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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadLewis Sperry Chafer Collection: Chafer, Lewis Sperry - Grace (1922): 09 Christ, the believer's Sphere in Grace
TOPIC: Chafer, Lewis Sperry - Grace (1922) (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 09 Christ, the believer's Sphere in Grace
Other Subjects in this Topic:
THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (concluded)
SECTION SEVEN
CHRIST, THE BELIEVER'S SPHERE IN GRACE
There is probably no word of Scripture which more clearly defines the essential fact concerning the Christian than the phrase, "In Christ," and as the Christian is the most important fact of all creation, there has never been a word uttered which was so far-reaching in its implication, or which is fraught with greater meaning to humanity than the phrase, "In Christ." This phrase, with its equivalents, "In Christ Jesus," "In Him," "In the Beloved," "By Him," "Through Him," and "With Him," appears in the grace teachings of the New Testament no less than 130 times. This most unusual emphasis upon one particular truth is arresting, and its import must not be slighted. Over against the emphasis which is given to this truth in the teachings of grace, is the corresponding fact that there is no hint of a possible position in Christ in any teaching of the law or of the kingdom. The believer's present position in Christ was not seen even in type or prophecy. In the ages past it was a secret hid in the mind and heart of God. He who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, "hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery [sacred secret] of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
Who can comprehend the full scope of these eternal wonders? Knowing the limitation of the human heart, at this point the Apostle breaks forth into prayer: "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."
Having thus prayed that the Christian may know by divine illumination the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of the inheritance which God now has in the saints, he continues to pray that they may also know by the same divine revelation, "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph_1:2-23).
Growing out of this glorious relationship in Christ, is a most natural responsibility to walk worthy of the calling; but the issues of a daily life and the character of the conduct which should enter into it, though important in their place, are lost and forgotten in the blaze of the eternal glory of that unchangeable grace which has brought the believer into the new creation in Christ Jesus.
To be in Christ is to be in the sphere of His own infinite Person, power, and glory. He surrounds, He protects, He separates from all else, and He indwells the one in Him. He also supplies in Himself all that a soul will ever need in time or eternity.
The union which is formed in Christ is deeper than any relationship the human mind has ever conceived. In His priestly prayer, in which He had advanced onto resurrection ground, and where He contemplated the glory of His finished work as having been already accomplished (cf Joh_17:11), Christ spoke of three unities within the sphere of one relationship: (1) The unity within the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, (2) the unity between the Persons of the Trinity and all believers, and (3) the unity between the believers themselves, since they are in Him. We read: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. ... I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (Joh_17:20-23). Who can fathom the depths of the revelation that the believer is related to Christ on the very plane of that oneness which exists between the Father and the Son?
Again, Christ likens the union which exists between Himself and the believer to the vital, organic relation that exists between the vine and its living branch. The branch is in the vine and the life of the vine is in the branch; but the branch possesses no independent life in itself. It cannot exist apart from the vine. The human child may outgrow dependence upon its parents and, in turn, support and sustain them; but the branch can never become independent of the vine. In like manner, the fruit and every manifestation of life in the branch is due to the ceaseless inflow of the vitality of the vine. The fruit is as much the fruit of the vine as it is the fruit of the branch (cf Joh_15:5; Rom_7:4; Gal_5:22-23). Thus it is with the one who is in Christ.
Considering the same fact of unity, the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the head and the believers to members in a body. This figure illustrates the same vital, dependent relationship. The member in the body partakes of the merit and honor of the head, and the life and power of the head is imparted to the member. So perfect is this unity between the Head and the members of the body, that it is probable that Christ will never be seen in glory apart from His body, and the body will never be seen apart from Him (cf 1Co_12:12).
From these illustrative Scriptures it will be observed that the unity between Christ and the believer is two-fold: The believer is in Christ., and Christ is in the believer. The believer is in Christ as to positions, possessions, safe-keeping, and association; and Christ is in the believer giving life, character and dynamic for conduct.
It has already been pointed out that the upper-room conversation, recorded in John, chapters 13 to 16, presents the grace teachings of Christ, and is the germ of all the truth that is found in the Epistles, which, in turn, contain the revelation of the essential fact of the new creation and the resulting obligation as to daily life. The doctrinal truth of the Epistles, which is the doctrinal truth of grace, is subject to the same two-fold division -- what the saved one is in Christ, and the character and power of the daily life that will be experienced when the victorious energy of the indwelling Christ is imparted.
At one point in the midst of the upper-room discourse, Christ compressed the whole doctrinal structure of grace into one brief phrase. This phrase is notable because it is the key to all the facts and relationships under grace, and because of its simplicity and brevity of language:
"Ye in me, and I in you" (Joh_14:20).
These two aspects of the truth under grace will be considered separately. (1) "Ye in me," (2) "I in you."
1. "YE IN ME"
Every child of God is vitally united to Christ. He is placed in Christ by the baptism with the Spirit, which ministry of the Spirit is not only a part of salvation and therefore already accomplished for all who are saved, but it is distinctly said to be a ministry that is wrought for all who believe on Christ. The Scriptures state: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1Co_12:13).
This is the one passage in the Word of God which reveals the precise meaning and objective of the baptism with the Spirit. Since its meaning is clear, there is no excuse for the prevalent errors connected with this truth. Being accomplished for "all," the baptism with the Spirit includes the one who has just been saved. Thus the time of its accomplishment is revealed. It is, of necessity, synchronous with salvation itself, and therefore a part of it. Likewise, the same passage presents the divine objective which is accomplished by the Spirit's baptism. It is "into one body," and that believers may be "made to drink into one Spirit." There was a time when the individual was not in Christ, which is the present estate of all who are unsaved. There follows a time when the individual, being saved, is in Christ. This great change consists in the fact that he has been placed in that vital organic union with Christ by the baptism with the Spirit. By the Spirit he has been baptized into the very body of Christ, and this ministry of the Spirit, likewise, unites all who are saved into a unity of their own; for they are "made to drink into one Spirit."
There is no other work of God for the individual which seems to accomplish so much as the baptism with the Spirit; for by it the living union with Christ is established forever, and by virtue of that union the believer has entered the sphere of all heavenly positions and all eternal possessions which in grace are provided for him in Christ. To the Christian, Christ has become, in the divine reckoning, the sphere of his being, and this reckoning contemplates all that the Christian is and all that he does. Certain aspects of this truth, among many, are to be noted:
First. Christ is the Sphere of the Believer's Positions.
A sphere is that which surrounds an object on every side and may even penetrate that object. To be within a sphere is to partake of all that it is and all that it imparts. Thus the bird is in the air and the air is in the bird; the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish; the iron is in the fire and the fire is in the iron. Likewise, in the spiritual realm, Christ is the sphere of the believer's position. He encompasses, surrounds, encloses, and indwells the believer. The believer is in Christ, and Christ is in the believer. Through the baptism with the Spirit, the Christian has become as much an organic part of Christ as the branch is a part of the vine, or the member is a part of the body. Being thus conjoined to Christ, the Father sees the saved one only in Christ, or as a living part of His own Son, and loves him as He loves His Son (Eph_1:6; Joh_17:23).
As an accompanying result of this vital union in Christ certain facts of relationship are created which are the believer's new positions _in _Christ, and are the consequence of the work of God in grace. To present fully all the new positions into which the Christian is brought in Christ, would necessitate an analysis of all the great doctrinal portions of the Epistles. By way of illustration, a brief selection from these positions is here presented. (A more complete analysis of the believer's positions will be found in the author's book Salvation.)
Of the saved one it is said that he is:
Elect and called of God (1Th_1:4; 1Th_5:24).
Redeemed by God through the blood of His Son (Col_1:14).
Reconciled to God by the death of His Son (2Co_5:19).
Sheltered eternally under the propitiation made in the blood of Christ (1Jn_2:2).
Forgiven all trespasses, past, present, and future (Col_2:13).
Condemned no more forever (Rom_8:1).
Justified freely by His grace (Rom_3:24).
Sanctified positionally, or set apart unto God in Christ (1Co_1:30).
Perfected forever (Heb_10:14).
Made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col_1:12).
Made accepted in the Beloved (Eph_1:6).
Made the righteousness of God in Him (2Co_5:21).
Made nigh to God in Christ Jesus (Eph_2:13).
A child and son of God (Joh_1:12; 1Jn_3:3).
Free from the law and dead to the law (Rom_7:4-6).
Delivered from the power of darkness (Col_1:13).
Translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col_1:13).
Founded on the Rock Christ Jesus (1Co_3:11).
God's gift to Christ (Joh_17:11-12, Joh_17:20; Joh_10:29).
Circumcised in Christ (Col_2:11).
An holy priest, chosen and peculiar (1Pe_2:5, 1Pe_2:9).
Object of divine love, grace, power, faithfulness, peace, consolation (Eph_2:4, Eph_2:8; Eph_1:9; Heb_13:5; Col_3:15; 2Th_2:16).
Object of Christ's intercession (Heb_7:25).
His inheritance (Eph_1:18).
Seated in the heavenly in Christ (Eph_2:6).
A citizen of heaven (Php_3:20 R.V.).
Of the family and household of God (Eph_2:19; Eph_3:15).
Light in the Lord (Eph_5:8).
In God, in Christ, and in the Spirit (1Th_1:1; Joh_14:20; Rom_8:9).
Possessed with the first fruits of the Spirit. Born (Joh_3:6), baptized (1Co_12:13), indwelt (1Co_6:19), and sealed (Eph_4:30).
Glorified (Rom_8:30).
Complete in Him (Col_2:10).
Possessing every spiritual blessing (Eph_1:3).
Of these and all other positions which are the present possession of the child of God through his vital union with Christ, it may be said that they are:
1. Invisible.
The believer's positions, like all things related to the Spirit, are invisible; but as is true of spiritual things, they are more real and abiding than visible things. "For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2Co_4:15), and, "Whom having not seen, ye love" (1Pe_1:8. cf 1Ti_1:17; 1Ti_6:16; Heb_11:27; 1Jn_4:12). Even the present revelation by the Spirit is such as "Eye hath not seen."
2. Unexperienced.
The positions in Christ are never subject to human experience. They produce no sensation by which they may be identified. They are taken by faith, and joyous appreciation may come as a result of believing.
3. Apprehended by faith.
Faith is the new and effectual faculty of the spiritual life. By it what is said in the Word of God is received as true. Such apprehension is, at best, only partial; but, notwithstanding the limitations of human knowledge, the positions are all perfect through Christ. Of this perfection, "the half has never been told."
4. Contested.
Scripture presents the warfare of Satan as being waged in the sphere of "the heavenly." There is abundant assurance that Satan's power can never spoil any aspect of the believer's actual positions in Christ; but Satan is able, except as the believer lays hold by faith of the power of God, to hinder the life of blessing which should flow out of that vital union with Christ.
5. Unmerited.
Human merit, as in all the operations of grace, is excluded from the divine reckoning concerning these positions in Christ. They rest on the perfect merit of Christ. This is the very heart of the new standing before God. "In Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph_2:13).
6. Unchangeable.
The standing and position of the child of God in Christ cannot be increased or decreased. It abides as He is, "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb_13:8).
7. Eternal.
Finally, since these positions in Christ are related to, and depend only on Christ, they will endure as long as He endures: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [without end] that come unto God by him" (Heb_7:25).
These great positions and relationships in Christ are the result of the unrestrained outflow of the exceeding grace of God. They, therefore, do not appear in any teaching of the law of Moses or of the kingdom. These positions could not be gained by law-works or by any human merit. Correspondingly, the manner of life which they propose cannot be lived according to the law in the energy of the flesh. The whole system of grace is both inter-related and complete within itself and cannot yield to the principle of the law at any point whatsoever.
Second. Christ is the Sphere of the Believer's Possessions.
Again the enumeration must be partial:
1. A new standing in Christ.
The new standing in Christ includes all the positions under grace, a portion of which have just been enumerated. These positions are "the riches of grace in Christ Jesus." The possession for a day even of one of these glories of grace would be well worth the trials and struggles of a lifetime. But in contrast to such a valuation, they are all gained, and all retained without struggle or trial; they are God's gift in grace. Such wealth cannot be comprehended by the unaided human mind. The Apostle prayed: "The eyes of your understanding [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Eph_1:18); "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph_3:19); "That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col_1:9). There are no limits to be placed on the possibility of the illumination of the mind by the Spirit.
2. A new life in Christ.
The Scriptures lay great emphasis upon the fact that the Christian possesses a new life from God. That life is imparted. Christ said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (Joh_10:10). The satanic counterfeit of this fundamental truth is the teaching that the new life consists in a new manner of life, -- a new standard or ideal. A new life imparted will naturally result in a new manner of life; but no manner of life, old or new, constitutes the means through which the imparted life is gained. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom_6:23); and, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (Joh_10:28). Life from God is bestowed through a new birth, results in sonship, and secures the Fatherhood of God.
3. The new presence and power of the Spirit.
It is stated in Rom_5:5 that "the Spirit is given unto us." This is true of every person who is saved. The Spirit is the birth-right in the new life. By Him alone can the character and service that belongs to the normal daily life of the Christian be realized. The Spirit is the "All-Sufficient One." Every victory in the new life is gained by His strength, and every reward in glory will be won only as a result of His enabling power.
4. A new inheritance.
The inheritance of the old creation in Adam was beyond description in its horror. It was to be "without Christ ... having no hope, and without God in the world" (Eph_2:12). With Christ, God hath freely given us all things else (Rom_8:32). The Christian's inheritance is nothing short of "all things"; for he is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ (Rom_8:17). Peter writes: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1Pe_1:3-4). The present blessings of the presence and power of the Spirit are but an "earnest of our inheritance" (Eph_1:14. cf Act_20:32; Act_26:18; Col_1:12; Heb_9:15). This inheritance is a present possession which is sealed to the child of God under grace. In addition to the "all things" of Christ, it includes the "all things of the Father" (Joh_16:12-15), and these are to be revealed to the heart now by the Spirit (1Co_2:9-10); "The living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (1Ti_6:17); "Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1Co_3:21-23).
5. A new enemy.
To be in Christ is to experience the same enmity and opposition from Satan which he entertains toward Christ. There is no enmity on Satan's part toward the unsaved. They form a part of his world system and are said to be under his power (Eph_2:2; Col_1:13; 1Jn_5:19, R.V.; 2Co_4:3-4). Satan's enmity is against God and against the people of God because God, by His divine nature, is in them, and they are in Christ. We read: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph_6:10-12. R.V.).
6. Access to God.
A mediator is required between God and man since God is holy and man is unholy. Job, who lived many centuries before Moses, gave utterance to his own sense of need of a mediator. Speaking of God he said: "For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (Job_9:32-33). There could be none to mediate between God and man unless God Himself should provide. This He did in the Person of His Son. It is written: "Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one" (Gal_3:20). A mediator must stand between two parties; for there is no occasion that he mediate for one. The teaching of the Scriptures is that God mediated His own case. That is to say, He stood between Himself and sinful man. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2Co_5:19). God undertook through the death of His Son to protect the sacredness of His own holy standards and law which had been outraged by sinful man, and at the same time to secure the welfare of the offender. This is the work of a mediator. Every demand of His holiness was met in Christ who, as Substitute, bore the judgment which God in righteousness must impose, and every interest of the sinner was provided for in the marvels of saving grace which were set free through the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ has thus become the one and only ground of meeting between God and man. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1Jn_2:2).
The present wide-spread tendency to slight the fact of the holy demands of God against sin and to assume that the sinner is free to come to God on the basis of divine goodness and mercy, is not only a gross misrepresentation of the truth of God's Word, it is a satanic device to keep men from the salvation that is in Christ. The goodness and mercy of God can never be questioned, but that goodness and mercy has been exercised to the last degree of divine ability in the provision of a Mediator who is mighty to save. Christ said: "I am the light," "I am the door," "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is, therefore, no approach to God for saint or sinner other than through the Mediator whom God has provided. All the types of the Old Testament which forshadowed the work of Christ for man were equally clear on this great truth. As the shed-blood of the animal sacrifices typified the efficacious blood of Christ, no individual of the Old Testament dispensation was permitted to come into the presence of God apart from the shedding and sprinkling of blood. Christ is the Mediator of a new and better covenant. His shed-blood is the antitype of all that was required in the sacrifices of the Old Testament; but in the present relation between God and man, the truth takes on an added reality and intensity which is beyond estimation. No man is now free to thrust himself into the presence of God simply because he wills to do so. Every door is closed but One. If God does not destroy the offender as He did in the old dispensation, it is not because the offense is any less worthy of death; it is because of His present attitude of longsuffering through grace. So much the more is man now obligated to respect the unchangeable truth that Christ is the only way to God. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1Ti_2:5). This mediation of the Son of God is seen in certain aspects:
a. Access into the grace of God.
It is through Christ and Him alone that we have access into the grace of God. "By whom also we have access into this grace" (Rom_5:2). This is as true for the saved as it is for the unsaved. The unsaved are saved only through the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Likewise, the saved are kept and stand only through Christ, and all their relationship to God is through Christ alone.
b. Access into fellowship with God.
All communion and fellowship with God is on the basis alone of the Person and work of Christ. As the high priest of the old order went into the holy of holies once a year and communed with God, likewise, the priest of the new order -- the child of God -- is free to enter the presence of God and there to abide. But as the priest of the old order was received before God only because be was under the sprinkled blood, with the same divine discrimination, the priest of the new order is received only because he is under the precious blood of Christ. God receives His children into fellowship on the sole basis of the efficacious blood of Christ whether they understand this fact or not. How vitally important it is, however, that they should understand and give continual heart-acknowledgment of all that Christ is to them! "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb_10:19-22).
c. Access to God in prayer.
Christ is the only access to God in prayer. How misleading is the supposition that any one can reach the ear of God who will simply speak to Him! Apart from the Mediator Christ Jesus, there is no access to God in prayer and there can be no real prayer. The new basis of prayer in the present relationship to God is that, prayer is to be made in the Name of Christ. This is revealed by Christ in the upper room and is a part of His unfolding of the glories of grace. "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it"; "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (Joh_14:14; Joh_16:23-24). God receives all His children when they pray; but He receives them in Christ, and their prayer is effectual and prevailing only as it is in the Name that is above every name, and on the ground of the blood that has been shed. How important, again, that the saved one understand this truth and that he come to God with full heart-acknowledgment of the Mediator -- Christ!
The unsaved have no access to God in prayer. "But," it is often asked, "how then can they be saved, if they cannot ask God to save them?" The answer is simple: No person is ever saved because he asks God to do it. He is saved through grace only when he believes. God is offering salvation to men. He does not need to be implored or moved in their behalf. He has been moved to give His Son to die. What more could He do? This marvelous gift of His grace is for all who will believe.
7. The Word of God.
The written Word of God is one of the priceless possessions of the child of God in Christ. It is the unfolding of all the revelation concerning the majesty and grace of the Father, the salvation and glory that is in the Son, and the power and blessing that is in the Spirit, the facts about heaven and earth, about sin and salvation, about angels and Satan, about life and death, and all that is future and all that is past. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2Ti_3:16); "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psa_119:105).
The Word of God is as a title deed to all that the Christian possesses in Christ. It is a covenant guaranty from God which is sealed in heaven. Assurance of the divine grace and blessing is never left to depend on the changeable feelings, or vain misunderstanding and imaginations of the human heart. "It is written." "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1Jn_5:13). Third. Christ, the Sphere of the Believer's Safe-Keeping.
As the First Adam transmitted what he was to those who were born after the flesh, so the Last Adam transmits what He is to those who are born after the Spirit. The Christian's standing is in Christ, and there will be no fall in the Last Adam. He is as secure as God can make him secure, for the preservation of the believer is not conditioned by the thought which he has about the matter; it is according to the purpose of God. As has been stated, all the eternal purposes of infinite grace are involved in the issue of the safe-keeping of each one who is in Christ. In like manner, the security of the Christian is not merely the preservation of the possessions which together total his own inheritance; the believer is a part of the divine inheritance. God has an inheritance in the Christian (Eph_1:18). The real question becomes one, therefore, as to whether God is able to keep that which is His inheritance and whether He is disposed to keep. Against His power nothing can prevail, and He has paid the price -- the blood of His own Son -- to redeem this possession to Himself. Since He is free through the cross to do so, and His love is unending, it is inconceivable that He will not keep the one He has saved. He has sealed His inheritance unto the day of redemption.
An illustration of the safe-keeping which results from being in Christ, is seen in the panoply which God has provided under which the believer may "stand" against the strategies and warfare of Satan. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph_6:13-17).
The fact that Christ is the armour is a hidden beauty in this passage. He is the Truth, our Righteousness, our Peace, our Faith, our Salvation, and the Word of God. Christ encompasses the believer and insulates him from the power of every foe.
Fourth. Christ, the Sphere of the Believer's Association.
The believer's association extends to every relationship he sustains, and the character of these associations is molded in conformity to his position in Christ. Some of these relationships are:
1. With God the Father.
Through the death of Christ, and through the regenerating work of the Spirit, an individual who believes is made a son of God by receiving the divine nature and is made to stand before God forgiven, righteous, and justified forever. He has entered the family and household of God, and the Father's tender care, which is all that infinite grace can provide, is over him. The unsaved do not know God; He is not in all their thoughts. They may know about God; but this is far short of knowing God. Such knowledge is only gained by the personal introduction to the Father by the Son: "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Mat_11:27). And to know the Father signifies the possession of eternal life: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (Joh_17:3).
God was not usually known as Father under the past dispensation. He was honored and trusted as a "covenant-keeping God." The Psalmist wrote: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him" (Psa_103:13).
2. With Christ the Son.
The extent of this relationship is limitless since it contains all that enters into the new sphere in Christ. It includes all that He is as Saviour and Lord; all that He is in partnership with the believer in service, in suffering, and in betrothal; and all that He is in the Christian's fellowship, "and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1Jn_1:3). Christ is the object of ceaseless devotion and praise.
3. With the Spirit of God.
At this point, association is nothing less than identification itself in all matters of life, character, and service; for the believer is appointed to live only by the power of the indwelling Spirit. The association with the Spirit is immediate and intimate because He indwells every believer. The presence of the Spirit is not disclosed through human emotions and feelings; it is rather detected by the things which He does.
4. With Satan and his emissaries.
As has been stated, the believer is brought, through his new position in Christ, into a sphere wherein Satan's enmity is directed against him as it is directed against God. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, Against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph_6:12. R.V.). The victory is provided only through the indwelling Spirit: "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1Jn_4:4).
5. With the angels.
The angels are messengers or ministering spirits "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb_1:14). While their care attends the child of God, it has not pleased God to give the Christian fellowship with them. Their ministry as messengers is revealed throughout the Word of God.
6. With the world.
The Christian is not of this world. He has been translated into the kingdom of Christ. He is a citizen of heaven, and his only relation to this world is that of an ambassador and witness. He is in the enemy's land; for Satan is "the god of this world." The kingdoms of this world are given unto Satan under the permission and purpose of God (Luk_4:6). The Christian is related to the world and all that is in the world only as he is related to it through Christ. This relationship is three-fold:
a. To the world system.
This is the whole sphere of human life with its institutions, ideals, and projects. Concerning this world-system the believer is thus warned: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1Jn_2:15-17); "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph_5:11); "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man" (Col_4:5-6).
b. To human governments.
According to the Bible, these are under the direct authority of the Gentiles. The present is the times of the Gentiles (Luk_21:24). Human government is of God only to the extent of His permissive will and the realization of His purpose; but the citizen of heaven is instructed to be in subjection to governments: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation [judgment]. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour" (Rom_13:1-7); "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king" (1Pe_2:13-17).
c. To the unsaved individual.
The consistent attitude of the Christian is the same as that of his Lord who died for lost men. As He is, so are we, and therefore we are to manifest His spirit in this world.
Of his own attitude toward lost men, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead [all died in the Substitute] ... Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2Co_5:14-16). Having beheld Christ as God's Lamb which taketh away the sin of the world, and the One who died for all, and in whose death all have partaken, the Apostle says: "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh." The usual distinctions among men, of Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, bond and free, are submerged in the overwhelming estimation of that which is accomplished for all men through the death of Christ. The Apostle now recognizes them only as men for whom Christ has died. This conception of the estate of the unsaved is the normal one for all Christians, and it leads on to a reasonable service for Christ in soul-winning.
7. With the whole body of Christ.
The Epistles of the New Testament disclose the basis for a fellowship and kinship within the company of the redeemed which exists in no other association of people in this world, and this union calls for a corresponding manner of conduct from the Christian toward fellow-believers. This relationship is seven-fold:
a. A Christian's relation to other Christians in general.
Love is revealed as the underlying principle of this relationship. It is embodied in the first commandment of Christ in the grace teachings of the upper room: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (Joh_13:34-35). This same truth is set forth in many passages. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (