctification, inasmuch as the New Testament is one big exhortation to spiritual progress by spiritual ascendancy. There is ever an enemy to holiness in man's own nature, and holiness in us is not fixed and static, it is progressive. All trial, testing, chastening and suffering lose their meaning if there is no ground or fear of failure. Enlargement has ever been, and ever is, by conflict. There has only been One in Whose nature there existed no actual and positive evil or sin.
The question of sanctification has been greatly confused because certain Scriptures have been made basic which really were not meant primarily to deal with sanctification in itself.
The Problem of Romans 7 and 1 John, Etc.
For instance, we have Romans 7, and the first Letter of John. We cannot quote the entire text, but we extract the salient parts.
"... The law is spiritual: but I am carnal ... For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do ... I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not." "... I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which ins in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? (or, this body of death). I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit ... They that are after the spirit (do mind) the things of the spirit ... the mind of the spirit is life and peace ... But ye are ... in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ... If Christ is in you ... the spirit is life because of righteousness ... If by the spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live." (Romans, chapters 7, 8).
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive ... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." "Everyone that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness." "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." "He that doeth sin is of the devil." "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God." (1 John 1:8-10; 3:4, 6, 8, 9).
On the face of it, these last Scriptures appear to present a contradiction of the first magnitude, but as the Word of God cannot contradict itself there must be some way in which they are all true.
But first let us repeat that these Scriptures were not written in the first instance in connection with sanctification. Romans 7 was written in relation to justification and deliverance from the law. 1 John was written in relation to a true and a false Christianity, the genuine new birth, and the claim of some to be Christians. The two categories are represented by two clauses or phrases: "We know"; "He that saith." One indicates living experience, the other the unsubstantiated claim. Apostasy was in view with John.
But in both cases one thing is common; it is the nature of the new birth and its outworking in life afterward. Sanctification comes up as one with regeneration in nature, but as the issue and progressive outworking of regeneration. We cannot therefore read Romans 7 without going on into Chapter 8, and we cannot read 1 John without noting all of its governing words, such as "walk," "abide", "practice." We will touch that again.
The Place in Experience of Romans 7
We must first of all place this chapter. To what part of man's history or experience does it belong? Is it the experience of one who has no inward work of the Holy Spirit, or is it that of one who has been spiritually quickened? We think that it is the latter. There are several reasons for this conclusion. Firstly, the letter was written to believers, amongst whom were Jewish converts whose clean cut with the law had not been made, and who, on the one hand, were in a state of unsettled and restless or uncertain spiritual life, really neither one thing nor the other as to daily experience, failing and repenting, failing and repenting in monotonous repetition, and almost despairing of victory; and, on the other hand, needing further enlightenment and instruction as to what being "in Christ Jesus" really means. They were not in liberty or deliverance because of an inadequate apprehension of the death and resurrection of Christ; that is, of its representative aspect as in addition to its substitutionary. Secondly, Paul, having already stated what identification with Christ really means (Chapter 6), goes on to show that its result is to draw a line between the flesh and the spirit in the believer, and makes the demand that the "walk" shall be in the spirit. Failure to do this always produces the state set forth in Chapter 7. It was a condition not uncommon among Christians even in New Testament times, as see 1 Corinthians and Galatians, and which drew out the mass of New Testament writings.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 10 - "The Effect of Spiritual Awakening")
The Nature of Sanctification
While we cannot extend ourselves to a comprehensive consideration of the subject of sanctification, we are sure that a very great deal of confusion through false conceptions would be removed if it were seen in the light of the difference between soul and spirit. For, indeed, this is the key of the matter. As sanctification is but the continuation of regeneration, because regeneration is but sanctification begun, it has to be seen as in the same sphere as new birth. We have said that in a new birth it is not the soul but the spirit that is born from above - or born again.
The soul remains prone to evil to the end. This fact constitutes the basis for the whole doctrine of sanctification, inasmuch as the New Testament is one big exhortation to spiritual progress by spiritual ascendancy. There is ever an enemy to holiness in man's own nature, and holiness in us is not fixed and static, it is progressive. All trial, testing, chastening and suffering lose their meaning if there is no ground or fear of failure. Enlargement has ever been, and ever is, by conflict. There has only been One in Whose nature there existed no actual and positive evil or sin.
The question of sanctification has been greatly confused because certain Scriptures have been made basic which really were not meant primarily to deal with sanctification in itself.
The Problem of Romans 7 and 1 John, Etc.
For instance, we have Romans 7, and the first Letter of John. We cannot quote the entire text, but we extract the salient parts.
"... The law is spiritual: but I am carnal ... For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do ... I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not." "... I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which ins in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? (or, this body of death). I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit ... They that are after the spirit (do mind) the things of the spirit ... the mind of the spirit is life and peace ... But ye are ... in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ... If Christ is in you ... the spirit is life because of righteousness ... If by the spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live." (Romans, chapters 7, 8).
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive ... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." "Everyone that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness." "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither knoweth Him." "He that doeth sin is of the devil." "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because His seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God." (1 John 1:8-10; 3:4, 6, 8, 9).
On the face of it, these last Scriptures appear to present a contradiction of the first magnitude, but as the Word of God cannot contradict itself there must be some way in which they are all true.
But first let us repeat that these Scriptures were not written in the first instance in connection with sanctification. Romans 7 was written in relation to justification and deliverance from the law. 1 John was written in relation to a true and a false Christianity, the genuine new birth, and the claim of some to be Christians. The two categories are represented by two clauses or phrases: "We know"; "He that saith." One indicates living experience, the other the unsubstantiated claim. Apostasy was in view with John.
But in both cases one thing is common; it is the nature of the new birth and its outworking in life afterward. Sanctification comes up as one with regeneration in nature, but as the issue and progressive outworking of regeneration. We cannot therefore read Romans 7 without going on into Chapter 8, and we cannot read 1 John without noting all of its governing words, such as "walk," "abide", "practice." We will touch that again.
The Place in Experience of Romans 7
We must first of all place this chapter. To what part of man's history or experience does it belong? Is it the experience of one who has no inward work of the Holy Spirit, or is it that of one who has been spiritually quickened? We think that it is the latter. There are several reasons for this conclusion. Firstly, the letter was written to believers, amongst whom were Jewish converts whose clean cut with the law had not been made, and who, on the one hand, were in a state of unsettled and restless or uncertain spiritual life, really neither one thing nor the other as to daily experience, failing and repenting, failing and repenting in monotonous repetition, and almost despairing of victory; and, on the other hand, needing further enlightenment and instruction as to what being "in Christ Jesus" really means. They were not in liberty or deliverance because of an inadequate apprehension of the death and resurrection of Christ; that is, of its representative aspect as in addition to its substitutionary. Secondly, Paul, having already stated what identification with Christ really means (Chapter 6), goes on to show that its result is to draw a line between the flesh and the spirit in the believer, and makes the demand that the "walk" shall be in the spirit. Failure to do this always produces the state set forth in Chapter 7. It was a condition not uncommon among Christians even in New Testament times, as see 1 Corinthians and Galatians, and which drew out the mass of New Testament writings.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 10 - "The Effect of Spiritual Awakening")
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