ONE of the rich blessings of the church is the diversity of different teachers and perspectives. Paul wrote:
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Cor. 3:9-11
THE key phrase here is taking heed to only that which is Jesus Christ.
AS we are looking at Part 4 of The Complete Green Letters – The Realization of Spiritual Growth, in particular Chapter 41 – “Three Steps in Reckoning” – this may seem like unfamiliar territory; so it might be good to be reminded of our foundational/confessional truths. Here I would refer you to Captive Thoughts, directing you to Westminster Shorter Catechism Q#35 – What is Sanctification? Therein, note the reference to Larger Catechism questions 75, 78, & 77. No, that is not a typo. I prefer and believe a better reading of those three catechism questions is in that order.
I BELIEVE refreshing our thoughts in the Confessional Standards may help us appreciate what Miles Stanford is saying here in The Realization of Spiritual Growth, saying the same things, albeit from a different perspective. I do not believe I have ever quite heard Christ referred to as the Liberator before, but I really like how Stanford ended the previous comments, saying:
“Certainly we must believe and appropriate these truths, but the actual liberation comes as the result of our intimate, personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Simply put, the principle is: liberation is in the Liberator.”
WHEN you think upon it, the phrasing the liberation is in the Liberator, does seem to fit our daily struggles and enslavement to sin and unbelief. With that said, let’s continue our look at the “Three Steps of Reckoning – Part 2.”
In the inexorable riches of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas 1:2; Prov. 21:30
*********
Chapter 41—Three Steps in Reckoning – Part 2
The reckoning that counts is made up of three essential steps. Most believers stop at the first, many stop at the second, but none can know the true results of reckoning apart from reliance upon all three factors. Our freedom from domination by the sinful Adamic life was completed positionally through our identification with the Lord Jesus on Calvary. There we shared His death unto sin, and from there we entered into His life unto God. From this eternal position in Christ, our experiential freedom and growth are carried out as we: (1) Know, and reckon upon, the identification truths; (2) Abide, and rest, in our Liberator; (3) Depend upon, and walk in, the Spirit. Not just the first step, not even the first and second, but all three comprise the walk of reckoning!
(1) Know and Reckon
When we first realize our identification with the Lord Jesus according to Romans 6:1–10, we begin to count upon these wonderful truths as we are enjoined in verse 11. Often there is a definite crisis in the life at this time, as some emancipation from bondage is experienced. But it isn’t long before most “reckoners” go into spiritual shock; they do not understand that this initial taste of liberation is but a strengthening vision, a brief time of knowing something of what lies ahead. Our Lord removes fluctuating experience so that eternal truth, clear and steady, may be our foundation. We are not to rely upon experiences for growth and maturity no matter how wonderful and stimulating they seem to be.
As we learn more of the truth upon which we are reckoning, our knowledge becomes a set heart-attitude: I have died unto sin: I am alive in Christ unto God (Rom. 6:11). Although our initial reckoning may bring blessing, its primary purpose is to foster the twofold process of growth: “always delivered unto death … that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh [body]” (2 Cor. 4:11 italics ours).
(2) Abide and Rest
Each of us must become aware of our union of life in the risen Lord; we are a branch in the True Vine. By means of this awareness we learn to abide. We simply rest where we have been newly created—in Christ. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4, 5). Not only is the written Word to be counted upon, but the Living Word is to be rested in.
(3) Depend and Walk
The liberating principle is fully embraced by including the final step: walking in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Deep within our spirit He abides forever, and there, through our study, He teaches us the truth of our position. Then, as we reckon upon the truth taught, He applies the crucifixion of the cross to the old man, and ministers the life of Christ to the new. “Walk in [depend upon] the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:2). Our reckoning becomes effective as we count upon the Word, abide in the Lord, and walk in the Spirit.
Another subtle reason why our reckoning flounders in the midst of these steps is that our motives are centered in self. We know and count upon identification for our liberation; we abide and rest in Him for our growth and peace; and we seek to depend upon and walk in the Spirit for our empowering and fruitfulness. Is it any wonder we have to be child-trained and led into a Christ-centered attitude?
…to be continued
