Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises, that through these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature... 2 Peter 1:4
We cannot too highly value and appreciate heart
hunger for the Word. It is the Spirit of Truth. We
may have been born again without knowing much
of the Bible, but we certainly are not going to grow
to any extent apart from a careful and persistent
study of the Word of God. Yes, the maturing believer
is a Spirit-dependent student of the scriptures.
Christian progress is not a question of attainting to
some abstract standard, or of pressing through to a
far-off goal. It is wholly a question of seeing God's
standard in God's Word. You advance spiritually by
finding out what you really are (in Christ), not by
trying to become what you hope to be. That goal
you will never reach, however earnestly you may
strive.
It is when you see you are dead unto sin that you
die to it (daily); it is when you see you are risen that
you arise; it is when you see you are a new creature
in Him that you (progressively) grow. Seeing the ac-
complished fact in the Word determines the pathway
to the realizing of that fact. The end is reached by
seeing, not by desiring or working. The only possi-
bility of spiritual progress lies in our discovering the
truth as God sees it; the truth concerning Christ, the
truth concerning ourselves in Christ. Watchman Nee
Reader, I continually come back to the truth that I
am IN Christ. There are far more scriptures depicting
what we have IN Christ than scriptures which speak
of His being in us. It was not until I began to under-
stand this that I began to grow in hope and faith.
precious promises, that through these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature... 2 Peter 1:4
We cannot too highly value and appreciate heart
hunger for the Word. It is the Spirit of Truth. We
may have been born again without knowing much
of the Bible, but we certainly are not going to grow
to any extent apart from a careful and persistent
study of the Word of God. Yes, the maturing believer
is a Spirit-dependent student of the scriptures.
Christian progress is not a question of attainting to
some abstract standard, or of pressing through to a
far-off goal. It is wholly a question of seeing God's
standard in God's Word. You advance spiritually by
finding out what you really are (in Christ), not by
trying to become what you hope to be. That goal
you will never reach, however earnestly you may
strive.
It is when you see you are dead unto sin that you
die to it (daily); it is when you see you are risen that
you arise; it is when you see you are a new creature
in Him that you (progressively) grow. Seeing the ac-
complished fact in the Word determines the pathway
to the realizing of that fact. The end is reached by
seeing, not by desiring or working. The only possi-
bility of spiritual progress lies in our discovering the
truth as God sees it; the truth concerning Christ, the
truth concerning ourselves in Christ. Watchman Nee
Reader, I continually come back to the truth that I
am IN Christ. There are far more scriptures depicting
what we have IN Christ than scriptures which speak
of His being in us. It was not until I began to under-
stand this that I began to grow in hope and faith.
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