We all know that we are sinners and that we have eternal life through faith. Today we want to see to what extent God saves us through Jesus Christ. In other words, to what extent will our person be saved by God through Jesus Christ?
In the last two or three years, I have noticed one thing: I have felt that there is definitely something wrong with my personal Christian life. When I read the Bible, I confess that I do not have what the Bible says. Although the Christian life of some seems to be worse than mine, and although some who have deeper experiences have answered my questions by saying that I have already attained, I still feel that I do not have what the Bible says. Thank God! Now I know! Indeed there are better things in Christ. Indeed these better things can be obtained and can be obtained even now.
So, today what I want to talk about is the extent of our heritage in Christ Jesus. This is not about the future heritage in heaven — something which we will have in the future. We are not talking about eternal life — something which we have through regeneration. We are not talking about the glory in the kingdom — something which will be ours in the millennium to come. Rather, we want to emphasize the extent to which God can save us as persons today.
Let us read some verses in the Bible. We will read them one by one as we move along. We want to see the extent to which God can save us today.
Hebrews 9:14 says, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" This verse speaks of the extent to which Christ saves our conscience. His blood can purge our conscience from dead works.
Brothers and sisters! Please ask yourselves today if there are still accusations in your conscience. If from time to time there are still accusations in your conscience, then what you have obtained is not yet complete. The Lord saves us, and His blood purges our conscience. Our conscience can be purified by His blood from every kind of self-accusation. When we gather together, we pray, "O God! We thank You that our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience." But many times we still feel uneasy. What we have done is just a cover-up and a mental gloss-over. But the blood of God's Son does purify. If your conscience still accuses you, it does not mean that God's salvation cannot save you to that extent. It merely means that the salvation which you have received is not yet complete. Thank and praise God! He can save us to such an extent! It is possible for our conscience to be purified.
Mark 7:21-23 says, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil reasonings, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, foolishness. All these wicked things proceed from within and defile the man." Also Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart." These two verses speak of the original defiled condition of our heart. They also tell us how Christ can save our heart to the extent of being pure.
Brothers and sisters! The heart mentioned in Mark is our natural heart. What about this heart? The Lord said that all evil things come from men's heart. All these evils are from the heart. But the Lord said, "Blessed are the pure in heart." The Lord is able to save such a bad heart to the extent of being pure.
The salvation of our heart does not mean the suppression of the inward evils so that they do not break loose. The salvation of our heart means that our heart is cleansed from within. If we plan to cover up or seal up, this is not salvation, because we have not been saved by God to the extent of being pure. We have to ask God, "How many evil thoughts are there in my heart? How much deceit? How much jealousy? How much pride?" If all these are merely suppressed inside us and we are merely covering them up tightly, our heart has not been saved. What God says is, "Blessed are the pure in heart!"
Today our shortcomings, problems, and lack of testimony are due to the fact that our heart has not been cleansed to that extent. Many times we see someone sin, but we dare not reproach him, because we realize that this person's outward condition is but the blossoming of sin; the seed of this blossom is also in his heart. Although we do not love the world like some, our hearts are nevertheless affected. We are no different from others. When we do not have a pure heart, we do not have a testimony.
God would not leave any filthiness in our heart. Even a heart that is as evil as the one mentioned in Mark can be saved by God to the extent of being clean. God can save us until we have a pure heart. We praise and thank God that He can save us to such an extent! He can deliver such an evil heart to become a pure heart.
Mark 12:30-31 says, "`And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.' The second is this: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" These verses say that God can save us to such an extent that we love God with all. He can also save us to the extent that we love others unselfishly.
How difficult it is to love God with all! Oftentimes we want to love God, but we secretly want to love the world as well. We want to serve God, and we also want to serve mammon. Oftentimes the love in our heart toward God is distracted by many people and many things. But God can save us to the extent of loving God "with all." We can love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. God can even save us so that we not only love God, but we also love others without any selfishness at all.
Brothers and sisters! If we cannot love God to the extent of "with all," if there are still other persons, other objects, or other things besides God as the center of our love, and moreover, if we cannot love others as ourselves in addition to loving God, then the salvation we have obtained is not complete. Christ can save us to such an extent that we can love God "with all" and we can love others unselfishly. This is possible. We praise Him!
Second Corinthians 11:3 says, "But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ." This verse implies that our mind can be saved to the extent of being "simple and pure."
Many times we want to obey the Lord, consecrate to the Lord, and only love the Lord. But how difficult this is! It is very, very difficult because we do not have the strength. We often find ourselves failing. We wish we could love the Lord with all our love. We wish our heart towards the Lord would be simple, without corruption, and single and pure. How good such a condition would be! We hope for this experience, but it seems that it can hardly be realized. However, God can save us to such a degree. This is possible. This can be done. Our heart must be simple and pure. If we are always double-minded, we will be like Eve. On the one hand, Eve saw that the fruit was good for food and, on the other hand, she was reminded of what God said about not eating the fruit. On the one hand, she saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes and was to be desired; on the other hand, she thought of God's commandment of not eating. Her heart was moved, and once she loved the fruit, she ate it. For just an instant and by a slight deviation, Eve lost her simplicity and purity toward Christ.
Brothers and sisters! Do we want a simple and pure heart toward Christ? We should love Him! We should not be afraid of loving Him too much. We should love Him unreservedly and love Him without reasoning. Praise and thank God that He can save us to such an extent that we have a simple and pure heart toward Christ! This is possible!
Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect." This verse tells us that God can save our mind to the extent that we are transformed by its renewing and that we can prove the will of God.
Brothers and sisters! Have you ever thought about this? A renewed mind is able to prove the good, well pleasing, and perfect will of God. Many times, this seems to be God's will, and that also seems to be God's will. Many times we take John for Jack and Jack for John. Only a renewed mind can rightly discern God's will. If our mind is not renewed, we cannot prove what the will of God is, and the salvation we gain will not be complete. Not only did God save us to what we are today, God will also save us to the extent of being perfect. We should desire after this. Praise and thank God! This is possible. This can be done.
Second Corinthians 10:5-6 says, "As we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ. And we are ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." These two verses speak of God being able to save our thoughts unto the obedience of Christ. God can save our thoughts, all our thoughts, unto the obedience of Christ.
Brothers and sisters! Every one of us should ask ourselves, "Can we control our thoughts?" We know that there are many thoughts which we cannot control. God does not allow us to have confusing and disorderly thoughts; God intends to bring our many thoughts to the obedience of Christ.
Brothers and sisters! Let me ask you, "Have all your thoughts been brought to the obedience of Christ?" We should not have any wandering thoughts, filthy thoughts, or world-craving thoughts. If we still have these thoughts, we have not obtained a full salvation. God's salvation can bring the thoughts of every believer to the obedience of Christ. This can be done. We can surrender all our thoughts to the Lord, that is, to the obedience of the Lord. This is the salvation which is prepared for us in Christ. Not only does God save us unto eternal life or to heaven, but He also wants to save our whole being, that is, all our thoughts, to the obedience of Christ. Praise and thank God! This can be done. This is possible. He can save us to such an extent.
First Peter 1:13 says, "Therefore girding up the loins of your mind and being sober, set your hope perfectly on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." "The loins of our mind" refer to our thoughts. This verse tells us that God is able to save our loose mind to the extent that it is focused.
I have mentioned before that the Jewish garment was like the garment worn in the Ming Dynasty. It was loose and buttonless. Whenever the people worked, the loins had to be girded up to facilitate movement. Our loose thoughts are like an ungirded loin. But just as a person can gird up his loins, God can save our loose thoughts and bring them into focus.
Many times, though our thoughts are not filthy, they are loose and wandering. We pray a little, and then we find that our mind wanders away. We read the Bible a little, and again our thoughts are lost. It is true that the thoughts may not be bad. But minds set on good or tasteful things, if not done at the proper time, also indicate a looseness of the loins of our mind and lack of concentration. God can save us to such an extent that we can control our thoughts and focus our mind. How loose are our thoughts! If we cannot concentrate in our mind, we have not obtained the complete salvation. If we have not obtained it, we should know that Christ can save us not only to our present state, but He can save us to the state of perfection. Praise and thank God! He can also save our loose thoughts to the extent of being focused. This is possible. This can be done.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man's understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." These two verses say that God can save a person's heart and thoughts, delivering him from anxiety. To what extent is the Lord's authority able to save a person? He is able to save a person to the extent that the peace of God guards his heart and thoughts.
The word guard has a special meaning in the original language. The most accurate translation for this word is a special term used in military science. It can be translated as "garrison." The verse means that the peace of God guards our hearts and thoughts in a way similar to a curfew set up in a locality. During a curfew, the army is empowered to garrison the curfew area, making the area safe and free from danger. God's peace can guard our hearts and thoughts in the same way as an army guards a locality to keep it peaceful. God can deliver us from all anxiety. The peace of God garrisons our hearts and thoughts.
I have not yet seen many Christians who are without anxieties about something. The majority of them are full of worries. There was a mother who had seven sons. She said, "I worried about each son until he grew up and got saved. There are two who are now in heaven, so I don't have to worry about them anymore. But I still worry about the remaining five sons." A brother told her that worrying in this way was a mistake; it was a sin. But she said, "A mother ought to worry for her own children. If she does not worry, that is sin." The brother pointed out Philippians 4:6-7, but she thought that the anxiety mentioned there did not apply to her kind of worry. According to her, the wife must worry about the husband, the parents must worry about the children, and the businessman must worry about his business. But the Bible says, "In nothing be anxious." It does mean that we can worry about a few things. It means to not worry about anything.
I have not seen many brothers or sisters who are anxious in nothing. This is not full salvation. If you worry about your whole family and are anxious about so many things — about this and about — the peace of God is not guarding your heart and thoughts. Such a person cannot testify, saying, "My Lord is the One who bears my burden day by day."
Anxiety is a sin. God can save you from all anxiety. No matter how big or small, heavy or light a thing is, you ought to be anxious for nothing. If you still have not experienced the peace of God keeping your heart and thoughts, the salvation you have obtained is not complete. If you have seen this matter clearly, you will say, "O Lord! I have gained too little of what You have given me." Praise and thank God! He can save us from all worry, to the extent where we are anxious for nothing. His peace is sufficient to guard our hearts and thoughts. This is possible. We must praise Him!
First Peter 4:1-2 says, "Since Christ therefore has suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same mind (because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin), no longer to live the rest of the time in the flesh in the lusts of men, but in the will of God." These two verses say that God can save our mind to the extent that we are willing to suffer as Christ did.
Are we afraid of suffering? Yes. We all want to have an easy daily life that is free from suffering. Whenever we have a little difficulty, we ask God to remove it. When we really submit to God and our future becomes difficult and hard, we ask God not to allow the difficulty to come to us. But God can save us to such an extent that we are not afraid of difficulty or hardship, that we arm ourselves with a mind for suffering.
What is our armor? Herein is the best armor: a mind to suffer just like Christ's. Whenever you submit to God, man may tell of difficulties and may set ways to deal with you. But by thinking of the suffering of Christ in the flesh and resolving to do the same, you are armed. Now you are able to say, "The Lord came to suffer. Suffering was not only His portion but also His duty. Suffering was His business. He wished to suffer." You can overcome all things if you arm yourself with such a mind. Not only will you not be afraid of suffering, you will welcome suffering. Not only will you not turn away from suffering, you will let suffering come looking for you. If you fear and shrink back whenever you think of suffering, your salvation is not complete. God can save you to the extent that you can have a mind to suffer. If you have a mind to suffer, you are living the rest of your time in the will of God. Praise and thank God! This is possible! He can save you to such an extent.
James 1:26-27 says, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this one's religion is vain. This is pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 3:8-10 also says, "But the tongue no one among men is able to tame; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made according to the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, ought not to be so." These two passages talk about the tongue which no man can tame. But God can save an untamed tongue to the extent that it becomes a tongue that can be bridled by us.
I met a person who said, "James said clearly that no man can tame the tongue. Therefore, it is excusable for Christians to be unable to tame their own tongues." But we need to know that James 3:10 plainly says, "These things, my brothers, ought not to be so." Moses could not enter Canaan for one reason: he said a quick word. The words Moses spoke were unbecoming of a learner. Not only do we need a learner's ear, but we need a learner's tongue as well. Only then will we know how to speak. God can save not only our heart, mind, and thoughts to a full extent, but He can also save our tongue to a perfect extent. If we cannot bridle our own tongue, I say again, we are not fully saved. Praise and thank God! He can save our tongue to a perfect extent. This can be done. It is possible.
Romans 8:12 says, "So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh." This verse says that God can save us to the extent that we can overcome the demand of the fleshly nature and be released from the demand of the fleshly lusts.
Here, I want to mention specifically three things concerning man's body. Generally speaking, the functions of our body are in three areas: first, the area of nourishment for man's sustenance; second, the area of reproduction for man's continuation; and third, the area of defense for man's protection. Before man's fall, these three things were proper; sin was not in them. But after man sinned and inherited a sinful nature, these three things became the carrier of sins.
Because of the need for nourishment, the world tempts us with eating and drinking. The very first temptation that man faced was regarding food. As the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tempted Eve that day, the enjoyment of eating and drinking has become a sin of the flesh for us today. We should never underestimate the matter of eating and drinking, because many fleshly believers have failed because of this. The fleshly Corinthians caused many brothers to stumble because of eating (1 Cor. 8). For this reason the elders and deacons of the churches in those days had to be those who had overcome in the matter of eating and drinking (1 Tim. 3:3, 8).
Second, after man's fall, reproduction became a matter of lust to man. In the Bible, the body and lust are particularly related. Even in the garden of Eden, the sin of indulgence in eating immediately aroused lust and shame. Paul also related these two things together (1 Cor. 6:13, 15); he also considered drunkenness and defilement to be related (vv. 9-10).
Another area is man's self-defense. After sin assumed authority, the power of the body stepped up its strength in order to survive, and anything that threatens its peace and comfort becomes its enemy. Man's temper with the resultant anger and strife all arise from the flesh and are sins of the flesh. From the matter of self-defense, countless sins are produced directly or indirectly. This is because of the presence of an inward motivation of sin. For the sake of preserving one's profit, existence, reputation, opinion, and a thousand other things related to oneself, many of the darkest sins in the world are committed.
If we analyzed all the sins in the world one by one, we would see that, generally speaking, they are all related to the above three things. A fleshly Christian is one who is controlled by any one or all of the above three things.
But Paul said that we are not debtors to the flesh, not at all. Every one of us does not have to live according to the flesh. Christ can save us from the demands of the fleshly nature and fleshly lust. What is lust? As human beings, we have two needs. First, we have the natural physical need. Second, because of this natural need, a craving is produced, and we try by devious means to satisfy this natural need. This second craving is lust. Our Lord Christ, however, can save us from this lust.
The Lord can save each one of us to the extent that we are free from this lust. Moreover, the Lord can save each one of us to the point that we can overcome the natural demand. Do not be mistaken. The Lord is not saving us so that we have no natural need; He is only saving us so that we can overcome it. The Bible does not tell us that the flesh will disappear. It only tells us that we are not debtors to the flesh; we are only free from its demands. For if we are debtors, we still have to pay back. But if we are no longer debtors, we have power over ourselves.
For example, if a person is hungry, he has to eat; this is man's natural need. But if he has no money to buy food, and he wants to use some illegal means, that is, he wants to steal to buy food to satisfy this natural need, he is in reality satisfying the demand of the lust of his flesh. When man has a natural need, he can only satisfy it according to the way of the Bible. When you are hungry, and if you have money, you can buy food to eat. This is not sin. All the natural needs can be attended to according to the teaching of God. Anything more than this is the demand of lust. When we say that God can save us so that we can overcome the natural need and be free from the demand of lust, we mean that if we are hungry and without money, we can overcome the demand of hunger and refuse any illegal means of satisfaction. Hunger is inevitable, but we can be free from the demand of lust.
Not only in food, but also in reproduction and self-defense, the principle is the same. We can only take care of the natural needs; anything more than this is sin. It is not sin for us to have natural needs, but we are not debtors to the flesh — there is no need for us to pay back anything. In these two aspects, God can save us to be free from the demand of lust and overcome the natural needs.
Not being a debtor to the flesh is not limited to only these things. Even when we are sick, we are still not debtors to the flesh. Though we may be slightly fragile mentally, we need not lose our temper. Though we may have physical problems that bring about psychological problems, we can also overcome them. God's Word says that we are not debtors to the flesh. Is God unable to save a Christian because he is handicapped in a certain area? Certainly not. We are not debtors to the flesh.
Brothers and sisters! Have you ever been ensnared by some troubles in your body? Are you trapped by some problem of eating or drinking? Know for sure that Christ's salvation can match all the circumstances and difficulties. As much as your difficulty abounds, God's salvation also abounds. If a Christian starves for one day, two days, or even three days, do you need to tell him that he need not steal to satisfy his hunger? Suppose he says that he is hungry and that he is obligated to steal. Can he say that? Oh! There is no need for anyone to be obligated to sin. God can save each one of us so that we do not live according to the flesh. Romans 6:6 says, "Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves." Brothers and sisters! Before God I can say this: "God, I thank You! All that is in my old man is crucified with Him." No matter what it is — envy, pride, filthy thoughts, a confused mind, worries, or the flesh — Christ can save us from all of these things. Praise and thank the Lord!
Romans 6:13 says, "Neither present your members as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as weapons of righteousness to God." Verse 19 also says, "I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification." These two verses say that God can save our members to the extent of being sanctified.
Our members were slaves to sin, slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness unto lawlessness, but how about now? Have we been freed from the sins of every member of our body? Does every member yield itself to be the slave of righteousness? If we have not yielded our members as slaves to righteousness, we are still the slaves of sin, and the salvation which we have received is not complete. The salvation Christ renders is a salvation that saves us to the extent that we yield all the members of our body as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification. This is possible; this can be done. We praise and thank Him!
Galatians 2:20 says, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." We are very familiar with this verse. Many of us can even recite it. This verse says that God is saving us not only to the extent of being crucified with Christ, but also to the extent of having Christ living in us right now.
The word here is not that we should be like Christ or that we should imitate Christ. It says that Christ has become me. Now it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. God saved Paul to such an extent; He will also save us to the same extent.
Brothers and sisters! If we still do not have Christ living in us, the salvation we have received is not complete. Praise and thank God! He saves us to the extent that for us to live is Christ. This is possible. This can be attained by every Christian.
Brothers and sisters! We need to pay attention to one thing: the full salvation which God has prepared for us must be received in full and obtained in full. I do not believe in perfection in sinlessness, perfection in eradication of sin; but I believe in the perfection to which God can save me. I believe that the cross is not an eradication of me, but a substitution of me through the Lord's death. God is not uprooting my sin or evil; rather, He is giving me a Christ who lives in me. Formerly, it was Christ who died for me on the cross. Now it is He who lives for me within. Before it was the substitutionary death; now it is the substitutionary living. The extent of my receiving salvation is the extent of God's salvation to me. We do not have to remain in any temper, worry, filthiness, or lust. God can save us and set us free from all of these things. He will deliver us not only from what is bad but also will impart what is good into us.
Now we can see how great God's salvation is and how great the extent of our salvation is! It is as if we have selected some merchandise. Now we must ask, "How do we obtain it?" We know that a price must be paid. Concerning this, there are several conditions which we will talk about next time. But today I will just ask you to do one thing: believe in God's Word. God's Word says that He can save us to such an extent. If we believe it, we will have it. We ought to believe that this is possible. The biggest problem lies in the fact that we do not believe in what the Bible says. God will fulfill according to our faith. If we do not believe in it, we will not have it.
This is a most solemn matter! God has spoken His word! Now if we say that we can do it, then we can do it. But if we say that we cannot do it, then we cannot do it. We must believe in God's Word; only then can God accomplish what we believe.
Mr. Andrew Murray was a very deep person in the Lord. I purposely studied the notes of his sermons. Each time he mentioned the victorious life, the sanctifying life, or the resting life, he always listed some conditions. There was a common condition that he mentioned each time: "one must believe that it is possible." Indeed if you think it is impossible, God will have no way to fulfill it for you. If you believe in what God has said and that He will do it in you, you will see His accomplishment of what He has said in you.
Brothers and sisters! What do you think of your own Christian life? If you confess that your present situation comes short in so many ways, are you ready to see God's full salvation fulfilled in you? If you are, you should right now believe that this is possible and that this can be done; you must also allow God to accomplish His work in you.
