Continuance – from “do” to “be”
THERE is a line in today’s consideration of particular note, “It is a matter not so much of that from which we are saved as of that unto which we are saved.”
AS we come to the end of our study in Principles of Spiritual Growth, looking at this last chapter titled Continuance, we see a perspective with an objective goal in view; a goal that causes us to press on that we might obtain the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14). Paul writes, My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, Gal. 4:19 KJV. And again, Rom. 8:29 – For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. All this takes time and continuance. Paul reminds us repeatedly of the necessity to press on that we may apprehend that for which we have been apprehended in Christ. (Phil 3:12)
SO often Paul speaks of our walking “worthy of our calling,” knowing and understanding the “hope of our calling;” yet that perspective of “calling,” purpose, and objective stature in Christ as heirs of Christ is so often lost in the trifles and surrounding noise and distractions of our daily lives.
WE need to constantly be reminded – “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Col 3:1-4)
WITH that in mind, let us take a look now at today’s consideration.
In the inexorable riches of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas. 1:2
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Chapter 18—Continuance – Part 2
“Sonship is something more than being born again. It represents growth into fullness. It is quite a good thing to be a babe while babyhood lasts, but it is a bad thing to be a babe when that period is past. This is the condition of many Christians. While sonship is inherent in birth, in the New Testament sense sonship is the realization of the possibilities of birth. It is growth to maturity. So the New Testament has a lot to say about growing up, leaving childhood and attaining unto full stature. With this growth comes the greater fullness of Christ and the abundant wealth unto which we are saved. It is a matter not so much of that from which we are saved as of that unto which we are saved” The grand climax of the new creation is ‘the revealing of the sons of God’ (Rom. 8:19) -T. A-S
In the beginning we are mainly taken up with the externals of our Christian life, and the Lord allows this for a time. Then, in order to get us and our externals out of the way so that the Lord Jesus Christ can be our all, our Father begins to take away much of what we thought we had. Here begins the long cross-centered transition from “do” to “be.”
All this paradoxical progress—the way up being down—has a strong tendency to make us feel that the Lord is not taking us on. This is simply a weapon of the enemy, easily parried by letting God be God in the scriptural knowledge that He is our Father. “The spiritual life follows closely the course of the natural life: infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, maturity. It is, however, necessary to note that the word of God makes it very evident that the last governs all the others. Full growth governs all in the mind and will and heart and finished work of God, and it is subnormal to stay at any stage short of that end. All the Lord’s dealings with us in discipline and ordering are governed by this end – to increase the measure of Christ in us. –T.A-S To be continued…
