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« Reply #45 on: May 25, 2012, 09:13:49 AM »

2-13. CONVICTED, OR FILLED?

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts" (Galatians 4:6).

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, it is to remove self from the throne of our hearts. When the Holy Spirit fills us, it is to place the Lord Jesus on the throne of our hearts. Ours is the choice--"not I, but Christ" (Galatians 2:20); His is the work, for He is "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:2).

"The great secret of the Christian life is found in ceasing from self, in which the power of the Cross manifests itself in us. We all know how our Lord Jesus, ere He could receive the new life from the Father in glory, and the gift of the Holy Spirit through whom He could impart His life to His people, had first to give up the life He lived upon earth. He had to take His place among the dead in utter weakness and helplessness before He could live again by the power of God. His death on the Cross was indispensable to the life of the Spirit.

"And as it was with Christ, so it must be with us. As we yield ourselves to be united with Him in the likeness of His death, we can share with Him in the glory and power of the life of the Spirit. To know what the Holy Spirit means, implies the knowing of what death means. The Cross and the Spirit are inseparable. The soul that understands that the death to self is in Christ the gate to true life, is in the right way to learn what and who the Holy Spirit is." -A.M.

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #46 on: May 26, 2012, 02:54:58 PM »

The way of the cross ended for Christ at His death but continues with us--with our old nature, even after our rebirth. Being born again is an irrevocable occurrence (Rom 11:29) and involves our being positioned with Christ through co-crucifixion first (Gal 2:20), then co-resurrection and co-ascension with Him (Eph 2:5, 6).

Christ’s cross effected atonement for sin and our initial co-crucifixion effected freedom from the guilt of sin (Rom 8:1) and its’ ruler-ship (Rom 6:12, 14). Being void of sin’s guilt allows us to be in a state of being freed from its’ rule--by the on-going co-crucifixion of our old nature (“take up his cross daily” and “die daily”).

It has been said that “religion is man reaching out to God but Christianity is God reaching out to man”. Well intentioned as they may be, many attempt to establish acceptance with God through their own means but as we know, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Pro 16:25). We must continually remind ourselves the way of acceptance is the way of the Cross. I like explaining the Cross in that the vertical axis has an arrow pointing downward, bringing God down to us and the horizontal axis brings us to one another. The vertical axis is maintained when the horizontal axis is performed (1Jo 4:20; Mat 22:37-40).

“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John the Baptist; John 3:30). Our new nature from Christ will increase, as He Himself cannot vary (Hbr 13:8; Mal 3:6), “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” or new nature (Eph 3:16), as we decrease in our old nature by the ongoing co-crucifixion.

God loves us and who we are, with the identity of our personhood apart from the old nature. It isn’t the person He wants to decrease but the person’s old nature because the person is eternally indwelled with the Spirit (John 14:16) in our “divinely-partaken” (2Pe 1:4) new nature.

“We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1Jo 3:2), in our co-glorified body (Phl 3:21; Rom 8:23) upon “the redemption of our body (Rom 8:23). -NC


2-14. CONTINUOUS CROSS

"For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:11).

The indwelling Lord Jesus is the source of our life of liberation; the Cross is the means to it. As we abide in Him and He in us, we are to reckon upon the finished work of Calvary to deal progressively with self. It is on this basis alone that the life of Jesus will be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11).

"God has taken the old creation and has condemned it in Christ, and is now working on the new creation. There is no place in the plan of God for the betterment of the old creation. He does not bring about some kind of transformation of the old man so as to produce some kind of resemblance to Christ in Christian character and conduct. There is only one place for the old creation, and that is the Cross.

"But it is not enough for us to say it is there crucified with Christ. Crucifixion was a lingering death, and while we stand once for all upon the fact of God, which is eternal and unchangeable, when our Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross He took more than our sins with Him; He took our old man and dealt with the source of all our sin, and dealt with it satisfactorily. While we stand on that fact, there has to be the daily working out of the victory which Christ has won for us; there has to be the daily dying to this old self. The Holy Spirit has to work into us the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in all its wonderful power and purpose." -G.W.

"Being made conformable unto his death" (Phil 3:10).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #47 on: May 27, 2012, 09:09:58 AM »

2-15. INDWELT TO BE FILLED

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8:9).

The believer knows that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit on the testimony of the written Word; others know when the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit by the growing manifestation of the Living Word.

"There are believers who need the reminder that deeper than mind and feeling and will, deeper than the soul, where these have their seat, in the depths of the renewed spirit, there comes, at re-birth, the Holy Spirit to dwell forever. His indwelling is there, first of all, and all through, to be recognized by faith. Even when I cannot see the least evidence of His working, I am quietly and reverently to believe that He dwells in me. In that faith I am restfully and trustfully to count upon His working, and to wait for it. In that faith I must very distinctly deny my own wisdom and strength, and in childlike self-abnegation depend upon Him to work.

"His first workings may be so feeble and hidden that I can hardly recognize them as coming from Him; they may appear to be nothing more than the voice of conscience, or the familiar sound of some Bible truth. Here is the time for faith to hold fast the Master's promise and the Father's gift, and to trust that the Holy Spirit is within and will guide. Out of the hidden depths His power will move and take possession of mind and will, and the indwelling in the hidden recesses of the spirit will grow into a being filled with His fullness." -A.M.

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #48 on: May 28, 2012, 02:49:12 PM »

We do well to know that the Christian life is to be the vicariously-lived Christ-life; not us trying to live the Christ-life but a “yielded life to God” (Rom 6:13), so that Christ can un-hinderingly live His life in and by us—through His Spirit. This involves understanding that we partake of all godly attributes, e.g. righteousness, justification, sanctification, holiness, etc., by way of imputation ((1Cr 1:30), not impartation, because everything we have in Christ originates from and is permanently retained (Jude 1:24) by Him.  –NC


2-16. LEGAL CONFLICT

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1)

If we are weak in understanding the principle of complete justification by faith, we will be strong in seeking to produce our own sanctification.

"In Romans Seven Paul is describing the inevitable conflict that every believer knows when he undertakes to lead a holy life on the principle of legality. He feels instinctively that the law is spiritual, but that he himself, for some unexplained reason, is fleshly, carnal, and in bondage to sin. This discovery is one of the most heart-breaking a Christian ever made. Yet each one must and does make it for himself at some time in his pilgrimage.

"The believer finds himself doing things he knows to be wrong, and which his inmost desires are opposed to; while what he yearns to do he fails to accomplish, and does, instead, what he hates. But this is the first part of a great lesson which all must learn who would matriculate (enroll) in God's school. It is the lesson of no confidence in 'the flesh'; and until it is learned there can be no true progress in growth. The incorrigibility of the flesh must be realized before one is ready to turn altogether from self to Christ for sanctification, as he has already done for justification." -H.A.I.

"As conviction of guilt goes before known justification, so the experiential knowledge of self before sanctification. No effort clears the guilt; no effort effects the growth."

"That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith" (Acts 26:18).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #49 on: May 29, 2012, 10:43:44 AM »

The enemy of the believer can hinder his fellowship with God but cannot produce anything against his union with God (John 10:29; Rom 8:35, 38, 39). Understanding our position in Christ helps us to properly deal with our condition in life.

 

The Father has identified the believer’s spiritual life with His Son in where He is—in Heaven with the Father (Eph 2:6) and what He is—Son of the Father (Rom 8:16).

Our condition on Earth—victorious or not, cannot effect our position in Heaven because “it is finished” (John 19:30). Regardless of our understanding, the knowledge of our place in Heaven can always be used as an aid while we “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2Ti 2:3), “because as He is, so are we in this world” (1Jo 4:17).


2-17. HIGHLY PLACED

"O our God . . . we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee" (2 Chronicles 20:12).

Many believers have gone only as far as justification can take them--spiritual birth, and a bit beyond. There they stagnate, in dire need of the fresh streams of living water that come from seeing their position in Christ. "God . . . hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). "Always begin with your position, where you are; and then think of your condition, what you are." -R.P.

"Christians are at their wits' end. Many have given up the fight. They still go to church; but secretly they feel that victory is out of the question. They have no weapons for such an hour. Frankly, they have capitulated to the prince of this world, for all their efforts to rout the foe have failed.

"But victory is the believer's right, as truly his as the air he breathes. However, he must understand the conditions. He must see himself enthroned with Christ. He must see himself according to God's own Holy Word, as crucified with the Lord Jesus, dead, buried, raised and made to sit in heavenly places with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without this he will go down in ignominious defeat in spite of all his strivings and his prayers. With this position he is more than conqueror through Him who loved him and gave Himself for him." -F.J.H.

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith"(1 John 5:4).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #50 on: May 30, 2012, 08:19:21 AM »

2-18. DEVOTED DISCIPLE

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love" (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

The Cross cost God all that He had, for us. That same Cross will cost us all that we are, for Him, for growth, for others."For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:11,12).

"Devotion, utter devotion, to God's purpose concerning His people, is going to make the uttermost demand upon any servant of God. It is going to test and find out our spirit of service. And if we are going to be used of God in this utter way, it is going to bring us to the point where we have nothing left to fall back upon, either of personal interest, position, or blessing: it is simply a matter of God, and God only! If God does not do it, we are finished. We have no alternative; we have no second line; we are in this matter of the Lord's purpose to the last drop of blood. The purpose of God in His people will demand that. It is no use--we cannot have any alternatives; we cannot have a second course: it is everything or nothing." -T. A-S.

"There are those who would be more useful in the Lord's work if only they were more devoted. They are absorbed in something else, and this not only distracts them from their work, but when they do set themselves to it, there is not that maturity, that finished condition of soul, that knowledge of hearts, and of the way in which the Word suits itself to their needs, which gives lasting value to ministry." -J.N.D.

"They loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12.11).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #51 on: May 31, 2012, 11:54:42 AM »

Our decisions are based on what we desire and for the believer, the Father—through the Spirit, is ever at work causing us to choose rightly. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for [His] good pleasure” (Phil2:13). “Therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deu 30:19).

Self cannot cast out self anymore then “Satan can cast out Satan”, so it must be done by an external entity—the Holy Spirit. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal 5:17).

This accomplishment is not a legal matter, such as our good works overcoming the indwelling sin, because our good works are for the sole purpose of acknowledging God (Mat 5:16). It’s a matter of Grace, by just being aware of our old, Adamic nature and continually yielding it to Christ’s atonement, then“casting your care” of it on Him (1Pe 5:7). The Spirit through the Cross’s power will “bind the strong man” (Mat 12:29) and you will noticeably grow in your fellowship with the Father and the Son. -NC

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD (Zec 4:6).


2-19. NOT OBLIGATED

"The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7).

Early in the Christian life we naturally feel that it is our obligation to overcome self and become spiritual. We do not yet realize that time and processing are required before we are able to give up self-effort for our growth. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, not our obligation. "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

"

The self-life is surely our first and most bitter foe, and the believer who will serve God acceptably must learn His way of victory over this subtle and dangerous enemy. The flesh is irrecoverably fallen and you and I make no real progress in the Christian life until we have learned in experience to say with the apostle: 'For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing' (Romans 7:18)." -J.C.M.

"Paul's great endeavor, in all his great struggle of Romans Seven, was to make 'the flesh,' his old self-life, consent to do that holy law which his new self approved. Paul had not yet despaired of himself. The fact is, he had not yet realized the absolute distinction between the old and the new creations. And it was through this terrible experience that he found the new or 'inward' man to be distinct from the old man; that the realm of 'the spirit' was absolutely separate from that of 'the flesh', that all of the old self, with its life and energy, was to be despaired of, not sanctified."

"For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #52 on: June 01, 2012, 09:55:47 AM »

2-20. SAFE BEYOND QUESTION

"Neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27).

To a large extent, we will be pawns of the devil until we stand on the specific facts of the Bible and assert, "I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and am a new creation in Him on the basis of the finished work of Calvary. He is my life; my death in Him on the Cross separated me from the dominion of all the old creation. As far as my Lord and I are concerned, Satan, sin, self, the world, and the law, all are on the other side of that death." "We never get into conflict with Satan until we realize our privileges in Christ. We cannot cross the Jordan without finding the Canaanites in the land."

"Satan may challenge my clearance and my acceptance; he may raise all kinds of questions about what I am and what I have done, but he can raise no questions as to the worthiness or acceptance of my Savior. The forgiven man is on an altogether new ground with God; he is on the ground of grace--grace which is set forth in Christ. The apprehension of this is redemption, and it puts the soul beyond the reach of the oppression and harassing of the enemy." -C.A.C.

"If the first step in the Christian course were definitely understood the saints would have a happier time. If they saw that the power of the old man was broken on the Cross, and that in Christ they are new creations before God, they would walk here in deliverance. 'You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.'" -J.B.S.

"Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour. Withstand him, firm in your faith" (1 Peter 5:8,9, Wey.).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #53 on: June 02, 2012, 01:29:32 PM »

2-21. ONE STANDARD--CHRIST

"So then let us once for all quit the elementary teaching about Christ and continue progressing; toward maturity"(Hebrews 6:1, Wms.).

When the standard of the Christian life is low, the responsibility for growth is placed upon the believer. But when it is known that God's standard for us is His Son, all expectation of maturity must be placed in Him--"for it is God which worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

"The Lord Jesus Christ is the Christian's very life, and the Holy Spirit dwells within our spirit to manifest Him, to work out all that is in Him and to reproduce Him in us. We must remember that there is something in the sight of God that is higher than work. There is Christ-likeness. That is our Father's purpose, and it is His work." -A.M.

"It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to the Lord Jesus. A holy ministry is an awful weapon in the hands of God." -R.M.Mc.

"In a great many evangelical churches the Gospel of salvation is magnificently presented, seekers are led to Christ; but the totality of the Gospel, the Gospel in its ultimate category, is by no means so clearly presented, nor maybe even understood by teacher as well as pupil. It is evidenced by exhortation to Christian living being mainly challenges to pray more, study more, give more, witness more, surrender more. The emphasis is predominantly on the active dedication of the Christian to his Lord, and to a much less degree on the dynamic remolding of the believer by his Lord."

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:10).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #54 on: June 03, 2012, 10:14:14 AM »

Until I receive further confirmation from WithChrist.org, I will no longer be posting Hungry Heart material. You can view it from the above site. My apologies and God’s blessings to you.
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« Reply #55 on: June 03, 2012, 05:40:22 PM »

Until I receive further confirmation from WithChrist.org, I will no longer be posting Hungry Heart material. You can view it from the above site. My apologies and God’s blessings to you.

I'm very sorry to hear this. Hungry Heart Daily Devotional is excellent and will be missed. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Love In Christ,
Tom
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« Reply #56 on: June 05, 2012, 10:03:12 AM »

Thanks nChrist for showing your concern and God's blessings to you and yours! It's looking like I may be allowed to continue with the HH series soon.
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« Reply #57 on: June 11, 2012, 11:34:07 AM »

I thank the Lord and WithChrist.org for allowing us to continue to share the Hungry Heart material with one another!
I'll be posting two each for four days so all the websites who receive this will catch up to the non-websites I message this material.


2-22. WAITING ON GOD

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7).

In times of crisis, we are prone to question His care; in times of calm, we tend to forget our need of His care.

"Don't look at earthly difficulties. Saul said, 'Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not. . . therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me' (1 Sam. 13:11,12). It is fatal to look around and at consequences, especially in times of crisis, for it will be impossible to be still, and wait God's time for deliverance. Jesus came to them in the fourth watch of the night (Matthew 14:25). It is always His way. God is never behind time! However dark the path may be, wait; do not go before Him, don't force yourself, like Saul. 'The crisis demands action,' we say! Nay, 'dwell in stillness and wait for clearness'--wait until you are sure of the will of God, and leave the 'Philistines' to Him." -T. A-S.

"Victory comes through the reckoning of faith and not through struggling and striving. 'But,' it may be asked, 'are we not exhorted to 'fight the good fight'? Yes, that is so, but you must please finish the text, 'Fight the good fight of faith,' and faith never struggles for victory. Faith stands in victory."

"The unbelieving heart looks at the circumstances, and leaves God out. Faith, on the contrary, looks only at God, and leaves circumstances out. Faith delights in man's extremity, simply because it is God's opportunity. It delights in being 'shut up' to God--in having the platform thoroughly cleared of the creature, in order that God may display His glory."

'My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).

2-23. MOUNT SINAI, MOUNT ZION

"For you have not come to a material object all ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and storm and trumpet-blast and the sound of words" (Hebrews 12:18, Wey.).

Most of us know that we are not under the Law as summarized in the Ten Commandments, yet we continue to labor under the principle of law. We seek to attain, instead of to obtain. Not until we are driven to the end of Romans Seven will we know the freedom of Romans Eight.

"So long as one thinks that his blessing depends in any way, or in any degree, upon himself, he is under the shadow of Sinai, and naturally we all gravitate in that direction. Many truly converted persons are more occupied with themselves, and in trying to improve their own condition, than in seeking to learn the grace of God. The result is that where there is a shallow work in the soul they get lifted up with pride and conceit, and perhaps deceive themselves so far as to think there is no sin in them.

"On the other hand, if souls are upright and sincere they get into terrible distress, and experience what it is to have to do with Sinai-blackness, darkness, and tempest, so that a holy man like Moses could only 'exceedingly fear and quake.' Thank God! we are not come to that mountain, but to another--even to Mount Zion." -C.A.C.

"On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels, to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven" (Hebrews 12:22,23, Wey.).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #58 on: June 12, 2012, 09:53:56 AM »

2-24. ABIDING FAITH

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Colossians 2:6).

One day we came to Him in utter need and reliance, and received life. Every day we are to abide in Him in utter need and reliance, that He may live that life in and through us. We are born again by faith, and we are to live anew by faith. "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).

"There are earnest Christians who are jealous for a free Gospel, with acceptance of Christ, and justification by faith alone. But after this they think everything depends on their diligence and faithfulness. While they firmly grasp the truth, 'justified by faith,' they have hardly noticed the larger truth, 'the just shall live by faith.' They have not yet understood what a perfect Savior the Lord Jesus is, and how He will each day do for the sinner just as much as He did the first day when they came to Him.

"They know not that the life of grace is always and only a life of faith, and that in the relationship to the Lord Jesus the one daily and unceasing duty of the disciple is to believe, because believing is the one channel through which Divine grace and strength can flow into the heart of man. The old nature of the believer remains evil and sinful to the last; it is only as he daily comes, all empty and helpless, to his Savior to receive of His life and strength, that he can bring forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God." -A.M.

"Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:7).

__________________________________________________________________________ __________________

Fellowship with God is the ultimate obtainment with man and the degree of that fellowship is determined by the nearness of its union. To be in Christ involves more unification than to follow Him. To follow Christ is to attain an exemplary of Christ's life but to be in Christ is to obtain the life of Christ Himself which He lives out in us. “I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
-NC

2-25. UNITY OF DESIGN

"So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death" (Philippians 1:20).

If we look to other Christians as examples to follow, we will soon be discouraged by the prevailing low standard. If we look to Christ as our example, we will be utterly discouraged because of His infinitely high standard. Hence it is essential that we understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is our life; He is not a legal example to emulate, but the source of life from which we grow.

"It is not in any conventional standard of frames and feelings that the disciple is to find the measure of attainment required of him. It is not by any painful reproducing of another's spiritual history that he is to acquire the true comfort of spirit which he longs for.

Outward imitation, though it be of the perfect Example Himself, has little place in the order of spiritual growth--little place because little possibility. 'Without Me (i.e., apart from Me, in separation from Me) ye can do nothing.' To abide in Christ is the only secret of Christlikeness; for only thus is obtained the likeness of unity, which is perfect and enduring, instead of the likeness of conformity, which is only partial and transient." -A.J.G.

"In the pathway of discipline and trial we learn by bitter experience the truth of Paul's confession, 'In me. . . in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.' Coupled with that is the lesson that God waits with infinite patience, like the potter, to work out a design and beauty with such frail material." -M.H.F.

"And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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« Reply #59 on: June 13, 2012, 08:33:01 AM »

2-26. ACCEPTABLE CONSECRATION

"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).

If a Christian does not realize his identification with Christ in His death, he does not know true consecration. Crucifixion is the path to, and foundation of, consecration. The deeper truths are not entered into through consecration--they are its basis. "The price of consecration is crucifixion."

"'Present yourself unto God as alive from the dead' (Romans 6:13). This is the true ground of consecration. For believers to 'consecrate themselves to God' ere they have learnt their union with Christ in death and resurrection is only to present to God the members of the natural man, which He cannot use. Only those 'alive from the dead'--that is, having appropriated their likeness with Him in death--are bidden to present their members as instruments unto God."

"The modern teaching of consecration, which is tantamount to the consecration of the 'old man,' seeks to bypass the death sentence and therefore only leads to frustration and failure. When, however, you and I are prepared, in simple humility, to make the fact of our death with Christ our daily basis of life and service, there is nothing that can prevent the uprising and outflow of new life, and meet the need of thirsty souls around us." -J.C.M.

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors bound not to the Flesh, that we should live after the Flesh [but to the Spirit]" (Romans 8:12, Cony.).

2-27. FACTUAL FREEDOM

"You were set free from the tyranny of sin" (Romans 6:18, Wey.).

There are two extremes that keep many of us in bondage. The one is ignorance as to the possibility of freedom; the other, ignorance as to the extent of freedom. Careful attendance to the facts of the Word will solve both these crippling conditions.

"The New Testament teaches that the flesh is representatively dead in virtue of the Cross, but it nowhere says it will become actually dead by standing on that fact. What it does say is that, when reckoning the fact true, self will lose its governing power over me. In Romans Six we find that through the death of Christ, sin shall not have dominion over you--the idea is of bondage, ruling, governing, dominating. There is no such view presented as the annihilation of the thing, the exclusion of its presence, but the loss of its governing power. So you see if we are looking for the actual death of the old nature in us, we are looking for something that will never come to pass in this life." -N.D.

"Our Lord has never promised that we shall be able to look within, and say that self is gone. Whilst we really believe God's Word that we have died with Christ unto sin, and count upon Him as the Living One to manifest His life through us, others will see that self is inoperative, whilst we are occupied with Christ."

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" (Galatians 5:1).
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The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving us the power to live a life like His; but it is Christ Himself living His own life through us; 'no longer I, but Christ.'"
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