Bondage To Freedom - Part 5
Part 5: Not From Bondage to Bondage
At this point, an explanation must be given to counter a wrong impression which too many have gained from the truths presented in this paper so far. How often people have said to me as I have read to them the truth of God that the old nature has to be removed and a new nature take its place, "This means then that you can never sin anymore. This means that you should go straight to heaven."
It does not mean any such thing, because we do not pass from bondage to bondage, but from bondage to freedom. While the person under the control of the evil nature is not free to do the works of righteusness, the Christian is free to sin if he wishes. A brief study of the differences between the two masters will make this very clear.
In the situation as it is in Romans seven, the individual has within him the carnal mind, which is a despotic slave master whose power far outweighs that of the will of the individual. This master rules over the will to serve all the desires of the sinful flesh and to use that flesh as an instrument of unrighteousness. Study carefully the diagram below to see the truth of this.
The man of Romans eight does not have the carnal mind. He has the divine mind, even the mind of Christ. He has been created anew and has a new master in the place of the old one.
There is a very vital difference between the natures of these two masters. The carnal mind is a despotic master who rules by force. But God does not rule by force. He rules by love. God never compels the individual to serve Him. He calls, He invites, He offers, but He never uses farce. Therefore, unless the person makes a personal and definite choice to serve God, he never will. How different this is from Satan's way of rulership. Once he has you under his power, then you will serve him whether you care to or not.
When Jesus came to this earth, He said, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28. This is the great principle in the life of Christ and of His Father. Therefore, the divine mind is a servant who serves the will to subdue and control the fallen, sinful, human nature of the person.
This is not to say that the newly-born-again Christian can use the divine mind as a servant, for this is not so. Rather, that wonderful power is there to serve the will whenever that will is set to obey the call of God to obey His righteous commandments.
IN PRACTICAL TERMS
To make the situation fully clear we have but to trace the workings of all this firstly in the case of the man in Romans seven and then of the man in Romans eight. To the man in Romans seven comes the temptations of the devil which appeal to the desires or weaknesses of the flesh. In his mind, the man knows that this is wrong. He makes a very definite decision not to do the wrong thing and sends to the body instrument the instructions as to how to act in this case.
But the carnal mind is the real master of the man. This power in him now dominates the scene to make quite ineffective the will of the man so that the desires of the flesh are not kept under control but break out into open sin. Thus it is clear that in this situation the carnal mind is the centre of control.
In the case of the man in Romans eight, the situation is different. Once again the same temptations come to the same flesh. Once again the mind is called upon to make a decision as to what it will see done, for every temptation is a point of choice. Should the mind at this time decide very definitely that there will be no yielding to the temptation, then, provided that that decision is made in the absolute faith that the power of God in him, and the power of God from above, will combine to make that decision effective, then those mighty powers will arise to serve the will to make it positively victorious. The flesh will be kept under perfect control and the evils of sin will not appear.
It cannot be overemphasized that it is faith which gives the victory. The centre of control has been moved from the carnal mind to the will, but that will can only be effective if it exerts its strength in the faith that the Lord will make the decision effective. This faith involves the confidence of knowing the power and the certainty of God to do it. Anyone who, having been born again, thinks that he is himself strong enough now to resist the power of sin, will fall under temptation very surely. "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16.
MAINTENANCE
Therefore, it must follow that there is very real need to maintain the living experience which has been obtained. "The just shall live by faith," Romans 1:16, but faith can die away and be lost. Therefore, it needs to be not only maintained, but developed and strengthened. Faith is a living thing and unless living things are continually growing they will die.
So it is that daily there must be a feeding upon the Word of God. The entering into of this experience of deliverance from the old master is called "the new birth" in the Word of God. It is for this reason that a new Christian is called "a new-born babe". A newly-born baby has only just begun the long journey of life and he needs nourishment at once so that he can develop in every way to the full maturity of manhood or womanhood. So it is that he desires to have milk for his nourishment. So, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2.
The need for the new Christian and for the older ones, too, to study the Word of God daily cannot be overemphasized. Therein is strength. Without this daily spiritual nourishment the faith will grow weaker and weaker so that when the powerful temptations of the enemy come you will surely fall. You will fall even though you have the mighty power of God within you.
You may ask as to how this could possibly be when it is recognized that the power of God is the greatest power in existence and is certainly much greater than the power of sin. If that power is within us, then how could sin have the mastery over us?
To show in the clearest of terms how it is that the presence of the power of God in the life is not the automatic guarantee that we will never sin again, the following illustration is before us.
A mighty army, such as that commanded by Caesar or Alexander the Great, goes forth to battle. The armies which they commanded were in their time the mightiest armies on the earth and no enemy could put up a force to match or challenge them. In considering either one of those armies, it is to be seen that there are two divisions of it-the general who commanded the army, and the collective power of the army which was composed of foot soldiers with their weapons, and the cavalry with their chariots, horsemen and weapons. The general himself has no power alone or in himself which can begin to match the smallest enemy force that may come against him. His power is the power of the army, and only as that is devoted to his service can he expect to march on his victorious way. In like manner the army must have the skill and direction of the general if it is to operate effectively and efficiently. The general is the will of the army and everything depends on the right action of that will if victory is to be assured.
Let it be supposed that a mighty army had marched on and on and had known nothing but victory all the way. Now there remained before it one more great battle to fight before the conquest of the whole area had been achieved. An enemy of relatively small size was holding out in the foothills and a confrontation was necessary to assure the full control of the country.
But the general and his aides had become very much over-confident of their skills and abilities and powers, and so decided that before going into battle they would have a great celebration involving feasting and drinking the whole night through. So the general and his chief aides, sub-commanders and officers left the army to its encampment and devoted the night hours to their festivities with the result that by the morning they were all so totally intoxicated as to be virtually unconscious.
Let it be supposed that at this moment the enemy chose to make a sudden and unexpected attack upon the army. Suddenly aroused by the guards, the army faces the enemy, but they need the commands of the general to effectively organize and deploy their forces for the enemy is cunning and fierce. But at this point of time in the condition in which the general is to be found, he is unable to make a single decision, and therefore cannot give a single order to the waiting forces under his command.
Suddenly the army finds itself without a commander, without a will, without a directing intelligence. It is the mightiest and most powerful army on the earth facing an enemy considerably smaller and weaker than itself, and should therefore have a quick and signal victory, but under these circumstances who will gain the victory? The answer is that the smaller and weaker enemy will be the victor in the field.
The counterparts to the illustration above are as follows: The mighty power of the army is the symbol of the presence of the power of God in the life. This power is the mightiest power in existence and there is nothing which can stand against it. The commander in the Romans eight experience is the intelligent and educated will. The enemy is the flesh, unholy and sinful, through which the devil works to effect the overthrow and destruction of the whole man.
Now, while the earthly army may be able to do something without the will and direction of its commander, the power of God in us cannot do anything for us without the right action of the will. Therefore, if, in the hour of temptation, we fail to make the right decisions and resolutely say "No!" to the enemy, then the power of God can do nothing for us and we shall be the victims of the power of the devil through our fallen flesh.
This is something which is far too little understood with the result that all too many find themselves falling under the power of the enemy when their lives should be a continual song of victory over sin. Special study must be given to the role of the will on the one hand, and the sinfulness and deceitfulness of the fallen flesh on the other hand. We need, as did the holy apostles, to confess the sinfulness of this nature and to put no trust in the flesh whatsoever.
Such a defeat is certain when faith has grown dim, but it need never be. Faith can be kept alive and it must be kept alive.
Remember that, when the new life is given, it is perfect, just as a baby is perfect when it is born. For the baby to grow in that perfection, he must be fed and cared for. The Lord provides the food, but we are the ones who have to feed it to the baby. God does not automatically nourish the child from day to day. That is the task of the human parent. So, too, God provides all the food necessary in the Bible with which to nourish the spiritual babe, but it is our responsibility to feed it. God will not do it for us. A closed Bible is like a sealed pantry. It does no one any good.
WATCH
Jesus said, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41.
Entering into the Christian life is enlistment in the army of the Lord. The journey henceforth is a battle and a march every day. We are not on a picnic. We are at war. Our enemy is ever in the field seeking and searching for the weak spots so that he can overthrow us to destruction. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary' the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8.
No army ever enters into a war without setting watches to see that the enemy does not come upon them unexpectedly. So it is that the Christian must set his watches every day. The Bible clearly reveals all the tactics of the evil one, so that we can know where and how to watch for him and meet him with the Word of God before he can gain an advantage.
THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S
It is most important that no attempt be made to fight the devil ourselves. The great controversy is between Christ and Satan. Do not attempt to fight Christ's battles for Him. When, then, the devil comes to you, hand him over to the Saviour and let Him deal with Satan. As surely as you do this the devil will flee from you for he knows that Christ has already defeated him.
No doubt there are those who may smile at this illustration, but I have found that it has been most helpful to some people.
You are on a safari in the jungles of the Congo. The day comes when you must traverse a particularly dense and dangerous area. You are unfamiliar with the country and with the kinds of animals which are to be found in this area. But a guide offers you his services. This man has been over this way successfully many times. He knows the country and how to deal with the savage animals. He comes armed with all the weaponry needed for the battles which may have to be fought.
After a time you come face to face with a great and terrible gorilla who rushes to the attack as soon as he sees you. Now suppose that you engage the beast single handed with your bare hands. You would certainly show great courage. But you have not forgotten the guide you have commissioned, so, as you hurl yourself against the great giant, you call to the guide, "Quick, help me to fight this gorilla."
But what will the guide say in desperate anxiety? He will cry Out, "Get back out of there! I cannot use my weapons on this monster unless you are out of the way!"
Thus, you would frustrate the work of the guide and make certain your own defeat. So, likewise, we must leave to Christ the work which is His to do. When the enemy comes, do not try to fight him, for "the battle is the Lord's." 1 Samuel 17:47. "The battle is not yours, but God's." 2 Chronicles 20:15.
We are not as strong as Satan, but Christ is stronger. We cannot hold an argument with the devil. Only God can do that. Therefore, remember always to simply resist the devil with the power of the Word and not with your own power. When he comes to you, tell him simply and flatly that he is mistaken. The person who used to respond to those temptations is no longer in residence within you. Things have changed and the new life in you does not do those things anymore. As soon as the devil hears the voice of faith declaring these things, he flees, and the temptation dies away into nothing.
IN CONCLUSION
Those who apply the principles and follow the procedures outlined herein, will be delivered from sin's domination and initiated into the body of Christ,
The process of education then follows, whereby the soul is delivered from the wrong ideas and theories learned in the school of Satan. The completion of one work is the beginning of another. Once implanted, the good seed must grow to full maturity. Day by day there will be steady growth if the believer feeds diligently on the living Word.
Satan will busily seek to divert the born again soul away from Christ, and sadly, at times he may just succeed. However, this does not break the marriage with Christ. Speedy repentance, forgiveness, and cleansing will renew the fellowship with God and, valuable lessons learned, the soul will be more secure in the future.
This study is not the last word on the plan of salvation. It describes only the initial entry into the family of Christ. A few guide- lines have been offered on maintaining the experience, but the work of reformation has not been described in depth and detail. A companion work, Revival and Reformation, covers this aspect more adequately and is available from Destiny Press.
God's way for every one of His children is victory and peace, not defeat and misery. Let each shake off the shackles of sin and live as God designs we shall.