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All worship and service that is apart from Christ, though seemingly worship and service to God, is of religion. From the human perspective these things may seem to be very good, but they do not have much value in God’s eyes. Serving in this way should be only an initial experience and should lead us to Christ. It is the most pitiful thing if one who serves God stays merely in religious practices. Any kind of religious service should be just an introductory experience that ushers us to Christ. From God’s Word we clearly see that only worship and service that are in Christ are of revelation. Any worship, any service that is apart from Christ is of religion.
From beginning to end God just wants us to have a relationship with Christ. We must know that God had a purpose in creating the universe and that for generations before the time of the apostles this purpose was never told to anyone. God hid this purpose in Himself and made it a mystery. According to Colossians 2:2, the mystery of God is Christ. God’s purpose is Christ. God created the universe for His Son, Christ, and God redeemed us also for His Son, Christ. This is God’s purpose, but until the time of the apostles He never told anyone; rather, this purpose was hidden in God Himself as a mystery. This hidden mystery of God is Christ.
In the age of the apostles God opened the veil of the mystery to them (Eph. 3:3-5). Immediately, this unveiling became a revelation. God unveiled this mystery, which had been hidden throughout the ages, to the apostles and showed them that Christ is God’s mystery, God’s purpose. When this mystery was unfolded, what the apostles saw was Christ Himself. Hence, the revelation that the apostles saw was the revelation of Christ. Such a revelation was unveiled to the apostles. Previously, Christ was hidden; neither Abraham nor David nor any of the prophets in the Old Testament knew Him. Although Christ was spoken of in the Old Testament, those in the Old Testament did not know that this Christ is the center of the universe. It was not until the time of the apostles that God lifted the veil. Then the apostles were able to say that God’s mystery is Christ. God does not want anything that is apart from Christ. Everything that is acceptable to God, praised by God, or counted by God is in Christ.
Deep within me I have a feeling that I cannot utter. The apostle Paul wrote so many Epistles, yet there was only one central purpose—that the churches and the believers at that time would see that God’s center is Christ. Anything that is outside of Christ, no matter how pious, good, or religious, is of no value in God’s eyes. Paul said that although the Jews required signs and the Greeks sought wisdom, the apostles preached Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:22-23). God did not want the apostles to preach signs or wisdom; instead, He wanted them to preach the crucified Christ as Lord. Why did He want this? It is because Christ is God’s sign, God’s wisdom, and God’s power (v. 24). In the early church some believers laid much emphasis on signs, and others very much stressed Greek wisdom. The apostles, however, told them that service before God is not a matter of signs or wisdom but a matter of Christ. Today the service that God desires is not related to signs or wisdom but is of Christ. What is of Christ is actually just Christ Himself.
Paul told the Galatians, “You observe days and months and seasons and years; I fear for you, lest I have labored upon you in vain” (Gal. 4:10-11). The Jews kept the law, practiced circumcision, and observed the feasts. Thus, Paul feared for them, lest his labor upon them be in vain. He says, “I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you” (v. 19). It is not a matter of whether we keep the law, practice circumcision, or observe the feasts; rather, it is a matter of Christ. Has Christ been formed in us? This is the question of all questions. The churches in Galatia had a problem. They brought the service of Judaism and of religion into the church. Hence, Paul showed them that everything related to this kind of service was nothing. In the church there is room only for Christ. The problem with the Greeks was their wisdom. They allowed wisdom to enter into the church. The apostle showed them that their wisdom did not count for anything. Christ alone is everything.
Paul says, “In Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). In other words, apart from Christ we cannot touch God, for God caused Himself to dwell in Christ bodily. Outside of Christ, neither philosophy, literature, nor even religion can enable us to touch or contact God because all the fullness of God Himself dwells in Christ bodily. The passages we have quoted from the Scriptures truly show us that the service that God desires is service that is in Christ. Anything that is outside of Christ, no matter how good or praiseworthy it is in man’s eyes, is nothing and is of no value in God’s eyes. We must see this principle.
If we look at the practical experience of a person’s salvation from a nontheological perspective, we can say that there are two kinds of salvation: the “salvation” of religion and the salvation of revelation. If a person experiences only the “salvation” according to religion but not salvation according to revelation, then basically he is not saved. A person’s “salvation” is according to religion when it is mixed with religious things. Before a person believes in the Lord, he may not be concerned for his soul or think about religion. But after he is saved and begins to be concerned for his soul, his religious concepts come in. What is a religious concept? Some people think that after they are saved, they should repent thoroughly and be delivered from sins. In addition, they feel that from that point on they should look to God for mercy, depend on God’s grace, be good people, never be cold or backsliding, and try their best to please God. In this way they consider that when they depart from the world and go to be with the Lord, the Lord will let them go to heaven, seeing that they have had a thorough repentance and that their behavior was satisfactory. Do not think that I am too much to say this. This is the real situation. Many people think that after they are saved, they should wail for three days and three nights—rolling on the ground and shedding many tears—to wash away their sins so that when they see the Lord face to face, the Lord will consider them quite satisfactory, and they will be saved. Some people may not think exactly like this, but they think in a similar way. This is “salvation” according to religion, not salvation according to revelation.
What then is salvation according to revelation? We may illustrate it in this way. One day after hearing a message, or while praying, reading the Bible, or even walking on the street, the Holy Spirit may mysteriously and inwardly show us that our Savior Christ was hanged on the cross to die for us and that He bore our sins in His body, resurrected from the dead, and released His life to us so that if we would receive such a Christ, our sins would be forgiven, and we would receive His life within. As a result, we exult, praise, and thank God, saying, “O God, I am a sinner, but You are holy. Thank You for dying for me. Within me there is darkness, but You are full of light. Thank You for Your life, for coming into me to be my life.” Through this we are saved. This is salvation according to revelation.
However, the story is not that simple. According to revelation, some people are already saved, but according to the perspective of religion, they are not yet saved. Perhaps you may wonder what this means. A person under the enlightening of the Holy Spirit may see that he needs a Savior and that the Lord Jesus is his Savior who shed His blood and bore his sins on the cross. As a result, he prays, “Thank You, Lord, I was full of sins, but You bore my sins on the cross. Thank You that though I am corrupted, evil, and in darkness, You are bright and holy, and You have become my life.” A person is able to thank the Lord in such a way because he has seen the Christ who died and resurrected. But the strange thing is that after he prays, he may still say, “I am afraid that I may not be saved.” If you would ask him why he says this, he may say, “I heard from someone that when he got saved, he cried and shed many tears so that all his sins were washed away. If I did not shed any tears, how can I be saved?” Then he may continue, “I also heard that when a person is saved, he should feel pricked in his heart and lament over his sins for three days and three nights. But I was not pricked in my heart, nor did I lament over my sins. Do you think that I am saved?” A while later he may also say, “When some people got saved, they prayed continuously until they saw a vision of the Lord Jesus hanging on the cross, shedding His blood for them. Then they wept and were saved. But I have never had these experiences. Am I really saved?” Thus, in terms of revelation such a person has been truly saved, but in terms of religion he has not.
Hence, from here we see that there are two experiences of “salvation”: the experience that is according to revelation and the experience that is according to religion. The experience of “salvation” according to religion occurs when we have a set of concepts that are not the result of revelation and feel that as long as we do certain things, we will be accepted by God. An experience that is according to revelation occurs when the Holy Spirit removes the veil within us and reveals Christ in us, showing us that Christ died for us on the cross. Such an experience is a revelation. As children of God, we should know what it means to have something of religion and what it means to have something of revelation. When we were saved, did we first have revelation or religion? A genuine salvation is a salvation that comes out of revelation. When we see that Christ died for us on the cross and was resurrected for us, we are saved. After we are saved, we can begin to serve God.
The same principle that we saw above applies to all our Christian experiences. Every Christian experience can have two aspects: the aspect of religion and the aspect of revelation. Not only our experience of salvation may have these two aspects, but after we are saved, our service before God may also have these two aspects. We may ask, “What kind of living and service is according to religion, and what kind of living and service is according to revelation?” After we are saved, we may spontaneously have a concept that from that point on we need to be more zealous, to have more love, and to treat our wife better. In the same way, after we are revived, all these concepts may also come to us. Formerly, our living was loose and lukewarm, but now that we are saved and revived, we feel that we should be more serious and zealous. We also feel that we should preach the gospel, maintain a good testimony at home, love the brothers and sisters in the church, and always read the Bible and pray. All these concepts may come to us. Moreover, we may also bring these matters to God and pray, “O Lord, I was really bad in the past, but now that I am saved and revived, I need to be zealous and love the brothers and sisters. Yet I realize that I will not be able to do it persistently. Please have mercy on me, and help me every day so that I may be able to do it.” Please remember that God listens to every kind of prayer except this kind of prayer.
When a wife who has a very bad temper and always argues with her husband at home gets saved and revived, the very first concept she has is that from that day on she should not argue with her husband or lose her temper with her children anymore. She realizes, however, that she is unreliable, so she brings this matter to God in prayer. Yet the fact is that God never listens to this kind of prayer. Even if she does make some changes, it will be because she was the one who listened to her prayer. She may not lose her temper on the first day because she is as careful as a person carrying a glass full of water. On the second day, however, she will not do as well as she did on the first day, but she still may not lose her temper. Then on the third day she may ask God again to increase His keeping power so that she will not lose her temper. On the fourth day, however, she will probably lose her temper in a terrible way, even more terribly than she ever did before she prayed. After being revived, many people have similar experiences. What is this? This is nothing but religion. We already have these concepts without having to touch God or read the Bible.
For example, suppose that one day a brother who treats his wife poorly is revived. Even though he does not pray, touch God, or touch Christ, he already has the concept that he should be kind to his wife. What kind of concept is this? Is it of revelation or of religion? It is a concept that comes from religion. Let me ask you again, after a person is saved or revived, if he spontaneously has the concept that he should be zealous without having been exhorted by others, is this something of religion or something of revelation? It is something of religion. Perhaps we all will be discouraged after we hear such a word. It seems that whatever we do is religious. Even our attempts to love our wife, be zealous, preach the gospel, and distribute tracts can all be something of religion. Then should we not try to do anything? Here is the problem. A person who does not do a certain thing cannot do it even if he wants to, and a person who does a certain thing cannot help doing it even if he does not want to do it anymore. For example, if someone does not love his wife, we may exhort him to love his wife. Yet regardless of how hard he tries, he simply cannot love his wife. However, after he is revived, if he genuinely touches Christ, it will be impossible for him not to love his wife even if we asked him not to.
There is only one thing that we have that counts before God—Christ. We have to see at least once that Christ was crucified on the cross to bear our sins and that He is truly our Savior. We all must have this “one day” before we can say that we have been saved. We also must have a “one day” when the Holy Spirit shows us that it is no longer we but Christ. It is not we who submit to our husband, but it is Christ who submits. It is not we who love our wife, but it is Christ who loves. It is not we who are zealous, but it is Christ who is zealous. The Holy Spirit shows us that those who want to do good, who want to love their wives, and who want to submit to their husbands are already crucified with Christ, and now it is Christ who lives in them (Gal. 2:20). We are not the ones who do good, who are zealous, who love others, or who preach the gospel. We have been crucified with Christ, and now it is Christ who lives in us.
We should have several “one days” in our lifetime. The first one should be when the Holy Spirit shows us that the Lord Jesus bore up our sins in His body and was resurrected from the dead to be our life. This should be our first “one day.” Then our second “one day” should be when we see that it was not merely the sinning “I” who was crucified on the cross but that even the “I” who does good was also crucified. It was not merely the “I” who has a bad temper who was crucified on the cross, but even the meek “I” was also crucified. The Holy Spirit shows us that we are already crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. 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.” I have passed away, I am terminated, I am over, and I am already crucified. A living person can do evil and can also do good. But now that I have been put to death, can I still commit sin? No. Can this dead person still do good? No. Can a person who previously hit his wife but has now been crucified still hit his wife? No. Can he love his wife now? No. He is dead. He can neither hit his wife nor love his wife. This is to be a Christian.
A Christian is one who is dead both to sin and to good. A dead person can neither sin nor do good. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” What does it mean to be a Christian? To be a Christian means that “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Because I am identified with Him, when He was crucified, I was also crucified. I was crucified with Him, and His death is my death. Such a death delivers me from my sins and my goodness. This is not a matter of doctrine but a matter of revelation.
Hence, we need another “one day” when the Holy Spirit shows us again that we are already crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. If we see this, we will no longer resolve to do good or be determined to do certain things; rather, we will simply praise. When we see this and praise Him for this, Christ will have more ground in us and will be expressed through us. When Christ is magnified in us, we will love our wife, submit to our husband, and love sinners. However, the love and submission will not be our doing but the overflow of Christ. We have already been crucified. When Christ gains the ground in us, He will be expressed through us. At that time we will really love our wife, submit to our husband, be zealous, and have the love for sinners. However, we will not be conscious of how much we have done. Rather, we will only have the sense that we are crucified with Christ and that He is living in us. This is service according to revelation.
Hence, when we see Christ for the first time in our Christian life and in our Christian path, we see that He was crucified and died for us and that we are saved. Eventually, we will also see that when Christ died for us on the cross to save us, we ourselves were also crucified. When we see this, we will not do anything because a dead person can neither do good nor have any hope. We will see that we are finished. We will see that it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. At this time we will see that once we go out, He comes in. From that day onward, we simply will not be able to make any resolutions or to have any hope in ourselves, because we will realize that it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. At this moment our Christian life truly begins.
Although we may be saved, if we do not know this way, we will still live within the realm of religion. This will be the case until one day the Holy Spirit will show us that we are crucified. Then we will be truly terminated in our experience. From that day onward, it will be no longer we who serve but Christ who serves. Our Christian living will not really begin until that day.
