12 - CHAPTER 10: THIS LIFE IS A GIFT
THE VICTORIOUS LIFE IS ALL A GIFT RECEIVED IN FAITH AND IS NOT OBTAINED BY STRIVING AND STRUGGLING. This victorious life is a GIFT and is not to be secured by any struggling or striving on our part. It is not a thing to be attained to by long and laborious effort. It is not a thing we can reach gradually by growing more and more like Christ. This must be clearly seen.
All life comes as a gift. Our physical life-we just receive it. Our spiritual life is "the gift of God" (Romans 6:23). The life "more abundant" is a gift. We cannot receive a gift GRADUALLY. There may be hesitation or delay in taking it, there may be a struggle before we are willing to receive it. But a gift is accepted not gradually, but in a moment. It is obtained not attained. The Victorious Life, then, can be received by a definite act. There is, of course, a "growth in grace" in the man who is wholly sanctified-a going on to perfection as his capacity increases. But "this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). When we accept the Son as the Lord of all our being, we receive (as a gift) the LIFE. It is something God does for us-IN US. There is, however, often a long struggle before surrender. Many a Christian has a terrific struggle before he is willing to yield himself wholly to Christ. But this is before the Victorious Life begins. Victory begins only when struggling ceases. The moment you surrender yourself entirely to Christ and look to Him in faith to dwell in your entire heart, that moment He comes and takes control of you.
TAKING CHRIST AT HIS WORD This indwelling is quite independent of any feeling on your part. It is independent of any ideas of your own as to how He should manifest His presence. You must just take Him at His word and rest upon that-not upon any feeling. You may feel a wonderful thrill of joy. You may feel nothing unusual. Can you trust His promise?
Every Christian has to decide whether he will be wholly consecrated to God, or whether he will remain content to live the Christian life on a low level-which is ALWAYS a powerless one, and a perilous one. THE CRISIS AND THE PROCESS This DECISION FOR HOLINESS is a crisis in a Christian’s life. With it comes an instantaneous revelation of God to him, that Christ can be all in all; that Christ can and does give Victory over all known sin: not gradually but INSTANTANEOUSLY. "Having therefore these promises let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 7:1). The tense in the Greek shows that this is done at once as a definite and decisive act. This is the CRISIS of sanctification. But after this definite step of whole-hearted dedication of one’s self to God, there comes a life-long process of sanctification-a going on from strength to strength, from glory to glory. A PROCESS under which the believer becomes more and more conformed to the life and character of Christ. WHERE MANY BLUNDER
We have dwelt long on this point because the mistake the writer made (and which many of his readers have probably made) was to try to experience the process without first experiencing the crisis of sanctification. There is little-if any-growth in grace until we have claimed by surrender and faith the "life that is Christ." Have you experienced the crisis? Have you obeyed the command, "Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord"? (1 Peter 3:15.) Christ is in the heart of every believer as "JESUS"-Saviour. But is He indeed Lord? It is not a question of re-conversion, it is just a question of recognising the indwelling Christ as Master in His own house-my heart.
Remember, however, that surrender alone, that is, "decision," is not enough. That is only our part in giving up all hindrances to blessing. If surrender sufficed, then we should make sanctification to be a mere act of the WILL. We are neither saved nor sanctified by what we give up, but by what we receive. It is "the very God of peace Who sanctifies us wholly." After surrendering ourselves, we must look to Christ to crucify us and to raise us from the death to sin to live the resurrection life.
Let go-surrender: then "let God" do His part. But God will not allow any effort or struggle on your part to help Him. Salvation is entirely a gift of God: entirely of grace.
Now salvation is a threefold work: Past, Present and Future. Justification, sanctification and glorification.
ETERNAL LIFE A GIFT And it is all by faith. You cannot earn, or get, any part of it by your own efforts or struggles. "For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, that no man should glory" (Ephesians 2:8-9. See Romans 11:6). Paul goes even further than this. "Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law" (i.e., effort) (Galatians 5:4). When a man accepts Christ as a Saviour from the penalty of sin, he learns that Christ’s forgiveness is absolutely and entirely through faith. Sorrow for sin, good resolutions, and tears, often accompany repentance. But repentance does not save a man. We have to leave that to Christ. Justification is entirely the work of Christ; and faith in Him secures this salvation. We can do nothing whatever to gain or merit it. We accept it as a gift. When Christ shall come again, we shall be glorified. This is the future of salvation. In this work of glorification, we know we can do absolutely nothing. It is all of Christ.
LIFE MORE ABUNDANT-A GIFT
What about the present? That is, our sanctification (which is first a crisis and then a process). We have called this the Victorious Life. When we claim it by faith, there is the crisis. When we live it day by day, there is the process. Our Blessed Saviour justified us, and will glorify us by His own power entirely. Does He need or demand our help in the matter of sanctification? How much will our struggling and striving or agonising avail against the devil? Absolutely nothing. He is far stronger than we are. Does Christ, the Almighty Saviour, need my struggles to assist Him? Remember that our weakness will never be made strong. A dear Christian lady in an address on this subject said, "IS not the Christian life a long struggle? But thank God He gives us power to struggle!" Exactly the reverse is true. While we struggle, He cannot help us as He would, we limit and restrain His power. The Victorious Life is simply salvation in the present; and all salvation is entirely of grace- entirely of Christ-a GIFT. "As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, SO walk in Him" (Colossians 2:6). How did we receive Him? By simple faith. How are we to walk in Him; that is, live a Victorious Life? By simple FAITH. "If we live by the Spirit (i.e., eternal life is ours as a gift by the power of the Spirit), by the Spirit let us also walk" (Galatians 5:25). Do get hold of this truth: we may not, cannot in the smallest degree, share with Christ the work of accomplishing any part of our salvation. Yet so many of us imagine that in the matter of sanctification we must "paddle our own canoe."
TRUST, NOT STRUGGLE
Blaze it out in letters of fire, that Christ can, and will, save us from the power of sin every day and every hour without struggling, striving and agonising. If you struggle, you do not trust. Have not most of us learned from our own experience how useless our struggles are? Some besetting sin gets the better of us. How we struggle against it! How we agonise in prayer over it-even "standing on the promises of God" as we think. Yet we get up from our knees only to fall again and again into sin! Christ’s promises cannot give us power. Even faith cannot save us. Only Jesus Christ can do it. Are we willing to look to Him and trust Him to conquer our sin for us? He has conquered sin and Satan. HE-the Conqueror-is willing to come and fill our hearts and be OUR LIFE. "Sin shall NOT have dominion over you," says God’s Word (Romans 6:14). We may be "more than conquerors"-not by struggling, but entirely "through HIM that loved us" (Romans 8:37). What does it mean? Not only that the besetting sin will be conquered-but the very DESIRE to sin will be taken away.
Only Christ can do this. It is a wonderful MIRACLE. Some of us have proved this. A well-known character in London has recently passed to the life beyond the grave. He was a notorious drunkard, but marvellously saved by Christ. For weeks after his conversion he had an intense desire to drink coming upon him with almost overwhelming power. He fought and struggled against the temptation. Although an untutored man, he felt that God had a better way than this. Kneeling in a field in North London, he cried out, "O God, can’t you make a better job of me than this?" And God at once took away all desire to drink and the craving never returned. The saintly Bishop Moule confessed in an address to confirmation candidates that a severe and terrible temptation assailed him in the street. He added, "I stopped dead and said quickly, ’Holy Spirit, come it.’ Then I said to myself, ’The evil spirit, who is strong, is here. But I have the Holy Spirit, Who is Almighty, and I can leave Him to deal with the temptation.’" Christ does not give us power apart from Himself. "All power is given unto ME" said Christ. "And Lo! I am WITH YOU all the days" (Matthew 28:18, Matthew 28:20).
"For if while we were yet enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more being reconciled shall we BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE" (Romans 5:10) --i.e., by the living Christ living in us. He will keep us safe from the power of sin, if we will let Him. Christ can do this. He will do it. He does it in every life that trusts Him to do it.
SELF-EFFORT MEANS FAILURE
We have proved by our own experience that we cannot be good by self-effort. Stop trying to be good. Stop struggling, and let the Saviour do the great work for you. He came "to save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). We can reckon on Him. "The promise is to him that worketh not, but believeth" (Romans 4:5). "It is GOD that worketh in you both to will and to do" (Php 2:13).
"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Php 4:19). Dear Christian, is your most urgent NEED just deliverance from this awful sin? How you have struggled and agonised! Yet the supply is IN YOU! "Ah," you cry, "but you do not know how weak I am." No-but we thank God for your weakness. "My grace is sufficient for you-for My POWER is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Your weakness, which has been your lament, shall be your highest glory.
"Most gladly therefore will I glory in my weakness, that the power of Christ may cover me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). We can be kept ONLY "by the power of God through faith" (1 Peter 1:5). "Thanks be unto God which giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).
PRESSING TOWARDS THE GOAL Does this mean, then, that we need do nothing but sit down and sing psalms? Far, far from it! We have been speaking only of the matter of our own personal salvation-past, present, future. ALL of this must be accepted as a gift. But when Christ comes into the heart, He comes with power. "Ye shall be endued with power [Greek: DYNAMIS, like "dynamite" or "dynamo"] from on high" (Luke 24:49). Power is a thing which makes itself felt. "Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16) says Paul, whose teaching we have given above.
"We cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard" (Acts 4:20). Struggling and agonising play no part in our personal salvation. They merely hinder and hamper it. But we are in the midst of a wicked generation. The devil is strongly entrenched in the lives of men and women around us. They encourage temptation and welcome it. They find their greatest enjoyment in sin. They do not want to conquer sin. So Paul, who declares that salvation is all of faith, also warns us that we have a fight to wage, a race to win, a wrestling to engage in. "The God of peace shall bruise Satan" says Paul: but it is _under_OUR_FEET_ (Romans 16:20). The enemy’s Conqueror working in you will make the struggle short and decisive. He Who made peace FOR you, works peace IN you. All our powers of body, soul and mind are to be brought to bear upon this great task. In this "race" Paul presses on towards "the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Php 3:14). What IS this prize? Certainly not forgiveness of sin, or power over temptation, or the gift of eternal life. The "runner" has already laid aside "every weight and sin" (Hebrews 12:1), or he would not be in the race at all. No! The "prize" is not eternal life-that is a gift. The race, the fight, the wrestling (against the rulers of the darkness of this world -- Ephesians 6:12) is what we experience when we are fellow-workers with Christ, who came to destroy the works of the devil. (See Galatians 5:19-21 for some of them.) Never forget that even in all this outward activity, it is fruitful only as Christ inspires IT and empowers US. OUR LORD’S EXAMPLE Our Lord Himself "strove" in this way. He it was Who resisted unto blood, striving against sin (Hebrews 12:4). But HE had not to struggle against any inward desire or any temptation to sin. HE did not find it hard to be good. To sum up-there may be fierce conflicts in a Christian man’s heart before he is willing to surrender himself entirely to Christ. And there IS a great conflict to be waged against the devil, in our efforts to snatch others out of his bondage. But the Victorious Life, as it concerns our own souls, in one free from all struggle. "He is able to keep." When the writer was a boy, he spent much time walking on stilts. He gained considerable freedom in their use. But although he "walked" it required constant effort, and sometimes struggle, to keep from falling. A little thing brought collapse. Contact with anyone usually meant a fall. That is a picture of the "walk" of many a Christian. Effort, struggle, slow progress, constant falls and new starts, and an almost total inability to help anyone else.
It is an unnatural "walk." Claim the Victorious Life-Victory through the Indwelling Christ-and the Christian walk will be found as easy as "walking on our feet."
Some shell-shocked soldiers with normal limbs believe that they are unable to walk-and they cannot. The skilful physician makes them BELIEVE they can walk-and they do. The power of Christ to "walk by faith" is at our disposal. Can we not trust Him? A little girl of 13 was asked what difference the Victorious Life meant to her in times of temptation. After a little pause she replied, "Before I saw this truth, I used to argue with the tempter, and he usually got the better of me. But now, when he knocks at the door of my heart, I say, ’Lord Jesus, will you answer the door for me?’ And when Satan sees the Lord Jesus within, he says, ’I’m sorry; I think I’ve come to the wrong house’-and he flees."
HOW THE VICTORY COMES And what is true of our Victory over temptation through Christ alone is also true of the warfare we wage with the "works of the devil" around us. It is Christ-and not we ourselves-Who wins the Victory. "What do you consider the most dangerous heresy of today?" was a question asked of the Editor of the Sunday School Times. He passed by Christian Science, spiritism, higher criticism and other "isms," and gave this answer:
"The most dangerous heresy is the emphasis that is being given by professing Christians on what we do for God, instead of on what God does for us." In our work for the Master let us remember that it is not we who are doing His work, but HE Who is working through us. This being so, every Christian who is living the Victorious Life will be much in prayer and in communion with God over the pages of His Holy Word.
Before we bring this chapter to a close we ought just to ask what effect the Victorious Life in us will have on others. So far, we have been dealing with ourselves. If we stopped there, we should still exclaim, "It’s worth having." But we are saved to serve. And every one of the many letters sent to the writer asking for help has come from Christians; from men and women trying to work for Christ, yet not equipped for service.
Dr. Temple, the new Bishop of Manchester, said at his enthronement, a few weeks ago, "Remember that the converting power of the Church does not depend chiefly on the eloquence of its preachers, or the perfection of its organisation. It depends on the degree in which men see in the lives of Christians the evidence of the power of the love of Christ." That is it. And when men see that "the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts" has such power that it has killed those sins in us, which were so distressing to our friends, then they begin to think.
LOVE, THE CONQUEROR No one is beyond the reach of love. The power of Divine Love is infinite. In the days of the American war, there lived at Ephrata, a plain Baptist minister, Peter Miller, who enjoyed the friendship of Washington. There also dwelt in that town one Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all in his power to abuse and oppose that minister. But Michael Wittman was involved in treason and was arrested, and sentenced to death. The old preacher started out on foot and walked the whole seventy miles to Philadelphia that he might plead for that man’s life! He was admitted into Washington’s presence and begged the life of the traitor. "No, Peter," said Washington, "I cannot grant you the life of your friend." "My friend!" exclaimed the preacher, "he is the bitterest enemy I have!" "What?" cried Washington. "You have walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. And Peter Miller took Michael Wittman from the very shadow of death, back to his own home in Ephrata-but he went no longer as an enemy but as a friend. And so it came to pass that LOVE brought a reviler from the foot of the gallows to the foot of the cross.
Christian worker, listen! Are you getting the success you would like to see in your work for Christ? Are you getting ANY apparent success? If not, is it not worthwhile-for your own sake, for your work’s sake, for the Saviour’s sake, for lost sinners’ sake-to enter the life of Victory?
Surrender: Faith: Taking: Praising the Giver.