WE love short cuts. We are not a patient people. When we pray for things like patience; but we want it now. That’s why patience –long suffering- is part of the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), it is not a natural possession. The point is, patience is a necessity for just about all that we encounter in life, there are no short cuts without consequences, especially when it comes to this thing, we call the Christian life.
THE Christian life is a process each and every one of us must go through if we are to grow aright. Oh yes, the path traveled by each individual may differ in timing and place, and some may acquire the course of study a little quicker or slower than others. But the process is the same and the course of study is unavoidable. What we need to be reminded of over and over again is, “do the process.” Try to leave out a step, and it’s “do-over” time. That is the point of today’s opening paragraphs to our next chapter of study in Positional Truth. What our author says in the first sentence is singularly important:
Each faith-step we take concerning the facts of our position prepares us for the following one, since every succeeding step is established upon all that precedes.”
THIS is true about everything thing in life, especially our understanding of Christ and our walk in Him, –all that we do in faith and practice. In all my many years I’ve learned this very important lesson and necessity to “do the process,” take each step in sequence, the need for patient perseverance for valid progress and success.
WITH that said, and with the backdrop of the preceding comment and reminder concerning the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints found in WLC 79-81, here is today’s consideration and opening to Chapter 22, Completeness and Security.
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa. 30:15 & Job 2:10
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Chapter 22—Completeness and Security
Each faith-step we take concerning the facts of our position prepares us for the following one, since every succeeding step is established upon all that precedes. Our faith grows by feeding upon properly related scriptural truth. “For precept must be upon precept … line upon line …” (Isa. 28:10). “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord …” (Ps. 37:23).
Many hungry-hearted believers are struggling to get into the experience of Romans Eight when they are not yet resting in the facts of Romans Three. They feel guilty because they fall far short of the heights of Ephesians and Colossians, when in fact they do not adequately know peace with God in Romans Five, to say nothing of identification with Christ in Romans Six. The experience of Romans Seven is well known, however. It is absolutely necessary to allow the Holy Spirit to take us along in God’s sequence of Scripture, as each plane of truth is foundational for the next. Skip over one, and firm footing for the next is lost. “Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not” (Ps. 17:5).
Complete in Him
Once we are scripturally assured of our justification, reconciliation, and acceptance in the Lord Jesus, we are to feed upon the truth of our completeness in Him. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord [by faith], so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving… For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him…” (Col. 2:6, 7, 9, 10).
All we will ever need for our Christian life, now and forever, is ready and waiting in the Lord Jesus, complete and accessible. Our condition is absolutely dependent upon our completed Source. Faith rests upon our Father’s scriptural testimony as to what He has already done for and with us in Christ, never upon what He is doing for and with us in our present condition. Faith in the Vine brings forth fruit in the branches.
Resting in our position in the Lord Jesus has a direct effect upon our condition. When we know that our Father has already made us complete in Christ, we are able to trust Him in the midst of His development of that completeness in our spiritual condition. Without the knowledge of this finished work in the Lord Jesus, our faith lacks the necessary confidence that He will make sure progress in our daily growth. …….to be continued
