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Scripture Reading: Rom. 6:6, 11; 8:13; Col. 3:5; Gal. 5:24
The Scriptures reveal that the cross of Christ is an accomplished fact (Rom. 6:6). On the negative side, the cross of Christ terminated everything opposing God and resolved all the problems between God and man (John 12:31; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14); on the positive side, the cross of Christ released God’s life and fulfilled God’s plan (John 12:24, 32). Everything that offends God, opposes God, and frustrates God, including Satan, the demons, sin, the world, the flesh with its passions and its lusts, the old man, the self, and all things, has been dealt with and terminated by the cross. Furthermore, God’s life and all its riches have been released through the cross. We do not need to be crucified again, because the flesh of sin, the old man, and the self have been crucified, and Christ also does not need to be crucified again, because God’s life has been released. These are accomplished facts.
The cross of Christ is an accomplished fact. For example, we can see this accomplishment of these facts not only in relation to sin but also in relation to the old man. Romans 6:6 says, “Our old man has been crucified with Him.” Christ dealt with our sins on the cross by dying on our behalf, and He also dealt with our sinful nature, the old man, by including us in His death on the cross. His vicarious death on our behalf dealt with our sins, and our co-crucifixion with Him dealt with our old man; both are accomplished facts. Just as our sins were removed through His vicarious death on the cross, our old man was terminated in our co-crucifixion with Him. His vicarious death dealt with our sins, and our co-crucifixion with Him dealt with our sinning person. His vicarious death and our co-crucifixion with Him are both accomplished facts related to His one death on the cross.
Since the cross is an accomplished fact, we do not need to do anything other than to see and know this fact. Although we do not need to be crucified again, we need to see and know the cross. Only Christ’s crucifixion, not ours, can save us. A cross of our own cannot save us; only the cross of Christ can save us. Christ brought us to and included us in His death on the cross. In Christ we were crucified on the cross. Hence, we do not need to be “nailed” to the cross, because we have already been terminated there.
Nevertheless, we need to see the cross. We need revelation to see and know the accomplished fact of the cross. We were put to death in Christ on the cross. In God’s eyes this is a certain fact. However, without the revelation of the Scriptures and the shining of the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly know this matter. We can know and see the fact of the cross only through the enlightenment and revelation of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures.
We do not have to crucify ourselves, and we cannot nail ourselves to the cross. Our crucifixion is a fact that has been accomplished for us by Christ. Nothing further is required of us other than seeing and knowing the cross.
Once we see the fact of the cross, we will accept it. Once the Spirit shows us the fact of our co-crucifixion with Christ, He will lead us to accept it. If, under the enlightening of the Spirit, we see that our old man has been crucified with Christ, we will spontaneously acknowledge this matter and accept it as a reality. To accept is not merely to believe the truth of our co-crucifixion with Christ but to accept the fact of our co-crucifixion with Christ as a certainty and to acknowledge that we have already died. Romans 6:11 refers to this, saying, “So also you, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin...in Christ Jesus.”
We reckon ourselves to be dead not merely based on a doctrine of our co-crucifixion with Christ. Rather, we spontaneously acknowledge that we are dead when we see the fact of our co-crucifixion with Christ. Acknowledging the fact that we are dead is a spontaneous reckoning that is the result of seeing our co-crucifixion on the cross. There is no need to make an effort to remember to reckon. Anyone who needs to make an effort to remember to reckon himself dead lacks a genuine seeing of the cross. If, by the enlightenment and revelation of the Spirit, we see the fact of the cross, we will spontaneously acknowledge that we are dead. When the Spirit shines the fact of the cross into us and reveals it in us, the death of the cross immediately becomes a reality in us, and we spontaneously acknowledge that we are dead.
After we have seen and accepted the cross, we will apply the cross. When the Spirit leads us to see and accept the fact of our co-crucifixion, He will further lead us to apply the death of the cross to ourselves in our experience. On the one hand, this is the Spirit’s applying the death of the cross on our life, on us; on the other hand, it is our applying the death of the cross on ourselves. Romans 8:13 refers to this experience, saying, “If by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body.” Colossians 3:5 similarly says, “Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth.”
Although we do not have to and even cannot nail ourselves to the cross, we need to apply the death of the cross to ourselves by the Spirit, putting to death the practices of the body and of our sinning members on the earth. It is not possible to put to death the practices of our body without seeing the cross. Although we do not need to nail ourselves to the cross, we must apply the cross to ourselves. We can do this only by the Spirit and only after we see and accept the cross.
To apply the cross to ourselves is to crucify “the flesh with its passions and its lusts,” as spoken of in Galatians 5:24. It is easy to think that Galatians 5:24 and Romans 6:6 are speaking of the same thing, that is, the fact of the cross. Galatians 5:24, however, does not speak of the fact of the cross; it speaks of the application of the cross. Romans 6:6 says that our old man has been crucified with Christ. This crucifixion is not something that we have done; it is something that Christ has done. Our old man was crucified when Christ was crucified. This is a fact accomplished by Christ. Galatians 5:24, however, says that we have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts. This is something that we do by the Spirit to crucify our flesh with its passions and its lusts. By the Spirit we need to apply the cross to our flesh and to our fleshly passions and lusts, putting them to death. This is the experience of applying the cross by the Spirit.
Romans 6 speaks of the fact that we obtained in Christ; Galatians 5 speaks of the experience that we apply by the Spirit. Romans 6 speaks of our old man having been crucified with Christ; Galatians 5 speaks of our crucifying the flesh with its passions and its lusts. The old man and the flesh are one, just as Christ and the Spirit are one. Christ is lived out and manifested by the Spirit; similarly, the old man, Adam, is lived out and manifested by the flesh. Everything in Christ is a fact, and everything in the Spirit is an experience. Similarly, everything in the old man, in Adam, is a fact, and everything in the flesh is an experience.
Romans 6:6 speaks of our old man having been crucified; this refers to the fact of crucifixion. Galatians 5:24 speaks of our crucifying the flesh; this refers to the experience of crucifixion. Our old man was crucified on the cross with Christ; this is the fact of crucifixion, which Christ accomplished for us. We crucify our flesh by the Spirit; this is the experience of crucifixion. The Bible does not say that our flesh has been crucified with Christ, nor does it speak of our crucifying the old man. Christ brought the old man in Adam to the cross, and it was crucified with Him. The flesh in our living, our walk, however, is crucified by the Spirit. The crucifying spoken of in Galatians 5:24 does not refer to our flesh being crucified with Christ on the cross as being a fact; it refers to our crucifying our flesh with its passions and its lusts by the Spirit’s application of the cross. This relates not to a fact obtained in Christ but to an experience applied by the Spirit. Romans 6 says that our old man has been crucified. This is passive because it is something that Christ has done; hence, it is a fact. Galatians 5 says that we have crucified the flesh. This is active because it is something that we do by the Spirit; hence, it is an experience. Some believers have experience of this, and others do not. Nevertheless, according to God, all those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.
We crucify the flesh by the Spirit. Although we cannot crucify our old man, we can crucify our flesh. When we apply Christ’s crucifixion of our old man to our flesh by the Spirit, we put to death our flesh by the Spirit. This applies the fact that Christ accomplished regarding the crucifixion of our old man to our flesh so that we can experience the cross today.
After we see, accept, and apply the fact of the cross, it becomes our experience. Facts are objective, and experiences are subjective. What Christ has accomplished for us is fact, but what the Spirit is leading us into is experience. We need to see the fact, but we also need the experience of accepting what we have seen and applying it to ourselves. Seeing the fact is instant; applying the fact in experience is constant. We enter into the experience of the cross by seeing the fact of the cross; we maintain the experience of the cross by applying the fact of the cross. Seeing the fact of the cross and entering into the experience of the cross are matters through the Spirit and by the Spirit. Similarly, applying the fact of the cross and maintaining the experience of the cross are matters through the Spirit and by the Spirit.
We must live in our spirit. Only the Spirit can reveal the truth of our co-crucifixion with Christ in our spirit so that we see it as a fact. Furthermore, only the Spirit can turn the objective fact of our co-crucifixion with Christ into our subjective experience. This cannot be accomplished through doctrine. When we live in the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit, the Spirit spontaneously shows us the fact of the cross so that we may have the experience of the cross. To see and experience the cross, we must be in the Spirit and live in fellowship with the Lord through the Spirit. We will experience the fact that our old man has been crucified with Christ only when we put to death our flesh by the Spirit. Our being in Christ Jesus is a fact that becomes our experience when we are in the spirit (Rom. 6:11; 8:9).
