Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Self-Denial- A learning experience.

Another excerpt from-

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

(Keep in mind what we've been studying the last few days. If you haven't been following the little study please go back the last few days, maybe a week and read it if you can.  We're discussing our need of humbling, our need of carrying our cross daily, our need of LIVING in Christ fully.)

'If in the disposition which Christ displayed in relation to His cross we are willing to take up ours, then we shall find that the power of His cross abides in us and enables us to lose our natural life.

Each time the cross is taken up, each time does the soul life suffer loss.

Each time the cross is circumvented, each time is the soul life fed and preserved.

The Lord Jesus does not imply that dealing with our natural inclinations is a once for all matter. We find in Luke the word “daily” is added to our Lord’s call to take up the cross.

Cross-bearing is continuous.

The cross which condemned sin to death is an accomplished fact: all which remains for us to do is to acknowledge and receive it. But the cross through which we forfeit our soul life is different.

Self-denial is not a matter already and completely accomplished; this we must experience daily.

Now this does not mean that the soul life will never be lost or only be lost slowly. It simply bespeaks the fact that the cross which deals with the soul life operates differently from that which deals with sin. And the reason? Because death towards sin is accomplished for us by Christ: when He died, we died with Him. But the denial of the soul life is not an accomplished matter.

We are required to take up our own cross daily by the power of the cross of Christ and determine daily to deny self—until it is lost.

Renunciation of our natural life is not something which is done once and forever. As for sin, we only need take the ground of the cross (Rom. 6.6) and immediately we are freed from its power and our servitude to it. In a moment this can be experienced with a full and perfect victory. But the self life must be overcome step by step.

The deeper the Word of God penetrates (Heb. 4.12), the deeper works the cross and the further the Holy Spirit completes the union of the life of our spirit with the Lord Jesus.

How can believers deny the self when it is yet unknown to them? They can deny only that part of the soul life which they already recognize. God’s Word must lay bare more and more of our natural life so that the work of the cross can probe deeper and deeper. That is why the cross must be borne daily. To know more of God’s will and to know more of the self- furnishes the cross increased ground to operate.'

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Tomorrow we'll study this more in-depth. For now, please read this a few times, soak it in. Look up the Bible verse if you can.

By the grace of God we have to learn this, study this, please God, please help us to learn what we need to! Help us to learn the truth of YOUR WORD! Guide us, help us!

All through the name of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever!

AMEN.

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