Walk In The Spirit

 

 September 18, 1900 (Excerpt A.T. Jones)

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."

"If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law," because "as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." As sons of God, these have the mind of the Spirit, the mind of Christ, and so with the mind they "serve the law of God." Accordingly, whosoever is led of the Spirit of God and thus has the mind of Christ fulfills the law, because by that Spirit there is shed abroad in the heart the love of God, which in itself is the fulfilling of the law, in whomsoever has it.

On the other hand, whosoever is led of the flesh and so has the mind of the flesh does the works of the flesh and so serves the law of sin.

And the two ways, the way of the Spirit and the way of the flesh are always open before every man. As certainly as the flesh is there, it "lusteth against the Spirit" and as certainly as the Spirit is there it "lusteth against the flesh." 

Whosoever is led of the flesh cannot do the good that he would. 

He serves the law of sin and so is under the law. But whosoever is "led of the Spirit is not under the law."

And every man is always free to choose which shall be his way-- the way of the Spirit or the way of the flesh. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."  Rom. 8:13.

Note that, in the text of Galatians now under consideration and its kindred texts in Romans and also in Colossians, it is stated in words and constantly held in view that the flesh, in its true fleshly sinful nature, is still present with him who has the Spirit of God and that this flesh is warring against the Spirit.

That is, when a man is converted and is thus brought under the power of the Spirit of God, he is not so delivered from the flesh that he is actually separated from it with its tendencies and desires so that by the flesh he is no more tempted and that with it he has no more contest.

No, that same degenerate, sinful flesh is there with its same tendencies and desires. But the individual is no longer subject to these. He is delivered from subjection to the flesh with its tendencies and desires and is now subject to the Spirit. 

He is now subject to a power that conquers, brings under, crucifies, and keeps under, the flesh, sinful as it is, with all its affections and lusts.  Therefore, it is written that "ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body."

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5. 

Note that all these things are there in the flesh and would live and reign if the flesh were to rule. But since the flesh itself is brought into subjection to the power of God, through the Spirit, all these evil things are killed at the root and thus prevented from appearing in the life.

 

This contrast between the rule of the flesh and the rule of the Spirit is clearly shown in Rom. 7:14-24 and in 1 Cor.  9:26, 27. In the seventh of Romans is pictured the man who is under the power of the flesh, "carnal, sold under sin," who longs to do good and wills to do good but is subject to a power in the flesh that will not let him do the good that he would. "For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another 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. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" That describes the man who is subject to the flesh, "to the law of sin" that is in the members. And when he would break away from the power of the flesh and would do good, that power still brings him into captivity and holds him under the dominion of the flesh, the law of sin, which is in his members.

But there is deliverance from that power. Therefore, when he cries out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" there is given instantly the answer: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

There is the way of deliverance, for Christ alone is the Deliverer.

And now this man, though he is thus delivered, is not delivered from a contest; he is not put into a condition where he has no fighting to do with the flesh. There is a fight still to be carried on and it is not a make-believe fight. It is not the fighting of a phantom. Here is the man of 1 Cor. 9:26, 27: "So fight I, not as one that beateth the air." What does he fight? What does he beat? Read: 

"But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Thus, in the battle that the Christian fights is his body, is the flesh with its affections and lusts. The body is to be, by the Christian, kept under and brought into subjection by the new power of the Spirit of God to which he is now subject and to which he became subject when delivered from the power of the flesh and the law of sin.

This is made yet more expressive by the fuller rendering of the Greek word translated "keep under," in 1 Cor. 9:27:  "I keep under my body." It means, literally, "to strike under the eyes, hit and beat the face black and blue."  Accordingly, Conybeare and Howson translate this passage thus: "I fight not as the pugilist who strikes out against the air, but I bruise my body and force it into bondage."

Thus the seventh of Romans shows the man subject to the power of the flesh and the law of sin that is in the members, but longing for deliverance. the ninth of first Corinthians shows the flesh subject to the man through the new power of the Spirit of God. In the seventh of Romans, the flesh is ruling and the man is under. In the ninth chapter of first Corinthians, the man is ruling and the flesh is under.

And this blessed reversal of things is wrought in conversion. By conversion the man is put in possession of the power of God and under the dominion of the Spirit of God so that by that power he is made ruler over the flesh with all its affections and lusts and through the Spirit he crucifies the flesh with the affections and lusts in his fighting "the good fight of faith."

Men are not saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh but by receiving power to conquer and rule over all the evil tendencies and the desires of the flesh. Men do not develop character (in fact, they never could) by being delivered into a realm of no temptation, but by receiving power in the field of temptation exactly where they are to conquer all the temptation.

If men were to be saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh just as it is, then Jesus need never have come to the world. If men were to be saved by being delivered from all temptation and set in a realm of no temptation,  then Jesus need not have come into the world. But never, by any such deliverance as that, could man have developed character. Therefore, instead of trying to save men by delivering them utterly from the flesh just where they were, Jesus came to the world and put himself IN THE FLESH just where men are and met that flesh JUST AS IT IS, with all its tendencies and desires, and by the divine power which he brought by faith, He "condemned sin in the flesh" and thus brought to all mankind that divine faith which brings the divine power to man to deliver him from the power of the flesh and the law of sin, just where he is, and to give him assured dominion over the flesh, just as it is.

Instead of Jesus' trying to save men in a way in which they would be limp and characterless by setting them in a realm of no temptation, He came to man just where man is in the midst of all his temptations. Jesus came in the very flesh such as man has and in that flesh He met all the temptations known to that flesh and conquered every one of them, and by that conquest brought victory to every soul in the world. Bless His name.

And every soul can have in its fullness that victory, who will receive and keep "the faith of Jesus." For "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

Debtors

 Debtors.

(Excerpt A.T. Jones)  

 August 21, 1900

"For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."

 

"Debtor to do the whole law." It is curious that many, in considering this statement, have made it mark a distinction between two laws and have made it exclude the law of God from the subject under consideration by allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

They know, by the scripture, that it is the whole duty of man to fear God and keep His commandments. They know that there cannot be any other scripture to contradict that. They know that every man is under obligation to keep the whole law of God, whether he is circumcised or uncircumcised. And, allowing that this term implies only obligation--that if he is circumcised, he is under obligation to do the whole law, they conclude that this must exclude the law of God; they conclude that it must be some law that no person is under any obligation to do unless he be circumcised and that therefore the "whole law" here under consideration must be only the whole ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings.

On the other hand, there are those who hold themselves under no obligation whatever to keep the law of God,  who bring in this text to support them in their disobedience and opposition. They will have it that only those who are circumcised are under any obligation to keep the law of God, and that it is only by being circumcised that the obligation comes, and they know that they are not under any obligation to be circumcised. From this they argue that they are under no obligation to keep the ten commandments.

But both of these are wrong; both of them fail to see the thought that is in this verse. And the cause of this failure is in their allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

It is true that the word signifies "obligation." But in this place and in every other place in its connection with men's moral obligations, the word has a meaning so much broader and deeper than that of mere obligation that the sense of mere obligation becomes really secondary.

The word "debtor" in this verse--Gal. 5:3--signifies not only that a person is in debt and under obligation to pay but that, beyond this, he is overwhelmingly in debt, with nothing at all wherewith to pay. If a man is debtor and so under obligation to pay one thousand dollars and yet has abundance or even only the ability to pay the one thousand dollars that is easy enough. But if a man is debtor and so under obligation to pay fourteen millions of dollars ($14,000,000) and has not a single cent wherewith to pay and is in prison besides and has no ability whatever to make a cent wherewith to pay his debt to that man the word "debtor" signifies a great deal more than mere "obligation to pay."

And that is precisely the case here. That is the thought in this verse. That is the meaning embodied here in the word "debtor." This because the word "debtor," when used in connection with morals, implies and can imply only sin, that the man is a sinner.

This word "debtor" in Gal. 5:3 is precisely the word that is used in Luke 13:4. "Those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?"--where the word "sinners" in the text is "debtors" in the margin.

It is the word used in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:12), "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," and which in Luke's version of the prayer plainly expresses the thought of sin in the words: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." Luke 11:4.

It is the same word also that is used by the Saviour in Luke 7:41, 42: "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And when they had nothing [ with which] to pay,  he frankly forgave them both."

It is the same word also that is used in the parable in Matt. 18:23-35. Indeed, from the verse, Luke 13:4, where the word "sinners" is used in the text and "debtors" in the margin, the reference is direct to this parable in Matthew 18. That is the parable in which it is said that when a certain king "had begun to reckon" with his servants, "one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents"--about fourteen million four hundred thousand dollars--and he had nothing with which to pay. Then the Lord "forgave him the debt." But when the servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him about fifteen dollars, he would not forgive him the debt but cast him into prison until he should pay the fifteen dollars. Then the king called up his debtor "and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matt. 18:23-35.

That thought of delivering the debtor to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to his lord belongs with the word, for "the use of the word involves the idea that the debtor is one that must expiate his guilt." And "sin is called 'opheilema,' because it involves expiation and the payment of it as a debt, by punishment and satisfaction."

From these scriptures the attentive reader can begin to see that in the words of Gal. 5:3--"he is debtor to do the whole law"--there is far more suggested than that he is merely under obligation to accept the claims of the law upon him and do his best to meet them. All this shows that he is not only under obligation to recognize the binding claims of the law of God but that he is actually debtor to render to that law all the claims that it has upon him. And in this it is further shown that, of himself, he must everlastingly be debtor, because he has absolutely nothing wherewith to pay, and of himself has no means of acquiring anything with which to pay.  And this indebtedness lies not only in his obligation to do the law from this time forward; it also lies in obligation to make satisfaction for all that is past--for all the accumulations of the past up to the present time.

Accordingly, of himself, every man is everlastingly as debtor in all that is implied in this thought in Gal. 5:3 and the kindred texts that we have here cited, because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And whosoever would be circumcised in order to be saved and thus seek to be saved by works of self-righteousness,  thereby takes upon himself the obligation to pay to the law of God his whole debt from the beginning of his life unto the end of it. And in that he also takes upon himself the obligation to expiate all the guilt attaching to his transgressions and accumulated thereby.

That is what it is to be "debtor to do the whole law." That is what is stated in the words, "I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law." He is not only debtor but by that transaction he himself voluntarily assumes of himself to discharge all that is involved in his indebtedness.

Now it is true that every man in the world is, of himself, that kind of a debtor. It is also true that any man today who seeks justification by his own works, even in the doing of the ten commandments or of anything else that the Lord has commanded does thereby assume and bind himself to pay all that is involved in the indebtedness.  But he cannot pay. There is not with him the first element of any possibility, in himself, to pay any of the debt.  He is overwhelmed and lost.

But thanks be to God, whosoever has the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, whosoever depends only on the Lord Jesus and that which Jesus has done, though he be of himself debtor just like any other man, yet, in Christ, he has wherewith abundantly to pay all the indebtedness. Christ has expiated by punishment and satisfaction all the guilt of every soul and by the righteousness of God which he brings, Christ supplies abundance of righteousness to pay all the demands that the law may ever make in the life of him who believes in Jesus.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, believe it! Oh, receive it!  Poor, overwhelmed, lost "debtor," "buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed." "Yea, come, buy . . . without money and without price."

He Wore the Cursed Thorns- For Us.

 (Excerpt)

December 19, 1899

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

The curse of the law, all the curse that ever was or ever can be, is simply because of sin. This is powerfully illustrated in Zech. 5:1-4. The prophet beheld a "flying roll; the length thereof . . . twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits." Then the Lord said to him, "This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth." That is, this roll represents all the curse that is upon the face of the whole earth.

And what is the cause of this curse over the face of the whole earth? Here it is, "For every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it, and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it." That is, this roll is the law of God and one commandment is cited from each table, showing that both tables of the law are included in the roll. Everyone that stealeth--everyone that transgresseth the law in the things of the second table--shall be cut off as on this side of the law according to it, and everyone that sweareth--everyone that transgresseth in the things of the first table of the law---shall be cut off as on that side of the law according to it.

Thus the heavenly recorders do not need to write out a statement of each particular sin of every man, but simply to indicate on the roll that pertains to each man the particular commandment which is violated in each transgression. That such a roll of the law does go with every man wherever he goes and even abides in his house is plain from the next words: "I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house." And unless a remedy shall be found, there that roll of the law will remain until the curse shall consume that man, and his house "with the timber thereof and the stones thereof"; that is, until the curse shall devour the earth in that great day when the very elements shall melt with fervent heat. For "the strength of sin" and the curse "is the law." 1 Cor. 15:56.

But thanks be to God, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." All the weight of the curse came upon Him, for "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." He was made "to be sin for us, who knew no sin." And whosoever received Him, receives freedom from all sin and freedom from the curse because free from all sin.

So entirely did Christ bear all the curse, that, whereas, when man sinned, the curse came upon the ground, and brought forth thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:17, 18), the Lord Jesus, in redeeming all things from the curse, wore the crown of thorns and so redeemed both man and the earth from the curse. 

Bless His name

The work is done. "He hath redeemed us from the curse." Thank the Lord. He was made a curse for us, because He did hang upon the tree.

And since this is all an accomplished thing, freedom from the curse by the cross of Jesus Christ is the free gift of God to every soul on the earth. And when a man receives this free gift of redemption from all the curse, that roll still goes with him; yet, thank the Lord, not carrying a curse any more, but bearing witness to "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference." Rom.  3:21, 22. 

For the very object of his redeeming us from the curse is "that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." That blessing of Abraham is the righteousness of God, which, as we have already found in these studies, can come only from God as the free gift of God, received by faith.

And "as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse"; and as "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law," then He has also redeemed us from the works of the law, which, being only our own works, are only sin, and has, by the grace of God, bestowed upon us the works of God, which, being the works of faith,  which is the gift of God, is only righteousness, as it is written: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." John 6:29. This is rest indeed--heavenly rest--the rest of God. And "he that entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." Heb. 4:10.

Thus "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law" and from the curse of our own works that the blessing of Abraham, which is the righteousness and the works of God, "might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." And all this in order "that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith." And "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." And "what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1-4.

Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift of His own righteousness in place of our sins and of His own works of faith in place of our works of the law, which has been brought to us in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who "hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."

(A.T. Jones)

Crucified Yet Living

 In the beginning…  God created the first human being. God brought human life into existence. God formed man from the dust of the ground, the very ground God created. God took from the ground He created and formed from that dust a human being. Every part of our body decays back to dust over time, nothing remains.  From that first created human being all other human beings descend. We might get nitpicky and demand to know how that is possible, that from two people came all other people, wouldn't that mean brothers and sisters marrying etc? I'm going to be the first here to say, I don't comprehend how it all unfolded. Adam was the first created man, Eve the first created woman from Adam's rib. There were only Adam and Eve and for how long we don't know, but we do know they sinned and after they sinned we are told that Eve conceived a child. Did she havethe ability to conceive a child prior to sinning? Yes, 

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

Be fruitful and multiply…

Before they even started the multiplying process, they sinned.

Once they sinned and were banned from the Garden of Eden, their entire state of immortality and eternal-ness was altered to one of degradation. None of their internal structures had been originally created with things that could break down over time, become infected, diseased, cause pain of any sort - we do not know what our eternal, immortal selves possessed in the original created form. We do know that since sin entered, a woman giving birth would experience great pain- obviously something the eternal, immortal, created Eve would ever have experienced as she was fruitful and multiplying.  Undeniably we were changed by sin's death sentence.

As our sin-filled original parents began to multiply the children born to them were born with sin corrupted flesh, death loomed for each one born. We know from a young age, as soon as we mature with the ability to comprehend- that death is a part of our existence. We inherited that death sentence from our original parents- it started with them.

Without knowing the hows and whys in detail, we know it is true. We can make speculations on things such as-- did God create more human beings from the dust (sinful ones) after Adam was created and sinned, in order to multiply humanity? Just because Adam was the first created, doesn't mean others weren't, does it- you know, created somehow like Eve was from Adam? See, I don't know. There could be something in God's word that say there was no way that could have happened, but my knowledge is sadly limited.

Adam- we all get our human existence from his existence. Christ Jesus our Savior gives us all death to our sinful selves, and the chance to live sinless in Him, through Him. 

Sin from Adam.

Life from Jesus.

Adam failed his test.

We are each given a test- the same opportunity in a different form. 

We may inherit death, a sinful nature and the like - which puts us at a seeming disadvantage to Adam, but God is a God of righteousness, and while we may believe we have a disadvantage it's ultimately not true- underneath all the twists and turns of sin's ways for wanting us to cite unfairness, it is justified completely- because simply- IT CAN NOT BE OTHERWISE, it's impossible. 

Our test at its very root is the same as Adam's- obedience, loyalty, faith in God our Creator, faith in all that comes from Him. Faith in our Redeemer. Faith in our Comforter. We choose self or God- just as Adam and Eve had to choose. Don't let Satan beguile you with his evil, deceiving ways by filling your head with lies telling you that Adam and Eve had it so much easier, things are harder for us, it's not fair. Those are Satanic lies! They had it different from us, but all in all the advantage was not stacked in the favor of one over another. Satan will use anything he can to incite the smallest of doubts into our spiritual lives, all he needs is a tiny bit of leaven for that whole large loaf of your life. He'll destroy more people with the tiny lies, doubts, deceptions than the outright horrendous evils.  

We are crucified with Christ, yet we live…    

*******

(Excerpt)

"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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

It may not be amiss to emphasize what this scripture does say, by noting what it does not say.

It does not say, I want to be crucified with Christ. It does not say, I wish I were crucified with Christ, that He might live in me. It does say, "I am crucified with Christ."

Again, it does not say, Paul was crucified with Christ; Christ lived in Paul, and the Son of God loved Paul and gave Himself for Paul. All that is true, but that is not what the scripture says nor is that what it means, for it means just what it says. And it does say, "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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Thus this verse is a beautiful and solid foundation of Christian faith for every soul in the world. Thus it is made possible for every soul to say, in full assurance of Christian faith, "He loved me." "He gave himself for me." "I am crucified with Christ." "Christ liveth in me." Read also 1 John 4:15.

1Jn 4:15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

For any soul to say, "I am crucified with Christ," is not speaking at a venture. It is not believing something on a guess. It is not saying a thing of which there is no certainty. Every soul in this world can say in all truth and all sincerity, "I am crucified with Christ." It is but the acceptance of a fact, the acceptance of a thing that is already done, for this word is the statement of a fact.

It is a fact that Jesus Christ was crucified. And when He was crucified we also were crucified, for He was one of us. His name is Immanuel, which is "God with us"--not God with Him, but "God with us." When His name is not God with Him, but "God with us," then who was He but "us"? He had to be "us" in order that God with Him could be not God with Him but "God with us." And when He was crucified, then who was it but "us" that was crucified?

This is the mighty truth announced in this text. Jesus Christ was "us." 

He was of the same flesh and blood with us.

He was of our very nature. 

He was in all points like us. 

It behooved him to be made in all points like unto his brethren." He emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men. He was "the last Adam." and precisely as the first Adam was ourselves, so Christ, the last Adam, was ourselves. When the first Adam died, we, being involved in him, died with him. And when the last Adam died, we, being involved in Him, died with Him. And when the last Adam was crucified, He being ourselves and we being involved in Him, we were crucified with Him.  

As the first Adam was in himself the whole human race, so the last Adam was in himself the whole human race,  and so when the last Adam was crucified, the whole human race--the old, sinful human nature--was crucified with Him.

And so it is written, "Knowing this, that our old man IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

Thus every soul in this world can truly say, in the perfect triumph of Christian faith, "I am crucified with Christ"; my old sinful human nature is crucified with Him that this body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth I should not serve sin. Rom. 6:6. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. 

Always bearing about in my body the dying of the Lord Jesus--the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, for I am crucified with Him--that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my body. For I who live am always delivered unto death, for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10, 11. 

And therefore the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

In this blessed fact of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, which was accomplished for every human soul, there is not only laid the foundation of faith for every soul, but in it there is given the gift of faith to every soul. And thus the cross of Christ is not only the wisdom of God displayed from God to us, but it is the very power of God manifested to deliver us from all sin and bring us to God.

O sinner, brother, sister, believe it. Oh, receive it. Surrender to this mighty truth. Say it; say it in full assurance of faith and say it forever. 

"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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

Say it, for it is the truth, the very truth and wisdom and power of God, which saves the soul from all sin.

Excerpt A.T. Jones 1899

Box of Sin-Free, Anyone?

 Fat free, carb free, sugar free, flour free, grain free, egg free, milk free, nut free….    SIN FREE.

We can pull a fat free item off a grocery store shelf, but we can't grab something sin free with the intent of it keeping sin from us. How many of us would raid the grocery store shelves if they had an item that could make us sin free? Sin is heavy, it has a weight to it that goes spirit deep. When we are convicted of sin we feel that tremendous weight and Satan stops at nothing to make it seem crushing, as if there was no way we could ever be free from such an awful heaviness. We can feel the sin like a heavy burden upon us and with each passing day the burden grows heavier and heavier. Falling to our knees under that weight, we despair of ever being able to rise up again. We recognize the sin and cry out against its existence in our lives. We tear at it, trying to rid ourselves of the weight all the while loathed to give up the cherished satisfaction it strangely offers to us even while we know it is killing us. Caught in this evil web we feel like a helpless fly awaiting destruction at the attack of a spider, and yet we keep running into web after web. We feel as if we are surrounded by nothing but webs with no way out, so we live the life of prey, hating it but unable to stop. So, yes, if there were a box of Sin Free on a shelf promising an easy fix to a terrible problem, we'd take it. If I eat a bit of sin free and no longer feel inclined to yield to the temptation, how amazing would that be! I'm seeking a power that keeps me from giving into temptation. I'm wanting to no longer be affected by temptation. Ou, I just ate a bowl of Sin Free and now I no longer feel inclined to curse at that driver who just cut me off, I no longer covet a better house, a new car, I don't have any desire towards lustful thoughts, insert any and all temptations towards sin you may possess. 

Sin Free- the power to face temptations - because they will always surround us - and not yield to those temptations. 

But there is nothing we can take, no power we possess, to make ourselves sin free. If I could make myself sin free would I need a Savior? It's because I can't make myself sin free that I need a Savior. 

I need to BELIEVE in HIS POWER to save me!

The conviction of sin is necessary, the knowledge of sin is necessary, yielding completely to being saved is also completely necessary. To yield completely to being saved is to seek forgiveness daily- 'Forgive me my trespasses' 

It's an abhorrence of sin, and it's NOT telling ourselves - tomorrow I won't yield to that sin any longer- only to yield the very next day once again on an endless cycle of dirty (sin), wash (forgiveness), rinse (live sinless for bit) and REPEAT.  Soon it becomes dirty (sin) ….for one whole day… two days… three… and the washing and rinsing fade away until we are a pile of depressed, despairing filth who doesn't even want to look at the washing machine.  If we tell ourselves over and over tomorrow we won't do this thing we focus on the US not doing part. We have to tell ourselves we are forgiven and Christ will keep me from sin, He will do this! We have to tell ourselves this even if we hear Satan screaming that we are going to do it, as we speak the words - Christ will keep me from sin. 

That is Satan convincing us we are too filthy to go into the washing machine, that we'll only ruin the washer somehow. We don't want to go into the washing machine for fear it won't be able to clean us, we are too dirty for it. 

We need to be washed no matter how filthy we believe we are- because believe it or not- a person with a tiny stain of a simply sin is just as filthy as the one deeply drenched in a pool of sin- it's all the same to the washing machine. That tiny stain needs removing just as much as the sin soaked. 

We ALL, no matter if we jumped into a pool of sin, or just dipped a toe, or even if we look at ourselves and pronounce ourselves sin free, we STILL need to be washed daily! In fact, often those who can't recognize any sin in themselves because they aren't beset by the biggies that are blatant and loud for all to see, are in worse shape than those dressed in a scarlet letter five feet high. We ALL need a daily washing because we ALL need to recognize our need of being washed. We will be made white as snow, even if we are blood red with sin, but only if we let ourselves be washed. 

We can't GIVE UP! We have to depend on our WASHER! We don't have what it takes to wash ourselves! We have to trust our washer will wash us white as snow! Jump (believe) into the Washer (our Savior Jesus) He will wash us- EVERY SINGLE DAY! 

Can't stop your addiction… JUMP IN THE WASHER, you are filthy! Still can't stop your addiction… JUMP IN THE WASHER, there is no other way to be cleaned! Still addicted? JUMP IN THE WASHER! Over and over, and over, keep jumping in that washer every time you recognize the filth, and just as you may wash a sheet on your bed that appears very clean- because you know it has unseen filth- JUMP IN THE WASHER EVERY DAY! 

Go to Christ Jesus, seek His forgiveness, believe that He died for you to be able to come to Him, do this EVERYDAY no matter what! He is the way! It doesn't say… you are your own way, HE IS THE WAY. He WILL make a way for you to escape… it might not be the way of escape you're planning for yourself… but it will be His way for you to escape. Some escapes aren't instantaneous, but are long and arduous. Some escapes are intricate and take time because they are molding and making, fixing and refining along the way. We have to TRUST our SAVIOR WILL SAVE US even when we can't imagine we are worth saving in any way. 

May the LORD bless and keep us, forgive us, and keep us from evil, save us to the uttermost all through HIS glory, through HIS power, through HIS LOVE! All by HIS mercy and grace! AMEN!

Excerpt A.T. Jones- 

August 29, 1899

"Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins,  that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

"Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." Such is the salutation in every epistle by Paul, except that to the Hebrews; and, slightly varied, in both by Peter.

Yet it is not by any means a mere form. These epistles have come to us as the word of God, which they are in truth. This salutation, then, though often repeated--yea, even because often repeated---comes to us as the word of God in greeting and full assurance of His favor and peace everlastingly held forth to every soul.

Grace is favor. This word of God, then, extends His favor to every soul who ever reads it or who hears it.

His very name is Gracious--extending grace. His name is only what He is. And what He is, He is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." With Him is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Therefore by Him grace, boundless favor, is always extended to every soul. Oh, that all would only believe it!

"And peace." He is the "God of peace." There is no true peace, but that of God. And "there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." "The wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest."

But all the world lieth in wickedness, yet the God of peace speaks peace to every soul. For Christ, the Prince of peace, "our peace," hath made both God and man one, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, to make in Himself of two--God and man--one new man, so making peace--"making peace through the blood of his cross."  Eph. 2:14, 15; Col. 1:20. "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross," He "came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh," peace to you all. Therefore, always and forevermore, His salutation to every soul is, Peace to thee. And all from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ!

Oh, that every one would believe it; so that the peace of God which passeth all understanding could keep his heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Let it; that is all He asks of you. Don't refuse it and beat it back; let it.

"Who gave himself for our sins." O brother, sister, sinner, whosoever you be, laden with sins through you be,  Christ gave Himself for your sins. Let Him have them. He bought them--your sins--with the awful price of His crucified self. Let Him have them.

He does not ask you to put all your sins away before you can come to Him and be wholly His. He asks you to come, sins and all, and be wholly His, sins and all; and He will take away from you, and put away forever, all your sins. He gave Himself for you, sins and all; He bought you, sins and all; let Him have what He bought; let Him have His own; let Him have you, sins and all.

He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." Notice that to deliver us from this present evil world He gave Himself for our sins. That shows that all that there is of this present evil world to each one of us, is in our sins.

And they were "our sins." They belonged to us. We were responsible for them. And so far as we were concerned, this present evil world lay in our own personal selves, in our sins. But, bless the Lord, He gave Himself for us, sins and all; He gave Himself for our sins, ourselves and all, and this He did in order that He might deliver us from this present evil world.

Would you like to be delivered from this present evil world? Let Him have yourself, sins and all, which He bought and which therefore by full right belong to Him. Please do not rob Him of what is His own and so still remain in this present evil world when at the same time you would like to be delivered from this present evil world. Please do not commit the additional sin of keeping what does not belong to you.

As they were our sins and He gave Himself for them, it follows plainly enough that He gave Himself to us for our sins. Then when He gave Himself for your sins, your sins became His, and when He gave Himself to you for your sins, He became yours. Let Him have your sins, which are His, and take for them Him, who is yours. Blessed exchange, for in him you have, as your very own, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and all "according to the will of God." Thank the Lord.

Why should there not be to Him "glory forever and ever"? and why should not you and all people say, Amen?

 

Crucified.

 Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

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

Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 

Crucified.

Destroyed.

Not serve sin.

Excerpt-  

Now notice three things there: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him. What for? "That the body of sin might be destroyed." And what is that for? "That henceforth we should not serve sin." Unless the body of sin is destroyed, we will serve sin. Unless the old man is crucified, the body of sin is not destroyed. Then the way to be kept from sinning is the way of crucifixion and destruction.

The only question, then, for us each to settle is, Would I rather be crucified and destroyed than to sin? If with you it is everlastingly settled that you would rather be crucified and rather meet destruction this moment than to sin, you will never sin. 

"Crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." 

Then freedom from the service of sin lies only through crucifixion and destruction. Do you choose sin or do you choose crucifixion and destruction. 

Will you choose destruction and escape sin? Or will you choose sin and destruction too? That is the question. It is not an alternative. He who would evade destruction, to escape destruction, meets destruction. He who chooses destruction escapes destruction.

Well, then, the way of destruction by the cross of Christ is the way of salvation. Jesus Christ went to destruction on the cross to bring salvation to you and me. It cost the destruction of the Son of God in the cross, to bring salvation to you and me. Will we give destruction for salvation? Will you? Anybody who fixes it and holds it in his hand as an everlasting bid, that he gives destruction, every moment of his life, for salvation, will never lack salvation.

But there is where the trouble comes. Destruction is not pleasant; it is not easy--that is, to the old man. To the natural choice, it is not easy to be destroyed, but to him who does it, it is easy. It is easy when it is done and it is easy to continue it forever when it is done.

When is it that we are to do this? When is it that He presents us faultless before the presence of His glory? Now.  And the only way is the way of destruction. Now is the time to choose destruction. Now is the time to deliver up yourself forever to destruction. But if I hold myself back, if I shrink from destruction, then what am I shrinking from? Salvation. For "our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

Then if I meet some experience that puts me into a pressure that seems like destruction, that is all right; for destruction is what I have chosen, that I may not serve sin. Such a surrender brings Christian pleasantness into the life for the joy, the lasting peace, and the satisfaction of being kept from sinning is worth all the destruction that can ever come to you and me. It is worth it. So it is not a hard bargain that is driven; it is the grandest one that ever came to men.

Crucifixion, destruction, and then henceforth not serving sin--there, then, is the way to Christian perfection.  Why? "For he that is dead is freed from sin." Rom. 6:7. Thank the Lord, he that is dead is freed from sin. Then the only question that can ever come in my life or yours is, Am I dead? And if I am not and something occurs that accomplishes it, freedom from sin is the only consequence; and that is worth all that it costs.

See also the next verse: "Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." The first verse intends that we shall be free from sin. The second verse intends that we shall be free from sin. The sixth verse says that we are not henceforth to serve sin; the seventh verse says he that is dead is freed from sin; the eighth verse says if we be dead with Christ, we shall also live with Him. Where does He live--in righteousness or in sin?

[Voices: "In righteousness."]

Very good. Then it is plain that the first, the second, the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth verses of the sixth chapter of Romans all intend that we shall be kept from sinning.

How about the ninth verse? "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." How was it that death ever had dominion over him at all? Because of sin--not his own, but ours, for He was made "to be sin for us, who knew no sin." Then death hath no more dominion over Him. He has victory over sin and all its consequences forever. Then what does that verse tell you and me? We are risen with Him. "For in that He died, He died unto sin once, but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God." Then both the ninth and tenth verses also intend that we shall be kept from sinning.

The eleventh verse: "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." And thus again He intends that we shall not sin.

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." The reign of grace lifts the soul above sin, holds it there, reigns against the power of sin, and delivers the soul from sinning.

"What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid." Thus from the first verse to the fourteenth of the sixth chapter of Romans, there is preached, over and over, deliverance from sin and from sinning. That is great, but there is something still in advance of that. "Let us go on unto perfection."

Listen: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;  whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Delivered from the power of sin, to whom did ye yield yourselves? To God. Then you are His servants, set free to the service of righteousness. God does not intend there shall be a blank life in His keeping us from sinning. He intends that there shall be active, intelligent service and that only righteousness shall be the result. It is a wonderfully great thing to be made free from sin and to be kept from sinning; it is another wonderfully great thing upon that to be made the servants of righteousness so that our service is unto righteousness.

Therefore let every soul echo, "God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which has delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Thank the Lord for that! He says you are, and when He says you are, it is so. Thank Him for it.  Thank Him that you are delivered from sin, and thank the Lord that you are the servant of righteousness. He has made you so, for He says so.

But that is not all yet. "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh, for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness." The Lord in this appeals to your experience and mine. "When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness." You know that that is so. Take now the complement of it: "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life."

We are not the servants of sin, free from righteousness, but we are the servants of righteousness, free from sin.  As I have dwelt upon this and the Lord has fed my soul upon the whole of it, I am reminded every once in a while of an expression of Milton's where he speaks of the songs of the angels as notes of "measured sweetness long drawn out." This sixth chapter of Romans is one of those notes of measured sweetness long drawn out.

It begins with freedom from sin; that is a great thing. Next upon that, freedom from sinning, and that is a great thing. Next upon that, servants to righteousness, and that is a great thing. Next upon that, unto holiness, and that is a great thing. And upon all, the end, everlasting life, and that is a great thing. Isn't that a note, then of the Lord's, of measured sweetness long drawn out? Oh, receive it, dwell upon it, catch the sweet tones, and let them linger in the soul day and night. It does the soul good.

And there is the way to Christian perfection. It is the way of crucifixion, unto destruction of the body of sin, unto freedom from sinning, unto the service of righteousness, unto holiness, unto perfection in Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost, unto everlasting life.

Let us look again at the statement that the gifts are for the perfecting of the saints, "till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." There is the pattern. The way that Christ went in this world of sin and in sinful flesh--your flesh and mine, burdened with the sins of the world, the way He went in perfection and to perfection, is the way set before us.

He was born of the Holy Ghost. In other words, Jesus Christ was born again. He came from heaven, God's first-born, to the earth, and was born again. But all in Christ's work goes by opposites for us: He, the sinless one,  was made to be sin in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He, the living One, the Prince and Author of life, died that we might live. He whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity, the first-born of God, was born again in order that we might be born again.

If Jesus Christ had never been born again, could you and I have ever been born again? No. But He was born again, from the world of righteousness into the world of sin; that we might be born again, from the world of sin into the world of righteousness. He was born again and was made partaker of the human nature that we might be born again and so made partakers of the divine nature. He was born again, unto earth, unto sin, and unto man,  that we might be born again unto heaven, unto righteousness and unto God.

Brother Covert says that makes us as brethren. It does certainly make us as brethren. And He is not ashamed to call us His brethren, either.

Then He was born again, by the Holy Ghost, for it is written and was spoken to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

Jesus, born of the Holy Ghost, born again, grew "in wisdom and stature," unto the fullness of life and character in the world, to where He could say to God, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work thou gavest me to do." God's plan and mind in Him had attained to perfection.

Jesus, born again, born of the Holy Ghost, born of flesh and blood, as we were, the Captain of our salvation, was made "perfect through sufferings." For "though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Heb.  2:10; 5:8,9. Jesus thus went to perfection in human flesh, through suffering; because it is in a world of suffering that we in human flesh must attain perfection.

And while growing all the time, He was perfect all the time. Do you see that? There is where many people misconceive the whole thought of Christian perfection--they think the ultimate is the only measure. It is in God's plan, but the ultimate is not reached at the beginning. Look again at the fourth of Ephesians. This is a suggestion, thrown out to you and me, how we may attain to this perfection, "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." I read the thirteenth verse; now couple with that verses 14-16: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

This is to be accomplished in you and me by growth; but there can be no growth where there is no life. This is growth in the knowledge of God, growth in the wisdom of God, growth in the character of God, growth in God;  therefore it can be only by the life of God. But that life is planted in the man at the new birth. He is born again,  born of the Holy Ghost; and the life of God is planted there, that he "may grow up in to him"--in how much? "In all things."

You remember that "the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field." And "the seed is the word of God." The seed is planted. He realizes that night and day it grows, he knows not how. But that seed is what? It is perfect, for God made it. It sprouts presently. What of the sprout?

[Congregation: "Perfect, too."]

Is it?

[Voices: "Yes."]

But it is not a head of grain. It is not a stalk standing full and strong. It is a mere sprout peeping through the ground. But what of it? Is it not perfect?

[Congregation: "Yes."]

According to the rate of its progress it is as perfect at that point as it will be when its course is finished, at the point of maturity. Do you not see? Let not that misconception abide anymore. Away with it!

When that sprout peeps through the ground, you stoop to look at it. It is a thing to be admired. It is charming,  because it is perfect. That is as perfect a blade as ever appeared on earth, but it is a mere spindling thing, barely peeping through the ground. That is all there is of it, but it is perfect. It is perfect, because it is as God made it.  God is the only one that had anything to do with it. Do you not see? It is all right. So you and I, born again of that good seed of the word of God---born by the word of God and the Holy Ghost, born of the perfect seed--when that seed sprouts and grows and begins to appear among men, people see the characteristics of Christ. And what is He? Perfect. Then what is the Christian right there?

[Congregation: "Perfect."]

If we be born again through the power of Jesus Christ, and God Himself directs the work, what will that be which appears? It will be perfect. And that is Christian perfection at that point. Jesus Christ presents you holy,  unblameable, and unreprovable, before the throne at that point.

That sprout grows and stands above the ground, presently another blade shoots off. There are two of them, and each is just as handsome as the other. The third one appears. It is now a stalk, and still grows. It now presents another picture altogether from that which it presented at first. Another picture indeed, but no more perfect than before. It is nearer to ultimate perfection, nearer to God's accomplished purpose, but though nearer to ultimate perfection, it is no more perfect, as it stands now, than it was the moment that it peeped through the ground.

In time it grows to its full height. The head is full-formed. The bloom appears upon it. It is more beautiful on account of it. And at last appears the full head of grain, perfect; and the grains of wheat, each one perfect. The work, God's work, is finished upon it. It is perfected. It has attained unto perfection according to God's mind when He started it.

That is Christian perfection. It comes by growth. But the growth can be only by the life of God. And the life of God being the spring, it can grow only according to God's order. Only He can shape the growth. Only He knows,  in perfection, the pattern. Christ is the pattern. God knows perfectly the pattern, and He can cause us to grow in perfection according to that pattern, because the same power, the same life, is in this growth that was in the growth of the original pattern, Jesus Christ.

And as Jesus began, at His birth, as a little child in human flesh and grew up and finished the work that God had given Him to do, so you and I, born again, growing up in Him in all things, come presently to the day when we,  as did He, shall say and say in righteousness, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work thou gavest me to do." For it is written, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound,  the mystery of God should be finished." We are in that day. We have that mystery given to us to give to the world. It is to be finished for the world, and it is to be finished in those who have it.

But what is the mystery of God? "Christ in you, the hope of glory." "God . . . manifest in the flesh." Then in these days that mystery is to be finished in one hundred and forty-four thousand people. God's work in human flesh,  God being manifested in human flesh, in you and me, is to be finished. His work upon you and me is to be finished. We are to be perfected in Jesus Christ. By the Spirit we are to come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Is not that worth having? Is not the Lord's way a good way unto perfection? Oh, then, "leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment." He has freed us from the unstable foundation that we had when in sin. Let the only foundation be that of the service of righteousness unto holiness and the end, everlasting life.

And to every soul who will face the judgment and hold himself in the presence of the Judgment, surrendering himself to crucifixion and destruction, that thing will be accomplished in God's own way and in the short time in which He has promised to bring us unto righteousness. Then it is only God, God's estimate, His standard, and Christ the pattern, and His the work, always, in all things, everywhere and forever! Then be of good cheer. Let it be Christ first, last, and all the time.

Keep You From Falling.

 (Excerpt)

And remember that we are to be perfect with His character. 

His standard of character is to be ours. Yea, His character itself is to be ours. We are not to have one made like it; it itself is to be ours. And that alone is Christian perfection.

'Now that we must have that, the whole story is told in three texts. 

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 

Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 

Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ

The first one is in the first chapter of Ephesians, beginning with the third verse in order correctly to get the story in the fourth verse:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world [now notice what He chose us for; this is the object He had before the foundation of the world, in choosing you and me, and bringing us to this hour. Then let us face the issue], that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."

That is His only thought concerning us. That is all that he made us for; that is all we exist for. Then another word right there: When that is so, why shall we not face it? Why shall we not just now meet the object of our existence and be holy and without blame before Him in love?

The next text is Col. 1:19-22: "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight."

First, He made us for that purpose. By sin we were swung entirely out of that purpose, the whole purpose was frustrated, but He endured the cross. It pleased God thus to do and it pleased Christ thus to do it, that His original purpose might be fulfilled. The point is, that by His cross He reconciled us, in order that this original purpose might be met in us--the purpose that He had before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. The blood of Christ, the reconciliation of peace which is brought to the world by Jesus Christ, is in order that He might present us holy--that He might do that very thing that He had in mind before the foundation of the world--that He might present you and me "holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight."

The way to Christian perfection is the way of the cross, and there is no other way. I mean there is no other way for you and me. The way to bring it to us, the only way, was by way of the cross. He came that way and brought it and the only way for you and me to get it is by the way of the cross. He has made provision that He Himself shall do this; we do not come into it at all, for the doing.

Now notice (Eph. 4:7-13) what is really done in this, how fully He has supplied the need.

"Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

 Now\ think. What did the gift of Christ do, so far in our study? It "made peace through the blood of his cross," and reconciled all to God. And it did it to make us what, before the foundation of the world, He designed we should be--"holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." That is the measure of the gift of Christ in this thing. And it accomplished the purpose for all so far that it opened the way for all. And unto every one of us, just now, is given grace according to the same measure. Then what the cross brought to us and put within our reach, the grace of God gives us and accomplishes in us.

Now let us read right on and you will see that this is all so, right up to the very word perfection itself: 

"Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers." What for? "For the perfecting of the saints."  Brethren, when those gifts are given for that purpose, what are we doing when we do not face the fact and long for the gifts and pray for the gifts and receive the gifts which accomplish the purpose? What are we doing otherwise?

"For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, TILL"--given for an object; brought to us for a purpose, a defined, distinct, definite purpose and UNTIL that purpose is accomplished. It is given "for the perfecting of the saints" and it is given "till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

Thus perfection is the only aim. God's standard is the only one. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 

We cannot measure it and could not attain to it, if it were given us to do. It is the object of our creation, and when that object was frustrated by sin, He made it possible to all by the blood of His cross and makes it certain to every believer by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Then again I ask, Why should we not constantly face Christian perfection and accept nothing of ourselves but that?

The 24th of Jude connects directly with what has been read and said, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

He chose us before the foundation of the world, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."  By the cross He made it possible to every soul, even when by sin we had lost all chance. And by the cross he bought the right "to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight." The right to do this belongs only to Him. You and I could not do it if it were given to us to do, but the right to do it does not belong to us. 

When we had lost it, nothing but the cross of Calvary could restore it. And no one could pay the price of Calvary but He who did pay it. Then as certainly as only He who paid the price could pay the price that must bring this to us, so certainly the right belongs only to Him by right of the cross of Calvary.

And no one who has not endured the literal wooden cross of Calvary can ever have any right to take up that task to accomplish it.  Only He endured the cross; to Him alone belongs the task. 

And there stands the word: He "is able." He "is able . . . to present you faultless before the presence of his glory." He who is able to endure the cross is able to accomplish all that the cross made possible. So He "is able . . . to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy"--When? That is the question. When?

[Voices: "Now."]

Precisely. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is as able just now as He was then or as He will ever be.

Yet bear in mind that it is ever true that only by the way of the cross does it come to you and to me just now or ever. 

Let us study the Word that you may see this. 

Read Rom. 5:21, 

Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

and then glance through the sixth chapter,  for it is occupied with this one story. The last two verses of the fifth chapter of Romans read thus: "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Now the comparison or rather the contrast--for it is a comparison that amounts to a contrast--"as" and "even so." "As sin hath reigned." You know how sin reigned. Everyone here knows how sin has reigned. some may know even yet how it reigns. When sin reigned, the reign was absolute, so that it was easier to do wrong than it was to do right. We longed to do right, but "the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." Rom. 7:19. That is the reign of sin. Then when sin reigned, it was easier to do wrong than it was to do right.

"Even so might grace reign through righteousness." When grace reigns, it is easier to do right than it is to do wrong. That is the comparison.

Notice: As sin reigned, even so grace reigns. When sin reigned, it reigned against grace; it beat back all the power of grace that God had given, but when the power of sin is broken and grace reigns, then grace reigns against sin and beats back all the power of sin. So it is as literally true that under the reign of grace it is easier to do right than to do wrong, as it is true that under the reign of sin it is easier to do wrong than to do right.

So then the way is clear, isn't it? Let us go that way. "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"

[Voices: "God forbid."]

You say, "God forbid." That is right. Now God has put His forbid and you endorse it, against sinning that grace may abound. Then has not God put His forbid against sinning at all? Do you endorse that? Do you put your endorsement upon God's forbid that you shall sin at all under the reign of grace?

[Voices: "Yes."]

Then doesn't He intend that you and I shall be kept from sinning? And when we know that He intends it then we can confidently expect it. If we do not expect it, it will never be done.

So then the first verse of the sixth chapter of Romans shows that God intends that we shall be kept from sinning,  doesn't it?

What does the second verse say? "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Well, how shall we? Then what does that verse intend? That we shall not continue at all in sin. Then being dead brings in the burial. Buried with Him by baptism into death and raised to walk in newness of life. 

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."  There is the course laid out before us, and it is the way of the cross.'

To be continued….

Excerpt AT Jones 1899