我已经与基督同钉十字架。(加二20)
一个真正与耶稣基督联合的人,不但舍弃了罪,更把个人对事物的观点也一概舍弃。从上头、从圣灵而生的意思,就是先放下,然后才得着;而第一步要放下的就是一切虚假。主要我们带到他面前的,不是良善、不是诚实、不是努力,而是罪;那是所有他要从我们带走的。那他以什么来交换我们的罪呢?真正的义。但我们先得放下一切自以为是的伪装,一切自以为配得神恩眷的资格。
然后,圣灵会继续显示我们还有什么要放下的。我必须在任何情况下,放弃自己的主权。我是否愿意放弃一切所有的,放弃感情上羁绊,放弃所有手上执着的东西,不再紧紧抓住,视为己有,而视自己与基督同死呢?
我们放下之先,总会经历刻骨铭心的痛苦。当人真以主的眼光看自己,震惊的不是那些肉体可怕的罪,而是心中对耶稣基督那惊人的高傲本性。当他在主的光中看见自己,那羞愧、惊惧、绝望,必显露无遗。
要是你正在面临“放下的问题”,就必须经过那抉择的关头。你若能放下一切,神便按他的心意模造你。
祈祷◆ “散布亮光是为义人。” 主啊,何等的丰收!你的道路是何等的奇妙。
March 8th. The Relinquished Life
“I am crucified with Christ.” Galatians 2:20
No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold, and in the first stages it is the relinquishing of all pretence. What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavour, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. And what does He give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. But we must relinquish all pretence of being any thing, all claim of being worthy of God’s consideration.
Then the Spirit of God will show us what further there is to relinquish. There will have to be the relinquishing of my claim to my right to myself in every phase. Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
There is always a sharp painful disillusionment to go through before we do relinquish. When a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ. When he sees himself in the light of the Lord, the shame and the horror and the desperate conviction come home.
If you are up against the question of relinquishing, go through the crisis, relinquish all, and God will make you fit for all that He requires of you.