THE previous reading of Chapter 49 – Reckoning in Galatians 2:20 – Part 2, ended with:
“The subject of our reckoning may be further clarified by separating the three parts of the one heart-attitude:”
The three parts we will now be explored in our reading, referencing once again our: 1) Identification with Christ, 2) understanding correctly our death and resurrection at the point of the cross, and 3) our faith apprehension that the grip has been broken in all three aspects of my Christian life – knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Rom 6:6).
THERE are different ways to state this, and here our author provides instruction to help “further clarify” this important teaching. I’ve heard it said and read that Reformed Teaching does not adequately address this instruction, proving the fact that many simply do not do their homework. Few read and study reformed teaching beyond the Shorter Catechism, and it is here I like to quote the Larger: WLC Q75. What is sanctification?
Answer: Sanctification is a work of God’s grace, whereby they whom God hath, before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are in time, through the powerful operation of his Spirit[a] applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them[b], renewed in their whole man after the image of God[c]; having the seeds of repentance unto life, and all other saving graces, put into their hearts[d], and those graces so stirred up, increased, and strengthened[e], as that they more and more die unto sin, and rise unto newness of life[f].
a. Eph. 1:4; 1Cor. 6:11; 2Thes. 2:13
b. Rom. 6:4-6
c. Eph. 4:23-24
d. Acts 11:18; 1John 3:9
e. Jude 20; Heb. 6:11-12; Eph. 3:16-19; Col. 1:10-11
f. Rom. 6:4, 6, 14; Gal. 5:24
THIS is such a beautiful confessional statement, but it needs explanation; thus the writing of many books and instruction manuals.
ONE note I need to make here before we approach our reading. …Our author references “water baptism by immersion” as a pictorial testimony to what is being described. I would differ with him on this point of baptism. But, be it immersion or washing, the principle remains intact and the same regarding our identification and renewal in Christ (Titus 3:5).
WITH that introduction, let us get to our reading of Reckoning in Galatians 2:20 – Part 3. It is somewhat longer than I normally post, but important as a whole to our mediation and complete understanding.
In the inexorable riches of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas 1:2; Prov. 21:30
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Chapter 49—Reckoning in Galatians 2:20 – Part 3
The subject of our reckoning may be further clarified by separating the three parts of the one heart-attitude:
(1) Identified with Christ, “we have become united with him in the likeness of his death” (Rom. 6:5, ASV). We were spiritually baptized into His death by virtue of being identified with Him. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3). This has reference to the true baptism of the Spirit. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). Water baptism by immersion is a pictorial testimony of this finished work. Knowing ourselves to have been identified with Christ, we are able to reckon ourselves to have died unto sin.
(2) Reckoning that we died at the cross in Christ is not reckoning ourselves to be dead now. We passed through death, and are forever alive as new creations in Him. God “hath quickened [enlifed, re-created] us together, with Christ … and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5, 6). Being brought out of death in His resurrection gives us ground upon which to reckon ourselves alive unto God in Christ.
(3) As for the Adamic “law of sin which is in my members,” we reckon upon the fact that it has been crucified (not “destroyed”), its power over us as new creations “broken,” and “rendered void.” As we reckon upon this truth, the Holy Spirit applies the crucifixion of the cross to self, and we are progressively freed from its influence while walking in dependence upon the Spirit. If we become careless, or choose to walk in the flesh and draw from the resources of self, the old man is at once free to bring forth “the works of the flesh” in our members. But as we increase in knowledge of the finished work, and allow the cross to separate us in experience from the Adamic source while the Spirit develops the new life within us, we grow in the “not I, but Christ” walk.
There is further light on the principle of distinctions in Romans 7:19 and 20. Here, the mighty Paul is learning that in his own strength he is powerless against the indwelling law of sin. “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” Note the distinction between the two sources within—sins flowing from the old source, not the new. He also discovers that even as a new creation in Christ, he cannot by his own endeavors overcome indwelling sin.
The fallen Adam life within, the very embodiment of the principle of sin, can do nothing but sin. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). The Last Adam, the very life of Christ within, cannot sin, and is manifested as “the fruit of the Spirit.” “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin … and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (I John 3:9). As we reckon upon the crucifixion of the first Adam source, the flow of indwelling sin is progressively cut off by the daily work of the cross. And while we reckon upon our new life in the Last Adam, the flow of His endless life is increasingly deepened by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
The source of our Christian life is distinctly revealed in Romans 8:9: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ [the Holy Spirit], he is none of his.” God sees us as “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.” We are to reckon likewise. ….to be continued
