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Scripture Reading: Col. 2:6, 8; Gal. 5:4; John 5:39-40
God’s purpose is to work Christ into us. Christ is God’s very embodiment. To have Christ within us is to have God as life within us. As the first two chapters of Genesis reveal, man was created to be God’s vessel, containing God Himself as life. Man, however, fell by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Had man partaken of the tree of life, he would have received life in its simplicity and purity.
The tree of knowledge, in contrast, is complicated. Knowledge, good, and evil all pertain to this tree. Knowledge and good are commendable, even necessary, in the eyes of society. Of course, evil is to be rejected.
From childhood we have lived by knowledge. We have pursued it since kindergarten, right through elementary school, high school, and college. Even a university degree is not sufficient; we must go on for an advanced degree. Perhaps even a doctor’s degree will not satisfy us; we still continue our study and research. Knowledge, we are assured, is our future. Without knowledge, we would be of a lower class of people. Human society lives by knowledge.
The good is also prized by society. We appreciate high ethical standards. The Oriental peoples especially esteem humility. We take pride in giving in to others and consider that this is the highest virtue of humanity. We are pleased to offer others our seat while we stand. We greet each other by bowing low. The Westerners seem to us less civilized. They sit down without a thought as to where others will sit. They stand straight and look directly at each other when they meet. They keep whatever is theirs; it would not occur to them to offer it to someone else. The Oriental culture is surely superior to the Western!
The Oriental peoples are more deeply into the knowledge of good and evil. This can be seen by their more highly developed culture.
Human society is formed of these three elements: knowledge, good, and evil. These three are in the same category, although society condemns only the evil. In essence, culture is the development of knowledge and of the good. Its constituents are science, philosophy, religion, and law.
The universities may offer a great number of courses, but all of them are promoting one of these four constituents of culture. Any country that is strong in science, philosophy, religion, and law is strong. Imagine a country where these are lacking. Science and philosophy lead to advances in knowledge. Religion defines what is good and sets up a moral code. Law restrains man from his evil, wild desires. A country without these four would be full of robbers; its people would be like beasts.
Science, philosophy, religion, and law are all substitutes for Christ. Are you living by Christ day by day? You have been saved. Christ is within you. Yet very little of the time do you live Him. You may touch Him occasionally when you pray, and you may live Him part of the time when you are in the meetings. Most of the time that you are in the meetings, however, you are thinking about how poor the elders are, how the brothers do not measure up to the standard, and how the sisters are disappointing. You disagree with this, and you condemn that. Instead of living Christ, you sit there criticizing and judging. You are in the realm of knowledge.
We may pride ourselves on our culture. What can compare with our Chinese ethics! We will forbear even if we are stabbed in the heart. We graciously give in, in every situation. In addition to this national heritage, we have been raised in a Christian family and brought up in a local church. We have a knowledge of the Bible and its teachings. Why do we act the way we do? We are governed by our knowledge or scientific understanding. Why do we refrain from certain actions? It is against our ethical philosophy or against the code we have observed in the local church. Why do we humbly give way to others? First, it is because we are Chinese; second, it is because we are members of a local church. There are certain things we do and do not do in order to keep our qualifications and be proper.
Why do you not go to the movies? You may tell me that none of them are any good. You are an educated person. Movies do not appeal to you. Only uneducated, country people could enjoy that kind of entertainment. Perhaps you say that after you got saved, you felt uneasy when you went to the movies, and for that reason you stopped attending. It may well be that Christ within was restricting you at the beginning. How about now? Do you stay away from the movies because of the tradition of the local church? Do you feel condemned if you violate a local church custom? Are you trying to live up to your reputation of being a good brother? Can any of you say that what you do or do not do is because of Christ living in you? that you are not living philosophy, religion, or ethics? that you are only living Christ?
Sometimes a sister would like to argue with her husband. But she considers and realizes that it is better not to argue. Perhaps the children are present, and she does not want them to listen to an argument; or, there may be some young people around, and she would not want to set a poor example for them. Even if no one else is present, she may refrain from arguing because she is considered a good sister in the church. Occasionally, she may not argue because of Christ within her, but this is her least frequent reason. Most of the time, instead of living Christ, she is living her children or the young people or her reputation in the church. The brothers are no different.
The elders sometimes get themselves into trouble by making decisions too quickly. You have observed that going too fast leads to problems. Some more experienced ones also advise you that, as an elder, you must learn to be cautious. They tell you that if you give quick answers, you will offend people. When others come for help, it is best to tell them you cannot answer right away; you will have to pray over the matter first. Is this living Christ? It is living by wisdom, not by Christ.
Many Christians use the Bible as a substitute for Christ. The Lord Jesus told the Jewish religionists that they searched the Scriptures but would not come to Him for life (John 5:39-40). The Bible is a testimony to Him, but apart from Him there is no life in the letter of the Word. Because they would not go to Him for life, their search of the Scriptures was only in the dead letter.
In our day many are like those Jews of old. Students of theology read and study the Scriptures, yet many fail to touch the Christ who is in the Spirit and in the word. Many ordinary Christians, too, faithfully read the Bible, yet they will not come to the One of whom it speaks. They are using the Bible as a replacement for Christ.
The law of Moses was given by God. When Christ came, the Jews quoted from the law and would not receive Him; it was their substitute for Him. The believers in Galatia received Christ but then went back to embrace the law. Paul wrote the book of Galatians to rescue them from its snare. He reminded them that they were in Christ and had all His riches and grace as their portion. With such abundant blessing, how could they go back to Judaism? To do that was to cut themselves off from Christ. They were like a branch grafted into Christ, receiving the riches of the life of the tree. To turn back to the law was to disqualify themselves from their position in Christ and to be brought to nothing. It meant that they had fallen from grace (5:4). Yes, the law was God-given, but its use was only temporary. Once Christ came, the law was to be put aside. They must remain in Christ and not turn back to the law.
You may feel that you are not trying to keep the law, so what I am saying does not apply to you. Do you not, however, have your own laws? Especially those with a strong will have a set of laws they determine to keep. You have certain things you do and will not do. You behave properly. You consider yourself normal with a strong will, a clear mind, and proper emotions. Your life consists of your self-made regulations. These laws, as well as the law in the Bible, become a substitute for Christ.
Rather than living by Christ, some people cherish tongue-speaking or the gift of healing or some other gift. These gifts become a replacement of Christ.
Every nation has its culture. The book of Colossians deals with the problems that arose in the church in Colossae over the matter of culture. The believers there in Asia Minor were part Jews and part Greeks. Instead of living by Christ, they were living according to their religious ordinances or their Greek philosophy. Paul admonished them, “As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him” (2:6). Walk in Him. Do not follow the elements of the world and the tradition of men (v. 8). Do not have regard for philosophy; that is simply part of the elements of the world. Philosophy does not deserve your admiration; it is small and rudimentary. These intrusions of philosophy and tradition into the church in Colossae even in the early days caused damage to the church because such aspects of culture were replacing Christ.
We have a wide assortment of people in the church. There are Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians, Filipinos, and Malaysians. We also have some here from Singapore and Thailand. I would ask you, do you live by Christ or by the culture in which you have been raised? Many of you are overseas Chinese. Do you live by the Chinese culture or by the culture of the country where you are? You may be a Chinese living by the Filipino culture, or by the Indonesian, Malaysian, or Thai cultures. Your overseas Chinese culture has been influenced by the native cultures. What you live by is this mixed culture, not by Christ.
Yes, occasionally Christ within directs you, but most hours of the day you are governed by something else. You are saved and have Christ within, but in actuality you are a Filipino Chinese or a Japanese or an Indonesian. You live according to science, philosophy, local church custom, and the ethics of your culture. You may protest that you love the Lord and are living the church life; why do I use the term local church custom? If you consider quietly, however, you will realize that you are not living Christ. You are living something else, whether you call it the church life or local church custom. Unconsciously, you are living your culture.
The culture you live, moreover, is partly of your own creation. You have developed your own outlook on life. You have your own religion and philosophy. All these are distinct from everyone else’s. When you come to a crisis, you depend on this “superior” culture to carry you through. You Japanese brothers, for example, are all saved. You have the same Christ and the same Bible. You sing the same hymns and shout the same slogans. Yet not more than one hour of the day do you live Christ, forgetting yourself, forgetting Japanese culture, and forgetting each other. This may happen when you are praying or exercising your spirit in the meetings. The rest of the time you are living your self-imposed standards.
The same is true of those from the island of Mindanao or from Indonesia. Their life is ordered and controlled by the principles they have set up. They are critical of others who do not live up to their standard. They are pleased with how well they themselves abide by those standards.
The young sisters may have a high goal before them. They act properly and are grateful to the Lord for saving them and placing them in the church. But they feel they must do this and take care of that. This means they are setting up their own culture, instead of living Christ.
Some people are bothered by sin. To us sin may not be an issue. But the knowledge of science and philosophy, the practice of religion, and the influence of culture are still with us. It is by these that we live. We are not living Christ.
“As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him” (v. 6). We are not to live in the self or in religion or in the law. We are in Christ, and we are to walk in Him. We must not let the traditions of men take us away from Him. Let religion go. Let the law go. Let culture go. Stay in Christ. He is above culture, philosophy, and religion. Live Him.
Who is this One? He is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Do not think of Him as far off on the throne above. As the Spirit, He mingles with your spirit, making you one with Him. Stay in the Spirit. Let the Spirit be in control. When you are in spirit, you live Christ. Let Him be in charge, rather than your culture.
You have heard messages like this before but have quickly forgotten. Before you know it, you will once again be back in your culture, living according to local church custom. You will be considering how to get along with others. You will try to think up pleasant words to say to smooth over a situation. Remember that whenever you are not in your spirit, you are not living Christ but something else.
Christ is the Spirit, giving life. Outside of Him there are countless things we take as substitutes. All such substitutes are other than He. Even the study of the Bible is not Christ. Only the Spirit is Christ. We must be in that Spirit, mingled with Him. To live Christ is to live in the Spirit. Care only for this one matter: be in spirit, live in spirit, walk in spirit, pray in spirit, and fellowship in spirit. Let other things go. Simply live Christ.
