The Pathway to Life in God # 2

The Pathway to Life in God # 2

The soul saved from wrath, reconciled to God, yet ignorant of the full message of the Cross, has again to be convicted of a deeper need. It is the work of the Spirit to fight against all that is of the old life, and bring it to the Cross. Accordingly He deals with the soul at this point by,

1. Convicting of the bondage of sin.
"I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14).
"The fleshly mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can be; and they whose life is in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8).

2. Convicting of the need of the Spirit's entire possession.
"Know ye not ... that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be ... the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (Romans 7:8-9).

3. By creating the intense cry for deliverance.
"I know that ... in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. O wretched man ... who shall deliver me?" (Romans 7:128).

The Spirit reveals the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the utter uselessness of the life lived after the flesh. He creates that furnace of intense desire which makes the soul prepared to let Him do His work, and have His way at all costs. He spares no means to bring God's purchased possession to the definite decision of taking God's side against the old life, and making the unreserved, irrevocable surrender to God, that is necessary for liberty.

So to speak, the believer must sign the death warrant and agree that death with Christ shall be made really true in experience. Here he reaches,

Calvary, the place of Deliverance

"Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him ... that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin, for he that hath died is justified from sin" (Romans 6:6-7).

The Holy Spirit leads the soul back to Calvary, to learn that it has been crucified with Christ, therefore it is free from the bondage, and claims of sin. In Him it has died to that wherewith it was holden (Romans 7:6), and because the Holy One took the curse, and carried the accursed ones to the tree in His own Person, it may now receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

III. The Holy Spirit's deliverance and its results
"The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).

1. Deliverance from the power of sin.
"We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?" (Romans 6:2).
"The death that He died, He died unto sin once for all ... even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign" (Romans 6:10-12).
"As we stand upon the Word of God, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus will keep us free from the old bondage, enable us to live unto God, and walk in newness of life.

2. Deliverance from the desires of the flesh.
"Walk by the Spirit, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh ... they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh" (Galatians 5:16-24).
By the flesh, Paul generally denotes that which is earthly in man, as opposed to that which is spiritual. They that are of Christ, and determined to be Christ's without reserve, have crucified the flesh with all its likes, and strong desires. They live by the Spirit, and seek to let their steps be guided by the Spirit.

If we have been really crucified with Christ, we can easily surrender anything for our brother's sake, for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15, 21), and lay aside all undue indulgence of the natural appetites and renounce habits which are not betting the temple of God.
The life of God in the soul has a much closer connection with models of living than is generally supposed. If Christians, instead of indulging and pampering the appetite for meats and drinks, would be satisfied with simple nourishment, and with that quantity which is adequate to all the purposes of nature, what abundant blessings would result to body and mind.

If the soul is in earnest the Spirit will deal with all details of action, in making provision for the flesh, and with many things in the manner of life of those who desire to be wholly under His control.

~Jessie Penn-Lewis~

(continued with # 3)