Into the Heart of God # 6

Oneness with God in a Crisis Regrading the Natural Man (continued)

You know the teaching of Romans 6 and perhaps you know it so well that you are not very interested in hearing about it again. It is not for me to judge you, but if you really have passed through this crisis, it never becomes a thing without interest. It stands out in your life in such a way that it is bigger even than your conversion.

Now, let me get this matter quite straight so that there is as little confusion as possible. It must be recognized that we are dealing with a situation which is due to an imperfect apprehension of the meaning of the great crisis of the Cross: the crisis which really involves and includes everything from the initial step to the final step; from the basic "out" to the ultimate "in." With God all that is present and implicit at the beginning. With God the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was no more than eleven days; but with Israel it took a generation, a lifetime. On the "out" side of the Red Sea the song contained a clause which supposed that they had already come to God's Holy Habitation (Exodus 15:13) but, while that was present and inherent with the Lord, they had a way to go before it was realized. That delay was due to "the mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38), that is, mixture in Israel, two things which are from two sources. This is a parable.

It is Lot and Abraham, one of the flesh, the other of the spirit: of faith, and not of faith. With God, these two things are fully and utterly separated in the death and resurrection - the Cross - of Christ, but with His people it is a long history of many applications of the principle through a crisis and a process, or a series of minor crises.

Perhaps we have not been sufficiently aware that the New Testament in its teaching books or letters, as well as in its history, stands wholly related to these two aspects, a basic, all-inclusive crisis, and a process marked by many particular applications of that content; progressive illumination and successive challenges. This is the explanation of the whole evangelical convention movement in the last fifty years and more. It is based upon the imperfect understanding of the fundamental implications of the Christian life. Therefore the two things implicit in true spiritual conventions are illumination and challenge, resolving into a further crisis.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 7)