Part 7 (1/2)

Satan Lewis Sperry Chafer 122640K 2022-07-22

Chapter XI.

The Believer's Present Position.

Since the Bible contains G.o.d's message to the people of the ages, it must be rightly divided if the body of truth concerning any particular age or people is to be clearly understood. There are, undoubtedly, many things in common in the various ages, and, because of that fact, the superficial use of the Scriptures has been to treat the entire book as a direct message to all people of all time. This method, as has been stated, has resulted in great confusion as to the Divine program.

When that portion of Scripture which directly applies to the present age has been discovered, that, too, must be divided; for the present time is a period of mixture among the people of the earth--the saints of G.o.d tenting among the citizens of the Satanic system, and having nothing in common with them beyond the ordinary things of this earth life.

Again, that particular body of truth which applies to the child of G.o.d in this age may be divided, and a portion be called ”Positional Truth”

in that it unfolds the believer's present relation to the G.o.dhead, the heavenlies, and the present world; while another may be known as ”Life Truth” in that it is a particular statement of his present responsibility in conduct and service, and also includes the provisions of G.o.d whereby he may fully accomplish the whole will of G.o.d. A partial study of Life Truth is reserved for the next and last chapter; while this chapter is to be devoted to the believer's present position and separation from the world.

The importance of Positional Truth is suggested by the fact that, in the context of Scripture, it precedes the statement of Life Truth; forming the basis of its appeal. As an ill.u.s.tration of this it may be seen that the order of the doctrinal Epistles is first, to state a great Positional Truth, which is then followed by an appeal for a life consistent with the truth revealed. The first great section of the book of Romans (Chapters 1-8), sets forth the fact of a great and full salvation; this is followed (omitting the dispensational parenthesis of Chapters 9-11) by the closing section (Chapters 12-16), which is a detailed description of the life a saved person should live, and which opens with this appeal: ”I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of G.o.d.” So, in the first section of the letter to the Ephesians (Chapters 1-3), the believer's position is unfolded, and this is followed by a section (Chapters 4-6), which is a series of injunctions for a heavenly walk; this section opens as follows: ”I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” No appeal for faithfulness in the Christian life will be found to be adequate or effective that does not follow this same order, or that is not based upon some great revealed fact of the new life in Christ. It is probable that the present neglect and disregard for Positional Truth has, in spite of moral exhortation, borne its legitimate fruit in a time-serving worldly Church.

It is a beautiful example of the harmony of the Scriptures that, while the evil of the present age is so-clearly described, the true child of G.o.d is most carefully separated from its relations.h.i.+ps, and is seen to be in a position so independent of all the authority of the world, that he can walk with the Lord in unbroken communion and fellows.h.i.+p, even while surrounded by this spiritual darkness. And, though the Scriptural statements as to the ever increasing darkness of this age be rejected, no meaning can be given to these pa.s.sages that separate the believer from this world, without the recognition of the black background of the failure and sinfulness of this age. It is noticeable that the modern systems take no notice of the difference between the saved and the unsaved, as they also make little of the future state. This is in accordance with the fact that both of these truths are wholly dependent upon regeneration; and that is the one truth these systems are originated by Satan to resist.

The believer's position is set forth in at least seven positive revelations, three of which concern his change from the darkness of Satan to the light of G.o.d; two concern his relations.h.i.+p to the heavenly sphere; and two concern his relations.h.i.+p to the Satanic order. A careful study of these important pa.s.sages will reveal the great reality of Redemption.

The first Divine movement for the salvation of an individual, after the prayer of intercession by the Spirit, is illumination by the Spirit.

This same work is also mentioned as the ”convicting” or ”convincing” of the Spirit. In this part of the Divine undertaking, the blinding by Satan is temporarily removed and the soul beholds, by Divine vision, the Lord of glory and the way into eternal life through Him: but woe to the soul thus favored, who repeatedly turns from that vision in rejection!

Of such it is written: ”For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of G.o.d, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of G.o.d afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from G.o.d: but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak” (Heb.

6:4-9). Here there is p.r.o.nounced a permanent return to the awful blindness of Satan for the one who rejects the illumination of the Spirit; but there is also offered an ever-widening of vision and glory to the one who accepts the Lord as He is revealed by the Spirit, for he then comes into possession of the ”things that accompany salvation.”

This illuminating work of the Spirit is mentioned by Paul in his words to King Agrippa, wherein he describes his own commission to service. He claimed to have been appointed by the Lord who spoke to him from the Glory. He relates that by this commission he was sent ”to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto G.o.d, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me”

(Acts 26:18). This is the exact order of the Divine movements in redemption; the illumination of the Spirit is placed before everything else. There is probably no more neglected truth in modern evangelism than this preliminary work of the Spirit: yet it is the Divine preparation for the intelligent action of the human will; and if the right choice is made, it unveils the eyes for all the coming ages.

This important illuminating work of the Spirit is completely described in Jno. 16:8-11 as being a revelation of the judgment, by the Cross, of all sin and condemnation; the vision of the glorious righteous Christ, now in heaven; and the realization of the sin of rejecting Him. The pa.s.sage is here given: ”Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” The true child of G.o.d is, then, one in whom the Spirit has wrought in lifting the blinding by Satan and revealing to some extent, even now, the surpa.s.sing glory of Christ. Sin, too, has become a terrible reality, and the Cross and the precious blood have become the basis of his confidence toward his G.o.d.

Another revelation of the present position of the believer is that he has partaken of the Divine nature through regeneration by the Spirit.

This truth is stated in many pa.s.sages, a few of which are here given: ”But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of G.o.d, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of G.o.d”

(Jno. I:12, 13). ”Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of G.o.d. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (Jno.

3:5-8). ”I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jno. 10:10). ”For in Christ Jesus neither circ.u.mcision availeth anything, nor uncirc.u.mcision, but a new creature”

(Gal. 6:15). ”Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the was.h.i.+ng of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (t.i.tus 3:5). ”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have pa.s.sed away; behold, all things have become new” (II Cor. 5:17). ”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 l.u.s.t” (II Pet. 1:4).

The reality of this mighty transformation is in no way evident in present visible things, but must be accepted by faith. It is no less than a translation from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of Christ, ”who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:13). And by it one is said to be delivered from this present evil age: ”Who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of G.o.d and our Father” (Gal. 1:4), and, also, according to the above pa.s.sage, ”to have escaped the corruption that is in the world”

(Satanic system).

The new life that is thus imparted is none other than the very life of Christ: ”Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). ”To whom G.o.d would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). ”I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”

(Gal. 2:20). ”Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (II Cor. 13:5).

The third great fact of the believer's present position in separation from this world is that the Holy Spirit is given unto him, at the moment of his regeneration, to indwell him, in place of the energizing power of Satan who ”worketh” with energy in the children of disobedience: ”The love of G.o.d is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5). ”Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of G.o.d; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of G.o.d” (I Cor. 2:12). ”What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of G.o.d, and ye are not your own?” (I Cor. 6:19).

Another phase of the believer's position is revealed in the fact that he is said to be a citizen of heaven; his home center or citizens.h.i.+p having been moved there from the earth. His name would, therefore, appear only among the celestial beings, in any true census of the universe. The reality of this unseen relations.h.i.+p is brought out in several pa.s.sages: ”For our citizens.h.i.+p is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall fas.h.i.+on anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:20 R.V.). ”For ye know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of G.o.d, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is G.o.d, Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (II Cor. 5:1-8).

Again, as to the believer's position in that which is termed in Ephesians ”the heavenly _places_,”--though the supplying of the word ”places” is very misleading. The meaning of the word ”heavenly” here is not so much of locality as of experience: as is indicated by the use of the same word in other pa.s.sages where the believer is said to be ”heavenly” in standing and relations.h.i.+p (Heb. 3:1; Eph. 2:6. See also Matt. 18:35; Jno. 3:12; I Cor. 15:48).

Dr. C. I. Scofield makes the following statement on this important phase of the believer's position:

”The Christian is 'heavenly' by calling (Heb. 3:1), by citizens.h.i.+p (Phil. 3:20), by inheritance (I Pet. 1:4) and by resurrection life (Eph.