“Now
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14).
"But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).
"For
if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17).
"Nay,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us"
(Rom. 8:37).
"...His
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and
virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that
by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:3-4).
"...
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John
5:4).
For those who, conscious of their need, are
seeking and would enter the way of perennial victory, it will be a great help
to realize that they are not seeking something which they do not already have.
That is to say, if they have named the name of Jesus in true faith and have
surrendered to Him, crowning Him Lord of their lives, as Christians they have
been made kings and priests unto God (Rev. 1:6), and as such they have a right
to reign. If they fail to reign, they are simply not exercising their rights.
Complete
in Christ
It cannot be too earnestly stressed that
all Christians come into the same glorious inheritance. They have received
Christ, and all things are theirs for they are Christ's. In Him they are
complete. With Him they have been raised up, and with Him they have been made
to sit together in heavenly places (Eph. 2:5-6). In Him they died unto sin and
were made alive unto God (Rom. 6:11). Christ has been made unto them, of God,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). These
things cannot, in a sense, be made more truly theirs than they already are.
When God gives us Christ, His holy Son, to be our life, and this unspeakable
gift is for all who will receive it by faith acknowledging themselves lost
sinners in need of the gift, He does not do so with reservations. The whole
gift is ours, not simply a part. Paul, in a sense, had no more of
Christ than the poor drunkard who only
yesterday in some mission hall heard the Gospel, repented, believed, received
Christ as his Savior, and was born again.
That is to say, there is no difference in
the judicial standing of Christians before God. By their judicial standing, I
mean the position God says is theirs by virtue of the fact that they have
received His wondrous gift which is Christ and are found in Him. He says that
their position and judicial standing is the very same as that of His Son,
Jesus, whose identification with humanity was so real and of such an absolute
nature that what befell Him as Son of Man, befell Him as Representative Man and
therefore, befell all who are united to Him by faith.
He was crucified,
therefore man was crucified ("our old man is crucified with
[Christ]," Rom. 6:6).
He died, therefore
man died (" ...ye are dead," Col. 3:3).
He was buried,
therefore man was buried ( " ... we are buried with Him ...into death,
"Rom. 6:4).
He was raised up,
man is raised up ("God ...hath quickened us together with Christ and hath
raised us up together," Eph. 2:5-6).
He ascended, man
ascended ( "... and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus," Eph. 2:6).
This is the believer's judicial position
before God - his by an inalienable right; a right which, in a sense, is no
different than that of Christ's Himself. A right which is no different because Christ
and believers are one. "For he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17).
F.J. Huegel
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