WE are the 12th chapter in Principles of Spiritual Growth, titled The Cross. We have looked at the first four paragraphs. In my precious comment, I made a lengthy observation based on our authors words:
“Studying these truths is hard work. Right? Although spiritual hunger and need are prime requisites for light and understanding, the Holy Spirit does not release the treasures of the Word quickly nor easily.
I’M going to attempt to be brief and get right to our reading. But first, here’s a question. We know the author’s statement is true, but why is it? Why did our Lord Jesus speak in parables hard to comprehend? Why are the deep things of God so hard to ferret out and get our fingers, head, and heart wrapped around? Why are things so hard at times, and just not easier? …There’s an old saying, “Easy come, easy go.” The fact is, the more we struggle and get entwined with a thing, the more it becomes our own and a part of who we are.
I HAVE a small box I often open to reveal it’s content to my students and children. It is a “preserved” half decomposed oak acorn seed with an upward shoot topped off with a couple of small green oak leaves, connected to a downward root seeking soil. It shows how the seed dies and gives its life in sacrifice to produce and grow another thing, a tree. It is a process on display throughout the created order of things – a fitting metaphor to the Christian life. (John 12:24)
“When God wants to make an oak tree, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash, he requires only two months.” – James Garfield
WELL, enough. Let’s see what else our author has to say, and pick up where we left off in the 12th chapter of Principles of Spiritual Growth, titled The Cross – Part 2.
In the blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10; Isa. 30:15; Jas. 1:2
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Chapter 12—The Cross – Part 2
As our Substitute He went to the cross alone, without us, to pay the penalty of our sins; as our Representative, He took us with Him to the cross, and there, in the sight of God, we all died together with Christ. We may be forgiven because He died in our stead; we may be delivered because we died with Him. God’s way of deliverance for us, a race of hopeless incurables, is to put us away in the cross of His Son, and then to make a new beginning by re-creating us in union with Him, the Risen, Living One (II Cor. 5:17). It is the Holy Spirit who will make these great facts real and true in our experience as we cooperate with Him; and so the plague of our hearts will be stayed, and we shall be transformed into the likeness of Christ.
Through the crucifixion of the old man with Christ the believer has been made dead unto sin, he has been completely freed from sin’s power, he has been taken beyond sin’s grip, the claim of sin upon him has been nullified. This is the flawless provision of God’s grace but this accomplished fact can only become an actual reality in the believer’s experience as faith lays hold upon it and enables him moment by moment, day by day, though temptation assail him, ‘to reckon’ it true. As he reckons, the Holy Spirit makes real; as he continues to reckon, the Holy Spirit continues to make real. Sin need have no more power over the believer than he grants it through unbelief. If he is alive unto sin it will be due largely to the fact that he has failed to reckon himself dead unto sin.
The Reformation brought into focus once again the emphasis upon spiritual birth, without which there can be no beginning. What is lacking amongst believers to this day is the proper emphasis on growth—not just to be saved, and heaven by and by. What sort of salvation would we have if our Father simply saved us from the penalty of our sins and then left us on our own to deal with the power of sin in our Christian life and walk? But most believers feel this is about as far as He went and are struggling to get on the best they can, with His help. And this is the Galatian error, so prominent even now throughout born-again circles. …to be continued
