p. 3 | Saved by His Life by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1916

Saved by His Life

By F. M. W.

THE death of Christ justifies us for the sins of the past. It is his indwelling life that saves us from the commission of sin. Rom. 5: 8-10. Many have sought justification repeatedly, day after day, from the time of their first acceptance of the Lord until the present moment. They go to him for forgiveness of sins, for justification through his blood. They claim by faith his imputed righteousness, but, oh, how few there are who go a step farther and take hold by faith of the life of Christ which he promises to every believer,—that indwelling life which affords victory over sin and keeps the believer from falling back into the sins from which he has been justified through the blood! Paul knew this life. He says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Christ desires to impart this life to every believer. He seeks admission to every heart. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” He seeks by the divine influence of his Holy Spirit to draw all men to the Father. He exhausts the resources of heaven in his efforts to save men. This is his part, but man has a part to act also. The Master declares, “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Heeding this divine summons—opening the door of the heart and inviting the Saviour to come in, and by faith claiming the divine promise that he will enter in—effects this union with the divine power. The apostle expresses this as his great desire for the church at Ephesus:—

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph. 3: 16-21.

This life of Christ in the soul is the power of the Holy Spirit which the Master desires to impart to the believer. Says the servant of the Lord:—

“The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. Those only who are thus taught of God, those only who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, can stand as true representatives of the Saviour.”—Gospel Workers, p. 285.

The reason many do not receive this divine power is clearly pointed out:—

“There are many who profess to believe and claim the Lord’s promises; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit; yet they receive no benefit, because they do not surrender their souls to the guidance and control of divine agencies.

“We cannot use the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in his people ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ But many will not submit to be led. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for his guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and he is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.”—Id., pp. 284, 285.

The Lord would not have us continue in the experience of sinning and repenting, but would have us go on unto perfection. See Heb. 6: 1-3. We can no longer afford in our experience to play with sin, to dally with it, to continue in its service. The apostle inquires, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” To this he gives the emphatic answer, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

The Master has called us to a better experience. He desires to take us out of the bondage of sin and self-serving, into his own blessed service of light and liberty. He has opened the prison doors and bidden us go free. Shall we not accept the liberty he offers us? Shall we not take hold by living faith of his own blessed life, of the power of his Holy Spirit, refusing to be turned back again to the beggarly elements of the world, refusing to come again under the dominion of fleshly lusts which war against the soul, maintaining through the daily exercise of living faith the freedom which his indwelling Spirit will impart?

F. M. W.