Abiding in the Lord to Enjoy His Life: CHAPTER FIVE NOT A MATTER OF SIN BUT A MATTER OF “I”

CHAPTER FIVE

NOT A MATTER OF SIN BUT A MATTER OF “I”

Scripture Reading: John 6:57; Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 15:10; Phil. 1:20b-21a

The title of this message is Not a Matter of Sin but a Matter of “I.” This statement does not sound Chinese, nor does it sound like a word from the Bible. However, according to my personal experience, if you want to abide in the Lord and enjoy His life, you must understand that this is not a matter of whether you sin but of whether it is you who live. If it is you who live, then even if you do not sin, you are still abiding in yourself. When it is not you who live, you are blessed.

ABIDING IN THE LORD NOT BEING A MATTER OF SINNING

Even if I do not sin and I am a “saint” today, I am still “I” without any change. Then this “I” will be the root of trouble. As long as “I” am here, there will be trouble. If we see this point clearly, we will abide in the Lord even when we would not like to. If it is that you merely do not sin, it is highly possible that you are still one hundred percent in yourself. In other words, while you may not sin, it is still possible that you are one hundred percent not abiding in the Lord. To abide in the Lord is not a matter of whether or not one commits sin. Of course, when one abides in the Lord, he cannot sin. However, not committing sin is not equal to abiding in the Lord.

Confucius never heard about Christ or knew the Lord, yet he could say, “One cannot pray when he sins against heaven.” He did not know anything regarding the Lord, but his ethical speech and ways were commendable. He was truly a perfect man. At the age of seventy he was able to do the desires of his heart yet not transgress what was right; that is, he did not sin. Notwithstanding, he did not abide in the Lord and had nothing to do with the Lord. This is strong proof that abiding in the Lord is altogether not a matter of sinning or not sinning.

REPENTANCE BEING A CHANGE OF MIND

As natural beings we have our natural concepts from birth. Thus, when we hear the Lord’s word and the gospel of God, we remember our sins. Of course, this is right. With regard to the gospel of God, our sins certainly are a problem. Therefore, all those who preach the gospel always ask people to repent, and also the people themselves realize that they are sinful and consequently need to repent. However, this kind of realization is too natural. According to the light of the gospel truth, a so-called sinless person also needs repentance. In Greek, the meaning of repent is not mainly on repentance. It is not that you have sinned and made mistakes, so you regret and correct yourself by making a turn. Rather, it is that you have done something which may not have had anything to do with sinning, but afterward you still regret and correct yourself by making a turn. For example, sometimes the sisters repent after going to a store to do some shopping, even though shopping itself is something apart from sinning. The Greek word for repent is composed of two parts: one part implies “change” and the other part means “mind.” The combination of the two means “a change of mind.” Therefore, to repent is to have a change of mind, issuing in regret. It is to have a turn in purpose.

GOD CREATING MAN WITH THE PURPOSE THAT MAN MIGHT TAKE GOD AS HIS CONTENT AND THEREBY EXPRESS GOD

To repent means to cause our mind, which was going the wrong way, to turn around. Due to our misconceptions, we think that morality is our goal and is the meaning of our human life. However, the divine revelation in the Bible shows us that God is man’s goal, man’s center, and man’s meaning. God should be his content. The Bible does not say that God created man according to the image of morality. Rather, it says that God created man according to the image of God. This means that God created man that man may express God. For man to express God, he must have God as his content. If we do not have God within us, there is no way for us to express God. What is expressed outwardly altogether depends on what has been formed within. Therefore, it is not a matter of morality but a matter of God.

When man fell, he fell into sin. Confucius and Mencius also were born among fallen men. Hence, their concept was that man needs improvement from a fallen condition to a moral condition. Because they did not know God, they tried to change man altogether by teaching benevolence and justice according to their moral concepts. This is the work of Confucius and Mencius: teaching morality and, in particular, benevolence and justice. However, the Bible reveals that God is the source and that He created man for His own purpose, that is, that man might be filled with God, take God as life, and have God as his content for the expression of God.

MAN’S NATURAL CONCEPT BEING TO DO EVERYTHING BY HIMSELF

When I was first saved, I heard about abiding in the Lord. My concept was that from morning to evening I should not lose my temper, I should always be gentle toward others, I should speak at a slow pace and with a moderate tone, I should not do things in haste, and I should walk neither too fast nor too slow and make no loud sound. At that time the books in the Bible I liked to read the most were James and Proverbs. All typical Chinese appreciate the book of Proverbs. Therefore, the Chinese New Testament is printed with Proverbs as an appendix. The book of James resembles Proverbs. James says, “But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (1:19). The elderly James truly was experienced. To only listen and not speak means that one could never get angry. The best way for an angry person to control his anger is to keep his mouth shut. No matter how much others may offend you, if you simply hold on to this secret of keeping your mouth shut, you will not get angry. However, once you open your mouth and the words start to flow out, your wrath will be released. Therefore, I totally agreed with what James said, and I even practiced this at times.

Later I discovered that what I was practicing was neither abiding in the Lord nor enjoying the Lord’s life. I misunderstood its meaning. As a result I practiced many years yet had no success. The Bible says that when the Lord was suffering persecution, He was “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter / And like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers” (Isa. 53:7). He was truly like a sheep. To abide in the Lord is to be like a sheep, but I was like a fast horse. How can I be a sheep? Therefore, although I fully believed in the Lord, never doubted, and behaved as a Christian, I was often discouraged because I felt that I could not make it. For a period of time I was very disappointed. Still I continued to practice and learn slowly.

What I am fellowshipping with you is based not only upon the Bible but also upon what I have learned. Perhaps some would say that the title of this message is very strange. This is so, but it is through experience that I know the truth which I speak. According to what was taught in the past, if we truly want to practice abiding in the Lord, we should rise up early, pray first, then wash, and then sit down to read the Word. However, I can guarantee that you might be able to practice this for three days, but you will not be able to continue it for thirty days. Maybe you can do it for even thirty days, but you will not be able to carry it out for three months. I myself have practiced this way of rising up early to pray and read the Bible, perhaps more than all of you. The first two days I would do well, but it did not last, and I could not continue.

Finally, I came to realize that it is not a matter of practicing certain things, not a matter of sinning or not sinning, not a matter of having morning revival or not having morning revival, and not a matter of praying first after getting out of bed. I discovered that even though I practiced all these things, I was still “I,” and I remained unchanged. It was I who prayed before washing, and it was definitely I who read the Word after praying. Although outwardly I did many things, inwardly it was still I.

Although I continue to encourage you about things—because people need encouragement and cannot do well without it—I know that in the end all encouragement will not avail. At the most you will be burning only for five minutes. Not only so, even with us Christians who love the Lord and who are zealous for Him, our zeal often does not last for more than five days. Therefore, many times before five days are up, we have to change our “gimmick.” In the practice of the church life, the elders often change their gimmick, perhaps every five months, because no gimmick can last from the beginning of the year to the end. Whatever practice we try to maintain, eventually our zeal for it will diminish. The reason for this is that I am still “I.”

NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME

Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Religion, ethics, or any kind of philosophical concept requires us to become perfect people who are without sins or transgressions. Only the biblical concept is superior to the human concept; its highest goal is not for man to be a perfect man without any sin or transgression, but for man to live God’s life that God may live in man. Such a concept is clearly revealed in Galatians 2:20.

“I am crucified with Christ.” We have already pointed out that the meaning of crucifixion is not suffering but termination. However, most Christians have the wrong understanding—that to take up the cross is to suffer. This is altogether a natural concept and not the pure revelation of the Bible. The cross referred to in the Bible is not for us to suffer but for us to be terminated. In John 19:15 when the Jews pointed to the Lord Jesus who was standing before Pilate and said, “Crucify Him,” what they meant was, “Get rid of Him.” Their purpose for putting the Lord on the cross was not that He would suffer but that they would get rid of Him.

The meaning of “I am crucified with Christ” is that in Christ I have been annihilated, terminated, together with Him. Whether I am good or bad, I have been terminated. Whether I am moral or immoral, I have been terminated. Whether I hate or love others, I have been terminated. Moreover, whether I disobey my parents or honor them, I have been terminated. Paul, the one who wrote this word, said that before he was saved, before he received Christ, he became blameless “as to the righteousness which is in the law” (Phil. 3:6). He could be considered a perfect man according to the law. Nevertheless, he still repented. Humanly speaking, he was proven to be one who was truly blameless, a perfect man, without sin or transgression; but such a man was still not what God wants. It was not until after Paul repented that he could say that it was not the righteousness of the law that would be manifested in his body, but as always Christ would be magnified in his body, whether through life or through death (Phil. 1:20b). The rendering of as always is very meaningful. It is not a short-lived matter but always. Paul did not magnify Christ in a short-lived way like the night-blooming flowers which are beautiful for a moment but wither at the blink of an eye. Rather, he always magnified Christ whether through life or through death. Instead of ethics, it was Christ who was magnified in his body. He said, “For to me, to live is Christ” (v. 21a).

Dear brothers and sisters, we all need to see that we are very much governed by our natural concepts. Each time we read the Bible, we bring in our natural concepts. Every time we speak about abiding in the Lord, we think that this refers to being blameless, to sinless perfection. We think that to abide in the Lord is to be a perfect person. Actually this is not so. To abide in the Lord means that in all things it is not you who are doing and living, but it is the Lord who is doing and living. In my life I have had many experiences, but what I have experienced the most is that when we Christians do not live by the Lord but by ourselves, that is the most dangerous moment. Any time you live by yourself, you may feel very good and that you do not have any problems, but actually this is the most dangerous time.

I often say that you can never hate those whom you did not once love. You would not bother to hate the people on the streets whom you do not know and who are not related to you. Have you ever hated anyone whom you did not love previously? In like manner, those who have the worst temper are not those who easily lose their temper. Those who frequently lose their temper are in the habit of losing their temper, so they do not readily go into a rage. Rather, it is those who are very gentle, who are the most like lambs, that when they explode with anger, they become altogether uncontrollable. Why is this? This is because they have been living by the self. If you love by your self and you are gentle by your self, eventually, you will hate by your self and explode with anger by your self.

The Bible tells us at the outset that there were two trees in the garden of Eden: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil comprises not only the knowledge of good but also the knowledge of evil. Good and evil are joined together; they are of the same nature. Where there is good, there is also evil; evil always accompanies good. This is the truth in the Bible. When good comes, evil will certainly follow. For example, the date trees in North China have thorns. If there are dates, there are thorns. There is not one tree that bears dates that is without thorns. In the same way, evil always comes with good.

A certain Christian said that if you have the knowledge of evil, actually that knowledge is sin. It would be best that in our thoughts and in our concepts there is no such thing as sin, for then it is guaranteed that we will not sin. If we know both good and evil, the result will be that we do both good and evil. However, the Bible does not tell us to get rid of evil and to do good. The Bible tells us to live wholly by the Lord. When we live by the Lord, not only will we not hate others, but we will also not love others in ourselves. We will simply live by the Lord.

HE WHO EATS THE LORD LIVING BECAUSE OF THE LORD

The Lord Jesus said in John 6:57, “So he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” What does because of Me mean? To say that it means “by” may seem quite correct, but in Greek the word is not by but a word that is hard to interpret. Even the best expositors have not fully explained it. Experience is required to understand this. To explain this word, we need the entire Gospel of John.

The Lord Jesus said, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (v. 57). The living Father sent the Lord Jesus. This sending is not the sending in its ordinary sense, in that the sender stays back while the sent one goes forth. For example, if you have difficulty in getting around, you may send someone to get a book for you. This kind of sending means that you do not move, while the sent one moves. However, the Gospel of John tells us that when the Father God sent the Lord Jesus, the Father God came with and in the Lord Jesus. When the Father God sent the Son, He first entered into the Son, and then He sent the Son. The Father lives, and He lives in the Son. The Father’s living in the Son sends the Son. Hence, the Son as the sent One lives because there is One living in Him.

In John 6:57 the word because means that in the Son there is a living God and that His being and His living are the cause, or the reason, of the Son’s living. Therefore, this verse means that the living Father entered the Son and lived in the Son, and then He sent the Son. When the Father moved, the Son moved; when the Father spoke, the Son spoke. Whatever the Son spoke or did was because of the Father’s speaking and doing in Him. Thus, the living Father is the factor of the Son’s living and moving. The living Father lived in the Son and sent the Son; hence, the Son lived because of the Father’s living in Him, and the Son spoke and moved because of the Father’s speaking and moving in Him.

In the same way, those who eat the Lord will live because of the Lord. To eat is to take food into us as our life supply. Thus, to eat the Lord Jesus is to take the Lord Jesus into us as our life supply. This Lord Jesus is also living. He always lives in us; He lives in us daily, and He lives in us unceasingly. We are those who have received the Lord Jesus, so we should live because He lives in us. We live and move because the living Lord Jesus lives and moves in us. He who eats the Lord has the living Lord living within him. Thus, this living Lord is the factor of his living, as Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Christ lives in me as the factor of my living. Because He lives like this in me, I live. Therefore, when I live, actually it is not I who live but it is Christ who lives.

NEEDING TO PRACTICE IN OUR DAILY LIVING

While this truth is very difficult to explain, it is still possible to speak it rather clearly. The hardest thing, however, is to apply this truth to our daily living. The young people are full of energy; therefore, it is difficult for them to deny themselves in all things and live by the Lord. The older people tend to boast of their age and despise others. The older they are, the more they think they are experienced; thus, it is even harder for them to deny themselves and live by the Lord. In addition, in great matters or in difficult times it is easier for us to live by the Lord, but in the small things in our daily life it is very easy for us to depend on ourselves. Nevertheless, as those who love the Lord we should ask ourselves, “Is it I who live or is it the Lord who lives today?” I have many children and grandchildren, and every time I have contact with them I experience a strong correction within: “Is this you or the Lord Jesus? Is this the Lord speaking in you or is it you yourself?”

It is not a matter of being right or wrong but a matter of whether or not it is the Lord. If you are speaking or behaving in yourself, then what you might think is right is still wrong. If you live by the Lord, then even some things you think are wrong are right. The revelation in the four Gospels is clear; the Lord healed the sick on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said that He violated the Sabbath, but the Lord said that He was not wrong because He is the Lord, He is God. As the One who established the Sabbath, He had the authority to put the Sabbath aside. Eventually, He said that the Son of Man was the Lord of the Sabbath. He had the authority to establish it and the authority to abolish it. Hence, we should all let the Lord be the Lord. He is the Lord; whatever He does is right. If we do it, everything is wrong because it is not what the Lord wants. The Lord does not want us to do anything. What he wants is to be in us and to live out Himself from within us.

This kind of concept is easy to understand but not easy to practice. We love the Lord very much and are willing to live by the Lord, but whenever we do anything, we always live ourselves. We have all received the mercy of the Lord to at least not do sinful things. In the matters in our daily life, however, especially in small things, it is very easy for us to live completely by ourselves and not by the Lord. It is not until the meeting time that we might remember we should go to the meetings by the Lord.

Even in the meetings we may still not live by the Lord. When you should open your mouth, you would not. The Lord urges you to praise, prophesy, or pray, yet you are often afraid and unwilling to lose face. You might feel that when you have learned to speak and can be an instant sensation, then you will be willing to open your mouth. Therefore, it is still you who live. If you truly live by the Lord, when you have the inner sense to pray, you will not care whether it sounds good or bad; you will pray. Thus, whether it is in our daily life or in the meetings, we do not live by the Lord. Whether we are newly saved or we have been saved for many years, all of us are good at living ourselves.

On the cross the Lord Jesus was a Lamb. Instead of threatening people, He was mistreated by them. After His resurrection from the dead, He became a dove. Even we often mistreat our Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, He is patient as a dove. He moves continually within us so that we would not do anything by ourselves but instead allow Him to do everything. Just as He lived because of the Father, He also wants us to be transformed into His image and live because of Him. We thank the Lord that due to His infusion and influence, even though we often live by ourselves, we do have a measure of His image. Whether we are shepherding others or going to work or school, we all need to ask for the Lord’s leading and to live by the Lord. Whenever you do not live by the Lord, even if you do good, you are still outside of the Lord and not abiding in the Lord. This is not doctrine; this is a matter of actual practice and experience. May we all be able to practice so that in every action, word, and attitude we would entirely live by the Lord and live because of the Lord. Whether in speech or action, we must live by His speaking and moving in us. He must be the factor in what we speak and what we do.

In the same principle, we love the brothers and sisters because He is in us loving them. His love in us is the factor of our love. We love the brothers and sisters because He loves them. It is not that He loves whom He loves, and we love whom we love. It is not because He loves, so in like manner we love. Rather, it is because the Lord loves in us that we love together with Him. This is to live by the Lord. The result is that we will live in the Lord and abide in the Lord. Spontaneously, we will also enjoy the Lord as our life. May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us the grace so that we all can practice this.