“NOT I BUT CHRIST” a conversation between 2 Believers

“The Romans 7 Christian is in “the law of sin and death”.
The Romans 8 Christian is in “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus”

“The reality is that holiness as defined by and pursued via the legal principle is necessarily “by my own power” while the holiness that is of Christ is necessarily by the power of the Spirit…they are two entirely different lifes with two entirely different sources of power.”

“The Romans 7 Christian is in ” the struggle”.
The Romans 8 Christian is in “the walk”.

“For sure…the desire for holiness by our own power dies a long hard death.”

“The Romans 7 Christian sees “me and Christ”
The Romans 8 Christian sees “not I, but Christ”

“The Romans 7 Christian sees Christ as a model and example.”

“The Romans 8 Christian sees Christ as his life.
The Romans 7 Christian beholds himself and the law.”

“The Romans 8 Christian beholds Christ.”

“The Romans 7 Christian thinks about himself and the law by which he works to produce his own righteousness which he can then present to God for earthly reward.” 

“The Romans 8 Christian thinks about God Who has by grace made him righteous in Christ and upon Whose Spirit he depends to conform him to the image of Christ who Himself is his reward.” 

“The Romans 7 Christian works to produce the righteousness of man according to law by his own power.”

“The Romans 8 Christian depends on the power of the Spirit to conform Him to Christ in Whom he has already been made the righteousness of God.” 

LOW AT THY FEET

Low at Thy feet, Lord Jesus,
This is the place for me;
Here I have learned deep lessons:
Truth that has set me free.

Free from myself, Lord Jesus,
Free from the ways of men;
Chains of thought that have bound me
Never can bind again.

None but Thyself, Lord Jesus,
Conquered this wayward will,
But for Thy love constraining,
I have been wayward still.

(found in J.N.Darby’s Bible after his home call)

Hymn……George Matheson

At age 20 George Matheson (1842-1906) was engaged to be married but began going blind. When he broke the news to his fiancee, she decided she could not go through life with a blind husband. She left him. Before losing his sight he had written two books of theology and some feel that if he had retained his sight he could have been the greatest leader of the church of Scotland in his day.

A special providence was that George’s sister offered to care for him. With her help, George left the world of academia for pastoral ministry and wound up preaching to 1500 each week–blind.

The day came, however, in 1882, when his sister fell in love and prepared for marriage herself. The evening before the wedding, George’s whole family had left to get ready for the next day’s celebration. He was alone and facing the prospect of living the rest of his life without the one person who had come through for him. On top of this, he was doubtless reflecting on his own aborted wedding day twenty years earlier. It is not hard to imagine the fresh waves of grief washing over him that night.

In the darkness of that moment George Matheson wrote this hymn. He remarked afterward that it took him five minutes and that it was the only hymn he ever wrote that required no editing.

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

POEM……Theodore Monond

1. Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be
When I let the Saviour’s pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered,
“All of self, and none of Thee.”

2. Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on the accursed tree;
Heard Him pray, “Forgive them Father;”
And my wistful heart said faintly,
“Some of self, and some of Thee.”

3. Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
Brought me lower while I whispered,
“Less of self, and more of Thee.”

4. Higher than the highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
Grant me now my soul’s desire,
“None of self, and all of Thee.”

CHRIST-LIFE

“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 faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

“Our part consists in getting down into the death of Christ;
His part is to live out His own life in us, just as the waters spring
forth from the fountain. Then we shall know what the apostle
meant when he said, “Christ lives in me.” Where Christ thus
dwells in unhindered activity, there will be steady growth,
perpetual freshness, and abundant fruitfulness; and the life
will be marked by ease and spontaneity, because it will be
natural.” Evan Hopkins

BELIEVER’S RULE OF LIFE

“Calvin, and all the Reformers, and the Puritans after them, placed believers under
the Law of Moses as a “rule of life”; because they did not see that a believer’s
history in Adam ended at the cross.” (Romans, Verse by Verse, William R. Newell )

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound: [God’s grace supersedes sin] That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross…” Colossians 2:14

“for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14

TRIALS FOR OUR GOOD

When going through suffering (trial, discipline) isn’t our first reaction – “take this away from me” instead of “take me through it”?????
Isn’t our first reaction – “my will be done” instead of “Thou will be done”????

Years ago, a pastor friend made a statement about a mutual friend: this friend reminded
the pastor of Jonah….who was more interested in his own will…his own comfort (see Jonah 4)
than God’s will. My reply was: “Well, Lord, keep the worms coming!”

No doubt most have the initial reaction to a trial: a desire to escape or to be delivered from
the trials. We are not convinced or confident in God’s word that “all things work together for good.”
Some go to great lengths to change the circumstances rather than view it from God’s hand.
If we endure and depend upon the Lord though we are mystified how these trials can
be from the Lord, we learn to stand upon God’s word though seemingly there is no
evidence of good coming from them. We can look back and see over and over He has
“proved” His will in our lives (Rom.12:2). The continuous pressure of the trials are revealing:
we learn the sin nature will never change….and any emotional response out from the sin
nature will not change. The weight of the pressure drives us to the Lord for His remedy.
We learn the workings of Roman 6 truths….and the freedom from the grievous power of
the sin nature ….yielding to it brings us down to “death” (Rom.8:13). How many trips
to this situation until we learn the freedom and joy of God’s solution! We know in
theory it would be best to respond with faith immediately to the trial. I don’t know
about other believers, but this has taken me many years to learn. I dislike the idea
of the “bit and the bridle” being necessary to bring me along in my growth…but
that is what I needed. I thank the Lord He did not give up on me! John 12:24-25. lkp