Facets of Salvation: Union with Christ, Part 3

INTRODUCTION: We’ve seen in our study of union with Christ that it is impossible to separate salvation from the Person of Christ. Sadly in the Church today there are likely multitudes who want the benefits of Christ’s salvation, but do not want His Lordship over their lives. (Christ’s offices consist of His role as Prophet, as Priest, and as King. As Prophet, He teaches us in His Word about our sinfulness and need of salvation. As Priest, He makes atonement for the sins of all who will believe. As King, He rules as Lord over His redeemed people and perfects them by means of His Word and His Spirit. In order for us to be safely brought to heaven, we must follow Him and submit to Him in all of His offices!) Because of union with Christ, the believer has the resources for godly living, for victory over sin, and for progress in sanctification. Our responsibility in living out our union with Christ involvescounting ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, refusing to let sin reign over us, and presenting ourselves to God as slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:11-13). In Romans 6:15-23, our responsibility of presenting ourselves to God is developed in detail. This section of Scripture is vital in equipping the believer for victory over sin. Romans six is nothing less than the divine strategy for overcoming defeat (see the verses on sin and the need to “kill it” while it is yet gestating in the mind – James 1:12-18).  v. 15 – The fact that the believer is not under law, but under grace might appear to provide a license for moral carelessness. This Paul denies, since under the reign of grace, Christians have become slaves of God. The freedom of grace therefore is freedom for obedience and service, not license. The Greek tense of “shall we sin” is an aorist tense. Here the verb is used as a “snapshot” or event, without reference to time. The tense may refer to isolated acts of sinning. The question in verse 15 would be then, “Can we sin deliberately now and then since we are not under the law but under grace? Is an isolated act of sin permissible?” Paul’s reply is emphatic, “May it never be!” That expression is tantamount to saying, “How unthinkable, how blasphemous, how monstrous!” Paul is opening up his discussion on the nature of the believer’s freedom. The burden of the whole verse can be expresses as follows: Under the government of Almighty God, there is no such thing as freedom without a master. The only alternatives open are to have sin, or to have God. The man who imagines he is free, because he has no god but his own ego is deluded. Serving one’s ego and self-will is the very essence of slavery to sin. It’s either slavery to life in God, or slavery to sin which leads to death. There is no third option (Cranfield, Romans Commentary I, p. 323). v. 16 – The second reply to Paul’s question stresses that man is the subject of his moral actions. Paul is deriving his argument from the nature of the human will. Purpose and inclination in one direction are incompatible with purpose of inclination in another direction. (EX. House cats do not clean themselves and then roll in the mud on alternate days of the week, their voluntary life direction is cleanliness.) Christ makes the argument that no man can serve two masters without hating one and loving the other (Matt 6:24; 7:18; Luke 16:13; Jn 8:34). The maintenance of our walk with the Lord centers around submission to Him as Master. APPLICATION: We need to remember that the nature of sin is rebellion, defilement, bondage, and lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4). Sin masquerades as freedom, but is abject bondage (2 Pet 2:17-22). The death that sin leads to is not merely physical death, but separation from God in hell (Rom 2:5-9; 2 Thess 1:9). v. 17 – Our salvation is all of grace. God graciously enables the sinner to respond properly to the Gospel of grace. The individual is active in conversion, but not in a meritorious way (divine sovereignty and grace are not compromised when a sinner believes the Gospel and repents).Grace plants in us a new inclination of the will toward God and righteousness. The believer is a slave to righteousness. Reckless and unresisted sinning is therefore incompatible with the grace of God. The nature of the human will forbids doing two contradictory things at the same time (Shedd, Romans, p. 164). Paul commends the obedience of the Romans to the Gospel. Their obedience was “from the heart.” They were (formerly) servants of sin by nature – it was their continual state. But now their nature has been changed. “Form of doctrine . . .delivered” uses the Greek word for form that describes a craftsman’s mold for casting molten metal. God may be said to “pour” his children into the mold of divine truth (Rom 12:1, 2). God plants in new believers a compelling desire to know God’s Word (1 Pet 2:2). This “mold of truth” is not some vague set of emotional or sentimental ideas; it is a definite standard. It is Christian doctrine. There can be no stable, strong Christianity without sound theology at the heart of it. No man can reach the God of Scripture without sound doctrine (2 Tim 1:13; 1 Tim 1:10; Titus 1:9; 2:1). The grace of God instructs us to deny ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14). The Gospel teaches us with great precision what God requires morally of a believer. APPLICATION: The Gospel pattern for liberty in Christ does not interfere with the genuine freedom and spontaneity of the believer – he obeys “from the heart.” His commitment is whole-hearted and voluntary. How clear our thinking needs to be in this area. The only freedom is enslavement to Christ. His will is revealed in His Word. vv. 18-19 – Verse 18 is a restatement of their obedience from the heart just stated in verse 17. With this obedience comes the consequence and obligation of enslavement to righteousness.The words, “freed from sin” do not imply complete and absolute freedom from sin, but freedom substantially and virtually from the dominion of sin (Shedd, p. 164). Believers are free from the condemning and enslaving power of sin. The believer’s will is free from the dominion of sin. But like an unruly slave in one’s house, indwelling sin annoys and vexes until at last at death, we are set free from its presence. (See Galatians 5:16-26 for a description of why the remnants of indwelling sin hinder holy living.) In verse 19, the Apostle admits that the figure of speech he is employing (slavery) is inadequate and perhaps unworthy of the reliever’s relationship to Christ and righteousness. The believer’s relationship to righteousness is not humiliating, grievous and degrading as slavery often is. Our enslavement to righteousness is perfect freedom, for we have come to love righteousness.For all its limitations, the slavery figure of speech communicates what Paul intends it to: total belongingness, total obligation, total commitment, and total accountability of those under grace. APPLICATION: Just as our servitude to sin was one of “total loyalty,” now our enslavement to righteousness must be singular and consistent. The result of living out our union with Christ as our Master is sanctification. Scripture demands that this sanctification, or holiness of heart and life, be present in those who expect to see the Lord (Heb 12:14; 1 Thess 4:3, 4, 7). vv. 20-21 – In your former state, you had no concern for righteousness unto holiness (v. 19). In the days of your abandonment to sin, no good fruit accrued, only shame ending in death. In your days prior to Christ, you were carefree in respect to the demands of righteousness. Christ and righteousness didn’t exercise mastery or authority over you. When you were living in sin, you were “released” from holiness and its demands. But that “freedom” is a false freedom that ends in damnation. Only when a person is a servant of righteousness is he truly free (Jn 8:32-36). vv. 22-23 – By the renewing grace of God which made you a new creature you are now able to think clearly about your former rebellion against God. You can now see that you were speeding down the broad road to destruction (Matt 7:13, 14). You grimace with shame as you reflect upon your former life; the memory of it is a cause for humility before God. But now, by God’s sovereign grace, you are freed from sin by virtue of union with Christ and His cross. You are enslaved to God. Submission to righteousness leads to sanctification, which ends in eternal life. APPLICATION: Consider how the truth of v. 22 corrects the “easy believe-ism” views of salvation which downplay the pursuit of holiness. Note how judgment day will involve a graphic public display of one’s works as evidence of which of the two masters he served (Matt 25:31-46). The contrast between sin and grace is climatic. Sin pays wages. It operates on the remuneration principle. When a person is serving sin, the death meter is running so to speak. The individual enslaved to sin is moving in the direction of death and separation from God. (EX. A depiction of serving sin: note the example of an object careening out of a stable orbit into the black depths of space – Jude 13). His whole person and character is being conformed to unrighteousness. Payday is unstoppable. The wages paid by sin is always death and separation from God. The sinner earns his judgment. By contrast, the principle of grace operates upon the imputed righteousness of Christ. The Apostle does not say that the wages of righteousness is eternal life. The sole basis upon which the sinner receives life is by God’s free grace – a gratuity, a gift. Whatever progress occurs in inherent righteousness since conversion is the product of the Holy Spirit moving and inclining his will toward God. Righteousness, unlike sin, is not self-originated, consequently, its reward must be gracious. The ground and cause of all grace is Jesus Christ. CONCLUSION: Union with Christ grants the believer into all the benefits of Christ’s work as Redeemer and Mediator. Christ’s conquest of sin and death becomes the believer’s possession. Through union with Christ, the believer participates in Christ’s victory. The Christian is described as a conqueror, and as an overcomer (Rom 8:37; 1 Jn 5:4, 5).  Are we conquerors no matter what we do? No! Paul addresses the commands in chapter six to believers, those whose wills have been renewed by regeneration. As new creatures in Christ, we now desire fellowship, obedience, righteousness, service. We delight in the knowledge of God and desire to please Him. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we now have the power and inclination to give voluntary loyalty and submission to Christ. Because of union with Christ, we have the resources for godly living and victory over sin which produces progress in sanctification. The Christian’s freedom is not a master-less freedom; it is a change in masters. It is a transfer from one kingdom to another (Col 1:13). Freedom is a change in service. To attempt to use our freedom without submission and service to Christ will result in indulgence of the flesh (Gal 5:13ff.). Paul states in numerous passages that the Christian life involves the continual exercise of godly discipline (Heb 12:1, 2; 1 Tim 4:7; 1 Cor 9:24-27). An honest examination of ourselves would reveal that we need a higher degree of godly discipline. Romans 6:1-8:17 is the definitive section in Scripture on the Christian life. It has been described as the Christian’s gospel. This section of Romans clearly defines the path that the believer walks upon toward glory. It provides an exposition of the narrow way spoken of by Christ in Matthew 7:13, 14. It is a sobering thought that countless individuals imagine they are on their way to heaven, even though their lives bear no resemblance to the Christian life described in 6:1-8:17. True believers are to function like salt in its role as a preservative, and as a shining light that illuminates the narrow way that leads to life. In order to show people the narrow way, we must be examples of those who walk the narrow way. SOURCES CONSULTED: John Murray, Commentary on Romans The New Geneva Study Bible The MacArthur Study Bible S. Lewis Johnson, Believer’s Bible Bulletin on Romans Cranfield, Commentary on Romans

Getting Galatians 2:20 “into the Bloodstream” -- Part One

Faith in the Son of God is our ‘Lifestyle’ Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives within me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 encapsulates in a single sentence the more comprehensive explanation of co-crucifixion found in Romans 6. Co-crucifixion, or radical identification with Christ’s person and work, produces enduring, all-encompassing results in the life of the believer. Unlike the grace gifts of cleansing, a clear conscience, and the filling of the Spirit, the liberating force of co-crucifixion is a positional blessing that is not immediately experiential. It has to bereckoned as Paul enjoins in Romans 6:11 in order for its power to be appropriated day by day. Peace, hope, and joy are a function of ongoing fresh acts of faith in Christ enabled by the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). The behavior of the Galatian believers gives evidence to the fact that without sustained faith in Christ it is possible to lapse into a legal attempt to commend oneself to God. Paul condemns this dangerous tendency toward relapse as a departure from faith in the sufficiency of Christ. All attempts to put oneself right with God by law will be met with utter impossibility (Alan Cole, Galatians, p. 83). The saint must not return to the ‘old path’ of law. For life under law was characterized by reliance upon oneself. By contrast Paul exults in the fact that he is so transformed by union with Christ that he does not recognize his former sinful self (Geoffrey Wilson, Galatians, p. 50, 51). Legal working for acceptance with God is hostile to what is ours by God’s grace through union with Christ. The Christian life of faith in the Son of God excludes reliance upon oneself or works. The life of faith in Christ is dominated, controlled, and animated by the thought of the love of the Son of God (ibid.). “Seeking to be justified in Christ” (2:17) refers to the fact that justification (though a once for all forensic act of God) is a continuous experience for believers. Christians not only exercise initial faith, but continue to believe. They continue daily to reckon that Christ is their life, their favor, and their acceptance with God. Confidence concerning our acceptance with God is the fruit of ongoing faith; “Christ liveth in me” is the distinctive mark of the saved person (Homer Kent, The Freedom of God’s Sons; Studies in Galatians, p. 74-77). Luther on Galatians 2:20 – the necessity of knowing we are one with Christ How do we live out union with Christ? It is no longer I who live says Paul. Christ and my conscience must become one so that nothing remains in my sight but Christ crucified and raised. If I behold myself only and set Christ aside in my thinking and in my self evaluation, I am gone. It is no longer I who live – my own person is not the source of my spiritual life. The ‘old I’ was separate from Christ and bound to do the works of the law. The result of that arrangement was bondage to sin, death, and hell. Paul rejects the old person. The new man; the saved man is in union with Christ. But our spiritual ‘sight’ is strained as we attempt to comprehend our oneness with Christ. We cannot spiritually conceive of Christ joined and united to us – it is like gazing at a wall and then attempting to see the color of the wall as separate from the wall. Christ is joined and united unto us and abiding in us so that “He lives this life in me.” He lives this life in me which I now live. Christ Himself is the life I now live. Therefore Christ and I are now one. This is the great and glorious mystery of Colossians 1:27. This union with Christ; my conjunction with Him is the reason I am delivered from the terror of the law and sin. I have been translated into Christ and His kingdom. It is a kingdom; a sphere of righteousness, peace, joy, life, salvation, and eternal glory. It is His, yet it is mine also by inseparable union. While I abide in Him what evil can hurt me? If I behold and consider myself apart from Christ there is only sin, law, and condemnation. But I look to Christ and behold by faith my union and conjunction with Him – then I am dead to the law and have no sin on my account. If therefore in the matter of justification I separate the Person of Christ from my person, then I am in the law and live in law, not in Christ – I am condemned by law and dead before God. At this point Luther continues to reflect upon the reality of organic living union with Christ and wonders aloud about the actual spiritual condition of countless individuals who profess faith. Paraphrasing Luther, countless individuals have only an historical faith which accepts the facts of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. These individuals are not justified; for devils and the wicked have this kind of faith. (Historical faith is merely assensus, or mental assent; it is not fiducia, or moral trust.) Faith must be purely and diligently taught. The true believer is entirely joined to Christ. The believer and Christ are made one person spiritually. The believer may boldly say I am now one with Christ. That is to say Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are now mine. So radical is this exchange that Christ may say, I am that sinner . . . his sins and death are minebecause he is joined to Me and I to him. By faith we are joined together so that we have become members of His body; His flesh and bone (Eph 5:30). I live indeed – the faculties of my fleshly body express my thought, will, and affection, yet it is not I, but Christ that liveth in me. There is then a double life. The first is mine which is natural. The second is the life of Another; that is the life of Christ in me. As touching my natural life, I am dead – but now I live by Another’s life, even Christ. If I lived my own life the law would have dominion over me and hold me captive. To the end therefore that it should not hold me captive I am dead to it. This death (through my Substitute) purchased for me the life of Another, even the life of Christ: which life is not mine by nature, but is given unto me by Christ through faith in Him. How can this be? I look at my own person and see only flesh. The answer is that this life which I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Observers see my life; I eat, sleep, labor, yet they don’t really see my life. Yes, I indeed live in the flesh, but not through the flesh, or according to the flesh. I live through faith and according to faith. Yes, I live in the flesh and exercise the faculties of my fleshly body, yet every good work, whether self-control, or edification of the saints, or Christian virtue, comes not from my flesh, but from Christ. I cannot teach, give thanks, write, or pray but by means of the faculties of flesh that God has given me; but the ability to do these works does not come from my flesh but is given from God above. So we see plainly where the spiritual life comes from; it is from the life of Christ in me (the natural man cannot perceive this). For this life is not visible to the naked eye. This life is in the heart by faith where the tyranny of the flesh has been killed and Christ reigns through His Holy Spirit. (The Spirit of Christ sees, hears, speaks, works, and enables the believer to do all things in Him, yet the flesh resists.) What is the Apostle’s aim for his readers? Namely the discovery that happy is the man who can say I live by faith in the Son of God. We have here the true manner of justification, and a perfect example of the assurance of faith. He loved me and gave Himself for me. How we must hear this diligently and allow it to sink into our innermost being. The kingdom of man’s reason and the spiritual kingdom must be put far asunder. By depravity, what is in man’s will is evil and what is in his understanding is error. Therefore by natural strength and ability, no man will fulfill the law and love God. All begins with the love and grace of Christ. He loved me first; He is the beginning. He found no good in me but had mercy on me. I was wicked, led astray, increasingly estranged from God, carried away and led captive by the devil. My reason, will, and understanding were at enmity with God, yet in spite of this He loved me and gave Himself to free me from the law, sin, the devil, and death. The Son loved me and gave Himself for me – let these words thunder against any attempts at righteousness by the law, or by any of the law’s works. So great is the darkness in the will and understanding, it was impossible that sinful man should be ransomed but the inestimable price of Christ’s death and blood. Therefore it is terrible blasphemy to imagine any work whereby we should presume to pacify God. Only the inestimable price of the death and blood of the Son of God can bring us near to our Creator. He gave Himself for me – a wretched, damnable sinner. What a travesty to choose a religious work, order, or sect that promises to commend us to God bynon-faith. It is blasphemous to trust in something other than faith in the Son of God who gave Himself to commend us to God. Nothing but destruction can come from religious exercise born ofnon-faith. The only power against the solicitations, overtures, and temptations of acceptance with God bynon-faith is the imputed righteousness of Christ. It was necessary He be delivered up for me; no other price in heaven or earth could avail. Christ the Son of God was delivered up for me; this is inestimable love. Saving faith wraps itself in Christ who was delivered to death for us. Our Savior is apprehended by faith – His gifts of righteousness and life are with Him to freely give to the believer. Paul sets forth the Priesthood and offices of Christ which are to pacify God and make intercession for sinners. Christ offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins that He might redeem us, instruct us, and comfort us. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. Faith says He is the Son of God who, not for any of our deserving or any righteousness of our own, gave Himself out of His free mercy. He offered Himself up as a sacrifice for us sinners that He might sanctify us forever. It is the greatest knowledge, treasure, and wisdom that Christians can have to define Christ as He is defined in Galatians 2:20. But of all things it is the hardest. Luther confesses that in spite of the great light and illumination of the Gospel which had shone upon his understanding so brightly, it is with difficulty that he is able to consistently define Christ in the way Paul does in Galatians 2:20. The Reformer admits that his years in Romanism served to steep him in the wrong definition of Christ. Says Luther, [Oh how much work it was]to hold this definition of Christ which Paul here giveth; so deeply had the opinion and pestilent doctrine that Christ is a lawgiver[entered] as it were into my bones. Read these words with great vehemence: “lives in me,” “loved me,” “for me,” that you may conceive, print, and etch their personal statement upon your heart and fully apply them to yourself, not doubting but confident by faith that you are among the number to whom the “me” belongs (Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, pp. 87-97).  James Haldane on Galatians 2:20 – the necessity of confidence in Christ The believer is dead to the law by reason of having endured its curse in the Person of his Surety. Our Savior died a victim of the law’s righteous sentence. His death as our Substitute was sanctioned by God’s holy law that we might live unto God. Paul speaks of himself as one of Christ’s members (Rom 12:4, 5). The believing sinner isbaptized into the body of Christ by God’s Spirit (1 Cor 12:12, 13). It is our union with Christ that communicates all of the benefits of His Person and His work to us. We are conformed to our Head. But just as the cutting off of the head kills the body, so also the death of Christ was the death of His members (His people). Death and the curse were pronounced by God upon the Son; He was cut off from God. All God’s waves and billows rolled over Him; the Father’s face was hidden from Him as He endured divine wrath. This was the price of our reconciliation. The Apostle Paul’s life epitomizes faith in the Son. Paul represents himself as in Christ having been nailed to the cross. The Apostle’s statement illustrates just how fully Christ took our place. As the holy, only begotten Son of God, it was not possible for Christ to be held by the power of death (Acts 2:24). He went down into the grave for one purpose; that by Him eternal life might be communicated to all those given to Him. Consider that God’s plan is for sinners; but it required that the Son of God voluntarily offer Himself.A body Thou hast prepared for Me (Heb 10:5). For the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).Therefore God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name(Phil 2:9). He accomplished the Father’s will for our deliverance. On Calvary’s tree the natural members of Christ’s physical body were nailed to the cross. So also all the members of Christ’s mystical body (the children given to Him) were spiritually present on that awful occasion. They died and rose with Him. Not I but Christ says Paul – in Christ there is a new endless life formed in us at regeneration (when the Son was revealed in us – 1:16). This new life is maintained by the supply of the Spirit of Christ. The truth as it is in Christ, the word of grace; the Gospel is the “food” necessary to our support. The truth of Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection is the sustenance of our souls; in the Spirit’s hands the truth quickens us and manifests Christ to us. The believer would die if he lost sight of Christ. The Christian is kept spiritually alive by the supply of the Spirit purchased for him by Christ’s ransom. The Spirit keeps us spiritually alive by taking the things of Christ and showing them to our minds (1 Cor 2:12). Once the Lord has begun a work in us He will complete it (Phil 1:6). This is stated poetically in Isaiah 27:2, 3 – In that day a vineyard of wine, sing of it! I, the Lord am its keeper; I water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I guard it night and day. The Christian is utterly dependent upon God’s testimony; the promise of Christ in us, and we in Him. Therefore we walk by faith, not sight. Christ manifests Himself to His people (not the world). He forms in His people the hope of glory – they feel their security in Him. What is faith? Is it a body of facts to be believed? Is it truth claims? Saving faith is simply confidence in Christ. It is a confidence which under conviction, guilt, and helplessness casts itself on Christ alone. The names of true believers (since the Apostles) are not published in God’s Word. So how do we know who is in possession of saving faith? The conclusive proof is that they are trusting Christ; they are living Galatians 2:20. Pastors need to be discerning concerning those who profess salvation, for there is a false humility that says, my sins are so aggravated that I cannot speak confidently about safety in Christ. If you are not confident in his blood removing your guilt, you are not yet a believer. Satan as an angel of light holds men in bondage by urging them to consider their guilt more than Christ. By contrast, the Holy Spirit through the Gospel gives Christ’s people the knowledge of salvation through remission of sins. Paul wants believers to know they have eternal life. Yes, there is always the danger of presumption; the antinomian danger that winks at sin. But there is an equal hazard in embracing a legal spirit which drifts away from reliance upon Christ and moves ever closer to trust in self effort. Apart from Christ living in us we are spiritually bankrupt. It is our Mediator’s supply of the Spirit through faith that maintains the soul. The more confidently we rely on Christ for pardon, the more we shall experience His power in subduing iniquity, healing backsliding, and promoting sanctification. We ought to use every appointed means to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Read, pray, fellowship, admonish, flee sin, and don’t doubt your acceptance in the Beloved (James A. Haldane, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians, pp. 87-98). Again pastors need to be discerning. It is a legal spirit that is ready to substitute faith in place of its object. Saving faith looks directly at the object it wishes to behold. It deals directly with Christ. It’s not content to know about Him; it longs to be familiar with Him. There is so much corruption that yet remains in us. If we seek comfort by observing how much we are conformed to Christ, we shall soon be disappointed and feel our comfort evaporating. Some have based their comfort upon consciousness that they have believed. But tragically, many are conscious they believe whose faith is not the faith of Christ. Hearts are immeasurably deceitful. Consciousness of having believed, or any feeling is not the bedrock foundation of hope. We are commanded to rest in Christ Himself; He is the great object of faith. In proportion to our confidence in Christ, we will have assurance of salvation. It is the Spirit’s ministry to the saints to take the things of Christ, the things of His dignity, His Person, the infinite value of His atonement, the freeness of His salvation and show them to our minds. In other words, God reveals His Son in the believer. Our response is to believe and obey the truth through the Spirit’s enablement. These supplies of the Spirit are essential to our continuance and commencement of faith. Those who profess salvation must never be satisfied to coexist with doubt. Assuming that we shall be saved while we tolerate doubt is an unsafe position to maintain. The Scriptures command us to give diligence in confirming a full assurance of hope until the end (2 Pet 1:9-11). Never be satisfied until you can say and mean it He loved me and gave Himself for me. All who hear the Gospel are commanded to trust in Christ for salvation with assurance of acceptance. Justification by faith is God’s gracious gift to those who believe; but to believe means to utterly forsake everything else you have looked to for justification or acceptance with God. Having renounced every other ground of hope, look to Christ for salvation. Call on the Name of the Lord – we have the promise of God confirmed to us by His oath – we shall be saved (Heb 6:13-20). The remaining corruption of our hearts diverts us frequently from the enjoyment of our fellowship with God. What is the solution? Count all temporal things but rubbish compared to the infinite treasure of knowing Christ (Phil 3). View all around you in light of eternity. Seek after, and do not be satisfied until you have the enjoyment of the light of God’s countenance. Practice the cultivation of His rest – for a rest remains for the people of God (Heb 4). Plead with the Lord to take entire possession of your heart and reign there without rivals. He is standing, knocking, open to Him (Rev 3:20).