“But thanks be to God, that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57
Dear Ones:
When God chose Saul of Tarsus, that he should be His witness to the Jews, and also to the gentiles, He did so knowing that this man had been blessed with an intellect that would not settle for less than knowing for sure, and in detail, the “workings” of the Gospel, and God’s work according to it. After the conversion of Paul, we find that the revelation of Christ to his heart was such, that, “…he conferred not with flesh and blood.” (Galatians 1:16) Instead of going up to Jerusalem, meeting with the apostles, he went into Arabia, returning again unto Damascus. It would be three years before he would go up to Jerusalem. Why? When Ananias put his hands on the blind Saul of Tarsus, and he received his sight, a new dawn broke upon him. It was the beginning of something so vast, and greater than himself, that it would take time to work through it. And this Paul set out to do. In that search was revealed a path of understanding that would bring him, not only to consider the initial revelation of Christ to his heart, but the unveiling of truths that would set him free to love and serve God. There would come a day when again, the scales would fall from his eyes, and he would discover something that would unleash the power of God in and through his life.
In writing the letter to the Romans, there is revealed a progression in Paul’s search, his pursuit of the full blessing of God, but also, of the reason for which he was saved. Generally speaking, we discover first that Paul was given a clear, and greater understanding of the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the power of the gospel to save. Secondly, Paul discovered the “way” of God, with great clarity, by which man can come to know Him, to live eternally. It would be by the example of Abraham, that the way of faith would be unveiled as the dominant principle of life by which an individual could be justified before God. Thirdly, the work of Christ on Calvary, and his complete and entire dealing with sin and the sinner, was revealed in great clarity and power. The “great salvation” was laid out before the Apostle in very plain and powerful terms. However, this knowledge, though essential, was not sufficient to bring the sinner, Paul the Apostle, into the experience of the victory of Christ over sin, self, the world and the devil. Paul would discover that though the great truths of salvation were applicable in the kingdom of God, they would only lead him to miserable defeat, and discouragement. Finally he would declare: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) Instead of liberty and life, through the knowledge of the Gospel, he was experiencing bondage and death. It was as if he was dragging a corpse behind him, seeking by different means to revive, or save, it. At the height of his despondency, God would reveal something to Paul that would change him forever. It would be the breakthrough, a breaking out of a certain perspective and frame of mind, to enter into an experience of power and of life…the very life of Christ, dwelling in the heart by faith.
The transition came when Paul discovered that there were two spiritual laws that were effective in determining his experience of God. He first saw, that even though his heart convicted him daily of defeat, that, IN CHRIST, there was perfect justification. There was no more a basis for Satan’s condemnation. Then, the great truth that he discovered was a new principle and truth, that of a new life, a new creation that had NOTHING to do with the old. The old man of Tarsus, had been separated by the cross of Christ, from the new man in Christ. The Spirit of God became the present, and dominating, power, to experience Christ’s victory.
Dear Father, Give us to see our oneness with Christ, In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad