The following brief excerpts
from various MJS publications have been reproduced below for the following
reasons. 1) to clearly explain what Scripture teaches, 2) to set forth
what Miles Stanford taught regarding the subject of confession of sins and,
3) by contrast, to address the doctrinal errors promulgated both past and present.
Miles
would never have emphasized this subject as an isolated subject, but rather
would have reminded readers that their understanding of "confession
of sins" must be in the wider context of our identification with Christ
and our position above "in Christ".
THE CROSS
We are not left to deal with the
old life ourselves; it has been dealt with by Christ on the cross. This is the
fact which must be known, since on that fact is built the New Testament
principle and doctrine of holiness. In other words, Calvary is as much the
foundation of sanctification as of justification. Both gifts spring from the
same work and are two aspects of the same salvation.
Now, as long as the believer does not know
this dual aspect of his salvation, the best he can do is seek to handle his
sins via confession (I John 1:9)—that is, after the damage has been
done! This takes care of the penalty of the product but not the source. Is it
not time we allowed the Holy Spirit to get at the source and cut off this
stream of sins before they are committed? Is this not infinitely better than
the wreckage caused by sin, even though confessed? When believers get sick and
tired of spinning year after year in a spiritual squirrel cage—sinning,
confessing, but then sinning again—they will be ready for God’s answer to
the source of sin, which is death to self, brought forth from the completed
work of the cross.
Click here: Chapter
12 - The Complete Green Letters
SINS AND CONSCIENCE
"We have been sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10, ASV).
It is because of His work on the cross that our conscience is at peace despite
indwelling sin. Once we know our conscience to be purged concerning the
ever-present principle of sin, we can rest in our Father’s gracious
provision for the sins we commit—but not until. The fact of sin within can
in no way keep us from resting and rejoicing in our risen Lord, abiding in the
very presence of our Father. He Himself, after condemning sin in the flesh,
"raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in
Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6, NASB).
When we are at rest concerning
sin, through abiding in the risen Lord, we are established and ready to
receive His answer to the problem of sins committed. There are two
factors that come into play when we have sinned: Christ’s advocacy (this
chapter 26); our confession (next chapter 27). His advocacy is the
foundation for our confession.
"My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).
An advocate is one who speaks in support of another. Our Lord Jesus has
entered heaven, "now to appear in the presence of God for us"
(Heb. 9:24). As our High Priest, He is in God’s presence on our behalf;
He is there as our propitiation, our atonement.
"But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God" (Heb. 10:12). He is seated because, as far as our acceptance and
position before God are concerned, there is nothing more required either to
do, or say. "…By his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).
As our Advocate, the Lord Jesus
is before the Father, maintaining us in fellowship with Him. There, in our
position, we are "perfected for ever" (Heb. 10:14). Here, in
our condition, indwelt by the principle of sin, we are often overcome by its
power. Nevertheless, by the ministry of the Spirit our condition is being
perfected, or matured.
When we sin in word, thought or
deed, consciously or unconsciously, our heavenly Advocate speaks to the Father
on our behalf. His faithful intercession is justly founded upon His perfect
work and Person, and thereby our right of position in our Father’s presence
is forever maintained. Although our sins are never imputed to us, they do
defile us and hinder our fellowship with the Father.
Even though God fully and justly
accepts the atonement of His Son on our behalf, He in no way passes over or
tolerates our sins. He has not only provided His Son as our Savior, but also
as our Advocate. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). Further, He has given us
the responsibility and privilege of confessing our sins. "…He that
is washed [atonement] needeth not save to wash his feet [confession]…"
(John 13:10). For, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
(1 John 1:9).
Not only do we have an Advocate
in heaven before the Father, but we also have an Advocate within our spirit.
The word "Comforter" in John 14:16 is rendered "advocate"
in 1 John 2:1. We need, and have, a dual advocacy! When we sin, the Lord Jesus
intercedes for us on the ground of His having borne the judgment of that very
sin. The indwelling Spirit acts upon our conscience to produce confession.
Thereby we have the assurance of the sin having been forgiven, the
unrighteousness cleansed, and our fellowship with the Father completely
restored.
"So too the (Holy) Spirit
comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what
prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with
unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who
searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the (Holy) Spirit—what
His intent is—because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in
behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will" (Rom.
8:26, 27, Amp.). "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name’s sake" (Ps. 23:3).
The fact that we need constant
advocacy before our Father in no way detracts from the truth of our perfect
and eternal standing in the Lord Jesus. The Word makes it clear that each of
us, at the moment of our new birth, is fully accepted in the Beloved. We are
complete in Him, perfectly and forever forgiven, justified sanctified, and
glorified—through His death, resurrection and ascension—never to come into
judgment, but have passed from death to life as new creations in Christ Jesus.
Before God, we are not in the flesh (the fallen, first Adam race), but in the
Spirit (the new, Last Adam creation). Having died unto sin, self, Satan, the
law, and the world, we are now and forever alive in our risen Lord "after
the power of an endless life" (Heb. 7:16).
Condition
Although we are not in the flesh
as to our position, we are in the body pertaining to our condition. While we
are complete in Christ who is our life, as new creations in Him we have to be
matured in the midst of the pressures and exigencies of everyday experience.
Moreover, all is carried on in this "body of death" which is
indwelt by the principle of sin. Therefore, we need the two faithful Advocates
who undertake to fulfill God’s purpose in and through us, despite the power
of the world, the flesh and the devil.
The negative and positive aspects
of our spiritual growth could be summarized in these words: (1) We are to
reckon ourselves to have died unto sin, thus giving the Holy Spirit freedom to
apply the finished work of the Cross to indwelling sin, so that it may be
progressively held inoperative. (2) At the same time, we are to reckon
ourselves (as new creations) alive unto God in Christ Jesus, abiding in Him as
a branch in the True Vine.
Praise the Lord that, if and when
we do sin in thought, word or deed, consciously or otherwise, "we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1, 2). His advocacy has nothing
whatsoever to do with our eternal standing, nor is it the placating of an
angry, vengeful God (He already bore the wrath due our sin). But in His
personal reconciliation on the cross and righteous presence before God, He
makes it possible for our Father justly to show us mercy despite our sins.
The chasm between our perfect
position and our imperfect condition is bridged by His advocacy and cleansing.
Our only source of life and growth is in Christ. From that completed source
our condition is gradually developed. Our progress on earth is dependent upon
our fellowship with Him in heaven. Because of sins committed, that fellowship
must be restored by Christ’s advocacy and our confession. As we
mature spiritually, there are fewer sins to be confessed. How futile to seek
to deal with sins in any other way than through His advocacy and our confession!
There are those who, for one
reason or another, by-pass the identification truths of Romans Six, and rely
rather upon confession and cleansing for dealing with the problem of
sin. But there is no real spiritual progress unless the source of sins
is dealt with continually by the Spirit’s application of the cross. He
carries on that ministry as we reckon upon self having been crucified. Apart
from this, there is nothing but the endless struggle of the treadmill—sinning,
repenting, confessing, but then sinning again and again. On this erroneous
basis there is no dealing with the source that relentlessly produces the sins.
Rather, we are to learn to rely
upon the cross to deal with the sin principle, as we abide in the risen Lord
for our spiritual growth. Then, if we do sin, we depend upon our Advocate in
heaven to reestablish our fellowship with the Father, and our Advocate within
to repair the spiritual damage by means of conviction, leading us to
repentance and confession.
While living in this world it is
heartening to realize that we neither have to ask nor to plead for His
intercession. Both our Advocates are unceasingly interceding for us. "Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). The
fact that we commit sins despite such faithful ministry does not reflect upon
the worth or effectiveness of the intercession, but upon our faithfulness.
We fail to count upon our death unto sin and our life in Christ.
If it were not for the constant
intercession of our heavenly Advocate, our faith would surely fail when we are
overcome, or when we willingly submit to the tyranny of sin and self. Think of
what happened when Simon Peter denied his Lord. "…Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted
[restored], strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31, 32).
The Lord Jesus did not pray that
Peter might not sin, but, having fallen, that his faith would respond to His
Lord’s advocacy. His faithful intercession kept Peter from self-centered
despair, giving him grace for true repentance, deep sorrow for his sin, purity
of conscience, and restoration of fellowship.
Position
At rest in our position in the
Lord Jesus, we can depend upon the Holy Spirit to take us through all that is
required for our growth in the purpose of God. "Inasmuch, then, as we
have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has passed into Heaven
itself, let us hold firmly to our profession [confession] of faith. For we
have not a High Priest who is unable to feel for us in our weaknesses, but one
who was tempted in every respect just as we are tempted, and yet did not sin.
Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our times of need" (Heb. 4:14–16, Wey.).
We must face the fact that there
is going to be constant need, even as we are more fully learning to hate
(reject) self and love the Lord Jesus. In that God is "just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26), He is free to
utilize even our failures as He develops our condition. "… All
things work together for good to them that love God…" (Rom.
8:28). In all that we go through we are taught more fully to reject self
via the cross, and to abide in Christ via our position. At the same time, we
are to count more upon His advocacy and rejoice in the privilege of our
fellowship with the Father. Moreover, we thus become better fitted to
understand and minister to our weaker brethren, knowing full well what they
are going through. "…when thou art converted [restored], strengthen
thy brethren" (Luke 22:32).
If we turn from our position of
rest to fight against sin, and work to improve our condition, we have stepped
off the rock of grace into the swamp of self-effort. But as we turn from self
to abide in our Lord at the right hand of the Father, we find that He has
dealt with both the principle of sin, and our sins.
We can rest in the fact that His
work of atonement is never repeated, as His Word assures us: "‘And
their sins and offences I will remember no longer.’ But where these have
been forgiven no further offering for sin is required" (Heb. 10:17, 18,
Wey.). We depend upon the fact that His work as Advocate is never
interrupted, "seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them" (Heb. 7:25).
"Since therefore, brethren, we have
confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and
since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience…" (Heb. 10:19–22, NASB).
Chapter 26 - The
Complete Green Letters
SINS AND CONFESSION
"If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). God the Father is free to forgive our
sins because the Lord Jesus has already dealt with their source, the principle
of sin. He condemned it in His flesh on the cross (Rom. 8:3). Confessing our
sins, therefore, has nothing to do with condemnation, but with cleansing and
communion.
Condition
The believer who is not aware of
his perfect position before God, who does not realize that the Father has
already placed him in the light of His presence, is more aware of his
self-centered condition than his Christ-centered position. Hence he does not
actually accept the benefit of his position in the light when he does confess
his sins. He does not feel forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness, and
soon gives up confessing. Thereafter he flounders in darkness and guilt. This
is the predicament of all too many believers today.
In the early days of their
Christian life, most believers are quite faithful in confessing their sins to
the Father. But, because they are yet babes, there is very little scriptural
knowledge of what God has done about the indwelling source of those sins, and
before long there are more sins committed than confessed. This accumulation of
unconfessed sins brings guilt to the conscience, and the believer finds
himself out of fellowship with the Father. Not only that, but he is
experiencing chastisement. To make matters worse, he now seeks to hide from
the light. He forgets that the purpose of light is not to punish and condemn
the sinner, but to reveal sins so that they may be confessed and freely
forgiven.
Another common error is that of
praying for forgiveness, instead of heeding the Word, confessing the sins, and
receiving the assurance of forgiveness. One may pray for forgiveness for
months, and still not receive the assurance of it. Many admit sin in general,
instead of confessing sins in particular. Assurance of forgiveness and
cleansing are the sure result of honest and specific confession of sins
committed in thought, word, or deed. There may be repentance and brokenness,
but this is the result of confession and cleansing, not the cause. "If
any man sin," there is immediate recourse to confession, and
to Christ’s advocacy and shed blood for complete forgiveness and cleansing. "If
we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive…" (1 John 1:9).
Position
When we rest in our position in
Christ, we find that we are in the light. We know that our sins have been
purged once for all and therefore our conscience is cleansed. At the same
time, we are very much aware that although we abide in the risen Lord Jesus,
our everyday Christian life is carried on in a sinful world. There are sins
committed as we grow, because we take our eyes off the Lord Jesus and
foolishly rely upon self; a defiled conscience and broken fellowship are the
result. We also know that the remedy is to confess our sins, thereby to
receive cleansing from all unrighteousness and restoration of a clear
conscience and blessed fellowship.
Our present experience is greatly
inferior to our eternal position, no matter what the stage of our spiritual
growth. The development of our condition is toward our finished position, and
at the same time from that completed source. The discrepancy between our
position and our condition, manifested by our many failures in growth and
service, is justly taken care of by means of our confession and His
cleansing. Our need is further met by Christ’s faithful advocacy, whereby
our position and fellowship are maintained throughout the progress of our
spiritual growth. By these means our Lord ever keeps us dependent upon
Himself, and at the same time fully confident in Him. Needy, but bold.
Abiding and walking in the light
keeps us honestly aware of our sins, while also enhancing our appreciation of
His grace. The realization of our sins does not cripple us, because His
cleansing frees us. The light that reveals our sins manifests the Son,
enabling us honestly to face both without fear. Where we are most detected,
there we are most protected. Upon this basis, the sins that are committed are
immediately dealt with, and we are able to continue in fellowship and growth.
The only alternative is self-confidently to struggle with sin, to fail, and
thereby to be hindered in our development.
Our Father’s counteraction is
the ministry of the indwelling Spirit of life. To have our sins so freely
forgiven does not make us lax as to our walk. For one thing, with the
forgiveness there is often His faithful chastisement. A good conscience is
cherished too much for it to be lost by license. We admit that "we all
often stumble and fall and offend in many things" (James 3:2, Amp.),
but there need be no fear of facing up to each offence and confessing it. The
light that reveals our sins ever reveals our perfect position in the Lord
Jesus. For us, "the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth"
(1 John 2:8).
Confession and cleansing
enable us to rest before God without guile. Our attitude becomes, "Search
me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there
be any wicked way in me…" (Ps. 139:23, 24). There is no pretension
of being without sins; rather, we want them clearly revealed so that they may
be confessed and thereby kept from breaking our all-important fellowship with
the Father. We are faithfully taught the lesson not to attempt to hide our
sins and refrain from confession. "When I kept silent about my
sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night
Thy hand was heavy upon me…" (Ps. 32:3, 4, NASB). Guilt and
chastisement do their thorough work, and we learn to appreciate the fact that
God’s way of confession is imperative.
All because of our position in
the Lord Jesus, and in spite of our condition in ourselves, our Father is able
to say to us, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you …
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jer.
29:11). "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin
is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and
in whose spirit there is no guile" (Ps. 32:1, 2). "Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by
whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:1, 2, underline mine).
As we grow, we learn to stand in
our standing of grace, abiding in the risen Lord Jesus, and walking in the
light of the Father’s presence and fellowship. We appreciate the fact of our
position as we experience failures in fighting against sin. We express our
growing hatred of self by freely confessing our sins, which amounts to judging
ourselves for submitting to indwelling sin. We admit our responsibility for
walking (or drifting) beyond the realm of light, into the shadows of sin and
self. "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But
when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be
condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:31, 32).
Standing in the light, we are not
only aware that our sins have been cleared away by the blood, but we realize
that we as sinners have also been put away by the death of the cross. We count
ourselves to have died unto sin, and now to be alive as new creations in
Christ Jesus. As such, we confess our sins as they are revealed in the light,
and are thereby freed from self-occupation—free to be fully occupied in
fellowship with the Father and the Son.
To turn from the darkness and
death of self to the light and life of Christ is not to give up the fight and
give in to sin. Not at all! It is fighting "the good fight of faith"
(1 Tim. 6:12), it is entering into the benefits of the fact that the fight
has already been fought and won for us by Another. This transition from
bondage and defeat to freedom and victory is the faith-move from condition to
position. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his own works, as God did from his" (Heb. 4:10).
The Holy Spirit brings us through
this transition by a very simple process. He allows us to struggle with sin
and self until we learn the futility of it. Then it is that He shows us that
the Lord Jesus has already done for us what we can never do. It is from "O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?" to, "I thank God [He has already accomplished it]
through Jesus Christ our Lord…" (Rom. 7:24, 25). It is from the
bondage of the "law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members,"
to the liberty of "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
[which] hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 7:23;
8:2).
Fellowship
"God is faithful, by whom
ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1
Cor. 1:9). The root word for fellowship and communion is common.
Our communion with the Father and the Son, having fellowship one with another,
is to have common thoughts, affections, and purposes. It is a oneness of heart
and mind. It is to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart … and
with all thy mind…" (Luke 10:27). As we study His Word in
dependence upon His Spirit, we are in communion with His thoughts. As we love
the Lord Jesus, we are loving the One whom the Father loves with all His
heart.
Free from self-condemnation, free
from a guilty conscience, free in the faithful advocacy of the Lord Jesus,
free in the confession of our sins and cleansing from all
unrighteousness, we are in the light of His presence to worship Him, commune
with Him, and grow in Him. "But we all, with open face beholding as in
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). It is the
look that justifies, but it is the gaze that sanctifies.
Having died in Christ to sin,
Satan, law, and the world, we are freed and born anew, made new creations in
the Lord Jesus. Abiding in Him in the light of the Father, we are at liberty
to gaze upon Him in the full love of hearts and minds that are free from the
palling darkness of unconfessed sins and a defiled conscience. No nervous,
anxious or restless self-effort; just quiet rest in Him, knowing that our "life
is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). By the ministry of the Spirit
of Christ within, the life of the Lord Jesus is manifested increasingly in our
everyday walk.
Our Father’s purpose for us is
that we become conformed to the image (character) of His Son. To that end, all
things are being "worked together" (Rom. 8:28, 29). In our
position in Christ, our Father has already perfected us, made us complete in
Him. In our walk, He by His Spirit is fashioning us after that blessed
pattern, "that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).
"He that saith he abideth
in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (I John 2:6).
In the first place, the Lord Jesus walked in the light, in fellowship with His
Father. "…the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13).
Secondly, He walked in full dependence upon the Holy Spirit. "Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness…" (Matt. 4:1). "…who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God…" (Heb.
9:14). Likewise, our life is hid with Christ in God, and we walk in the
light of God’s presence during our earthly course. Our dependence is
expressed as we "walk in the Spirit," that we may not "fulfill
the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). We are to "…worship in
the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the
flesh" (Phil. 3:3, NASB).
One of the Father’s means of
teaching us the Spirit-dependent walk in the light is to let us flounder in
the darkness of self. The Lord Jesus also patiently waits to show us that all
our sins have been cleansed by His blood. Coupled with our sins is the
crushing weight of an evil conscience, which is often endured for years. And
He continues to wait for us to acknowledge our position in Him in the light,
so that we may rest in what He has already done about our sins. "Let
us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience…" (Heb. 10:22, NASB).
"How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
(Heb. 9:14). Laboring under a load of unconfessed sins, we are
disqualified from fellowship with our Father, as well as from usefulness to
others: we are, rather, a burden to all. It is such believers whom He urges to
"come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16). The need is ever
present, the work is forever done! He has placed us in His Son, having "made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). All
that is required is that we confidently abide where we have already been
placed.
We are not to abide in our
present condition, counting upon help from Him in heaven for our walk and
service. Just the opposite! He has shown us our position in order that we may
abide in our risen Lord, in the light and presence of the Father. It is from
that vantage point that we become involved in the needs of this world. In John
3:13 our Lord Jesus referred to Himself as "he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." He shared heavenly
life in a world of need. If He is to do the same and more today through us, we
must abide in heaven as we sojourn on earth. Only life lived in the light of
glory can overcome the world of darkness.
In summary, (1) we count
ourselves to have died unto sin, and to be alive unto God in the Lord Jesus
(Rom. 6:11); (2) we accept our position in the light when we know ourselves to
be new creations in our risen Savior (Eph. 2:6), (3) we enjoy His blessed
fellowship as we judge ourselves in confession of our sins (1 John 1:7,
9). Then it is that our Lord can work through us in the lives of others, "to
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" (Acts 26:18).
Keep Looking Down
"For you have died and
your life is hidden with Christ in God." Col. 3.3, NASB
Chapter 28 - The Complete Green
Letters
CROSS - CONFESSION -
CHASTENING
When you find your fellowship
with the Father being hindered by sin and the self-life, you come to
appreciate more deeply the necessity and worth of the work of the Cross. The
more fully you count upon the past crucifixion of the "old man" the
less your communion with the Father is clouded in the present.
Your counting on the Cross is the
answer to sin and self. The remedy for the sins you do commit is confession.
If in carelessness or carnality you allow or invite the old nature to sin,
your all-important fellowship with your infinitely holy Father is blocked. As
a new creation in Christ Jesus you are free to take sides with God against the
old man, to honestly and fearlessly confess your sins to Him and have your
fellowship restored. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all righteousness" (I
John 1:9).
It is true that the Father may
have to chasten (child-train) you concerning the sins committed even when it
is confessed, but then you are in fellowship with Him during the chastening
and able to receive the full benefit of it. "Now no chastening for the
present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised by
it" (Heb. 12:11). All chastening is not due to our sinning, but all
chastening is administered by our Father in love for "our profit, that
we might be partakers of his holiness" (Heb. 12:10).
Hence, the Cross is to
be kept central if your life is to be kept centered in the Lord Jesus.
Counting on the Cross for your
communion is just as essential as it is for your walk. Unless it is
Cross-countered, the old man will ruin both. Reckoning upon your death on
the Cross is the only means of freedom for you to reckon yourself a new creation
in Christ Jesus. "For
we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:1 1).
Your new life in Christ
is being developed through fellowship with Him and the Father. On the
basis of your reckoning the Holy Spirit keeps you in liberty in your heavenly
position. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints,
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of
God" (Eph. 3:17-19).
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Centrality of the Cross - THE PAUSE