The Life-giving Spirit. Rom. 8:1-14
May 21, 1903
"The Life-giving Spirit. Rom. viii. 1-14" The Present Truth 19, 21.
E. J. Waggoner
Rom. viii. 1-14
In the sixth chapter of Romans we learn that the believer is buried with Him by baptism into death, and rises to walk with Him in newness of life. The old life, called the "body of sin" and the "old man," is done away with, and the new man takes its place. This new man is the Spirit of God. "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." Rom. viii. 9. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Cor. 3.16.
It is by the Spirit that the promise of Christ is fulfilled, that He would dwell with the believer. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." John xiv. 18. "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth." R.V. xvi. 17. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things." John. xiv. 26. It is the Spirit that animates and controls the body of Christ, the church, and it is the Spirit that operates every member and every gift, dividing to every men severally as He will. 1 Cor. xii. 11. The Spirit was the life of Adam. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul." Gen. ii. 7. The Spirit of God was in the breath that He breathed into Adam. "If He set His heart upon Himself [margin], if He gather unto Himself His Spirit and His breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." Job xxxiv. 14, 15, R.V. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit return unto God who gave it." Eccl. xii. 7. "Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled: Thou takes away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created." Ps. civ. 29, 30. In this passage, the words breath and spirit are the same in the Hebrew, so that man's breath is God's Spirit. Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts vii. 59), and then fall asleep.
It is plain from the record in Genesis that Adam was a union of the breath of God with the dust of the earth, and the result was a living soul. Adam was filled [322] with the Spirit, and as long as the Spirit ruled the dust all was well, but the time came when the dust wanted to rule the Spirit, and disobey God for some supposed advantages. It saw something pleasant to the eyes and good for the taste, and disobeyed God in order to eat the forbidden fruit. This fall from righteousness is undone in Christ, and when we are again made new creatures, the Spirit rules in us, and once more our bodies are yielded as temples of the Spirit. God did not withdraw His Spirit and His breath from Adam till he had opportunity to repent and turn from his sin, but, in the majority of cases, instead of being acknowledged by men as their life, God's Spirit has to strive for any place at all in sinners. Gen. vi. 3.
There is wonderful power in the Spirit of God. In the beginning it moved upon the face of the waters. Gen. i. 2. It garnished the heavens. Job xxvi. 12. It is the life of every creature: "all in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life." Gen. vii. 22. The Spirit filIs the universe. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." Ps. cxxxix. 7-9. This is the power and fullness that the Spirit brings into the believer, when it is made welcome and given control of the life.
All that we can do is to reckon ourselves by faith dead unto sin, but alive unto God. We have never lived the life of the Spirit, and do not know how to live it. If we should try to do so, we could only live the carnal life. Neither can we die to sin. If we will allow the Spirit free course in us, it will live its own life, and mortify, or put to death, the old man. Rom. viii. 14. The law of the spiritual life in Christ is what makes us free from the law of sin and death. Verse 2. Where our own efforts are an utter failure, the Spirit of God fulfills the righteousness of the law in us as simply as it grows flowers on a rose bush, and fruit on an apple tree.
That which has hindered the righteousness being fulfilled in us, has been that we have pushed the Spirit to one side, ignoring it, and have ignorantly gone about to establish our own righteousness, and do God's work for Him. When we come to ourselves, and recognise that we are only the dust of the ground, and that God did not make us to live independently of His Spirit, and did not plan any other kind of existence for us than to be filled with His Spirit, we will cease to try to run our own lives, and will yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
People speak of the "Spirit-filled life" as though it were a special experience, reserved for a comparative few. But the Spirit filled life is the normal life. The life that is not fully yielded to the Spirit, and experiencing the working of its mighty power, is an abnormal, mis-shapen life, perverted and abused. So that we need not question whether God will bestow His Spirit upon us in answer to prayer. We were created to be temples for the Holy Ghost, perfectly adapted to its powers and functions, and the only thing that hinders us from the fullness of the Spirit is the unwillingness to die to self, and let the Spirit control the dust of the earth as God appointed. When we are willing to accept God's plan for our lives, and yield to His Spirit, it will be our memory, our teacher, (John xiv. 26), it will make our prayers effectual (Rom. viii. 26, 27), it will make us obedient to the truth, unto unfeigned love of the brethren (1 Peter i. 22), it will do the world-wide work of the Gospel (John xvi. 8), and will fill us with joy in affliction. 1 Thess. i. 6.
"So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God." Rom. viii. 12-14.
"God Manifest in the Flesh. Romans 1:3" The Signs of the Times 15, 3.
"God Manifest in the Flesh. Romans 1:3" The Signs of the Times 15, 3.
E. J. Waggoner
When the apostle, in his introduction to the epistle to the Romans, speaks of the gospel of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, he says of Christ that he "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." In this expression, besides the statement of the genealogy of Christ, there lies not only a great theological truth, but also a most comforting thought for poor, frail, erring mortals.
When Christ was here on earth, "God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Tim. 3:16. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5:19. Christ was God; it was by him that the worlds were made, and it was the word of his power that preserved all things. Heb. 1:3. He had equal glory with the Father before the world was (John 17:5); "for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Col. 1:19. In him dwelt "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Col. 2:9. Yet he was man at the same time. John puts the matter very forcibly and plainly when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:1, 14.
No words could more plainly show that Christ was both God and man. Originally only divine, he took upon himself human nature, and passed among men as only a common mortal, except at those times when his divinity flashed through, as on the occasion of the cleansing of the temple, or when his burning words of simple truth forced even his enemies to confess that "never man spake like this man."
The humiliation which Christ voluntarily took upon himself is best expressed by Paul to the Philippians: "Have the mind in you which also was in Christ Jesus; who being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped [that is, to be clung to] to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross." Phil. 2:5-8, Revised Version, marginal reading.
The above rendering makes this text much more plain than it is in the common version. The idea is that although Christ was in the form of God, being "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person" (Heb. 1:3), having all the attributes of God, being the ruler of the universe, and the one whom all Heaven delighted to honor, he did not think that any of these things were to be desired so long as men were lost and without strength. He could not enjoy his glory while man was an outcast, without hope. So he emptied himself, divested himself of all his [39] riches and his glory, and took upon himself the nature of man in order that he might redeem him. It was necessary that he should assume the nature of man, in order that he might suffer death, as the apostle says to the Hebrews that he "was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." Heb. 2:9.
It is impossible for us to understand how this could be, and it is worse than useless for us to speculate about it. All we can do is to accept the facts as they are presented in the Bible. Other scriptures that we will quote bring closer to us the fact of the humanity of Christ, and what it means for us. We have already read that "the Word was made flesh," and now we will read what Paul says as to the nature of that flesh. "For 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. 8:3, 4.
A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon himself the likeness of man, in order that he might suffer death, it must have been sinful man that he was made like, for it is only sin that causes death. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden; and it could not have had any power over Christ if the Lord had not laid on him the iniquity of us all. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of sinful man, that is, that the flesh which he assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the very words upon which this article is based. He was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. 51:5.
A brief glance at the ancestry and posterity of David will show that the line from which Christ sprung, as to his human nature, was such as would tend to concentrate in him all the weaknesses of humanity. To go back to Jacob, we find that before he was converted he had a most unlovely disposition, selfish, crafty, deceitful. His sons partook of the same nature, and Pharez, one of the ancestors of Christ (Matt. 1:3; Gen. 38), was born of a harlot. Rahab, an unenlightened heathen, became an ancestor of Christ. The weakness and idolatry of Solomon are proverbial. Of Rehoboam, Ahijah, Jehoram, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, and other kings of Judah, the record is about the same. They sinned and made the people sin. Some of them had not one redeeming trait in their characters, being worse than the heathen around them. It was from such an ancestry that Christ came. Although his mother was a pure and godly woman, as could but be expected, no one can doubt that the human nature of Christ must have been more subject to the infirmities of the flesh than it would have been if he had been born before the race had so greatly deteriorated physically and morally. This was not accidental, but was a necessary part of the great plan of human redemption, as the following will show:
"For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. [The Syriac version has it, "For he did not assume a nature from angels, but he assumed a nature from the seed of Abraham."] Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." Heb. 2:16-18.
If he was made in all things like unto his brethren, then he must have suffered all the infirmities and passions of his brethren. Only so could he be able to help them. So he had to become man, not only that he might die, but that he might be able to sympathize with and succor those who suffer the fierce temptations which Satan brings through the weakness of the flesh. Two more texts that put this matter very forcibly will be sufficient evidence on this point. We quote first 2 Cor. 5:21:
"For he [God] hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
This is much stronger than the statement that he was made "in the likeness of sinful flesh." He was made to be sin. Here is a greater mystery than that the Son of God should die. The spotless Lamb of God, who knew no sin, was made to be sin. Sinless, yet not only counted as a sinner, but actually taking upon himself sinful nature. He was made to be sin in order that we might be made righteousness. So Paul to the Galatians says that "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4:4, 5.
That Christ should be born under the law was a necessary consequence of his being born of a woman, taking on him the nature of Abraham, being made of the seed of David, in the likeness of sinful flesh. Human nature is sinful, and the law of God condemns all sin. Not that men are born into the world directly condemned by the law, for in infancy they have no knowledge of right and wrong, and are incapable of doing either, but they are born with sinful tendencies, owing to the sins of their ancestors. And when Christ came into the world, he came subject to all the conditions to which other children are subject.
From these texts we are enabled to read with a better understanding Heb.5:7, 8, where the apostle says of Christ:
"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Jesus spent whole night in prayer to the Father. Why should this be, if he had not been oppressed by the enemy, through the inherited weakness of the flesh? He "learned obedience by the things which he suffered." Not that he was ever disobedient, for he "knew no sin;" but by the things which he suffered in the flesh, he learned what men have to contend against in their efforts to be obedient. And so, "in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." "For we have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." Heb. 4: 15, 16.
One more point, and then we can learn the entire lesson that we should learn from the fact the "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." How was it that Christ could be thus "compassed with infirmity" (Heb. 5:2), and still know no sin? Some may though, while reading this article thus far, that we are depreciating the character of Jesus, by bringing him down to the level of sinful man. On the contrary, we are simply exalting the "divine power" of our blessed Saviour, who himself voluntarily descended to the level of sinful man, in order that he might exalt man to his own spotless purity, which he retained under the most adverse circumstances. "God was in Christ," and hence he could not sin. His humanity only veiled his divine nature, which was more than able to successfully resist the sinful passions of the flesh. There was in his whole life a struggle. The flesh, moved upon by the enemy of all unrighteousness, would tend to sin, yet his divine nature never for a moment harbored an evil desire, nor did his divine power for a moment waver. Having suffered in the flesh all that men can possibly suffer, he returned to the throne of the Father, as spotless as when he left the courts of glory. When he laid in the tomb, under the power of death, "it was impossible that he should be holden of it," because it had been impossible for the divine nature which dwelt in him to sin.
"Well," some will say, "I don't see any comfort in this for me; it wasn't possible that the Son of God should sin, but I haven't any such power." Why not? You can have it if you want it. The same power which enabled him to resist every temptation presented through the flesh, while he was "compassed with infirmity," can enable us to do the same. Christ could not sin, because he was the manifestation of God. Well, then, listen to the apostle Paul, and learn what it is our privilege to have:
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph.3:14-19.
Who could ask for more? Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, may dwell in our hearts, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. What a wonderful promises. He is "touched with the feelings of our infirmity." That is, having suffered all that sinful flesh is heir to, he knows all about it, and so closely does he identify himself with his children, that whatever presses upon them makes like impression upon him, and he knows how much divine power is necessary to resist it; and if we but sincerely desire to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts," he is able and anxious to give to us strength "exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think." All the power which Christ had dwelling in him by nature, we may have dwelling in us by grace, for he freely bestows it upon us.
Then let the weary, feeble, sin-oppressed souls take courage. Let them "come boldly to the throne of grace," where they are sure to find grace to help in the time of need, because that need is felt by our Saviour, in the very time of need. He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmity." If it were simply that he suffered eighteen hundred years ago, we might fear that he has forgotten some of the infirmity; but no, that temptation that presses you touches him. His wounds are ever fresh, and he ever lives to make intercession for you.
What wonderful possibilities there are for the Christian! To what heights of holiness he may attain! No matter how much Satan may war against him, assaulting him where the flesh is weakest, he may abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and be filled with the fullness of God's strength. The One stronger than Satan may dwell in his heart continually; and so, looking at Satan's assaults as from a strong fortress, he may say, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
W.
"The Gospel of God. Romans 1:1, 2" The Signs of the Times 15, 2.
"The Gospel of God. Romans 1:1, 2" The Signs of the Times 15, 2.
E. J. Waggoner
In his introduction to the epistle to the Romans, Paul declares himself to be "a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord," and he throws in, by way of parenthesis, the statement that this gospel of God "he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures." These two verses bring out two points that are too often overlooked or denied, to which we wish to call attention.
First, the gospel is "the gospel of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ." It is not only a mistake, but a grievous error, and a grave charge against the goodness of God, to separate him from the gospel. To make God the Father the hard, vindictive, unyielding Judge, who is moved to compassion only by the entreaties of the Son, is as grievous a sin as is that of the Catholics in making Christ the angry Judge, and the virgin Mary the one who interposes to shield sinners from his wrath. That God the Father has the deepest interest in the salvation of sinners, and is filled with tender love and pity for them, is proved by the following most familiar words of Jesus:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Here is shown the depth of God's love for us. It was so great that he allowed his Son to die that we might live. So fully was God concerned in the gospel plan, that the beloved disciple, without designating whether he referred to the Father or the Son, said: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." 1 John 3:16. "God did not selfishly send his Son to die. The Father was bound up in the Son, for they were one. The Father permitted the Son to come to earth to die, yea, he "delivered him up for us all," but in so doing he gave all that Heaven had to bestow. Every sorrow and suffering that our Saviour bore for us pierced to an equal extent the great heart of God.
It is true that the apostle Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, speaks of the final destruction of them "that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. 1:8. But this simply shows the unity of the Father and the Son in the work. The Father and the Son are one. In every act and thought they are united. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," yet of Christ it is said that "he gave himself for us." Titus 2:14. And this agrees with the words of the prophet :
"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Zech. 6:12, 13.
"The man whose name is The BRANCH," is Jesus Christ. He sits upon his Father's throne (Rev. 3:21) and both together are counseling for the peace of those who are enemies and alienated in their minds by wicked works. Still further, read those most expressive words of Paul, "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5:19. The humble birth, the life of poverty, and want, and temptation, and suffering, the agony in the garden, the reproaches and insults in the judgment-hall, and the cruel death upon the cross, were all manifestations of God's good-will to men, and desire for peace among them.
And this gospel was preached from the very beginning. Abel believed it, and by his faith he "offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous." Heb. 11:4. Noah believed it, and so "became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Verse 7. Likewise "the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal. 3:8.
This was when Abraham had no child, and when there was no human possibility that he ever could have one, yet "he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Gen. 15:6.
So it was with the Israelites, the lineal descendants of Abraham. The apostle says, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them." Heb. 4:2. "Unto us as well as unto them!" That seems a strange way of putting the things, doesn't it? If he were asserting that the Jews had the gospel, he would have said that the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us. But that is not his point. He has already shown that the gospel was preached to them. They had it first, and rejected it, and now we are warned lest we, having the same privileges that they had, should "fall after the same example of unbelief."
This gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ for the deliverance of man from sin and death was promised through the prophets in the holy Scriptures. Time would fail to enumerate the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and we can only sum them up in a few New Testament statements. Peter, speaking of the salvation of our souls, says: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 1 Peter 1:10, 11.
Paul, when permitted to speak for himself before Agrippa, said: "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come; that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." Acts 26:22, 23. This does not mean that Christ should be the first person, in point of time, that should rise from the dead, for the prophets themselves raised the dead, and Christ raised many before his death; but it meant that he should be the first in eminence. He is the first-fruits of them that slept. Among all that shall rise from the dead he is first, because it was his resurrection that made it possible for any others to be raised from the dead.
Peter also declared to the people who were astonished at a notable miracle: "But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled." Acts 3:16. And then he added, "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." Verse 24. Not only did the prophets foretell of these days, but they enjoyed them, not simply in anticipation, but in reality. Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." John 8:56. And the prophet David said of the same day,-the day of salvation: "I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Ps. 118:21-24.
How could they rejoice in the day of salvation, and be saved by Christ's blood, hundreds of years before it was shed? Because God's promise made it real before it took place. He "quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Rom. 4:17. A thing which God has promised is just as sure as though it had actually taken place. There was not the slightest possibility that Christ should not suffer, after he had once been promised; and that Christ should redeem men by his blood "was foreordained before the foundation of the world." 1 Peter 1:20. Then, since he is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it follows, as a matter of course, that those who lived in the first year of the world could derive the same benefit from his sacrifice that we can. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out." "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."
W.
How To Live Faithfully
How To Live Faithfully, Presented by Elder Christopher Hudson "The Forerunner"
https://youtu.be/tt-5HeyaIBM
"A Servant of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1" The Signs of the Times 15, 1.
"A Servant of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1"
E. J. Waggoner
There are some words and expressions which, by their very frequency of occurrence, make but little impression upon us. We are so familiar with them that we read them and speak them as a matter of course, scarcely thinking that they have any meaning. One such expression is that which begins the epistle to the Romans, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." Two other of Paul's epistles, the one to the Philippians, and the one to Titus, as also Peter's second letter and the epistles of James and Jude, begin in the same way, and in other places the apostles style themselves, or are styled, the servants of God and of Christ. The prophets, also, and Old Testament worthies, as Moses, Joshua, etc., are called servants of God. That this is more than a catch phrase, and that it is of the deepest significance, will be apparent as we study it.
The Greek word which is translated "servant" in these instances is doulos, and is defined by Liddell and Scott as "properly a born bondman, or slave." It was the regular Greek word for a slave, and was often used of the Persians and other nations subject to a despot. The Revised Version has "bond servant" in the margin of Rom. 1:1, as the equivalent of the word rendered "servant."
We may accept the word, "slave," therefore, as the one which the apostle uses to show the completeness of his subjection to Christ. We have, therefore, only to study the condition of a slave, to know not only how Paul regarded himself, but how all who really serve God must hold themselves.
A slave is one who is the entire property of another. He cannot dispose of his time nor his actions as he will, but only as his master directs. Neither can he hold property in his own right. His strength is his master's; and if he earns anything, that which he receives belongs to his master. In the days of American slavery, negroes were often hired out to men who were not their masters, and often they earned large wages, but not a cent of it could they call their own. When their master bought them, they brought no property of their own, and all that they could expect for their service was enough to sustain life. Their time and strength were as absolutely their masters as were those of the horses with which they worked.
Now compare this with what we find set forth in the Scriptures as the proper condition of Christians, who are servants of Christ. Says the apostle Paul: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1Cor. 6:19, 20. Notice the completeness of the subjection. We are not our own, and therefore we cannot have a word to say as to what we shall do. The will of God, and his glory, is to direct us in everything. So the apostle says: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31.
But there is another thought suggested by the word "slave," as applied to Christians, and that is that they have been reduced to servitude from a previous condition of rebellion. Although, as the Lexicon says, the Greek word for "slave" signifies "a born bondman," it is a fact that by natural birth no person is a servant of God. By nature we are all the children of wrath. Paul classes himself with us when he says: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." Titus 3:3. And in another place he thus contrasts the different kinds of servitude in which men may live:
"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? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Rom.6:16-18.
Before any man becomes the born bondman of Christ, he has to be born again. But this new birth implies a previous death, and that death is by crucifixion. See Gal. 2:20. Now crucifixion was a form of punishment inflicted on only the worst class of men, and its use as applied to those who thereby become Christ's, shows a previous condition of rebellion. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. The words of the Lord to Isaiah, concerning the people of Israel, describe the condition of all men by nature:
"Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever; that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord." Isa. 30:8, 9. From this rebellious state we are brought into the condition of servants. As it has aptly been expressed, we capitulate, and accept the terms of peace. We become subject to God. The word "subject" or "subjection" carries with it also the relation which we should sustain to God. It comes from two Latin words meaning "under the yoke," and is derived from the Roman custom of erecting a yoke and causing those whom they had conquered in battle to pass under it, as a token of their complete surrender. This ancient custom also explains the act of David, in putting the men of Rabbah "under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron," and making them pass through the brick kiln. 2 Sam. 12:31. It was the same as making them pass under the yoke, as a token of their being his servants. So Christ calls us to, "Take my yoke upon you." Taking the yoke of Christ upon us is to yield ourselves completely to him, for him henceforth to rule every act and every thought. As Paul expresses it, it is "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. 10:5.
Right here it should be noticed that true service to Christ is willing service. We are his bond-servants, brought into captivity to him, but it was love that bought us, so that we gladly submit. As Olshausen says of Paul: "He had been overcome by the redeemer, conquered and subdued by his higher power. But as one not merely outwardly conquered, and still disposed to resist, but inwardly subdued, Paul had at the same time become a willing instrument for executing the purposes of the Lord as an apostle."
Moreover, although the word rendered "servant" signifies one subject to a despot, that only indicates the completeness of the control which God has over those who are truly his servants, but does not carry with it any idea of degradation. It makes a vast among of difference to whom one is a servant. The servant of a poor, ignorant, coarse man would be a most abject creature. The slave of such a monarch as Nebuchadnezzar might be a high officer of State. So to be a servant of the Most High God is the highest honor that any creature can have in the universe. Angels in Heaven, that excel in strength, do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word, and are glad to declare themselves only fellow-servants with those who on earth are wholly devoted to Christ. Rev. 22:9.
Again, the slave of Christ is the only free man in the world. Paul says: "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." 1 Cor. 7:22, 23. David says: "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds." Ps. 116:16. Here we have bondage and freedom. The man out of Christ is an abject slave; he is "holden with the cords of his sins." But the moment he yields himself unconditionally to Christ to be his servant, the body of sin is destroyed, and henceforth, if he continues to be the Lord's servant, sin has no more dominion over him. He is free to do right. His bondage is the bondage of love, and he finds the yoke easy.
The Lord will not accept divided service. He will not go into partnership with the devil, each having an equal share in a servant. A man must be wholly the Lord's, or he is not the Lord's at all. Says Christ: "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matt. 6:24. If, then, we have given ourselves to the Lord as his servants, and then seek in anything to please ourselves only, we rob him of service which is his due. Our strength, both of mind and body, belongs to the Lord, for he says:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." Luke 10:27, with verse 28. Now suppose a man indulges a habit which destroys his strength of body and vigor of mind; he is not then the Lord's slave; he is the slave of sinful indulgence.
One man eats more than is good for him, more than he needs. He does so, simply because the food tastes good. That extra quantity of food, instead of increasing his strength, is a tax upon it. Strength that he should have to devote to the Lord is perverted to the service of appetite. Now it matters not what that man's profession may be, he is not the bond-servant of Christ. If he were, he would glorify God in eating and drinking, as well as in every other act of life.
Here is a test by which we may settle every question as to the lawfulness or unlawfulness of an act: Will it glorify God? If it will it is not only lawful but necessary. The man who is honest with himself before God in this question can settle which things are unlawful for him, and how far he may go in things that are necessary, as in eating and drinking.
"But what a hardship," says one, "to be obliged to rein ourselves up to such a test." Well, that depends on whether or not we are really the slaves of Christ; whether or not we have willingly, gladly capitulated, accepting his terms, and yielding to his service. If we have, then it is not a task to inquire what will be to his glory, and to do it. We have yielded to him because in his infinite love and mercy he has enabled us to see that there is more to be desired in his service than in our own; and we have made his will our own. He has made us new creatures, giving us a new heart, and new purposes, so that when we do his will we are simply doing our own, for his will is ours, and our will is his.
"But suppose our will is His, and we have only one longing, supreme desire, namely, to do his will and glorify Him, how can we always do it?" That is answered in the very fact that we are his, wholly his. We are not our own, but have resigned ourselves into his hands as simple instruments of his will. We have no power in ourselves, but he has all power, and can make us what he wishes. And here comes in the encouragement of the thought that we serve a mighty Master, one against whom all the powers of earth and hell combined can do nothing. So when the fierce temptation arises, when the infirmity of the flesh would cause us to fall, we, having the mind of our Master, to hate sin, flee to him for strength, and his strength does what our weakness cannot.
What comfort in the thought that the whole thing is comprised in simple submission to God. "Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Rom. 6:13. God wants us to live holy lives; he has shown the strength of his desire for us to be delivered from evil, by giving his Son to die for us. And since God has such an infinite longing for us to be free from sin, and has such infinite power to accomplish his desires, what can hinder the accomplishment of those desires, if we but yield ourselves to him? No matter how fully we may have been the servants of sin, we now, having become servants to God, are made free from sin, having our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Rom. 6:22.
No wonder that Paul was able to accomplish such wonderful things. He was the Lord's slave, wholly and without reserve, and the Lord simply worked through him. Even while the most conscious of his own weakness, he could say: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
God is not partial; he is no respecter of persons. He is as ready to strengthen us with all might, according to his glorious power, as he was the apostle Paul. And so no matter what our inherited or acquired weakness, we may be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation; and when that salvation is revealed, we may be sealed as his servants, to see his face, and stand before his throne, serving him day and night in his temple. Glorious service! Who would not prefer that to the poor, miserable service of self?
W. (Waggoner)
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