“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:34,35.

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” Romans 13:10.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us” I John 4:11,12.

In the word of Micah, in the previous section, righteousness is the first thing which God demands. To love mercy is the second. Righteousness stood more in the foreground in the Old Testament. Love is first seen as supreme in the New Testament. Passages to this effect are not difficult to find. In the advent of Jesus, the love of God is first revealed, the new, eternal life is first given, and we become children of the Father and kindred to each other. On this ground the Lord can then, for the first time, speak of the New Commandment–the commandment of brotherly love. Righteousness is not required less in the New Testament than in the Old.1 Yet the burden of the New Testament is that we have been given a power for love which was unattainable in the early days.2

Let every Christian take it deeply to heart that in the first and the great commandment–the new commandment given by Jesus at His departure–the unique characteristic of a disciple of Jesus is brotherly love. And let him, with his whole heart, yield himself to Him to obey that command. For the right exercise of this brotherly love, one must pay attention to more than one thing.

Love of the brethren arises from the love of the Father. By the Holy Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and the wonderful love of the Father is unveiled to us, so that His love becomes the life and the joy of our soul. Our love of God springs out of the fountain of His love for us.3 And our love of Him naturally causes us to love the brethren.4 Do not attempt to fulfil the commandment of brotherly love by yourselves–you are not in a position to do this. But believe that the Holy Spirit, who is in you to make known the love of God to you, also certainly enables you to yield this love. Never say, “I feel no love. I do not feel as if I can forgive this man.” Your decision to act should not be based on feelings. Rather, it is your duty to believe the command and to have faith in God to give you the power with which to obey the command. In obedience to the Father–with the choice of your will, and in faith that the Holy Spirit gives you power–begin to say, “I will love him. I do love him.” The feeling will follow the faith. Grace gives power for all that the Father asks of you.5

Brotherly love has its measure and rule in the love of Jesus. “This is My commandment, that yea love one another, as I have loved you.”6 The eternal life that works in us is the life of Jesus. It knows no other law than what we see in Him. It works with power in us what it worked in Him. Jesus Himself lives in us, and loves in and through us. We must believe in the power of this love in us, and, in that faith, love as He loved. Do believe that this is true salvation–to love even as Jesus loves.

Brotherly love must be in deed and in truth.7 It is not mere feeling. The power in Christ arises from faith which works by love. It manifests itself in all the Christ-like characteristics that are specified in the Word of God. Contemplate its glorious image in 1 Corinthians I3:4-7. Notice all the glorious encouragements to gentleness, to longsuffering, to mercy.8 In all your conduct, let it be seen that the love of Christ lives in you. Let your love be a helpful, self-sacrificing love–like that of Jesus. Hold all children of God, however sinful or wrong they may be, fervently dear. Let your love for them teach you to love all men.9 Show your family, the Church, and the world that within you “love is greatest” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Show all that the love of God has a full dwelling and a free working in your life.

Christian, God is love. Jesus is the gift of this love-to bring love to you, to transplant you into that life of godlike love. Live in that faith, and you will not complain that you have no power to love. The love of the Spirit will be your power and your life.

Beloved Saviour, I discern more clearly that the whole of the new life is a life in love. You are the Son of God’s love–the gift of His love–who has come to introduce us into His love, and give us a dwelling there. And the Holy Spirit is given to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, to open a spring out of which love will stream to You and to the believers and to all mankind. Lord, here am I, one redeemed by love, to live for it and, in its might, to love all. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Matt. 5:6,17,20; 6:33

2) Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 John 4:11; John 13:34

3) Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:19

4) Eph. 4:2,6; 5:1,2; 1 John 3:1; 4:7,20; 5:1

5) Matt. 5:44,45; Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 3:12,13; 5:24; Phil. 4:13; 1

Pet. 1:22

6) Luke 22:26,27; John 13:14,15,34; Col. 2:13

7) Matt. 12:50; 25:40; Rom. 13:10; 1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 5:6; Jas.

2:15,16; 1 John 3:16,17,18

8) Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2,32; Phil. 2:2,3; Col. 3:12; 2 Thess. 1:3

9) Luke 6:32,35; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:7

Notes

1. Those who reject the Word of God sometimes say that it is of no importance what we believe if we but have love, and so they are for making love the one condition of salvation. In their zeal against this view, the orthodox party have sometimes presented faith in justification, as if love were not of so much importance. This is likely to be very dangerous. God is love. His Son is the gift, the bringer, of His love to us. The Spirit sheds the love of God in the heart. The new life is a life in love. Love is the greatest thing. Let it be the chief element in our life–true love which is known in the keeping of God’s commandments (see 1 John 3:10,23,24; 5:2).

2. Do not wonder why I have said that you must love even though you do not feel the least bit of love. Not the feeling, but the will, is your power. It is not in your feeling, but in your faith, that the Spirit in you is the power of your will to work in you all that the Father bids you. Therefore, although you feel

absolutely no love for your enemy, say in the obedience of faith, “Father, I love him; in faith in the hidden working of the Spirit in my heart, I do love him.

3. Do not think that this is love, if you wish no evil to anyone, or if you should be willing to help, if he were in need. No, love is much more. Love is His love. Love is the disposition with which God addressed you when you were His enemy, and afterward ran to you with tender longing to caress you.

“And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8

“Learn of me that I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” Matthew 11:29.

One of the most dangerous enemies the young Christian must guard against is pride or self-exaltation. There is no sin that works more cunningly and more hiddenly. It knows how to penetrate into everything, into our service for God, our prayers, and even into our humility. Self-exaltation can extract the nutrients out of even the smallest thing in earthly life and the holiest thing in spiritual life.1 The Christian must therefore be on his guard against it. He must listen to what the Scriptures teach about it and about the humility by which it is driven out.

Man was created to have part in the glory of God. He obtains this by surrendering himself to the glorification of Clod. The more he seeks the glory of God to be his only trait, the more of this glory he will know for himself.2 The more he forgets and loses himself–desiring to be nothing so that God may be all and be alone glorified–the happier he will be.

Because of sin this design has been thwarted. Man seeks himself and his own will.3 Grace has come to restore what sin has corrupted. Grace will bring man to glory if he will deny himself and live solely for the glory of God. Jesus is the example of this humility or lowliness. He gave no thought to Himself–He gave Himself over wholly to glorify the Father.4

He who wants to be freed from self-exaltation must not consider obtaining it by striving against its mere workings. No, pride must be driven out and kept out by humility. The Spirit of life in Christ, the Spirit of His lowliness, will work in us true humility.5

He will most often use the Word to bring about this sense of humility. We understand that it is by the Word that we are cleansed from sin. It is by the Word that we are sanctified and filled with the love of God.

Now observe what the Word says about this point. It speaks of God’s dislike of pride and the punishment that comes with it.6 It gives the most glorious promises to the meek.7 In almost every Epistle, humility is commended to Christians as one of the first virtues.8 The most important characteristic which Jesus seeks to impress upon His disciples is humility. His whole incarnation and redemption have their roots in His humiliation.9

Take singly some of these words of God from time to time and lay them up in your heart. The tree of life yields many different kinds of seed–among them, the seed of the heavenly plant called humility. The seeds are the words of God. Carry them in your heart. They will shoot up and bear fruit.10

Consider, moreover, how lovely, how becoming, how well-pleasing humility is to God. As man, created for the honour of God, you find it suitable to you.11 As a sinner, deeply unworthy, you have nothing more to urge against it.12 As a redeemed soul, who knows that only through the death of the natural “I” does the way to the new life lie, you find it indispensable.13 As a child of the Father, overwhelmed with His love, you must consider it above all else.14

But here, as everywhere in the life of grace, let faith be the chief thing. Believe in the power of the eternal life which works in you. Believe in the power of Jesus, who is your life. Believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you. Do not attempt to hide your pride, or to forget it, or to root it out yourself. Confess this sin–and all its workings that you can find–in the sure confidence that the blood cleanses and that the Spirit sanctifies. Learn that Jesus is meek and lowly in heart. Consider that He is your life, with all that He has. Believe that He gives His humility to you. Be clothed with humility, so that you may be clothed with Jesus. It is Christ in you that will fill you with humility.

Blessed Lord Jesus, there never was anyone among the children of men so high, so holy, so glorious as You. And never was there anyone who was so humble and ready to deny Himself as the servant of all. Lord, when will we learn that humility is the grace by which man can be most closely conformed to the divine glory? Teach me this. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) 2 Chron. 26:5,16; 32:26,31; Isa. 65:5; Jer. 7:14; 2 Cor. 12:7

2) Isa. 43:7,21; John 12:28; 13:31,32; 17:1,4,5; I Cor. 10:31; 2 Thess. 1:11,12

3) Rom. 1:21,23

4) John 8:50; Phil. 2:7

5) Rom. 8:2; Phil. 2:5

6) Ps. 31:23; Prov. 16:5; Matt. 23:12; Luke 1:51; Jas. 4:6; I Pet.5:5

7) Ps. 34:19; Prov. 11:2; Isa. 57:15; Luke 9:48; 14:11; 18:14

8) Rom. 12:3,16; 1 Cor. 13:4; Gal. 5:22,23,26; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3

9) Matt.20:26,28; Luke 22:27; John 13:14,15; Phil. 2:7,8

10) I Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1:21

11) Gen. 1:27; 1 Cor. 11:7

12) Job 42:6; Isa. 6:5; Luke 5:8

13) Rom. 7:18; I Cor. 15:9,10; Gal. 2:20

14) Gen. 32:10; 2 Sam. 7:18; 1 Pet. 5:6-10

Notes

1. Take heed that you do nothing to encourage pride on the part of others. Take heed that you do not allow others to feed your pride. Take heed, above all, that you do nothing yourself to feed your pride. Let God alone, always and in all things, obtain the honour. Endeavour to observe all that is good in His children, and to thank Him heartily for it. Thank Him for all that helps you to hold yourself in small esteem, whether it is sent through friend or foe. Resolve, especially, not to be eagerly bent on your own honour when this is not accorded to you as it ought to be. Commit this to the Father. Take heed only to His honour.

2. By no means suppose that faint-heartedness or doubting is humility. Deep humility and strong faith go together. The centurion who said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof,” and the woman who said, “Yea, Lord, yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs,” these two were the most humble and the most trustful that the Lord found (see Matt. 8:10; 15:28). The reason is this–the nearer we are to God, the less we are in ourselves, but the stronger we are in Him. The more I see of God,the less I become, the deeper is my confidence in Him. To become humble, let God fill eye and heart. Where God is all, there is no time or place for man.

“In many things we all stumble” James 3:2.

This word of God by James is the description of what man is–even the Christian–when he is not kept by grace. It serves to take away from us all hope in ourselves.1 “Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling…be glory, majesty, dominion, and power …for evermore” (Jude 24,25). This word of God by Jude points to Him who keeps us from falling, and who stirs our soul to give Him the honor and the power. It serves to confirm our hope in God.2 “Brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10). This word of God by Peter teaches us the way in which we can become recipients of the care of the Almighty, and it confirms our having been chosen by God to walk as He did (see verses 4,8,11). It serves to lead us into diligence and conscientious watchfulness.3

For the young Christian, what he should think about his stumblings is often a difficult question. On this point, he should especially be on his guard against two errors. Some become discouraged when they stumble–they think that their surrender was not sincere, and they lose their confidence toward God.4 Others again take it too lightly. They think that it cannot be any other way. They seldom concern themselves with stumblings and, therefore, continue to live in them.5 Let us take these words of God to teach us what we should think of our stumblings. There are three lessons.

Do not let stumblings discourage you. You are called to perfection–yet this does not come at once. Time and patience are needed for it. Therefore, James says, “Let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire.”6 Do not think that your surrender was insincere–acknowledge only how weak you still are. Do not think that you must continue to stumble–acknowledge only how strong your Savior is.

Let stumbling arouse you to faith in the mighty Keeper. It is because you have not relied on Him with a sufficient faith that you have stumbled.7 Let stumbling drive you to Him. The first thing that you must do with a stumbling is to go with it to your Jesus. Tell it to Him.8 Confess it, and receive forgiveness. Confess it, and commit yourself with your weakness to Him, and depend on Him to keep you. Continually sing the song, “To Him that is mighty to keep you, be the glory.”

And then, let stumbling make you very wise. 9 By faith you will strive and overcome. In the power of your Keeper, and in the joy and security of His help, you will have courage to watch. The firmer you make your commitment, the stronger the certainty that He has chosen you–He will not let you go. You will become more conscientious to live in all thing: only for Him, in Him, through Him.10 By doing this the Word of God says, you will never stumble.

Lord Jesus, as a sinner who is capable of stumbling, I give honor to You every moment. You are mighty to keep men from stumbling. Yours is the might and the power–I take You as my Keeper. I look to Your love which has chosen me and wait for the fulfillment of Your word, “Ye shall never stumble.” Amen.

Footnotes

1) Rom. 7:14,23; Gal. 6:1

2) 2 Cor. 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 2:16,17; 3:3

3) Matt. 26:41; Luke 12:35; I Pet. 1:13; 5:8-10

4) Heb. 3:6,14; 10:35

5) Rom. 6:1; Gal. 2:18; 3:3

6) Matt. 5:48; 2 Tim. 3:17; Heb. 13:20,21; Jas. 1:4; 1 Pet. 5:10

*The Dutch version has it: “Let endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and wholly sincere”-Tr.

7) Matt. 14:31; 17:20

8) Ps. 38:18; 69:6; I John 1:9; 2:1

9) Prov. 28:14; Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet.1:17,18

10) 2 Chron. 20:15; Ps. 18:30,37; 44:5,9; John 5:4,5; Rom. 11:20; 2 Cor. 1:24; Phil. 2:13

Notes

1. Let your thoughts about what the grace of God can do for you be taken only from the Word of God. Our natural expectations-that we must always be stumbling-are wrong. They are strengthened by more than one thing. There is secret unwillingness to surrender everything. There is the example of so many sluggish Christians. There is the unbelief that cannot quite understand that God will really keep us. There is the experience of so many disappointments when we have striven in our own power.

2. Let no stumbling be tolerated just because it seems to be a small or insignificant thing.

“The Lord is thy keeper… The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil,… He shall preserve thy soul” Psalm 121:5,7.

“I know Him whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” 2 Timothy 1:12.

The Lord has not only received you, but He will also keep you.1 For young disciples of Christ who are still weak, there is no lesson that is more necessary than this. The lovely name, “the Lord thy keeper,” must be carried in the heart until the assurance of an Almighty keeping becomes as strong with us as it was with Paul, when he spoke that glorious word, “I know Him in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” Come and learn this lesson from him.

Learn from Paul to deposit your pledge with Jesus. Paul had surrendered himself, body and soul, to the Lord Jesus–that was his pledge which he had deposited with the Lord. You have also surrendered yourselves to the Lord, but perhaps not with the clear understanding that it is in order to be kept every day. Do this now daily. Deposit your soul with Jesus as a dear pledge that He will keep it secure. Do this same thing with every part of your life. Is there something that you cannot properly hold? Yom heart, because it is too worldly?2 Your tongue, because it is too idle?3 Your temper, because it is too passionate?4 Your calling to confess the Lord because you are too weak?5 Learn, then, to deposit it as a pledge to be kept with Jesus, so that He may fulfill in you the promise of God concerning it. You often pray and strive against a sin in vain. It is because-although this too is done with God’s help–you want to be the person who overcomes. No, entrust the matter wholly to Jesus, “the battle is not yours, but God’s.”6 Leave it in His hands. Believe in Him to do it for you. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.”7 But you must first place it wholly out of your hands and into His.

Learn from Paul to set your confidence only on the power of Jesus. I am persuaded that He is able to keep my pledge. You have an Almighty Jesus to keep you. Faith keeps itself occupied only with His omnipotence.8 Let your faith be especially strengthened in what God is able to do for you.9 Expect, with certainty, that He will do great and glorious things for you, entirely above your own strength. See in the Holy Scriptures how constantly the power of God was the foundation for the trust of His people. Take these words and hide them in your heart. Let the power of Jesus fill your soul. Ask only, “What is my Jesus able to do?” What you really trust Him with, He is able to keep.10

And learn also from Paul where he obtained the assurance that this power would keep his pledge. He found it in his knowledge of Jesus. “I know Him whom I have believed,” therefore I am assured.11 You can trust the power of Jesus, if you know that He is yours, if you converse with Him as your friend. Then you can say, “I know whom I have believed. I know that He holds me very dear. I know and am assured that He is able to keep my pledge.” This is the sure way to the full assurance of faith. Deposit your pledge with Jesus, and give yourselves wholly into His hands. Think much on His might, and rely upon Him. Live with Him so that you may always know in whom you have believed.

Young disciples of Christ, please receive this word, “The Lord is thy keeper.” For every weakness, every temptation, learn to deposit your soul with Him as a pledge. You can depend on it, you can shout joyfully over it. “The Lord shall keep you from all evil.”12

Holy Jesus, I take You as my Keeper. Let Your name, “The Lord thy keeper, “sound as a song in my heart the whole day. Teach me to deposit my case as a pledge with You in every need, and to be assured that You are able to keep it. Amen.

Footnotes

1)Gen. 28: 15; Deut. 7:9; 32:10; Ps. 17:8; 89:33,34; Rom. 11:2,29

2) Ps. 51:17; Jer. 31:33

3) Ps. 31:6; 141:3

4) Ps. 119:165; Jer. 26:3,4; John 14:27; Phil. 4:6,7; 2 Thess. 3:16

5) Isa. 1:7; Jer. 1:9; Matt. 10:19,20

6) Ex. 14:14; Deut. 3:22; 20:4; 2 Chron. 20:15

7) Matt. 9:28; 1 John 5:3,4

8) Gen. 17:1; 18:14; Jer. 32:17,27; Matt. 8:27; 28:18; Luke 1:37,49; 18:27; Rom. 4:21; Heb. 11:19

9) Rom. 4:21; 14:4; 2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Tim. 1:13

10)John 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:8,9

11) John 10:14,28; Gal. 2:20; 2 Tim. 4:18; 1 John 2:13,14

12) Josh. 1:9; Ps. 23:4; Rom. 8:35

Notes

1. There was once a woman who for years, and with much prayer, had striven against her temper but could not obtain the victory. On a certain day she resolved not to come out of her room until by earnest prayer she had the power to overcome. She went out in the opinion that she would succeed. Scarcely had she been in the household when some thing gave her offence and caused her to be angry. She was deeply ashamed, burst into tears and hastened back to her room. A daughter, who understood the way of faith better than she, went to her and said, “Mother, I have observed your conflict. May I tell you what I think the hindrance is?” “Yes, my child.” “Mother, you struggle against temper and pray that the Lord may help you to overcome. This is wrong. The Lord must do it alone. You must give your temper wholly into His hands. Then He takes it wholly and He keeps you.” The mother could not understand this at first, but later it was made clear to her. And she enjoyed the blessedness of the life in which Jesus keeps us, and we by faith have the victory. Do you understand this?

2. The expression, “The Lord must help me to overcome,” is altogether outside of the New Testament. The grace of God in the soul does not become a help to us. He will do everything. “The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin” (Rom. 8:2).

3. When you surrender anything to the Lord for keeping, take heed to two things:

–that you give it wholly into His hands,

— and that you keep it there.

Let Him have it wholly. He will carry out your case gloriously!

“He said unto me, My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore will I rather glory in my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in weakness: for when I am weak, then am I strong” 2 Corinthians 12:9,10.

There is almost no word that is so imperfectly understood in the Christian life as the word weakness. Sin and shortcoming, sluggishness and disobedience, are given as the reasons for our weakness. With this interpretation of weakness, the true feeling of guilt and the sincere endeavour after progress are impossible. How can I be guilty, when I do not do what it is not in my power to do? The Father cannot demand of His child what He can certainly do independently. That, indeed, was done by the law under the Old Covenant, but the Father, under the New Covenant, does not do that. He requires nothing more of us than what He has prepared for us to do in His Holy Spirit. The new life is a life in the power of Christ through the Spirit.

The error of this mode of thinking is that people estimate their weakness, not too highly, but too meagrely. They would still do something by the exercise of all their powers, and with the help of God. They do not know that they must be nothing before God.1 You think that you have still a little strength, and that the Father must help you by adding something of His own power to your feeble energy. This thought is wrong. Your weakness appears in the fact that you can do nothing. It is better to speak of utter inability, for that is what the Scriptures mean by the word “weakness.” “Without me ye can do nothing.” “In us is no power.”2

Whenever the young Christian acknowledges and admits to his weakness, then he learns to understand the secret of the power of Jesus. He then sees that he is not to wait and pray to become stronger, to feel stronger. No, in his inability, he is to have the power of Jesus. By faith he is to receive it. He is to believe that it is for him, and that Jesus Himself will work in and by him.3 It then becomes clear to him what the Lord means when He says, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” He knows to return the answer, “When I am weak, then am I–yes, then am I–strong.” Yes, the weaker I am, the stronger I become. And he learns to sing with Paul, “I shall glory in my weaknesses.” “I take pleasure in weaknesses.” “We rejoice when we are weak.”4

It is wonderful how glorious that life of faith becomes for him who is content to have nothing. How glorious to feel nothing in himself and to always live on the power of his Lord. He learns to understand what a joyful thing it is to know God as his strength. “The Lord is my strength and song”5 He lives in what the Psalms so often express, “I love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” “I will sing of Thy strength: unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing praises.”6 He understands what is meant when a psalm says, “Give strength to the Lord: the Lord will give strength to His people,” and when another says, “Give strength to God: the God of Israel, He giveth strength and power to His people.”7 When we give or attribute all the power to God, then He gives it to us again.

“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14). The Christian is strong in his Lord.8 Not sometimes strong and sometimes weak, but always weak, and therefore always strong. He has merely to know and use his strength trustfully. To be strong is a command, a mandate that must be obeyed. From obedience there comes more strength. “Be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart” (Psalm 31:24). In faith, the Christian must simply obey the command, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”9

O God of the Lord Jesus, the Father of glory give unto us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, so that we may know the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Rom. 4:4,5; 11:6; I Cor. 1:27,28

2) 2 Chron. 16:9; 20:12; John 5:19; 15:5; 2 Cor. l:9

3) John 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:24; 15:10; Eph. 9:18,19; Col.1:11

4) 2 Cor. 11:30; 12:9,11; 13:4,9

5) Ps. 89:13; 118:14

6) Ps. 18:1; 28:7,8; 31:4; 43:2; 46:1; 59:17; 62:7; 87:2

7) Ps. 29:1,11; 68:35

8) Ps. 71:16

9) Ps. 27:14; Isa. 40:31; Eph. 6:10

Notes

1. As long as the Christian thinks of the service of God or of sanctification as something that is hard and difficult, he will make no progress. He must see that this very thing is impossible for him. Then he wilt cease endeavouring to do something. He will surrender himself so that Christ may work all in him.

2. The complaint about weakness is often nothing else except an apology for our idleness. There is power to be obtained in Christ for those who will take the energy to have it.

3. “Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10). Mind that. I must abide in the Lord and in the power of His might, then I become strong. To have His power I must have Himself. The strength is His, and continues to be His. The weakness continues to be mine. He, the strong, works in me, the weak. I, the weak, abide by faith in Him, the strong, so that I, in the same moment, know myself to be weak and strong.

4. Strength is for work. He who wants to be strong simply to be pious will not be so. He who, in his weakness, begins to work for the Lord, will become strong.

“We walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7.

“Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” John 20:29.

“Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God” John 11:40.

In connection with your conversion, there was no greater hindrance than your feelings. You thought, perhaps for years, that you must experience something, must feel and perceive something in yourselves. It seemed to you as if it were too hazardous to simply, and without some feeling, believe in the Word, and to be sure that God had received you–that your sins were forgiven. But finally you had to acknowledge that the way of faith, without feeling, was the way of the Word of God. And it has been the way to salvation for you. Through faith alone you have been saved, and your soul has found rest and peace.1

In the further life of the Christian, there is no temptation that is more persistent and more dangerous than this same feeling. We do not find the word “feeling” in Scripture. What we call “feeling” the Scripture calls “seeing.” And it tells us without ceasing that not seeing yet still believing–believing in opposition to what we see–gives salvation.”(Abraham), not being weak in faith, considered not his own body” (Romans 4:19). Faith simply adheres to what God says. Those who see, yet have no faith, will not partake of the glory of God. Those who have faith in God, but do not see, will witness His glory.2 The man who seeks for feeling and mourns about it will not find it. The man who does not care for feeling will have it overflowing. “He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). Faith in the Word later on becomes sealed with true feeling by the Holy Spirit.3

Child of God, learn to live by faith. Let it be firmly implanted in you that faith is God’s way to a blessed life. When there is no feeling of liveliness in prayer, when you feel cold and dull in the inner chamber, live by faith. Let your faith look upon Jesus as near and upon His power and faithfulness. Though you have nothing to bring to Him, believe that He will give you all. Feeling always seeks something in itself. Faith keeps itself occupied with what Jesus is.4 When you read the Word and have no feeling of interest or blessing, read it yet again in faith. The Word will work and bring blessing, “the word effectually worketh in those that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). When you feel no love, believe in the love of Jesus, and say in faith that He knows that you still love Him. When you have no feeling of gladness, believe in the inexpressible joy that there is for you in Jesus. Faith is blessedness and will give joy to those who are not concerned about the self-sufficiency which springs from joy, but about the glorification of God which springs from faith.5 Jesus will surely fulfill His Word, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”

Every day the Christian has to choose between the life of feeling and the life of faith. Happy is he who, once and for all, has made the firm choice. For every morning, he renews the choice not to seek or listen for feeling, but only to walk by faith, according to the will of God. The faith that occupies itself with the Word–with what God has said–and, through the Word–with God Himself and Jesus His Son–will taste the blessedness of a life in God above. Feeling seeks and aims at itself. Faith honours God and will be honoured by Him. Faith pleases God. Through faith the believer will receive from Him the witness in the heart that he is acceptable to God.

Lord God, the one, the only thing that You desire of Your children is that they should trust You, and that they should always hold conversation with You in that faith. Lord, let it be the one thing in which I seek my happiness, to honour and to please You by a faith that firmly holds You, the Invisible, and trusts You in all things. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) John 3:36; Rom. 3:28; 4:5,16; 5:1

2) 2 Chron. 7:2; Ps. 27:13; Isa. 7:9; Matt. 14:30,31; Luke 5:5

3) John 12:25; Gal. 3:2,14; Eph. 1:13

4) Rom. 4:20,21; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 11:5,6; Jas. 5:15,16

5) Rom. 15:13; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 1:5,7,8

Notes

1. There is indeed something marvellous in the new life. It is difficult to make it clear to the young Christian. The Spirit of God teaches him to understand it after he perseveres in grace. Jesus has laid the foundation of that life in the first word of the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). A feeling of deep poverty and of royal riches, of utter weakness and of kingly might, exist together in the soul. To have nothing in itself, to have all in Christ–that is the secret of faith. And the true secret of faith is to bring this into exercise and, in hours of emptiness, to know that we still have all in Christ.

2. Do not forget that the faith God’s Word speaks so much of does not stand in opposition to works alone, but also in opposition to feelings. Therefore, for a pure life of faith, you must cease to seek your salvation, not only in works, but also in feelings. Let faith always speak against feeling. When feeling says, “In myself I am sinful; I am dark; I am weak; I am poor; I am sad,” let faith say, “In Christ I am holy; I am light; I am strong; I am rich; I am joyful.”

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father” Galatians 4:6.

The great gift of the Father, through whom He obtained salvation and brought it near to us, is the Son. On the other hand, the great gift of the Son–whom He sends to us from the Father to apply to us an inner and effectual salvation-is the Holy Spirit.1 As the Son reveals and glorifies the Father, so the Spirit reveals and glorifies the Son.2 The Spirit is in us to transfer to us the life and the salvation that are prepared in Jesus– to make them wholly ours.3 Jesus, who is in heaven, is made present in us, dwells in us, by the Spirit. We have seen that in order to partake of Jesus two things are always necessary–the knowledge of the sin that is in us, and the understanding of the redemption that is in Him. It is the Holy Spirit who continually promotes this double work in believers. He reproves and comforts. He convicts of sin and He glorifies Christ.4

The Spirit convicts us of sin. He is the light and the fire of God. Through Him sin is unveiled and consumed. He is “the Spirit of judgement and of burning,” by whom God purifies His people.5 There is no limit as to how deep repentance must be for the anxious soul who complains of not feeling his sin deeply enough. He must come daily just as he is.

The deepest conviction often occurs after conversion. To the young convert we simply have to say let the Spirit who is in you always convince you of sin. He will make you hate sin, which formerly you knew only by name. He will make you know –and with shame confess–sin, which you had not seen in the hidden depths of your heart. He will point out to you sin, which you fancied was not with you, and which you had judged severely in others.6 With repentance and self-condemnation, He will teach you to cast yourself upon grace as being entirely sinful. In this way, you will be redeemed and purified from sin.

Beloved brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is in you as the light and fire of God to unveil and to consume sin. The temple of God is holy, and you are this temple. Let the Holy Spirit in you have full mastery to point out and expel sin.7 After He makes you know sin, He will, at every turn, make you know Jesus as your life and your sanctification.

And then the Spirit, who rebukes, will also comfort. He will glorify Jesus in you, and will take what is in Jesus and make it known to you. He will give you knowledge concerning the power of Jesus’ blood to cleanse,8 and the power of Jesus’ indwelling to keep.9 He will make you see how literally, how completely, how certainly Jesus is with you every moment, so that He may do all his own Jesus-work in you. Yes, in the Holy Spirit, the living, almighty, and ever-present Jesus will be your portion. You will also know this, and have the full enjoyment of it. The Holy Spirit will teach you to bring all your sin and sinfulness to Jesus. He will teach you to know Jesus with His complete redemption from sin as your own. As the Spirit of sanctification, He will drive out sin in order that He may cause Jesus to live within you. 10

Beloved young Christian, take time to understand and to become filled with the truth–the Holy Spirit is in you. Review all the assurances of God’s Word that this is so.11 Please, do not think, for even a moment, of living as a Christian without the indwelling of the Spirit. Take pains to have your heart filled with the faith that the Spirit lives in you and will do His mighty work. It is through faith that the Spirit comes and works.12 Have a great reverence for the work of the Spirit in you. Seek Him every day to believe, to obey, to trust, and He will take and make known to you all that there is in Jesus. He will make Jesus very glorious to you and in you.

Father, I thank You for this gift which Jesus sent to me from You. I thank You that I am now the temple of Your Spirit, and that He dwells in me. Lord, teach me to believe this with my whole heart, and to live in the world as one who knows that the Spirit of God is in him to lead him. Teach me to think on this with deep reverence and loving awe, that God is in me. Lord, in that faith I have the power to be holy.

Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that is sin in me. Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that is Jesus in me. Amen.

Footnotes

1) John 7:39; 14:16,26; Acts 1:4,5; 2:33; I Cor. 3:16

2) John 15:26; 16:14,15; 1 Cor. 2:10,12; 12:3

3) John 14:17,26; Rom. 8:2; Eph. 3:17,19

4) John 16:9,14

5) Isa. 4:4; Zech. 12:10,11; Matt. 3:11,12

6) Ps. 139:7,23; Isa. 10:17; Matt. 7:5; Rom. 14:4; I Cor. 2:10; 14:24,25

7) Ps. 19:13; Mic. 3:8; I Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor. 3:17; 6:16

8) John 1:7,9

9) Eph. 3:17-20; 1 Pet. 1:5

10) Rom. 1:4; 8:2,13; 1 Pet. 1:2

11) Rom. 8:14,16; l Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 1:22; 6:16; Eph. 1:13

12) Gal. 3:2,5,14; 5:5

Notes

1. The knowledge of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit is for us of just as much importance as the knowledge of the person and the work of Christ.

2. Concerning the Holy Spirit, we must endeavor to hold firm the truth that He is given as the fruit of the work of Jesus for us, that He is the power of the life of Jesus in us, and that through Him, Jesus Himself, with His full salvation, lives in us.

3. In order to enjoy all of this, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This simply means emptied of all else and full of Jesus. The way to be filled with the Spirit is to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and to follow Jesus. Or rather, this is the way in which the Spirit leads us to His fullness. No one has the power to enter fully into the death of Jesus unless he is led by the Spirit. But He takes him who desires this by the hand and brings him into it.

4. As the whole of salvation, the whole of the new life, is by faith, so is this also true of the gift and the working of the Holy Spirit. By faith–not by works, not in feeling–do I receive Him, am led by Him, and am filled with Him.

5. As clear and definite as my faith is in the work that Jesus only and alone finished for me, so clear and definite must my faith be in the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in me–to work in me the willing and the performing of all that is necessary for my salvation.

“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God” Romans 8:14,16.

The very same Spirit who leads us as children also assures us that we are children. Without His leading there can be no assurance of our relationship as children of God. True, full assurance of faith is enjoyed by him who surrenders himself entirely to the leading of the Spirit.

Of what does this leading consist? Mainly of this, that our whole, hidden, inner life is guided by Him so that it may be what it ought to be. We must firmly believe this. Our growth and increase, our development and progress, is not our work but His. We are to trust Him for this. As a tree or animal grows by the spirit of life given to it by God, so does the Christian grow by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.1 We have to cherish the joyful assurance that the Spirit–whom the Father gives to us–guides our hidden life with His divine wisdom and power. He brings it where God will have it.

Then there are also special directions of this leading. “He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). When we read the Word of God, we are to wait for the Spirit to make us experience the truth and the essential power of what God says. He makes the Word living and powerful. He leads us into a life corresponding to the Word.2

When you pray, you can rely on His leading, “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities” (Romans 8:26). He leads us to what we must desire. He leads us to the way in which we are to pray–trustfully, persistently, and mightily.3

He leads us in the way of sanctification. He leads us in the path of righteousness. He leads us into all the will of God.4

He will lead in our speaking and working for the Lord. Every child has need of Him to know and to do the work of the Father. Without Him, no child can please or serve the Father. The leading of the Spirit is the blessed privilege, the sure token, and the only power of a child of God.5

And how can you fully enjoy this leading? The first thing that is necessary for this is faith. You must take time, young Christian, to have your heart filled with the deep and living consciousness that the Spirit lives within you. Concerning what the Spirit is in you and for you, you are to read God’s glorious declarations in the Word until you are filled with the conviction that you truly are a temple of the Spirit. Ignorance or unbelief on this point makes it impossible for the Spirit to speak in you and to lead you. Cherish an ever-abiding assurance that the Spirit of God lives in you.6

Then the second thing that is necessary is this–hold yourself still, so that you may hear the voice of the Spirit, “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street” (Isaiah 42:2). He whispers gently and quietly. Only the soul that sets itself very silently toward God can perceive His voice and guidance. When we become needlessly involved with the world–its business, its cares, its enjoyments, its literature, its politics–the Spirit cannot lead us. When our service for God is a bustling and working in our own wisdom and strength, the Spirit cannot be heard in us. The weak and the simple–who are willing to have themselves taught in humility–receive the leading of the Spirit. Sit down every morning, and often in the day, to say, “Lord Jesus, I know nothing; I will be silent. Let the Spirit lead me.”7

And then–be obedient. Listen to the inner voice, and do what it says to you. Fill your heart every day with the Word. When the Spirit reveals to you what the Word says, take it upon yourself to do it. Therefore, you will become capable of further teaching. The full blessing of the Spirit is promised to the obedient.8

Young Christian, know that you are a temple of the Spirit. Know that it is only through the daily leading of the Spirit that you can walk as a child of God, with the witness that you are pleasing the Father.

Precious Saviour, imprint this lesson deeply on my mind. The Holy Spirit is in me. His leading is every day and everywhere indispensable for me. I cannot hear His voice in the Word when I do not wait silently upon Him. Lord, encircle me with Your holy love; keep watch over me so that I may always walk as a pupil of the Spirit. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Hos. 14:6,7; Matt. 6:28; Mark 4:26,28; Luke 2:40; Rom. 8:2

2) John 6:63; 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:10,14; 1 Thess. 2:13

3) Zech. 12:10; Rom. 8:27; Jude 20

4) 1 Thess. 5:23,24; 1 Pet. 1:2, 15

5) Matt. 10:20; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:9,13; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:13

6) Acts 19:2; Rom. 5:5; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:5; Gal. 3:5,14

7) I Chron. 19:12; Ps. 62:2,6; 131:2; Heb. 2:20; Zech. 4:6

8) John 14:15; Acts 5:32

Notes

1. It is often asked, “How do I know that I will continue standing, that I will be kept, that I will increase?” The question dishonours the Holy Spirit–it is the sign that you do not know Him or do not trust Him. The question indicates that you are seeking the secret of strength for perseverance in yourself, and not in the Holy Spirit, your heavenly guide.

2. As God sees to it that every moment there is air for me to breathe, so the Holy Spirit will increasingly maintain life in the hidden depths of my soul. He will not break off His own work.

3. From the time that we receive the Holy Spirit, we have nothing to do but to honour His work, to keep our hands off of it, and to trust Him and let Him work.

4. The beginning and the end of the work of the Spirit is to reveal Jesus to me and to cause me to abide in Him. As soon as I become concerned with the work of the Spirit in me, I hinder Him. He cannot work when I am not willing to look upon Jesus.

5. The voice of the Father, the voice of the good Shepherd, the voice of the Holy Spirit, is very gentle. We must learn to become deaf to other voices, to the world and its news, to friends and their thoughts, to our own ego and its desires. Then we will recognise the voice of the Spirit. Let us often set ourselves silent in prayer, entirely silent, to offer up our will and our thoughts, and with our eyes upon Jesus, to keep ear and heart open for the voice of the Spirit.

Chapter 24

Grieving the Spirit

“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” Ephesians 4:30.

It is by the Holy Spirit that the child of God is sealed, separated, stamped, and marked as the possession of God. This sealing is not a dead or external action that is finished once and for all. It is a living process, which has power in the soul, and gives a firm assurance of faith, only when it is experienced through the life of the Spirit in us. Because of this, we are to take great care not to grieve the Holy Spirit. In Him alone can you have the joyful certainty and the full blessing of your childship every day.1 It is the very same Spirit who leads us and witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

How can anyone grieve the Spirit? Above all, by yielding to sin. He is the Holy Spirit, given to sanctify us, and–for every sin from which the blood cleanses us–to fill us with the holy life of God, with God Himself. Sin grieves Him.2 For this reason, the Word of God names the sins which, above all, we are to guard against. Notice the four great sins which Paul mentions in connection with our text.

The first is lying. There is no single sin in the Bible that is so brought into connection with the devil as lying. Lying is from hell, and it goes back to hell. God is the God of truth. And the Holy Spirit cannot possibly carry forward His blessed working in a man or woman who lies, who is insincere, who does injury to the truth. Young Christian, review with care what the Word of God says about lying and liars. Pray God that you may never speak anything but the literal truth. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.3

Then there is anger. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you” (Ephesians 4:31). Along with lying, the most common sin which keeps the Christian from increasing in grace is the sin of temper–hastiness, the proneness to anger.4 Christian, let all ill-temperedness be put away from you. This follows from the command not to grieve the Spirit. Believe that the Holy Spirit, the great power of God, is in you. Surrender yourself every day to His indwelling in faith that Jesus can keep you by Him. He will make and keep you gentle. Yes, believe in the power of the Father, the power of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome temper.5 Confess the sin. God will cleanse you from it. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

Then there is stealing. This is all sin against the property or possession of my neighbour, and all deception and dishonesty in trade, in which I wrong my neighbour and seek my own advantage at his cost. Christ’s law is love which works to the advantage of my neighbour as well as myself. The love of money and property–inseparable from self-seeking–is incompatible with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Christian must be a man who is known to be honest, righteous, and who loves his neighbour as himself.6

Then the apostle says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). Even the tongue of God’s child belongs to his Lord. He must be known by his manner of speech. By his speaking, he can grieve or please the Spirit. The sanctified tongue is a blessing not only to his neighbour, but to the speaker himself. Foul talk, idle words, foolish jests–they grieve the Holy Spirit. They make it impossible for the Spirit to sanctify, to comfort, and to fill the heart with the love of God.7

Young Christian, please do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by these or other sins. If you have committed such sins, confess them, and God will cleanse you from them. By the Holy Spirit you are sealed. If you want to walk in the stability and joy of faith, listen to the word, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.”

Lord God, my Father in heaven, I pray that you would cause me to understand what marvellous grace You are manifesting to me, giving me Your Holy Spirit in my heart. Lord, let this faith be the argument and the power for cleansing me from every sin. Holy Jesus, sanctify me, that in my thinking, speaking, acting–in all things–Your image may appear. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Childship–a word used by the author to express the relationship of a child. Childhood expresses the state of a child rather than the relationship.

2) Isa. 53:10; Acts 7:51; Heb. 10:29

3) Ps. 5:6; Prov. 12:22; 21:28; John 8:44; Rev. 21:8,27; 22:15

4) Matt. 5:22; 1 Cor. 1:10,11; 3:3; 13:1,3; Gal. 5:5,15,21,26; Col. 3:8,12; 1 Thess. 5:l5; Jas. 3:14

5) Matt. 11:29; 1 Cor. 6:19,20; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 2:16,17; Col. 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:12

6) Luke 6:31; Rom. 13:10; 1 Thess. 4:6

7) Prov. 10:19,20,21,31; 18:20; Eccles. 5:1,2; Matt. 12:36; Eph. 5:4; Jas. 3:9,10

Notes

1. The thought of the Christian about this word, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit,” is a test of whether or not he understands the life of faith. For some it is a word of terror and fear. A father once brought his child to a train to go on a journey with the new governess with whom she was to remain. Before her departure he said, “I hear that she is very sensitive and takes things amiss. Take care that you do nothing to grieve her.” The poor child did not have a pleasant journey. It appeared to her very grievous to be in anxious fear of one who was so prone to take everything amiss. Many have this same view of the Holy Spirit. They think that He is a Being whom it is difficult to satisfy, who thinks little of our weakness, and who, even though we take pains, is discontented when our work is not perfect.

2. Another father also brought his daughter to a train to go on a journey, and to be a time away from home, but in the company of her mother whom she loved very deeply. “You are to be a good child,” said the father, “and do everything to please your mother. Otherwise you will grieve her and me.” “Oh, certainly Papa!” was the joyful answer of the child. For she felt happy to be with her mother and was willing to do her utmost to be agreeable to her.

3. These are children of God to whom the Holy Spirit is so well-known in His tender, helpful love as the Comforter and the good Spirit–that the word, “Grieve not the Spirit of God,” has for them a gentle and encouraging power. May our fear to grieve Him always be the tender, childlike fear of trustful love.

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” I Corinthians 3:1.

“I am carnal, sold unto sin: to will is present with me, but to perform that which is good I find not. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you” Romans 7:14,18; 8:2,9.

“Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? If ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” Galatians 3:3; 5:18,25.

It is of great importance for the young Christian to understand that within him there are two natures which strive against one another.1 If we study the texts noted above, we will see that the Word of God teaches us the following truths on this point.

Sin comes from the flesh. The reason why the Christian still sins is that he yields to the flesh and does not walk by the Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit and lives by the Spirit, but every Christian does not walk by the Spirit. If he walks by the Spirit, he will not fulfil the desires of the flesh.2

So long as there are strife and envy in the Christian, the Word of God calls him carnal. He would like to do good, but he cannot. He does what he should not, because he still strives in his own strength and not in the power of the Spirit.3

The flesh remains under the law and seeks to obey the law. But through the flesh the law is powerless, and the endeavour to do good is vain. Its language is, “I am carnal, sold under sin: to will is present with me, but to perform that which is good is not.”4

This is not the condition in which God would have his child remain. The Word says, “It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). The Christian must not only live by the Spirit, but also walk by the Spirit. He must be a spiritual man, and live entirely under the leading of the Spirit.5 If he walks in this way, he will no longer do what he should not. He will no longer be as in Romans 7–a newborn babe seeking to fulfil the law. But, as in Romans 8, the Spirit will set him free from the law which gives no power but brings death, and he will no longer walk in the oldness of the letter but, rather, in the newness of the Spirit.6

There are Christians who begin with the Spirit, but end with the flesh. They are converted, born again through the Spirit, but fall unconsciously into a life in which they endeavour to overcome sin and be holy through their own exertion–through doing their best. They ask God to help them in these endeavours and think that this is faith. They do not understand what it means to say, “In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). They do not know that they are to cease from their own endeavours so that they may do God’s will, wholly and only through the Spirit.7

Child of God, please learn what it means to say to yourself just as you are, even after the new birth–“I am carnal, sold under sin.” No longer strive to do your best under your own strength, merely asking God to help you in your endeavours. No, learn to say, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Every day, let your goal be to have the Spirit work in you. Walk by the Spirit, and you will be redeemed from the life of complaining about your inability to do good into a life of faith, in which it is God who works in you both to will and to do (Philippians 2:13).

Lord God, teach me to acknowledge with all my heart that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good. Teach me also to cease from every thought, as if I could with my own endeavours serve or please You. Teach me to understand that the Spirit is the Comforter, who frees me from all anxiety and fear about my own powerlessness, in order that He may work the strength of Christ in me. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Gal. 5:17,24,25; 6:8; Eph. 4:22,24; Col. 3:9,10; 1 Pet. 4:2

2) Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 3:3; Gal. 5:16,25

3) Rom. 7:18; I Cor. 3:3; Gal. 5:15,26

4) Rom. 4:14,15; 7:4,6; 8:3,8; Gal. 5:18; 6:12,13; Heb. 7:l8

5) Rom. 8:14; I Cor. 2:15; 3:1; Gal. 6:1

6) Rom. 7:6; 8:2,13

7) Rom. 7:18; Gal. 3:3; 4:9; 5:4,7

Notes

1. In order to understand the conflict between flesh and Spirit, we must especially seek to have a clear insight into the connection between Romans, chapters 7 and 8. In Romans 7, verse 6, Paul spoke of the twofold way of serving God, the one in the oldness of the letter, the other in the newness of the Spirit. In Romans 7, verses 14-16, he describes the first way; in Romans 8, verses 1-16, he describes the second. This appears clearly when we observe that in chapter 7 he mentions the Spirit only once, the law more than twenty times; while in chapter 8, he mentions the Spirit sixteen times. In Romans 7 we see the regenerate soul, just as he is in himself with his new nature–desirous, but powerless to fulfil the law, and mourning as one who “is captive under the law of sin.” In Romans 8 we hear him say, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 7 describes the ever-abiding condition of the Christian, contemplated as renewed, but not experiencing by faith the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 describes his life in the freedom which the Spirit of God really gives from the power of sin.

2. It is important to understand that the conflict between grace and works, between faith and one’s own power, between the Holy Spirit and confidence in ourselves and the flesh, always continues to go on. This applies not only to conversion and the reception of the righteousness of God, but even further into a walk in this righteousness. The Christian has to watch very carefully against the deep inclination of his heart to still work in his own behalf when he sees anything wrong in himself, or when he would follow after holiness, instead of always and only trusting in Jesus Christ, and so serving God in the Spirit.

3. In order to clarify the opposition between the two methods of serving God, let me consecutively cite, in their entirety, the passages in which they are expressed with special distinctions. Compare them with care. Pray to God for the Spirit in order to make you understand them. Take deeply to heart the lesson as to how you are to serve God well, and how not to serve Him.

“The circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter” (Rom. 2:29).

“To him that worketh not but believeth, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).

“Ye are not under the law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).

“We are delivered from the law, that we should serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6).

“We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14).

“The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4).

“Ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:15).

“The righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? Who shall descend into the deep? But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart” (Rom. 10:5-8).

“If by grace, then it is no more of works” (Rom. 11:6).

“I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal.2:20).

“The just shall live by faith; yet the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them” (Gal. 3:11,12).

“If the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise” (Gal. 3:18).

“So that thou art no more a servant, but a son” (Gal. 4:7).

“Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free” (Gal. 4:31).

“Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18).

“Who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

“Another priest, who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” (Heb. 7:16).

4. Beloved Christian, you have received the Holy Spirit from the Lord Jesus to reveal Him and His life in you, and to mortify the working of the body of sin. Pray often to be filled with the Spirit. Live in the joyful faith that the Spirit is in you, as your Comforter and Teacher, and that through Him all will be right. Learn this text by heart, and let it live in your heart and on your lips, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).