THE CROSS & ITS POWER continued [He has no second penalty to pay, no second death to undergo]; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once [His death finished His sin-bearing work once for all]: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body [even in your body, chap. 12:1], that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Rom. 6:7-12). T here is something peculiarly solemn about these passages. They are very unlike, both in tone and words, the light speech which some indulge in when speaking of the gospel and its forgiveness. Ah, this is the language of one who has in him the profound consciousness that severance from sin is one of the mightiest, as well as most blessed, things in the universe. He has learned how deliverance from condemnation may be found and all legal claims against him met. But more than this he has learned how the grasp of sin can be unclasped, how its serpent-folds can be un wound, how its impurities can be erased, how he can defy its wiles and defeat its strength—how he can be holy! This is, to him, of discoveries one of the greatest and most gladdening. Forgiveness itself is precious, chiefly as a step to holiness. How anyone after reading statements such as those of the apostle can speak of sin or pardon or holiness without awe seems difficult to understand. Or how anyone can feel that the forgiveness which the believing man finds at the cross of Christ is a release from the obligation to live a holy life is no less incomprehensible. It is true that sin remains in the saint, and it is equally true that this sin does not bring condemna tion back to him. But there is a way of stating this which would almost lead to the inference that watch fulness has thus been rendered less necessary, that holiness is not now so great an urgency, that sin is not so terrible as formerly. To tell a sinning saint that no amount of sin can alter the perfect standing before God into which the blood of Christ brings us may not be technically or theologically incorrect but this mode of putting the truth is not that of the Epistle to the Romans or Ephesians; it sounds almost like, “ Continue in sin because grace abounds” ; and it is not scriptural language. The apostolic way of putting the point is that of 1 John 1:9; 2:1: “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins . . . if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Thus then, that which cancels the curse provides the purity. The cross not only pardons, but it puri fies. From it there gushes out the double fountain of peace and holiness. It heals, unites, strengthens, quickens, blesses. It is God’s wing under which we are gathered, and “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91:1)-,
But we have our cross to bear and our whole life is to be a bearing of it. It is not Christ’s cross that we are to carry; that is too heavy for us and besides it has been done once for all. But our cross remains and much of a Christian life consists in a true, honest, decided bearing of it. Not indeed to be nailed to it, but to take it up and carry it—this is our calling. To each of us a cross is presented when we assume the name of Christ. Strange will it be if we refuse to bear it, counting it too heavy or too sharp, too much associated with reproach and hardship. The Lord’s words are very uncompromising, “ . . . If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Our refusal to do this may contribute not a little to our ease and reputation here, but it will not add to the weight of the glory which the resurrection of the just shall bring to those who have confessed the Master and borne His shame and done His work in an evil world. W ith the taking up of the cross daily (Luke 9:23), our Lord connects the de nial of self and the following of Him. He “ pleased not himself” ; neither must we, for the servant is not above his master. He did not His own will; neither must we, for the disciple is not above his Lord. If we endure no hardness but are self-indulgent, self-sparing men, how shall we be followers of Him? If we grudge labor or sacrifice or time or money or our good name, are we remembering His example? If we shrink from the weight of the cross or its sharpness or the rough ness of the way along which we have to carry it, are we keeping His Word in mind, “ . . . ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with .. .” (Matt. 20:23)? The cross on which we are crucified with Christ and the cross which we carry are different things, yet they both point in one direction and lead us along one way. They both protest against sin and summon to holiness. They both “ condemn the world” and demand separation from it. They set us upon ground so high, so unearthly that the questions which some raise as to the expediency of conformity to the world’s ways are answered as soon as they are put, and the sophistries of the flesh, pleading in behalf of gaiety and revelry never for a moment perplex us. The kingdom is in view, the way is plain, the cross is on our shoulders; and shall we turn aside after fashions and frivolities and pleasures and unreal beauties, even were they all as harmless as men say they are? It may seem a small thing now to be a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God, but it will be found a fearful thing hereafter when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all His holy angels with Him. It may seem a possible thing just now by avoiding all ex tremes and all thoroughness, either in religion or in worldliness, to conjoin both of these but in the day of the separation of the real from the unreal, it will be
THE KING'S BUSINESS
16
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker