“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I , but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of doing things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold, and in the first stages it is the relinquishing of all pretense. What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavour, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. And what does He give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. But we must relinquish all pretense of being anything, all claim of being worthy of God’s consideration.
Then the Spirit of God will show us what further there is to relinquish. There will have to be the relinquishing of my claim to my right to myself in every phase. Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
There is always a sharp painful disillusionment to go through before we do relinquish. When a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ. When he sees himself in the light of the lord, the shame and the horror and the desperate conviction come home.
If you are up against the question of relinquishing, go through the crisis, relinquish all, and God will make you fit for all that He requires of you.
This entry from Oswald Chambers resonated with me today on many levels. There is only one thing I disagree with from what he wrote. In the second to last paragraph he says when a man really sees what he truly is, it’s not the sins that shock him but our pride against Christ. Yes, that is true. But in my own life, the sins make me feel just as terrible as the pride I have in my heart against God and His way of doing things. The combination of the two has brought me low and reminded me of how much sanctification I am still in need of. It is good for us to be reminded of what we have been redeemed from and how quickly we can return to the mire He saved us from. What discourages me the most is when I choose to return to this muck and mire. Why? I don’t know my God like I should. I don’t believe what He says, and I don’t take seriously what I read in His word.
God forgive me.
God restore me.
God envelop me with your love that I may know Your holiness and strength.
I pray this entry will be of encouragement to you if you are struggling and a reminder to be careful if you are not. Sin is serious. I am not sure we as humans really grasp how serious it is, else we would not be so cavalier in our attitudes and commission thereof.
I pray this week will be a blessed one for you and may you learn something new and wonderful about your God this week.
Marissa
